that such men are not capable of in the ciation of the paper, is, surely, sufficient way of belief. That the paper would, at to fill one with surprize and dismay, if, at last, become a legal tender, or forced circu• this day, and after all that we have seen, lation, it was easy to see. I did, indeed, any thing ought to produce such an effect for my own part, expect this state of the in our minds. paper to be apparent long ago. The faith of this “ most thinking people” I On the 2d of July a protest was entered, knew to be almost passing conception; in the House of Lords, against LORD STAN but, still I did not think it adequate to the Hope's Bill, which protest I here insert. supporting of this paper-money for 14 “ Dissentient,-Because we think it tho years after the issuers had ceased to pay duty of this House to mark in the first in cash and after they were protected by “ instance with the most decided reprolaw against the demands of their cre- “ bation, a Bill, which in our judgment ditors, It was, however, certain, that the “ manifestly leads to the introduction of thing must come to this point at last? it“ laws, imposing upon the country the was certain, that, if the national Debt and " compulsory circulation of a Paper Currency; the taxes continued to increase, the time a measure fraught with injustice, dem must come when landlords would see that “structive of all confidence in the legal they must either starve, or demand their “ security of contracts, and, as invariable tents in coin; and, whenever this time experience has shewn, necessarily pro: came, it was, as I have many times said, « ductive of the most fatal calamities: impossible to keep up the paper only for GRENVILLE, six months without making that paper a Esses, legal tender, which might eke out its ex JERSEY, istence, perhaps, for a year or two, but GREY, wbich, in the end, must ensure its total LANSDOWNE, destruction. I have several times been Cowper, asked, what reason there was why land KING, lords should not demand their rents in LAUDERDALE. gold and silver, or in bank notes to the “ For the reason assigned on the other amount of the gold and silver; and, my “ side, and because the repeal of the law answer has always been, that there was no “ for suspending Bank Payments in Cash reason at all against it now, but that there “ is in my judgment the only measure which soon would be ; for that the moment such can cure the inconveniences already fell, and demand was made, Bank notes would be " avert the yet greater calamities which made a legal tender. This was natural, and, are impending from the present state of therefore, the ministers are now doing “ the circulation of the country. just what I always expected they would VASSALL HOLLAND." do, whenever any land-holder did what Lord King has now done ; but, to hear In the protest of the eight peers I hear. them speak of it as a measure calculated tily concur; but, I do not agree with LORD to afford protection to the fund-holder is Holland in his addition to it, if his lordwhat I never could have expected. They ship means to say, that it is possible to rewill see what sort of protection it will give sume cash payments at the Bank. To pay him; and he will feel it! What will be the notes in gold upon demand, agreeably his fate I shall not pretend to say ; but, to the promise upon the face of the notes, I hope, there is justice enough yet in the is certainly the only cure for the inconvecountry, real justice enough to prevent niences already felt and the calamities him from perishing, while there exist the now impending ; but that it is utterly immeans of such prevention. I trust, that possible to adopt this cure is, to my mind, his claims will meet with serious and pa- not less certain. His Lordship proceeds tient consideration; that the question of upon the notion of Mr. Horner and the what is due to him and to whom he ought to Bullion Committee, namely, that the cause book for payment will be settled upon sound of the depreciation consists in an excessive principles of equity. I am for giving real issue of paper, which is very true, if you protection to the fund-holder; but, to compare the quantity of the paper with bear the Ministers say, that he is to meet that of the gold, or of the real transactions with protection from a measure such as of purchase and sale, between man and that now before parliament, a measure man; but, which is not true, if you comthat must inevitably accelerate the depre- pare the quantity of paper with the amount It is impossible! The thing never can go back; no, not an inch; nay, and it must keep advancing. This very measure, by hastening the depreciation, will cause a new addition and still larger than former additions, to the National Debt, and of course to the Dividends. Those additional Dividends must be paid in an additional quantity of bank notes; and thus the system must go on, as PAINE foretold, with an accelerated velocity, until it can go on no longer. Having this opinion so firmly fixed in my mind, I was quite surprised to see the Marquis of LANSDOWNE endeavoured to mend the Bill of LORD STANHOPE by the introduction of a clause for prohibiting the Bank Company from augmenting the quantity of their paper after the passing of the Bill. This shews, that his Lordship has what I deem to be, and which, I think, I have proved to be, a most erroneous view of the real cause of the depreciation. If he thought with me, that the cause is in the increase of the National Debt and of the Dividends, he would have proposed no such amendment as this. As to the conduct of LORD KING nothing could be more fair or more laudable. He wished to take no advantages of his tenants; he only wanted a fulfilment of his contract with them; and, as the spirit of the contract was more favourable to them than the letter, he abandoned the letter and only required them to hold to the spirit. To hear him, therefore, charged with oppression, and by.........! But, it is as well to keep ourselves cool. Let others chafe and foam. And, if the House of Lords do choose thus to determine; why, all that I can say about the matter, is, that they are the best judges whether they stand in need of their rents, and, if they do not, I really do not see much harm in their giving them to their tenants; and, this act will be the more generous as they are about to do it by a law, so that the tenants will keep the rents without having to give the landlords even thanks in return. That such will be amongst the effects of the Bill, if it pass, there can be no doubt; and, as far as it operates in this way, a most popular Bill it will be. It will act as a distributor of wealth; of money, lands, and tenements; for, to suppose, that, in many cases, the tenants will not soon become the proprietors, is to discover but very little thought on the subject, and that, I am sure, would be a shame in a body of HEREDITARY Legisla TORS in the most thinking nation in the "world." What a change this will make! Happy is the man who is a tenant! Much better off is he than the man who tills his own land; because the former has given nothing at all for his, whereas the latter has paid, at some time or other, purchase money for what he possesses. The letting of long leases is out of fashion; but, in general, the lands of great proprietors are held upon lease, and these leases are not, upon an average, for less than seven years at the lowest. Some of these leases are nearly expired, of course, but, others will naturally be but just commenced. So that, the average time, for which the land is now let, I shall take at three years and a half. All the Duke of Bedford's estates, for instance, are let, then, for three years and a half yet to come. Now, if the paper depreciate three or four times as fast as it has hitherto done, the tenants of the Duke of Bedford will have a brave time of it for these three years and a half. But, if the Bill, which is now before parliament, should send down the paper to the state of the French assignats in 1794, what will, in that case, be the situation of the Duke of Bedford? There are many landlords, who can not hold out for three years and a half, and who, therefore, must sell, in whole or in part; but, there will, indeed, be this convenience, that they will every where find a purchaser ready at hand in their tenant, and one, too, who will not only know the real value of the property, but who will have the money ready to pay for it. This is nothing in the way of a joke. I am in earnest; it is what I am convinced will take place, if the Bill of Lord Stanhope pass into a law; but, as I said before, if the Lords like it, nobody else can possibly have a right to interfere. They may, surely, do what they please with their own property. All that I wish to stipulate for is, that we Jacobins and Levellers shall never be accused of this act of distributing the lands and houses of the rich amongst those who are not rich; that we shall not be accused of this great act of pulling down and raising up. Hume remarked that the funding system, in the space of 500 years, would cause the posterity of those now in the coaches, and of those upon the boxes, to change places; but, if this Bill of LORD STANHOPE pass, this change will be a thing of much quicker operation. I shall be told, that Lord King's example would have operated even more quickly than this measure in destroying the paper. Granted. It would, there is no doubt, have produced, in a very short time, that which must have totally destroyed the paper system, root and branch, namely, TWO PRICES, against which, openly and generally adopted, no paper-money ever did, or ever can, stand for any length of time. That that example would have been generally, nay universally, followed there can be no doubt at all; for, no man voluntarily gives away his rents, or, rather, lets another withhold them from him. Some persons would have been a little shy at first; but, when they found that others did it, they would have got over their shyness, and the demand would have been universally made. Thus, then, the TWO PRICES would have been established; and the gold and silver, finding that they could pass current for their real worth, would have come forth from their hiding places, some, while the rest would have hastened back from abroad. Surely!" say you: "why, "then, are the government alarmed at the " effect of Lord King's example, if it would "bring back gold and silver into circula"tion?" Oh! there is a very good reason for their alarm; for, observe, THE TAXES WOULD CONTINUE TO BE PAID IN PAPER! When the tax-gatherer came to the door of one of you, for instance, you would, if you had only gold or silver in the house, beg him to call the next morning, or to sit down a bit, while you, with your gold, would go and purchase paper-money sufficient to pay him the amount of his demand! There needs no more to convince you that the government has good reason for alarm at the prospect of seeing Lord King's example followed, as it assuredly would be, if there were no daw to prevent it. In short, that example would annihilate the paper system in a year. 66 The next Letter will close the series. hundred ladders were thrown into the In the mean while, MERINO SHEEP. To be sold, in the Village of Botley, near Southampton, on Saturday next, the 13th of July, at 12 o'clock, a number of Merino Rams and Ewes, selected from the finest Flocks in Spain by the HONOURABLE COCHRANE JOHNSTONE, and lately imported into this Country.The sale will begin pre cisely at 12 o'clock, and will close, if possible, on the same day. Some of the best judges have viewed these Sheep, and the proprietor is convinced, that, whether as to the frame or fineness of wool, the equal of them, in so large a number, have not before been seen in England. They were selected with the greatest care, and under every circumstance likely to insure success as to the object. OFFICIAL PAPERS. SPAIN.-Report from Count Suchet, Commander in Chief of the Army of Arragon, to his Serene Highness Prince of Neufchatel, Major General. (Concluded from vol. xix. p. 1632.) The Chief of the Squadron of Artillery, Duchamp, displayed his ardour and bravery in it. On the 29th, at eight at night, the firing of four cannon, loaded with grape shot, gave the signal for the assault. I appointed General Facatier to command it. The first column of attack, under the orders of the Chief of Battalion, Revel, of the 16th regiment of the line, composed of 300 men, preceded by the Captain of Engineers, and 20 sappers, furnished with ladders and hatchets, advanced to turn the work, and seize upon the gate, which they had much difficulty in forcing, with axes, &c. whilst a party of the columns applied their ladders, and scaled the works. Captain Papigny received a mortal wound whilst directing his miners.-The 2d column of attack, composed of three hundred chosen troops from the 7th regiment of the line, led by the chief of battalion, Mexque, and Captain Desaix, my Aid-de-camp, set out from the battery in breach, and threw themselves upon the part of the fort which had been battered in breach. One fosses; our voltigeurs precipitated themselves into them, under the fire of the enemy. The fosse was twenty feet, our ladders but fifteen. The Serjeant of Miners, Meuneers, having placed himself at the top of a ladder, made the Voltigeurs eight battalions and 380 artillerymen or sappers, in all 2580 men at the moment of attack.-On the 30th, at nine in the morning, 3,000 men marched from the place and endeavoured to retake Fort Olivia ; but the brave men who knew how to take it, have likewise well known how to defend it, they let the enemy approach to the gates, and then drove them back with vigour; all round the fort is strewed with their corpses. The taking by assault of the fortress of Olivia, has enabled me to open the trenches against this town. In the night between the 1st and 2d of June, the first parallel was opened, at 100 toises distance from Canons Bastion, leading to the right of Francola. The batteries are erecting, and the fire will commence, as soon as they are mounted. Our sea batteries have already caused the port to be evacuated.I am with respect. "Count SUCHET." " Camp before Tarragona, June 3." Paris, June 18.-His Majesty the King of Spain has set out on his return to his dominions." PORTUGAL. - THE WAR. Dispatch from Lord Wellington, June 6th. Downing Street, June 25. A Dispatch, of which the following is a Copy, was this morning received at Lord Liverpool's Office, addressed to his Lordship by Lieut. General Lord Viscount Wellington, dated Quinta de Granicha, 6th June, 1811. My Lord;-We have continued the operations of the siege of Badajoz with the utmost activity since I addressed your Lordship on the 30th ultimo, and our fire commenced on the morning of the 2nd instant from four batteries on the right of the Guadiana, directed against the outwork of St. Christoval, and on the enemy's batteries in the Castle constructed to support that outwork; and from two batteries on the left of the Guadiana, directed against the eastern face of the Castle. The fire from these batteries has continued ever since, and a breach has been made in the outworks of St. Christoval, which, however is not yet practicable for assault; and considerable progress has been made in effecting a breach on the eastern front of the Castle. (To be continued.) climb over his shoulders to reach the [Here follow the eulogiums of particular officers and a statement of the stores taken in the place, among which are 40,000 rations of biscuits, 10,000 pounds weight of powder, and 47 pieces of artillery.] Our loss in the twenty-four hours did not exceed 250 in killed and wounded.— The garrison of fort Olivia consisted of Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mall, LONDON :-Printed by T: C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street. VOL. XX. No. 2.] LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1811. [Price 18. "It is not that the money which the Public Creditor receives, as interest for his capital, is less than "it used to be; it is that the quantity of goods he receives for his money is less; and he will be still "receiving less and less, while your taxes will be rising more and more. If the next Administration" (Addington was just at this time coming into power in place of Pitt) “mean to go on like the last, it "would be a good thing for the country if no man would lend them a groat. Let them take three"fourths of a man's interest, or property, from him, and take off the taxes, and the people would be "doubly gainers. If you reduce the National Debt, we may laugh and sing at home and bid defiance "to all the world; if you do not reduce it, the consequence will be, that, instead of paying the National "Creditor 120 quartern loaves for a year's interest of his £.100 you will go on, till you only pay him "2 or 3 quartern loaves. Depend upon it that will be the fate of the National Creditor."Mr. Horne Tooke's Speech, in the House of Commons, 2nd March, 1801. Look at the motto! Look at the motto; and, especially, if any of you should unfortunately be fund-holders; in that case, let me beseech you to look at the motto. They are the words of a very wise man. They were spoken, you see, rather more than ten years ago. The speaker was laughed at by some, and railed at by others; but, I imagine, that, at this time, those, who then laughed, are more disposed to cry, though I by no means suppose, that [34 the railers have ceased, or ever will cease their railing, as long as they have tongues or pens wherewith to rail. The House of Commons, the Honourable House, ejected MR. TOOKE from amongst them, soon after he made this speech. They did so upon the ground of his being a clergyman in Holy Orders! No matter: they got rid of him; but, they have not got rid of the event that he foretold. Oh, no! that is coming upon them in spite of all their triumphs over Mr. ToOKE and Mr. PAINE and Messrs. Muir, Palmer, MARGAROT, GERALD, WINTERBOTTOM, Gilbert WAKEFIELD, and many others. The government beat all these reformers; they not only put them down; they not only ruined the greater part of them; but they succeeded in making the nation believe that such ruin was just. Well. The government and the nation will now, of course, not pretend, that the present events have sprung from the Jacobins and Reformers. Mr. TOOKE told them to reduce the National Debt. They rejected his advice. They despised his warning. They turned him out of parliament. Well. Let them, then, not blame him for what has since happened, and what is now coming to pass. I beg you, Gentlemen, to reflect well on these observations; for, such reflection will be very useful in preventing you from being deceived in future, and will enable you, when the utmost of the evil comes, to ascertain who are the men who have been THE AUTHORS OF THE EVIL, and to whom, accordingly, you ought to look for a just RESPONSIBILITY. But, upon this vital part of the subject I have some hints to offer to you hereafter at present I must return, for a while, to the point where I broke off in C |