"sufficient force to guard her own coasts." All this have they printed both in and out of Malta, never imagining that they would be obliged to abandon the island. They concluded "that the "Mediterranean was exclusively theirs; and "that from Egypt they would be able to send an "army to conquer India, by attacking it in vari"ous points.". -Malta again placed in the hands of the French, no power on earth will be able to expel them. There are no measures, however violent, that this artful nation, deterred by no principle of justice or humanity, will not take to obtain their object; such as driving the inhabitants out of the fortresses, disarming and putting to death all those whom they suppose enemies, and, perhaps. (as they have already once prorosed) to send the whole population of Malta to France or to the Coast of Barbary, and to re-people the island with French. This threat, with which the inhabitants were well acquainted, was one of the principal reasons which first induced them to take up arms, and many reasons have we for believing, that it would have been carried into execution, it their affairs in Egypt had turned out prosperously.- -With respect to the guarantee of this or that power, but too well is our island acquainted with the French and the Order, not to be convinced of the fallibility of such a proposition. The first war, whether of long or short duration, puts an end to it entirely. If even a third power were to occupy some parts of the fortresses, the troops would be corrupted by French money and French principles, and im. mense are the sums that would be wisely expended for that purpose. The military posts are dependant one upon the other. We are able to point out the utter impossibility of occupying a part without being in possession of the whole. We can clearly demonstrate how they can and will obtain their several ends. We can make it evident, that there is no security for the inhabitants, unless British troops are placed in possession of all the fortresses, and unless the administration of justice is placed in the hands of a British Civil Government. We wish not to enter into the profound views of Cabinets, but we beg to be permitted solely to observe, that if France and Russia had no other intentions than the reestablishment of the Order in its pristine splend. ur and independence, why have they not chosen a place where they could be more independant? Why have they considered the possession of Malta as necessary to the re-establishment of the Order? It is but too evident to every one capable of reflection, that Malta is not to be taken out of the hands of the English, for the purpose of remaining long in the hands of the Order of St. John. (Signed) The Deputies, and all the Representatives of the City, Towns, Villages, &c. Malta, Oct. 22, 1801. No. III. Letter from the Maltese Deputies to Lord Hobart, on their arrival in London. My Lord, We have the honour of announcing to your lordship, our arrival in this capital, in quality of Deputies from the Maltese nation, appointed as soon as the inteiligence of the Preliminary Treaty of Peace reached that island. Happy shail we be, my lord, in the opportunity of laying before your lordship the truth and justice of the demands with which we are entrusted. It is this hope, and the confidence we have in the equity The Deputies appointed by the Extraordinary Congress held at Malta and Gozo, consisting of the Chiefs of Batallions and Representatives of each Town or Furgh, have the Honour of laying before his Excellency LORD HOBART, his Britannic Majesty's Minister for the War Department, the following MEMORIAL, according to the Instructions received by them from their Constituents on the 9th day of November, 1801. My Lord, It is with the most lively affliction, and the utmost astonishment, that the people of Malta have learnt the severe and unmerited fare to which they are destined, by the return of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem to the Islands of Malta and Gozo. The defection and treason of which this Order was guilty, will form an epoch in the annals of the world, as striking as that by which we are again thrown under its despotic dominion, after it had abandoned us to an army, unfaithful to all its promises and engagements. The sentenee which impartial posterity will pronounce upon these transactions, will not, assuredly, be creditable to the age in which we live, and already we foresee the complaints and reproaches with which we should be loaded by our latest posterity, were we to permit an unworthy timidity to impose silence upon us, before the just and magnanimous tribunal to which we have, happily, the opportunity of appealing.- -We shall pass over, my Lord, the many motives which we have of resentment against the Order of Saint Joha of Jerusalem. The blood which has been spilt, the death of about twenty thousand of our fellow, citizens after scenes of the most heart-rending misery, the expenses we incurred in the first months of the revolution to maintain our batallions, and the loss of six millions of crowns, sufficiently prove the falsehood of the atrocious calumnies heaped upon us by the author of the Reply to the Manifesto of the Prior of Russia. The imposture carries its own contradiction with it. No one is ignorant, that the plan of the invasion of Malta was projected in Paris, and confided to the principal Knights of the Order, resident at Maha. Letters in cyphers were incessantly passing and repassing, without, however, alarming the suspicions of the deceased Grand Master de Rohan, or of the Grand Master Hompesch.After these irrefragable facts, thus hastily cited, consider, my Lord, whether the Maltese people could behold without astonishment and terror, the authors of all the miseries which have befallen them, again set foot in their country, and again domineer over them. Were we, my Lord, to remain silent, the ashes, still warm, of our brave relatives who fell to liberate and to conquer their country, would call upon us more effectually to defend our rights, and the cause of truth and of justice.-Yes, my Loid, we dare to repeat it: the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem can never be re-established in Malta, without an infringement of the legitimate rights of the august descendants of Charics the 5th, the rights of the Maltese, and without exposing them to fresh conflicts. The Maltese, ever distinguished for their attachment to their antient Sovereign, have, in these latter times, proved that they ought equally to be so, for their love of justice, and their bravery.They can readily bury all their resentments; but they cannot help being desirous, that the sacrifices they have made may not be forgotten. As a proof of these sacrifices, may we be permitted, my Lord, to instance the peaceable resignation of the Maltese to the capitulation which the British General made with M. Vaubois. The blood we had spiit, our exertions, our rights, and all our interests were either forgotten or despised. We beheld with exemplary moderation, as every one is forced to acknowledge, the French lay down their arms on the glacis, only to load themselves with the remainder of our spoils; and the faithful and virtuous Maltese were reduced to the necessity, of envying the treatment of their rebellious and criminal brethren. Would we could conceal from our descendants the particulars of a capitulation which, at the same time, wounded our rights and vendered us miserable! It is true, that the presence and wisdom of Captain Ball, to whom we preferred our complaints, contributed greatly to alleviate our sacrinces; but circumstances not having seconded either our expectations or necessities, we cannot, my Lord,dissemble the unfavourable impressions which the preliminaries of peace have given us of a government, to which we have ever been anxious of shewing our attachment, our fidelity and our preference. -We know, my Lord, that it is not for us to influence the political operations of nations. Nature has placed Malta to be considered for her situation and strength, and not to dictate arrangements to other countries. But still, my Lord, it may be prudent not to pass over her numerous population. Russia and France, as well as the other great powers of Europe, are too just and too enlightened to censure the Maltese for the steps they have taken, and for their opposition to the re-establishment of an Order, which from its despotism, its defection, its treachery, and its depravity of manners, can never inspire confidence nor reconcile differences.—Nevertheless, my Lord, if from unavoidable and imperious circumstances, the Maltese must undergo the pain and mortification of being separated from the Empire of his Britannic Majesty; if, for the tranquillity of Europe, the Islands of Malta and Gozo must remain in a state of neutrality, we beseech you, my Lord, in the name of our constituents and of all that is most dear and sacred among men; in the name of every law, human and divine, in the name of the law of nations and of justice, to supplicate his Pritannic Majesty to deign to employ his effectual and powerful mediation, with the other powers, in order that the Islands of Malta and Gozo may be left in their independence, under the mutual guarantee of Great Britain and France, and that they may not, after their inhabitants have shed their blood, and expended their substance, be considered as a conquered country.— You well know, my Lord, that as deputies from the Maltese people, we cannot dispense with laying before your Excellency, the wishes and intentions of our nation. In citing a portion of the crimes of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, we have not merely been desirous of giving vent to our feelings, but of justifying, in the face of the whole universe, our eternal opposition and rigorous resistance, if it should ever dare to re-apPear in our dwellings-still dyed with the blood which it caused to flow.-Condescend, my Lord, to exert your influence with his Britannic Majesty, in favour of justice, truth, humanity, and of "a nation worthy of a better fate. Deign to accept -CASTAGNA.-MALIA-CACHJA. No. V. Extract of a Letter written by the Deputies of Malta and Gozo to their Constituents, dated London, 2d of March, 1802. MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SEIGNIORS.-We arrived here the 1st ult. The 4th we wrote the inclosed letter [No. III.] to Lord Hobart, the minister, stating we were arrived in this capital in the character of deputies to represent the demands of our fellow citizens. In consequence of this letter, by means of Sir Alexander Ball, the minister made known to the deputation, that they would do well to procure their departure from London, as soon as possible, adducing for reasons, that their remaining would give jealousy to France, and thereby, impede the conclu-, sion of the definitive articles of peace, and that he could not, for reasons of state, receive and hear them in his office, but that he would permit them to come in private to his house, where he would hear them. We were received by the minister on the 8th of February, and he heard, with patience, all the reasons for which we were sent to London, particularly to protest to the British government, in the name of our nation, against the cession of our Island to the Order of St. John, and all the reasons for which we do not recognize the right of the Order to the dominion of our island, and the firm and effectual resistance which we were resolved to make, to oppose the return of the Order into our mother country. To this representation the Minister answered that the English government would take care of the happiness of the Maltese, and that the result would prove to us, that the return of the Order in Malca would be of advantage, by the preciutions which the English government would take to gua rantee the people of Malta. -Yesterday, with the approbation of Sir Alexander Ball, we presented the inclosed memorial No. 2. [No. IV. in this series} and wait his answer.It is one day reported that there will be war, and the next that peace will be concluded, &c. We are, &c. What answer the deputies received, or whether they received any at all, MR. MACKENZIE was not informed; but he has heard, that the high-minded Lord Hobart, for the cogent reason stated in the request conveyed by Captain Ball; that is to say, for fear of giving umbrage to France, and thereby hazarding the conclusion of the defini tive treaty, declined giving them any answer at all, and left them "to procure their speedy "departure from London," in any manner they could, or else to join the beggars in the streets! By comparing the definitive treaty, as far as it relates to Malta, with the remonstran ces of the Maltese deputies, we at once perceive, that they are in direct contradiction to each other.-With respect to the interests of this country, they have been, in the opinion of the deputies, completely abandoned by the treaty. To give the Knights the command of the Island, was, as they truly said to give it to the French. The perfect inutility of all guarantees of other powers is forcibly and truly stated, in the remonstrance, and we well know, that no other security has been provided by the treaty, except that of a Maltese Langue, which has not been, and robich cannot be formed. The ministers, therefore, in affecting to give up the Island to the Knights, know that they were, in fact, giving it up to the French, a deed which they have still more deliberately and wickedly consummated, the conclusion of the treaty, by agreeing to the Pope's appointing a Grand Master, without the approbation or consent of the people of Malta. to pay to them, the reader has seen, in the But, shameful as the conduct of ministers has been, in abandoning the interests of their own country, as connected with Malta, their conduct towards the gallant people of that Island is ten thousand times more shameful. It is as clear as day-light, that we possessed no right whatever to impose a government upon Malta. We did not conquer the Island; we entered it, not as conquerors, but as protectors of the Maltese, who themselves conquered it from the French, into whose hands it had been betrayed by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The Maltese offered to become subjects of his Maiesty, an offer which his Majesty was certainly at liberty to refuse, but, if he did so refuse, he had nothing further to do but to leave the people to themselves: his ministers had no right to impose on them any other Sovereign, much less to place them under a government, which they abhorred, a government by which they had been, not abandoned, but betrayed into the hands of a power, who had, plundered them of their property, defiled their altars, and violated their wives and their daughters.It will now be remembered, and with emotions of inexpressible indignation, that the ministers, in defending the definitive treaty, represented the arrangement respecting Malta, asfied with, but grateful for, the terms of a a favour done to the inhabitants; as something of which those people were glad, and for which they were grateful to this country!!! Lord Hobart, in his reply to Lord Spencer, on the 7th of May, said, "It was politic to pay marked attention to the native "inhabitants of Malta by creating a Mal"tese Langue; and that, as we won the "Island by force of arms, we had an indis 66 putable right to arrange its govern"ment." (2) The Maltese deputies positively deny the latter position, and, as to the "marked attention," which it was " politic" (2) See Debates, Register, Vol. II. p. 1241. treaty which irrevocably doomed them to submit to those masters, or to exchange their sway for the still more hated and dreadful tyranny of the French, by whom they had so lately been plundered and tormented! And this is your candid minister! this is your minister of good intentions!-As to the present sentiments of the people of Malta, they may easily be guessed at from the circumstances which have taken place, since the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens. The agreement respecting a Maltese langue was despised by them. It was a deception (3) See Debates, Vol. II. p. 1213. too shameful for them to give the least sanction to. No such langue has been formed, and the British ministers have, accordingly, left the choice of a Grand Master to the Pope, who, being himself a creature of Buonaparté, has appointed to that post another creature of Buonaparte. The publication of these papers is, of itself, a sufficient proof of the resentment of the Maltese, who have produced and promulgated them on their island as evidence of British injustice and perfidy, and who have resolved, in order to avenge themselves on us, to throw themselves and their island into the hands even of the French! They have, we are well informed, an agent now at Paris, negotiating with the court of St. Cloud. Their request is to be a free and independent state, under the protection of France. They wish France to support them in their resistance of the Knights, in their resistance of that abominable system, which England had framed for "their happiness." They offer to receive, at all times, an unlimited number of French ships, of all sorts, into their ports, upon the condition, that only a limited number of French troops shall, at any one time, be permitted to land on their island.- -Whether Buonaparté will listen to these propositions is more than we can say; but, if he does not, it is because the agreeing to them might, in some degree, retard the views which he has of obtaining, through the means of his tool, the Grand Master Thomasi, an exclusive possession of the island, an object which, we doubt not, he will, in one way or other, very soon accomplish. TO THE RT. HON. LORD AUCKLAND, &c. MY LORD, The newspaper editors having published a paragraph, purporting to be a speech delivered by your lordship, in the House of Lords, on the 2d instant; which pretended speech is calculated to destroy the public credit of the country, I have, after some hesitation, resolved to trouble your lordship with a few words, in order to convince you of the necessity of removing the dangerous impression, which your silence. might produce. These editors (for they all agree in their report) impute to you the following statement: "that the net reve nue of the country would be found to "exceed £34,000,000. sterling, of which, "after deducting about £17,000,000 for "the discharge of the National Debt, there "would be the sum of £16,400,000. ap. plicable to public purposes." Now, my lord, as it is well known, that you may be regarded as a steady supporter of all the mea sures, not only of this administration, but of every administration, past, present, or to come, I have been a good deal alarmed, lest the speech, thus imputed to your lordship, should be looked upon as an indication of a design, which the present or future minister has conceived of annihilating the Sinking Fund, together with all the provisions for the reduction of the Debt. These news editors make you say, in addition to what I have above quoted: "that you have the most sanguine hopes on this important "national subject, and that you entertain "no doubt of being able to establish your "statement by documents."-If your lordship should make it out that the net revenue amounts to £34,000,000. and that the discharge of the annual expenses of the National Debt demands no more than about £17,600,000. it certainly will not be very difficult to prove, that there are £16,400,000 remaining, "applicable to public purposes." But, my lord, unless, in those public purposes, your lordship means to include the expenses of the Sinking Fund, which amount annually to about £,5,800,000. you must, if the report of your speech be correct, have in view the annihilation of that fund. "Applicable to public purposes!" If this has any meaning at all, it refers to a sum that is not already pledged; it refers to what, in the language of traders, is called loose cash, that the minister may employ in war or in any thing else that the times may call for; but your lordship must know, that the annual £1,000,000. the annual £200,000. the annual £2,500,000. arising from the 1 per cent. upon capitals created since 1703, together with the annual produce of fallen-in annuities, and of stock bought up by the commissioners; all these, amounting annoally to about £5,800,000 your lordship well knows, are pledged, fast pledged, for the support of the Sinking Fund, and therefore cannot be " applicable" to any other purpose whatever. The fact is, my lord, that the persons above-mentioned have taken your lordship's words, and have given to them the appearance of a must jesuitical attempt to deceive the vulgar, the mere porter drinking politicians. Your lordship knows, as well as I do, that, for this very year, in which I am now writing, and for each succeeding year, there must be paid, in taxes, on account of the National Debt, more than 24,000,000, whereas your speech has been so distorted as to tend to make poor ignorant people believe, that the annual expense of the debt absorbs only £ 17,600.000. and that there are £16,400,000. a year remaining to be expended, if need be, in powder and ball. Having troubled your lordship so far, I am tempted to go a little farther, in order to call your attention to an account, which has just been published, of the Consolidated Fund, for the quarter ending on the 5th of last month, and which, as far as it goes, exhibits a complete refutation of the estimates laid before the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the 10th of December last, (1) the correctness of which estimates it was your lordship's laudable intention to establish. Mr. Adding ton, in order to keep within the mark, stated the surplus of the Consolidated Fund, for the present year, at £6,500. The result of the first quarter of the year, according to the official account, dated on the 21st ult. is as follows: Income £6,796,238 8 1 Surplus 1,037,332 10 5 The dividends charged on the income of the quarters ending in July and January are each of them about £2,000,000 greater in amount than are those which are charged on the April and October quarters; so that, unless there be a very great rise in the income in the three remaining quarters of the year, I am afraid Mr. Addington must seek for his surplus in the bag of DOCTOR VAL, or of some other potent conjuror.-I have constantly given it, as my opinion, that the surplus of the present year will fall more than £2,000,000. short of the minister's estimate; (2) and now, I believe, few persons will be found to controvert that opinion.-I beg your lordship to believe, that this is a source from which I derive no pleasure. Could I have had my choice, I would rather have seen my calculations prove erroneous; but, as it is now very clear, that deception was practised upon our Sovereign, upon his parliament, and his people, I am by no means sorry, that I was the first to detect and expose it. Nothing, my lord, is more injurious to the permanent credit of a country than exaggerated statements on the part of a minister of finance; and the man, who can make such statements, for the sake of any political purpose whatever, merits the severest reprobation. Mr. Addington's estimate of December has produced a lasting depreciation in public credit: it has deceived hundreds of thousands, and has ruined not a few, whose mouths are filled with bitter reproaches against him, nor are they more bitter than just. With respect (1) See Register, Vol. II. p. 780. (2) See Register, Vol. II. p. 550. to the people at large, too, flattering financial statements have a most fatal tendency. The country is deceived; men's minds are not prepared for the contributions which they are called upon to make; the minister always comes to parliament, and the taxgather to the doors of individuals, with a demand, which is heavy and vexatious only because it is unexpected. And, if such misrepresentations ought always to be avoided, they ought at this time more especially, when every thing indicates the absolute necessity of great and permanent pecuniary sacrifices. I have the honor to be, &c. &c. WM. COBBETT. Duke Str. West. 4th May, 1803. Richmond Park, April 29, 1803. SIR,-Your insertion of the following account of my situation will extremely oblige a moderate man, of moderate talents, as you will perceive; and if you can give him. any advice that may extricate him from his present embarrassing ideas, it will be received with gratitude. You must be informed, Sir, that for many years I presided over a large mansion, where nothing was done without consulting me, and I was much respected by all my neighbours; but, as there were inconveniencies attending the place, and my family was numerous, I thought it prudent to economize; and, for that purpose, removed to a ledge in Richmond-Park, which a friend gave me, rentfree. My business frequently led me to town; and, as the roads are sometimes dangerous, I was, at first, for the sake of security, induced to vary my route homewards, that I might not be waylaid by some daring highwayman: but I here placed the foundation of a passion that harasses my mind extremely; yet such is the force of habit, that, vexatious as it is, I cannot prevail on myself totally to discard it. It is no less, Sir, than a resolution to go in and out of town, by a different road, every day, in which I have met with so many adventures, as I think will deter others from such singular speculations. In charity I publish them.-In my way to town, as I was not much known at first, I passed quietly enough, the country people are so good natured; but, by crossing the fields, my name soon became known, and, by way of distinction, I was called The Doctor, which title, some of the servants had mentioned to have belonged to my papa; and as the idea of rank spreads rapidly, wherever I went, by whatever lanes or crooked paths I passed, I heard the term Doctor, continually sounding in my ears, as if the claim to such distinction had been |