some times have done, make a disgraceful capitulation, and slink home himself to be the bearer of the news, leaving the wretched companions of his flight exposed to danger and hardship. He, at any rate, saved, by his valour, the remnant of his naked and famishing and lacerated army; to the disgrace of flight, he did not add that of base capitulation. Rather than do this, he bravely met almost certain death; and, therefore, whatever might be the errors of his conduct during the campaign, his fall will be deeply and universally regretted, and his memory held in honour. Great praise is, on this account, due to Generals Baird and Hope; because it is certain, that if any one of them had, as some others have done, shunned personal danger, the far greater part of the remains of our army would have gone to a French prison, instead of coming to England. It is impossible to form an idea of a state of existence more painful than that of poor General Moore must have been for the last six weeks. He found himself unsupported by the people of Spain; he found half-enemies where he had been led to expect enthusiastic friends; he saw the Spanish levies, at the approach of the French, melt away like new-fallen snow before an April sun; and, yet, hearing the English news-papers continually vomiting forth the numbers and the enthusiasm of " the noble and valiant" people of Spain; the glorious efforts of the "universal Spanish nation;" hearing this, and knowing well how easily the faults of ministers are thrown upon commanders, he must naturally have dreaded a return to England without doing something. That something he attempted, and hence all his and his army's calamities.But, shall we not be informed of the purport of the orders that were given him from home? Shall we not know, whether he was ordered to advance, when he was about to retreat? I doubt it. The nation seems to be dead. There is no spirit remaining in it. If there had been, indeed, this great calamity never would have happened. The scene exhibited at Portsmouth, this very day, where officers have been carried on shore, one after another, upon hammocks; where the hospitals are crowded with the sick and wounded, and where, such is the condition in which the poor wretches of soldiers are, that it can scarcely be distinguished to what corps they belong; such scenes would, one would think, fill the people with indignation against the authors of all this misery and disgrace. But, no: like Jews, we confine our feelings merely to sorrow; we are become a crying nation. A poor, spiritless, cowed-down, abject race. Cry! The time was when Englishmen would have cursed as well as cried. So do they now, indeed, in secret; but not one man, who has the power to enforce his demands; not one man of this description, will openly call for redress.The public will remember (but will not resent, or profit from) the train of lies, which has been dealt out to them, from time to time, since the commencement of the war in Spain. Forget them, however, they cannot. They cannot have, already at least, forgotten how flatly the statements of the French bulletins were contradicted; and how greedily they gave into the contradiction. From lie to lie we have been led on, until, at last, we see the remnant of our fleeing and perishing army land upon our shores. It is only four days since the Courier news-paper told us, and, apparently, under high authority, that our army had reached Corunna in safety; that the Spaniards had defeated Joseph Buonaparté, killing 15,000 of his men; and that the Duke de l'Infantado was in pursuit of Buonaparté. Now; now, when the halfdead remnant of the army has actually arrived to tell its own tale; now the lie of the day is of a new sort. Now the numbers are nothing like what they were thought to be. Once our army in Spain was 45,000 strong; when the first retreat was sounded, it fell to 35,000; when the dispatches of Sir John Moore came from Benevente, it came down to 28,000; and now (oh, the infamous liars!) they have brought it so low as 24,000, and the Courier, who only backs a brother liar, says, that "it is said our army, in Spain, never "consisted of more than 24 thousand men. 66 We thought it had been stronger." Aye, or else you deserve to be kicked back all the way to John a Grote's house; for you, scores of times, positively stated it at above 40 thousand. The scheme now is, however, to lessen the numbers as much as possible, and for more than one motive too evident to mention. But, if there were a member of parliament, who would call for the detailed Returns of the corps sent to Portugal and Spain, we should soon see this scheme blown into the air. In the mean while, we know, that there were 35 thousand men in Portugal, at the time when the Wellesley Armistice was signed;" we knew that 10 thousand men went out with Gen. Baird; that makes the amount 45 thousand men, exclusive of those, since Facts speak for themselves, and carry conviction not to be shaken.Amongst other Returns, which this burthened public ought to be made acquaint gone out under General Cradock, and, I time. still more recently, under another General, whose name I have forgotten. Well, now; what is become of the forty five thousand men? How many of them remained in Por-ed with, is that of the Deserters; especially tugal? Let us but know that, and also how as we read, in all the news-papers, that many have escaped, through Corunna and the Emperor Napoleon says, that" all the Vigo, and then we shall know how many "Germans, in the pay of the English, are have perished in Lord Castlereagh's Cam- deserting." The cost of the " Foreign paign. This is the proper object of in- Corps," last year, is stated in the pubquiry. What is the use of declamatory lic accounts, to be more than one fifth of speeches? Let us have some fucts, and the cost of the whole of the British reguleave us to judge for ourselves. Let us lar army; and it, surely, becomes the have a Return of the killed, wounded, and missing, from the time that the regiments left England. That is what I want to see; but, it is what we never shall have. By one of our bulletins, published on Saturday last, the credulous public were informed, that "it was apprehended, that a sacrifice of some horses, baggage, and stores, would be unavoidable, but there was no doubt "that nearly the whole of the troops would "be got off;" leaving that word whole to be applied to the army as it entered Spain. "Some horses," indeed! How many will come back in all? Buonaparté, who, when he sent off his last bulletin, had pursued our army as far as Astorga, says that "the road was strewed with dead horses "belonging to the English, with travelling carriages, with artillery, with covered waggons, and warlike stores." He says, that he found, at Astorga, magazines of sheets and blankets and pioneering implements; that the Duke of Dalmatia found 2,000 sick in Leon, either of Romana's or our army; that we burnt immense magazines at Benevente; and, that, upon the road between Benevente and Astorga, a distance of about 20 miles out of from 150 to 200, he picked up two hundred waggons of baggage and ammunition. And yet we are told, in one of our government bulletins, that "it was apprehended, "that a sacrifice of some horses, baggage, " and stores would be unavoidable!" The public will not believe these bulletins again; but, as a cover for its baseness in not shewing its resentment, it will pretend to believe them, and to believe, too, all that is now said about the small original amount of our army. Nothing is easier than to ascertain the amount of our loss, in every way. Let some one call for the returns, from every department, of what was sent out, placing the cost against each article. This, indeed, would be fit and useful em- ry on the banks of the Ezela, and that the ployment for a guardian of the public "field of battle was covered with their purse." Declamation, and even reasoning, "dead. The inhabitants of Benavente are, in such cases, a waste of words and "were much surprised upon visiting the " guardians of the public purse," to ascertain, whether troops, maintained at so enormous an expence, have deserted, as the Emperor of France, in the face of his army and of the world, declares they have. If the fact be true, it is of great importance to us, that some measure should be taken in consequence of it, not only in a pecuniary point of view, but as the example may operate upon our own army; and, if it be false, justice to these foreigners demands an unequivocal and speedy contradiction of the Emperor's assertions. But, it must be observed before hand, that assertion, unsupported by proof, and the very best proof that the case admits of, will not satisfy the world, and ought not to satisfy any man. The Emperor's assertion may be false; it may be totally groundless, though it is not very easy to conceive a reason for his publishing such a falsehood; but, at any rate, the assertion has been made, and the truth, or falsehood, should be ascertained by detailed returns and reports. It is quite in vain to abuse Napoleon, to call him a liar and a calumniator. He has made a distinct assertion, of which assertion we have it completely in our power to ascertain the truth, or the falshood; and, if we, or rather, the parliament, decline doing it, the world will be at no loss what to believe upon the subject.——There is another assertion in the bulletins well worthy of formal and authentic contradiction. We were informed, that General Stewart, a brother of Lord Castlereagh, when the horse under his command took Gen. Lefebvre, was greatly, nay, four or five to one, inferior to the French in point of amount of force. Now, let us hear what the emperor has said upon this affair. "The English had re"ported throughout the country that they "had defeated 5000 of the French caval 1 "field of battle, to have found there only "three Englishmen and two French. "That contest of 400 men against 2000, "does great honour to the French. During "the whole of the 29th, the river con"tinued to swell considerably, so that at "the close of the evening it became impossible to ford it. It was in the mid"dle of the river, and at the moment he "was on the point of being drowned, that "General Lefebvre, being carried away by the current to the side occupied by "the English, was made prisoner.". Which are we to believe? "Our own "story," to be sure, say the " loyal;" but which will the world believe? It is easy for us, however, to get at some proof upon the point; and we ought to do it; for, if we do not, we may be sure, that the opinions of mankind will, at best, be divided.As intimately connected with this, the following paragraph, from the Courier of the 24th instant, is worthy of being put upon record. "It appears that the editor of the Courier has, here again, as it were to mock the grief of the nation, promulgated an empty boasting falshood. -Hundreds and thousands of stories, of this stamp, will, however, now be resorted to, with a view of amusing the public mind, of drawing it off from contemplating the loss, the misery and the disgrace, the numberless national disgraces, of this campaign, But, when we see the remnant of the army tumbling, helter-skelter, on board the first vessel they can reach; when we see the balls and bomb-shells falling thick as hail-stones around and amongst the fugitive ships; when we see the poor creatures, who have finally escaped, who have survived this complication of dangers and of miseries, creeping to our shores, one after another, in a state worse than that of mariners after shipwreck; when we see all this, when we actually, with our own eyes, behold the half-naked, emaciated, ghost-looking, remains of our once stout, well equipped, and gaily-dressed army, is it possible that we can be such senseless animals, such brute beasts, as to give into a train of boasting about "victories and laurels?” Oh! this is not the way to recover our character. This is not the way to prevent such calamities in future. It is a deep sense of our loss, and our national disgrace, that should now have possession of our minds; never, for one moment, losing sight of that important truth, of which every soul in ourunfortunate army has now had such woeful experience, that, to induce a people to rise in arms against a powerful invader, they must first, not be told, but made to feel, THAT THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR. Buonaparté ceased superintending in "person the operations against us, after "the arrival of the French army at Astorga, on the 2d. He says in his last bulletin, "dated Astorga, that he left the charge of pursuing us to the point of embarkation, to "the duke of Dalmatia.-Probably he had "received information that rendered it necessary for him to return to Madrid, though "we fear the report transmitted to Government, of the French having been driven "from the Capital, is unfounded. There is an account circulated UPON GOOD "AUTHORITY that Buonaparté was, "at one time, in a situation of some peril. "When Gen. Lefebvre was taken prisoner, Buonaparté was himself on a height "on the other side of the river, about two "miles from the scene of action. Gen. WEST INDIA DOCKS.--Merely as a com"Stewart was apprised of the circum-mercial matter, I should not have been dis"stance, and had he not been RESTRAIN"ED by the POSITIVE orders which he had previously received, he would have en"deavoured to have got in the rear of "Buonaparté, and have made a dash at "him. His orders, however, being positive, "and the risk considerable, he did not "think it proper to make the attempt." Now, what is the "good authority," upon which this Bobadilian story rests? It is evident, that no authority, with regard to what General Stewart thought about it, can be good, unless it come from Gen. Stewart himself; and, the inevitable conclusion is, that the General has himself spread this vain-glorious, this Bully-Bluff-like report; or, which one must hope, to be the case, " posed to bestow much attention upon this subject; but, as bringing to light some most interesting facts, connected with the. cause of morality, it is of very great public importance.From a Řeport of a Committee of the Dock Company, which Report will be found in another part of this double number, the public will see of what immense advantage this establishment has been, in a commercial point of view; and, from what I am now about to state, they will see, that it has been of a still greater advantage in the cutting off of the means of robbery.The book published some years ago by one of the police magistrates, was not necessary to convince me, or any other person, who had had but the smallest transactions in the way of shipping or receiving merchandize, that the thieves upon the waters bore the same proportion as to land thieves, that the fish do to terrestrial creatures. All appeared to be thievery and plunder; and, it is a fact well-known amongst merchants, that thousands upon thousands of persons lived upon, and openly gloried in, this plunder, part of which came out of the revenue, but the far greater part out of the pockets of individuals. So bold were the persons who carried on this trade of thieving, that a remonstrance was very lucky if it did not produce some act of violence upon the person making it. I myself have seen women carrying away sugar and coffee, in their aprons, and drawing off the molasses into mugs, in open day-light. But, these petty thefts, though their flagrancy clearly enough shows how little care was taken of the property of the West India merchant and planter, sink out of sight when compared with acts such as that of which I am now about to speak, and which I give, not as any thing rare, but by way of pretty fair specimen.- -A ship arrived from the West Indies; and being entered, what is called a master Lumper was, in the usual way, engaged to discharge the cargo for about thirty guineas. He accordingly proceeded in doing that duty for nearly a month, when the owner was informed by one of the sailors, that the Lumpers continued working during the nights, as well as the days; and that he had heard the master-Lumper say to the Captain, that, as he must be a good deal fatigued, he had better go to sleep; that something should be put under his pillow to make him rest comfortably; and that the sum mentioned between them was two hundred guineas. The Lumper also engaged to take care of the revenue officers, in order that he (the captain) should not be disturbed. This being agreed upon, the master-Lumper came on board with his people (a fine gang of thieves !), about eleven o'clock at night, and, going seriously to work with bags and boats, and continuing the practice for eight or ten nights before the owner was informed of it, was Supposed, in the course of that time, to have carried off about twenty tons of sugar, together with a proportion of other things. The merchant, upon being informed of the matter, went on board with a friend, accused the captain of having countenanced these villainous proceedings, and having taken him by surprize, he could not deny the fact, but pretended, that he was not aware of the extent to which they had been carried. The merchant, however, was so fully convinced of his guilt, that he lodged an information against him, and sent a constable to apprehend him. The constable was so unfortunate as to miss the rogue, which is almost always the case in that region of theft and plunder. The Captain absconded, and, as to a country of congenial manners and morals; as to a home pointed out by instinct, he, as has since appeared, immediately fled to the American States. Now, estimating the value of the sugar stolen upon this occasion, at the present gazetted price, the amount of loss, upon this one cargo, would be £.1,580, or, enough to maintain thirty thieves, for a year, at the rate of twenty shillings a week for each. This may be thought an extreme case, and, I am willing so to suppose it; but, as to the amount of the goods stolen, we must consider, that the plunder was in the article of sugar, not so portable and far less valuable than several other West India productions, in the first stage of the operations on ship-board. It must be recollected, that vessels were usually from three to six weeks, and, sometimes, two or three months, unlading their cargoes; that it was no unusual circumstance for goods to remain a like period in lighters on the water. During all this time the pillage must have been going on, the only protection being the honesty, or moderation, of the lightermen and river-watchmen, on whom there was no check, the goods not being weighed till landed on the quays. Here the duty and the ship-owner's charge for freight were ascertained and secured; but, the unfortunate West India planter (whom I cannot help regarding as the most ill-treated of mankind) was afterwards exposed to the malpractices of porters, car men, warehouse-men, and ship-coopers, with the additional mortification of knowing, that, to the loss of his goods, he had now to add the amount of duty, freight, and all other charges, some of which made by these numerous licenced-thieves for having taken care of what they had stolen. It was a rule at the free quays, that the Wharfinger should not be chargeable with any loss of weight, after weighing to ascertain the amount of the duty, unless that loss exceeded 28 pounds on a hogshead, even during twenty four hours. nothing more than a bare knowledge of this fact to shew to what extent the plunder upon the proprietor was carried, and with what impunity it existed. No wonder There needs 111] that tax. and such the West India Dock Company that tribes of petty plunderers were seen, as That which could put a step to these practices; that which could ellectually cut off this source of livelihood to cheats and thieves, may, with propriety, be called an institution "for the Suppression of Vice;" whose stings are of greater length, and, -I will answer, now, that these cight thousand of ousted thieves are all found to be full of professions of "loyalty;" and that they accuse the Dock Company of something very nearly bordering upon Nay, they are certainly « innovators;" that cannot be denied. They have broken in upon the “established order of things;" they have, in a most cunning manner, undermined the " privileged orders;" they have made a "revolution;” and are downright," levellers," seeing that their great maxim is, that no man, be bis post, or badge of honour, what it may, shall have any of their sugar, rum, or cof fee, without first rendering them the worth of it, either in money, or in services.This subject, however, merits a view still |