and second volume, there is a list of the Cabinet and other Ministers, marking the time when any material change in the mi nistry took place, circumstances closely con nected with the proceedings of Parliament, and the recording of which must, therefore, in a work of this sort, be of great conve nience and use. A List of the Public Acts is followed, at the close of each volume, by four Indices; viz., two of the Subjects of the several debates, the one for the Lords and the other for the Commons; and two of the Names of the several speakers. The body of each volume is preceded by a copious Table of Contents, forming a brief chronicle of the proceedings of the two Houses respectively, to which table is added ano. ther referring to the several Documents, which are there classed under distinct heads, corresponding with the subjects to which they belong. In the Title Page are fully specified all the circumstances of time and place; and, in order to leave nothing to be wished for on the score of convenience, the date as well as the subject are stated at the top of every page; while the page, being that of a super-royal octavo, divided into two columns and compactly printed, gives to the work at once every advantage, without any of the disadvantages, of a quarto and a common octavo.-The two volumes, comprising 52 shilling-numbers, half-bound in Russia leather, are sold at £2. 18s. od.j and, that the price is very moderate will certainly be granted, when it is considered, that exclusive of the extra-expense arising from the great quantity of figures necessa rily employed in the work, the two volumes contain more letter-press than ten common octavo volumes. of the session; and the Editor ventures to assert, that the proceedings of no session of parliament have ever been so fully and impartially recorded, accompanied by so many authentic and useful documents, arranged in a manner so well calculated to abridge the labour of research, edited with so much care and correctness, and printed in a form at once so elegant and so convenient. Notwithstanding the great difficulty of obtain ing the reports of some speeches, there will, in these volumes, be found scarcely one, of which there is not a tolerably full account; and, in order to be convinced of the very great degree in which this work surpasses, in point of amplitude, any other of the kind that has been attempted, the reader has only to make a comparison between the two in the case of any important debate; by which means, indeed, were he so far to extend his inquiry, he would find, that, in the course of the two volumes, there are fifty speeches, at least, which are here reported nearly at full length, and of which hardly a trace is any where else to be found in print. Of those speeches which have, under the authority of the speakers, been published in pamphlets, the reports thus authorised have been taken; and no small portion of the whole of the reports have, in point of correctness at least, received, in a greater or less degree, assistance from the notes of the persons by whom the speeches were made, assistance which has been accepted of and even solicited, without any distinction as to persons, parties, or opinions, it being the chief object of the undertaking to exhibit a perfectly impartial view of the proceedings of parliament, and that object having, in the progress of the performance, constantly prevailed over every other consideration. The Official Documents, upwards of a hundred in number, include every parliamentary paper that the editor, judging from no small experience, regarded as useful to students in politics. He is convinced, that, by the aid of the documents thus annually preserved, any person of common capacity may arrive N. B. To these persons who may be at a sufficient degree of knowledge as to the desirous of receiving the work in Numstate of our national affairs, in whatever re- bers, during the approaching session, and lates to Public Income or Expenditure, Re- who reside at a distance from the me sources or Wants; and he is certain, that tropolis, it may be necessary to ob in no other work whatsoever are these doserve, that publications of this sort cannot cuments to be found. Besides the Lists of be sent post-free like newspapers; and that, Minorities, which are most, accurately in- for persons so situated, the most convenient serted, in their proper places, through the way will be, to give their orders in the body of the work, there is at the head of country to some bookseller who keeps up a the First Volume a correct list of the Mem- correspondence with London. As the Parbers of the House of Commons, as that liament will meet on the 27th of Novem House was composed at the opening of the ber, the first Number of the 3d Vol. will, of session; and, at the head of both the first course, be published early in December. Printed by Cox and Baylis, No 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Gurden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre Pall-Mall. The work is published by Mr. BAG SHAW, Bow Street, Covent Garden, and sold also by Mr. BUDD, Pall Mall; Mr. FAULDER, Bond Street; Mr. SYMMONDS Paternoster Row; Mr. RICHARDSON, Rova Exchange; and Messrs. BLACK and PARKY Leadenhall Street. VOL. VI. No. 18.] LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1804. [PRICE 10D, "Russia is, by the present arrangement" [the German Indemnities]" brought forward into "the system of Europe, on the Continent; but, in complete subordination to the ambition of "France. She will always be a most powerful friend to the latter against either Austria or Prussia, because she lies at the back of both, and has many causes of natural quarrel with "both; but a comparatively weak enemy against France, because, from ber local situation, "she can never bring large armies to act against France for a continuance of repeated campaigns."- COBBETT'S LETTERS to Lord Hawkesbury on the German Indemnities. Register, Vol. II. p. 397. 673] STATE OF IRELAND. SIR, The exertions which were made by the ministry of Mr. Addington, to give to the Irish rebellion of the 23d of July the appearance of an hasty and temporary insurrection, must be still fresh in the minds of every one. To those who knew the state of Ireland, and to those who were acquainted with the feebleness of Mr. Addington's cabinet, such exertions could only contribute to sink the character of that administration still lower if possible than it was at that period. Still they were of considerable avail, because they imposed upon that mass of the people, by whose voice alone a minister can be impelled to attend to grievances, and from whom all measures of change, whether in rendering good governments worse, or bad governments better, must originate. AlThough the policy of Mr Addington so far succeeded as to ward off those measures of inquiry into the causes of the Rebellion, and, what, at the moment, was of much more consequence, the extent of that evil, it now appears, by the intercepted letters taken on board the Admiral Aplin, that the considerate and informed portion of our society were too generally acquainted with the circumstances of Ireland to be so deceived. In these letters we have the combined testimony of persons of high rank in the political world, and of persons of great repute for their extensive knowledge in the trade and circumstances of every part of the empire to prove, that the inhabitants of Ireland were considered to be as ready to join with the French in 1803, as they notoriously were in 1798. Mr. Stewart Hall writes: "In Ire"land the people are there ripe for revolt. "Give to the Irish said they (alluding to "Col. Hutchinson and another member). "what you solemnly promised them before "the Union, and which contributed to ef"fect the Union. Give them liberty and "you will find them the best subjects of his "Majesty, but if you do not insurrection "will succeed insurrection, until the em"pire is shaken to its very foundation." [674 (Intercepted Letters, Ginger's edit. p. 13.), Mr. James: "We hope every thing from 66 our unanimity. In Ireland the case is "different: if the French were to land "there, with only 10,000 men, the country "would be once more on fire. The spirit "of treason, rebellion, and animosity against "us is there still the same." (p. 52.) Lord C. Bentinck: "Dreadful accounts have "been received from Ireland. They (the "Irish) have begun according to their an "cient custom. If this country is not at"tended to it will be lost." (p. 55.) Mr. Mac: "I have learnt with regret, that the "lower classes of men in Ireland are more "disaffected than ever, even more than du"ring the last rebellion." (p. 56) Mr. F. Faulder: "I have heard it from the first au"thority, that if the French can land with some troops, they will be immediately "joined by 100,000 Irish." (p. 59.) Mr. J. Hartwell: "The public mind of Ireland is 66 very much indisposed; and, should the "French succeed in effecting a landing in "that country, it is lost to us." (p 62.) Mr J Lumsdeo: "My only fear is for Ire"land, where the standard of rebellion has "been hoisted anew." (p. 64.) The Marquis of Titchfield: "Ireland is at pre66 sent tranquil; but this species of tranquil"lity, and the little we know of the conspi was excessively remiss, and that it was sur"prised." (p. 76.) Mr. Stewart Hall, in a third letter " A descent in Ireland would "be successful, inasmuch as the leading men "of that country avow their opinions that "the French would be received with open "arms by the people" (p. 91.)-- ---Such, Mr. Cobbett, are the sentiments entertained in the few letters we have an opportunity of seeing; and very as onishing it is, how general the belief was that the state of treland was as bad as possible at the moment when the conduct of parliament, and the tacitur. nity of public opinion, would lead one to suppose, that the attempts of Mr Addington to smother the events of the 23d of July, had been generally successful. We may fairly argue, from the evidence of these letters, that the universal opinion entertained at the time when they were written; and, à fortiori, at the present moment, was, and is, that the lower classes of the people of Ireland are, as Mr. Mac writes, more disaffected than ever, even more than during the last rebellion, notwithstanding the elaborate exertions to cause it to be believed, that the people who had been worked into arms from one end of the country to the other, in 1798, could not be rouzed in 1803 beyond the assemblage of a desperate mob, as contemptible in number, as it was atrocious in disposition. Had we similar opportunities of seeing the whole of the private correspondence of the last year, we should, no doubt, find this opinion received on all sides, and no where attempted to be controverted.Melancholy; indeed, is the reflection which must now be formed by every one who can appreciate the value of Ireland to the safety of Great Britain. Whilst the assertions of the ministry respecting it remained unanswered, there was a tendency to believe them arising from the hope, which is characteristical of human nature, that evils are at no time so great as they are represented. But, now that conviction of the extent of the danger in which Ireland is placed, is, at last, produced, and this not only by our acquaintance with the opinions of the leading persons of that country, the facts which have occurred, and the small portion of the cor. respondence of these realms which we have been enabled to peruse, but also, by the numbers of persons who have been apprehended and confined in prison for treasonabie practices in every part of Ireland, and in truth, by the whole tenour of the public measures since the 23d of July, the attention of every one should be closely applied to every circumstance which regards Ireland, and the conduct of the ministry most minutely watched, so that some hopes may yet be entertained that the system of governing Ireland may be amended, before the opportunity of applying a remedy is irrecoverably Jost. That a rebellion should take place under the ministry of Mr. Addington is by no means surprising, considering the circumstances under which it was formed, and considering the state of Ireland at the time. But, since the administration has ceased to exist, no small degree of surprise may now very reasonably be felt on viewing the inactivity, and even apparent apathy of Mr. Pitt, who so justly and manfully and patriotically stigmatised Mr. Addington for incapacity and incapability.--It gives me great pain to observe, Sir, that though Mr. Pitt has been minister for nearly six months, no one measure has been ever hinted at for conciliating the affections of the people of Ireland; though that minister has uoequivocally and undeniably pledged himself to give the Catholics an equal participation of poli tical rights with the Protestants; though he stands committed on the measure of the Union for the safety of the British Empire, so far as that safety is dependant on the con duct of the Irish, and though this measure was proposed by him as a measure to reform abuses, and as a measure wisely to conciliate the affections of those who were adverse to a connexion with Great Britain. I think, Mr. Cobbett, that Mr. Pitt, as the minister of the present day, is solely responsible for every disastrous event which may take place in Ireland; because, either he is competent to render the Union the measure he promised it should be, or he is not competent to do so: if he is competent, let him forward those measures, for which the faith of his ministry is pledged; and, if he is not competent, let him feel that his honour is better worth preserving than his office, and let him not, above all things, give to the people of Ireland the opportunity of complaining, that the plight ed engagements of the British government have been violated.--Mr. Pitt, of whose honour I have yet a high opinion, may say, that he has made no promise to the Catholics, because the intimation of the possible occurrence of the circumstance of unlimited emancipation was qualified by the reserve of an indefinite period, when such a measure would be prudent. But one noble lord in close alliance with him, has told the Catholics by a public manifesto, that Mr. Pitt was engaged to grant this emancipation; and another noble lord, of still higher authority, publicly declares, that he will not hold any civil situation, under any ministry, till he can fulfil his portion of the engagement made to the Catholics at the instance of Mr. Pitt.--The responsibility of Mr. Pitt in regard to the state of Ireland, is clearly of a much more serious nature than it is commonly considered; and, as the safety of Great Britain depends so much upon the connexion with Ireland (for what would be the situation of Great Britain if the French possessed a flotilla of gun-boats in Dublin har bour !) the public are in duty bound, consistently with the preservation of their dear est interests, to call on Mr. Pitt for such measures as may relieve the empire from that danger which is so fully and accurately described in the intercepted correspondence. --That this danger is in a great degree owing to the Union is very evident from the simple consideration of the superior efficacy with which a local legislature can meet the designs of rebellion, to that with which a more distant one can act. "The local "parliament had indisputably one eminent "advantage; being from the very circum"stance of its locality more intimately "mixed with the transactions of the coun66 try, it had more easy access to informa❝tion, in respect to its internal state, than a more remote legislature can possess." (Speech of Mr. W. Elliot, Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates, Vol. I. p. 90.) But of this advantage, and very great indeed it is, in times whose principal features are wars, rebellions, and revolutions, Mr. Pitt deprived the British empire by the Union. The event of the 23d of July is a practical proof of the want of a local legislature in Ireland; but, as Mr. Elliot says in another part of his speech," the loss of this advantage was ex pected to be overbalanced by the numerous "and solid benefits likely to accrue from "that measure;" and, sufficiently, indeed, would it have been balanced, had such means been adopted, since the Union, as would have given to the empire the benefit of a conciliation of the affections of the Catholics of Ireland to the connexion with Great Britain. But, as things now stand, Mr. Pitt has, I fear, done all the mischief that could be done by the measure of Union, and has forgotten to remedy the evils which unavoidably attended it; and, by not making it operate as the means of conferring those essential benefits, which every one who supported the Union was led to expect, as the certain consequence of the difficulties being removed by the abolition of the Irish Parliament, which its existence prevented.-The state of the case, in regard to Ireland and its union with Great Britain, is exactly as fol lows: the powers which it possessed of repressing the rebellion and of conciliating its people through the medium of its Parlia ment, are taken away and given to another legislature, which, owing to its distance from the scene of action, cannot be so efficacious in its measures for crushing popular commotions, and cannot feel, from its nature, the same degree of interest towards promoting the magnanimity and loyalty of the inhabitants of Ireland.That there had existed in the Parliament of Ireland a feeling of bigotry, which contributed much to produce the disasters which it has experienced, cannot be denied; but, if there was a Parlia ment now existing in Ireland, and it were a question to be decided whether the Catholics were to be emancipated, or to be again made subject to the penal laws, the superior information of the Irish gentry as to the local state of Ireland, and the great interest which each of them would have at stake, combined with the improved notions of liberality, which now prevail, would unavoidably render the emancipation of the Catholics a measure of certainty. The Union, therefore, as far as it has vet operated, has been productive of all the dangers of open rebellion, and all the injury which has arisen from its having taken from the people of Ireland the natural means of acquiring the wishedfor state of conciliation and unanimity. Is it not, therefore, an excessive misfortune, that now, when the power of suppressing rebellion is placed in a remote legislature, this legislature does not afford any means for removing the causes of rebellion? Has not any proprietor of property in Ireland good grounds for complaining of the danger into which that country has been brought? Has not every inhabitant also of Great Britain reason to consider Mr. Pitt as conducive to its present critical state, by his neglect in not bringing forward such secondary mea sures to the great measure of forming an imperial Parliament, which the circumstances of Ireland so notoriously require?——The state of affairs is really such, Mr. Cobbett, that unless, as Lord Charles Bentinck writes, "this country is not attended to, it will be "lost." What, then, is to be done? Will Mr. Pitt undo the Union, form the boroughs of Ireland, for which compensation has been given, into open boroughs, and leave the country to extricate itself from its difficulties? No; this he will not do.--Will Mr. Pitt propose any measure in the British Parliament, sincerely intended to meet the views of the Catholics of Ireland? Will Mr. Pitt never propose any measure, which might involve in its issue the embarrassment attending the construction of a sacred and solemn oath? Will Mr. Pitt keep his place, break his promise, and risk the safety of Ireland, and with it the existence of Great Britain, in order to gratify the paltry ambition of being prime minister? I cannot help saying, Sir, that I hope and believe and confide that he will not so act. I love to believe that he is not that man.--But, if, unfortunately, nothing should be done by the minister, our constitution has afforded us the means by which to remedy the neglect of any and of every minister. The Parliament must attend to the petitions of the people; and, both the people and the Parliament are so lemnly bound to come forward at this present conjuncture to endeavour, so far as the constitutional powers enable them, to procure the adoption of such measures for Ireland as the preservation of the empire so immediately require. But, it rests more par ticularly with the Catholics of Ireland to demean themselves on this important occasion with that firmness which they ought to possess as living in a nation of liberty, and with an earnestness proportioned to the value of the rights which they are solicitous to be restored to. When so many are ready to stigmatize them as rebels, and when it is clear that the invasion of Ireland would, by the probable union of some of the lower classes of the people with the French, give a new opportunity to the enemies of emancipation to attach to the whole body of the Catholics the crimes of the dregs of the people, it is most critically and urgently their duty to adopt some line of conduct, which may prove to the world, that their object is just, and that the means they adopt for acquiring it are perfectly constitutional.There never was a moment, in which this body were more the subject of general observation, or in which the expectation of the world were more interested in its destiny. Feeing, then, as they must who can at all feel the spirit of Constitutional liberty, that they are deprived of a most valuable franchise; and feeling, as they ought to feel, the policy of warding off the shafts of their enemies, they should lose no time in petitioning Parliament for the full enjoyment of the constitutional rights of British subjects.--That such a proposition and such a proceeding, in the present state of affairs, may be termed foolish and factious, and even treasonable, by such per sons as the Edinburgh Reviewers, (whose country, by-the-bye, has not, in consequence of her union with England sustained any grievance, whatever) or other writers employed by the late ministry; but, as to the question of time, the Irish Catholics have a ready answer in the words of a venerable fa. ther of the English Church; I mean the Bishop of Landat: "I love my lords to "have politics, on all occasions, founded an "substanujal justice. If any one should contend that this is not the time for go⚫vernment to make concessions to Ireland, "I wish him to consider, whether there is 66 any time in which it is improper for ei"ther individuals or nations to do justice; rr any, season improper for extinguishing animosity; any occasion more suitable "than the present for parting an end to heart burnings and internal discontent? I " should be as averse as any map for making "concessions to an enemy invading the "country; but I would do much to gain a "cordial friend to assist me in driving him "back; and, such a friend I am confident "Ireland will become." (Speech intended to have been spoken by the Bishop of Landaff, p. 28.) Under the sanction, therefore, and sound authority of this liberal and learned prelate, I would advise the Catholics not to be prevented from coming forward by the aspersions, which may, but which, I hope, will not, be heaped upon them for so doing., They have the most powerful reasons for inducing them to act without further delay; and, as their claims are clearly founded in justice, no liberal man can blame them, and no sensible man will reject their claims.I have the honour to be, &c. &c. Liverpool, Oct. 14, 1804. „BLOCKADING SYSTEM. Z. SIR,--The near approach of winter, and the losses and disasters which our navy has, sustained in the course of the summer, and even of the present month, in consequence of the blockading system, induce me again to address you on this important subject:-Your ready insertion of my former letters, and your particular reference to them in your Index, encourages me to hope you judged them in some degree, worthy the notice of your numerous and respectable readers.→→ Higher than this, they never stood in my own estimation. Had I rated them lower, I ought, in deference to the public, to have suppressed them. But, in times like the present, it is the duty of every individual, however obscure in station, or limited in ability, to exert his utmost efforts for what appears to him his country's welfare. If these produce but little effect, they may pro bably excite others of superior abilities, and more extensive information, to greater and more effectual exertions. Should such be the result of the present attempt, I may rest satisfied that I have not made it in vain. The arguments by which I, in my first letters endeavoured to prove the waste, the danger, the inefficacy, and the consequent impolicy of the blockading system, (especially as it respected the harbour of Brest) were at the time of their insertion in your Political Register, opposed, but not refuted, by a writer under the signature of T. H.--This I no ticed in my second letter, and invited him to a fair and liberal discussion of the import ant question. Whether he thought the gauntlet too light or too heavy to take up, I presume not to conjecture. It may not, however, be improper to remark, that the arguments I then made use of to prove the |