HALFPENN the editor of the Courier has, here again, as it were to mock the grief of the nation, promulgated an empty boasting falshood. -Hundreds and thousands of stories, of this stamp, will, however, now be resorted to, with a view of amusing the public mind, of drawing it off from contemplating the loss, the misery and the disgrace, the numberless national disgraces, of this campaign. But, when we see the remnant of the army tumbling, helter-skelter, on board the first vessel they can reach; when we see the balls and bomb-shells falling thick as hail-stones around and amongst the fugitive ships; when we see the poor creatures, who have finally escaped, who have survived this complication of dangers and of miseries, creeping to our shores, one after another, in a state worse than that of mariners after shipwreck; when we see all this, when we actually, with our own eyes, behold the half-naked, emaciated, ghost-looking, remains of our once stout, well equipped, and gaily-dressed army, is it possible that we can be such senseless animals, such brute beasts, as to give into a train of boasting about "victories and laurels ?" Oh! this is not the way to recover our character. This is not the way to prevent such calamities in future. It is a deep sense of our loss, and our national disgrace, that should now have possession of our minds; never, for one moment, losing sight of that important truth, of which every soul in ourunfortunate army has now had such woeful experience, that, to induce a people to rise in arms against a powerful invader, they must first, not be told, but made to feel, THAT THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR. "field of battle, to have found there only "three Englishmen and two French. "That contest of 400 men against 2000, "does great honour to the French. During "the whole of the 29th, the river con"tinued to swell considerably, so that at "the close of the evening it became impossible to ford it. It was in the mid"dle of the river, and at the moment he "was on the point of being drowned, that "General Lefebvre, being carried away by the current to the side occupied by "the English, was made prisoner." Which are we to believe? "Our own story," to be sure, say the " loyal;" but which will the world believe? It is easy for us, however, to get at some proof upon the point; and we ought to do it; for, if we do not, we may be sure, that the opinions of mankind will, at best, be divided. As intimately connected with this, the following paragraph, from the Courier of the 24th instant, is worthy of being put upon record. "It appears that Buonaparté ceased superintending in person the operations against us, after "the arrival of the French army at Astorga, "on the 2d. He says in his last bulletin, "dated Astorga, that he left the charge of "pursuing us to the point of embarkation, to "the duke of Dalmatia.-Probably he had "received information that rendered it ne"cessary for him to return to Madrid, though we fear the report transmitted to Govern"ment, of the French having been driven "from the Capital, is unfounded. There is an account circulated UPON GOOD "AUTHORITY that Buonaparté was, "at one time, in a situation of some peril. "When Gen. Lefebvre was taken prison"er, Buonaparté was himself on a height "on the other side of the river, about two " miles from the scene of action. Gen. WEST INDIA DOCKS.--Merely as a com"Stewart was apprised of the circum-mercial matter, I should not have been dis"stance, and had he not been RESTRAIN"ED by the POSITIVE orders which he had previously received, he would have en"deavoured to have got in the rear of Buonaparté, and have made a dash at "him. His orders, however, being positive, " and the risk considerable, he did not "think it proper to make the attempt." Now, what is the "good authority," upon which this Bobadilian story rests? It is evident, that no authority, with regard to what General Stewart thought about it, can be good, unless it come from Gen. Stewart himself; and, the inevitable conclusion is, Dichat, the General has himself spread this orious this Bully-Bluff-like report; hicho must hope to be the case, which posed to bestow much attention upon this subject; but, as bringing to light some most interesting facts, connected with the cause of morality, it is of very great public importance.From a Report of a Committee of the Dock Company, which Report will be found in another part of this double number, the public will see of what immense advantage this establishment has been, in a commercial point of view; and, from what I am now about to state, they will see, that it has been of a still greater advantage in the cutting off of the means of robbery.The book published some years ago by one of the police magistrates, was not necessary to convince me, or any other person, who had had but the smallest transactions in the way of shipping or receiving merchandize, that the thieves upon the waters bore the same proportion as to land thieves, that the fish do to terrestrial creatures. All appeared to be thievery and plunder; and, it is a fact well-known amongst merchants, that thousands upon thousands of persons lived upon, and openly gloried in, this plunder, part of which came out of the revenue, but the far greater part out of the pockets of individuals. So bold were the persons who carried on this trade of thieving, that a remonstrance was very lucky if it did not produce some act of violence upon the person making it. I myself have seen women carrying away sugar and coffee, in their aprons, and drawing off the molasses into mugs, in open day-light. But, these petty thefts, though their flagrancy clearly enough shows how little care was taken of the property of the West India merchant and planter, sink out of sight when compared with acts such as that of which I am now about to speak, and which I give, not as any thing rare, but by way of pretty fair specimen.A ship arrived from the West Indies; and being entered, what is called a master Lumper was, in the usual way, engaged to discharge the cargo for about thirty guineas. He accordingly proceeded in doing that duty for nearly a month, when the owner was informed by one of the sailors, that the Lumpers continued working during the nights, as well as the days; and that he had heard the master-Lumper say to the Captain, that, as he must be a good deal fatigued, he had better go to sleep; that something should be put under his pillow to make him rest comfortably; and that the sun mentioned between them was two hundred guineas. The Lumper also engaged to take care of the revenue officers, in order that he (the captain) should not be disturbed. This being agreed upon, the master-Lumper came on board with his people (a fine gang of thieves !), about eleven o'clock at night, and, going seriously to work with bags and boats, and continuing the practice for eight or ten nights before the owner was informed of it, was supposed, in the course of that time, to have carried off about twenty tons of sugar, together with a proportion of other things. The merchant, upon being informed of the matter, went on board with a friend, accused the captain of having countenanced these villainous proceedings, and having taken him by surprize, he could not deny the fact, but pretended, that he was not aware of the extent to which they had been carried. The merchant, however, was so fully convinced of his guilt, that he lodged an information against him, and sent a constable to apprehend him. The constable was so unfortunate as to miss the rogue, which is almost always the case in that region of theft and plunder. The Captain absconded, and, as to a country of congenial manners and morals; as to a home pointed out by instinct, he, as has since appeared, immediately fled to the American States. Now, estimating the value of the sugar stolen upon this occasion, at the present gazetted price, the amount of loss, upon this one cargo, would be £.1,580, or, enough to maintain thirty thieves, for a year, at the rate of twenty shillings a week for each.This may be thought an extreme case, and, I am willing so to suppose it; but, as to the amount of the goods stolen, we must consider, that the plunder was in the article of sugar, not so portable and far less valuable than several other West India productions, in the first stage of the operations on ship-board. It must be recollected, that vessels were usually from three to six weeks, and, sometimes, two or three months, unlading their cargoes; that it was no unusual circumstance for goods to remain a like period in lighters on the water. During all this time the pillage must have been going on, the only protection being the honesty, or moderation, of the lightermen and river-watchmen, on whom there was no check, the goods not being weighed till landed on the quays. Here the duty and the ship-owner's charge for freight were ascertained and secured; but, the unfortunate West India planter (whom I cannot help regarding as the most ill-treated of mankind) was afterwards exposed to the malpractices of porters, carmen, warehouse-men, and ship-coopers, with the additional mortification of knowing, that, to the loss of his goods, he had now to add the amount of duty, freight, and all other charges, some of which made by these numerous licenced-thieves for having taken care of what they had stolen. It was a rule at the free quays, that the Wharfinger should not be chargeable with any loss of weight, after weighing to ascertain the amount of the duty, unless that loss exceeded 25 pounds on a hogshead, even during twenty four hours. There needs nothing more than a bare knowledge of this fact to shew to what extent the plunder upon the proprietor was carried, and with what impunity it existed. No wonder and such the West India Dock Company really appears to be. The system they have adopted is this: The ship's hold is, by law, secured by locks on her arrival at Gravesend, and no access is permitted to her cargo, till she is brought into the quay to unload. On reaching the Docks, she is admitted into the import Dason, where no person is allowed to remain on board during the night. The time requisite to unload an entire cargo is from six to ten or twelve days, according to the size of the ship. Immediately on being landed, the goods are weighed and loged in the warehouses. No watchmen are employed, except as general guards, on the out-side of the walls. The entrances to the works and warehouses are strictly watched, and suspicious persons are subjected to examination; and, in shert, if frauds or thefts are attempted, the difficulties in carrying off the booty, or of escaping detection, are too great to leave the smallest chance of being surmounted. It is said, that there are persons, who cavil against this establishment; and where is the wonder, when we find, that, first or last, it must throw eight thousand persons out of bread, or compel then to earn the bread they eat, not by the slight of hand, but by the sweat of their brow? Only think of the machinations of such a phalanx of thieves! Only think of such a swarm of wasps and hornets, driven, all at once, from the sugar and molasses hogsheads on the king's quays! Oh! there is another swarm,' who draw in their sustenance more cir that tribes of petty plunderers were seen, as whose stings are of greater length, and, of course, whose depredations and oppres sions are more generally felt. Would to God that some " Society for the Suppression of Vice,', would take these in hand! I will answer, now, that these cight thousand of ousted thieves are all found to be full of professions of "loyalty;" and that they accuse the Dock Company of something very nearly bordering upon Jacobinism. Nay, they are certainly innovators;" that cannot be denied. They have broken in upon the “established order of things;" they have, in a most cunning manner, undermined the “ privileged orders;" they have made a "revolution;" and are downright " levellers," seeing that their great maxim is, that no man, be his post, or badge of honour, what it may, shall have any of their sugar, rum, or coffee, without first rendering them the worth of it, either in money, or in services.This subject, however, merits a view still more extensive, and, of course, more worthy of general attention and consideration. What has been the cause, the great primary cause, of all this scandalous plunder? What is it that has rendered necessary the Dock Establishment, with all its cares and all its immense expences? Simply this: the taxes upon West India productions. In order to collect these taxes, the government was obliged to take the goods out of the hands of their proprietor, who, if left himself in possession of them, would have wanted no one to assist; nothing but the common law of the land, to assist him in the guarding of them. Wheat and other grain, scarcely less valuable in price, compared with the weight, than sugar and coffee, and still more necessary to man's subsistence, lie very quietly in places which a thief might, at any time, force in a moment. In frail buildings often at the distance of a mile from any inhabited dwelling. It is very seldom, compared to the number of barns and mills, that we hear of a theft in these commodities. And what is their protec. tion? The knowledge, that they are under the guardianship of the proprietor. If they, too, were subjected to a transier of possession, like that which takes place in the case of sugar, we should see exactly the same plundering going on with respect 10 them. By this transfer property loses its sacredness; it does not belong unto him who has it. To know this is quite sufficiet to dissipate the idea of proprietorship, and to let loose a disposition to plunder. In vain do you impose oatns, form checks, set watches ten deep; nothing will, or can, psevent goous, in this situation, from being stolen. The Dock Company have, doubtless, done much; but, I defy even their walls, the very existence of which constitutes so damning a proof of prevalent dishonesty; I defy even their walls, and I would defy ramparts and cannons, if they had them, to prevent thieving, as long as it is known, that he who has the possession is not the proprietor, or, which is the same thing, the agent chosen by the proprietor. It is a pleasing reflection, that crimes have been diminished; that hordes of the viiest of thieves have been broken up; that there will exist less temptation; that eight thousand less persons will leave their honest and productive labour in the country to go and share in the plunder upon the Thames; but, in a greater or less degree, as long as the tax exists, and is collected in such a way, so long will it continue to engender idleness I and thieving, and to spread its baleful influence over the land. The moment the lock is put upon the hold of the ship, at Gravesend, that moment the contents change their nature. The government becomes the possessor of them; and the unreflecting and unmoralized mind will, in spite of all you can do, regard them as an object of plunder. It is no longer an affair between man and man. From depredations of this sort; from becoming familiar with taking what is not their own in any situa tion, inen naturally lose the horror of taking the property of their neighbour; and hence it is, and must be, the case, that a nation, in proportion as taxation, in the custom-house way, prevails, will be dishonest. -And, after all, who is it that finally suffer for this thieving? The consumers of West India produce; those who finally pay the taxes upon it. The planters occasionally suffer, because the thieving must fall partially; but it is those who consume that suffer in the end; and, when we sit down to the use of sugar or coffee, we may always say, that we are contributing towards the support of thieves; that, in earning the money to buy our breakfast, we have been labouring towards the maintenance of eight thousand thieves in London. And, if we can now say, that our earnings no longer go to the support of this horde of thieves, badged and unbadged, we cannot help remembering, that the expences of the Dock Establishment must fall upon our breakfasts; though, it must, on all hands, be confessed, that it is better to pay for the prevention, than for the encouragement, of theft.In this view of the matter, without being dazzled by its stupendous mercantile exhibitions, and reserving, to their full extent, all my opinions, relating to the inutility of commerce, as a source of national wealth or strength, I cannot help expressing my pleasure at the establishment of the West India Dock system, and my hopes that it will proceed with uninterrupted success. in spite of the out-cries of eight thousand thieves and their interested abettors. Botley, 26th January, 1809. COBBETT'S COMPLETE COLLECTION OF State Trials: To be completed in Thirty-Six Monthly Parts, forming Twelve large Volumes in Royal Octavo, The SECOND PART of the above Work will be published on Wednesday, the 1st day of February. WEST INDIA DOCKS. AT A GENERAL COURT OF PROPRIETORS OF THE WEST-INDIA DOCK COMPANY, HELD AT THEIR HOUSE IN BILLITER-SQUARE, ON FRI DAY THE 6TH OF JANUARY, 1809, THOMAS pose so desirable.-The obstacles that must occur in combating numerous and powerful classes of opponents determined by prejudice, or stimulated by interest, could HUGHAN, ESQ. IN THE CHAIR; THE CHAIR-only be surmounted by that union of zeal, MAN READ TO THE MEETING A REPORT FROM THE PROPRIETORS. perseverance, and ability, which were on this occasion combined, and being sanctioned by a provident policy in the legislature, (fortunately for the commercial prosperity of London,) proved successful. These opponents although silenced were not reconciled. To the origin and character of the Establishment itself, as opposed to individual and petty exactions, may be traced the source of much of that spirit of discontent and hostility which it has since encountered, and which has pursued its object, by misrepresentations, most gross, and yet too frequently credited; but it is a rigid enquiry into their conduct, and an impartial investigation of their principles and proceedings, that will furnish to the Company the surest means of vindicating themselves, and demonstrating, that they have, in all liberal construction, accomplished the good purposes of the undertaking, and fulfilled their engagements to the public.-By the general view of its merits and demerits, and not by its adaptation to any one particular occurrence, ought every public Establishment in fairness to be tried; but your Committee are confident that the Company need not shrink from a more minute scrutiny, and enquiry, how far its provisions and regulations are already compatible with the separate and distinct interests of different bodies connected with the West REPORT.-The Committee of Review, in compliance with the Resolution of the Court of Directors of the 20th December last, directing that they should “ Report to the "Court the present state of business at the "Docks, and such circumstances respecting "the Company's Concerns during the last "Season, as may appear to them to require "observation," present the following Report. THE season just elapsed having been one of peculiar difficulty in the conduct of the Company's concerns, and in which the efficacy and resources of the Establishment have been called into action, and put to the test, it is matter of singular gratification to your Committee to be enabled to state, that the exertions of your officers and servants have been successful in the discharge of their duty; and that the business of the year, in all its various departments, although impeded by circumstances embarrassing and unprecedented, has been completed at a period unusually early. To the details which are necessarily connected with this (the more immediate) object of your Committee, they premise a few remarks, founded upon those facts and incontrovertible principles to which your Estab-India trade; although they may and will lishment owes both its origin and its utili- on the test of experiment, and by sugges ty. However unwilling some persons may tions of those most interested, be ultimately be to awaken the recollection, yet it can still farther perfected. The security afnot be generally forgotten, what were the forded to property, and the prevention of excessive delays, increasing difficulties, frauds, are purposes which your institution and glaring abuses, which not many years is universally admitted to have attained, ago obstructed, in an especial manner, the and in these objects, the interests of the West-India Trade at this port, and called public revenue, of the importers and proaloud for a remedy. The records exist prietors of goods, and of the ship owners, which prove the enormity of the evil, pro- are all intimately blended, and most essengressively affecting the credit of the port, tially promoted; and yet these topics, of the safe collection of the revenue, and the the highest importance to the state, and to property of individuals connected with the individuals, (when clamour is to be excited trade, in times otherwise prosperous, and against your system), are seldom adverted seriously contributing to degrade and cor- to, and although it would be no difficult rupt the morals of the people. To these task to prove that the duty saved to the recauses your Establishment owes its origin; venue, and the property preserved to indian effectual reform could only be soughtviduals, by these means, amounts annually in a great and costly effort. The indivi- to many hundred thousand pounds, yet duals who formed and who composed the your Committee abstain from a superfluous Company, undertook, at very considerable illustration of a fact so generally acknowrisk, to make the effort requisite for a pur-ledged, and proceed to details which are |