"Should I presume to bear you hence, But, to the coldness of the Calf's friendship (to give it the mildest term) we, if we remain inert, add the grossest of folly; because in the fate of the country, our own fate is inextricably involved. Evils, when taken in time, are deprived of half their mischievous qualities. Yet, though this is so manifestly the time for the people to beseech the king to adopt such measures as shall effectually guard then, in future, against the effects of a system of corruption like that which now stands exposed before them, not a county, not a city, not a town, not a village, not a single man do we see bestir himself. The whole population of the kingdom seem to stand by as unconcerned spectators; or, at best, to discover little more than mere curiosity; and this, too, at a moment, when, by a constitutional exercise of their rights, their opinions, the opinions which they all entertain, respectfully but plainly expressed, might, and would, speedily produce a reform equally advantageous to their sovereign and themselves, and hurtful to none but the domestic and foreign foes of their happiness and of their country's independence. It was not thus that our forefathers acted towards us; and it is not thus that we ought to act towards our children. Botley, Thursday, 2 March, 1809. TO THE READER. BEING under the necessity of raising the price of this publication, from ten-pence to one shilling, I beg leave to state the grounds, upon which, after long hesitation, I, at last, reluctantly do it.- -When the work was begun I paid twenty-four shillings a ream for the paper; I now pay forty-three shillings a ream; and, it is well known, that printers' work has greatly augmented in price since that time.Of the tenpence, at present received, three-pence halfpenny goes, in advance, for the stamp, the discount upon which is scarcely sufficient to meet the loss from torn stamps, to say nothing of the unsold numbers; the paper costs more than a penny, allowing nothing for torn paper; to the news-man the allowance is two-pence. Here is sixpence halfpenny out of the ten-pence, leaving only three-pence halfpenny for printing, for torn paper, for unsold Numbers, for porterage, for carriage of paper, for postage, for a salary to the publisher, for warehouse-room, for divers other expences, which cannot easily be stated, but which amount to a great sum in the course of the year; so that, in the end, I have not, for my constant and infinite labour, nearly one-half so much left, as, with the same application, I could gain in various other ways.The daily news-papers are, indeed, sold for sixpence, and the printing of them is still more expensive. The same may be said of all the weekly news-papers. But, then, look at their Advertisements, which, in some of those papers, amount frequently, to forty or fifty pounds a day. Three shillings from each advertisement is taken in tax; but, the insertion of the smallest advertisement is, I believe, charged at six shillings; and, if it be charged at a guinea or two guineas, the tax is still but three shillings. Indeed, if it were not for this gain upon the advertisements, and for certain paragraphs, the insertion of which is paid for, a daily paper never could stand. There is three-pence halfpenny for the stamp, a penny for the paper, and a penny for the news-man; so that there is a halfpenny left to pay for printing; to pay the Editor, who cannot have less than nine or ten pounds a week; to pay four, five, or six gentlemen for reporting debates, at the rate of about five guineas a week each, all the year round; to pay for a large house, necessarily in the most expensive part of London; to pay for foreign news-papers, which, if I am not mistaken, cost each of the principal daily papers from two to three hundred pounds a year; to pay for postage; to pay numerous other even heavy charges, which it would tire the reader to enumerate; and, at last, to leave the proprietor, necessarily a man of talent and enterprize, a compensation for his time and for the use of his capital, to say nothing of what he has sunk in rearing the establishment. From this statement, though a very defective representation of the expences, the reader will, at once, see, that the stamp, which has gone on rising from a halfpenny to three-pence halfpenny, would amount to a complete prohibition against the printing of a daily paper at sixpence, were it not for the advertisements, which, by-the-bye, no paper is sure of obtaining.Of all the things that are taxed, nothing is so heavily taxed as this sort of periodical publications. The tax is paid, too, upon the nail, even before the article is made fit for sale. But, It has been stated to Mr. Budd of Pall Mall, who has sent the statement to me, that "the Marchioness of Stafford has no pension, and never had any ;" and that it is supposed, that the error, in my statement, arose from the late Marchioness having had a pension, as Lady of the Bedchamber to the Duchess of Brunswick. I really do not see why the people of England ought to have paid a pension on such an account; but, as to the fact, there is no error in my statement, as will appear from the following extract, under the head of pensions per annum, as they stood on the 5th January, 1807. "Gower, Countess, now Marchioness of Stafford, £.300.”See the Report, laid before parliament, in June 1808, page 134. still the tax is, in proportion, heavier upon | are the grounds, upon which I make the me (who have no part of my matter, the proposed rise in the price of this work, insertion of which is paid for) than it is which rise will begin with the Number upon the proprietors of daily papers. My that will be published on the 18th of March, work is, in fact, not a news-paper; nor has in order to afford time to gentlemen, who it any of the lucrative qualities of a news- live in the country, to discontinue the paper; the nature of its matter would work, if they should be disposed to do it exempt it from the news-paper stamp, but on account of the augmentation of price. then, without the stamp, it could not be The step has been taken by me with great circulated by means of the post-office.- reluctance; but, I am persuaded, that The stamp-office allows the daily papers a there are few persons, who are indulgent discount of £. 16 per cent. for torn and enough to set a value upon the effects of unsold Numbers; while it allows me but my labour, would wish that that labour £.4. 188. per cent. the reason of which should go without something like an adehas never appeared to me, seeing that, quate compensation. from the very nature of my work, it is evident that I must lose more than the daily papers by unsold Numbers. A daily paper, when it finds its edition too small, can repeat the interesting matter the next day; but, I am obliged to print an over number; because the time for the repeating is at too great a distance.I do not complain of this tax. as a tax; for, though it certainly tends to lessen the power of the press, it is one of those taxes, the manner of levying which does not trench upon a man's personal freedom; but, I have always thought, and I still think, that my publication, in proportion to what is received for each sheet, is, beyond all measure, more heavily taxed than the daily and weekly news-papers, each of which contains so much of value in their advertisements and paid-for paragraphs; and I also think, that even in a mere fiscal point of view, the stamp upon all the news-papers is impoliticly high. At the same time I think it right to say, that, during -The English army suffers the six years that I have carried on this considerably; it has no longer ammunipublication, I have never met with any tion and baggage, and half the English thing annoying, in any department of the cavalry is on foot. Since our departure Stamp-Office; and that, as often as I have from Benevente up to the 5th instant, we had any thing to do with the Commissi- counted on the road 1800 English horses, oners, I have never found them, under any that had been killed.-The remains of ministry, disposed to put me to any in- Romana's army are found wandering convenience, and that, upon a recent oc- about in all directions, the remains of the casion, I have had to acknowledge their army of Mayorca, of Ibernia, of Barcelona, indulgence. Of the two-pence, now to and of Naples, are made prisoners.-Gebe added to the price of the Register, a ne: al Maupetet having come up with, on half-penny will go in additional allowance the side of Zamora, with his brigade of to the news-men, who, when their labour dragoons, a column of 800 men, charged and their house-rent and their credit are all and dispersed them, and killed or took duly considered, have not too much al- the greater part.-The Spanish peasantry lowed them. The wonder is, indeed, how of Galicia and Leon, have no mercy on they can make the business answer; and the English. Notwithstanding the strictest it is only that incessant application to bu-orders to the contrary, we every day find siness, to be found no where but amongst a number of English assassinated.---The London tradesinen, that could possibly se- head-quarters of the duke of Elchingen cure a profit from such a trade.- -Such are at Villa Franca, on the confines of OFFICIAL PAPERS. SPANISH REVOLUTION.-Twenty-seventh Bulletin of the French Army of Spain, continued from page 320. Galicia and Leon. The duke of Belluno | The weather is dreadful; rain and snow is on the Tagus. The whole of the imperial guard is concentrated at Valladolid. The cities, of Valladolid, of Palencia, Segovia, Avilla, Astorga, Leon, &c. have sent numerous deputations to the King. The flight of the English army, the dispersion of the remains of the armies of Romana and Estramadura, and the evils which the troops of the different armies inflict upon the country, rally the provinces round the legitimate authority. The city of Madrid has particularly distinguished itself;-28,500 heads of families have taken the oath of allegiance upon the holy Sacrament. The citizens have promised his Imperial Majesty, that if he will place his brother on the throne, they will serve him with all their efforts, and defend him with all their means. Twenty-Eighth Bulletin, dated, Valladolid, Jan. 13. The part of the treasure of the enemy which has fallen into our hands is 1,800,000 francs. The inhabitants assert that the English have carried off from eight to ten millions. The English general deeming it impossible that the French infantry and artillery should have followed him, and gained upon him a certain number of marches, particularly in mountains so difficult as those of Galicia, thought he could only be pursued by cavalry and sharpshooters. He took therefore the position of Castro on his right, supported by the river Tombago, which passes by Lugo, and is not fordable. The duke of Dalmatia arrived on the 6th in presence of the enemy. He employed the seventh and eighth in reconnoitring the enemy, and collecting his infantry and artillery, which were still in the rear. He formed his plan of attack. The left only of the enemy was attackable; he manoeuvred on their left. His dispositions required some movements on the 8th, the Duke being determined to attack on the 9th; but the enemy retreated in the night, and in the morning our advanced guard entered Lugo. The enemy left 300 sick in the fall continually.-The English are marching to Corunna in great haste, where they have 400 transports. They have already lost baggage, ammunition, a part even of their most material artillery, and upwards of 3000 prisoners. On the 10th our advanced guard was at Betanzos, a short distance from Corunna. The duke of Elchingen is with his corps near Lugo.— In reckoning the sick, stragglers, those who have been killed by the peasants, and made prisoners by our troops, we may calculate the loss of the English at one third of their army. They are reduced to 18,000 men, and are not yet embarked. From Sahagun they retreated 150 leagues in bad weather, worse roads, through mountains, and always closely pursued at the point of the sword.-It is difficult to conceive the folly of their plan of campaign. It must be attributed not to the general who commands, and who is a clever and skilful man, but to that spirit of hatred and rage which animates the English Ministry. To push forward in this manner 30,000 men, exposing them to destruction, or to flight as their only resource, is a conception which can only be inspired by the spirit of passion, or the most extravagant presumption. (To be continued.) COBBETT'S COMPLETE COLLECTION OF State Trials: To be completed in Thirty-Six Monthly The THIRD PART of the above Work was published on Wednesday, the first of March. One Part will appear, with the greatest regularity, on the first of each succeeding Month. Those Subscribers who have expressed their intention of taking the Work in Quarterly Volumes, are respectfully informed that the First Volume is now ready for delivery. COBBETT'S hospitals; a park of 18 pieces of cannon, Parliamentary Debates: and 300 waggons of ammunition. We made 700 prisoners.-The town and environs of Lugo are choaked with the bodies of English horses. Hence, upwards of 2500 horses have been killed in the retreat. The TWELFTH VOLUME is in the Press. All Communications for the above Work, if sent to the Publishers in due time, shall be carefully attended to. LONDON: Printed by T. C. HANSARD, Peterborough Court, Fleet Street; Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden: Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall Mall. VOL. XV. No. 10.] LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1809. [Price 10d. "That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up."-MICAH, Chapter vii. verse 3. 353] DUKE OF YORK. (Continued from page 347.) IN all the books of the Holy Scriptures; amongst all the strong descriptions of prevalent corruption, contained in those writings, I know of none more impressive, more characteristic of a rotten state of things, than that which I have taken for my motto to this sheet. I have, however, not selected it under an idea, that it will be found at all applicable to the result of the proceedings, which have, for so many weeks past, wholly occupied the attention of the public; but, on the contrary, with the confident hope, that the reader will be able to draw a pleasing contrast between that result and the sort of actions, to which the prophet alludes, and at which he expresses the displeasure of the Almighty Ruler of the universe, "the God of truth and justice."—I trust the House of Commons, and every individual of that House, will dismiss all prejudice from their minds, whether it be against or for the Duke of York; and, I will go further, and say, that I do believe that now, whatever may have passed before, whatever symptoms of prejudice may have appeared, on the one side or the other, substantial justice will be done, without any regard to the feelings of either the high or the low. Upon no occasion, perhaps, since the Revolution in 1688, has there existed, in this country, so great an interest, as to what would be the conduct of its government, as that which exists at the present moment. People, in all ranks of life, have from the beginning of the late Inquiry, been alive, in an unusual degree, to all that was passing. The open statement of the Charges against his Royal Highness had been preceded by numerous rumours and reports, which, though, by the impartial and considerate, were looked upon as including, in many cases, at least, great exaggerations, had produced, as it was natural they should, a very great degree of latent discontent; ant this discontent was, assuredly, not at all diminished, by the means that were taken to check the freedom of public discussion, with respect to the subjects of those rumours and reports. The charges were, too, received in a manner, well calculated to heighten the interest naturally attached to the intrinsic merits of the case. Instead of opposing them by a direct or implied negative, the friends of the illustrious personage resorted to recrimination, and dealt their charges about so roundly and so widely, and in a manner so little discriminating, that they compelled all those, who were connected with the press, to wish that the result might show the charges not to have originated in that traiterous conspiracy, which was asserted to exist, of which the press was alledged to have been the organ, and in the fate of which the fate of the press appeared to be completely involved. Hence the press has not failed to participate in the public feeling, nor to gratify the public impatience, in the doing of which, with the greatest possible effect, the form of proceeding, injudiciously chosen by the friends of the Duke of York, has afforded it perfect facility; so that, at this moment, even now, before the discussion upon the evidence has taken place, in the House of Commons, there is scarcely a single person in the whole kingdom, who has not weighed the several cases in his mind with as much care as if they had come before him, he being in the capacity. of a juror. Not only, therefore, are there, in this case, the circumstances of the accused party being the Commander in Chief of the Army, a Son of the King, and so near to the Crown as to have but two lives between him and the wearing of it himself; not only are there, in this case, these circumstances, of themselves sufficiently interesting, but there are the additional circumstances, mentioned above, rendering, all together, the sum of interest now excited far greater than what has ever been felt, in this kingdom, since the era of the Revolution. The eyes of the nation are directed to M wards its rulers in general; towards the whole of its government, king, lords, and commons. Many persons, accustomed to take little or no interest in public affairs, take interest in this affair. The whole mass of the national thought has been set in motion. What will be the conduct of the several branches of the government, is the question that now engrosses every mind; but, in a more direct and particular manner are the eyes of the nation, for reasons too obvious to point out, fixed upon the House of Commons; and I am persuaded, that every man will agree with me, that, in almost whatever light it be considered, the result of the discussion of Wednesday next, will be the most important that this nation has witnessed for more than a hundred years past. It must have struck every man, who has been long in the habit of contemplating political motives and actions, that the interest and the importance, which discussions in the House of Commons formerly owed to considerations of party, now exist but in a comparatively trifling degree. The death of the two great opposing leaders, under whom the people, as well as the members, ranged themselves, may have contributed towards this result; but, the fact is, that, long before the death of Pitt, the attachments of party had become greatly enfeebled, and are now dwindled almost to nothing. Indeed, there is now in existence nothing that resembles party but the name. There are men, who are in place, and others who, upon all occasions, whether right or wrong, censure the measures of ministers, with the sole view of supplanting them. But, in any other sense, the word party has now no more meaning than has the word Tory, which no man has any longer the impudence to use. Parties were formerly distinguished by some great and well-known principles of foreign or domestic policy. Now, there are no such distinguishing marks; and, as a natural consequence, the people have become quite indifferent as to all considerations connected with party. Whether, as a general proposition, this indifference be a good or an evil, I will not now attempt to discuss; but, I venture to state, not without confidence of its meeting with general assent, that this change in the mind of the nation has not been favourable to the House of Commons, both sides of which united have not now to boast that warmth of popular attachment which each side before possessed. Another consequence of this change, is, that the dis It. contents of the nation do not now, as formerly, operate in a partial direction. is not upon a part of the House; it is not upon this or that ministry, that the blame now falls; but upon the whole House, and upon all public men: a consideration of great moment, when we consider the crisis in which we now live, and as to the final event of which so much must depend upon the conduct, and, of course, upon the opinions of the people, supposing, which we must, in this case, suppose, that the people will still remain free. Formerly what was disliked by the nation was, by one half of the nation, imputed to one half of the parliament and one half of the public men. Hope was kept alive in the other half, and resentment was counterbalanced by hope. This is no longer the case. There are still persons wishing for a change of ministry, because there are always persons who wish to obtain possession of power and emolument; but, beyond that circle, which, though extensive, is nothing when compared to a whole nation, there are very few persons indeed to be found who have even a wish upon the subject, and absolutely none at all, who sincerely believe that such a change would be attended with any substantial national benefit. It has long been the opinion of many, that the present state of the representation is such as to leave the people little or no check upon their rulers. Since the year 1780, when the late Pitt and the late Duke of Richmond were the partizans of reform of parliament, this subject has become very familiar to the public. Those who deny the necessity of reform have not, as far as I have observed, actually justified the public advertising of Seats for sale; but, they have contended, that the House of Commons, constituted as it is, is quite sufficient for all the purposes for which the constitution intended such a House; and that, though it does happen, some-how, or other, that every ministry, as long as they remain in place; that every set of men, who are the servants of the king, have a majority in that House, and do carry every question that they please to carry, if it be of any importance to them, or to the crown; though this be allowed, still it is contended, that somehow or other, the representation is a sufficient check upon the power of the crown. In opposition to this doctrine of invisible influence, of effects vthout causes, and of causes without effects, various instances might be quoted, wherein the power of |