ing under the baleful influence of modern France. Ask yourselves, my countrymen-ask your honest, but deluded hearts, can the slave impart freedom? Will the usurping despot become the prophet of liberty? Have you any sense, any memory? Is it so long since, that, driven from Egypt by the gallant Sir Sidney Smith, this adventurer, Buonaparte, fled to France with defeat at his heels, and there drove with the sword the chosen representatives of the people from their scats, usurping the throne of the Bourbons-the blood-stained throne of his murdered sovereign, to whom he had sworn allegiance, and bribing an unprincipled army to support and establish the monstrous violation of liberty? Can you so soon forget all these facts, or, recollecting them, can you expect freedom under any construction, or benefit under any form, from such hands? You think, perhaps, that the First Consul of France has fame in arms, great military talents, and that these must. ensure him success; but how does even this account stand on the record of truth? The two greatest and most important battles he ever fought, are but monuments of his incapacity and cruelty; of that desperate boldness which sometimes assumes the province of fortune; and of that phlegmatic indifference to the lives of his followers, in which he has never been equalled I allude to the actions of Lodi and Marengo. At the first place, he exposed battalion after battalion of his own troops to the most fatal and certain destruction, after having exhausted in the van such of the natives as had joined his fatal standard: he was unmoved by the representations of Generals possessing equal valour and more skill and humanity; and by the superior skill of Augereau, it is well known that he at length obtained a day, which should never recur in the calendar without wringing his heart with remorse. At Marengo he displayed equal incapacity, and even his courage forsook him; for it was alone the gallant effort of the brave Dessaix (who knew he was sacrificing himself) that turned the fortune of the day, and gave to Buonaparte the fame and the advantages of a victory he did not earn or deserve to the gallantry of Dessaix, and the disunion of the opposing commanders, the French Consul owes that he now lives to afflict mankind. But, my countrymen, whatever has been this man's success, whatever his military triumphs, where can he count among them the defeat of Britons? Did not a British officer, and a few British sailors, drive this would-be Cæsar or Alexander, and all his veteran. army, from before the old garden-walls of Acre? Did not our gallant countryman, Lord Hutchinson, with a force of ADDRESS TO THE IRISH PEOPLE. 27 Irishmen and Britons far less in number than the enemy, beat those veteran French in the most desperate battle they ever fought, and send the survivors captive out of Egypt? In every instance, where fairly opposed to our troops, they have been defeated, and the laurels they had won from other armies torn from their brows: so, with God's blessing, would it be still, and he will find himself sadly mistaken, who measures the strength of Buonaparte, when directed against this empire, by his victories over other nations. I now come, my countrymen, to the first part of my proposition," how you could be prompted to revolt by the defects or oppression of your Government. One word to the affirmative, ingenuity cannot supply me with; while, on the other hand, volumes could be written to reconcile you to the wisdom, justice, and protecting operation of our lawsnot by a comparison with the other nations of Europe-and particularly that which has seduced some of you from your allegiance-not by negative deduction, but by the enumeration of positive civil rights and blessings, in which we stand superior to all the world. Are you not protected in your persons and property equally as the first lord in the land? If even your Sovereign himself did you wrong, you have laws to appeal to, and obtain redress. Where is the hand of power that can wrest from you the fruits of your industry? There is none, and you know it. The perfection of such a system is, to be administered by honest hands; and where is the tongue in Ireland that can advance a charge against the government of the mild, the conciliatory Lord Hardwicke? I blush-I could weep, my friends, to think that rebellion has flown in the face of such goodness. Our country owes an atonement; a peace-offering-may we give, and God accept it! Even in putting forth the strength of his power, he is merciful; he gives you time to reflect, repent, and reform: there was not a man engaged in the savage outrages of the 23d July, that Government could not have immolated, and the streets of Dublin would have presented, the next morning, a sight of horror that would have cured insurrection; but from the beginning-from his arrival in this country, it has been his policy, in concert with the British Cabinet, to spare, to pity, to reform, and to attach the people of Ireland by humanity, as well as justice. Men of Leinster, shew yourselves grateful-men of Kildare and Wicklow, rescue your attainted character, and let not the virtues of your country be excluded from your claims -listen no more to foreign incendiaries, nor trust to those fugitives who would urge the invasion of their native land.→→→ 4 Those leaders who on a former lamented occasion truly loved their country, though mistaken in the mode of serving it, have severed themselves from the base and wicked union; not a good man among them that has not gone to Americafollow their example in quitting the conspiracy against your country-resume your honest labours in peace, and sin no more. You will be rewarded by the protection of the laws, not pursued by their vengeance.. Learn to value the goodness of God, and reap in peace, and enjoy in security and virtue one of the most abundant harvests with which the Almighty ever blessed this land. One word more➡Is there any thing you want to fill up the measure of your civil and political happiness? be assured that, in due season, it will be granted to you a voluntary, bloodless boon, if you earn it by your loyalty to your Sovereign, and obedience to the laws; while, on the contrary, those who have the cruelty and wickedness to mislead you, could inform you, that every unsuccessful attempt to gain a real or fancied right, by arms, aud to force a government, has always been followed by an abridgment of public liberty, for it is necessary to restrain with chains the mad and turbulent advocates of freedom. My countrymen, take this honest advice, probably the last I shall offer you, from your sincere friend, August 9, 1803, A MAN OF ULSTER. Importance of Malta. THE importance of this island to Great Britain may be understood from the following quotation from a pamphlet of the day, written by W. Hunter, Esq. (third edition). "Let us examine a little what Malta is, that barren, useless rock, which has been so perversely or so ignorantly decried. Malta, in the possession of Great Britain, is an impregnable fortress. It is provided with a secure and spacious harbour. It is one of the principal keys of the Mediterranean, and from its central position is admirably calculated to guard that sea and the Adriatic; to watch the coasts of Italy, Sicily, and Barbary; to intercept any future expedition to Egypt, and effectually to control the trade of the Archipelago and the Levant. It is also, in another point of view, in these times, when the arbitrary preponderance of France has, in a manner, excluded us from almost every port of the Mediterranean, a station of the highest importance, affording us, in case of necessity, a safe and conve HINTS TO THE EDITOR. 29 nient retreat to our shipping; and from its proximity to the Adriatic and the Euxine, whose shores abound with fine timber, leaves it to our choice to create a maritime arsenal, and a dock-yard in which we could build or repair a navy at one third of the expense which is incurred at home. Are these then considerations of no moment? and are we to abandon them to please the captious disposition, or satisfy the insolent pretensions of republican France? What could she have conceived of us to dare to advance so extravagant a proposal? "The principal object of Ministers in so seriously stipulating for the independence of Malta, was to oppose a powerful obstacle to the designs which Buonaparte might still entertain respecting the reacquisition of Egypt, and through Egypt, in 'a remoter view, extending to our Indian possessions.' " SIR, Hints to the Editor. Colchester, Aug. 10, 1803. I AM a steady friend to my King, my country, and to the British constitution. I wish, in every possible way, to manifest my loyalty and patriotism; and I am rejoiced to find by the daily newspapers, that an intention exists of endeavouring to "rouse and animate the British nation during the present important crisis," through the medium of a weekly publication, exclusively devoted to that purpose. But, Sir, give me leave, at this early period of your endeavours, to suggest a thought which, I fear, too seldom enters into the minds of our "LOYALISTS:" viz. that GOD alone is the arbiter of events and the ruler of empires. While the view of an invasion, with its attendant evils, ought to awaken our feelings, excite our courage, and animate our exertions, prompting us to the most active and selfdenying measures for our safety; while, from a just sense of what we owe to our God, our King, and our country, to our wives, our children, and ourselves, we are going forth with alacrity to face the enemy at our doors; let us beware, Sir, of placing our sole confidence in an arm of flesh; let us remember to "fear God," while we "honour the King.""Some put their trust in chariots and horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord," was a maxim and resolution of an ancient warrior; whose example we ought especially to follow, when contending against an impious foe !!!" ~ May the Lord of Hosts, and the God of the Universe, afford to us all that help, without which our brave DEFENDERS will fight in vain! A CHRISTIAN OBSERVER. Parliamentary Vote of Thanks to the Volunteers, &c. On Wednesday night, August 10th, a very interesting debate took place in the House of Commons, followed by a Vote of Thanks, moved by Mr. SHERIDAN, viz. "That the Thanks of this House be given to the several "In order that the patriotic example of such voluntary "That the Speaker of this House be directed to communicate these Resolutions to all the Lords Lieutenants of Counties, and to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland." The above three Resolutions passed unanimously. A patriotic Song on the present Crisis. Now let the peal, &e. Look round the globe in ev'ry clime, And say, ye sages, can you find Than Albion's isle bestows? |