rum and molasses, and has been confined, as to value, always within the amount of the importation in each American vessel respectively, still preserving to the mother country all the useful and practicable advantages of colonial monopoly. This inter

course is now to be put an end to; and, observe, too, that this step is taken in time of war, and at a time when the colony is already sinking under the burdens imposed upon its productions! That the articles above enumerated are absolutely necessary to the very existence of the colony of Jamaica cannot be denied; and, that they are to be obtained, in sufficient quantity, no where but in the American states, is another incontrovertible position. But, say the partisans of 'this measure, these articles will be just as good when conveyed in British ships, as when conveyed in American ships; and, a rigorous adherence to the navigation laws, in this respect, will tend to increase the British, and to diminish the American, mercantile marine. True, the articles will be full as good, when conveyed in British ships, but there is little risk in asserting that they will not be half so cheap; or, to speak more correctly, 'that they will be twice as dear as when con veyed in American ships. British ships, from the high price of their building and repairs, and from the dearness of their provisions, always sail dearer than Ameri'can ships. Then, observe, that the carrying trade between America and the West Indies will be nine times out of ten at a distance from the owner. At present, and always in time of war, the British ships will be liable to be stripped of their men every time they come into a West India port, while the insurance on the vessels and cargo must be five times as high as upon American vessels; circumstances that will cause a very great addition to the expenses of navigating, and, of course, to the amount of the articles imported in, such ships. But, is this all? Is there nothing to be apprehended from the counteracting measures, that will be adopted, on the part of the United States? In order to answer this question, we must form an opinion of what those measures will be; and, in order to form that opinion with tolerable correctness, we have only to read the report made to the Congress by Mr. Jefferson, in the year 1793, when he was Secretary of State for foreign affairs. In that report (which will be found entire in the Political Register, Vol. I. p. 801), he first describes, with great precision, the checks which the different nations of Europe have opposed to the commerce and navigation of the United States: then he

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comes to the remedies, which it may be wise to adopt, in order to produce the removal of those checks. Amongst the several cases, for which these remedies are calculated, he states precisely that which will arise out of the resolution adopted by the Governor and Council of Jamaica; and, here is the remedy he proposes. "Where a nation refuses to our vessels the car"riage' of any of our own productions, to "certain countries under their domination, we might refuse to theirs, of every descrip"tion, the carriage of the same productions to the 44 same countries. But, as justice and good "neighbourhood would dictate, that those "who have no part in imposing the res ❝trictions on us," [meaning the West-India colonists] "should not be the victims of

measures adopted to defeat the effect of "those restrictions, it may be proper to "confine our restrictions to vessels owned, "or navigated by any subject of the same "dominant power, other than the inhabi "tants of the country, to which the said "productions are to be carried." That is to say, that, with regard to Jamaica, for instance, no American produce shall be suffered to be shipped thither in any vessel belonging to subjects of England, except those subjects live in the island of Jamaica. "And," continues he, " to prevent all in "convenience to the said inhabitants, as "well as to our own, by too sudden a "check on the means of transportation, we "may continue to admit, the vessels mark"ed for future exclusion, on an advanced tonnage, and for such length of time only, "as may be supposed necessary to guard "against that inconvenience," * Thus, supposing this, the most mild, measure to be adopted, the immediate consequence of the Jamaica regulation will be an advance up: on the tonnage duty of British ships in all the American ports; and this will, of course, form another item in the additions which will be made to the necessaries of life in Jamaica. It may be asked, whether the Americans will adopt such measures to the certain diminution in the amount of their produce sold to the West-Indies. To which this is Mr. Jefferson's answer. " It "is true, we must expect some incon"venience in practice, from the establish "ment of discriminating duties..

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But,

in this, as in so many other cases, we we are left to choose between two evils, "These inconveniencies are nothing, when "weighed against the loss of wealth and "loss of force, which will follow our per

Register, Vol. I. p. 810.

Does any one believe, that smuggling is not likely to be carried on in British as well as in American ships, sailing from the same ports? This must be a mere pretext; and, when we are informed, that the order went out by the October packet, it is not diffcult to conceive a real motive for the order; it is by no means difficult to conceive why Mr. Pitt should wish to make the planters of Jamaica feel the effects of his return to power. They had remonstrated against his taxes upon their produce; they had called those faxes oppressive; they had ventured to express their satisfaction that he and Mr. Dundas had been succeeded by persons less hostile to their interests, less deaf to their complaints, less indifferent to their distresses. After all, taxation is at the bottom. The minister must have taxes, coute qui cofite. The continent of America was lost by the rigours of taxation; and, it is greatly to be feared, that the islands will be lopped off by the same fatal influence. What! Some one will say, will the loyal inhabitants of Jamaica, rather than share the burdens of the mother country, seek to break in sunder the bands of their connexion with her? No: I am persuaded, that there is not a county in England more firmly and affectionately attached to the throne and to the person of his Majesty than the colony of Jamaica is. But, this is not the question. The question is will the inhabitants of Jamaica quietly submit to utter ruin, rather than legally use their utmost exertions to enjoy their share, whatever it may be, of the liberties and prosperity of the empire? That they ought not, nobody will deny; and, that they will not every one who has been an observer of their conduct must be thoroughly convinced.Much of what I could wish to say upon this subject must be postponed to my next: yet, I cannot forbear, upon the slave trade, here to address a word or two to Mr. Wilberforce, who, if the public papers speak truth, is about to renew those "attacks," which form one of the grounds of the Jamaica complaints. That charity ought to begin at home, Sir, is a very good maxim; and so ought philanthrohy. Some years ago, I besought your attention to the white slave trade, which then was, and now is, carrying on between this United Kingdom and the American States. I informed you, that ship-loads of Irish and Welsh, and some English and Scotch, were yearly sent to America, and there sold by public advertisement. I assured you, and I produced dates and names in proof of my assurances, that these poor creatures were treated during their passage much worse than

negroes; and that, if, after being sold, they eloped from their masters, and were caught again, they were flogged like dogs, and were sometimes further punished by being compelled to wear, for years, an iron collar rivetted round their necks. I was greatly mortified to perceive, that my representation was altogether useless, though strengthened by the then recent fact of some of the parish officers in Wales having actually laid out the parish rates in furnishing the means of shipping off many of their poor to live in such a state of. slavery in a foreign land. But, Sir, I will now come still nearer home, very near indeed,, and invoke the full force of your philanthropy. in behalf of the more than million of wretched creatures, called paupers, who, at this moment, are in existence, in England. Yes, in England! Englishmen and women and children! more than a million of them! One eighth part of our whole population ! "But, they are not slaves." Say, rather, Sir, that they are not black; a circumstance which they may, seeing the preference which is given to that colour, well regard as extremely unfortunate. The negroe slaves in the West Indies are, in every respect, better off than the labouring poor are in England. They are fed better; they are lodged better; they suffer much less from the inclemency of the weather; they have a far greater portion of chirurgical and medical assistance; they are (I speak generally) full as kindly treated by their masters; they work not half so hard; they have a hundred times more leisure time; the Sunday is proverbially called their holiday, and, if they dance or otherwise recreate themselves thereon, they are not dragged to prison handcuffed. "But, they are not free. "They cannot go where they like. They "cannot change their master, nor even their "place of residence." And, can a poor En glish labourer do any of these? Can he remove from parish to parish with impunity? Is he not circumscribed by the law as well as by his misery? And, where, then, is the difference to him whether he be thus restrained, or restrained by the sole will of a master? "But, the poor negroes' children are taken "from them and transferred to other mas "ters." And, how many thousands and hundreds of thousands of English children åre at this moment, in such a state of sepa ration from their parents? Children, I mean, who have been absolutely forced from their parents by due course of law, and who are, or will be, every one of them, placed under masters without any permission, and, in many cases, doubtless, against the will of their parents. I am not finding fault with this power given by the law. I am only stat

}

ing the fact; and, there remains in my mind very little doubt, that there is caused by these separations of children and parents more anguish in one month, than proceeds from the same cause in Africa and the West Indies in twenty years. "But, the poor ne"groes are let out to keep and to hire; their "labour is bargained for, like that of horses " or asses; and thus are they degraded be"neath the human species." Whereupon, Sir, give me leave to call your philanthropic attention to a proposed bargain of this sort no farther off than the county of Sussex, the proposition being made through the channel of the Portsmouth news-paper, and dated on the 7th of December last. "The Visitors "and Guardians of the Poor of Sixteen Unit"ed Parishes, whose House of Industry is "situate at Eastbourne, near Midhurst, "Sussex, are desirous of immediately receiv"ing Proposals from Persons willing to con"tract for providing the Diet and Clothing, "and for taking the Labour of the Paupers in "the said House, at a specific sum weekly "for each Pauper, for One Year, to be di"rected to Mr. TYLER, Petworth, Sussex, "on application to whom further particulars "may be had, and the form of the Contract may be seen.-The Contractor will be paid constantly for Seventy Paupers at the "least, and will be repaid the price exceed"ing twenty pounds per load for all Wheat "consumed for Paupers' Food." Now Sir, these are our own country people; our own flesh and blood and skin. Why, then, while they are thus contracted for and let out; why should we seek for objects of compassion elsewhere?" We cannot help "this misery and degradation in England." But, have we endeavoured? Have those endeavoured to lessen them or to prevent them for the future; those who have been the constant supporters and panegyrists of your friend, Mr. Pitt? Since that gentleman came into power, and since you came into parliament, Sir, the paupers of England have nearly doubled in number, rising, during the twenty years, from about 600,000 to more than 1,000,000! Thus, Sir, while you and Mr. Pitt have been almost annually proposing some measure to mitigate or to remove altogether the imaginary miseries of negro slavery, our own paupers, under the administration of that Mr. Pitt, have received an augmentation of numbers greater than the numbers of all the negroes put together in the whole of the British West India islands! "Mr. Pitt cannot help that." I do not say that he can. I do not impute to him any intention to make this fearful addition to the paupers of England. When I consider, that,

since he has been minister, an addition of 17,000,000l sterling per annum has been made to the interest of the public debt; when I consider how much has thus been drawn from the labour of the people and given to the loan-jobbers and other makers of, and dealers in, paper money; when I consider these things, I am, indeed, at no loss to discover whence has arisen the addition to the number of our paupers. But, be the cause? what it may, the sad effect is before us." There are a million of our own country peo ple in misery, and nearly one-half of the inillion have fallen into, this state since Mr. Pitt and you first agitated the questions re lative to negro slavery. And, does it not become us, Sir, to lay aside all philanthropic exertions in behalf of foreigners, especially negroes, till we have made some exertions in behalf of our suffering countrymen ? True, the negroes may be yet too closely lodged during their passage from Africa to America; but, Sir, in the parish where you and I live, where the parliament has the fre quent opportunity of hearing the effusions of your humanity; in this very parish, and not many paces from your own door, you may (if the collector of the poor-rates has not misinformed me) find hundreds of miserable beings more closely packed together in their beds than the negroes ever are on board the vilified Liverpool ships. Nay, Sir, are you not convinced, that there is more misery, more human suffering, arising from want and hard treatment, at this moment, in this our parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, than in all the British West India islands put together? I am fully convinced of it; and, being so convinced, my first object should be to lessen that suffering; it should, at least, take precedent of every other object of a similar description. (To be continued.) ·

MILITARY FORCE. This subject is introduced here merely for the purpose of: stating from the returns, now before Parliament, that which, in the preceding sheet, was obliged to be a matter of guess. I sup posed, in p. 194, that our regular infantry, in the united kingdom, might amount to 70,000 men, including guards; but, from a return just printed by order of the House of Commons, it appears, that the whole of the regular infantry in Great Britain and Ires land, including the guards, amounts to no more than 46,303 men! The cavalry amounts to 18,927 men; and the artillery to 5,676 men; making in the whole, a regular army of 70 906 men upon paper; which deducting a tenth for non-effectives (and remember there are no small number of littleboys enlisted), leaves us 60,000 men, fit to

take the field! Such is, at best, the state of our regular army. Such is the army, whence we are to supply our colonies, whence we are now about to detach 2000 men to our "empire in the East," and whence we are to send forth expeditions for the "restoration "of the balance of Europe!" But, Mr. Pitt has intimated his intention of dipping into the militia; of suffering the men to volunteer into the army, till the British militia is reduced to the number of 40,000 men. This is a very wise measure, as far as it goes; but, it forces into our mind the former opinions and assertions of Mr. Pitt, some of which will be seen in the motto to the present sheet. In the debate of the 23d of June, Mr. Elliot and Mr. Windham having earnestly recommended this very reduction, their recommendation was treated by Mr. Pitt in a manner which may best be judged of by a reference to his speech. He there defended the militia system, as augmented to its present numbers, and treated with something very little short of contempt all those who differed with him in opinion. Mr. Addington supported the same system; and both upon constitutional and military grounds, he continued to support it, to the very last speech that he made in the House of Commons, as may be seen by referring to the motto of the preceding sheet, where he makes a solem protest against any reduction of the militia. How the gentlemen will now settle this point we shall probably, soon see. If, however, they can agree upon the more important subject of patronage and others thereunto belonging, there is little danger of their coming to mutual accommodations upon that which concerns merely the safety and honour of the country.

FINANCE. Into this subject it is impossible fully to enter until the several accounts for the year 1804 have been laid before parliament and printed. There has, however, been one paper thus communicated to the public, from which I am able to state a detached fact or two.--The readers of the Register will remember, that, in his last year's budget-speech, Mr. Addington estimated the produce of the War Taxes at 15,000,cool.* They have produced, during the year 1804, only 11,000,000l. He estimated the Surplus of the Consolidated Fund at 5,000,000l.† As near as I can judge from the paper abovealluded to, this surplus will not exceed 2,000,000l. And, unless additional taxes

* Parl. Debates, Vol. II. p. 356. † Ibid.

are, this year, brought to the income of the fund, there is every appearance, that there will be no surplus at all; and, not only ne surplus, but that the charge upon the fund will exceed its income.The reader has recently been reminded of Mr. Addington's promise, that our annual loans, during the war, should not exceed 6,000,000 l. for Great Britain. It has been amply shown, that the loans made under the name of Ireland, are, in fact, made for Great Britain, seeing that the latter must pay the interest on them as well as on all the rest of the Irish debt, or, which is the same thing, pay Ireland's share of the expenses in support of the war.* We have seen this same Mr. Addington borrow 10,000,000 t. and 5,750,000l. for Ireland last year, in the face of his repeated promises to the contrary; and, for the present year, there is little doubt but we shall see a loan made for 20, if not 25 millions, and new taxes imposed to the estimated amount, probably, of 5 or 6 millions. The blow may be broken by dividing the loan, or by some other financiering tour-de-main; but, come it must, and, first or last, with the accumdlated weight here described.The whole of the nation's expenditure, for the present year, will be about 70,000,000l. the whole of its revenue, as the revenue now stands, about 40,000,000l. The deficit must be made up, either by loans or by new taxes. Of the expenditure about 29,000,000 1. will consist of interest upon the national debt, a sum equal in amount to the whole of the annual expenditure of the French empire, in which expenditure is included, of course, the means of maintaining an army of 500,000 regular soldiers. Money is, indeed, of far less value in England than in France; but, when we consider the extent and fertility of the dominions and the amount of the popu lation, upon which the revenue of France is collected, this glance at the subject is quite enough to convince any rational man of the absurdity of those who hope to carry on against France a war of Exchequers.

THE IRISH CATHOLICS' PETITION Will be presented about the 25th Instant. It has been finally agreed to unanimously.

Some observations relative to the Middlesex Election Petitions, the Reports of the Naval Inquiry Board, and the relative si tuation of Lord Sidmouth and Mr. Pitt, are. postponed only for want of room.

See present Volume, p. 109, et seq.