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A SHORT VIEW 
 
 OT THE 
 
 POLITICAL SITUATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ' NORTHERN POWERS I 
 
 FOUNDED ON 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 
 MADE DURING A TOUR THROUGH 
 
 RUSSIA, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK, 
 
 IN THE LA.ST SEVEN MONTHS OF THE YEAH 1800. 
 WITH 
 
 CONJECTURES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PROEAFLE ISSUE OF THE APPROACHING CONTEST. 
 
 By WILLIAM HUNTER, E/^. 
 
 OF THE INNER TEMPLE. 
 
 Concoiaia re^ parvas crefcunt, difcorcUa maxiiins? dilabuutur. 
 
 lonDon: 
 
 PRINTED PDR J OHN STOCfiJDi-AX*, PICCADILLY. 
 
 ISOl. 
 
 Price 2s. 6d, 
 
<^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ty T. Glllet, Sallfbiiry-Square. 
 
A 
 
 SHORT VIEW, 
 
 AT a time, when the convuliions, the ef- 
 forts, and the malignity of France, have 
 fhaken, more or lefs, every government in Eu- 
 rope but our own ; at a time, when every other 
 country is nearly exhaufted, both in treafure 
 and population, by the expences and ravages 
 of this cruel and unparalleled war, with what 
 fatisfadion, notwithftanding all our reverfes, 
 ought we to look around, from the proud emi- 
 nence on which we are placed. Whilft other 
 nations, brcathlefs and terriiied, are Ihrinking 
 from the conteft; imploring peace, or fuing for 
 protedion; defcrting their old friends, and 
 leaguing with their late enemies ; Britain, re- 
 pofmg on her rcfources, the virtue and patri- 
 otifm of her inhabitants, the exteniive range 
 of her commerce, the vigour and firmnefs of 
 her government, the diftinguilhed bravery of 
 her troops, and the unconquerable fpirit of 
 A 2 her 
 
 SOfJRK-f 
 
( ■* ) 
 
 her navy, furveys the fcene with intereft but 
 cahnnefs, with Iblicitude but without dlfmay. 
 
 Deferted by every friend, furrounded by a 
 hoft of foes, Ihe now ftands alone, to try her 
 ftrength againft the united efforts of Europe. 
 But, neither the difgraceful feceflion of her 
 allies, nor the unexpefted increafe of her ene- 
 mies, can ftartle her from her purpofe, which 
 is the confervation of her independence and 
 her rights. As Ihe has been moderate in prof- 
 perity, fo can ihe be firm in adverfity. Fear 
 will not accomplifh, what force can never 
 extort. Steady to thofe principles which flic 
 has invariably maintained, and on the mainte- 
 nance of which her future profperity and hap- 
 pinefs depend, flie will meet the conflift with 
 fortitude and compofure, and, in the review of 
 paft events, forefee a future harveft of fuccefs 
 and fame. 
 
 For many years, our exertions, not only pro- 
 vided for our own fecurity, but upheld the 
 fyftem which might have been fuccefsfully op- 
 pofed to the intolerant ambition of France. 
 The disjointed politics, the follies, and difTen- 
 tionc of our allies, have, in regular fuccefTion, 
 fevered them from their intercfts, and applied 
 
 the 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 feal of ruin to their fate. What concord 
 and pcrfeverance might have accompHflied, 
 pufillanimity and difunion have reverfed. Let 
 us profit by their example. Let us contem- 
 plate the melancholy ruins of governments 
 and empires, which are fcattered over the al- 
 tered face of Europe, and be convinced of the 
 neceffity of rallying round the facred altar 
 of liberty for its defence, Againft a free, an 
 unanimous, a brave and loyal people, nothing 
 can prevail. When we contemplate the fruits 
 of union, the terrors of attack vanifli. Could 
 the whole power of the Spanifh monarchy, 
 in the lOth century, refift the exertions, or fe- 
 cure the allegiance of the Dutch, who in 1794 
 fell fo eafy a prey to the French ? No ; in the 
 firft inftance, they were a band of patriots, 
 headed by a race of heroes, refifting the chains 
 of defpotifm : in the fecond, they were a de- 
 generate, difcontented people, corrupted by 
 luxury and riches, willing to receive thofe 
 chains again. To infure the fuccefs of an in- 
 vading army, the fpirit of the nation muft be 
 in favour of the attack. The French are con- 
 vinced of this, and it was this conviction which, 
 during the . late unhappy rebellion in Ireland, 
 
 prompted 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 prompted them to attempt the invafion of that 
 kingdom, and which, notwithftanding their 
 numerous armies, and the boafted fuperiority 
 of their niihtary ikil!, has difluaded them 
 from a fimilar enterprize againfl: thefe realms.* 
 There was a period (I fpeak of twelve or 
 fourteen months ago) when Europe had the 
 flattering profpeft of returning to the enjoy- 
 ment of repofe; when that tranquillity, of 
 which fhe has been fo long deprived, and the 
 reftoration of which fhe fo much requires, to 
 recruit her ihattered ftrength, and to repair her 
 accumulated loiTcs, appeared to be at hand. I 
 allude to the fuccefsful campaign of the Ruf- 
 fians and Auftrians conjointly, when the French 
 were repulfcd on every fide ; when they were 
 driven, with ignominy, from the poffellion of 
 
 * When this pamphlet was begun, the recent difunion, 
 and fubfequent changes, in the cabinet, were not even fur- 
 mifed. Wi'hcut at all pretending to prejudge the mea- 
 fii res and competency of the prefent Adminiftration, every 
 one mud deplore the lofs of the moft fplendid talents, 
 joined to the mod unfnUIed integrity, which the country 
 has lately fuftained; more particularly at this juncture, 
 when all Europe is arming againft u?, and we find our- 
 felves called upon to unite every exertion, to afTert our in- 
 dependence, and to vindicate our honour and our rights. 
 
 their 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 their vidorious fpoils ; and were obliged to eva- 
 cuate thofe polls which their valour had won, 
 which their ambition had retained, and which 
 their cupidity had ruined. The co-imperial 
 arms were, in every quarter, crowned with 
 fuccefs; and nothing but the difdainful and ar- 
 rogant fpirit of the French could have fruf- 
 trated the wifhes of mankind. This difpofi- 
 tion muft, however, fhortly have yielded to 
 the imperious calls of neceflity, and fiich ano- 
 ther campaign would have extorted from 
 weaknefs, what juftice was unable to accom- 
 plifh. 
 
 A favourable termination of this unhappy 
 conflift, which has fo long defolated Europe, 
 depended, no doubt, on various circumftances, 
 but on no one fo much, as the good faith of 
 the emperor Paul. He had lately taken up 
 the gauntlet, and joined the league, againft the 
 levelling and deftrudive views of France ; and, 
 had he proved true to his engagements, we 
 fliould not, in all human probability, have now 
 to deplore the difaflers which have recently 
 occurred. But it is the fate of moft alliances, 
 in which parties of different interefts and de- 
 figns are concerned, that nothing produces its 
 
 promifed 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 promifed efFeciil. Either their mutual jealou- 
 fies and diftrufts prevent' them froip afting in 
 concert, or, if the general good prevail over 
 private confi derations, and this unanimity lead 
 to fuccefs, ftill is that very fuccefs frequently 
 the fource of difagreements and animoiities, 
 which end in defection and dilguft. 
 
 Thus it happened in the prefent inftance. 
 The gloomy and fufpicious mind of Paul foon 
 created doubts, concerning the policy of his 
 conduil, in marfhalling the forces of his em- 
 pire againfh the French. His vanity naturally 
 led him to coniider himfelf as the arbiter of 
 Europe, and he knew that, to whichever fide 
 he chofe to incline, he could turn the current 
 in its favour. He abhorred the French, but 
 he alfo feared the preponderance of the Auf- 
 trians ; and, as they began to recover their 
 ilrcngth, his fears of the former fubfided, and 
 hisjcaloufy of the latter prevailed. 
 
 Impetuous in his temper, vehement in his 
 hatred, ardent in his defires for fuccefs, -w hen 
 firft he armed againft the French, it was his 
 determined purpofc to complete their ruin. 
 His preparations were proportionate to his an- 
 
 tipathyj 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 tlpatiiy, and he was refolved to mufler all his 
 ftrength to facrlfice them, at once, to his ven- 
 geance. Furniflied with money from our 
 court, he ordered levies to be made, with the 
 greateft aAivity, in every part of his empire. 
 The orders of a defpot are promptly executed, 
 and early in the fpring of 1 799, the Auftrians 
 were joined by a formidable body of Ruffian 
 troops. 
 
 Thefe rude and hardy barbarians, regardlefs 
 x)f life, accuftomed to fatigue, inured to every 
 extremity of hunger and cold, rufhed on their 
 opponents with that incautious fury which an 
 opinion of fuperiorlty infpires. Their lofs was 
 dreadful, but their career was not to be im- 
 peded. They marched over the dead bodies 
 of their companions in arms, to the cannon's 
 mouth, and, fword in hand, obliged their ad- 
 verfaries to retreat. Pillage was the objed: of 
 their defires, vidlory was the means that in- 
 fured it, and, like the ancient Germans, whofe 
 character the pen of Tacitus has fo ably and fo 
 eloquently delineated, they were determined 
 to conquer or die. The fteady and patient 
 courage of the Auftrians tempered the hazard- 
 
 B ous 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 mis mipctuofity of the Ruffians, and prudeitte 
 fcGurcd what Intrepidity had won.* 
 
 Towards the end of the campaign, w^hlch 
 had been marked, in almoft every ftage of its 
 progrefs, with the moft iignal fuceefs, the em- 
 peror Paul, without any remonftrance, without 
 any notification of his Intentions, without even 
 afligning any reafon for his difguft, contrary to' 
 every pledge of honour, and every appearance 
 of form, fuddenly defertcd " the alliance, and 
 ordered his troops to retufn within the Ruf- 
 fian frontier. 
 
 This precipitate and unexpefted defalcation 
 put an ifnmediate check to the progrefs of 
 the Auftrians. The feverlty of the weather, 
 lliortly after, prevented either party from 
 purfuing oiFenfivG operations. Whilfl; they 
 remained in winter quarters, they both wer^ 
 actively employed in making frefli levies, and 
 concerting plans againfl: the opening of the 
 enfuing campaign. The . emperor^ raifed a 
 confiderable body of recruits, ^)ut the ex- 
 haufted ftate of the finances and' popular 
 tion of his hereditary dominions, prevented 
 
 * It muft, IwwevQr, be obferved, that, before iheir ar- 
 rival, Kray had already gained fevcral important victories. 
 
 his 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 Ms efforts from keeping pace with his zeal. 
 Still, however, though lefs numerous than the 
 French, his affairs, when his armies again 
 took the field, wore, by no means, a difcou- 
 raging afpeft. On the Rhine and in Swit- 
 zerland, they kept their ground, and Genoa, 
 which had fo long been a fource of conten- 
 tion and anxiety, whofe natural flrength wa-s 
 fo much augmented by the fpirit of the inha- 
 bitants, and the determined valour of the gar- 
 rifon, was at laft ceded to the flcady perfever- 
 ance of the Auflrian and Englifh arms. This 
 event, fo ardently wifhed for, was the laft 
 which Fortune chofc to feal with her favour. 
 •Every thing has fmce been retrograde. Dif- 
 union in the cabinet has been attended by in- 
 capacity in the field, and the enemy, well 
 ■(kn6wing how to take advantage of thefc dif- 
 tracftions, has in his turn been profperous. 
 
 By what fatality Melas, who muft certainly 
 have been apprized of the powerful army 
 Buonaparte was affembling to make head 
 againfl him,^'' was induced t-o fcatter his forces; 
 
 ■* Melas was informed, over and over again, of the force 
 jof the French, but he would never credit the report. 
 
 B 2 to 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 to make an excurfion into France for the im- 
 material poffeffion of Nice ; and, on his return, 
 to rifle the event of a general engagement with 
 a fuperior army, are myfteries which have never 
 been explained. They certainly were mea- 
 fures totally at variance with his ufual pru- 
 dence. At that moment every thing depended 
 on his keeping his forces collefted. Weakened 
 as the Auftrians had been by their exertions 
 and vidories, their only reafonable hope of 
 ultimate fuceefs, was to acl on the defenfive 
 till the frefli levies arrived. The maxims of 
 difcretion, which were fo legibly infcribed, 
 were, however, difdained, and this fatal and 
 ralh miftake was the fundamental caufe of all 
 the mifery that has enfucd. It was this blind 
 obftinacy that was the immediate occafion of 
 the battle of Marengo, and the difmal chain 
 of difafters which have fincc befallen the Auf- 
 trian arms. Nothing more forcibly proves how 
 every thing that is human, the fate of empires 
 as well as the fortune of individuals, depends 
 on the turn of a moment than this remark- 
 able battle. The Auftrians, although inferior 
 to their adverfaries in number, flulhed with 
 vidory, and proud of the laurels they had ac- 
 quired. 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 quired, received the attack with the confidence 
 of fuccefs. The French, headed by their fa- 
 vourite chief, who had, a few years before, led 
 them on to victory on the fame plains, emu- 
 lous for diftinftion, and eager to difperfe the 
 clouds which had lately tarnifhed their fame, 
 advanced to the attack with equal intrepidity. 
 The ftruggle was furious, anfwerable to the 
 efforts of two high-fpirited armies meeting 
 under fuch circumllances. After fcveral hours 
 of various fuccefs, during which the carnage 
 on both fides was dreadful, the French were, 
 at laft, compelled to give way. Their wings 
 were beaten: — victory was in the hands of the 
 Auflrians. Buonaparte, confovmded with rage 
 and defpair, no longer prefer ved his prcfence 
 of mind. He faw himfelf, for the firft time in 
 his life, abandoned for a moment by Fortune^ 
 He gave up everything for loft,* when a genius, 
 fuperior to his own, totally changed the tide; 
 of advantage, and faved him and his army 
 from deftrudion. The Auilrians, confidering 
 
 * The firfl courier that arrived at Paris, announced his 
 defeat. A fecond appeared about an hour later, who 
 brought the news of the vidory. 
 
 the 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 the vidory as gained, negledcd thofe precau- 
 tions which might have fccurcd it. Intoxi- 
 cated with their fuccefs, the common maxims 
 of prudence were difregardcd, and they w^ere 
 aftuated more by the fpirit of revenge than 
 the fobriety of difcretion. Th^y weakened 
 their centre, and began the purfuit. The pe- 
 netration of Deffaix, who had juft arrived, after 
 a forced march of feveral Icascucs, with a 
 ftrong reinforcement, immediately perceived 
 the miftakc, and what his penetration dif- 
 covered, his firmnefs turned to his advantage. 
 He colleftcd his fatigued and fcattered troops, 
 and waited undifmaycd the Auftrian attack. 
 It made no impreffion on him. Confidence 
 Succeeded to confternation, and he finiflied by 
 gaining a complete viftory. In the arms of 
 victory, like the iliuftrious Wolfe, he expired, 
 lamented by every one but thofe who envied 
 his fame. On fo doubtful an event did the 
 wheel of Fortune turn. The Auftrians, com- 
 pletely routed, fled on every fide; and when, 
 the following morning, they collected the rem- 
 nant of their army, they found thcmlclves fo 
 weakened and reduced, that, from an abfolute 
 w^ant of men, they were obliged to abandon 
 : ^ all 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 all the ftrong places in that quarter, the fruitS 
 of fix months unparalleled hardlhip and toil. 
 
 Diflieartening and unexpected as this fevere 
 reverfe o{ fortune was, the caufe was ft ill far 
 from being hopelefs. A brave and well ap* 
 pointed army was ftlll on the Rhine, to de- 
 fend the empire from the aggrdlion of the 
 enemy. They only required a chief to com- 
 mand them. That want fortune had pro- 
 vided for, and fame had pointed out; but, ca- 
 price or intrigue, or, fomething worfe than 
 either, interfered with his appointment. Tlie 
 arch-duke Charles, one of the firft military 
 charaders of the age, diftinguiflied, even under 
 every dlfadvantage, for his bravery and his 
 fkill, for his good conduft and good faith, for 
 his public and private virtues; refpeded and 
 feared by his enemies ; beloved and efteemed 
 by his friends; the choice of the people, the 
 idol of the foldiers, a patriot and a hero; whofe 
 exalted birth filenccd the clamours of envy, 
 and imparted a weight and dignity to his 
 ftation ; this was the man on whom the eyes 
 of all Europe were turned as the faviour of 
 Germany; as the reftorer of peace ; as the 
 worthy rival and opponent to the genius of 
 
 Moreau; 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 Morcau; and this was the man, (I blufli tot 
 the infirmities of human nature when I fay it) 
 who, owing to fome mean jcaloufies and paltry 
 refentments, was rejefted by the cabinet of 
 Vienna. 
 
 Kray, an excellent and diftlnguifhed of- 
 ficer, already celebrated for his exertions and 
 his fucceflcs, was the pcrfon fixed on (un- 
 der, however, the iame limitations which had 
 formerly fruftrated the views of the Arch- 
 Duke) to fupply his place. He received the 
 command with diffidence. He wiflied indeed 
 to decline it. He knew that his talents, which 
 were perfectly competent to the command 
 with which he had hitherto been entrufted> 
 were infufficient to the duties of fo refponfible 
 a fituation ; and that the prejudices enter- 
 tained againft him, on account of his birth,* 
 would create innumerable jcaloufies, and ma- 
 terially oppofe the fuccefs of his plans. Some 
 trifling advantages, on the part of the enemy, 
 occafioned his removal, and he was fucceeded 
 by men inferior to him both in experience and 
 
 * Kray Is a Hungarian, and his parents were people of 
 no diftindion. 
 
 talent?. 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 talents. Every thing was yet to be remedied; 
 but the blind obftinacy of the cabinet of Vi- 
 enna was not to be convinced. They ftill 
 perfifted in r^fufing to make ufc of the fer- 
 vices of the only man who was capable of 
 ferving thdm efFedually, and the arch-duke 
 John was appointed to this important truft. 
 A young prince of great hopes, but of no ex- 
 perience, was fent to oppofe Moreau, one of 
 the moft confummate generals which this age, 
 fertile enough in military men, has produced. 
 Eager for fame, fo natural to a youthful and 
 ardent mind, an engagement was rather courted 
 than avoided. Tactics and itill prevailed over 
 mifguided impetuofity; innumerable errors 
 were committed ; and the battle of Hohen- 
 linden w^as loft. The fenfation which the 
 news of this defeat occafioned in this country, 
 too fignificantly proved its importance. What 
 Marengo had begun, Hohenlinden completed. 
 The Auftrians fled precipitately in every di- 
 rec^tion, and their retreat was only flopped by 
 an armiftice, which furrendered all the ftrong 
 pofts, in the Tyrol and Franconia, into the 
 hands of the French, and reduced therxi to a 
 fituation the moft humiliating and deplorable 
 
 C they 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 they have known fince their capital was re- 
 lieved, towards the clofe of the 1 7th century 
 from the befieging Turks, by the fuccefsful 
 arms of John Sobiefki.* 
 
 When affairs were thus beyond the power 
 of remedy ; w^hen every misfortune, which 
 might have been averted, had occured ; then, 
 the arch-duke Charles was appointed, unfet- 
 tered by the trammels of the infatuated policy 
 of the Auftrian government, and invefted with 
 full authority to follow the dictates of his judg- 
 ment. He was now allowed to be the only 
 man whofe integrity and genius could favc 
 the wreck of the Auftrian affairs; a conceffion, 
 not the refult of generous convidlion, but 
 merely exacted by the defperate neceffity of 
 
 * I have purpofely rendered this narrative as concife as 
 poflible, and omitted entering Into details which would 
 have led me into an amplification inconfiftent with the na- 
 ture of this work. The intereft of the many intermedi- 
 ate battles is, indeed, completely abforbed by thofe of Ma- 
 rengo and Hohenlinden. Thefe were the melancholy 
 events which ruined the Auftrian caufe. The defeat 
 which fliortly followed the battle cf Hohenlinden and 
 the convention of Steyer, although the arch-duke Charles 
 then had the command, were the natural refult of the de- 
 cifiv* advantages the French had already obtained. 
 
 the 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 the times. The arch-duke accepted the of- 
 fer, ftill wifhing to ferve his country, and to 
 refcue it from the perilous fituation, into 
 which the weak councils of an incompetent 
 adminiftration had plunged it. If any thing 
 could raife his character higher in the opinion 
 of mankind than it already flood, his conduft 
 on this occafion was calculated to produce 
 fuch an effect; for, difgufted as he.muft have 
 been by the impediments which had, all along, 
 been thrown in his way, he has proved to the 
 world, that the good of his country is para- 
 mount to every other confideration, a«d that 
 no perfonal refentment can interfere with the 
 difcharge of fo facred and eflential a duty. 
 
 The condu6l and mcafures of the cabinet of 
 Vienna have, indeed, been ftrange and unac- 
 countable throughout. Decidedly in favour 
 of the war, yet uniformly averfe to thofc mca- 
 fures on the adoption of which the vigorous 
 profecution of it depended, from beginning 
 to end, they have exhibited to Europe an un- 
 interrupted ferics of pra<!:lical errors. Thugut, 
 who was the planner and mover of every pub- 
 lic meafure ; whofe influence had obtained a 
 predominance v>hich no oppofition could con- 
 C 2 troul ; 
 
{ 20 ) 
 
 troul ; with the character of being an able and 
 honeft man ; and, decidedly, a ftrenuous advo- 
 cate for the war ; has been guilty of indifcre- 
 tions, and follies, and contradiftions, Vvhich no 
 ingenuity can reconcile, and which his warmefl 
 partizans are unable to juftify or defend. Such, 
 however, has been the cafe, and fuch have been 
 the effects. Confidence has been uniformly 
 withheld, plans have been continually varying. 
 Nothing could be conjedured, even by thofe 
 in the higheft fituations, before the orders 
 were iflued ; and the battles, in Italy and on 
 the Rhine, w^ere firft fought over in a clofet at 
 Vienna, at the diftance of feverai hundred 
 miles from the fcene of adion. 
 
 It does not, however, appear, notwithftand- 
 ing the alarming calamities of the times, that 
 the Emperor has yet figned peace ; and defpe- 
 rate, comparatively fpeaking, as his prefent 
 fituation unqueftionably is, the French pro^ 
 bably will not find it prudent, by endeavour- 
 ing to cxa6l inadmiffible terms of conciliation, 
 to roufe the latent energies and refentments of 
 his people. I know it to be, an opinion very 
 much abroad, that the French have only to 
 march, to infurc the poiil'cffion of the imperial 
 
 rcfidencc. 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 yefidence. I dp not imagine that to be at all 
 the cafe. Weakened and difpirited, but nei- 
 ther exhaufled nor defencelefs, the Auftrians 
 are ftill a formidable people, and fuch an at- 
 tempt might prove fatal to the republican 
 caufe. Vienna, fituated as it is in the heart of 
 Auftria, with fortifications which alone might 
 pccafion a protracted fiege ; with inhabitants 
 who have given riumberlefs proofs of their at- 
 tachment to the imperial family, and of their 
 abhorrence of the French ; it w^ould certainly 
 be hazardous to exafperate the paffions, and 
 kindle the indignation of a brave and loyal 
 people. In another point of view, the ap-^ 
 proach of the French, lying through a hoftile 
 country, groaning under the cruel fcourge of 
 war, and immediately fuffering from the dread- 
 ful exceffes which have, in all quarters, accom- 
 panied their courfe, the farther they advanced, 
 in the fame degree, would their difficulties and 
 dangers augment. Even, fuppofing them to 
 have furmounted thefe obftacles, and pofted 
 before the gates of Vienna, fummoning the 
 town to capitulate. Would the gates obey 
 the fummons? Not at all. The defence 
 would be commeiifuratc to the value of the 
 
 ftake. 
 
( 22 ) - 
 
 ftake. Who would furrender comfort and 
 peace, for pillage and flaughter ; a mild go- 
 vernment for a tyrannical defpotifm ; fupport- 
 able taxes, for infupportable contributions ? 
 When perfonal happinefs is concerned, all the 
 energies of mankind arm in its defence. This 
 oppofition would allow time to the furround- 
 ing ftates to concert meafures for the relief of 
 the capital. Hungary to the weft, Bohemia 
 to the north, the Tyrolians to the eaft, the 
 Italian ftates to the fouth — ^ail warlike nations, 
 and ftill capable xof great exertions ; thefe are 
 the powers which would rife to refcue their 
 country from a foreign yoke. The ftrength 
 of Auftria is humbled, but not broken. They 
 have been defeated, but they have ftill a ral- 
 lying point, and will never confent to prof- 
 trate themfclves at the feet of an infatiable 
 foe.* 
 
 Thefc 
 
 * The peace is, at length, figned, and the terms of it 
 are before the public. Hiimiliaiing as they are to the em- 
 peror, yet they do not follow up the fyflem of brutal an- 
 nihilation, which has fo ftrongly cbaracierifed the victo- 
 rious proceedings of the French. Much more in truth 
 has been conceded than, from the fituation of the Auftrian 
 
 army, 
 
( ^^ ) 
 
 Thefe multiplied diftrefles and difcomfi- 
 tJares of our only conftant ally, of an ally that& 
 had adhered to the caufe, and continued faith- 
 ful to his engagements, through all the vi- 
 qllfitutes of fortune, have been followed by a 
 general combination again ft us, the moft 
 Ihamelefs and unprovoked, that was ever ex- 
 hibited to the aftoniflimcnt of mankind. This 
 period of depreflion has been long anxioufly 
 waited for, and, the moment it arrived, the 
 fecret machinations of the hoftile powers of 
 the North have been promulgated to the world* 
 
 Scarcely had the emperor Paul withdrawn 
 himfelf from the alliance, than his partiality 
 was converted into hatred, his admiration into 
 afFedled contempt, and the principles of dif- 
 
 army, beaten as it was at all points, could have been ex- 
 peded. This, however, on the part of the French, is 
 lefs a proof of moderation, than of prudence. They had 
 two objefls to accomplifh. The firfl was, not to pu(h 
 the Auftrians to defperation, by endeavouring to exa£l 
 from them what they could not, witliout endangering 
 their independence, fubmit to : the fecond was, to detach 
 from us a faithful and honourable ally, that the whole of 
 their vengeance and ftrength might be dire6^ed againft 
 the only enemy that has the power and the cnpaciiy to in- 
 jure them. 
 
 guft 
 
( ^-t ) 
 
 giift arid revenge fupplanted thofe of cdrdi- 
 idity and fricndfhip. Little more than ^ 
 twelvemonth has elapfed fmce the time, when 
 the Britifh minifter was the favourite of Paul; 
 when his influence wds unbounded; when noi 
 day pafled without aperfonal interview; when 
 ho plan was concerted without his participa- 
 tion, no meafure adopted without his appro- 
 bation and advice; when the Britilh govern- 
 ment and nation were the theme of univerfal 
 applaufe ; when the exertions we had made 
 for the prefervation of focial order were our 
 beft title to panegyric; when the Britifli fac- 
 tory was intrenched by privileges which dif- 
 tinguifhed it from every other; when^ what- 
 ever interfered with our intereft, was lamented; 
 and whatever promoted it was the fubjedl of 
 gratulation ; when, even the birth-right of a 
 Briton, as fir, at leaft,- as he was perfonally 
 concerned, feemed to be tranfplanted to the 
 iliores of the Baltic, and he was, in moil re- 
 fpeds, as free at Peterfbufgh as at London; 
 when, in lliort, every tie of amity and intereft 
 fccmed to be as clofcly united, as the different 
 habits and propcnfities of the two people poffi- 
 bly allowed. 
 
 When 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 When we would inveftigate this hiyftc- 
 Hous fubjedl ; when we would inquire into 
 the caiifes of this fudden and total alienation ; 
 if we were to be guided by the natiiral courf6 
 of events, by the ordinary motives which 
 induce fuch contradictory eft'edis, all invef- 
 tigation, all refearch, would be ufelefs; It 
 is out of the natural and regular courfe of 
 things to which men commonly refer, when 
 they would feafon on the general bias of 
 human aftlons. All this would be unavail- 
 ing fpeculation. It is to the paradoxical 
 nlind of this capricious monarch, that we 
 muft apply for dn explanation ; nor do wcj, 
 by any means, furnilli the firft inllance, in 
 which the moft cordial marks of friendfliip 
 have been fuddenly converted into the moft 
 unbounded enmity. The dark and fufpi- 
 cious features of his foul, the weaknefs ^nd 
 duplicity of his heart> are the palpable caufes 
 of thefe hafty contrarieties, and may ac- 
 count for thofe otherwife irrcconcileable ads 
 of profufion and benevolence, clemency and 
 cruelty, by which his fhort teign has been 
 chequered. 
 
 D Lord 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 Lx)rd Whit worth forefaw the ftorm ga^ 
 therlngj long before it burft, and, abrupt as 
 his difmiffal was, it was lefs fo than might 
 have been expedled from the known im- 
 pctuofity of the emperor's charafter. At 
 firft, however, he conceived it neceffary, in 
 fome meafure, to diffemble, and the ebul- 
 litions of refentment were, for a fliort time, 
 moderated by the maxims of prudence. 
 Thefe were finally deferted for the gratifica- 
 tion of infult and revenge, and the moment, 
 at length, arrived, when a plenary courfe 
 was given to thefe mean paffions. Previous 
 to lord Whitworth's departure, it was pro- 
 pofcd, in order to avoid an open rupture, 
 and preferve fome- relations of harmony be- 
 tween the courts of London and Peterf- 
 burgh, that Mr. Caflamajor, who had, for 
 Ibme time, been fecretary of legation, fliould 
 remain there, in the capacity of charge 
 d'aflaircs. This propofal was affented to, 
 and within ten hours after the arrangement 
 had taken place, as if purpofely to aggravate 
 the infult, a note from the governor of Pe- 
 tcrfburgh was tranfmitted to Mr. Caflama- 
 jory inclofing a paiFport from the emperor, 
 
 peremptorily 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 peremptorily commanding him, immedi- 
 ately, to quit the capital. 
 
 The furprife and confufion, which this 
 unexpefted requifition occafioned, may be 
 eafily imagined. All rcprefentation or ani- 
 madverfion was confidered as ufelefs. The 
 orders were, abfolute, the compliance was 
 unavoidable. Mr. Caffamajor, therefore, 
 made what preparations, the fliort interval dt 
 his difpofal permitted, to quit Peterfburgh, 
 the following morning, with lord Whit- 
 worth ; but fuch was the grofs importunity 
 of the police officers to haften his lordfhip's 
 departure, and fo little refped: did they pay 
 to the charader of aminlfter, who, for fuch 
 a number of years, with fo much honour to 
 his country, and credit to himfclf, had rc- 
 prefented the Britifh nation, that he was 
 obliged; to avoid infults which muft have 
 been publicly noticed, to hurry through the 
 gates of the town, without all his neccflary 
 paflports, and to wait fcveral hours in the 
 fuburbs, till the appearance of Mr. Caflli- 
 major permitted him to proceed on his 
 journey. Such is the hiftory of the fin^l 
 
 D 2 conclufion 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 conclufion of the Britilli miffion at the court 
 of Peterfburgh.* 
 
 I arrived on the 2 1 ft of laft June, juft a 
 fortnight after lord Whitworth's departure, 
 and found every one lamenting the meafure, 
 as well on account of its being likely to in- 
 terrupt the good underftanding which, tq 
 their mutual advantage, had fo long exifted 
 between the two nations, as on account of 
 his lordlhip's private worth, which had, in a 
 great degree, contributed to his public con- 
 fideration, and which, amongft all clafles of 
 people, was the univerfal theme of pane^ 
 gyric. 
 
 A very little obfervation foon enabled me 
 to form an opinion of the emperor's charac- 
 ter, which, in different part§ of Europe, I 
 had heard fo frequently difcuffed, and fo 
 variou% reprefented, I was now on the 
 fpot, where I could afcertain what had long 
 been an objed: of curiofity, the charader of 
 
 * The moment lord Whitworth had pafTed the 
 gates, the news of hjs departure was conveyed to tl)e 
 emperor, who had been outrageous at the delay, and 
 was inftantly pacified. 
 
 ^ a man, 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 ^ man, who, by his inconfiflencies, has chal- 
 lenged the attention of Europe, as much a§ 
 Robefpierre by his barbarities, or Buonaparte 
 by his luccefs. I heard it from many, drawn, 
 indeed, with intended caution, but with 
 that kind of caution which betrays the fen- 
 timents of the heart. It was portrayed by 
 different hands with a fimilitude that left 
 me no roorn to doubt of its identity. | 
 found him dcfpifed as a fovereign, dreaded 
 as a defpot, and detefted as a man. With 
 all the weaknefTes, with many of the vices, 
 of human nature, thefe imperfections are 
 not counterbalanced by any of thofe maf- 
 culine and impofuig virtues, which, without 
 rendering defe6ls venial, glofs them fplen- 
 didly over, and fcreen them, if not from the 
 notice, at le^ft from the reprobation of man- 
 kind. His acfts of favour and bounty are 
 thofe of a man who has much to beftow, 
 but who beftows without difcrimination : 
 his afts of cruelty, injuftice, and tyranny, 
 are thofe of a man who has an indefinite, 
 uncontroulcd power, which he is refolvcd 
 to exercife ; his afts of caprice are the off- 
 fpring of a mind, at times, completely de- 
 ranged. 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 ranged, of feelings irritable to an excefs 
 and of an unmanly, cowardly, fufpicious 
 heart. The promotion of an enemy, or 
 tfie ruin of a friend ; the punifhment of in- 
 tidcence, or the acquittal of guilt ; the ex- 
 altation of ^ peafant, or the banifliment of 
 a noble; are events which depend, not on 
 the merits or demerits of the parties, but on 
 the -momcntaneous prejudices of a whimfi- 
 cal and infatuated defpot. At Peterfburgh, 
 where every thing is, in a manner, under his 
 own eye, the rigours of his government are 
 inconceivable ; and they are exercifed in a 
 way 'the moft vexatious and revolting. In 
 mixed focieties, people dare neither a6l nor 
 ipeak; — to think is fcarcely fafe. Politics 
 and the emperor never become fubjecSs of 
 difcuffion, for fpies, and informers, and po- 
 lice-officers, are at every man's elbow.— 
 Every one ' fufpecSs his neighbour, and is 
 fearful to hazard an cxpreffion which might 
 bie interpreted to his difadvantage. The cm- 
 j)Gror*s laws pervade, and regulate, every 
 branch of domeftic economy — nothing can 
 be done without feeling his power. Even 
 drefi i$ otie of the objects of his regulation; 
 ' ^ ' and 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 and the fhape of a man's coat, or the man- 
 ner in which he puts on his hat, are made 
 matters of importance.* A government 
 which defcends to fiich trifling articles may 
 be dreaded, but cannot be refpefted. When 
 the emperor is in town, if you pafs his pa- 
 lace, which is a long range of buildings, you 
 muft keep off your hat ; and, what is llill 
 more ridiculous and humiliating, if you walk 
 in a garden belonging to him, which adjoins 
 the palace, you muft remain uncovered the 
 whole time.f If in a carriage, and the em- 
 peror happen to be coming, the moment 
 his equipage appears, however great may be 
 the diftance, your coachman muft inftantly 
 ftop, and you muft defccnd, perhaps into 
 the mud, and remain in this degrading poi- 
 
 * Every man muft wear a cocked hat, bucUes iji 
 his fhoes, a drefs coat and waiftcoat ; and a young 
 Kngiifhman, lately arrived, and who was not yet ac- 
 quainted with all the prevalent abfurditie's, was turned 
 out of the opcra-houfe by the police, bccaufe his hair 
 was combed over his forehead. 
 
 t Police officers are in conftant attendance for the 
 inftruftion and difcipline of ilrangers. 
 
 ture 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 ture till he is out of fight.* No pciic!i 
 whatever, even on foot, is fofFcred it any 
 hour, either of the day or night, to pafs the 
 gates of the town without a permiffion. 
 You are flopped, and obliged to Ihew, a 
 printed paper, filled tip, and figned by the 
 governor, fpccifying who you are, and what 
 is your bufinefs. Thefe vexatious proceed- 
 ings are frequently aggravated by the mofl 
 wicked a(5ls of cruelty ; and whilfl I was in 
 the country, a Livonian clergyman received 
 the knout, for having in his pofTeflion a pro- 
 hibited book, and Kotzbue was fent half 
 way into Siberia, for being the fuppofed au- 
 thor of a fatire which he had never feen. 
 I have only mentioned thefe few anecdotes 
 to prove, how irreconcileable to the com- 
 mon feelings of nature any thing but aver- 
 fion can be, to a man who has the privilege 
 to do what he pleafes^ and who employs 
 
 * This ceremony is fo much dreaded, that, when 
 the emperor is in the metropolis, thofe who can af- 
 ford it, depute a part of their fervants to procure in- 
 telligence where he is likely to be met with, that he 
 may be avoided. 
 
 that 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 that privilege in enforcing only what is un- 
 reafonable and unjuft."*^ 
 
 Such is the man who, from being our 
 warmeft friend, is become our bittereft ene- 
 my ; who is at prefent the ftrenuous fup- 
 porter and firm ally of the French ; and who 
 is the grand mover of the northern confede- 
 racy, which is to humble the pride of Bri* 
 tain i to reduce her power ; to ruin her 
 
 * As a proof how much he is dreaded and detefled, 
 none of the principal nobility refide at Peterfburgh, 
 except thofe whole prefence is neceffary, from the 
 fituations they hold about the court. He is i^o con- 
 fcious of his unpopularity, that, in order to create an 
 impofing appearance, by exhibiting the numl^cr of his 
 dependants, he obliges every penon wlio holds an 
 employment under government, even the lowed fcrib- 
 blcr in the loweft office, to appear in the ftreets in a 
 uniform, with a fword, an immcnfe hat, ani jack- 
 boots and fpurs. If any one wilhes to form a jiifljdea 
 of this eccentric being, let him read the ** Memoires 
 ** Secrets de la Ruffie." Moft of the anecdotes are au- 
 thentic, and I had heard them at Peterfburgh before 
 T favv the book. At Mofcow, which the late empiefs 
 ufed to Call her republic, and wliere, even in thefe 
 times, a half-ftifled fpirit of freedom prevails, the ab- 
 horrence and deteftation, in which this tyrant is hoi- 
 dcn^ are more eafily difccrniblc. 
 
 E commerce ; 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 commerce ; to deftroy her very hopes ; arrd, 
 poffibly, in his romantic imagination, to an- 
 nex her empire to his own. I fhall here 
 take a curfory view of the refources of thefe 
 northern ftates ; of their internal fituation ; 
 their miUtary and naval force ; their taxes 
 and finances ; w^hieh will afcertain, in fom<i 
 meafurc, to what extent they can injure us,, 
 and the total hopeleflhefs, on their part, of 
 ultimate fuccefs. 
 
 Ruffia, which is the pillar of ftrength on 
 which this league is to repofc, and from 
 which it derives its principal vigour and 
 fupport, in point of extent, and power, and 
 refources, has an indubitable claim to the 
 firft place. Such, indeed, has been its rapid 
 progrefs in improvement of every kind, 
 that an inhabitant, who had lived a century 
 back, could he be revived, would no longer 
 recognize his country. When, however, 
 it is fhewn, that it is chiefly indebted for its 
 prefent fituation, to its. uninterrupted con- 
 nccSion and intercourfe with Great Britain 
 and its dependencies ; and that, from the 
 moment thofe relations ceafe, the moft bene- 
 ficial and permanent part of its refources w iH 
 
 bq. 
 
( 35 ■) 
 
 h& annihilated, and its commerce dwindle 
 to decay ; that fituatibn will lofe a confider- 
 able part of the alarming afpe6l which it at 
 prefent aflumes. Fro-m a rev iew of the ftate- 
 ment of the exports from the Ruffian em- 
 pire in the year 1 7^Q, (the laft that has been 
 publifhed,) it appears, that about three- 
 fourths of the commerce of that country 
 are carried on by the fubjefts of thefe realms.* 
 The balance of trade, in favour of Ruffia, 
 has been, for the laft twenty years, rapidly in- 
 creafmg, and, averaged for the laft five years, 
 ^ay be eftimated as high as 14,000^00j0 of 
 
 * Of the principal articles, which are hemp, iron, 
 and tallow, we took off, in the courfe of the year, of 
 the firft — of clean hemp 1,276,114 poods (a pood is 
 36 lb.), and of half-clean hemp 162,721 ; — of the fe- 
 cond, 1,591,775; — and of the thii'd, befides tallow 
 candles, 1,385,704. Of thefe fame articles, for the 
 above year, America, with all the other nations in- 
 cluded which have a commercial connexion with Ruf- 
 fia, took off, of the iiifl — of clean hemp, 326,749 
 poods ;—of half-clean hemp, 74,226 ; — of the fecond, 
 408,875 ;— and of the third, 138,332. Other articles, 
 of inferior confumption, were nearly in the fame pi'Qr- 
 portion, 
 
 E ? rubles 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 rubles* per annum, and for the fame termi 
 the revenue, arifnig from the duties im- 
 pofed on the various articles of importation 
 and exportation, one year with another, can- 
 not be calculated below Q,ooo,ooo.f Thefe 
 are the immediate benefits ; but, regarded 
 ii\ a more general point of view, the refult 
 will be infinitely more favourable. It is, in 
 
 * A ruble, when the exchange is at par, is 2s. 6d. 
 flerllng. 
 
 t For the year 1796, the value of the ex- 
 ports at Peterfburgh aloae, amount- 
 ed to - - - 37,110,333 
 
 • — of the imports - - 26,355,890 
 
 Balance in favour of Petcrfburgh, i«>,754',4l-3 
 
 In the year 1799, 456 Britilh fliips v,'ere 
 loaded at Peterlburgh. 'I'he value oi 
 the exports for that year amounted to 38,169,925- 
 
 of the imports, - 20,173,263 
 
 Balance in favour of Peterfburgh, 17,996,662 
 
 # 
 A very confiderable. trade, particularly in mads, 
 hemp, flax and deals, is carried on at Rii^a and Narva, 
 which is, in the fame proportion, advantageous. 
 
 faa 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 lad, the connection of Ruffia with this coun- 
 try, that has principally contributed to ad- 
 vance it to its prefent pitch of opulence and 
 pohtical ftrength ; to eftablifh the founda- 
 tion of its future grandeur, and to introduce 
 thofe fliades of civilization and urbanity 
 wdiich are at prefent apparent. It is this 
 conne<3:ion which pervades and animates 
 every branch of national induftry. Even 
 the internal commerce of the country is car- 
 ried on, chiefly, with Britifh capitals ; and 
 the moment thofe capitals are withdrawn, 
 the Ihock will be immediate, and the effeds 
 ruinous. What the general poverty of the 
 country at firft required, habit has reduced 
 to fyftem, and it is to this day a very ufual 
 practice to pay for the hemp and other va- 
 luable, articles fix months before they are re- 
 ceived.* It is this advancement of money 
 which fecures the cultivator and the mer- 
 chant from rifk, and frequently enables the 
 
 * The contracts are made in December, January, 
 and February, when part of the money, fometimes 
 the whole, is paid, fur goods which are to arrive at 
 feterfburgh in the months of June, July, and Auguft. 
 
 grower 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 grower to purchafe the feed, to bring it to 
 perfedion, and, finally, to deliver it into the 
 hands of the facSor at Peterfburgh, to be pre- 
 pared for exportation. I am aware, that 
 this commercial intercourfe, although fo ad- 
 vantageous to Ruffia, is generally imagined 
 to be abfolutely necefTary to us ; and that, 
 the inftant the Ihipments of hemp, tar, mafts, 
 and other warlike ftores, hitherto procured 
 from the north of Europe, are difcontinued, 
 our navy, on which our ftrength and glory 
 are built, muft inevitably perifh. This, how^- 
 ever, is far from being the caie ; and the 
 ftatement of a few fimple facSs will clearly 
 and readily explain, that the continuation of 
 this trade is interwoven almoft with the po- 
 litical exiftence of Ruffia, and that, even if 
 all fupplies for this country were interdided 
 for a few years, \vc could ftill continue to 
 manage without them. 
 
 According to the mode of prefent w^arfare, 
 it is evident, that a nation, in a ftate of hof- 
 tility, requires three or four times the re- 
 venue and expenditure of its peace eftablifli- 
 mcnt, and that it is neceffary to provide 
 ihmc adequate means of raifmg thofe extra- 
 
 ordinarjT 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 ordinary fupplies. In every country, com- 
 merce is the moft natural, the leaft oppref- 
 five, and moft advantageous method, as it 
 employs the induftry of the lower claiFes of 
 people ; diftufes a fpirit of emulation and 
 difcovery through the country; and draws 
 a great portion of the fruits of thefe com- 
 bined advantages from the v^ants, or defires, 
 or fuperfluous wealth, of other nations. In 
 a moral point of view, it alfo greatly pro- 
 motes the general interefts of the ftate. It 
 makes acftive and induftrious citizens : by re- 
 warding the produftions, it ftimulates the 
 efforts of ingenuity and fkill ; and, by po- 
 liihing the tafte, it influences the general 
 manners of the people. Now, as the wants 
 of a country are increafed, its refources muft 
 keep pace, or it ftands a chance of being 
 foon reduced to a ftate of diforganization 
 and bankruptcy. The peculiar fituation of 
 France, abundant in refources within itfelf ; 
 ^n old nation, long celebrated for its induftry 
 and ingenuity ; already arrived at a high 
 pitch of opulence, civilization, learning, and 
 refinement; where the arts and manufac- 
 tures wxre well underftood, and had long 
 
 flouriflicd ; 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 flourifhed ; moreover, in a ftate of revolu- 
 tion w^hich has transferred the property of 
 individuals to the coffers of the public, and 
 furrounded by rich and civilized countries, 
 which have been, in turn, conquered and 
 pillaged ; the peculiar fituatlon of France, 
 I fay, forms no exception whatever in favour 
 of Ruffia, where the channels of induftry 
 are clogged with innumerable impediments ; 
 where fcarcely any manufadlure is eftabliflied 
 or underftoood ; where the minds of the 
 people are ftill in a ftate of favage ignorance, 
 very diftantly removed from that fcale of 
 advancement in the arts and comforts of 
 life, which muft precede thofe great national 
 eftabhfhmcnts which adminifter to public 
 wants. If, therefore, Ruffia does not export 
 her raw materials, ihe can derive no advan- 
 tage from them whatever ; and, as the 
 growth muft be regulated by the demand, 
 the cultivators no longer finding encourage- 
 ment, would difcontinue their labours ; the 
 regular income of the treafury would ceafc ; 
 and, in the courfe of a few years, the coun- 
 try would be involved in one general fcene 
 of ruin and diftrefs. Thus, it is evident, 
 
 that 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 that Ruffia, attentive to {o important a 
 branch of finance, muft continue to export r 
 and what efcapes the vigilance of our crulz- 
 ers^ will naturally find its w^ay, through in* 
 termediate channels, to the beft market."^ 
 Still fuppofing:( for one may fuppofe any 
 thing) that -the rancorous enmity of the 
 emperor, were fo far to fuperfede his intereft, 
 that he were abfblutely to interdict all ex-* 
 portation, and to raife the requifite contin- 
 gents for the war, by the diflblution of per- 
 fonal rights, and the pillage of private pro- 
 perty. From what what has been already 
 tolerated, one might almoii: argue that no- 
 thing will be. refifted ; yet the feelings of 
 human nature, paffive and obedient as they 
 frequently are, would at laft rebel; and 
 fuch flagrant acSs of tyranny and opprefiion 
 would, certainly, remove him from the helm 
 of affairs, long before we flood in need of 
 frefh fupplies from his dominions* The 
 number of fhips of war, wx can at prefent 
 fit out, is much more than a match for all 
 
 * What we get in a regular way will cofl dearer ; 
 but what we capture will probiibly looie than reftore 
 the balance. 
 
 F the 
 
( <2 ) 
 
 the navies in Europe, and the ftorcs we have 
 {till on hand, muft be fufficient for the con- 
 fumption of feveral future years. 
 
 But, even admitting that very cirum- 
 ftance fliould turn out as unfavourably as 
 our worft enemies can v^^ifh ; admitting that 
 our intercourfe with Ruffia wxre to ceafe 
 for ever; and that, by no poffible means, 
 the king*s warehoufes and dock-yards could 
 be repleniflied with ftores from that coun- 
 try ; ftill we are not cut off from every re- 
 fource.- — We have colonics of our own, 
 which might be ufefully employed in the 
 Cultivation of hemp and timber. The cli- 
 mate and foil of Canada are very fimilar to 
 thofe parts of Ruffia which are moft favoiir* 
 able to the growth of thcfe valuable com- 
 modities ; and it would be well worthy the 
 confidcration of gentlemen in adminiftra- 
 tion (at all events) to turn their attention 
 towards the eftablifliment of a plan of fuch 
 national advantage, Canada, which at pre- 
 sent is a great expence, and perhaps no ad- 
 vantage, to the mother country, would then 
 become of an importance continually in- 
 crcafing. Not only Britifli capitals would 
 
 then 
 
C 43 ) 
 
 then be employed in the production of fudi 
 important materials, but the profits would 
 be entirely fliared by Britifh fubjeds. The 
 revenue arifing from the duties on thcfc ar- 
 ticles, would at the fame time, greatly alfill 
 the finances, and, in the event of any future 
 war w^ith Ruffia, we Ihould be pcrfc<Slly in- 
 dependent of her.* 
 
 The emperor Paul, in confequence of the 
 growing ftrength of his empire, and his cx- 
 tenfive and valuable acquifitions in Poland 
 and Livonia, is, at prefent, (as far as his mi- 
 litary force is confidered) the moft powerful 
 fovereign on the continent. He can bring 
 into the field oO0,G00 men, who are raifed 
 with little trouble, and maintained at a fmall 
 
 * In the year 1790, when we were arming agaitift 
 Ruffia, and a rupture between the two countries was 
 fully expected, it was the general opinion among 
 the heft informed people on the continent, that, if it 
 had taken place, the final difmemberment of Poland 
 would have been prevented ; and the Poles, continu- 
 ing our allies, or at leaft, having an interefl always at 
 variance with Ruffia, with one or the other, we fhould 
 ever have been in friendfliip, and lliould have fccured 
 the receipt of thefe valuable materials. 
 
 F 2 expence. 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 expence,* 'Yet, fGrmidablc as this force i?, 
 and advantageoufly as it might be employed 
 in a continental war, ftil!, confidcring the 
 number of foldiers which mull remain at 
 home, to preferve internal peace, in a coun^. 
 try whofe government is purely military v 
 the number that is alfo requifite to watch 
 the defigns of their neighbours, along their 
 extenfive frontiers; the difficulty and ex- 
 pence of tranfporting a large army to a dif- 
 tant quarter of the globe ; and, laftly, the 
 utter impoffibility of difembarkation, un- 
 lefs their tranfports are covered and proteft- 
 cd by a fuperior force at fca ; fo many infu- 
 pcrabje obftaclos ftart up to fcparate them 
 from this countrv, that the Ruffian army, 
 
 * A Ruffian foldier is clothed once i^ three year?, 
 and his pay amounts to fiom feven to nine rubles per 
 annum. He has bcildes, one pound of coarl'e rye- 
 bread allowed him daily ; and this, with fait and uni- 
 ons, is his only fuftenance. This is, indeed, the gene- 
 ral fare of the pcafantry in l^uffia, and other northern 
 countries, yet they arc robuil and hcahhy, which 
 f:Jearly proves, how very erroneous the ideas of the 
 Englifh are refpedting the nutritive properties of dif- 
 ferent kinds of grain. 
 
 formidable 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 formidable as it is to its neighbours, as an 
 inftrument to be employed againft Britain, is 
 ^ confideration of little or no momenta 
 
 With refpedt to the ftate of the Imperial 
 fleet, any fear from tliat quarter is fo far 
 from.exifting, that we muftjcontemplate it 
 as about to furnifli a rich.haryeft, both of 
 profit and glory, to our inyincible tars. Were 
 the emperor to colled: his fcattered navy, 
 I imagine, he could mufter upA'ards of forty 
 fliips of the line ;. but as he muft, efpecially 
 at this moment, keep up a confiderablc 
 force in the Black Sea, to overawe the 
 Turks, this number will be materially re- 
 duced. Still a large fleet remains. B^t^ 
 having fhips, and making ufe of the*>i- /:^. ' 
 two dixFererit queftions ; and, from the r . 
 ber left, you may deduft nearly a fourth, "^z 
 which are in fo periiliabic a condition, that 
 the firft ftorm they encounter, will, in all 
 probability, render unneceflary any further 
 attack. He will find no fmall difficulty in 
 properly manning and equipping the refi- 
 due, for the RuflTians are far from being ex- 
 pert navigators ; and, if they reckon on fuc- 
 f:crs from the good fortune that attended 
 
 them 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 them in the Turklfh war, they will foon 
 find they have a different enemy to encoun- 
 ter. The beft lliips, and the beft failors, in 
 their fervice, are thofe which continued fo 
 long in this country, w^here the former 
 were repaired, and the latter inftrufted. Of 
 the fhips, they may, doubtlefs, make fome 
 ufe ; but fuch is the known predilection of 
 the failors for England, that the government 
 w^ill be cautious how it employs them againfl: 
 us."* In addition to this difordered and de- 
 lapidated ftate of their marine, fo little is 
 the art of naval architediure at prefent un- 
 derftood, that the two laft ihlps which were 
 built at Pcterfburgh, received fuch confider- 
 able damage in the launching, that, by the 
 
 * I was at Peteiiburgh when the failors arrived from 
 England. They fpoke the language, and had a good 
 deal the manners and appearance of Britilh feamen. 
 So fuperior did they confider themfelves to their bro- 
 ther- failors at Peterfburgh, that they difdaincd to aflb- 
 ciatc with them, and were always feen in kots toge- 
 tlicr. They fpoke openly in favour of England, and 
 refufed to throv/ afide their blue jackets and trowfers, 
 notwithilanding tlie emperor had iflued two orders to 
 thateffea. 
 
 time 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 time they were got over the bar^* they were 
 fo ftralned, and otherwife rendered incapa- 
 ble of fervice, that they were towed into 
 dock at Croniladt, to undergo a thorough 
 repair. J 
 
 After 
 
 * llie bar is a bank of fand which traverfes the 
 Neva, oppoiite the lower end of the Englifli quay, 
 and prevents any veflcl . from paffing, which draws 
 above nine feet water. To enable large fhips to get 
 over it, they arc obhged to make ufe of camels — ma^ 
 chines which raife them out of the water to the nc' 
 ceflary height, 
 
 X At the launch of the Blagodat, the largeft fliip in 
 the RufHan navy (being pierced for 130 guns) and 
 which now figures fo confpicuouily at the head of their 
 marine' hft, I was prefent. It was the fecond attempt 
 to get her into the water. The emperor had been 
 greatly enraged at his iirfl difappointment, for, on the 
 lignal being given to cut the Ihores, Ihe did not move 
 an inch. A perfon was, however, hardy enough to offer 
 his fervices, and to pledge himfelf for the fuccefs of a 
 fecond experiment. His propofal was acceded to, and 
 a dillant day was fixed on. In the interim, workmen 
 were employed, and neither expence nor pains were 
 fpared to infure a fortunate ilTue. The emperor jufl 
 about the time, happened to lofe a grand-daughter, 
 the only child of his eldefl fon, the grand-duke Alc» 
 ander. As he diflikes going to Peteifburgh on account 
 of the cool reception he always meets with fmm his 
 
 fubjecis, 
 
( ^« ) 
 
 After having thus fllghtly re^aewed the 
 military and naval forces of RulTia> I Ihall 
 
 now 
 
 fubjefts, (who, fo far from crowding to fee him, excep^ 
 fomething elfe is alfo to be feen, purpofely avoid him) 
 he appointed the fame day for the burial and the 
 launch, at both which ceremonies he was defirousof 
 being prefent. The funeral took place early in the 
 morning, and, by eleven o'clock, the emperor, at- 
 tended by moft of his principal officers of ftate, was 
 in the dock-yard of the admiralty, once more in the 
 hope of feeing the largeft fliip .that 'had ever been 
 built in Ruflia, defcend into the water. So certain 
 was he, that flie would not difappoint his expecta- 
 tions, that he had filled his pockets with orders (of 
 \yhich he is known to be very lavifh) in the view of 
 rewarding thofe who had fuperintended the launch, 
 and furnilhed him with fo high a gratification. , The 
 bridge, and the oppoiite fhore of the Neva, vyere 
 crowded with fpe£lators, to witnefs fo extraordinarr 
 a fpe(^acle, and to participate in the curioCty, rather 
 than in the joy, of their fovereign.. Every one wa| 
 waiting in filent fufpence for the fignal. At iafl it wa§ 
 given. The Ihip began to move, which, when Paul 
 perceived, he, immediately, interpreted it into the 
 a(CompIiIhnicnt of his wifiics, and liaflily put hi^ 
 hands into Ills pockets fur the gracious marks of hl$ 
 favour. At that very moment, juil as he had half pro- 
 duced them, tlieiiiip, after having lluggillUy advanced 
 about, u foot, made a full flop, 'ihc emperor thruib 
 
 his 
 
( ^0 ) 
 
 now curforlly advert to the revenue and 
 taxes, which are the foundation and fupport 
 of this powerful eftablifhment. The reve- 
 nue of Ruffia, v/hich, in confequcnce of the 
 Jncreafing extent of its commerce, has been, 
 for feveral years, gradually improving, is ge- 
 nerally e'ftimated as high as 50,000,000 ru- 
 bles, of which, as I have lilready obferved, 
 the duties on exportation and* importation, 
 amount nearly to one-fifth. In a govern- 
 ment, which is fupported by a gradual chain 
 ofdefpotifm, extending, from fuperior to 
 inferior, through all ranks, it is eafy to 
 
 his orders back Into his pockets, fell into a mighty 
 rage, {Irutted up to his horfe, mounted, and rod^ off. 
 After his departure, very great eiForts were made, dur- 
 ing the whole of that day, to get her afloat, but in vaia. 
 They lowered Iier, indeed, till about half her hull was 
 hanging over the water, and the other half was adher- 
 ing to th^ machinery oh Ihore. In this critical litua- 
 'tion flie remained about four and twenty hours, when, 
 by mere dint of mechanical ftrength, they at laft fuc- 
 ceeded ; but not before they had broken her back, 
 ftarted feveral of her beams, and (trained her port- 
 holes in fuch a manner, that they exhibited, through- 
 'out, diagonal lines. I could not help congratulating 
 the Ruffians, whom I already confidered as our ene- 
 mies, on theirlkill in naval architecture. 
 
 G imagine 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 imagine on whom the chief burden imme- 
 diately falls. The burghers, the free pea- 
 sants, and the vaflal-boors, all contribute 
 their quota of impofts. Each male pays a capi- 
 tation tax of from one to two rubles ; and, 
 according to the diftridl he inhabits, is liable 
 to more or lefs of perfonal duty. This is al- 
 fo one of the principal fources of revenue to 
 the ftate. The others are, chiefly, the tax 
 on public houfes and diftilleries; the excife 
 and inland duties; the taxes on lalt and 
 wines; the duties on law proceedings, 
 on {lamps, and the filheries. The nobility 
 and clergy, till lately, were exempt from all 
 d'lTcS: impofts, but, fmce the acceffion of 
 the prefent emperor, a tax on ground and 
 houfes in towns, has been levied ; and a tax 
 of 10 kopeeks a defatine,* on all landed 
 property, is generally talked of. Favourable 
 ^s this fyftem of taxation apparently is to the 
 higher clafTes, and opprefTive to the lower, 
 it is, ultimately burdenfome to all ; for, al- 
 though the nobles are fubjed: to little or no 
 taxation in a direcS poiiit of view, indiredly, 
 
 A def^tiae is eighty fathom long and thirty broad. 
 
 they' 
 
( 51 ) 
 
 they provide the money which is tranf- 
 mitted to the imperial treafury. The vaflal- 
 boors, by far the moft numerous clafs ot 
 people, are in a ftsite of the moft abjecfl fer- 
 vitude, almoft entirely at the difpofal of their 
 mafters, who may fell them, or exchange 
 them, or tranfplant them, atpleafure; and 
 tnay, lawfully, exercife any authority over 
 them, fhort of the infli6lion of death. The 
 value of an eftate is eftimated, not accord- 
 ing to the number of acres it contains, but 
 according to the number of fouls (that. is to 
 fay, malc-flavcs) that appertain to it. They 
 have no civil rights whatever ; their property 
 is their lord's, and he may take the whole, or 
 any part of it from them. It is he, therefore, 
 who, in facl, pays the capitation tax : it is 
 he who provides the labours that his pea- 
 fants are obliged to beftow, on the repara- 
 .tion of the high-ways, the tranfportation of 
 artillery, and other public works : the lofs 
 is his, \yhen the army requires men, and his 
 vaffals are called upon to ferve.* When all 
 
 thcfe 
 
 * This tax, particularly in time of war, is more fe- 
 rioully felt than any other, for every polTeilbr of flaves 
 
 O 2 is 
 
( 52 ) - 
 
 tfteic clrcumftances are taken into calcufe* 
 tion ; when the relative poverty and barba- 
 roufnefs of the country are confidered ; when 
 it is recollefted how few opulent people are^^ 
 to be met with; how confined is the fpirit 
 of enterprize, or the difFufion of induftry; 
 it will be found, that the rich, in propor- 
 tion to their means, contribute as much, the 
 poor infinitely more, (for they contribute 
 their freedom) to the exigencies of the ftate,. 
 than the inhabitants of this country. 
 
 is obliged to contribute his proportion to tlie wants of 
 the army. In common yeais,about one in four hundred 
 is the ufual demand ;■ but, in cafes of extraordinary le- 
 vies, it fometimes happens, that one in an hundred is 
 taken. But as in the numeration of males, all ages 
 and defcriptions are included, and as the men provided 
 for the emperor's fervice muftbe in perfe£l health and 
 vigour, and between the age of fixteen and forty-five, 
 the proportion he bears to others of that defcription is 
 at leaft as one to twenty-five. A man of this deno- 
 mination is generally worth from thirty to forty pounds, 
 fo that the Count Sheremetyef, who is the poflefTor of 
 150,000 vaffal boors, fometimes contributes, in this 
 way alone (reckoning each man on an average at the 
 very moderate rate of thirty pounds) 1500 men, or 
 4-5,0001. ilerliflg. 
 
 re- 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 . I remained atPeterfburgh but about a fort- 
 night after the launch of the Blagodat, and, 
 five days after my departure, the firfl em- 
 bargo was laid on the Englifli ihipplng * 
 
 From 
 
 * The day before I left Peterfburgh, the emperor 
 fent to Cronftadt, to know how many Englifh iliips 
 were there, and which had received their paiTports^ 
 This meflage created much alarm, as it plainly indi- 
 cated what meafures were fliortly to be purfued. A 
 few days after, the embargo took place, and the Bri- 
 tifh merchants, being fummoned by the Governor of 
 Peterfburg, were informed, that they were under ar- 
 reft, and commanded to deliver to him, for the infpec- 
 tion of his mafter, an accurate ilatement of their re- 
 fpeftive properties. They rcmonftrated againft the 
 nieafure, and ilated the utter impoflibility of immedi- 
 ately complying with fuch an order. They were ac- 
 cordingly difmifTcd, and, the following day, police of- 
 ficers were fent round to demand the deliverance of 
 their books, which were to undergo an examination 
 by a committee appointed for the purpofe. On, how- 
 ever, the arrival of a courier from Copenhagen, who 
 brought intelligence that the difpute with us was, for 
 the prefent, adjufled, the books were reflored, and 
 things, infome degree, refumed their former iituation. 
 This was the ollcnfible, but not the real motive; for, 
 on enquiry, it was found that the moft favourable op- 
 portunity for the detention of the Britifh fhips had 
 not been embraced. This -was the fiiare that was 
 
 reforted 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 From Peterfburgh I proceeded to Stock- 
 holm. 
 
 I had 
 
 reforted to, and this was the reafon of the firft em- 
 bargo being taken of, and the fecond being laid on, 
 when there were 189 Britilh ihips, and nearly 
 2,000,0001. of Britifli property at Cronfladt, Peterf- 
 burgh and Riga. The whole of this property is fe- 
 que{lered,thefhips are detained, and upwards of 2200 
 Britifli failors were, at an inclement feafon, marched 
 into the interiour of the country, where, if it had not 
 been for the generous philanthropy of the Britifli fac- 
 tory, they muft all have certainly periflied for want 
 of clothes and food. All this has been done without 
 either infultor injury, or the flighteft provocation on 
 our part, and in dired violation of a folemn treaty. 
 The treaty of commerce and navigation between 
 Great Britain and Ruflia, in 17()6, which ferves as a 
 balls to that of ny3> declares in the following ex- 
 prefs terms, the privileges and protedlionto be granted 
 to the refpedlivc merchants, in the event of a rup- 
 ture between the two countries. 
 
 Art. 12. "If, what God forbid ! the peace fliould 
 come to be broke between (he two high contra£ling 
 parties, the perfons, fliips, and commodities, fhall 
 not be detained, or confifcated; but they fliall be al- 
 lowed, at leaft^ the fpace of one year, to fell, difpofe, 
 or carry oiF their effects, and to retire wherever they 
 pleafc ; a flipulation that is to be equally undcrflood 
 o.f all Ihofe who are in the land or ica fervlce; and 
 
 they 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 I had already heard how completely the 
 latter court was under the influence of the 
 former, nor w^as it poffible to avoid obferv- 
 ing the coolnefs with which the Englifti 
 were treated. Our charge d'affaires, Mr, 
 Talbot, the fucceflbr to Mr. Hailes, had 
 been there upwards of four months, with- 
 out having been taken notice of by the 
 king, and without an interview with any 
 officer of ftate, till he had peremptorily in- 
 fifted on an audience. All connexion with 
 him, in his public capacity, was ftudioufly 
 avoided, and court days were put off to fomc 
 indefinite term, that a plaulible pretext 
 might be framed for the delay of hi^ in- 
 trodudiion. Our condud:, relative to the 
 Swedifh convoy, and the right of fearch of 
 neutral veiTels, which Sir William Scott's 
 decifion, in the court of admiralty, had pub- 
 
 they fhall farther be permitted, either at or before 
 (heir departure, to confign the efFeds which they fliall 
 not as yet have difpofed of, as well as the debts that 
 fliall be due to them, to fuch perfons as they fhall 
 think proper, in order to difpofe of them according to 
 their defne, and for their benefit ; which debts, the 
 debtors fhall be obliged to pay, in the fame manner as 
 5f no fuch rppture had happened.'* 
 
 liflied 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 lifhed to Europe, we were rerolvcd to main- 
 tain, had exafperated the king to a degree 
 of bitternefs which his demeanour towards 
 the Englifh evidently betrayed. This fyf- 
 tem has, however, been, from time imme- 
 morial, adopted by the maritime ftates of 
 Europe, each in its tyrn, " whenever they 
 have been in a fituation to enforce it ; is 
 juftified by the principle of felf-prefervation, 
 and is fupported by the opinions of the moft 
 diftinguifhed writers on the fubjed:.* It is 
 true, that the extreme rigour of the law has, 
 by treaty, to anfwer the particular views of 
 difterent ftate.s, been frequently difpenfed 
 witB ; but this very circumftance of its be- 
 coming matter of negociation, corroborates 
 the pofition, that the right already exifted, 
 and that the abandonment of it is purely 
 conventional. It feems indeed to be re- 
 duced to this fimple proportion. As long as 
 
 * Vide Grotius de Jure Bel. ac Pac lib. iii. cap 1. 
 fcft. 5. lif. lib. iii. cap. 6, feft. 6, in notis. 
 
 Bynkeifhock Queflionum, Jur. Pub. lib. i. cap. 1 }. 
 PufFendoifF, lib. viii. cap. 6, fe(^. 7, in notis. 
 Vattel, liv. iii. chap. 7, fe*£t. 113 et 114. 
 11 Confolato del Mare, cap, 273— 2S7. 
 
 inde- 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 independent ftates, declaring their neutra- 
 lity, ad: up to this declaration, no other go- 
 vernment has a right to interfere with the 
 exercife of their independence : but as, dur- 
 ing the times of war, the belligerent powers 
 cannot, without fearch, afcertain whether 
 veflels, failing under a neutral flag, belong 
 to the ftate whofe flag they hoift ; or, if af- 
 certained, whether they are not carrying 
 warlike ftores, or other aid, to the enemy of 
 that power : therefore, from the neceffity of 
 the cafe, the right of fearch has been efl:a- 
 bliflied and admitted; and certain articles 
 have been declared contraband, fubjefting 
 the fald veflels, on dlfcovery, to the pe- 
 nalty of confifcation. The fairnefs of this 
 right is indifputable ; for it is evident, that 
 the moment a veflel, belonging to a neutral 
 power, becomes the carrier of ftores, or 
 other articles of aid or moleftation to your 
 enemies, fhe, to all intents and purpofes, 
 departs from her neutrality ; fhe favours 
 your adverfary, and injures you; and, on 
 that account, ihould be confidered and treat- 
 ed as a party in hoftllity againft you. The 
 Svvedes, however, although they admit the 
 right of fearch, in particular cafes, deny the 
 H general 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 general principle, and contend, that when 
 merchant fhips, whofe cargoes have been 
 regularly entered, and previoully examined, 
 at the cuftom-houfe, fail under convoy of a 
 ihip of war, we ought to be fatisfied with 
 the declaration of the king's captain. Now, 
 it is, on very good grounds, fufpedted, that 
 this fleet, about which the difpute arofe, and 
 the trial and decifron in our court of ad- 
 miralty depended, was fent out, merely by 
 way of experiment ; that the neceflary in- 
 ftrucftions w^re given ; that it was intended 
 it Ihould fall into our hands ; and that 
 the iflue was forefeen. Of courfc, on 
 the examination of the fhips, when they 
 were brought into our ports, nothing coa- 
 traband was found on board. But, had wc 
 allow ed ourfelves to be over-reached by this 
 feint, and at all relaxed in our determina- 
 tion to maintain the principle of fearch in 
 all its rigour, who can pretend to fay, that 
 the Svvedifli government would not have 
 connived at the illicit commerce of its fub- 
 jcd:s, and that regular fleets, at convenient 
 fcafons, provided with convoys, and pro- 
 tedcd by the Swedifh flag, would not have 
 become the carriers of the property of our 
 
 enemies. 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 ctit^mies. This, it appears to me, is the na- 
 ttiral refult of every inquiry into this impor- 
 tant queftion. How much it behoves us to 
 iniiil: on its fulfihnent, is equally clear. So 
 much, indeed, in my opinion, does the fuc- 
 cefs or failure of modern warfare depend on 
 the aid and fuppllcs received from other 
 countries, thai: it fecms, in tiie abftracS, to 
 be a fair and legal rule of action, in order 
 to diftrefs your enemy as much as poflible, 
 to intercept, if you can, all communication 
 whatever with other ftatcs, provided you 
 inake good any damage or lois which 
 may be fuftained by fuch a general inter- 
 ference. All maritime wars muft, from 
 their nature, be felt more or lefs by thofe 
 maritime ftates which are not engaged in the 
 contefl. This is an evil arifing out of the 
 very circumftance of war ; and as the jurif- 
 didion of no country can extend to the high 
 feas, and no fuperior tribunal is inftituted to 
 decide quelllons which may arife relative to 
 the dlfputed rights of independent nations, 
 we can only, in thefe cafes, refer to the ge- 
 neral pra dice of mankind. 
 
 H2 Thefe 
 
( 60 ) 
 
 Thefe maxims, which have been the oc- 
 cafion of fo much remonftrance, and have,, 
 of late, been fo ftrenuoufly refilled by the 
 northern ftates, have, at different periods, 
 been as ftrenuoufly fupported, and by none 
 more fo than by the late king of Sweden, 
 during his w^ar with Riifiia. We have alfo 
 this additional plea to urge, in defence of 
 the candour and impartiality of Sir William 
 Scott's decifion, that we only expe6l from 
 other countries what, under fimilar circum* 
 ftances, v/e fhould willingly fubmit to our- 
 felves : and, in the event of any future na- 
 val conteft, in which other ftates may be 
 employed without our participation, we 
 bind ourfelves to obferve thofe principles 
 and regulations which, we now infill on, 
 Ihall be the rule of conduft for others. The 
 French, even fmce the commencement of 
 the prcfent war, when their navy was on a 
 more refpecSable footing than at prefent, 
 pufhed this principle much beyond the extent 
 which we claim. And at this very moment, 
 is not the northern confederacy cxercifing a 
 power much greater than wc ever pretend- 
 ed 
 
( 0' ) 
 
 ed to, by obliging all neutral ftates to break 
 off their commerce with us, and to Ihut their 
 ports againft our Ihips ? Thefe ^re the ad- 
 vocates for an enlarged fyftem of neutrality! 
 Thefe are the champions who are drawing 
 their fwords for the protection of the rights 
 of neutral nations ! Who can obferve their 
 condu(5t, without perceiving their views ? 
 
 But it is time to difmifs this queftion, 
 and to turn our confideration to the fitua- 
 tion and refources of Sweden, which we are 
 now obliged to regard as an enemy. How 
 little fhe will be able to cope with the 
 power, and wealth, and fpirit of Great Bri- 
 tain, and how fatal fuch a trial of her 
 ftrength muft be to her own interefts, the 
 following ftatement of fafts will plainly de- 
 monftrate. 
 
 Since the death of the late king, whofe 
 w^ars, ambition, and profufenefs, completely 
 impoverilhed his country, naturally barrea 
 in refources, the finances have been in fuch 
 a deranged ftate, that, notwithftanding the 
 laudable economy which was adhered to, dur- 
 ing the minority of the prefent king, and 
 which has been perfevered in fmce he took 
 
 the 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 the reins of government into his own hands, 
 to endeavour to redeem them, in fome mea- 
 fure, from total ruin, the heaviefl: taxes have 
 been impofed, and the harfheft meafures re- 
 forted to. Previous to the diet which was 
 affembled at Norkoeping, in the beginning 
 of the lafl: year, and continued its fittings 
 till the latter end of May, all ranks of people 
 ■were difcontented with the oppreffive bur- 
 dens under which they laboured, which 
 their general poverty and diftrefs could little 
 enable them to fupport, and from a portion 
 of which, the long duration of peace had 
 afforded them the confoling profpecS; of 
 being exonerated. So far, however, were the 
 deliberations of this national convention 
 from being occupied about the redii6tion of 
 old taxes, that they were devifmg rheans for 
 providing, by fome uncommon exertion, for 
 the alarming exigencies of the fl'atc, to w^hich 
 the increafmg circulation of paper-money* 
 
 * This paper is at piefent in fuch difcicclit, that it 
 is fomctimes fold in Stockhohii at public faie, and fuf- 
 tains a lofs of from 40 to 45 percent. 
 
 For the Jaft year and a half I was on the continent, 
 that is to fay, from my arrival at Vienna till my re- 
 turn 
 
( 03 ) 
 
 had a good deal contributed^ and which It 
 was their firm purpofc to diminifh. The 
 evil had taken too deep a root for any com- 
 mon appHcation to remedy : and after much 
 
 turn to Hamburgh, after liaving travelled through 
 Hungary, Poland, Rudia, Sweden, Norway, and Den- 
 mark, I never faw any thing but paper in circulation. 
 That of the Auflrian flates is now in total difcredit. 
 In Ruffia it fuftains a lofs of 55 to 60 per cent. — In 
 Sweden, of from 40 to 45; — in Denmark, of 25 per 
 cent. What ilronger proof can be afforded of the 
 fubllantiai credit of this country ? The natural quef- 
 tion arifing from all thefe obfcrvations is, What is be- 
 come of the fpccic of Europe ? Multifarious caufcs 
 have contributed to its difappearancc, and in thefe 
 times of uncertainty, the fears of individuals have not 
 a little affifled. There is alfo another great and per- 
 manent caufe, which, unlefs new mines are difcovered 
 to fupply the deficiency, will, in the courfe of a few 
 centuries, nearly annihilate thefe valuable metals. It 
 is a well known, fad, that the gold and filver, import- 
 ed into Europe from America, are little more than an- 
 fvverablc to the demand for the manufadurcs of this 
 quarter of the globe ; and that this fmall furplus is by 
 no means adequate to the wear and tear of ihefe preci- 
 ous metals in coin, and to the reftitutionoftheimmenfe 
 quantity which is annually exported for the produc- 
 tions of the eafl: fo that they muil be gradually be- 
 coming fcarcer, and confequently of an intrinfically 
 greater value. 
 
 ferlous 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 ferlous difcuffion, the following fcheme was 
 recommended by the king, and confider- 
 ed as the wifeft and fafeft that could be 
 adopted. 
 
 The paper in circulation amounts to 
 J5,000,000 of rlx dollars. The nominal 
 value of the rix dollar (and the real value at 
 which it was originally iffued) is 48 Ihil- 
 lins-s.* Each rix dollar is to be bouo^ht in 
 by government, at the rate of 40 fhillings in 
 ipecie, making a dedud:ion of one-fixth, or, 
 on the whole circulating paper, of 2,500,000 
 rix dollars — 12,500,000 will ftill remain; 
 to diminifli which, a contribution of tw^o 
 per cent, on all property is to be levied in 
 the fpace of two years, viz. one per cent, 
 each year, making an income tax, according 
 to the rate of intereft in Sweden, which is 
 iix per cent, of thirty-three two-thirds per 
 cent, for the two years. *f The taxable pro- 
 perty 
 
 * A Swedifh fhilling is about one penny ilerling. 
 
 t No defcription of people is to be excufed from 
 this tax, except thofe whofe aggregate property does 
 not amount to fifty rix dollars, or three rix dollars per 
 annum: fo that the pooreft clafs muft contribute their 
 Iharc, in the fame proportion as the richefl. How 
 
 <I liferent 
 
( ^5 ) 
 
 perty of Sweden is eftimated at 250,000,000 
 of rix dollars, half real, and half perfonaL 
 This tax will, therefore, produce 5,000,000 
 rix dollars, ftill leaving a balance of 7,500,000. 
 Of this fum it is propofed, that 5,000,000 
 fliall continue in circulation, and that the 
 remaining 2,500,000 fliall be extinguiflied 
 by a finking fund, for the creation of which 
 additional impofts are to be laid. In order 
 to infure the fuccefsful operation of this ha- 
 zardous fcheme, and to affift in bringing 
 fpecie and bullion, as faft as poffible, to the 
 mint, the confumption of coffee and ipi- 
 ritous liquors,* which are procured from 
 
 foreign 
 
 different is the principle and the operation of the in- 
 come tax with us, where there is a regular gradation 
 from 2001. to 60l. and where thofe who have an in- 
 come below 60l. per annum, pay nothing. 
 
 * With regard to coffee and fpirituous liquors^ 
 which have been fuppofed to drain the country of its 
 ca(h, the government has afted on a totally miftaken 
 principle. They llill continue to be confumed in 
 nearly the fame proportion ; and as they are now 
 fmuggled, they coll dearer to the individual, whilfl, at 
 the fame time, the treafury is deprived of the duties 
 formerly paid on their lawful introdu6lion. The real 
 fa£l is, when a country is impoverifhed to a certain 
 
 I degree, 
 
( GO ) 
 
 foreign countries, and the ufe of all filks, 
 except black and grey, arc ftriclly forbidden ;. 
 and all perfons, poffeffing plate or other 
 articles in filvxr, exceeding, in weight, ten 
 plots or five ounces, are required, without 
 referve or delay, to deliver them up for the 
 fervice of the mint, which is only bound to 
 pay, in return, their intrinfic value. Thefe 
 harfh and arbitrary meafures have occafioned 
 an univerfal clamour and difcontent. When, 
 however, the ftate finds it neceflary to have 
 recourfe to them, at a time when all the or- 
 dinary objefts of taxation are exhaufted 
 when the neceflaries of life are at double 
 their ufual price ; when even bread is much 
 fcarcer, and dearer, and worfe than with us; 
 and when there is no fubftitute for bread ; 
 no one can doubt of the defpcrate fituation 
 of the country. If, moreover, this has hap- 
 pened to Sweden after an uninterrupted pe- 
 
 degi-ee, not having a fufficient extent of commerce to 
 recover itfelf, money becomes too valuable an article 
 ever to be I'cen in abundance ; and, I am convinced, 
 if Swede;i had the means of making a coinage an- 
 fwerable to the demand, things would fliortly, revert 
 to their prefent flatc. 
 
 riod 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 riod of ten years of peace, what chance of 
 fuccefs can fhe poffibly dlfcover, even in the 
 moft remote perfpecSive, arifing from the 
 events of a conteft with us. An exhaufted 
 and impoverifhed country, without popula- 
 tion, without commerce, without money, 
 in Ihort, without any of thofe means or re- 
 fources which conftitute the ftrength of a 
 ftate, fhe can furely look forward to nothing 
 but dlfafter, embarraffment, and difgrace. 
 The Swedes have a fleet, it is true, and they 
 polTibly might be able to mufter from ten to 
 twelve fail of the line ; but how are they to 
 be equipped or manned ? — and even fup- 
 pofmg this doubtful event accompliflied, 
 how are they to contend againft failors who 
 have been fighting, and conquering, for the 
 laft eight years ? 
 
 The third enemy that appears in review 
 is another of the northern ftates, Denmark, 
 which, in fpite of the late explanation and 
 partial adjuftment of the difputed right of 
 learch, has, in violation of every maxim of 
 prudence and good faith, ventured to joint 
 the confederacy, and enter the lifts as a prin- 
 cipal againft us. By a reference to the con- 
 I 2 ferences 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 ftrcnccs which took place fo latei as the^ 
 month of Auguft laft, between lord Whit- 
 worth and count Bernftoff, it will be feen> 
 how anxious we were to continue on terms 
 of friendfliip, and how far we were w^illing 
 to abandon even fome portion of our indif- 
 putable rights, rather than decide the quef- 
 tion by force of arms. Our furprife then 
 could not be but extreme, when, in confe- 
 quence of a remonfcrance delivered to the 
 fame count BernftofF, on the 30th of lad 
 December, l>y our prefent minifter at Co- 
 penhagen, Mr. Drummond, in confequence 
 of ftrong fufpicions of the general league 
 that was then forming againft us, a note 
 was returned in anfwer, avowing that fuch 
 a league had been entered into, whofe de- 
 termined objecft it was, to aflert the inde- 
 pendence of neutral ftates, and to maintain 
 the dodirines of the armed neutrality in 
 1780, which decidedly rcfift all right of 
 iearch, and contend that neutral lliips make 
 neutral property. This point has been al- 
 ready explained, and is, indeed, in general, 
 fiifficiently underftood in this country ; nor 
 can the fpphifticated arguments of Mr. 
 
 Schlegel, 
 
( 69 ) 
 
 Schlegel, nor the angry menaces of this nor- 
 thern junto, operate one jot to make us rehn- 
 qulfhour pretenfions. The Danes are no doubt 
 interefted in fupporting the contrary doftrine, 
 for it is b) the fneaking evafion of this long- 
 acknowledged, and long-pradifed principle 
 of the law of nations, that they have, fmce 
 the commencement of the prefent war, fo 
 rapidly advanced in opulence, and fo con- 
 fiderably extended their illicit traffic. The 
 manoeuvres which have been pra(!:tifed by 
 the merchants, and connived at by the 
 government of that country, have been al^ 
 ready expofcd to public view^ and in colours, 
 however ftrong, not at all beyond the truth. 
 At Copenhagen this traffic is notorious ; and 
 how we came not to be more jealous of our 
 rights, and more peremptory in our de- 
 mands, whilft the late negociation was pend- 
 ing, at a moment when we had a formi- 
 dable fleet at anchor in the Sound, and 
 could have enforced obedience, however a 
 proof of our moderation then, is a circum- 
 flance rather to be regretted now. The 
 Danes attributed this moderation to mo- 
 tives of prudence on our part, and abfolutely 
 
 imagined^ 
 
( /o ) 
 
 imagined, that we were fearful of the event, 
 had we been adventurous enough to encoun- 
 ter their puny refiftance. 
 
 In point of finances and individual opu- 
 lence, Denmark is certainly on a very diffe- 
 rent footing from Sweden. An almoft un- 
 interrupted period of upwards of fifty years 
 peace, which has been productive of much 
 induftry, and many wife and wholefome re- 
 gulations of internal polity,* has contributed 
 to diffufe through the country an appear- 
 ance of comfort and civilization, very fupe- 
 rlor to what is to be met with in the 
 other northern ftates of Europe. The Danes 
 have alfo benefited, infinitely more than 
 their neighbours, by the war. Their fitua- 
 tion has fecured to them advantages, which 
 the {lability and enterprize of their mer^ 
 chants have enabled them to turn to the beft 
 
 * Nothing contributed fo much to promote the ge- 
 neral welfare of the country as the emancipation of 
 tlie peafantry from valTalage, of which the prefent 
 hereditary prince gave the firft glorious example. To 
 perpetuate the memory of fo noble an acft of gene- 
 rofity and philanthropy, the peafantry have erefled, 
 about half a mile from Copenhagen, an elegant monu- 
 ment in honour of their benefaftor. 
 
 account, 
 
( n ) 
 
 account, and the feas, on which eight years 
 ago, fcarcely a Danifli veffel floated, are now 
 covered w^ith their fliips. Yet how can they 
 injure us by war, fo cfFedlually as they have 
 been doing, for feveral years paft, under the 
 pretence of neutrahty ? Should hoftilities 
 openly commence, from that moment their 
 trade inevitably pcriihes ; their fupplies are 
 cut off; their Eafl: and Weft India fettle- 
 ments are taken ; their fleet is blocked up, 
 captured, or deftroyed ; and away vanifli 
 alio their golden dreams of national profpe- 
 rity and greatnefs. I grant that they have 
 tolerable arfenals and dock-yards, and a 
 long row of line of battle fliips drawn up be- 
 fore their city ; but it is notorious to every 
 perfon who has lately vifited Copenhagen, 
 that the greateft part of their fleet is, from 
 age, rendered unfit for fervice, and is only- 
 indebted to the paint that covers it for 
 the formidable appearance it makes. If 
 Denmark can fit out, and man, twelve fail 
 of the line, I think that may fairly be fet 
 down as the utmoft extent of her exertions ; 
 and when the fcantinefs of her population, 
 particularly of the northern parts of her do- 
 minions. 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 minions, is confidered, and to which fhe 
 muft apply for her beft and moft active fea- 
 men, this will certainly be no trifling matter 
 to accomplifh. 
 
 But in what manner can they fupport the 
 expences of a maritime war ? The revenue, 
 according to the largefl calculations, does 
 not exceed 2,000, cool, fterling, a great pro- 
 portion of which, confefledly, arifes from the 
 duties on the different articles of her extend- 
 ed commerce. It is alfo this commerce, 
 which, in its operation through the king- 
 dom, enables the people to pay the heavy 
 taxes that are laid on almoft every object of 
 internal economy. Yet is this revenue, 
 flourifhlng as it comparatively is, fcarcely 
 adequate to the prefent exigencies of the 
 ftate. By what means then, when thefe re- 
 fources are withdrawn, can they fupport an 
 cftablilhment that will be attended with 
 double or triple the expence ? Her means 
 would diminifh in proportion as her wants 
 augmented — -the one would be the exa6l con- 
 trary of the other. Another very material 
 branch of revenue, which would be inter- 
 cepted, is the Sound dues, to which the 
 
 Britifh 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 Bfitifli nation alone contributes, annually, 
 nearly 150,OOoL What could fupply the 
 lofs of thefe exuberant channels of wealth ? 
 The taxes are already fufficiently burden- 
 fome to the people. There is an excile duty 
 on almoft every article of life ; proviiions 
 are fcarce and exorbitantly dear ;* and the 
 produce of land, taken in all its fliapes, ac- 
 cording to a late calculation, pays nearly 
 fixty per cent. In Norway, the raoft ufeful 
 appendage to the Crown, the impofts ar6 
 already fo grievous, f that a fpirit of revolt 
 at prefent exifts, which additional burdens 
 would probably complete. This hardy and 
 
 * At Stockholm and Copenhagen, I was forcibly 
 {Iruck with the exorbitant price of proviiions, particu- 
 lary of bread, which, when its comparative quality is 
 coniidered, is almoft as dear again as in f.ondon, at 
 prefent. In Norway, the Icarcity of grain is, ufuaily, 
 fo great, that the peafants, to add to the quantity, mix 
 it with the bark of the fir tree, and grind them down 
 together. At Chrliliana, whiJft I was there, the lineil 
 wheaten flour fold at the exorbitant rate of one Ihil- 
 ling fterling a pound. 
 
 t In Norway the cxcife duties are heavily felt, and 
 the tax on timber, the principal produce of the coun- 
 try, amounts to from 10 to 50 per cent, on exporta- 
 tion. 
 
 K noble 
 
( H ) 
 
 noble race has been long oppreiTccl by thff 
 Danes, and fullenly bears the weight of its 
 .chains. Their difcourfe and their national 
 fongs breathe a fprrit of liberty and indig- 
 nant pride, which plainly indicates how wil- 
 lingly they would avail themfelves of a fa- 
 vourable opportunity of throwing off the 
 yoke. Here is another vulnerable part which 
 would occaiion no trifling alarm to Denmark, 
 and fuggeft the prudence of augmenting its 
 military force, for the defence of its poffef- 
 lions at home. 
 
 From the foregoing circumflances, it does 
 not appear that we need harbour any very 
 ferious appreheniions from that quarter. 
 The Danes will have enough to do to pro- 
 te<5l themfelves. Even their capital is not 
 fo fecure from attack as is generally ima- 
 gined, and the enterprifmg fpirit and fupe- 
 rior fkill of our failors will, poffibly, be able 
 to accomplifli what, at this moment, is little 
 dreamt of. 
 
 With regard to the king of Pruffia, who 
 is alfo fufpeded of having, under certain 
 conditions, joined the general confederacy 
 againft us, if he rightly undcrftands his own 
 
 intercfl:^ 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 intereft, Tie will not provoke a conteft from 
 which he may lofe much, but has nothing 
 to gain. ■ His ftfength, potent as it is, can- 
 hot come in contacS with ours. His armies, 
 numerous as they are, cannot moleft us, nor 
 protect him from our moleftation. His in- 
 fant commerce, from which he is daily de- 
 riving fuch folid advantage^, uhich is the 
 fource of fo much prefent piolperity and 
 future hope, will be inftantly facrificed. 
 That preponderance and growing greatnefs, 
 which he has been able to obtain among the 
 continental powers, have been occafioned, 
 chiefly, by his remaining at peace. Whilft his 
 rival the emperor has been accelerating his 
 downfall by the ruinous efforts of a fourteen 
 years w^ar, he has had leiiiire, fi-ncc his ac- 
 ceffion, by ftudioully avoiding to emhroi^ 
 himfclf in continental difputes, to repair his 
 finances, to advance his manufa<5lures, to 
 extend his trade, and to promote 'the gene- 
 ral intereils and profperity of his country. 
 It has been owing to a chain of unforefeen 
 and adventitious circumftances, that he has 
 been placed in a fituation to remain in re- 
 pofe, with fecurity, and fuch a recurrence of 
 
 circumftances 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 circumftances is not to be expcdled. How 
 unwifely then would he ad:, when, for the 
 pofleffion of Hamburgh (the only bait the 
 confederacy can hold out) which he poffibly 
 might again lofe, or which he poffibly may 
 acquire without involving his country, in the 
 miferies and precarious contingencies of war, 
 were he to incur fuch rifks, or forfeit the 
 poffeffion of fuch advantages. If, therefore, 
 he be directed by prudence (for morality in 
 politics feems to be, now-a-days, completely 
 fct afide) he will continue to obferve to- 
 wards us and the reft of Europe, thofe pa- 
 cific fentiments to which he has fo long and 
 fo fuccefsfully adhered. * Should he, how- 
 ever, 
 
 * This is the fafeft line of condu£l which neceffity 
 feems at prefent to prefcribe to the king of PrulTia. 
 He has indeed, more than once, had an opportunity 
 of a6ting a great part on the theatre of European po^ 
 litics : but from the operation of a felfifh and unbe- 
 coming policy, it has not been embraced. He might, 
 almoft without rifk, have reflorcd the balance of power 
 in Europe, and reprefled the preponderance and gi- 
 gantic views of France, before which every continen- 
 tal government may one day tremble. Even fo late 
 as the month of September lafl, when our unfortunate 
 expedition againfl Holland was made, if h« had lift- 
 
 ened 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 ever, be guided by other views, we know his 
 ftrength as well as our own.* 
 
 After this flight fketch of the different 
 ftates, by whom we are likely to be attacked, 
 let us turn our attention to the power and 
 refources of the Brltlfli empire, a theme on 
 which (notwithftandlng the many exlfting 
 circumftances w^hich are fo deeply to be 
 regretted) every Briton muft dwell with ex- 
 ultation. What our fituation might. have 
 been, had we continued at peace, is, at beft, 
 but matter of conjecture ; what it adually is, 
 
 ened to the remonftrances of our court, and fent but 
 twenty-five thoufand men to co-operate with the al- 
 Jies; the French would, infallibly, have been driven 
 from their Batavian conqueft ; the Sladtholder would 
 have been reftored ; and Europe might, ut this mo- 
 ment, have been enjoying the bl^ffings of peace. 
 
 * The idea, of entirely excluding this country from 
 any commercial connexion with the conlinent, is pre- 
 ^oflerous in the extreme. The ordinances of fove- 
 reigns cannot fuccefsfuUy oppefe the interells or pre- 
 judices of mankind. Our manufactures, and the pro- 
 duftions of our colonies, are abfolutely neceflary. to 
 other parts of Europe. Nor can a flronger proof of this 
 be required, than the direfl trade which is at prefent 
 carried on from this country to France, and at which 
 the French government is politic enough to connive. 
 
 after 
 
C 78 ) 
 
 after facrlfices and exertions unparalleled In" 
 the annals of mankind, we know and feel. 
 The natural courfe of things is no longer to 
 be looked for : we live in an age of wonders; 
 and future generations will, probably, treat 
 the events of thcfe days as the recorded pro- 
 dudions of a fanciful imagination. When, 
 or how, this eventful fcene is to conclude, 
 Speculation itfelf almoft declines to calculate ; 
 for at the moment when we were looking 
 forward to the ceffation of our labours, we 
 find frefh foes ftarting up to aflail us. At no 
 period of our hiftory have we been lb com- 
 pletely furrounded by enemies. Which ever 
 way we turn our eyes we can defcry nothing 
 but hoftile preparation. Even Naples and 
 Portugal muft yield to the urgent preffure of 
 the times, and after having recovered the 
 independence of the one, and fo long pro- 
 tefted the rights of the other, they are 
 obliged to fliut their ports agalnft ns. We 
 fee all Europe] ealous of our power and great- 
 nefs, abandoning all received maxims of 
 morality or policy, rifing up in arms, and 
 preparing a general crufadc againfi: us. It 
 is a fccnc of intcrcft and follcitude, but 
 
 none 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 none of terroiir or dcfpondency. The blow 
 may be meditated, but it will not fucceed. 
 We have within us both the means of de- 
 fence and annoyance, and the fortunate ter- 
 mination of the conflid: ftill hinges on our- 
 felves. 
 
 The origin of the war with France now 
 becomes a fecondary queftion, and however 
 fome people may ftill continue to difpute 
 about thaty^ in this inftance, there can be no 
 doubt which party has begun the attack. 
 In the records of mankind, there never was 
 fo fhamcful and unprovoked an aft of ag- 
 greffion. The difpoiitions of our govern- 
 ment to preferve the relations of peace, by 
 explaining away, at different times, the re- 
 peated infults that have been offered us, 
 have been too evidently publlfhed to the 
 whole world. The tamenefs with which 
 they have, under various pretences, been 
 
 * If any one, however, ftill entertains doubt on that 
 point, let him refer to that mafterly publication of 
 Mr. Herbert Marfh, entitled " The Hiftory of the 
 Politicks of Great Britain and France." He will there 
 iind fufficient argument to convince the moft fceptical 
 mind. 
 
 borne, 
 
( 80 ) 
 
 borne, has proved our earnefl defire towards 
 conciliation, has even proved, that we had the 
 difpofition to fiibmit, when we had the power 
 of chaftifement, and that wx were w^illing 
 to bear every thing but abfolute difgrace, 
 rather than rekindle the flame of general 
 war. We have till now, I am forry to fay, 
 aded with a pufillanimity quite inconfiftent 
 with our chara(fler, and tamely tolerated in- 
 dignities, which, had we confulted the ho- 
 nour, the independence, or the intercfts, of 
 the empire, we fhould long fince have re- 
 pelled. Had we aded a year ago, as we are 
 ading now ; had we then fhewn a firm de- 
 termination to refift every incroachment on 
 our rights ; this confederacy would, in all 
 probability, never have exifted, or if it had 
 been formed, it would, before this, have been 
 diflblved. We have not been fufficiently 
 watchful of events. The fuccefs of a plan 
 frequently balances on the moment of at- 
 tack, and procraftination often ruins, what 
 decifion and promptitude may infure. When 
 the emperor of lluffia difmiffcd the Englifti 
 minifter, and every perfon concerned with 
 the miflion ; when he refufcd to accede to 
 
 the 
 
( 81 ) 
 
 the -appointment of a fucceffor ; his difpo- 
 fition to become our enemy was plainly de- 
 monftrated, and it certainly was not diffi- 
 cu'lt to forcfee, in fome meafure, the events 
 that have followed. A bitter enemy, a trea- 
 cherous friend, a pretended hero ; wath am- 
 bition but without courage; the tyrant of 
 his empire and his family ; a being, endowed 
 wnth a certain acutenefs of difcrimination, 
 and readlnefs of action; fanguine in his 
 hopes, but wavering in his perfeverance ; 
 irrafcible, vain, foolifh, and dignified, by 
 turns ; w ith a generofity bordering on pro- 
 digality ; and a meannefs which only con- 
 fults his own gratification ; a platonic 
 U^ver,'*' a fentl mental defpot, a metaphyfi- 
 
 cal 
 
 •■ Mackime Chevalier, the French aiflrefs at Pe- 
 terfbuigh, Is not, as isge-neruUv imagined, the mlftrcfs 
 of the emperor, but ofKutalzofF, a renegade Turk, 
 whd was formerly his barber, but is now one of his 
 principal advifers, and his confidential friend. Won- 
 derful revolutions in politics have frequently been 
 brought about by women, and how far the predominance 
 of the French interefl: is to be afcribed to the exertf^s 
 of this lady, I ihall not pretend to fay. The emperor's 
 favourite is 5 he piincefs Gagaiin, but it is faid to be 
 L merely 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 cal leglflator ; this is the man, who has been 
 deftlned by his inconfiftencies, his abfurdi- 
 ties, and his injuftice> to rekindle the flame 
 of general war; to irritate the fubfiding ani- 
 mofities of rival nations; and to revive thofe 
 tragical fcenes which have fo long defolated 
 the faireft portions of the globe. That fuch 
 a man fiiould be poffeffed of fuch influence 
 is a moft lamentable inftance of the caprice 
 of fortune, who has raifcd to the moft ex- 
 alted fituation, the peifon, in his empire, the 
 leaft worthy of fuch a difl:in<Sion. Sweden 
 and Denmark are now entirely at his mercy^ 
 and it is poffibly their deftiny, in the courfe 
 of a few years, to be blotted out from the 
 lift of independent kingdoms> and to be laid 
 down- in fome future map, as the appen- 
 dages of the Ruffian empire. If they had 
 perceived and undcrftood their own intereft, 
 they would have embraced the only favour- 
 able opportunity that may, poffibly, ever oc- 
 cur, of leaguing againft their common enemyr 
 
 rfll^ely a platonlc pafTion Paul is, indeed, in every 
 refpef^, fuch an antidote to love, that, at Icaft, on the 
 part of the lady, this report may eafily be credited. 
 
 whole 
 
{ 83 ) 
 
 whofe growing fuperiority has, for many 
 years paft, menaced their exiftence as inde- 
 pendent ftates. 
 
 The refources, the power, and the means, 
 that can be brought againft us by the united 
 efforts and malevolence of this unnatural 
 coalition, have been already ftated. How 
 they may be oppofed by the Britilh empire, 
 and with what chance of fucccfs, remaii^s 
 to be {hewn. 
 
 In almoft every war that we have waged, 
 iince the foundation of the monarchy, it has 
 been our fate and our glory, to contend 
 againft nations more extenfive, more popu- 
 lous, and more fertile, in natural refources, 
 than ourfelves. But the genius, the cou- 
 rage, the induftry, and the perfcvcrance of 
 the people, have been more than adequate 
 to counterbalance thefe difadvantages. Our 
 fafety and independence have never been 
 endangered. We have fown in the field 
 of labour, we have reaped in the field of 
 fame. If this has been the cafe in former 
 wars, how much more likely to excite -i^s to 
 the prefervation of paft, and the acquire- 
 ment of future, renown, is the fituation of 
 
 L 2 this 
 
( 84 ) 
 
 this awful moment, when we find a com- 
 bination of all that is bafc and profligate 
 formed againft us, to accomplifh our ruin. 
 The principal robbers of Europe,'^ not fatis- 
 fied with the fpoils of injuftice which have 
 been wrefted from the poffeffion of the dif- 
 united or deft^ncelefs, mifled by their avarice, 
 and elated by their hopes, have been beating 
 up for coadjutors, to enable them to proceed 
 in the career of plunder, till they have 
 humbled the pride, blafted the profperity, 
 ruined the happinefs, and divided the wealth, 
 of this enviable and envied ifle. The golden 
 dreams of imagination, no doubt, anticipate 
 the fulfilment of their wifhes ; but the en- 
 ergy and refources, the wifdom and inte- 
 grity, the patriotifm and public fpirit of this 
 country, will not only infurc a phalanx of 
 defence, but a hoft of attack. A Briton anti 
 a flave! Thefc are terms which no figures of 
 rhetoric, which no fubtilties of fophiftry can 
 
 '•• I all licit; to Ruflia and Francer^'i'he former was 
 the chief ialhument both in the fiift and the final dif- 
 
 4 
 
 memberment of Poland ; the latter has faithfully 
 copied the plan^ but has executed it on a flill more ex - 
 tenlive fcalp 
 
 reconcile, 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 reconcile, or render for a moment, even in 
 their appearance, congruous. With a mih- 
 tary force of three hundred thoufand men, 
 with a navy of 1 gO fhlps of the Hne, and Ol 7 
 fhips of w^ar of other denominations ; with 
 120,000 veteran feamen, who, for the fpace 
 of eight years, have been famiUarized with 
 danger and victory, and whofe recent at- 
 chievements have eclipfcd the fplendor of 
 former fame; with a rental of 200,O0O,00ol, 
 with a revenue of 35,000,0001; with a po- 
 pulation, incrcafing in fpite of the defolatiou 
 and obftruftlons infeparablc from war; with 
 a commerce, furpaffing all precedent in the 
 hiftory of mankind, and extended, with fuc- 
 cefs, to every quarter of the habitable globe ; 
 with all the colonies of the weft, and the 
 undifputed empire of the eaft ; with a fplrit 
 and hardihood of enterprlze which nothing- 
 can controul ; with a confidence of fucccls 
 which nothing can difmay ; courageous 
 without being arrogant ; wealthy without 
 being enerratcd ; refined without being de- 
 bauched ; devoted to the profperlty of our 
 country and conftltutlon, and attached to 
 them from an experimental convldion of 
 
 tVeir 
 
( 80 ) 
 
 their fuperlority : — ^what have we to fear ? 
 Let thefe coalefced powers meafure their 
 ftrength with ours they will then find how 
 difficult it is to fubdue a people who are 
 vnited by the indiflbluble bond of patriot- 
 ifm, and refolved upon every facrifice for 
 the prefervation of their religion, their in-* 
 dependence, and their rights. 
 
 Confolidated as the empire now is, wc 
 fliall be able to marlhal our forces with 
 double efFed;. Ireland, from being a fuf- 
 pecSed friend, lately the fource of fo much 
 uneafinefs, and the caufe of fo much blood-r 
 Ihed, has, I hope, buried her jealoufies and 
 diflentions in oblivion ; and, identified as fhe 
 now is with us, can have no views but thofe 
 which are calculated to promote the ho- 
 nour and welfare of the common-weal. A^ 
 flie will fhare the anxieties and the perils, fo 
 will fhe fhare the advantages and the glories ; 
 and the rewards of paft achievements and 
 future profperity, will henceforward be 
 equally divided.* 
 
 Our 
 
 * As far as relates to the important qucftion to which 
 the late unfortunate difunion in the Cabinet is to be 
 
 chiefly 
 
( 87 > 
 
 Our adverfaries have long hoped to exhauft 
 
 the 
 
 chiefly afcribed, it is much to be lamented, that its 
 difcuffion was not deferred tafome more aufpicious pe- 
 riod. That the emancipation of the cathoHcs, al- 
 though no puWic pledge was givers, was held out as a 
 nieafure which would, naturally, follow and confoli- 
 date the union, the many interefling Rebates, on this 
 grand obje£t of general concern, fully evince. AH 
 the moft odious and oppreffive parts of the teft adt 
 have, indeed, been, long fince, done away, nor do 
 thofe fears any more prevail which were the ori^jinal 
 occafion of their enaftment. We no longer confound 
 papifts with catholics, and are convinced that the 
 kttercaii, in all refpe£ls, fulfil the duties of good and 
 loyal citizens. To this convi^ion are the eonceffion* 
 already made in their favour to be afcribed. They 
 can now ferve in the army and navy ; they can fit as 
 magillrates ; and they have the eledlivc franchife. If 
 thefe privileges have been- granted, during the prefent 
 reign, without interfering with the king's coronation 
 Oath, on what principal of reafoning can that oath be 
 confidered as an infurmoun table impediment to their 
 entire emancipation > The conftitution certainly has a 
 power to exonerate the king from any fcruples (when- 
 ever the exoneration Ihall be deemed neceflary) 
 which the literal interpretation of the oath feems to 
 have occafioned. A fundamental law that can never be J^ 
 altered or amended, is a folecifm in government. All 
 laws arife out of the circumftances of the times, and 
 ai-e meant, to confult the convenience, and admi.nifler 
 
 to ' 
 
( S3 ) 
 
 the finances,* and tire out the patience, 
 of the nation. That the general wifU 
 
 is 
 
 to the advniTtagc, of the body politk. It is deeply 
 to he regretted, that the king, whom every one muft 
 love and revere, both on account of his public and 
 private virtues, (howld not, on this occafion, have been 
 -better advifed, and that a fchifni fliould have taken 
 place, which, at this peculiarly unfortunate crifis, 
 may be productive of confiderable mifchief. 
 
 * With regard to our finances, nothing can furnifh 
 a (tronger proof of their flourilhing ftate, and the con- 
 fidence of the public in their ftability, than the tri- 
 umphant terms of the loan for which Mr. Pitt fo lately 
 contra61ed; nor can any thing more forcibly demon- 
 flrate, how eafily a provifion for future exigencies can 
 be created, than the nature of the new taxes, which, 
 without being materially felt by any clafs of people, 
 will produce 1, 73o,cool. Indeed, it is a fa 61 beyond 
 all controverfy, that, notwithftanding the unparalleled 
 cxpence of this war, and the confcquently rapid in- 
 creafe of the national debt, the CQuntry, diftin6t from 
 the government, was never forich. Individual opulence 
 has increafed in exacSl proportion to public want. And 
 there is an evident reafon for this. Our trade was 
 never fo profpcrous or i'o extended ; and, dedudling the 
 amount of oiir fubfidies, the immenfc fums which 
 have been raifcd and confumed, in the courfe of this 
 contcd, have been circulated through every pait of the 
 
 empire 
 
(89) 
 
 IS for peace, I do not pretend to deny. 
 After fo long and arduous a ftruggle, which 
 
 has 
 
 empire. The money has remained in the country ; it 
 has only changed hands ; and a confiderable portion of 
 it has been converted from a deeping into an adtive ca- 
 pital. The public fpirit of a great nation, when its 
 political exiftence is concerned, is able to accomplilh 
 every thing, and the exhauflion of its refources, as 
 long as that public fpirit remains, is an event hardly to 
 be looked for. 
 
 The pofleflion of the ifland of Malta is an object 
 of the higheft importance to the commerce and ma- 
 ritime fuperiorily of this country, for it not only ma- 
 terially interferes with the aggrandizing views of the 
 French, but it infiiresjan indifputable command of the 
 trade of the Mediterranean, and an intercourfe with 
 the diiTerent ports of the Archipelago. The favou- 
 rite object of the emperor Paul is the polTefTion of 
 Malta ; the favourite object of Buonaparte is the colo- 
 nization of Egypt ; and it is generally underftood, that 
 they have, mutually, guaranteed to each other their 
 refpective domination. The former is already fscured 
 to us, and the expulfion of the French from Egypt 
 would be no unimportant object to accomplifh : for, 
 once firmly eftablifhed in that quarter, they will be a 
 conftant fource of anxiety and annoyance to us. The 
 Turkiih monarchy feems to be tottering on the verge 
 of diiTolution, and that obftacle removed, Ruffia and, 
 France united, may^ poflibly, in the end, (liake the fta- 
 M bility 
 
C 90 ) 
 
 has becd carried to fuch a rancourous pitch 
 of animofitj and party- rage ; which has de- 
 luged the continent, and ftained the ocean, 
 with blood ; which has been attended, in 
 its courfe, with peftilence and famine, with 
 crimes of every kind, and diftrefs in eVery 
 degree ; every man of feeling mull: wifh to 
 let the curtain drop, and clofe the affliding 
 fcene. But the meafures of conciliation arc 
 not always thofe of mercy, and, unlefs they 
 have juftice for their bafis, can only be 
 the origin of more obftinate contention. For 
 a fair, and honourable peace, I fliould be, 
 and have ever been, an advocate; but for 
 any thing Ihort of that juft objed: of our 
 hopes and facrifices, I would rejed it with a 
 fcorn equal to the infult offered by the pro- 
 pofaL A nation that will eafily facrifice its 
 
 bility of our Indian empire. .At prefent, there can be 
 no reafonable ground of alarm. Guarded by a brave 
 and well-appointed army, flufhed with a long and un- 
 interrupted courfe of 'victory and fuccefs, and loaded 
 ■with the fpoils of fubjugated realms, we may repofe 
 with confidence on their valour and fkill ; but I am 
 fearful, if the French be fuffered to remain in Egypt, 
 of looking too far forward into futurity. 
 
 honour. 
 
( 91 y 
 
 honour, is ripe for every other proftitution; 
 Are we fo abjedl, are we fo difmayed, are w^e 
 fo contemptible, as to lifteil to terms of dif- 
 graee, and apply the fea^ 'tb an adl of hu- 
 miliation ? Where is the equity, where is 
 the policy, where is the neceffity, of fub- 
 fcribing to fuch a meafure ? Let us take a 
 fiirvey of paft events ; let us examine the 
 prefent ftate of things ; and then decide. 
 Scrutinize the queftion well, fift it to the 
 bottom, leave no motive unreviewed, recoi- 
 led: every circum.ftance of the war, and what 
 will you difcover ? Nothing but what ought 
 to animate us in the career of glory, and to 
 make us difdain the thoughts of fubmiffion. 
 If we have been unfortunate in fome refpeds; 
 if we have failed in-fome of our expeditions ; 
 we have fiicccecfefl in othiers ; and our good 
 fortune has, on the whole, reftored the ba- 
 lance an hundred fold. What has the enemy 
 wrefted from us ? — Nothing — in our public 
 capacity — abfolutely nothing of importance ! 
 Let us next inquite, w^hat we have taken 
 from them. From France 45 fliips of the 
 line, and 27.5 frigates and floops. We have 
 annihilated her very intereft and name in the 
 M 2 eaft; 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 caft ; we have dlfpoffeffcd her of her colo- 
 nies in the weft ; we have completely ruined 
 her commerce ; we have taken the iiland of 
 Marcou, bat feven miles from her own 
 coaft, which flie has fince, after feveral 
 months preparation, in vain attempted to 
 recover ; and laftlj, we have reduced the 
 ifland of Malta, one of the ftrongeft for- 
 treffes in the world. From the Dutch we 
 have taken 25 fhips of the line, 04 frigates 
 and floops, the Cape, the colonies of Deme- 
 rary, Iflequibo, Berbice, and Curacao> in 
 the Weft Indies, Surinam in South Ame- 
 rica, and the fpice iflands in the eaft^ 
 From the Spaniards we have taken 8 fliips 
 of the line, 6/ frigates and floops, Trinidad 
 in the Weft Indies, and^the ifland of Mi- 
 norca in the Mediterranean/* Hitherto this 
 is an account againft which our enemies 
 have fcarcely any thing to fet. The Rufliansj, 
 Swedes and Danes will, I make no doubt, 
 fliortly, increafe the' balance in pur favour. 
 . Jf,. after ran eight years waf^ of unexampled 
 cjqertiorv, ^ :^pence, and animofity, ftich is 
 
 * Tfteir pofleffions in South America are alfo a very 
 valuable point of attack. 
 
 the 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 the fituatlon of the contending parties ; if 
 every plan and ftratagem which rancour and 
 ingenuity could invent, to humble the pride, 
 and endanger the independence, of thefe 
 realms, have proved abortive ; if, amid all 
 thefe efforts, furrounded as we have been. 
 by open and Secret foes, wc find that we 
 have weathered the ftorm, that we have been 
 able to provide for every exigency, and have 
 given ample proofs that our vigour is flill 
 unimpaired, why fliould we be the firfl: to 
 yield? Would fiich a defertion of the 
 caufe, for which we have been fo long con- 
 tending, be confiftent W'ith our Intereft, or 
 confonant to the calls of honour and dilty ? 
 We have already, more than once, fhewn 
 our defire of peace, by making the firft ad- 
 vances. Our propofals have been rejefted 
 with fcorn, and it would ill become our 
 dignity or our rights to fubjed: ourfclves 
 again to fuch infults. In confequence of 
 many recent unfortunate events, much blame 
 has been imputed to the late miniftry, for 
 rejeding the overtures. to negociate which, 
 a few months fmce, were made by Buona- 
 parte. Had w^e been perfectly convinced of 
 
 their 
 
( 94 y 
 
 their fincerity, it would havx been totally 
 incompatible with the character of this na- 
 tion, to have liftened to them in the fhape 
 in which they appeared. The preliminary 
 article* required what was altogether in- 
 admiffible, what we could never accede to, 
 and was of itfelf a fufficient reafon for re- 
 jeding the whole. Nor, indeed, can it be 
 imagined that the French chief confulwifhcd 
 that we fl)ould be deceived. This crafty 
 politician, who had, but a few months be- 
 fore, feized on the helm of ftate, found it 
 neceffary to diffemble ; and, by pretending 
 to defire the reftoration of peace, to endea- 
 vour to calm the fpirit of faftion at home, to 
 encreafe the national hatred towards us, 
 and, by making us the apparent obftacles to 
 the wiflies of the people, to eftablifli his own 
 popularity. He knew too well the ufe of 
 an army employed againft an active enemy ; 
 he knew too well the danger of recalling that 
 army, from the indulgencies of pillage and 
 luxury, to the rigid difcipline and induilri- 
 ous duties of civil life, to be anxious that the 
 
 * A naval armifticc 
 
 experiment 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 experiment fliould be made. It was a def- 
 perate ftake for which he was playing. It 
 depended on the turn of a die, which 
 chance decided in his favour. That Buo- 
 naparte is an extraordinary charadter no one 
 will deny ; that he is a man of uncommon 
 talents, though more problematical, few will 
 be inclined to doubt ; but that his fortune 
 has been fuperior both to his talents and his 
 merit, is ftill more certain than either. This 
 is the goddefs to whom he has devoted his 
 labours, and whofe favour has exceeded his 
 devotion. She has (if I may for a moment, 
 in a work of this kind, be allowed to indulge 
 in allegory,) led him every where by the 
 hand. She crowned him with laurels ill 
 Italy ; flie fcreened him from the vigilance 
 of the gallant Nelfon, and landed him, with 
 his army, on the coaft of Egypt. When his 
 men were perifliing around him from pef- 
 tilence and want, ihe protedtcd him from 
 their influence : flie refcued him from ths 
 avenging hand of the intrepid Smith : Ihe 
 tranfported him, as a fugitive, from the 
 Ihores of Africa, and placed him on the 
 throne of France : Ihe turned the tide of 
 
 vidory 
 
C 06 ) 
 
 vidtory againft the Auflrians at the battle 
 of Marengo, and, after Deffalx had con- 
 tributed to that iplendid achievement, dif- 
 patched him, that the laurels might grace 
 Buonaparte's brow. The part which this 
 extraordinary character is afting, is nearly 
 limilar to that which Cromwell, in the ] 7th 
 century, played in England. He only does 
 not make ufe of iiich hypocrify, and has 
 taken care to fccure to himfelf infinitely 
 more power. What king of France, even 
 in the plenitude of arbitrary fvvay, ever pof- 
 feifed fo much ? Is not every office of truft 
 or patronage, of power or emolument, en- 
 tirely at his difpofal ? Is not every mili- 
 tary and civil department filled with his de- 
 pendants or friends ? Who does not tremble 
 when he frowns, or where is the patriot 
 who dares raife againft his goverment his fuf- 
 focated voice ? No ! it is the uncontrolled 
 licence of a few, oppreffing and tyranniz- 
 ing over the great majority of the people, 
 whofe groans and cries are ftifled amidft the 
 clamour of purchafed applaufc, and the 
 fhouts of deftrudive triumphs. What are 
 we to think of the boafted freedom of a 
 
 govern* 
 
( 97 ) 
 
 government, purely military, under which 
 every citizen is dragooned to his duty; where, 
 if any laws exift, they are written with the' 
 point of a bayonet, and may be altered, or 
 expunged, or interpreted, as prefent intereft 
 requires, or prefent fancy fuggefts. Where is 
 all this tb en* ?— -whither is 'all this to lead ? 
 Complicated as the bufmefs is, the mitid lofts 
 itfelf in the mazes of conje6lure, and is con- 
 fufed with the conclufions of its own reafon- 
 ings;- ^ 
 
 Such have been the fruits of the French 
 revolution ! Its paroxyfms have vibrated ; 
 to the remoteft regions of the civilized 
 world: It has diiFufed blood and devafta- 
 tion over the face of the globe. It has 
 alarmedVor £haken, or fubverted, every re- 
 gular government of Europe. It has fapped 
 the foundations of domeftic enjoyment, and 
 polluted the fource of fecial life. By the 
 folly, or vvickednefs, or ambition of its fiic- 
 ceffive leaders, it has been converted into an 
 inftfument of vengeance and perfecution, 
 which many future generations will have to 
 lament. Even when its own acrimony and 
 fury ihall have completely relaxed its a6live 
 N powers. 
 
C &8 ) 
 
 powers, and its nervelefs arm can no longer 
 carry into execution the didlates of a dege- 
 nerate and cruel mind, its cfFe<^ls will ftill 
 remain, as an awful monument to mankind 
 of the danger of deferting the habits and 
 maxims of an ancient government. In another 
 point of view, and not the leaft inconfe- 
 quentlal, the mifchlefs, which have emanated 
 from this fatal infurreftlon againft the rights 
 and enjoyments of civilized life, are incal- 
 culable, and have contributed more than 
 any other event, that could poffibly have 
 occurred, to retard the progrefs of refine- 
 ment, and with it the liberties and happi- 
 nefs of mankind. Even in thofe countries 
 where the people was leaft refpefted, and 
 where the executive arm of the government 
 w^as furnlftied with the moft uncontroledj 
 fway, more poffibly from Indolence and haHt 
 bit than from any principles of humanity; 
 aoxj^jultice, a mlldnqfs was gradually Intro- 
 ducing Itfclf, unknown to former ages. The 
 rigid^ majcims of coercion were relaxing into 
 fomctlilng of a gentler nature. The body 
 of the. peopljC was beginning to acquire a 
 weight and ^ coinildGratlon, to which they 
 
 had 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 had never before afplred ; and every thing 
 was tending, by imperceptible degrees, to- 
 vrards a fyftem of melioration. But what 
 has happened in France, has, in thofe coun- 
 tries, fo completely demonftrated thie necef- 
 lity of checking the exertions of experiment) 
 and the inquiries of inveftigation, that we 
 are not to be furprifed if a principle of felf- 
 prefervation have induced thofc who dired: 
 the operations of government, to adopt 
 ftrong and rigorous measures to refift the in-, 
 trodudion of thofc alluring but falfe doc- 
 trines, which aim at the fubverfion of all 
 conftituted authority, and the diflblution of 
 all regular maxims of tranquillity and fub- 
 ordination. Fortunately for us, the pecu- 
 liarity of our fituation and government placed 
 us beyond the influence of this devouring 
 vortex. We might liften with fafety, when 
 others would be loft. We had been bred 
 under the protedion of freedom, and its 
 pradical knowledge had guided our medita- 
 tions on its fpeculative ufe. We perfedly 
 comprehended the diftindion ; and notwith- 
 ftanding the fedudive arts that were induf- 
 N 2 trioufly 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 trloufly propagated to miflead us, wg twcre 
 not to be cftranged, by the fpecious promifes 
 of Innovation, from the folid advantages we 
 already poiTeffed. 
 
 It is not a philofophlcal treatife, it is not 
 an arithmetical calculation, it is not the 
 mere affertion of a defigning demagogue, nor 
 the pretended infpiration of a canting de- 
 claimer, that can teach to the Britifh nation 
 what happinefs and liberty »are, or prevail- on 
 us to believe that they are banlflied from our 
 Ihores, and placed beyond the fphere of our 
 ad:ion;* that can render us difcontented with 
 
 * If, indeed, our liberties are rather more confined 
 than they were a few years back; if parliament has 
 thought proper to lay reftraints that were, formerly, 
 never thought of; whom have we to thank for thefe 
 changes? Not peaceable and well -dilpoicd citizens •, 
 not the friends of their country ; but thoic who have 
 been adive in promoting fcdition, and aiming at the 
 fubverfion of the conftitution ; thofe who would en- 
 joy the plenitude of licence themfelves, that they 
 might tyrannize over the rights of others. I never 
 knew a modern republican who was not a defpot. 
 The Sultan of Turkey, and the C?.ar of RufTia, as far 
 as concerns themfelves, are pure republicans; fo was 
 Robefpierre, and fo is Buonaparte,, 
 
 the 
 
( 101 ) 
 
 the folemn legacy which our anceftors be- 
 queathed to us, and which our guardianfhip 
 has defended and preferved ; that can induce 
 us to make alterations, in order to explore 
 the regions of undifcovered bleffings, and 
 quit our own firm and venerable palladium, 
 to vifit the tottering temples, and bow be- 
 fore the falfc fhrines, which have been ereft- 
 ed in foreign lands. The time of efFervef- 
 cence, and doubt, and anxiety, on this point, 
 is, thank God ! pafl. The flow but fure 
 progrefs of experience and reafon, has fub- 
 verted all the airy ftrufturcs of the modern 
 fchools, and proved to the world their ina- 
 nity and mifchief ; has fliewn the danger of 
 abandoning even what is bad, for fomething 
 only better in fpeculation ; has explained 
 how the name, and outward garb of liberty, 
 can be infidioufly drawn on, to cover the 
 mofl odious and wicked adls of tyranny ; and 
 has taught a leffon of caution which, it is 
 to be hoped, no future generation will for- 
 get. 
 
 I admire the dodrines of modern re- 
 formers, who are continually telling us of 
 our burdens and diftreiTes, and recommend- 
 ing 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 ing'irefli experiments every day.* But if 
 we change, it is likely we fliall adopt the 
 maj^inis and government of fome other 
 country ; or are we to difcufs the theories of 
 metaphyfics, and wander about in the laby- 
 rinths of conjecture, till chance decide on 
 fomethiftg worfe ? Are we to commute our 
 parliaments, whofe deliberations have fo of- 
 ten refcued the nation from perdition, and 
 on whofe integrity and wifdom, in this time 
 of peril, We place our chief reliance, for the 
 fubfervient diets of Poland, or Hungary, or 
 Sweden ? Is our peafantryf to be degenerat- 
 ed 
 
 * There is, in general, a prominent queftion which 
 prcfents itfelf to the mind of every fpeculator. He 
 iirft afcertains what he already poflelTcs, and then cal- 
 culates what he may poffibly gain or lofe by the ad- 
 venture. If the chances in his favour be great, he 
 Fiiks without much hefitation ; if of gain and lofs be 
 nearly equal, he ponders a long time before he ven- 
 tures to truft himfelf to the caprices of fortune ; and 
 it is, fiequently, only at a moment, when his fancy 
 and fpiiits are mounted, that he ventures at all:— But 
 when there is only a profpe£l of lofs, he at once aban- 
 dons his projeft. 
 
 t In almoft every other country but this, the dil- 
 tiri(^i6n bei\^een the nobles and thofe who are not fo, 
 
 is 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 cd into the miferies of vaffalage, and placed 
 under the tyrannic lafli of barbarous and 
 defpotic Ruffia ? Are our comforts and wealth 
 to be converted into the miferies and po- 
 verty of Denmark and Sweden ? Are we 
 to furrender the grand franchifes by which 
 we are peculiarly diftinguiilied — the habeas 
 corpus ad: and trial by jury, thofe firm pe- 
 deftals on which the flrufture of civil liberty 
 repofes, for the mummery of high-founding 
 names, and the emptinefs of fpeculative free- 
 
 is odious and intolerable. There exift but two dalles. 
 All the honours, and privileges, and emoluments of 
 the flate, are fhared by the one, from which the other 
 is totally excluded. How different is it with us, where 
 the upper and lower orders are united by a middle 
 clafs, which aflbciates with both ; where a noblematt 
 pofTelTes no prerogatives which are hurtful or ofFenflve 
 to his inferiors, or which interfere with his rights ; 
 where the road to honour, riches, and fame, is open 
 to every one alike ; and where a man of merit is fure 
 of the patronage of the public. The church, the baFji 
 the army, the navy, the houfe of conimons^ furnifh an- 
 ample field of action, to which every one may afplre ; 
 and we need only look to many of the mofl eminent 
 pofts that are filled in this country, to be fatisfied, 
 that it is not birth or family connection, but the more 
 honourable claim of talents and merit, which have fe- 
 cured to them their prefent diftindion. 
 
 dom ? 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 dom ? Are our domeftic virtues, our religious 
 fentiments, our peaceful enjoyments, to be 
 facrificed to the diflblute immorality, the im- 
 pious fcepticifm, the infuriated perfecutions 
 of modern France ? Look to the countries 
 where her arms have already pre vailed. Where 
 Ihe has only paffed, like the noxious w^inds 
 which infed: the vegetable world, flie has 
 fcattered temporary ruin and defolation; but 
 where flie has taken up her abode, flie has 
 inflicSed more deadly and more permanent 
 wounds. Where has fhe intruded, either as 
 a friend or an enemy, without leaving a 
 lafting memorial of her avarice and cruelty ? 
 Who can pretend to record the variety of 
 her crimes, or to eftimate the amount of her 
 plunder, in Italy, Germany, and Spain ? 
 Even in Holland, which fhe has annexed to 
 her empire ; which fhe has, in a manner, af- 
 fimilated with her government ; and which 
 Ihe afFefts to treat with the tendernefs 
 of paternal care, has fhe not proved, by her 
 extortions, even that her friendfhip leads to 
 deflrudion ?* 
 
 * The Dutch, in the province of Holland, have 
 paid, tincc January 1795, in extraoidinaiy contribu- 
 tions. 
 
' ( 105 ) 
 
 In thefe countries, we may partially read 
 the fate of our own, fliould we ever be weak 
 enough to lifhen to French fcduftion, or pufi- 
 lanimous enough to yield to French arms. 
 But mild is the fate which others have ex- 
 perienced, to what w^e fliould be doomed to 
 fuffer, were the French once to obtain the^ 
 maftery. The pride of conqueft, the zeal of 
 party, the fpirit of revenge, the cruelty of 
 carnage, the avarice of plunder, every de- 
 ftruftivc principle, every injurious motive, 
 would operate towards the confummatlon 
 of our ruin. Havoc and defolation, pillage 
 and luft, tyranny and licentioufnefs, would 
 foon complete the fubverfion of all that we 
 love, and venerate, and efteem. The expe- 
 rience of ages, the laws, the arts, even the 
 
 tions, atleafl 25 per cent, on their capital ; or, at the 
 rate of 5 per cent, intereft, 500 per cent, on their in- 
 come. The ordinary taxes are, at the fame time, ex- 
 orbitant, and the price of provifions has nearly doubled 
 itielf within the lail eight years. The expence of the 
 2fi,000 French troops that are maintained for the de- 
 fence of the country, is about equal to the charges of 
 the peace eflabjilhment of the whole army and navy 
 under the old government. 
 
 O venerable 
 
( loG ) 
 
 venerable pile of the conftitutlon itfelf, the 
 care and glory of fo many generations, would 
 vanifh before the brutal vehemence of their 
 profane attacks. What w^ould become oi 
 moral virtue, of domeflic happinefs, of con- 
 jugal faith, of filial piety, of religion, of ho- 
 nour and patfiotifm, which form fo ftriking 
 a contrafi: to the manners of the continent, 
 and fo eminently diftinguiili us from the 
 reft of the world ? Every thing w^ould be 
 contaminated and polluted, and yvc fhould 
 foon mingle with the general mafs of cor- 
 ruption and vice. Thofe noble and gene- 
 rous qualities w^hich have fo long marked us 
 outfromamongthe people of the earth, which 
 have laid the foundations of our glory and 
 our happinefs, and which have preferved the 
 edifice after its completion, w^ould no longer 
 challenge the applaufe, and command the 
 admiration of mankind. 
 
 .The times are certainly critical, and it re- 
 quires all our firmncfs, and vigilance, and ex- 
 ertion, to weather the ftorm, and to con- 
 dud the fliip of ftatc into a flifc liavcn. We 
 never were oppofed by fuch a league of 
 
 enemies. 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 enemies, nor were our domeftlc diftreffes^ 
 ever fo great. Yet, through all this gloom, 
 
 I think 
 
 * Amidft other calamities, none can be a caufe of 
 more ferious alarm, or more general regret, than the 
 prefent exorbitant price of provifions, by which the 
 induftrious poor are curtailed in thofe comforts and in- 
 nocent recreations to which they have been accuf- 
 tomed, and to which their patient forbearance, their 
 fteady obedience to the laws, and their firm attach- 
 ment to the conftitution, fo eminently entitle them. 
 The opulent clafs of fociety has, certainly, Ihewa 
 every difpofition to their relief, and the many facri- 
 fices and laudable inftitutions for that exprefs purpofe, 
 cannot be fufliciently commended ; but, I fear, there 
 is another clafs of people, whofe love of gain, fhuts 
 their ears to the calls of humanity, and whofe nefa- 
 rious pradlices have been the chief caufe of our pre- 
 fent fufFerings. Even fuppofmg, the failure of the 
 crop, as ftated by the committee of the Houfe of 
 Commons, to have been one fourth below the ufual 
 produce, ftill the diminution in point of confumption, 
 and the immenfe fupplies that have been already re- 
 ceived from abroad, mufl have contributed, in no in- 
 coniiderable degree, to reftore the level. But, even 
 admitting, that our frugality and our importation have 
 been to no confequential amount, at all events, the 
 crop being but one fourth deficient, and, as according to 
 
 O 2 every 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 I think I can difcover the cheering rays of a 
 brighter day. The pre-eminence to which we 
 
 have 
 
 every principle of fair dealing, the quantity ought to 
 regulate the price — it fhould not be IbJd above ©ne 
 fourth, or at moil,1one iifth higher.y What then is the 
 reafon that it has augmented in price— tln'eefold ^ 
 This is a touchftonc which at once expofes the extor- 
 tions of avarice, and the ruinous efTe^ts of monopoly. 
 Purfue the evil in its confequences, and where will it 
 end ? Why, as the leafes fall in, the landholders will 
 raife their rents, and then the prefent prices are per- 
 manently fixed. The mechanics and labouring poor, 
 who muil fufFer dreadfully from the prefTure of the 
 times, being unable to gain their fupport, their wages 
 mull be increafed. This will immediately occafiou 
 more than a proportionate advancement in the price of 
 our manufactures, and other nations, once being able 
 to under fell us in foreign markets, our trade will fuf- 
 tain a lliock from which it may, poflibly, never re- 
 cover. Freedom of commerce, freedom, in (hort, 
 of every kind, as long as it can be fafely enjoyed, 1 
 am a decided advocate for ; but when it evidently in- 
 terferes with the abfolute welfare and exiftence of the 
 people, it is the bufinefs of the Icgiflature to correal 
 the abufe. Corn is not like any other article of traf- 
 fic. It is not a luxury which can be difpenfed with ; 
 it is a necefTary which muH be had— and no laws can 
 
 punifh 
 
( 109 ) 
 
 have attained over the other ftates of Eu- 
 rope, has occafioned a jealoufy which has 
 been the principal caufe of the combina- 
 tion that has been formed againft us. Bri- 
 tain they fay, is too great and too powerful 
 — let us endeavour to humble her pride, and 
 to reduce her to the level of ourfelves. This 
 confederacy is, however, probably the lafi: 
 that will be made againft our rights and in- 
 dependence, and, notwithftanding the alarm-r 
 ing afpeft which it at prefent wears, it is, 
 perhaps, more likely than any other event to 
 lead to a termination of this long and dif- 
 aftrous conflidl. Almoft the whole ftrength 
 of Europe is now concentered againft us, 
 and when it is found that we are neither 
 to be appalled by preparation, nor fubdued 
 by force, it is natural to fuppofe, that all 
 parties, wearied out with exertion, will view 
 
 punifli with too great feverlty, thofe, who, by engaghig 
 in fpeculations, and other undue praflices, are thriv- 
 ing on the diftrelTes of the people, and with-holding 
 from them, the very flair of life. 
 
 further 
 
( no ) 
 
 further contention as ufelefs, and that a ge- 
 neral pacification, founded on the rights of 
 independent nations, and the long eftablilhed 
 cuftoms and ufage of Europe, will be at lafl: 
 concluded^ 
 
 When this long'-w ifhed for moment ar* 
 rives, how gratifying will be the reflections 
 to which we can recur. How glorious will 
 it be to recoiled, when the time of fuifering 
 is paft, that we have iiiccefsfully refifted the 
 coUedcd ftrength of Europe, and, by prov- 
 ing the impotence of their attacks, that we 
 have fccured to ourfelves the perpetuation 
 of our rights. Arduous as the ftruggle has 
 been, our fatisfaftion will be proportioned 
 to the facrificcs to which we have fubmitted* 
 On what then have we to hefitate ? Submif- 
 iion and difgrace, refiftance and glory, una- 
 nimity and independence, muft ever go hand 
 in hand. Our perils are great, but our 
 means, if properly applied, are not infuffi- 
 cient. Let us then unite for our own de* 
 fence, and the chaftifement of our foes. lyct 
 us offer up petty dlflentions and party ani- 
 
 mofities 
 
( 111 ) 
 
 mofitles at the pure altar of public good, and, 
 evident as our danger and our duty are, let 
 us be convinced that we can only avoid the 
 one, by purfuing the other. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHAUCHARD's 
 
CHAUCHARD'S MAPS 
 
 On Thirty Sheets, Dedicated, by Petmiffion, td 
 His Majesty, and Patronized by the whole of 
 the Royal Family. 
 
 This Day is pubUJhed^ price SI Ss. or Suhfcrilers* unclaimed 
 Copies f 12/. I2s. Half -bound, 
 
 A GENERAL MAP of GERMANY, ITALY, &c. 
 on Thirty large Sheets. By Captain Chauchard» 
 with a defcriptive Volume, in Royal Quarto, containing 500 
 pages of clofe letter-prefs, on fine Paper, and twenty-four 
 Plans of Cities. 
 
 This grand Military Work has been honoured With the et" 
 amination and fandtion of the firft Military Chara6l6rs in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The Archduke Charles, and General Moreau, have de* 
 clared, by thefecond Preliminary Article of the late Armiftice^ 
 that ** all difputes relating to the line of demarcation ihall be 
 fettled by Captain Chauchard's Maps.** Both thefe officers 
 had early impreflions of thefe Maps before them. 
 
 Mr. Stockdale had the pleafure of clofing the lafi century 
 with the mod numerous lift of Subfcribers ever prefixed to a 
 Britilh Work, and commencing the new one with a Subfcrip- 
 tion for his Grand Imperial Maps of the United Kingdon* 
 under the 
 
 PATRONAGE OF HIS MAJESTY, 
 
 Confifting already of above Three Hundred Names. 
 
 From the Value of the Performance, he is confident that 
 this Lift of Subfcribers will be the moft numerous and refpe<5l- 
 able ever publifhed in the Universe* 
 
 Piccadilly, %oth February, iJoi. 
 
TWO GRAND IMPERIAL TOPOGRAPHICAi 
 
 ' " MAP -S"An^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 tJNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND 
 IRELAND; 
 
 On Forty-eight large Sheets of Atlas Paper, each Sheet meafuring 
 tw6 Feet two Inches, by two Feet ten Inches ; 
 
 Toh Fublifljtdhy Suljcripthn, 
 
 R. STOCKDALE takes the liberty refpeaftilJy fo inform the 
 Ftiblic, that he has for a confiderable time pall been preparing, tinckr the 
 ian6lion of 
 
 ms MAJEStr, 
 
 a grand Map of Ireland, on the nwft extenfive fcale hitherto attenipted ; 
 alTo a Map of Great Britain, even of ftill greater magnitude. 
 
 The expenfe of the two will not, it is conceived, amount to lefs than 
 aOjOool. Should the patronage equal Mr. Stockdale's expe5lationj it is 
 his intention to prefent with the Map of Ireland, gratis, or at a fmall 
 price, a Hiftory of the Union between the two kingdoms, in one volume 
 4to. For this purpofe Mr. Stockdale will confider himfelf obliged by be^ 
 ing favoured with a coirefted copy of every publication upon, or connefted 
 with this fubjeft, whether for or agalnil the meafure. 
 
 The coft of the Map of Ireland to Subfcribers fhall not exceed Three 
 Guineas, and that of GreatBritain Six Guineas, unlefs any unforefeen ad- 
 vance in the price of materials fliould take place by aft of Parliament. 
 
 No riioney will be taken until the delivery of the Maps, &c. but they 
 *ill be bonfidcrably advanced in price to Non-fubfcribers. 
 
 The above Maps will fwrm one large Atlas, nearly double the thickncfa 
 af Chauchard*3 Maps. 
 
 Notwithftanding the fuhfcrlptlon is only jul^ opened, it Is daily filling 
 «v-ith rapidity, and will certainly foon exceed the numerous lift for the Maps 
 by Chau«hard, which was, by much, the largeft ever known in England. 
 
 The Publiflier is confident that the Subfcribers' copies in the firft aooo 
 impreffions will, on the day of publication, bt worth double the fubicript ion 
 price, though no money is taken in advance. 
 
 A Topographical Account of the United Kingdom vtrill be J>ublifhe<l 
 aboot the fame time, in three large volumes royal 4to* with Plates. 
 
 A lift of the Subfcribers will be printed. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE IMPERIAL MAPS. 
 
 THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES, 
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF 
 
 WALES, 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF YORK, Two copies. 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF YORK, 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF KENT, 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND, 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ADOLPHUS FREDERIC, 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE WILLIAM FREDERIC OF 
 GLOUCESTER. 
 
 The follo^joing names are placed in the order of their fuhfcripi'wn^ 
 
 (0 
 
 Marquis of Sallfbui y 
 
 Lord Vifcount Caftlereagh 
 
 Right Hon. Thomas Pelham 
 
 Robert Marfliall, efcf. 
 
 Nicholas Gay, elq. F.R.S. 
 
 Rev. William Coxe 
 
 John Baglhaw, efq. 
 
 Lord Lifmore 
 
 Sir Henry Lambert, hart. 
 
 Capt. Towers 
 
 Wogan Browne, efq. 
 
 Meflrs, Hammerfleys and Co. 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Lepard 
 
 John Weyland, jun, efq. 
 
 Thomas Arton Coffin, elq. 
 
 Captain William Smith, R. N. 
 
 Earl of Mountnorres 
 
 Hon. and Rev. T. J. Twifleton 
 
 Earl of Kerry 
 
 Hon. Cropley Aftiley 
 
 Wilham Bell, efq. 
 
 W. N. W. Hewett, efq. 
 
 Sir John Neuport, bait. 
 
 William Hughes, efq. 
 
 Nathaniel Nicliolls, efq. 
 
 Michael Keane, efq. two copii* 
 
 Captain Lethem 
 
 General Avarne 
 
 John Smyth, efq. 
 
 George John Legti, efq. 
 
 Major Wi L. Hughes 
 
 F. Jodrell, efq. 
 
 Jacob Henry Aftley, efq. 
 
 William James Atkinfon, efq. 
 
 Lord Midleton 
 
 Wlliam Fowke,efq. 
 
 Richard Congreve, efq, 
 
 Jacicfon Barwis, efq. 
 
 Robert Charnley, eiq. 
 
 John Heath, efq. 
 
 James Rice, efq, 
 
 Samuel Peploe, efq, 
 
 Thomas Parker, jefq. 
 
 S. Doorne, efq. 
 
 James Warre, efq. 1 
 
 Rev. John Lempriere 
 
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE IMPERIAL MAPS, 
 
 The follonuing names are placed in the order of their fuhfcription* 
 
 (3) 
 
 William Thomas St. Quintin, efq. 
 
 S'r John Hawkins, bart. 
 
 George Garrick, efq. 
 
 Charles Woifcley, efq. 
 
 Major-General Cradock, two copies 
 
 S. N. May, efq. twa conies 
 
 Thomas John Parke, efq. 
 
 John Parke, efq. 
 
 Lord Grey 
 
 George Glenny, efq. 
 
 Capr. F. H.Rodd 
 
 Jofeph Pringle, efq^ 
 
 George Chalipers, efq* 
 
 Richard Borough, efq. 
 
 D.H. Price, efq. 
 
 J. R. Whitefoord, efq. 
 
 Mifs Lawrence 
 
 Mifs Waller 
 
 Lord Rous 
 
 Sir John Coghill, bart. 
 
 John Sulivan, efq. 
 
 Thomas Law Hodges, efq. 
 
 Rev. i^dnnund Cartwright, jun. 
 
 Henry Thompfon, efq. 
 
 Samuel Thornton, efq. 
 
 Mr. Dougl.is Thoinplon 
 
 Lord Chetwynd 
 
 William Young, efq. 
 
 Mr. Jiiftice Downcs 
 
 Robert Stearne Tighe, efq. 
 
 P. N. Roberts, efq. 
 
 Ifaac Hartman, elq. 
 
 General Sir John Afton, bart, 
 
 Lieut. Col. D. Robertfon 
 
 Major Blewit 
 
 Thomas Bacon, efq. 
 
 Sir CtciJ Wray, bart. 
 
 Willinm G<;mp,efq. 
 
 Jofeph Chearnlcy, tfq. 
 
 Colonel Thornton 
 
 Rev. Mr. Becher 
 
 Lord Clonbrock 
 
 Robert Doync,efq. 
 
 George Rofs, efq. 
 
 Lord Kilmaine 
 
 John Wilkiiifon, efq. 
 
 John Price, efqi 
 
 Jofeph Walker, efq. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Webber 
 
 Bernard Shawe, e(q. • 
 
 Charles Cole, Ciq. 
 
 Right Hon. St. George Daly 
 
 Capt. Geoige Monro 
 
 (4-) 
 Rer. Thomas Harwood 
 Lord Vifcount Southwell 
 Hon. Admiral Berkeley 
 Rev. Ji hn Dampier 
 W. H White, efq. 
 Adm. Sir John Bjrlafe Warren, bt. 
 Rev. Francis Annefley 
 Rev. Charles Bailhe 
 Rev. Dr. Marriott 
 St Richard Colt Hoarp,bart. 
 Lieut. Col. Walfliam Garbttt 
 Rev. John Robert Lloyd 
 William Owen, efq. 
 Mr. J. Parflee 
 H. N. Jarrett, efq. 
 Read Kemp, efq. 
 H. Banks, efq. 
 Rev. John Evaps 
 Royal Exchange Jnfurarice Company 
 
 of Dublin 
 Ml. Collins 
 
 Sir Frederick Eden, bart 
 Gabriel Piozzi, efq. 
 W. Upton Gledlbnes, efq. 
 Jofeph Labat, efq. 
 Frederick Thomas Fofter, cfq« 
 Rev. Thomas Grinfield 
 Kev. Dr. Beaufort 
 Rev. John Holden 
 Samuel Shaw, efq. 
 John Verbury, efq. 
 Robert Johnfon, eiq. 
 William Johnfon, efq, 
 Charles Ofborne, efq. 
 Henry Alexander, efq. .^ 
 
 James Du Pre, efq. 
 Lord Rolle 
 Captain Baldwin 
 James MrKkintofh, efq. 
 Rev. Dr. Clarke 
 Robert Birch, efq. 
 J. Phillips, ef>i. 
 Alexander OA^orn, efq, 
 J Wooifreys, elq. 
 Major Frederick William Bullf : 
 Charles Hurt, elq. 
 S'r Robert Peel, bart. 
 Hon. Cluiles P'inch 
 Sir Edward Winnington, bart. 
 Charles Lutwidge, efq. 
 Major Wile 
 Mrs-. Brough 
 Gen, Lord AJam Gordon 
 
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 Thi foUmjoing names are placed in the order of their fuhfcription. 
 
 (5) 
 Jofeph Kaye, e(q. 
 David Ellis, efq. 
 James Lloyd Harris, efq. 
 Hon. Edward Spencer Cowper 
 
 iohn Simpfon, *fq, 
 lajor Bowen 
 Hon. S. E. Elardley 
 George Cherry, e(q. 
 Right Hon. Thomas Steele 
 Rev. George Prefton 
 Major Keane 
 John Cobb, efq. 
 Lt. Col. Loft 
 Mr- Simop Hehl 
 Jofias Du Pre Porchcr, t^({» 
 Mr. Felix Smith 
 William Minier, efq. 
 Henry Jeimyn, efq. 
 Crawford Davifon, efq. 
 George Cavendifh, efq. 
 Mrs. Yarborough 
 Lord Craven 
 Rev, James White 
 Lieut. Alexander Smith 
 Jofeph, Jt«ittledale, efq. 
 Rev. Mr. Gilbert Bcresford 
 Peter Du Cane, efq. 
 General Grinfield 
 John Kerricic, efq, 
 Charles Francis #orfter,Efq. 
 George RufFtl, efq. 
 Mr. Alderman Williams 
 Robert Udny, efq. 
 William Gumbletonjefq. 
 Henry Walker^ efq. 
 Rev. Humphrey Aram Hole 
 
 Col. Geoi^e Vaughan Hart 
 
 Sir William Young, bart. 
 
 James Mingay, efq. 
 
 Rev. Stephen Wetton 
 
 Richard Cooper, efq. 
 
 James Grant, efq. 
 
 George Hirnclcell, efq. 
 
 Sir John J. W. Jervis, bart, 
 
 William Freemantle, efq. 
 
 Mr. James Scatcherd, fix copies 
 
 Mr. C. GeilWeiler, fix copies 
 
 Mr. John Walker, fix copies 
 
 Lt. Col. "V^ettropp 
 
 Capel Cure, efq. 
 
 Lt. Col. Chriftmas 
 
 Oeni'iai Lord Clarina 
 
 Thomas O'Reilly, efq. 
 
 (6) ^ 
 Robert Dalrympk, efq. 
 MeiT. Murray and Highley. fix copies 
 Major Leflie 
 Lt. Col. Dcnnifs 
 Leonard VaiTai, efq. 
 William Hales, efq. 
 Frederick Thompfon, efq- 
 Stephen Moore, efq. 
 William Moore, elq. 
 Anthony Bacon, efq. 
 Thomas Bacon, efq. 
 John Calcraft, efq. 
 Thomas Sherrard, efq. 
 Rev. James Lowry 
 Stafford Squire Baxter, efq. 
 Edward Protheroe, efq. 
 Mr. John Smith 
 Anthony Chearnley, ffq. 
 Thomas Thoroton, efq. 
 Lewis Montolieu, efq. 
 Her Serene Highnefs the hereditary 
 
 Princefs of Tour and Taxis 
 Count de BernftorfF 
 Frederick Francis Baker, efq. 
 Nicholas Carlide, efq. 
 Richard Arkwright, efq. 
 George Purefoy Jervoife, efq. 
 Thomas Raymond Barker, efq. 
 William Baldwin, efq. 
 John Baker, efq. 
 Mr. Richard Phillips 
 Lord Rihblefdale 
 G. H. Errington, efq. 
 William Hayton, efq. 
 Thomas Grimiione, efq. 
 Rev. J«jhn Lloyd 
 ."^ricc Clarke, efq. 
 John Rennie, eiq. 
 Mr. William Barclay 
 R S.Fayermar, efq. 
 Rev Stephen Freeman 
 Rtv. Hope Wynne Heyfon 
 Lt. Col. Morgan, R.F.F. 
 William Putland, t(q. 
 Capt. Roberts, W. Kent. Regt, 
 Richard Alex Ofwal<l, elq. 
 Sir Fenton Ayimer, bart. 
 Sir John Frcke, bart. 
 George Evans, eiq. 
 Richard ReyneU, efq. 
 Lr Col. Geo. Stewart, 35th foo,t 
 John Kynafton Powell, elq. 
 Lhiii. liainlyn, efq. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE IMPERIAL MAPS. 
 
 The following names are placed in the order of their Juhfinpti(in\ 
 
 (7) 
 
 C. H. Noel, efq. 
 
 Univerfityof St. Andrews 
 
 I.t.Col. Lord Vlfcoiint Balgonie 
 
 Henry de la Cliaumette, efq. 
 
 J. B. Ryan, elq- 
 
 Rev R. C. T Patterfon 
 
 Rev Valentine Grantham 
 
 Michael Creagh, efq. 
 
 Mr. Wm, Stewart 
 
 Francis Crofs, efq. 
 
 Etrl of Harrington 
 
 Countefs of Harrington 
 
 Robert G. White, efq. 
 
 Mr. James Smith 
 
 Sir Joft-ph Andrews, bart. 
 
 Col. Thomas Balkerville 
 
 Thos FrankUnd Lewis, efq. 
 
 Major Brown 
 
 Edw. Nathaniel Bancroft, efq. 
 
 Sir George Warren, K* B. 
 
 John Lownds, efq. 
 
 Captain Trotter 
 
 Edw. S. Trotter, efq. three copies 
 
 George Wynch^ elq. 
 
 Major- General Nugent 
 
 J. hn Forfter Alleyne, efq. 
 
 Xord Vi{count Weatworth 
 
 Jnfiah Corrie, efq. 
 Major- General Clephane 
 Col. Johnftone, 3dGuard» 
 Kichard Bethel), efq. 
 GJlesEarle, efq. 
 
 Rev. Laurence Panting 
 
 Alexander AUardyce, efq. 
 
 James Forbes, efq, 
 
 V. Col. Wm. Bagwell 
 
 Charles Jenlcnfon. efq. 
 
 Right Hon. \i^'ic Corry 
 
 John Mackanefs, efq. 
 
 Wiliiain Borrer. jun. efq. 
 
 Lt Col. William Murray 
 
 James Bolger, efq. 
 
 Captain Allee 
 
 John Hawkin«,efq, 
 
 Earl of Longford 
 
 Rev. Phillip Dodd 
 
 John Mac hell, efq. 
 
 William Forde, t:q. 
 
 Biftiopof Meath 
 
 Frtxlerick Frtderick> efq. 
 
 (8) 
 
 Lord Vifcount Cloncurry 
 
 Thomas Kume, efq. 
 
 Ptter Garforth, jun. efq. 
 
 Sir William Smyth, bart. 
 
 John Tyrrell, efq. 
 
 William Hunter, efq. 
 
 Lt. James Anderfon, R. N. 
 
 Lord Roffmore 
 
 Rev. Richartf *John Hay 
 
 Major Hart 
 
 William Gordon, efq. 
 
 Charles Greenwood, efq. 
 
 Sir J^mes Blackwood, bart. 
 
 Rev. John Buckworth Hern« 
 
 Colonel Beaumont. 
 
 Brigadier General Scott. 
 
 Sir Grenville Temple, bart. 
 
 Rev. John Robinfon, 
 
 Duke of Portland. 
 
 Mr. Raines. 
 
 Mr. Todd. 
 
 Robert Markland, jun, efq. 
 
 Donald M«Leod, efq. 
 
 Sir James Milles Riddell, bart. 
 
 Colonel Campbell, 91ft Regiment. 
 
 John Richardfon, efq. 
 
 Archibalds. O'bins, efq. 
 
 Right Hon. John Ormlby Vandeleur. 
 
 Mainr General Read. 
 
 J. W. Commevell, efq. 
 
 Earl Spencer. 
 
 Colonel Brownrigg. 
 
 Lord Berwick. 
 James Law, efq. 
 
 John Burnes Floyer, efq. 
 
 J MulluUa.cfq. 
 
 Proprietors of the Liverpool 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 Edward Wilbraham Bootle, efq. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hodgf<n 
 
 Rev. George Whitmore, D.D. 
 
 Lord Suntierlin 
 
 Sir Vere Hunt, bart. 
 
 Mr. 0'Dwy'»r, efq. 
 
 Colonel Jackfon 
 
 William Childe, efq. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Clarke, jun» 
 
 Sir Bro'lerick Chinnery, barf, 
 
 John Harrifon, efq. 
 
 T.GlUrt, Prmwr, 
 Ktlilkury -Sijutn, 
 
V 
 
 :^ 
 
 ^'^ 
 

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