has written nonsense, or that others have admired it. It is not Mr. M.'s nonsense, but the opinion of the world respecting it, that I would be thought to compliment by this serious refutation of what in itself neither deserves nor admits of any reasoning upon it. If, however, we recollect the source from whence Mr. M. borrowed his principle, and the application of it to improvements in political philosophy, we must allow that he is merely passive in error. The principle itself would not have been worth a farthing without the application, and he accordingly took them as he found them, lyinged, and the storm subsides. Having fright to contend with it: that, therefore, any diminution of that degree of them which at present prevails, and is found sufficient to keep the world in order, was of all things chiefly to be dreaded.-Our author is fully s aware of the force of the stage maxim, to elevate and surprise. Having once healed the imaginations of his readers, he knows that he can afterwards mould them into what shape he pleases. All this bustle, and terror, and stage effect, and theatrical mummery, was only to serve a temporary purpose; for all of a sudden the scene is shift snug together; and as Trim, after having converted the old jack-boots into a pair of new mortars, immediately planted them against which ever of my Uncle Toby's garrisons the allies were then busy in besieging, so the public spirited gallantry of our modern engineer, directed him to bend the whole force of his clumsy discovery against that system of philosophy, which was the most talked of at the time, but to which it was the least applicable of all others. Wallace, I have no doubt, took up his idea either as a paradox or a jeu d'esprit; or, because any thing, he thought, was of weight enough to overturn what had never existed any where bur the imagination, or he was led into a piece of false logic by an error we are very apt to fall into, of supposing, because he had never been struck himself by the difficulty of population in such a state of society, that therefore, the people themselves would not find it out when it came, nor make any provision against it. But, though I can in some measure excuse a lively paradox, I do not thi:k that the same favour is to be shewn to the dull, dogged, heavy repetition of absurdity. Mr. M. might have taken as the motto of his first edition, "These three bear record on earth, Vice, Misery, and Population."—In the answer to Mr. G. this principle was represented as an evil, for which no remedy could be found but in evil that its operation was mechanical, necessary, unceasing; that it went strait forward to its end, unchecked by fear, or reason, or remorse; that the evils which it drew after it could only be avoided by other evils, by actual vice and misery. Population, was in short the great devil, the untamed Beelzebub, that was only kept chained down by vice and misery; and which, if it were once let loose from these restraints, would go forth and ravage the earth. That they were therefore, the two main props and pillars of society, and that the lower and weaker they kept this principle, the better able they were ened away the boldest champions of modern philosophy, this monstrous appearance, full of strange and inexplicable horrors, is suffered quietly to shrink back to its natural dimensions, and we find it to be nothing more than a common-sized, tame-looking animal; which, however, requires a chain and the whip of its keeper to prevent it from_becoming mischievous. Mr. M. then steps forward, and says, the evil we were all in danger of was not population, but philosophy. Nothing is to be done with the latter by mere reasoning. I, therefore, thought it right to make use of a little terror to accomplish the end. As to the principle of population itself, you need be under no alarm: only leave it to me, and I shall be able to manage it very well. All its dreadful consequences may be easily prevented by a proper application of the motives of common prudence and common decency. If any one should be at a loss to conceive how Mr. M. can reconcile such contrary opinions, I should be inclined to suggest to Mr. M. Hamlet's answer to his friend Guilderstern, "Tis as easy as lying; govern these ven their country's canse; their irreproachable demeanor in the general relations of life; and above all, the several acts of parliament past for their relief, avowedly in cousequence of, and explicitly recognising their meritorious conduct, would have been a bond, to secure to them for ever, the affection and confidence of all their fellow subjects, and to make any further declaration of their principles wholly unnecessary. but, with astonishment and concern, they observe, that this is not altogether the case :they are again publicly traduced; and attempts are again made to prejudice the public mind against them:--We, therefore, English Roman Catholics, whose names are hereunder written, beg leave again to solicit the attention of our countrymen, and to lay before them the following unanswered and unanswerable Documents of the purity and integrity of the Religious and Civil Principles of ALL his Majesty's Roman Catholic Subjects, in respect to their king and their country. We entreat you to peruse them;' and when you have perused them, to declare; "whether his Majesty's Roman Ca"tholic Subjects maintain a single tenet, in"consistent with the purest loyalty; or in terfering, in the slightest degree, with any one duty, which an Englishman owes "his God, his king, or his country?--I. "The First Document we present to you, is "the oath and declaration prescribed by the British Parliament of the 31st of his present Majesty, and which is taken by all English Catholics.I A. B. do hereby declare, that I do profess the Roman Ca"tholic religion.-I A. B. do sincerely pro"mise and swear, that I will be faithful, "and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and him will de"dend to the utmost of my power against "all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall be made against his person, "crown, or dignity and I will do my ut"most endeavour to disclose and make "known to his Majesty, his heirs, and suc"cessors, all treasons and traitorous conspi"racies which may be formed against him or them: and I do faithfully promise to "maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown; which succession, by an act, en"" titled, An Act for the further Limita 66 tion of the Crown, and better securing "the Rights and Liberties of the Subject,' "is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants; hereby utterly renouncing pressed in this declaration: and I do de"clare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, "prelate, state, or potentate, hath, or ought "to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, "power, superiority, or pre-eminence, di rectly or indirectly, within this realm: "and I do solemnly, in the presence of "God, profess, testify, and declare, that I "do make this declaration, and every part "part thereof, in the plain and ordinary "sense of the words of this oath, without "any evasion, equivocation, or mental re"servation whatever, and without any dis"pensation already granted by the Pope, or 66 any authority of the See of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking "that I am, or can be, acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person or authority whatsoever," "shall dispense with, or annul the same, or declare that it was null or void. So "help me God." all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever "that shall be made against his person, crown, and dignity; and I will do my "utmost endeavour to disclose and make "known to his Majesty, and his heirs, all “treasons and traiterous conspiracies, which "may be formed against him or them; and "I do faithfully promise to maintain, sup"port, and defend, to the utmost of my 66 power, the succession of the crown in "his Majesty's family, against any person or persons whatsoever, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto the person taking upon "himself the stile and title of Prince of "Wales, in the life-time of his father, and "who since his death is said to have as"sumed the stile and title of King of Great "Britain and Ireland, by the name of "Charles the Third, and to any other per"son claiming, or pretending a right to "the crown of these realms; and I do 66 swear that I do reject and detest, as un"christian and impious to believe, that it "is lawful to murder or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for or under 66 pretence of their being heretics, and also "that unchristian and impious principle "that no faith is to be kept with heretics: "I further declare, that it is no article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, "and abjure, the opinion that princes, ex"communicated by the Pope and Council, or by any authority of the see of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person whatsoever; and I do "promise that I will not hold, maintain, "or abet, any such opinion, or any other "opinion, contrary to what is expressed in "this declaration: and I do declare that I "do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or 86 any other foreign prince, prelate, state, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any "temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, "superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or "indirectly, within this realm; and I do solemnly in the presence of God, and of "his only Son Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, "profess, testify, and declare, that I do "make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of "the words of this oath, without any eva"sion, equivocation, or mental reservation "whatever, and without any dispensation already granted by the Pope, or any authority of the sec of Rome, or any per"son whatever, and without thinking that I am, or can be acquitted before God or maa, or absolved of this declaration, or The next is the Oath and Declarationprescribed by the Irish act of the 33d of his present Majesty, and is taken by all Irish Roman Catholics, wishing to entitle themselves to the benefit of that act: I A. B. "do hereby declare, that I do profess the "Roman Catholic religion.”—“I A. B. do swear that I do abjure, condemu, and "detest, as unchristian and impious, the principle that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or any ways injure any persons "whatsoever, for or under the pretence of "being a heretic and I do declare solemnly before God, that I believe, that no "act in itself unjust, immoral, or wicked, "can ever be justified or excused, by or "under pretence or colour that it was done "either for the good of the church, or in "obedience to any ecclesiastical power "whatsoever: I also declare, that it is not "an article of the Catholic Faith, neither am "I thereby required to believe or profess that "the Pope is infallible, or that I am bound "to obey any order, in its own nature ira"moral, though the Pope, or any eccle"siastical power, should issue or direct "such order, but on the contrary, I hold "that it would be sinful in me to pay any or any priest, or of any person or persons"whatsoever, but that sincere sorrow for "past sins, a firm and sincere resolution to "avoid future guilt, and to atone to God, "are previous and indispensable requisitesto "establish a well founded expectation of "forgiveness, and that any person who re"ceives absolution without these previons "requisites, so far from obtaining thereby "any remission of his sins, incurs the ad"ditional guilt of violating a sacrament: " and I do swear that I will defend, to the "uttermost of my power, the settlement "and arrangement of property in this country, as established by the laws now in being: I do hereby disclaim, disavow, "and solemnly abjure, any intention to "subvert the present church establishment, "for the purpose of substituting a Catholic "establishment in its stead: and I do so زارم "come entitled, to disturb and weaken the "Protestant religion and Protestant govern to observe, that it was for his satisfaction, not ours, that these opinions were taken: asment in this kingdom. So help me God." assuredly, His Majesty's Roman Catholic sub-Such are the principles which his Ma- jects did not want the wisdom of foreign Unijesty's Roman Catholic subjects have pub-versities to inform them, that His Majesty is licly and solemnly declared and professed on the lawful Sovereign of all his Roman Caoath. There is not, in any of them, a tholic Subjects, and that, by every divine single principle, which every Roman Catho- and human law, his Roman Catholic Sublic subject of his Majesty does not profess, jects Owe him true, dutiful, active, or which, if his king and country required and unreserved allegiance-Such then felit, he would not think it his duty to seal low countrymen and fellow subjects, such with his blood. being our Religious and Civil Principles in respect to our King and our Country, let us now again ask you, is there in them, a single tenet, which is incompatible with the purest loyalty, or which in the slightest degree, interferes with the duty we owe to God, our King, or our Country?, but are these principles really instilled into us? Do our actions correspond with them? In reply, we ask, are there not, at this very moment, thousands of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, who daily and hourly make the most heroic exertions and sacrifices in those. fleets and armies, to whose patient and adventurous courage it is owing that we are still blessed with a King and a Country? III. In the year 1788, a Committee of the English Catholics waited on Mr. Pitt, respecting their Application for a Repeal of the Penal Laws. He requested to be furnished with authentic evidence, of the Opinions of the Roman Catholic Clergy and the Roman Catholic Universities abroad, 68 сп the exis"tence and extent of the Pope's dispensing "power." Three questions were accordingly framed, and sent to the Universities of Paris, Lovain, Alcala, Doway, Salamanca, and Valadolid, for their Opinions. The Questions proposed to them were.-1. Has the Pope or cardinals, or any body of men or any individual of the Church of Rome, any civil authority, power, jurisdiction, or pre-emi--Now then, fellow countrymen and fellowneuce whatsoever, within the realm of Eng land?-2 Can the Pope, or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, absolve or dispense with His Majesty's subjects from their Oath of Allegiance, upon any pretext whatsoever?-3. Is there any principle in the tenets of the Catholic Faith, by which Catholics are justified in not keeping faith with heretics, or other persons differing from them in religious opinions, in any transaction, either of a public or à private nature? The Universities answered unanimously,-1. That the Pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, has not any civil authority, power, jurisdiction, or preeminence whatsoever, within the realm of England.-2. That the Pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, cannot absolve or dispense with His Majesty's subjects from their Oath of Allegiance, upon any pretext whatsoever.-3. That there is no principle in the tenets of the Catholic Faith, by which Catholics are justified in not keeping faith with heretics, or other persons differing from them in religions opinions, in any transac tions either of a public or a private nature. As soon as the opinions of the foreign Universities were received, they were transmitted to Mr. Pitt: but we earnestly beg of you subjects, be assured, that, among these FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. CONTINENTAL WAR Forty-ninth Bulletin of the Grand French Army, Warsaw, Jan. 8. Breslaw has surenderea. The capitulation has not yet been received at the head-quarters; neither has the inventory of the magazines of subsist ence, or of the clothing and artillery yet come to band. They are, however, known to be very considerable. Prince Jerome must have made his entry into the place. He is going to besiege Brieg, Schweidnitz, and Kosel General Victor, commander of snow, and it had frozen for three days, Tire use of sledges had given a great rapidity to. the communications, but the thaw has just began again. The Poles assert, that such a winter is unexampled in this country, The temperature is in reality milder than it ge-f nerally is at Paris at this season, Fiftieth Bulletin of the Grand French Army. the 10th corps of the army, has marced to army i Warsaw, Jan. 13.-The troops found at Ostrolenka several sick Russians, whom the enemy had been unable to take off with him. Independent of the loss of the Russian in killed and wounded, it has suffered still greater losses by the illness which, increases in it from day to day,-On the 8th of January the garrison of Breslau, consiste ing of 5.500 men, defiled before Prince Je-, rome. The town has sustained considerable damage. From the first moment it was invested, the Prussian governor caused the three suburbs to be burned, The fortress was regularly besieged; we were already battering it in breach when it surrendered, The Bavarian and Wirtemburg troops dis-, tinguished themselves by their intelligence and bravery. Prince Jerome is now investing and besieging, at the same time, all the other fortresses in Silesia; it is probable that they will not hold out long.-The corps of 10,000 men, whom the Prince of Pless formed of the garrisons of the fortresses, were cut to pieces in the engagements of the 29th and 30th of December-Gen. Montbrun, with the Wirtemburg cavalry, went to meet the Prince of Pless, near Ohlau, which he took possession of on the 28th, in the evening. On the following morning, at fire o'clock, the Prince of Pless ordered him to be attacked. Gen. Montbrun, taking advantage of the unfavourable position of the enemy's infantry, made a movement to the left, turned and killed a number of men, made 700 prisoners, took four pieces of cannon, and as many horses.The principal forces, however, of the Prince of Pless lay behind on the side of Neis, where he assembled them after the engagement of Strechlen, He left Schurgalt. and marching day and night, advanced as far as the night camp. of the Wirtemburg brigade, which were drawn up in the rear of Hube, under Breslau. At eight in the morning he attacked, with 600 men, the village of Griesten, occupied by two battalions of infantry, and by the Li lange light horse, under the command of the Adjutant Commandant Duveyrier; but, be met with so vigorous a reception, that he was forced to make a speedy retreat. Gen. Montbrun and Mint cei received orders im besiege Colberg and Dantzic, and to take these places during the remader of the winter.-M. de Zastrow, Aid-de-Camp to the King of Prussia, a wise and moderate man, who had signed the armistice which his master did not ratify, was however, on his arrival at Konigsbarg, appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.-Our cavalry is not far from Konigsburg.The Russian army is continuing its movement towards Grodno. We learn that in the last engagements it had a great number of generals killed and wounded. It evinces great discontents against the Emperor of Russia and the court. The soldiers say, that if their army had been judged strong enough to fight with advantage against the French, the Emperor, his guards, the garrison of Petersburg, and the generals of the court, would have been conducted to the army by the same security which brought them to it last year; that if, on the contrary, the events of Austerlitz and those of Jena made it be thought that the Russians could not obtain successes against the French army, they ought not to have been engaged in an unequal struggle. They also say," the Emperor Alexander has compromised our glory. We had always been vanquishers; we had established and shared the opinion that we were invincible, Things are greatly altered. For these two years past we have been led about from the frontiers of Poland to Austria, from the Dniester to the Vistula, and made to fall every where into the scares of the enemy. It is difficult not to perceive that all this is ill-managed."-Gen. Michelson is still in Moldavia. There is no news of his having marched against the Turkish army, which occupies Bucharest and Wallachia The fears of that war are hitherto confined to the investing of Choczim and Bender. Great movements are taking place throughout all Turkey to repel so unjust an aggression.Gen! Baron Vincent is arrived from Vienna at Warsaw, with letters from the Emperor of Austria for the Emperor Napoleon.- -There had been a great fall of |