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dangerous manner. If the party could obtain no other fruit of his action than a judgment for his debt without costs, he would in truth, be compelled to accept the tender made to him by the lodgment in bank notes, and thus, not by an act of the legislature, but by an arbitrary decision of the court, all creditors would be compelled to accept of bank notes, however depreciated, in payment of debts.---An application of the same principles will resolve your correspondent's second query. If a creditor obtain judgment, he is entitled to satisfaction of his entire judgment out of the estate of his debtor as far as it will extend, and if a sale takes place he has a right to insist that the sale shall be so conducted as to produce him his entire debt, that is, to produce him money of established, and not paper of uncertain ut depreciated value. The creditor does not, as your correspondent supposes, sell the property for less than its real value. It is true, indeed, that if sold for bank notes it would produce a greater nominal sum, but then its real value, is its price in specie, and if sold for bank notes, the creditor would be the loser to the extent of the difference of value between bank notes and specie. Suppose bank notes at a discount of 50 per cent (it is now established that they have been at a discount of 10 per cent in Ireland, and it is hard to say how far an invasion might depreciate them,) would it be contended, that a creditor could be compelled to accept of half his debt in' satisfaction of the whole? And yet to this length would the argument go, because a bank note would then be worth only half its nominal value. If he should not be compellable to accept half his debt, by what law is he compellable to admit a deduction of 2 or 3 per cent?--The matter, in my judg. ment, resolves itself shortly and simply to this. Previous to the restriction act, the only mode of paying a debt, known to our law, was the gold and silver coin of the realm, of a certain weight, as regulated by statute. And every creditor had a right to insist upon, and could enforce by law, pay ment in this coin. The alteration made by statute we must look for in the Act of Parliament. And, therefore, we find that a man when sued for a debt, may deposit the amount of the debt sworn to in bank notes, instead of submitting to an arrest, or giving special bail to abide the event of the suit, as he must have done previous to the statute But there the act stops, and where it stops, the old law takes its course. the legislature had intended any further innovation, it is to be presumed, it would have

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spoken explicitly, and at once have substituted bank notes as a legal payment instead of money. Not having thought fit to do so, the courts of law will not subvert established principles in order to accomplish that indirectly which the legislature has declined to do directly.I trust, I have now sufficiently established the practicability of enforcing the payment of debts in specie. I agree with your correspondent, however in his doubts of the measure being enforced, at least, until bank paper shall be still further depreciated.Permit me to add an observation upon the statute abovementioned. The law, in its anxiety to enforce full satisfaction of debts, had provided that where a debt certain was sworn to, bail should be given to abide the event of the suit, by two housekeepers, who should each swear himself worth double the debt, thus giving a security to four times the amount of the debt. By this statute, a lodgment of the debt in bank notes is substituted fot the former ample security; and by the depreciation of bank paper this security may be diminished to a half, or a fourth, or any given proportion. At present it is 2 of 3 per cent. less than the real debt. In Ireland it was 10 per cent. less. If such an extraordinary depreciation should unfortunately occur, which must be admitted to be possible, the debtor may lodge the amount of his debt in this paper thus sunk in value, and remove himself wherever he pleases with all his property, and no process of law, that I know, can detain him, because he has left the security required by law to abide the event of the suit, a security eventually worth little or nothing.--I am, Sir, your very humble servant,- -AGRICOLA.

FAMILY RECONCILIATION.

SIR,-In the country where I live, the reunion of Messieurs Addington and Pitt was received with joy; though none of us could precisely foresee what good it was to do to any body but themselves. Perhaps you can tell us. Having no sagacity of our own, we rely upon your's for information on this point. The minds of men in this quarter are agitated with many doubts. We want to know which of the gentle pair is to take the lead hereafter; is it to be Nisus or Euryalus? Is it Pollux who pursues, or Caster who deposits the object of the chace? Is it the active or the passive party in the last change of administration? Which is the sword, and which is the scabbard? In short, Sir, which of them is to say to the other, i pra sequar, or are they to run a-breast, like poneys in a curricle ?-These doubts are very

much fortified by reading over again, as many of us have done, the manifestoes which the parties published, or caused to be published, against one another, while they were :at war. A certain Near Observer (whom we all took for Mr. Addington), in his reply to a plain Answerer (whom we all took for Mr. Pitt), p. 61, says that, in "a certain statement made by the latter, there is not one word of truth, though it came from under the eye of the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer." But, in p. 68, there is a passage still more remarkable. "Certainly, if it be "malice and animosity towards Mr. Pitt, "not to wish to see him in the chief place, "I am guilty of it. No man has better "justified than he the famous observation, "that" Tel brille au second rang, qui s'é

clipse au premier."- "That he neither un"derstood the state of Europe, nor the na"ture of the French revolution, is a part of

history; that his orignal error infected "the whole character of the war, and made "his whole conduct, to use an expression "of Mr. Burke, ONE ERROR, cannot be

doubted by any man, who would wish to 66 pass for a statesman, or even an observer "of events. Ergo, none but a flatterer "would place him again in a station, where "he and half mankind have eternal reason

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to regret that he has even ascended."Now, Sir, we wish to know from you, were these declarations written by Mr. Addington himself, or did they come from under his eye, or did he only furnish the materials and instructions, without directly committing himself as the author? If this be his opinion of Mr. Pitt, will he submit to act under him? or, if it be not, how can he pretend to take rank above him? A plain answer to these queries would be a considerable relief to many plain country gentlemen, who know not what to think of this new country dance. Are the partners to join hands, and foot it face to face, or side to side, or back to back, or are they to practise their close dance together, like Mr. Brisk and Lady Froth in the Double Dealer"? RUSTICUS.

DOMESTIC OFFICIAL PAPERS. ATTACK ON FORT ROUGE.-Copy of a Letter from the Rt. Hon. Lord Keith, Admiral of the Blue, &c. to W. Marsden, Eeq. dated on board the Monareb, off Ramsgate, the

11th Dec. 1804.

Sir, Divisions of the enemy's flotilla passing from the eastward towards Boulogne, having frequently, when pursued by his Majesty's ships and vessels, taken shelter in the harbour of Calais, their entry into which has been particularly covered and protected

by the advanced pile battery of Fort Rouge, I considered it an object of some importance to effect the destruction of that work, and lately directed Capt. Sir Home Popham, of the Antelope, amongst other objects, to hold in view a favourable opportunity for making this attempt.I now transmit, for their lordships' information, a letter, and the enclosures to which it refers, which I have received from that officer, reporting the result of an assault which he directed to be made upon it early on the morning of the 9th inst. and from which there is reason to conclude that the fort has sustained material damage; but that from the unfortunate circumstance of its not having been possible, under the existing state of weather and tide, to carry up two of the explosion vessels to the point of attack, the injury has been far less extensive than might have been other wise expected. The conduct of Lieut. Hew Stewart, of the Monarch, on this recent occasion, will not fail, I am sure, to excite their lordships' admiration and praise. I have great pleasure in conveying to their lordships Capt. Sir Home Popham's testimony to his distinguished merit, and to the zealous and active assistance which he received from Capt. Brownrigg, Lieut. Lake, and Mr. Bartholomew.-1 have the honour to be, &c. KEITH.

Antelope, Downs, Dec. 10, 1804. My Lord,—I avail myself of the first moment of my return to the Downs to acquaint you, that towards noon on Saturday the 8th, the wind promised to come to the S. E. and knowing it to be your lordship's intention to attack the enemy at every assailable point, I sent the Dart on the close of the evening to an assigned station between Sengate and Fort Lapin, accompanied by the Susannah explosion vessel, and two carcases, with a view of making an assault against Fort Rouge.-Lieut. Stewart, of the Monarch, commanded the explosion vessel; Mr. Bartholomew, acting lieut. of the Antelope, had the charge of the first carcase intended to be applied; and Capt. Brownrigg re quested to take the other.-Your lordship is aware how difficult it is to ascertain the precise injury done to the enemy in an enterprise of this nature, which, in most cases, must be undertaken in the night; but, that you may be possessed of the best information in that respect, I sent the Fox cutter, whose master is an active intelligent man, and well acquainted with Fort Rouge, to reconnoitre the place as close as possible without risk, and I annex his report to Lieut. Stewart's, as the clearest account that can be given of the-able and officer-like manner in

which the Susannah was placed, and the evident consequences of such an application, even under circumstances of considerable disadvantage. I very much regret that Mr. Bartholomew could not fetch the port; for I am positive he would have lashed the carcass to the piles; he, however, very prudently returned with it to the Dart; and although something prevented the second carcass from going off, which evidently had been striking against the piles, from the indention at one end, yet he recovered and brought it also on board.-I am most perfectly satisfied with the zeal and activity which Capt. Brownrigg manifested on this occasion; the Dart was admirably placed, and every assistance afforded from her that could ensure the success of this service, which must now be considered as confined to the efforts of the Susannah; and I take this opportunity of most particularly recom. mending Lieut. Stewart to your lordship's notice, which, I hope, will also be extended to Mr. Bartholomew, notwithstanding he could not fetch the battery; and your lordship must be alive to the enterprizing conduct of these two officers on a former occasion.-I cannot conclude my report without assuring your lordship that Lieut. Lake, of the Locust gun brig, who was appointed to cover the boats, behaved in a most exemplary manner, by keeping so close in as to draw all the fire upon his own vessel; and I have great satisfaction in stating, that not an officer or man was hurt in this operation.

I have the honour to be, &c. HOME POPRAM.

His Majesty's ship Dart, Dec. 10, 1804. Sir,-In pursuance of your instructions, and according to the arrangement you made for the attempt on Fort Rouge only, I left this ship at two A. M. and proceeded in shore with the explosion vessel in my charge, until the water shoaled to two and a half fathoms, when I tacked and stood off, so as to enable me to fetch the battery, which I did about half past two, and placing her bowsprit between the piles, left her in that situation. In a few minutes I observed her swing with her broadside to the battery, in consequence of the bowsprit being carried away, and as an anchor was dropped the instant she struck the piles, I had not the smallest doubt of her remaining there until the explosion took place, which was in a few minutes; I could not fetch the covering brig, and as it had every appearance of coming on to blow from the S. E. in which quarter it was when I left the Dart, I hope you will excuse my running in the galley to the Downs. I have, &c. HEW STEWART, To Sir Home Popham, K M. Antelope.

Fox Cutter, off Calais, Dec. 9, 1804. Sir,-According to your order i proceeded off Fort Rouge, and examined it very strictly. As I proceeded towards the shore, I saw a great quantity of plank and timber floating, and would have picked up some, but was afraid I should lose the tide, as I wished to examine it at low water. In standing in, I could discern a great number of people all round the S. W. end of the fort, and from the West head all the way to the Sand Hills. I did not discover any alteration on the east side of the fort; but when I got to the westward of the Fort, I could plainly discover the most part of it to be damaged, and the breast-work knocked down, and I have every reason to believe it was very much injured, by such a number of people being assembled there, and seem-. ing at work upon it.-I am, &c. W. BLAKE. To Sir Home Popham, K. M.

COUNTERFEIT COIN.-Circular Note from the Sec. of State, Lord Hawkesbury, to the Lords Lieutenant of Counties. Dated Whitehall, Dec. 1801.

MY LORD;—I beg leave to represent to your lordship that much mischief is likely to arise from the frauds committed by issuing of counterfeit silver coin, chiefly brought from Ireland, and frequently. stamped, the better to deceive the public; and from an erroneous opinion having prevailed, that, because it was once circulated in Ireland (though since suppressed there),' it is now not unlawful to circulate it here. In order, therefore, to stop the progress of this evil, and to give efficacy to the laws for the punishment of persons uttering counterfeit coin, knowing it to be so, particularly the Act of the 15th and 16th of Geo. II. c. 28. I am induced to request that your lordship will earnestly recommend it to the magistrates in their several districts in the county of , to give notice to the public that large quantities of: such base coin are in circulation; that such circulation is an offence against the law sa and to recommend it to traders to secure the parties tendering such money, and also the counterfeit money tendered, so as to idehtify it; stating at the same time in such nosi tice, that, on the application to a magistrate (in case these facts can be sufficiently proved), the offenders will be prosecuted by the Solicitor to his Majesty's Mint, at the public expense, and in that case a reasonable compensation will be made for the less of time and trouble of the witnesses in such prosecution. To facilitate this mode of proceeding, and the better to enable the magistrates to carry it into effat, I beg

11J POLITICAL REGISTER.-Embargo on Spanish Ships.-Cir. Let. of Com. in Ch. [12

leave to add, that in any particular cases brought before them, wherein they may be desirous of obtaining further information, they may receive it, upon communicating the circumstances of such case to John Ver. non, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, the Solicitor to his Majesty's Mint.I think proper to add on this occasion, that in the case of any quantity of counterfeit coin being found in the possession of any person, it will be expedient to seize such coin, and to make immediate communication thereof to the Solicitor of the Mint, who has express orders to attend to such communication; and, in the mean-time, it will be proper to commit the person for further examination.———I have the honour to be, &c.

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EMBARGO ON SPANISH SHIPS.-Order of Council relative to the detention of Spanish Ships, and Ships bound to Spain. Dated at the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 19th of December, 1804. Present the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council.

ficer of his regiment, to his colonel; who, in transmitting the same to the commander in chief, may at the same time, if there are purchasers in the corps, recommend in succession, the senior of their respective ranks for purchase, both the colonel and commanding officers certifying, that they are satisfied that no more than the sum stipulated by his majesty's regulation is given or received.Should there be no purchaser in the regiment, the resignation of the officer desirous to retire, is alone to be transmitted in the manner and form above mentioned; when, should the application be deemed proper to be granted, his royal highness will recommend to his majesty, such officer for the purchase, as to his royal highness may ap pear most eligible. Officers belonging to regiments stationed in Ireland, must make their application in a similar course to the commander of the forces there; and, on foreign stations, through the commanding officer, to the general officer under whose command they are; their applications being uniformly sanctioned by their respective commanding officers, who are to certify, in the same manner as colonels, of regiments, at. home, that they are satisfied in regard to the sums given, or to be received, being in strict conformity to his majesty's regulations. Colonels, when absent from Great Britain and Ireland, may empower the officer in actual command of their regiments, or their regimental agents, to recommend purchasers for vacant commissions, in which case the necessary certificates, in regard to the sum to be paid in regimental succession, must be signed by them in the colonel's absence, as well as the recommendation for the purchase, and the person so recommending to cornetcies or ensigncies vacant by purchase will be held responsible for the eligibility of the person recommended. The commander in chief is further pleased to direct, that when an officer is desirous of retiring on half-pay, reS. COTTRELL,ceiving the, difference, the same rules are to be observed in regard to transmitting his ap plication; but no recommendation in succession is to accompany the request to retire; as his royal highness will himself nominate the officer to be proposed to his majesty for the exchange. To enable the command. er in chief to recommend officers for purchase, it is necessary that regular returns of all officers prepared to purchase promotion should be transmitted from each regiment and corps in the service to the commander in chief's office, Horse Guards, London, on the 25th of March, the 25th of June, the 25th of September, and the 25th of December in each year, under cover to his royal highness's

Whereas information has been received that an Embargo has been ordered to be laid upon all British ships in the ports of the kingdom of Spain: it is this day ordered by his Majesty, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, that no ships or vessels belonging to any of his Majesty's subjects be permitted to enter and clear out for any of the ports of Spain, until further orders: and his Majesty is further pleased to order that a General Embargo or Stop be made of all ships and vessels whatsoever, now within, or which hereafter shall come into any of the ports, harbours, or roads, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, together with all persons and effects on board the said ships and vessels; but that the utmost care be taken for the preservation of all and every part of the cargoes on board any of the said ships, so that no damage or embezzlement whatever be sustained. (Signed)

Circular Letter of the Commander in Chief, relative to the Sale of Commissions.-Dated October 24, 1804.

His Majesty's regulations in regard to the sums to be given and received for commissions in the army, having, in various instances, been disregarded, to the great prejudice of his majesty's service, his royal highness the commander in chief, is pleased to direct, that when an officer is desirous of retiring from the service, and of having leave to sell his commission, if his regiment is in Great Britain, he is to send his resignation in the usual manner, through the commanding ofDibonato

military secretary; and these returns must particularly state where the money of each individual desirous of purchasing is lodged, or offered to be obtained; and similar returns must be forwarded to the regimental agent for the information of their respective colonels. Cfficers on leave of absence from corps on foreign service, may transmit their applitcaions to purchase or sell, through the colonels of their regiments; and in the event of a change in an officer's circumstances between the quarterly returns, he may make a direct communication to head-quarters, in order to prevent any purchase, taking place in his own corps, by which he may be pas sed over by a junior officer. This rule is applicable also to officers on the recruiting service, or other military duties, whose corps may be on a foreign station. Officers on half pay desirous of exchanging to full pay, giving the regulated difference, must address themselves to head-quarters, stating where the money is lodged, or to be obtain: ed, to enable the commander in chief to recommend them as vacancies occur. After ter these orders have been circulated, no attention will be paid to representations of officers who have neglected to return themselves prepared to purchase, as, whatever hardships they may suffer in that case, must be entirely owing to their own neglect. In causing these orders to be circulated to the army, the commander in chief thinks proper to declare, that any officer who shall be found to have given, directly or indirectly, any thing beyond the regulated price, in disobedience to his majesty's orders, or to have attempted to evade the regulation in any manner whatever, will be reported by the commander in chief to his majesty, in order that he may be removed from the service; and it is also to be understood, that the prescribed forms of application for the sale and purchase of commissions, and the usual certificates annexed thereto, are in all instances to be complied with. By command of his royal highness the commander in chief.-G. A. EADEN, military sec.

SUMMARY OF POLITICS. FAMILY RECONCILIATION (continued from Vol. VI. p. 1061). Before I proceed further to remark upon the probable consequences of this reconciliation, it appears necessary to explain a little more fully the nature of the connexion of our Political Family, and also to take a short retrospective view of the causes and progress of the quarrel which has now been so happily terminated.The main principle of The Family seems, as was before observed, to be, that all the power and emoluments of the

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government of this kingdom constantly belong, of right, to the different members of The Family, who, however they may disagree as to the distribution, ought, on ro account, to suffer any portion of this their inheritance to fall into the hands of any other persons but themselves. This principle seems to be so firmly fixed in the minds of the persons who have adopted it, that, upon whatever arises fairly out of it, they, whenever an occasion offers, argue, as upon a self evident position. Hundreds of instances might here be cited, wherein th members of The Family, or their partisans, have thus argued. Whoever has paid the slightest attention to their language, whether in or out of doors, must have perceived, that they always talk of the government as something which is theirs; that they reason as if it were admitted, as a matter of course, that some of them must be our rulers: and, that the only question for both them and us to consider, is, which of them are the persons most proper, or whose turn it is, to rule us. I have recently made some quotations from the pamphlet, entitled "A PLAIN REPLY," published by some very close friend of the Addington branch of The Family, in order to counteract the effects of the "PLAIN ANSWER," " which was written by MR. LONG, or, at least, which went to the press from him. The "PLAIN REPLY" was attributed to MR. BRAGGE, whether correctly or not I cannot say; but, it bears internal evidence of having been written, or dictated, by some one having direct access to the then minister, and, in point of execution it is not beneath the talents of MR. BRAGGE. In this pamphlet the family doctrine makes its appearance in almost every paragraph. I will cite a few instances as I turn over the pages. "The fact is," says the writer," that Mr. Addington's relin"quishment of his situation as Speaker was "considered by him, and must be consi"dered by every candid man, as an abso"lute and real sacrifice." Just as if he had given up the fee simple of a house or a farm; and without, for a moment, admitting even the possibility of any other person ever presuming to offer himself as a candidate for the Chair. Speaking of the friendly office performed by Mr. Addington towards Mr. Pitt and his colleagues (but towards Mr. Pitt in particular) in taking possession of the government at the time of the resignation, the writer concludes thus: "From this" [the motions of censure on the part of opposi tion]" From this, and much more, they were "relieved by Mr. Addington's consenting "to become their successor. By his engaging to carry on administration, they became

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