side of the most public walk of the town, placing a picture upon the wall, representing a person burning in hell, and holding up his hands to angels, who seem waiting for authority to rescue the sufferer, to place a money box under the picture, and, when that box is filled to the satisfaction of the priests, the body is buried ;

preventing of Napoleon from becoming inaster of Spain. For my part, I despise such a motive of warfare; but, suppose it to be laudable, suppose this to have been a wise and just motive for our taking part in the war; and then, upon that supposition, I ask the reader, whether he thinks that it is probable; whether he thinks that it is possible, for a people, situated as the people of Spain are, to be roused to any thing like popular enthusiasm or public spirit, without being first enlightened as to the abuses practised upon them; without being first let loose from the chains with which they are bound? The answer of common sense is in the negative.The ministers had deputies enough in Spain. We hear, every day, of their information from Sir Such-an

that the priests are seen almost constantly prowling about with their torches, their hosts, and their benedictions, never forgetting a money box;that the situation of the labouring people is miserable in the extreme, they having no furniture, no beds but the earth and straw or rushes, and their cookery consisting chiefly of the boiling of chesnuts and roots in a sort of pipkins, or mugs, made of clay;—that his part, at least, of "the universal Span- one and Lord Such-an-one and His Excel"ish nation," are, as of course they must lency John Hookham Frere; but, there be, a filthy, meagre, and squalid race, needed none of this; to men, not blinded while the priests are stout and jolly fel- by their hatred of " jacobinism," and by lows, straight in shape and rosy in com- their eagerness to be a-doing, there needed plexion -It is very fine to talk about no more than a very ordinary portion of "altars." Such words do very well for general knowledge, joined to a very mothe rounding of a sentence; but, I put it derate capacity of judging of the power of to the good sense and to the real piety of causes in producing effects; there needed any man, whether it be desirable that any these only to convince our ministers, that, people should exist in such a situation? to resist Napoleon in Spain, with the smallThe ministers have said, that it was not est chance of ultimate success, a revolufor them to find fault with the system of tion, a complete and radical revolution, a either the Church or State in Spain. Cer- total change in the government, church as tainly not; but, it is one thing to find well as state, must first be accomplished. fault with, and interfere in, the internal go- It was not for them to dictate to the Spavernment of Spain, and another to give your niards, to tell them what sort of governsupport to that government; and that, too, at ment they ought to have, or what part of such an immense expence of lives as well their old system they ought to destroy; as of money to your own country. It is but, it was for them, it was their bounden one thing to call upon Spain to reform the duty, to ascertain that the people of Spain abuses of which I have been speaking, and were in a state, calculated to afford them another thing to send an army to assist a chance of success, before so much Engher rulers in upholding and perpetuating lish money and blood, and so much Engthose horrible abuses, abuses not more in-lish reputation was hazarded, in attempts jurious and degrading to man than they are blasphemous against his Maker. This nation, the ministers have told us, were unanimous in their enthusiasm in the cause of Spain. So they were; but, was not that enthusiasm bottomed upon the belief, that the Spaniards were fighting for freedom? Or, is there really to be found a man of impudence sufficient to assert, that the people of England were eager to give their money and to shed their blood for the support of a state of things, in which the hell-fire niche and money-box formed a principal feature?Let us leave, how- As to the military measures; as to the ever, the morality of the thing aside, and more or less of the probability of that misconsider our measures, with respect to Spain, fortune and disgrace, which attended our merely as to their policy, and let us sup-flight through Leon and Galicia, they are pose that policy to be confined to the nothing at all; though great in themselves,

to assist the Spaniards. This they did not ascertain; upon this subject, which was important above all others connected with the affairs of Spain, Sir John Moore's dispatches prove, that the English nation was completely misled; and the public will remember, that they were so misled by publications, official as well as others, issuing from the ministry, who, from the very outset, appear to have had uppermost in their thoughts the preventing of a popular revolution in Spam, lest the example of Spain should become contagious.

assured by two persons in particular, upon, now we shall hear what curious logic will whose judgment as well as upon whose be dished up for the amiable purpose of word can rely, that it was the decided persuading us, that the " legitimate" opinion of all the well informed part of prince is not to blame at all, while the the Spaniards, with whom they conversed, usurper" ought to be put to the rack. that a radical revolution was the first ne- I think the regular way, the standing rule, cessary measure of defence; nay, further, in all such cases, ought to be this: to hold that the articles, upon the subject, publish- it, as an article of faith, that the Devil is ed by me, at the time when I was charged now come upon the earth, and has crept with being instigated by the devil, were into the body of Buonaparte; whence, it read in Spain, and were highly approved would naturally follow, that all those who of by all such Spaniards; that those arti- act in concert with him and aid him in his cles were translated and spread widely views, act under supernatural controul, through the country; and that the edict of and, of course, that nothing which they the Junta was thought to be levelled parti- do for him ought to be imputed to any evil cularly at them. Now, what has this edict propensity in themselves, or in the nature done? It kept the people quiet 'till Joseph of their offices. Thus the fault will all fall came to take possession of them. It was upon him, and the honour of crowned a kind act towards nobody but Joseph Na-heads will remain untarnished. Hudibras poleon. It was intended for the use of Ferdinand and the Junta and the Priests; but it operated, as the most of such acts do, in a way directly the contrary of what was intended.

reasons thus: that the Devil is on the side of the wicked; that he is at the head of them; and that when "the Saints" are tempted to commit any sin, the fault is not theirs, but belongs to, and must be answered for by, the wicked, for whose benefit the Devil acts, and for whose sake he sometimes seduces "the Saints." Ah, Sir! said a Russian, to me, just after the rupture between us and Russia, "it is that fiend at "Paris. It is not the Emperor of Russia "that does this. He loves and admires "England, and would fain live in friend

AUSTRIA. -There seems to be as much pleasure felt, by the partizans of the ministry, at an approaching war between France and Austria, as if the latter was sure of the victory. It is said, that " now "is the time," while Napoleon's armies are in Spain. Just as if he had no other armies Napoleon knows better what he is about than our ministers appear to do," ship with her." This appeared to me, and, therefore, he has taken care to leave a very nice field for their military exploits in Portugal, which he is sure he can always drive them from, when he has settled matters elsewhere. He has seen what a hand we make of sending out armies; and, of course, he knows what he has to apprehend from our efforts. The Morning Chronicle, not many days ago, gave an admirable description of the internal situation of Austria. The conclusion drawn, was, that, unless a previous reform of the government took place, Austria would be again defeated, if not subdued. This is my opinion, and I believe it to be the general opinion in this country. There is not now, much fear of the public being deceived upon this score; but, deception, as we shall soon see, will not fail to be attempted. We shall have, if war take place, more of MR. HUSKISSON'S and MR. WARD's bulletins, and we shall be considered as jacobins if we do not believe them. The taking of a French hussar will afford a week's subject for bragging. Oh! the millions of lies that are now in egg, if this war be actually about to begin.Russia is, it seems, to take part with France, in this war; and,

at first sight, very strange; but, when I came to recollect the doctrine of Hudibras, the reasonableness of it appeared as clear as day-light. It was upon the same foun dation, I beg leave to suppose, that Mr. Canning proceeded, when, in his " uni"versal-Spanish-nation" Declaration, he spoke so compassionately of the part which the Russian Autocrat took in the overture from ERFURTH, while he thundered out so boldly upon the head of Buonaparté ; and, indeed, there is an absolute necessity of adopting this Hudibrastic doctrine; for, without it, we must conclude, that the Emperor of Russia, a "legitimate" sovereign, is either a partaker in the crimes, or is the tool of Buonaparté; either of which would reflect but very little honour upon crowned heads, and would not very strongly tend to make people believe, that there was any material difference between legitimate and illegitimate sovereigns.

AMERICAN STATES.-The debating gentlemen, who live across the Atlantic, have not, for some months, had much of my attention bestowed upon them. They have now, it seems, repealed their Embargo, except with respect to England and France;

the opposition proceeded in the question relative to America. They might, indeed, well be led to act thus; for it was a favourite scheme of Pitt's, who actually acquired and consolidated his power by persuading the nation, that it depended, for its existence, wholly upon something other than its people and its own resources. One time it was India, another time it was the Funds, another time it was the Open

Allies upon the Continent, and all through,

that is to say, they have given their ships liberty to come out, under the shabby, the miserable, the despicable appearance of still shewing their resentment against us. They know, that the cargoes will come to England; they know that they must come to England; they know that our Sea Orders, preventing them from going any where else, still exist. Aye, and they intend they shall come here too; only their silly, their empty pride, will not let them acknow-ing of the Scheldt, another time it was our ledge it.- -Did I not say, that, if our ministers held firm, they would be compelled to repeal this Embargo law? And did I not say, that they would sneak out of the thing in some way or other, which would, as they thought, hide their disgrace? No triumph can be more complete than that of the ministers, in this case. They have not moved an inch from their resolution. They have let the Americans do their worst; they have looked quietly on while America passed her avenging acts, which were to bring us upon our knees. We were fast forgetting her, when she herself, without any compromise, comes to. -I am not, perhaps, very disinterested in these praises of the ministers; for the truth is, that the measures towards America, | were as much mine as they were theirs. I alone supported them, while they were assailed by pamphlets and paragraphs and speeches innumerable. That support lost me the friendship of that worthy fellow, the INDEPENDENT WHIG, who not only cut me upon the occasion, but ripped up all my old sins, and threw them in my face, which hurt me the more as I sincerely respected the writer and admired his writings, which I still do. What are now become of all the predictions and alarms; all the threats of starvation and ruin; all the laborious calculations of Lords Grenville and Auckland? What talking, what debating, there were, this time twelvemonths, about the Orders in Council and about the corn, which, to poor starving England, would not come from America any longer! Lord Grenville spoke of the prospect of a rupture with America, with such manifest apprehensions in his mind, that I really felt pity for his lordship. Mr. Windham, upon whom it was incumbent to make a speech upon the subject, and whose mind is fertile in resource, left off without having distinctly asserted, or denied any thing.It is always bad to proceed upon a supposition, that there is a natural, inherent deficiency of means of any sort in the country itself; and this was the supposition, upon which

England's commercial greatness" swelled out the end of his noisy and empty speeches. Weil, the Scheldt is shut, our allies upon the Continent are pretty nearly extinguished and have long been lost to us, America has had her embargo, and Buonaparté has shut up all the ports of the Continent; and how do you feel yourself, my honest duped John Bull? Are you starved yet? Do the oxen fat in Devonshire? Do the sheep breed in Dorsetshire? Do the hogs breed and fat in Hampshire and the bees still collect honey there? Do you get wheat enough to make your loaf of? As to beer, the alarm of the barley-growers is, that they shall not know how to get rid of their corn. This is the master humbug. Only persuade a nation, that it cannot exist upon its own internal resources, and that nation is your slave, The nation is much indebted to Mr. SPENCE for proving the contrary; and much indebted to the ministers for having given us a practical demonstration of the truth of his doctrine. Really the Spaniards, in worshipping Dolls made for them by the heretics in Holland, are not much more foolish than were the Englishmen, who were cozened into a belief that they would all die if an end was put to Commerce and the Funds. They appeared, at one time, to believe that Pitt had the power of put, ting a stop to rains and snows; that it was he who made the grass grow and the corn ripen. But, some how or other, when he got out of place, he seemed to lose these divine powers. Mr. Addington came, and his partizans attempting to make the praises of Pitt apply to their patron, the thing became ridiculous, and actually the subject of a very smart copy of verses, of which, it was said, Mr. Canning was the author. The nation is never to be so duped again. The time for that gross duplicity is past. We have now proof, that our own resources are quite sufficient for us, and of this valuable knowledge we shall, I trust, make a proper use.

Botley, Thursday, 6 April, 1809.