» >L> > > >J> >> > >>; :>> > » >> > > > > > > > . > > > » » >;> » > » > >, \ . ^ * » • > » •• > "*5 - > •:> > >> > > >V > ^ > 3*- >» x> v > > >> > j> >; . S3 j» > > > - > > >^ > > >-, > ^> >s> > > >^ • > >•> ,J> > > _3» o-?>3Ji > > > > » > I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA si JL> J> i>^> > >> LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. | ■^ ^S^> J>J>3> » > ^ D > 7>> > > r» » .»^>j[)'^ ^fc>^>^> ^&£> ^dCJ»: ;>zsb£^ ~Z>T2 >3:> ► z» »|^^>^2aor> ».:J>_> _^» - 1 — <5-~^ - » .73^ ^2> 37> .Z^ 5 22> - >)>^"3 * Z^ >X>1>_3J f lS^> itm* SEES is^L :>^C>~3 ^>^> ^">3^>T> >.s^> Vf J _!^- ""^ " = ^^2^ >^fe> \z >l£5> S>3fe> : IXS> > ; 3^3fcZ» zsoz> Se^> 3J> «^fcfe_ .:>-£> TIM 2* ^> ^r>>y S3» >>5> - >~£>-3> THE BRITISH AUTOCRAT. ** To say such kings, lord! rule by thee Were most prodigious blasphemy. If such kings are by god appointed \ The devil must be the lords! annointed. ROCHESTER, m i? m ? & PREFACE. "W. hatever may be the opinion of the reader upon the merits or demerits of this work , its jultice cannot with propriety be impeached ; every impartial person , who has attentively observed the march of the British Monarch towards the summit of despotic power, the means by which he has endeavoured to attain his ob- ject, the destructive consequences which have flowed from the crooked path he has pursued, must be con- scious , that the author of this little piece , has not exaggerated a single crime or adduced a single charge unfounded on truth , thence it is deducible , that nei- ther malice or falsehood have any share in the motive, Persons of benevolent sentiments, endeavour to transfer the guilt of the Monarch to the Minister; such opinions demonstrate a better heart than head, perhaps these may not be informed, that during all this long reign , through all the successive changes of Ministers, measures have been invariably the same in spirit and tendency : the same hostile designs again st the liberties of the people have been systematic ally A a so noted upon, and which has at last been absorbed' and swallowed in the influence of the Crown. The skill with which he has selected proper agents to forward the accomplishment of his fatal views, evince a degree of judgment and perception, far beyond the narrow limits which the world in general, assign to his intellectual powers : indeed the true character Of this Monarch has been but little understood : From the hour in which he attained the supreme power, he meditated the subversion of the Constitution; he male his approaches in a guarded manner, slowly progressive; had the extent of his designs been as evident in the first ten years of his reign as it has in the ten last past, he had not now been the posses- sor of the British Throne. First he attacked the liberty of the Press, which is now no more; next the Right of Trial by jury, in which by the aid of judge pratt and the spirited writings of Junius he was then defeated: the arbitrary Excise- laws were extended on all sides, the Game laws were made Penal > the infamous marriage act was passed to pre- vent intermarriages between the Rich -znd Poor, and the Poor laws were stained with so many cruel amendments as to become a most formidable wea- pon of injustice and oppression. The Militia laws were likewise mutilated and wrested, so that all affinity wiui Citizens was destroyed in that national armed . The most venal of the Clergy were appointed istrates, and the fountain of justice was poisoned at its source by the pretended independence of the Judges, who were rendered independent of the Nation only. At an early period , the celebrated Junius and other writers, forefaw and foretold in what these gra- dual invasions would terminate, but like the prophe- cies of Cassandra , th<5 always true were never credited. The world will long remember the envenomed con* test between the King -znd Mr. Wilkes , the wild and indecorous lengths to which the strong resent- ment of the Monarch led him in search of revenge on that crafty adventurer; who triumphed over his po- wer , and obtained by the victory an importance , to which, in other times, neither his virtues -or his ta- lents could have entitled him : it was during the progress of this dispute, that the first glimpse of the bad propensities of the British Monarch were ob- tained. During the strong agitation of the public mind occa- sioned by the encroachments of the Crown, the hand that directed all the arbitrary movements , was shrouded in darkness , and the deluded Million contented itself with insulting lord bute when he appeared in public, or burning his effigies on Gibbets, to him then was attributed all the odium of the Court despotism , yet in the walks of private life he was truly amiable ; and united in his character the Gentleman, Philoso- pher, and Scholar. The uime; lean fV^r was in every sense of the A 3 word word the War of the Sovereign y aided by a corrupt, and renal Legislature; how this War terminated 1 need not recite , but the unfortunate Minister (lord i u) whose heart was sympathy itself, pursued by the voice of public hate, sunk beneath the weight of crimes not his own ; whilst his Sovereign , the real au- thor of that desolating War, was pitied by the Nation- as I sidy good meaning Man, the dupe of vicious Ministers. Mr. fox, one the greatest and best Statesmen that any country ever produced , has had but little share in the conducting of the public affairs, though of all other Men the best adapted to guide the coun- cils of such a Nation as England, When last he was in Office , having by some means offended his Royal Master y he was suddenly dismissed with the most pointed marks of angry resentment, and the cnsignia of Office was demanded in the name of the King at the hour of midnight ! There is a nobleness of mind, an integrity of heart, contempt for riches and detestation of hypocrisy at- tached to Mr. fox, which must very ill suit with the dark and narrow notions of the King. It is scarce more than two years ago, that the illustrious name of ciiarles james fox was struck off (with every mark of contempt) from the list of privy C o u N s E L-L OR S by the hand of the Sovereign / The cause, that produced this gust of passion originated in Mr. fox's having the day before in a public Corn- pa- 7 pany given as a Toast, "the majesty of the people" were the people, whom this Sovereign des- pises so cordially taken from him, may I ask what would become of his Majesty ? Mr. pitt, upon turning apostate & betraying the nation whose cause he pretended to advocate, was ele- vated to the Office of Chancellor of the Exchequer ; whatever was left undone by former agents of the Crown, has been nearly completed by this Man, and it certainly required such a minister as this, and such a monarch as his Master > to have plunged England into the Ocean of folly & misery, in which she is now struggling, and must eventually sink: A general system of Corruption has been the Grave of British freedom & prosperity ; so soon as any man by his eloquence and influence became of suffi- cient consequence as to give trouble to the Minister by opposing his measures , he was purchased by the Crown with a Title, Pension or Place , as best suited the end, with as little ceremony as an Ox would be bought by a Butcher! Thus to the long train of apostates, who deferted the Nation and arranged. themselves under the Banners of pitt, were seen, EURKE, WINDHAM, WILBERFORCE, PORT- LAND, &c. &c. and there too would be seen the celebrated sherridan, but that his pride will nor submit to accept any subaltern station : Betrayed by a long succession of Parliamentary demagogues , the Nation , wearied cc disgusted , withdrew all confidence from the Legislature , and no longer looks to that once res- respected Body for ought but , wars , taxation , and oppressive laws. The present King has taken more from the liber- ties and property of the people, than all the Mo- narchs from the days of avilliam the Norman! He has destroyed the dignity of the noih.es, by creating more Peers > - than had been created during the long space of 600 years before , the morals of thefe new fangled Lords, and Ladies, the multitude of Divorces which have been sued for, argue that he has been rewarding vice and depravity, not enobling, Courage, Genius, and Virtue! — When the crimes of a wretch have rendered his name the butt of public scorn and detestation, then the miscreant is covered with a Title y and the infamous Wedderbume > is at- tempted to be drowned in the pompous sound of lord Loughborough, or the execrable and bloody cri- mes of the cruel John Fitzgibbon, in the title of EARL Of CLARE! In some part of the Globe or other the King has been almost continally involved in War, or prepara- tions for it. At one time striving to exterminate the Rebels of -America , the Maroons, at Jamaica, or the United Men of Ireland. In uimerica 3 savages were bribed, and incited, to scalp, tomahawk, or massacre, the unarmed inhabitants. At Jamaica, (that hot bed of crime & human mifery,) blood hounds have been imported by lord bjilcarras to hunt the proscribed Maroons to death! In direct vio* violation of colonel walpoles treaty. — In Ire- land 3 torture has long been , & now is made com- mon use of to extort confession. All these enormi- ties have been reprobated by the few upright mem- bers of the Legislative Bodies , and as often defended on the plea of necessity by the Agents of the Crown : a pretty certain token whence they spring. He has reduced the labouring class of inhabitants in England by the cruel excess of taxation, to a condition so truly deplorable , as to justify the celebrated declaration of His Royal Highness the duke of clarence , who in his eloauent & disinterested defence of the African Slave-trade, in the House of lords : declared , that the Slaves of the West India Planters, were more happy , better fed ', cloathed and treated than the British Peasantry! The Government of England is now, and has long been upheld by the Military power alone; so bound- less has been its prodigality, that was the entire pro- perty of the Nation given over in full right to the Crown, after it had defrayed the charges of collec- tion , and left a bare sufficiency for the people to subsist on , it could not exact a revenue so pro- digious as it is now expending. In many places in England, the whole yearly ren- tal of entire districts, if abandoned by its owners, & appropriated to the use of the poor alone , would prove by far too little to give bread to the vast mul- titudes cast upon it for support. At Kettering, in B Nort. A', mrhke, test yeff, the rmomri of the poors fftWS was fifty two shillings for every Twenty shillings annual rent. A Farmer who paid One Hun- dred pound sterling per annum for hh land , must also pay 7V* Hundred and iSfcr# Pound more towards maintaining the Poor, and all this exclusive of Tithes * Local charges, and the endless catalogue oi taxes to the Crown. To talk of provisions becoming reasonable in England is 'an absurdity, bordering on madness. The Habeas Corpus Act , &S. Ml <& Rights, even 4$gw« GW/*r itself, those grand bulwarks of British Liberty arc prostrated by the arm of prero- gative; the best Citizens are now consigned to the Kings Bafiille, and there incarcerated for year s without knowing their accusers, or having been guilty of a crime. Windham , (late Minister of TTar) said once in the House of Commons , " If we cannot make the people dumb, we will make the Soldiers deaf," im- mediately vast barracks were erected in every part of the Country to inclose the soldiers, and every arti- fice of power made use of to make them forget the wrongs, or sufferings of their Countrymen. Let not the world imagine that the King has the least intention of entering with sincerity into any negotiation for Peace with France as a Republic, unless the most imperious necessity enforces the mea- sure: when he signs a Peace with the French Re- , he signs the death warrant of hi* overgrown no- It power* — England must become a Republic , or France** Monarchy ; any other arrangement will be but of short duration, a kind of armed Truce; and which of these two events is most likely to take place I leave the world to determine. Peace! that shall heal the wounds inflicted by this desolating War in every other Nation , will prove a source of irreparable calamity to the Govern- ment of England* The convulsions of War , the conquests of the British Navy, have driven com- merce almost exclusively into the hands of British merchants. So soon as a Peace is established d com- merce will return to its old channels, or be invited into new ones* The vast arrears of the navy must be discharged , the large foreign property vested in the English Funds, will be mostly withdrawn. Mul- titudes of persons are now maintained by the manu- facture of warlike weapons &c. which employ ceases with the War, — But at the least, one year will elapse before the manufactories destroyed by War can be restored; The Bank, now insolvent will then be foced to avow a Bankruptcy ; The paper which it has emitted is almost too great for conception ; The quantity of forged notes great enough to occu- py the time of seventy clerks to check them. Within one month of a peace it is bound to pay it's notes in specie; where is that specie to be found! Will the crowd of dethroned Monarchs , and fugitive Princes who sold the blood of their people for the gold of uit British^ willing to rnve back the price of ruin? B a Twas 12 VTwas chiefly for that most dishonourable purpose the Bank has been stripped of its specie, which after entering the German territories found its way to Franc* in the shape of contributions. Manufacturers & Artisans , (oppressed by taxa- tion which Peace itself cannot diminish ,) will rush in crowds to other soils where protection & reward shall invite and will carry their arts along with them. The vast quantity of Navy and Exechequer Bills , must be funded (discharged they caSfbt be) for which purpofe new taxes must be laid to pay the interest. The land tax is sold > Income tax mortgaged ', in fact, taxation has reached its ne plus ultra , and every attempt to increase it will fail , by persons les- sening the consumption of articles of luxury. Thus situated with but a choice of evils, it is evident, that whilst any hope of rekindling TVar abroad , or supporting it remains; Peace must not be expected: The entire fabric of the British Government , rests. upon paper ; long such a structure caiaot last : France and America have both made the experi- ment, and in both it has failed. — In England all confidence in the bank is at end ; it has been the means by which pitt has carried on his mad ca- reer, which must terminate in Bankruptcy & ruin. The riches of the King are enormous : not less than 1 5,000,0000 pounds sterling: wherever it is placed, it is not one tenth part in the .English Bank : — many of the Nobility are now and have for some time, been secretly raising money to purchase stock in fo- 13 foreign funds, and Lands in America ; amongst the number of these persons is lord carhampton, who was lately Commander of the Kings forces in Ireland '; where he perpetrated such crimes as will render his name a mark of eternal hate. Such is now the state of England; should any per- son think I paint it in colours too glaring , I refer them to the public debt & public records , to the country itself, to the multitudes of poor who exist in a state of indescribable wretchedness ; to the riunY rous Barracks, Prisons, & Workhouses with which the country is overspread, all depicting in the most forcible language the effects of luxury & despotism which has annihilated the old race of virtuous yeo- manry ; and left but the frightful traces of general corruption , exhibited in a populace resembling the Lazaroni of Naples. An Aristocracy , effeminate , splendid ard vicious as the late Aristocracy of France, Past all contradiction the deplorable condition of England, has proceeded either directly, or indirectly from the public conduct of its Monarch : It may be (as it often is) urged , that the Ministers are to blame , a futile excuse this , which must vanish at the ap- proach of reason : The King is legally invested with power to select his Ministers ; and as I before ob- served , he has shown , (considering the establish- ment of Arbritary power his objecl:,) uncommon sa- gacity in the choice of instruments. Can any man be B 3 so so infatuated as to suppose, that for the long spacs pf forty years he could find none round him but bad men, to serve as agents. The dismission of Mr. fox forms the best reply to such an hypothesis. Nor does the private character of this Prince afford a more pleasing field for rellection, than his public one, to avoid all smaller charges, there are three cri- mes, of which he is notoriously known to have been guilty that if committed by a private individual , would consign him to solitude in the midst of a crowd, and ensure him the scorn and detestation of every honest man. His courtiers may attempt to deny the charge, and assert that he is the " best of King:' — Sad compliment to the rest: but let it be remembered, that facts are stubborn, and that these flatterrers are bribed to panegyrise by participating in the spoil of an Empire: Those crimes I shall briefly recite. — His grandfather (ceorge the n) bequeathed by Wilt, Jewels, and other valuables of considerable worth to the DUKES Of GLOUCESTER, YORK, and CUMBER- LAND, brothers to the King; who, assisted by his Lawyers y discovered that the Will was illegal ; an English King not having the right to dispose of pro- perty by Will, and accordingly, he very wisely retai- ned the Jewels himself. . . Groaning beneath the spoil of half the world, and fearing that the prince of wales would follow the noble example of honesty which he had sett before him, he, within the two last Inst years -applied to his parliament, for an act to guarrantee the due execution of his will, and on the necessity of such a km being questioned , the At- torney General was reduced to the mortifying neces- sity, of instancing this act of fraud and rapacity in his royal master, — (The particulars to be found at large in the Parliamentary debates.) His father died insolvent. — The parliament voted money to discharge his debts. -— The King obtained that money , and kept it. To the Upholsterer for furnishing his Fathers Palaces 40,000 Guineas were due; the orphan son of that unfortunate Tradesmen robbed of his patrimony by the best of Kings* died about 30 years ago a pauper in a Workhouse. He acted as Guardian to his son the Prince of wales, during a Minority of Twenty one years; the revenues of the Dutchy of Cornwall, amounted to a very large sum : the prince was reared upon a very moderate establishment , but the King detained the whole amount. When the prince of wales involved indebt, and pressed upon by his Creditors , applied to his Father for assistance, he sent him to the Parliament to beg reliefs but never refunded any part. How good that Man must be, who could rob his fathers creditors : that father in the grave , his brothers, and his son? I leave to be decided. Avarice , the primum mobile of all his actions , hurries him to the commission of crimes unlit to i5 face the day, breaks his midnight slumbers, and em- bitters his life : he has not the resemblance of any virtue , save temperance , and frugality : his old servants are cast by neglected when their day of la- bour is past; in his Kitchens the most penurious oeconomy prevails: he encourages neither Learning, or Genius , and to his children , he has shewn the stern authority of a Monarch, rather than the fond affections of a Father .... As avarice is his first stimulus, the lust of power is the second , and an inflexible stubborness mixed with the most parsimo- nious^ cunning; gives at one view the picture, of his mind .... Lewis the xiv, was a splendid character: the odium of his Tyranny was eclipsed by the mo- numents of arts and sciences which he reared, and the elegance of his manners and accomplishments ; but of george the in, there is not to record, one brilliant deed to illumine the long night of crime in which he has wandered .... Least I may still be accused of blackening his cha- racter more than his conduct has deserved , I shall present the world with a few of the crimes laid to his charge by the congress of the united states , in the most aweful denunciation of a wicked monarchy which was* ever exhibited to the world from the united voiee of a people; leaving the world to decide , whether his principles are amended since that eventful period. — E X- 17 EXTRACT FROM THE DECLARATION O F ' AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. u He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging War against us.'* " He has plundered our seas , ravaged our coasts , burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our People." " Pie is at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and per- fidy, scarcely to be paralleled in the most barba- rous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation," u Pie has constrained our fellow Citizens 3 taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their Country y to become the executioners of their Friends and brethren, or to fall them- selves by their hands." " He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us , and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our Frontiers the merciless Indian sava- ges, whose known rule of Warfare , is an undis- C tin- 18 tinguished destruction of all ages, sexes ami CONDITIONS." cc In every stage of these oppressions we have pe- titioned for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated Petitions have been answered only by re- peated injury, a PRINCE., whose character is thus mark'd by every act which may define a ty- rant, is unfit to be the ruler of a Free people? &c. &c. &c. For the rest of the charges see rams ays history of the American revolution. & IN- INTRODUCTION. \V hen Monarchs guiltless of their subjects blood* Shall nobly dare promote their Countries good; Employ their pow'r in sinking virtues cause^ And fix supreme (e The Empire of the Laws:" Who owns no favorites , nor by factions rule , Nor stoop to be of artful knaves the tool : Whose manly breast no tints of av'rice stain, Nor plunge in Wars , a guilty wealth to gain : Who cultures infant arts with fost'ring care, Anxious the tender plant in strength to rear; To bid instruction ign'rance chace away, And superstition leave to sure decay; To gen'rous plans afford the royal aid, Let farmers till the earthy and merchants trade Unvex'd by pow'r. When chiefs like thefe shall reign Then demagogues shall angry rail in vain; C 2 With 20 With such a Prince what factious wretch shall dare His fame attaint, or strive his pow'r impair? Detested, should that monster crawl along, Shurm'd as a serpent. E'en the thoughtless throng, Who giddy follow where the artful lead, Would for such slander make the reptile bleed. Happy the Land a King like this could boast; Did such a Prince now rule the British host, Then would that much lov'd soil which gave me birth y Have been the fairest Parradise on earth : Delusive thought! but if a Prince combine Virtues so rare; O Denmark it is thine! Illustrious Chief! around thy laurel'd head , Has Fame her brightest rays of glory shed. You strove in peace to rule, but when from far A restless Tyrant wag'd an unjust war, Then bright in arms you shone. Fierce at your call Forth rush'd the Danes , to save their land or fall: O'what a band was here ! Chief Men entwin'd One cause, one hope, one body, and one .mind. Twas for their home they fought. How wept the brave To think what crowds of Hero's found their grave! The briny waves were crimson'd all with gore, And 21 And mangl'd limbs overspread th* invaded shore ; Finn as a rock then Denmark's prince appealed, Consol'd the dying, and the wounded cheer'd; If from his breast escap'd the stifl'd groan , 'Twas for his slau&hter'd warrior's fate alone. 'c The watchful nelson saw his ruin nigh* Instant a Flag of Truce was wav'd on high ; Then Denmark's hero bade the battle cease 9 And the dread combat clos'd in doubtful peace* What pity, nelson! that a Man so brave, So great as thee , should be a Tyrants slave ; Believe me! there is not one private Dane, Who for his county died, in battle slain, But wears a wreath more bright than fame allows 3 From this Invasion to adorn thy brows; Whilst albert ftsscher, claims a laurel crown The warriors meed, and due to his renown. The frightfuli'st engines Nature has in store To heave the sea above the rock- girt shore; To make the mountain sink, the valley rise; Qr in mid-day to shroud in night the skies: C % To 22 To burst the globe with dire convulsive throes, Whilst molten fire o'er till, resistless flows; When massy fabricks bend their tow'ring head, And' ncath their ruins crush their owners dead. Nor southern gales, which pois'nous vapours bring, Pregnant with death; whence plagues terrefic spring; Arc not so fatal as one tyrant king! The fiercest hurricanes are soonest past; Nor long the scourge of natures wrath can last y If she, severe, inflicts a painful wound, Still in herself alone, the cure is found; But the dire ills which from fell despots flow, Increase in venom, as in age they grow. T 23 TO THE. AUTOCRAT. With grief I mourn fair AH tons hapless state , A viclim struggling 'neath the hand of Fate; Who, bound and gagg'd, and on the altar kin, From thy ambition looks for aid in vain : Curs'd by thy crimes, she finds a foe in all, Who anxious waits her last, tremendous fall. Say! did no flaming Comet mark thy birth? No omens dark alarm this fated earth? No seers foretell the black and ghastly train, Of wars and dearths reserved for thy dire reign? Disastrous reign! doomed England to o'erthrow, Blast all her hopes , and lay her greatness low. Vast was the height that Britams pow'r attain'd, Till her bright fame was by thy annals stain'd ; Thy lengthened sway, of forty luckless years, Has drench'd the world in blood, and her in tears. Around *4 Around thy Throne you abject slaves colleft, To guilt first tempt them, then their crimes protect; Tho plans of bute, north , pitt, were still the same; The increase of thy baleful pow'r their aim, To thee, the profit fell; to them, the blame. But yet, thy name black infamy shall brand; Thy crimes eternal monuments shall stand; The hand of Time, thy mask shall tear away, And shew thee hideous to the blaze of day. Could nero from deaths dreary regions rush, That fell destroyer, at thy crimes would blush; If that dread monster shed of blood , a Sea To spill an Ocean; was reserv'd to thee. Foremost in vice long stood his hated name; Till thine more foul eclips'd his horrid fame. Of all thy wars, is this by far the worst, In motive, objeel , process, thrice accurs'd; A league of Kings! against mankind combin'd, To chain the person, and enslave the mind: The age of mental darkness to restore, And plunge the world in ign'rance evermore. «** Must 25 Must war eternal be ? 0' Despot say ! Whose dire decrees lias banish'd peace away: Must war eternal be ? shall peace no more , Sole source of plenty, bless Europa's shore; Till fraud, or force, the bourbon race restore? O silly King ! why strive to raise that Throne Which when existing _, nearly funk thy own ? But not enough of blood has yet been shed , Tho wide around, are war's dire horrors spread; Nor wilt thou yet permit this scourge to cease? Or to a starving nation grant a peace? When the last man is slain, and Guinea spent, Perhaps thou'lt kindly to a peace- consent. Time was; thy slaves proclaimed with horrid joy , What the sword spar'd, gaunt famine would destroy; That war, and want, each ranging hand in hand, Would spread destruction, o'er the Gallic Land; Where starving millions, rats, mice, saw dust, eat; Their ports blockaded, all their armies beat, Funds quite exhausted, and their woe complete; Such pictures, once thy baleful agents drew, -.^jid mock'd the wretchedness they held to view* D Ti- %6 Time is, that for such scenes thou needs't not roam, Indignant justice, bids thee look at home; (*) Where will is Law, Despotic powV Strong, And famine, stalks with giant strides along; Where countless peasants, toil for bread in vain, Denied the wretched priv'lege to complain. Tyrant! to thee these ills the British owe, Thy deeds the source whence all these sorrows flow. With (*) During the rage of famine in France , the sad scenes of National misery, were made, even in London the source of Theatrical amusement: The fat lazy dignita- ries of the Church , said the dearth was owing to the wrath of God for the irreligion of Republican France. The prints in the pay of the Ministry, gave daily some shocking recital of victims who perished through want, and sometimes presented their readers with the market prices of a potatoe a rat, or a mouse; and that wret- ched vehicle of lies, call'd the True Briton, once as- sured the public with every mark of malignant joy, that saw dust was eaten by Men for want of bread. During the spring of j8oo, in the single Town of Jfiirmitrgham, many hundreds of the wretched inhabi- tants died of actual 'want ; 3000 houses were unte- nanted ; the workhouse too small to hold the poor; \ho parishes too much exhausted by the War to be able to *7 With pride elate thy Prelates clad in lawn, A courtly crew, that flatter, cant and fawn; Tyrants* and slaves, a vile, and venal race Industry's bane, the kingdom's foul disgrace; To please thy will, their God presum'd to pray* To sweep by War, the Gallic race away. From the sad day when thou obtained the Throne, And on thy head wore hapless Britains crown ; From that sad hour, the num'rous griefs we bear; Their date commenced, with thy fell career; Through blood and carnage, steadfast held thy sway^ Tremendous fiend > the human race thy prey; War after War, a dreadful train succeeds, And by each contest my lost country bleedsi The mighty Ganges choak'd with Indians shin t J Has ro'll'd vast myriads to 'the briny main, ( C*)« Whole Empires lost, since first began thy reign. ^ From to find them bread; soupe was sparingly distributed, but each soupe store was guarded by 5 soldiers; and a poor woman far advanced in pregnancy, & raging with hunger, forced forward by the crowd behind her, was stabbed in the breast by a soldier & instantly expired. (.*) Bee cham, in his history 01 george the nt t D 2 as. 28 Thy wrath to sate, columbias verdant shore "Was wrapp'd in flame, and drank her childrens gore; But, firm as Fate the patriotic band Foil'd thy attempts, and sav'd their native land, Hadst thou, in thy infernal project sped, What crowds of men were shorten'd by the head ; Some, who the awful rod of Empire sway, And for Columbia's greatness pav'd the way; E'en Washington, that lov'd, that hallow' d name, To man more dear_, than any known to fame; Kis countries saviour and his countries pride, Hadst asserts that Fifteen Million of human beings have du- ring this reign perished in Hindostan by famine alone ; and tliat Famine caused by the infernal rapacity of British monopotists , who by their agents purchased all the rice, which they kept in stores guarded by the Army till the distresses of the natives first induced them to part with their goods, and lastly, their daughters & wives were sold for a little food ! — Crowds of men and women followed the track of the British Cavalry to Pick the undigested corn grains from the horses dung. Add to this the Millions who have perished in the continual warfare carried on against the native powers, the crimes perpetrated by a clive, and a Hastings, and candour must confess that horrid as were the cruelties of the Spaniards in Peru 9 the English in Hindustan, are nearly their equal in crime and oppression. 29 Hadst thou prevail'd, had like some Felon died; That favor'd spot was freedom's last retreat, And daskest night had follow'd its defeat 5 But Liberty, uprear'd august her 'head, And thence dishonored, all thy legions fled 3 (*) The land they cleans'd of all thy locust train , And by their valour , independance gain ; Their envied greatness , surely flovv'd from thee , Who strove to bind in chains, but sett them free; Long may Columbia's banners peaceful wave, Unknowing, or a tyrant or a slave! And (*) In the year 1766, when Massachusets stood charged with rebellion, the great Mr. pitt said, " I ' rejoice that America has resisted, Three Millions of 1 people , so dead to all the feelings of Liberty as to ' voluntarily submit themselves to be Slaves, would be fit c instruments to make Slaves of the rest. If America c was to fall, she would fall like the strong man, she ' would embrace the pillars of the State , and pull down * the Constitution- with her. She has been wronged , 6 she has been driven to madness by injustice, will i you punish her for the madness you have occasio- c ned." — ■ His voice succeeded _, & America was ap- peased, but soon oppression began to assail her again, & she snapped in two the chains of the Tyrant, D 3 30 And last Hlbernia , 'twas rescrv'd to thee To taste the bitterest dregs of misery; Thy sons beneath the torturing lash expire, Thy daughters ravish'd, and thy towns on fire; Black'd o'er with pitch upon some turrets height, The heads of murdcr'd Irish , shock the sight ; Whilst groves of gibbets, cast a dismal shade > On mountains brows, and highway sides displayd} Unburied corps's taint the wholesome air, And speak the reign of Despotism's there. Lords of the soil, a lawless army roam* And rob the stiff 'ring peasant of his home ; The best > the bravest of thy patriot band , Have fall'n beneath some vile assassins hand; There fiends obscene, with pow'r despotic sway A scorpions rod, & black with crimes the day* Unfeeling King! has not green Erms shore With ruins black , and drench'd in human gore Appeas'd thy vengful hate, or doest thou doom Death to the race, their native Isle their tomb? Sir.cerc/y mourns my soul the noble train Ju- 3* Judicial murder'd, or in battle slain, Or who beneath the assassins hand has bled^ Their countries pride, now mingl'd with the jdead. But hope remains , nor distant is the hour Shall crumble thy ferocious guilty pow'r. What but a sink of human vice thy court, A Pandemonium where fiends resort, War their delight, and misery their sport? Against thy perfidy all men declaim. To make, or break a Treaty, just the same; Twas thy decree destroy' d the Turkish band, (*) And left the French the rich Egyptian Land. On Britains public faith discredit bring, The country suff'ring for its perjur'd King; At home, oppression thins the British race, Whilst all abroad, is danger or disgrace. On (*) Lord Keith in violating the Treaty of El Arish _, declared he merely acted as commanded by his Sove^ reign and published the royal mandate. The first conse- quence of this perfidy was the destruction of the Tur- kish army, next the diyision of the Ministry at home 9 the last , may be the expulsion of the British from their eastern usurpations. On some wild chace vast armaments sett sail, Plann'd without skill , and fa rotation fail. In louis name were Toulons ships obtain'd, In louis name was that fam'd Port retained. In clamour loud -thy courtly throng rejoice, And noisy zeal drowns reasons sober voice ; But quick the fierce republicans drew nigh, As quick thy warlike host prepared to fly; The hapless royalists in wild amaze, View'd ships, and stores, and vast arsenals blaze ; Deserted thus, debarr'd the chance of flight, Attack'd by furious foes, they sink to night, A fleet y borne off in thy detested name, Calls forth from manhoods cheek the blush of shame, When thou shalt harm no more, when party rage Shall peaceful sleep, then th'avenging page Of history, shall give to times last hour, This tragic tale, the stain of regal pow'r, From Dunkirks wall swift fled thy warlike son, He lost his honor, but the race he won; In wild affright the hero ran away, And left to France •> the glories of the day; Th*. S3 There for each wretched Hanoverian slain, The price of blood, thy guilt) 7 riches gain ; O* sordid monster I for pernicious Gold By thy command,, those victims lives were sold: Kad Britons slaughter'd, paid one Guinea more, Then Dunkirk* plains had swam with British gore; And those poor slaves in safety ran away, Their fate to die> whose death the most would pay. (*) let (*) The wealth , which this pious Princt has drained from the British Nation, in payment for the blood of his Hanoverian subjects (shed in his own quarrels) is prodigious. During his -American War^ multitudes of these automatsns were transported across the At- lantic to fight his Battles and exterminate the sons of freedom. Had they succeeded, his thirst of ven- geance had been saturated with blood, as they failed his avarice was fed ; as for each of those miserable beings who was killed or disabled he received thirty pound Jierling. At the commencement of this War, the elector of hanover, willing to oblige so good a customer as the king of England, sold him many thousands of these mercenaries at the old price, i e Thirty pound each. In all the battles & flights which took place in France , Flanders , or Holland 9 the duke of y o r re E a!- 34 Let Outberon thv matchless falshood tell, Where crowds of brave but erring nobles fell: Beneath th'avenging sword. Pitt's victims these Swept from the Earth his gloomy wrath t'appcasc. If always placed these men in posts of danger, there was of course a plentiful daughter of them ; and when the wise folks of England read the duke's aeeount of *' retrogade movements''* and " negative victories" they consoled themselves with the pleasing reflection that the hilled, were mostly "nothing but Hanoverians"? Quite forgetting that the profit which the Elector of Hanover , gained by the deah of his soldiers at the famous battle of Dunkirk in a single day, exceeded all the revenue that he could exact from his Electoral Territory in years. When it became inevitable that he must lose his German Dominions by Jd^ar he pru- dently made Peace with the French Republic ; and (as King of England) purchased human flesh of other ho- nest butchers who sold that commodity; but to none of these dealers in men did he pay so liberal a price as to the Elector of Hanover, Of the Elector of Mayence he bought a few thousand reasonable beings at 30 Crowns each , but for Horses , he paid fifty Crowns each, by which it plainly appears that these enlightened potentates % estimate five men, and three horses, of precise the same value! The Electo- rate of Hanover has passed into other hands, and for- the sake of Peace and humanity 'tis to be hoped it will no more be given to its former master. If wrong they judgM, the crime was not their own, Their honor bound them to the Gallic throne; 111 fated honor ! had it been applied Aright, these men had been their countries pride: In hour unbless'd, they sought the British shore, Resolv'd by arms their Monarch to restore , Pitt, shipped them off, nor meant to see them more. Unhappy men .... deluded to their doom , They reach'd their natal soil, and found a Tomb. The British General saw these victims bleed, Then safe returned to tell the coward deed, Safe and inglorious. Whilst this gallant bandj In combat slain, manur'd its native land. Then coote led forth another wand'ring host, Which nobly landed on the Flemish coast ; But angry Neptune made it dearly pay, Far from the shore he drove the fleet awayf Left to its fate , and all its hopes o'erthrown This warlike host, its shining arms laid down, Batavia next , then Oitiberon again , Thy roving Fleets survey d. Then off to Spain > Brave pulteney steer'd , and Ferrols tow'rs beheld E 2 Fier- |8 Fierce for the fight his ardent bosom swell'd ; Bold up the hill he march'd to take the Town, But sorely frightened > quick , again ran down, 'lis said O y King! some spectre dread he saw, Which fill'd the Herd's soul with sacred awe: Perchance this spectre bade him march away, u4s he that runs, may fight another day. Nor long dclay'd he on the Spanish shore, Safe in the ships he stow'd his Men once more ; For Cadiz Port, the bold adverturers sail'd , Where direful plagues , and pestilence prevailed ; The place attempt to seize, but abject faild! (*) The bravest General thy soldiers boast, (f) Sent out to conquer France on Egypts coast, No (*) I't must have been truly diverting, to have heard th is redou table general pulteney, & the imma- culate Mr. dun das, defend each other in the House of Commons. Dundas, declared , upon his honor, there was not in the world, a better General than pulte- ney! and pulteney, assured the honourable house, that dundas was an honest man, and able minister! (see pulteney's defence &c. &c.) (t) It is supposed that general abercromme un- No more returns, or else returns undone; A mournful victim to thy priestly son : A laurel crown he fondly hop'd to gain; A cypress wreath is all he shall attain; Yet high renown'd, would abercrombie shine Was he employ'd , in any cause but thine. In all this War what have thy armies gained, Its triumphs were by treach'ry obtain'd; Traitors were bought, and Englands honor stain'd., What e'er thy Fleets win fairly on the deep, By Wars strong law,, is Britains right to keep, Fierce fought the rival fleets of Camper down. One lost a battle, each accquir'd renown; If victory, was chain'd to duncans name; With increas'd splendor shone de winters fame, Pyrrhus exclaim'd! (when he the battle won) One more such victory and Pm undone! Almost a wreck was thy victorious fleet, Ba- undertook the Expedition to Egypt , to redeem his fame from the effects of the disasters he sustained in Holland ', through the envy of the duke of y o r k. E 3 3* Batavia sav'd her glory midst defeat; Then why, so foul the nations honor stain 9 As stoop another Fleet , by fraud to gain? Duncan, a vet'ran , hardy, stern, and brave! Mitch el, a pliant * silken, servile Slave! Duncan, disdain'd in fraudful arts ro deal: Mitch el, was sent the Texel Fleet to steal. Nor shall Batavia long thy intrigues mourn, The fleet purloined , shall to her Ports return : These , if she could , should England not retain , A noble foe spurns treaeh'ry with disdain. The Cape y the Islands y sacrafice to peace; Shall England yield, or TVar must never cease. (*) Se- (*) Whenever the King shall deign to grant a Peace the cause will be necessity, for never whilst even the most distant hope of successful war remains, will Peace be sought for with sincerity: thence it is reasonable to expect that these requisitions must be given up as its price. }f persons would seriously consider the enormous rate at which England is expending her treasure, they must be convinced that the whole property; is not worth the cost of 3 Months War ! 39 Secure, beneath dissimulations veil, You cheat the world, thy priests the fraud conceal; Tho' half the plains of Europe , smoke with gore, Thou, the fell cause, insatiate thirsts for more! To church you go, in solemn mock'ry pray; Then sign some aft, to sweep mankind away: Thus Church and King, in close embrace combin'd, With holy craft, the regal pow'rs entwin'd; On Englands vitals, prey these hapies foul, Beyond the reach of Justice, or control. Tho' vast thy wealth, thy av'rice craves for more, Boundless and wild a sea without a shore. What drove thee mad? & ruthless king declare? Was it remorse , regret, or dark despair? Perhaps thy lurid conscience shook with dread , Or dreams of Tartarus derang'd thy head; CO Su~ C*} .. . Prohpet Daniels picture of a mad Tyrant. — Whom he would, he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, whom he would, he set up y and whom he would, he put down; but when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him _, and he was driven from amongst the sons of m e n and his dwelling was with the wild asses &c. &Q, 4° Sure some fell Demon thwarted natures plan, Who meant a Tiger , when she stamp'd thee, Man, Forc'd is the Sound, fierce on the Danish Sea Ride thy tall ships, sure source of misery; Oppos'd, they'll meet of obstacles a train, May make thy bloody dreams of conquest vain: Perhaps the pious nelson quits that station As york did Holland, by capitulation: Perhaps the world thy triumph may deplore, But soon thy Sun shall sink, to rise no more. If those succeed whose cause is in the right, The Danes shall win who for their country fight; But ah! too oft is justice seen to fail, And lawless force o'er feebler right prevail. On ev'ry coast are hostile flags displaid, And clos'd are Eur op's ports 'gainst British Trade; At home, insurgent., starving thousands rise, In wild despair, and rend the air with cries. For Bread , for Peace; they shout, but all in vain. Nor Breads nor Peace, have they whilst thou shah reign. Peace, now too late, will scarce protract the day, Thats 4t Thats doom'd to sweep thy tottering Throne away* From ev'ry quarter ruin vast rolls oh* Dark storms arise, fast dims the British sun; The pow'r to hide thy fallen estate is fled. Thy council's split, thy creatures shake with dread ; Thy fruitful Hanover, now yields to fate* Altho* she's gone one Century too late; Tet mark ; rash man : how all thy schemes are Crossed > You strove to grasp at all , and all is lost* Pitt ran the vessel of the state aground * * Where storms assail * and sunken rocks abound; Then left the helm to pilots ne'er at sea * To sink, or swim, as fate or chance decree: From the old crew a new Cabal's arrang'd, And then 'tis said, the ministers are changed; A tale absurd > which cunning knaves proclaim* Ifu e n are chang'd still measures are the samt. Could pitt's old colleagues be in crime surpassed > The new form'd herd are viler than the last, Mere puppets these, too soft, too weak to rule* And only form'd to be of pitt the tool; F Of u|2 Of orudc and adverse elements combind, Sojii shall it fall, " nor leave a wreck behind/' Lo! from the Pole to JtfPfo'i distant shore,- Whole Empires arm to crush thy lawless pow'r. Tlie wings of commerce from thy coils to free , And yield mankind the freedom of the sea. Soon shall be seen thy baleful pow'r decay, C*) Thy slaves dispcrs'd, thy Empire pass away; Thy accurs'd trade in Human beings cease, And horrid warfare close in welcome peace. O' King* (*) Upon the following extract from the Bible, is founded a test taken at his moment by a new seel: of Religious Politicians whose object may be gathered by hs tendency > and whose numbers arc daily increasing. iC ^dnd thou profane kicked prince o/israel, whose day is come, when inquiry shall have an end" " Thus saith the lord; remove the diadem, and' take off the cro w n : tins shall not be the same Exalt him that is low and abase him that is high." " J" will overturn, overturn, overturn it ; and it shall be no more, tint ill lie come whose? r i o : ■ t it is , and I will give it unto him''''. . . . . 1J\ Chapter Ezekfyl verses 25, 26 , OS?.- 43 O' King, when prostrate Britain rears her head, Breaks thy viie chains, and shout for arms not bread; When heav'nly liberty illumes the shore, Whose rays divine foretell thy reign near o'er; Then off to Harwich, on the wings of wind Fly swift as light, nor cast one look behind; But hark! be fure take not thy wealth away, Wrung from the Mood of man; a horrid prey. Then quick embark, think ruin on thy rear ; Plough the dread sea, nor yield to abjecl: fear; Nor rocks, nor sands, nor oceans loudest roar, Has ought for thee to dread, like Britains shore. From thy rank loins has sprung a num'rous race- Gf prince's, Eur opes scoff, and our disgrace; Then waft the whole connection o'er the main, But never view our injur'd Isles again. And thou Great duke, resign thy deadly sword, ^issiime thy holy garb , and preach the word: CO Lau- (*) Me was corn bishop of osnaburgh 5 created Duke of Tork by i>& Father; F 2 44 Laurels enough you won on Dunkirks plain, Where the Earth groan' d 'neath heaps of Frenchmen slain, Or if more lofty soars thy splendid fame, Lo ! jilkmaars sands thy wond'rous deeds proclaim. Be wise, retire, tempt martial fields no more, Nor stain batavia's plains with Gallic gore, In mother church's bosom safe repose, And chaunt thy v i c t R* i e s o V thy father fits* The latter part of this poetical address to the British autocrat, was written in the months of march and April last ; was prepared for the press, ond had then been published y but for some obstruc- tions which prevented it. The author made not any alte- rations, trusting to this explaration for the propriety vf lettiug it remain as it now appears. — APPENDIX. Vi ith more temerity than discretion, the writer Of the autocrat has launched his little bark upon the tempestuous ocean of criticism , freighted with numerous imperfections and likely to be assailed by an host of enemies; if it escapes being wrecked upon its dangerous coasts it must be upon account of its truth and justice only, for of any merit as a writer of prose or poetry he aspires not to the claim. From the poisoned shafts of interested malice, the blind and furious rage of party zealots , the author has endured murch injury and expects to suffer more ; slander will be busy to defame , and the venal hire- lings of power to disturb his repose ; but alike supe- rior to the one or to the other, firm in his resolves, he shall steadilly pursue his destined course , and lea- ving these persons .to themselves , aim his attacks at a towering Colossus <, and strive to tear away, the glit- tering mask from the visage of the odious monster, and show him to the world, in all his loathsome ugliness* The innumerable swarms of Pensioners and Place- men, the Dignitaries of the Charch, and the Clergy who hunt for Dignities, the Judges who hope to be- come lord chancellors, and the Barristers who aspire to become judges, the ins who revet on the spoil of the Empire , and the hungry outs who hope to participate of the relics of the banquet , the Slaves of the Minister and the dependants of those Slaves, down to the lowest Thief- catcher of the Bow F 3 street 46 ' department ) all unite their voices in " Hellish harmony" to pour forth the praises oftheir^V^iDOL. The Independent judges, the holy brethren who compose the lordly iiierarcii y; tifae&ary the Theatre , the Pulpit , tlie IS t age pf the mountebank _, alike r.-eeho the disgusting plaudits of these corrup- ted , motley Legions. One compares their Master to a Solomon, j another to a Trajan ; one wraps a wreath of Laurel around his stupid head; another lays the sceptre of the world at his feet. The ruined? prostituted, and shackled press, devoted to the des- truetion of England and of Liberty > give their hyper* bolic rhapsodies to the world. Whilst the tattered habitations of the- children of sorrow resounds with agonizing groans of varigatcd wretchedness ; and the curses, li d ciless. Despot , and his accursed satellities : whose J^ars x injustice and grinding oppression has deprir ved them of their Husbands and their Sires , and left them a feeble prey to want , desolation , and m leery. Before finally closing of tills small work , I shall. pre- sume to lay before the world the characters of G k- orge the in, and of bo n a parte-, drawn by one of the Independent Judges (Air. ha r ding.,) at Glamorgan Assizes in March. i3co. As the q] tQ$s ;::•; given Officially y (if I may be permitted the ; .siou; ijt h :•.:' a §ik criterion lor the- v/wl ! £Q 47 decide by. If this temperate tiivtPilfnto'r of JkisUt6 has given a correct likeness of BOx.\r.\;iTE, then must his eulogium on the autocrat be credited, but if it appears that lie has artfully exchanged the attributes of each , arrayed the British Monarch in the brilliant robes of boxapaute, and swathed the foul and -bload~ starved garments of the autocrat around the first consul; then mu"?t the world be convinced than my defnhion of the Tyrant is net more severe than true. And that an Independent English judge, sitting to punish the crimes of petty sinners upon die awful seat of Justice, has dared to .utter cool & deliberate falsiioods, to mislead the ignorant, and deceive the British Nation, These characters were given upon the trial of an unfortunate welchman , who happened to say that bona parte was a great man! — for which heinous orreiice he was apprehended s fined and imprisoned. Judge hardinge to the prisoner. " John Griffith." cc Ton were convicted ^seditious words: cc they are coarse and stupid ', as well as impu- " dent features of disaffection to a king %ho " reigns in the hearts of a generous, en- " LIGHTENED, and FREE COMMUNITY, " who is at once an example of 'public spirit , an£ " of domestic virtue, A T oth.ing has heen a more c< " powerful harrier against the Levelling princi- * 6 pies imported from the c onti n e n t , than LC his worth , and the L ove which is borne to It: " The inhabitants of t 1 is coxnt^y arc jealous rf 48 •• the HONOR which is due to his POLITICAL " office and personal goodness, &c« " &c. &c K I give you joy p/BONAPARTE,^»rHEROi " j«^A an absolute monarch as no king " has ever appr eared '; who was the most ab* " solute in the worst of times ; a ty* " rant without restraint, and without " appeal > 0v standing upon an emi- nence in some dark Italian glen , holding in the one hand a Crucifix > and in the other a Dagger ; raving in the support of religion and good order , and pro- mising the eternal joys of Heaven to those who should dip their poniards in the heart blood a French soldier, ever draw so horrid a picture of bonapar- te, as this er mined ruffian has dared to utter? But he had other game in view: with all his impudence and 49 and loquacity y he is discontented with his remote i and obscure station. If his loud and venal voice can pierce through the clamour of that noisy mob of parasites and sycophants that surround the British Throne, and reach the ears of the autocrat, he hopes that the «« best of Kings" will reward his aw dacity, and falshood, by drawing him ftom the rug- ged mountains of Glamorgan y nearer the grand focus of corruption, and enable him to shine a star of the first magnitude in the milky way of Saint Jameses. Nor has Scotland escaped without her full share of the calamity flowing from the " best of Kings" who like the well known poison tree of Java , (the Bohon Upas) fcatters his deadly vapours wide around in fatal enmity with all that possesses life. There , a foul and grinding monopoly and taxation without bounds , rob that industrious y frugal ', and honest people of their hard earned pittance; should lengthe- ned injustice at last urge them to resistance , a pam- pered janizary waits but for a token from the crown to cut them into pieces; if they turn their ardent eyes towards other shores , the Fleets of their Tyrant floating on the waters which seperate them , repel their visionary hopes* The Master Manufacturers , joined in one great op- pressive body, protected in their injustice by law, can depress the wages of the mechanics as pleases his ca- price or avarice to direct, only assigning as a pretext that he has not, full orders, indeed some, of these ma- nufacturing leviathans act as recruiting Ser- geants to Mr. pitt, when the ranks of a vanquished G ar- 50 army want supplies of men. The loyal Mr. finley. rf Glasgow, not a very long time ago stopped Nine Cotton Mills in a single day, leaving it to the discretion of the discarded mechanics to starve, or enlist in %he uinny as he designed to force them. The e fleets of monopoly, in Scotland, is dreadful, (for of scarcity there is none) it beggars all descrip- tion & can only be conceived by being felt. The Gentlemen Farmers have reduced monopoly to a scien- ce, hold their monthly and district meetings, lay a fine of One Guinea , on each for non attendance , and , at these infernal meetings, so regulate matters that they* send just as much corn & provisions to market as shall produce their price , keeping back the rest upon the strength of their capital , and involving the country in all the horrors of famine , at a time when Nature had been unusually lavish of her bounty. Provisions have risen progressively for nearly two years, whilst the pay of the weaver has fallen, in some work, one half, and in others two thirds. Thousands pf hard working families are, and have long been, forced to live on one poor scanty meal in twenty four hours; and if lie can afford to wear a pair of shoes, by the last tax laid upon leather he must pay half an .English Guinea for them. Thousands have gone away Jrom their families unable to bear the sight of mifery they could not alleviate, and thousands more have gone to the army to keep their family alive by casting the Bounty into the mothers lap, whilst tears stood trembling fti both their eyes. This This is but a sketch of the state of Scotland, but it is a correct one ... So universal reigns , in that country, the spirit of emigration that was the Ports thrown open , almost the whole population would rush to seek another land, where protection and reward should invite their industry and merit. Police acts , unparralled for cruelty and injustice are in force, and Bastille's replete with chains and suk- teraneous cells ; abound in every province to incarce- rate those who yet dare to oppose with manly firm- ness the fell destroyers of their country. But it re- quireth not the sagacity of a prophet to foretell in what these varied Tyrannies must terminate. The crisis is rapidly approaching that shall witness the fall of the most stupendous Edifice of Despotism now existing: It may be retarded, but it cannot be pre- vented ; the means , process , and consequences are enveloped in mysterious darkness. The mighty Gq. vernment of England , with all its boasted vigilance reposes upon a sleeping volcano, even now it trembles beneath its feet and soon shall its dread ex- plosion engulph the whole in one wide ruin. Wha- tever system shall succeed the present > nothing so fatal , to the happiness of Britons , or the repose of the world , can possibly be produced. FINIS. 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