if I had had any fears for the defence of sena. Mr. PERCEVAL must, therefore, have England before, would have removed, or a very high opinion, I think, of the senat all tended to remove, those fears. For, sibility of the Emperor Napoleon, when what have I seen? A French army and he supposés, that the retreat of his Poran English army meeting upon the fron-tuguese army, under such circumstances, tiers of Portugal, the business of the for-will throw him into confusion; will fill mer being invasion, and the business of the him with shame; and make him despair. latter being defence. Now, can I draw any It is stated, observe, that the allied very great consolation from what fol- army consists of 100,000 men; and, if lowed? Do I see that that took place our newspapers tell us truth, that of which I should like to see take place in Massena did not, when he began his reEngland? Should we, any of us, like to treat, amount to 50,000. If this statesee the French do here what they have ment be true, it is wonderful; it is be done in Portugal? Should we like to see yond measure astonishing, that the French them follow our defenders for so many army should have retreated in such com. hundreds of miles into the country, and to plete order. They left behind them no be permitted to lay one half of the coun- sick nor wounded. They took all along try waste, before they were compelled to with them: And, is such a retreat, under retreat? Would it be much consolation to every possible adverse circumstance, calus to be told, that our army had uniformly culated to throw the Emperor into conbeaten the enemy, and that our generals fusion?However, be it so, for, I am had out-generalled his generals? Would sure, I care not what degree of confusion this be any great comfort to us, if, at the seizes him and every despot upon earth, same time, we saw ourselves reduced to under whatever name he may exercise his the most poignant misery? Should we power, though I must confess that, if I exult much at such a state of things? were compelled to choose, I should prefer Should we, I ask, call it glorious? This is an undisguised to a disguised despotism. the way to view the matter. To make the Confusion to him! but, let us not lose our case our own. To ask ourselves how we senses, let us not believe, until we have should like to be defended as the people of something like proof of it, that he wants Portugal have been defended; how we the means to carry on his designs; and, should relish these victories if they had particularly let us be cautious how we inbeen gained upon our own shores; and, dulge in the pleasing hope that this athow we should like this promised advan-chievement of Lord Talavera will produce tage of another year added to the continu- any effect in France. Did the affairs of Walance of the struggle.- -3. Mr. PERCEVAL cheren, or any other of our celebrated exsaid, that, as to the enemy, this achieve-peditions, produce any effect in England? ment of ours must plunge him into confu- Did any one of them cause any movement sion. Now, before we go any further, of the people here? Nay, did any one of let us ask why we should suppose this would them, or all of them put together, take be the case.. -What is there to produce from any minister one single voice of his this effect upon him? A retreat of one of his parliamentary majority? Reader, you will, armies, with, comparatively, very little without hesitation, answer me in the neloss. Now, are retreats unknown to us? gative; you know that they produced no We have seen a retreat under SIR JOHN effect at all. A little grumbling from the MOORE; we have seen a retreat under City of London, in an instance or two, Lord TALAVERA, from the spot whence he who received a sharp rap upon their takes his title, leaving his sick and wound-knuckles for their pains; and, there was an ed to the mercy of these same "barbarous French;" we have seen a retreat under LORD CHATHAM; we have seen a retreat under the DUKE of YORK; we have seen a retreat under GENERAL GRAHAM, whom the parliament thanked; nay, and have we not seen a retreat under LORD TALAVERA during this very war in Portugal?- -Well; did any of these throw us into confusion? Yet, they were, some of them at least, attended with circumstances full as well calculated to excite confusion as the retreat of Mas

end of the effect; except, indeed, that the rap upon the knuckles seems to have made the Citizens grateful, rather than otherwise. Why, then, I ask, should the retreat of Massena produce any effect in France? Why should the people of France make any stir upon such an occasion? Why should they be out of temper with their Emperor? It is a strange perversity which has seized us, to believe, that every little adverse circumstance in the affairs of France is to cause the people to rise

It is Europe he means, doubtless. And the nations of Europe are now to see the rock upon which they split.——There is a great deal of matter in this little sentence.

against the government. What would be, by the retreat of Massena.The world! said to any of us Jacobins, if we were to foretell the overthrow of the government in England, because of the failure of an expedition or an armament? Why, then, should such effects flow from such failure of the armaments of France? Here, on the contrary, to fail appears to be meritorious in a Minister. PITT failed in all his wars; and the parliament decree him a public funeral and a monument at the expence of the people. Why, then, again I ask, do we suppose, or should we suppose, that the people of France are to be roused to rebellion, or to opposition against the Emperor, by the retreat of. Massena ?But, this retreat is to be " a lesson" to the enemy; to Napoleon, perchance, and is to convince him, " that extent of dominion, " is not increase of strength.' -HE wants no lesson to convince him of that, but, WE seem to want it; for, we are frequently firing Park and Tower guns for the conquest of Islands, to send a pound of beef to which costs us a crown in silver money.

We, indeed, have need of a lesson like this. We, who have an Empire in the East, which has long been dragging England down to ruin. His empire is not nearly so extended. His is all within his reach. He can come at it, and command it. We cannot do so with ours. Besides, his plan is not to unite Spain and Portugal to France. He has set up a new king in Spain, who is residing in the Capital, and who is, as far as he is able, grinding the poor people down with taxes. So that, Napoleon is not here fighting for extent of dominion. He is fighting for alliances; and what are we fighting for in Spain and Portugal? Are not we fighting for alliances too? Say, we are not; why, then, we must be fighting for extension of dominion? No: that will not do. What will do, then? Why, we are fighting, in Spain and Portugal, the battles of England. We are there anticipating the attack upon ourselves.Say you so? Well, then, surely there can be no blame to the French for going there to 'meet us; unless you hold, that it is unfair in them to attack England.So that, in no view that you can take of this matter, will it bear the test of reason. A shew of argument may be made up; but there is nothing solid; nothing that does not vanish at the appearance of truth.But, besides an effect upon the people of France, the rest of the world is, it seems, according to Mr. PERCEVAL, to be affected

-The nations of Europe do not, that I hear of, seem to think that they have split at all. I see no indication of their entertaining any such notion. It seems, therefore, a pure assumption on the part of the Orator, who should have shewn us the nations that had split. There is a confusion here. Mr. PERCEVAL meant governments; and, it is very true, that many of them have split, and actually gone to pieces, but the people are alive and well. They have, to be sure, changed rulers, and those of them, who were better off before, have, of course, changed for the worse; but, in any case, I do not see how they are to profit from what has happened in Portugal, nor how the retreat of Massena is to shew them the rock upon which they have split.--Mr. PERCEVAL, however, appears to have great hopes about something; and he does not think it unreasonable to suppose, that we may yet be the instruments by which Europe is to be delivered!--Good heavens! What, still bent on the deliverance of Europe; even after our principal Ally; our August Ally, has given his daughter in marriage to our enemy, "the tyrant," as Mr. PERCEVAL calls him.--The "march to Paris" will assuredly be revived, if we make the French retreat another fifty miles! What! deliver Europe still, after having ratified many of the conquests of France by treaty! But, it is foolish to be surprized, or to affect surprize, at any thing of the kind. We have been engaged in the deliverance of Europe for the last eighteen years, and on we shall go as long as the means exist.-Mr. WHITBREAD recommended an endeavour to obtain peace; but the minister told him, that this was not the time. He was very right. It certainly is not the time; and I do not believe that he will ever see the time as long as there is a paper-money in England, that will pass (at any rate) in lieu of gold and silver.But, as to the deliverance of Europe, that is to say, the reconquering of other countries from France, what must be in the head of the man, who could conceive the idea, merely because Massena had retreated to the frontiers of Portugal? What is this to do for the Italians, or the Dutch or the Hamburghers? If they wished it that is to say; for I, for my part, have

seen no signs of these nations wishing to change. I have heard falshoods enough upon the subject; but, nothing else have I seen importing that these nations wish, that they have the slightest wish, to shake off what is called the Yoke of Napoleon. But, if they did wish it, how will Mas. sena's retreat assist them? When Lord Talavera was retreating last year, did any one imagine that that would tend to deliver Marumico, or Guadaloupe? Yet, it would have been as reasonable to suppose it, as to suppose, that Massena's retreat will tend to deliver Holland.Looking back, now, over what has been said, let me ask the reader what real grounds he can find for all this exultation about the retreat of the French army; I beg him to consider what has, until within these few years been the custom in similar cases; and to find, if he can, any record of a Vote of Thanks for military services, except in cases of signal victory gained over the enemy. I should here dismiss this topic, but, the appellation of TYRANT, bestowed upon the Emperor of France by Mr. PERCEVAL, is not wholly unworthy of notice.

|

republican government, lest the example
should spread. Whether a republican go-
vernment would have been the best that
France could have had is quite another
question. The French revolutionists set
out with setting their faces against all sorts
of tyranny, at any rate. They did not ask
for a military despotism. War was not
made upon them because they set up a
despotism; but, because they inculcated
anarchy. Let this never be forgotten.
They did not choose a despotic govern.
ment; they revolted to get rid of one;
and the accusation against them was, that
they taught anarchy -Therefore, if there
be an Emperor of France, the fault is not
in the " Jacobins and Levellers," who
wanted to see no Emperor in France; but,
who, since there is one there, are not to be
blamed for liking him as well as any other
Emperor, or, at least, are not to be blamed
if they give him the same title. They,
in fact, have nothing at all to do with
these matters of etiquette; and, their best
way is always to give to every one the
name that he is easiest known by.
The passage of the COURIER is as follows:

He seemed particularly gratified in One or two more observations be observing, that, in the country where "fore we conclude. We find that Mr. "the barbarity of THE TYRANT had been "Whitbread, as well as many others of the most conspicuous, that there the power Opposition, constantly calls Buonaparté " of the TYRANT would also find its grave." "Emperor of France, and his Generals by ---It does make one stare, to be sure, "their new titles. This may appear of to hear a man seriously say, that he looks little importance to some; to us the easy upon the retreat of Massena as the grave" admission of these usurped titles is at of Napoleon's power. But, the word "best foolish, and may be mischievous. tyrant! I can remember when Mr. PER- "One effectual weapon against BuonaCEVAL prosecuted, by the means of an In-" parté, and which he dreads as thoroughly formation Ex-officio, Mr. Peltier for calling" as the sword, is the general abhorrence Napoleon hard names, and for hinting "of his crimes; but if these are forgotten, pretty broadly, that the people of France "the abhorrence must expire with the re would do well to put him down. -But, "collection. Whilst he is called by the before I refer more particularly to Mr. "name of his reputed father, the scrivener Perceval's speech upon that occasion, let" of Ajaccio, the memory of his pristine me remind the reader, that the MORNING "meanness continues; with his meanness we PosT and COURIER news-papers, have," associate his crimes; with his crimes we within these few months, accused Napoleon of boasting of unnatural crimes; that they call his Empress his mistress, his child a Bastard; and, accuse him of committing incest with his brother Louis's wife.I will here take a passage from the CouRIER of no longer ago than Thursday, the 2d instant. The writer is finding fault with some of the Opposition as he calls them," for calling Buonaparté Emperor of France. Impudent hireling? and whose fault is it that there is an Emperor of France? Whose but that of those who prevented the French from establishing a

"confirm his infamy; with his infamy we "perpetuate our resistance. It is impos"sible to recognize a title without acknow

ledging the power which created it: and "thank God we are not yet reduced to ac "knowledge the French Emperor! The offspring of Buonaparte's Mistress may be proclaimed King of Rome: he may be swaddled by Grandmamma Letitia, formerly Abbess of the Nunnery in "Marseilles and now Patroness of the "Magdalens in Paris; he may be Chris"tianized by the Pope, or Mahome "tanized by the Mufti; but until Britain

upon such terms; and, therefore, he put it
down; and, infinitely better, and more fa-
vourable to real freedom it was, to put it
wholly down, than to let it exist in such
hands.Let us now return to Mr. PER-
CEVAL and his prosecution Ex OFFICIO of
Mr. Peltier. In his speech upon
that oc-
casion he used the following words, as re-
ported in the octavo edition, page 81, pub-
lished by Mr. Peltier himself.-
-"Whe-
"ther the present libel was directed
"against a Monarch sitting on his throne,
"from long hereditary descent, or whe-
"ther he is a person raised to this power
by the revolution, from the choice of
"that country, or from any other cause, it
"makes no difference. He is, de facto, the
chief Magistrate, and is to be respected by
"those who are the subjects of that coun-
try, who owe a temporary allegiance to
"him. He is to be respected as if his ances-
"tors had enjoyed the same power for a num-
"ber of generations. Perhaps I may hear
" of publications in the Moniteur reflect-
"ing on our government. What have we
"to do with that? I am standing here for

« shall recognize his squalling Majesty, and
"send an embassy to salute the royal
"Baby-clothes; the imperial inheritance
"is not quite assured.Even of his
"brother Louis, unoffending as he is, can
"we not speak, without terming him the
"Ex-King; or of his incestuous sister,
without terming her the Ex-Queen, of
"Holland? Can we not speak of the
"drunken Joseph, without calling him
King of that very country, for whose
"legitimate Sovereign we at this moment
" are triumphing? Must we hail the adul-
"terous Jerome, King of Westphalia; or
"the crimp-serjeant Bernadotte, Crown
"Prince of Sweden? Is it not as easy to
"say that Lord Wellington drives before
"him Massena, as the Prince of Essling;"
" and that General Graham routed Victor,
"as the Duke of Belluno? Is it more diffi-
"cult to pronounce Junot, than Abrantes;
"or Mortier than Treviso ?"--Why,
then, is it not as easy to pronounce Robert
Jenkinson as Earl of Liverpool, and so on?
But, the good of it is, that the title of
Emperor of France was first formally ac-
knowledged by us in the Convention of
Cintra, of which this far-famed Lord Tala-
vera, whose name was then Wellesley, was
the negociator.Aye, and how glad" before an English jury.
would this same hireling be to see a treaty
to-morrow with the Emperor of France and
King of Italy!This man seems, then,
to think, that the recognition of the
Emperor's titlé, on the part of Eng-
land, is necessary to his stability! If
a negociation was on foot, and such a
thing were mentioned, it would send our
embassador home in the twinkling of an
eye. This miserable slave, a slave ten
thousand times worse than any under
the dominion of Napoleon, couples mean-
ness of birth with crimes; and, yet, I'll war-
rant, that this man himself was born in a
house not worth 20 shillings a year of
lawful money. This is excessively base.
It is such a villainous abandonment of a
man's own character. But, from my soul,
I believe, that the most abject slaves upon
the face of the whole earth are some of
those who are concerned with the English
press; and if there had been such to be
found in France, or in any of his domi-
nions, Napoleon would have known better
than to put an end to what is called " the
"Liberty of the Press;" that is to say, the
liberty of praising men who have the power to
oppress you. He could find no men base
enough; his whole dominions furnished no
men so detestably base as to use the press

the honour of the English law, and of the "English nation. I state this to be a "crime, and as such have brought it And if any

"other country think that they can pros-
per by any such publications as this,
"let them have the benefit of it but
" do not let us have the disgrace.".
Now, reader, apply this to the publica-
tions of the present day; nay to go no
further than the one above taken from the
COURIER. If Mr. PELTIER'S publication
was a dishonour to England; if the
HONOUR of the English LAW (Honour
of Law!) called for the proceeding against
him, what is this honour at now? This
same sovereign is now called an incestuous
person, an adulterer, å boaster of unnatural
crimes; and, yet, very far indeed are the
authors from being called to account. The
child of Napoleon is called a Bastard; his
wife is called a mistress. Is the excuse
that we are now at war with him? This is
a pretty justification indeed, and another
very fine illustration of the consistency of
what is called the law of libel. But, at
any rate, I never will say any thing of
Napoleon in war that I am not allowed to
say of him in peace: Inever will condescend
to be that base thing of a writer, who will
submit to be hallooed on and rated off, just
as it suits the views of men in power.
Napoleon is the same man now that he was
in 1803, only his fame is more spread and

-

— -

speak of other sovereigns. I dare not
satirize the king of Sicily or Sardinia or
the Prince Regent of Portugal or Fer- :
dinand the Seventh; and I will not sa
tirize the Emperor of France. I will not
condescend to be so vile a time-server.
If he be a tyrant, why then, I hate him,
that is all; but, if we were at peace
with him, the law of libel would not suffer
me to call him tyrant, neither will I se
call him now.

MR. BINGHAM.—The case of this gentleman was noticed in my Register of the 30th of March, page 769 of the present volume. It appeared clearly to me, from a perusal of the proceedings on the Trial, as reported in the news-papers, that he had not only been falsly accused; but that there had been some very foul play made use of against him; and; in short, that his life had been put in jeopardy from some most abominable motive in some quarter or other.At the time when I wrote the article here referred to, I could not lay my hand upon any of the publications, which were made against Mr. BINGHAM in London, the moment he was taken up, and which publications were, I' recollected, of a nature to prejudice the public, the whole world, and of course, the Jury against him. There were several of these publications; but, that which was made in the TIMES news-paper was the one which I remembered the best; and, upon looking back for it, I found it as follows. I shall here insert it entire; and I give it as an instance of the boldness of these literary heroes; of their undaunted

his power greater. But, he is, at any rate, First Magistrate of France; and, he is not the less so because he is at war with us. If any man were to sell a file of the COURIER after peace is made with France, such man would, agreeably to the doctrines upon which Mr. PELTIER was accused and convicted, be liable to cool his heels in jail.-In another part of his speech at that trial, Mr. PERCEVAL pointed out the danger of irritating the people of France against us; and, in short, every thing was said to shew the evil tendency of abusing Buonaparte.I say, then, that be is still the same man, and that he is stil! the First Magistrate of France. If he is to be abused merely because we are at war with him, what pretty consistent law is this. The honour of this law must be of a most singular description. In peace we must not say truth of him, if unpleasant; but, in war, we may say what we will, true or false, as clearly appears from the publications in the MORNING POST and the COURIER. Such publications cannot, indeed, produce war ; but, it is possible that they may perpetuate it. The French news-papers contain no such infamous publications about any persons in this country. Bad as they are represented to be, they do not contain any such things, and never have. But in this country, they are found in all these prints, the authors of which shew their devotion to men in power.I do not say, that it is my opinion even, that they will perpetuate war, being persuaded that Napoleon masters his passions where his political interest is concerned; but, it must be evident to every one, that, if any pub-courage; of their noble spirit of freedom, in lications could have such a tendency, these would have that tendency.The minister may call Napoleon a tyrant as long as he pleases; but, I never will, until such a change is made in the practice of the law, as will authorize me to call him a tyrant in time of peace as well as in time of war; nor, will I ever say any thing of him, which (if I have the truth with me) I am not allowed to say of the King of England or of any of his sons or his ministers. No: I have seen a writer tried and convicted of the crime of having spoken of Napoleon in a way, calculated to expose him to hatred; and if this be a crime, it must be a crime in time of war as well as in time of peace; and, therefore, I will not speak of him in any such way. I will speak of him with just the same caution that I am compelled to

cases where they assault the feeble or the fallen. Here they exercise the liberty of the press without any restraint; here they shew that they enjoy the " blessed birthright "of Britons;" here they swagger; here they look big-But, it is time to come to the publication referred to; and, as we proceed, we should bear in mind, that the object of attack was a man not proved to be guilty, a man of spotless reputation heretofore, a man with a numerous family and with very scanty means of maintain. ing them, and that this publication was made at a time when there was a great reward offered for bringing to conviction the person guilty of one of the crimes with which he was charged.There are two passages, which I have designated by capital letters, and to these I beg the reader to pay particular attention. The whole of