tions, &c. &c. Yet, upon closer observation, it will be found, that there is a very intimate connexion between all these; that they explain and elucidate each other, and that, though widely different in their nature, the reader must see them all, and all together too, in order to have a full and fair view of the political picture, of which they are the component parts. An article, on the contrary, contained in a Register where the classifying order is pursued, has seldom any connexion with those which immediately precede or come after it; and, in the studying of it, the reader very rarely indeed derives any aid from the situation in which it is found. Where, for instance, is the connexion between two State Papers? What help, in general, does the one afford towards the just appreciation of the other? To know what was thought and said of the new division of Germany, to obtain any knowledge respecting it, other than that which is to be drawn from the Declaration of France and Russia, recourse must be had to those other sources of information, which here accompany the Declaration, but which, in a work otherwise constructed, must be sought for elsewhere, not always with a certainty of success, and never without considerable pains. -This head, together with the preceding one, and the reports of Parliamentary Proceedings in the body and supplement of Vol. I. will be found to form a Parliamentary Register of the last session much more complete, as well as more interesting, than any other that has been published. 3. A List of the New Parliament, together with a selection of the addresses to the Electors, in different parts of the kingdom. 4. Parliamentary Debates, from the commencement of the present session to the recess, collected and arranged with great care.-These debates, together. with the sort of Journal of Proceeding which has been kept, during this session, in the Weekly Numbers, forms a complete Register of the Parliament down to the recess; and the next Volume will, of course, continue it down to the end of the session, including all the accounts, reports, estimates, &c. &c. 5. Papers relative to India. Under this head are contained, not only the Official Papers laid before Parliament, but all such others as I have been able to collect, and as appeared to me likely to be useful to my Readers.-There are not less than seventy articles under this head. The twenty-six sheets, which form the Chronicle for the half year, did not, however, appear to me to be quite sufficient to render the work complete Several articles presented themselves, which, though too long to be inserted in the weekly numbers, were absolutely necessary to the completion of my plan. These, I therefore, resolved to publish in a half yearly Supplement, to be supplied, at a moderate price, to the purchasers of the weekly numbers; and, in this second volume, I have taken advantage of the convenience offered by this plan to render the work a complete Parliamentary Register also, which it was not, at fisrt, my intention to do. This part of the work will, in future, be more regularly placed. At present, the Table of Contents must be consulted to know where to find the different parts of which the Parliamentary Register is composed.-The contents of the Supplement to the second volume are as follows: 1. Parliamentary Papers.-All the principal reports, returns, accounts, estimates, &c. &c. (being upwards of sixty in number) which were laid before the Parliament during the last session. 2. Parliamentary Debates, at length, on the Preliminary and Definitive Treaties with France. These debates, which were the only ones of much interest during the session, and which are, and long will be, COST@TIS wanted to refer to, are here collected and arranged with or, and from the best materials. 6. Statistical Table relative to the Cape of Good Hope. 7. Public Papers.-All Papers of this description which were omitted in the weekly Numbers. 8. Foreign Official Pabers. Many Dispatches, Decrees, &c. which were not published in the weekly' Numbers.. 9. A translation from a work entitled "Etat Com"mercial de la France," containing comments on Mr. Dundas' Speech relative to the effects which the treaty of Amiens will have on our rights in India. 10. Extracts from Charmilly's Letter to B. Ed-. wards on the effect of the restoration of St. Domingo to France, and on the general consequences of a regicide peace. 11. Memoir respecting Malta. 12. Letter respecting the Grand Mastership of Malta. 13. Count Dietrichstein's observations in reply to the charges brought against him by the English newspaper, called The Times, relative to his conduct in Italy, and to the views of the Imperial Court at that i time. 14. Papers relative to the conduct of Mr. Fox. 15. Miscellaneous Articles, containing, amongst other things, all the advert.sements, resolutions, songs, &c. &c. relative to the Statues and Birth Days of Messrs. Pitt, Dundas, and Addington. 16. Complete Lists of Patents, with a specification thereof, enrolled in the year 1802. 17. Juridical Proceedings.-Under this head is contained an account of all such cases, which, during" the last six months, have come before the several courts of justice, and as appcar to me to contain any thing novel, or peculiarly important, whether from their nature, their consequences, or from the rank, &c. of the parties. 18. A List of the Titles of all the New Books, which have been published, in the United Kingdom, or in the Continent of Europe, and in America, during the last six months.-When I speak of the "last six months," I am to be understood as meaning, the six months ending Dec. 31st for this kingdom, Nov. 30th for the Continent of Europe, and Sept. 30th for America. In my next list I shall go back to these several epochs.-The books are divided into thirty-two classes, and are upwards of fifteen hundred in number The titles are all translated into English, but care has been taken to mention the language in which the work is published, and the place where published. This is, I am led to hope, 20. Lists of Promotions, Preferments, Dispensations, &c. 21. View of the Prices of Bread, of the Value of the Funds, of the Bills of Mortality, &c. &c. &c. during the six months. 22. Indexes.-1st of Matters; 2d of Names; 3d of Places. I have here merely enumerated the principal heads in the Supplement, without attempting to specify the particular articles under each head, which will be done in the Table of Contents to the whole volume. To class the several articles, in a Table of Contents, according to their different subjects, would, I conceive, render the table so complicated as to be almost, if not quite useless; and, indeed, after having, long considered of the matter, I am well convinced, that the only rational classification that can be adopted is that which I have lately followed in each of the weekly numbers, the heads of which, without any reference to the subjects, which are of almost infinite variety, distinguish nothing but the sorts of Documents, or Papers, which sorts are very few in number. I have, therefore, adhered to this division.-I. Public Papers; that is to say, Treaties, Conventions, Manifestoes, Armistices, Declarations, and, in short, all papers, of whatever name or purport, made or issued by any Government or Governments, and which treat of matters, in which more than one nation has a direct and evident part or concern.-II. Foreign Official Papers, such as Decrees, Proclamations, Dispatches, Orders, Petitions, Memorials, &c. &c. are and ought to be preserved. Many of them, indeed, it would be useless to insert in a work like this: but others are very necessary to enable the politician to form an opinion, not only as to the interior situation, but also as to the exterior views of other countries; and, for the same purpose, he should have correct information respecting the pecuniary, the military, and other resources of the principal nations, particularly such as are, by their situation, power, and disposition, in any degree formidable to ourselves.-III. Parliamentary Papers and Debates, of which nothing need be said, but that they form a complete Parliamentary Register, elucidated occasionally by the Editor's notes.-IV. Domestic Official Papers, are of the same de scription as that which has been given of Foreign Official Papers.-V. India Papers, This class is rather a deviation from my plan; the documents being of the same sort as, and coming fairly under the head of, Domestic Official Papers; but India is so considerable a branch, it is so distinct from the rest of the Empire, and the papers re lative to it are so numerous, that it seemed convenient to give them a separate head.— VI. Essays. Under this head I have placed all the Letters, Addresses, Dissertations, and Extracts; and also all articles of whatever description originating with the Editor included, of course, the Summaries of Poand his Correspondents, amongst which are litics, the principal topics of each of which are merely pointed out.-VII. Notices of New Books.-VIII. Poetry.-IX. Juridical Proceedings.-X. Lists of various kinds.-Mere Intelligence, whether foreign or domestic, can never be very important without ap. pearing, first or last, in an official document sides, the intelligence, as well as the table or paper of some sort or other; and, beof Prices, the Gazette articles, &c. recur too often and too regularly, and are too clearly pointed out by the Indexes to need being mentioned in the Table of Contents. To specify the separate articles, contained under the several divisions above. mentioned, would occupy the pages of a large pamphlet; but, it may not be entirely useless to state the number of articles, in the two volumes, under each division or head, respectively.-Of Public Papers there are 116; of Foreign Official Papers, 163; of Parliamentary Papers, 68; of Debates, 57; of Domestic Official Papers, 36; of India Papers, 62; of Essays, 218; of Critical Notices of New Books, 39; of Pieces of Poetry, 15; of Juridical Cases and Trials, 42; of Lists, 22: and, amongst these are the two lists of Books, containing the titles and descriptions of all the works, more than three thousand in number, published in Europe and America, during the year 1802. Such a mass of matter, and of matter so various, certainly requires every facility that mere editorship can afford. To effect this object a Table of Contents is now prefixed; and there are THREE. INDEXES at the end, one of Matters, one of Names of Persons, and another of Names of Places; so that, notwithstanding the immense bulk of the work, and the almost endless variety of its contents, I am persuaded that very little difficulty, in point of reference, will ever occur. Of the manner and quality of the work, I must now leave the reader to judge, but respecting the quantity I beg to be permitted to say a few words more.-A guinca and a half for one octavo volume has a high sound; but if the purchaser will take the trouble to make the comparison, he will find, that this one octavo volume, which is sold for a guinea and a half, well and neatly bound with a Russia back, contains as much print as ten common octavo volumes, which ten volumes are sold, in boards, for seven or eight shillings each; and, of course, the Register is, as I stated with respect to the first volume, proportionally, much cheaper than any other book published in London. In the adver. tisement of that volume, it was stated that it contained as much as four common octavo volumes; but it was meant to say eight. The present volume is much thicker, as well as fuller of print; and, indeed, I scruple not to say, that it contains as much letter press as the twelve volumes of Johnson's works. This is a fact of which any one may satisfy himself with very little trouble. Then, in comparing its price with that of other Annual Registers, it will be found to be just about twice as much in amount; but, on the other hand, the contents of the ordinary Annual Registers will be found to form only one department of my work, which does, in fact, embrace, 1. An usual Annual Register; 2. A Parliamentary Register; 3. Collection of State Papers, each of which has heretofore formed a separate work, and the price of these three works, together with that of detailed original tracts, and translations, would, for the year, amount to a sum not much short of eight guineas, while my two volumes sell for three. London, 18 Feb. 1803, WM. COBBETT. The work is sold by E. HARDING, Pall Mall; RICHARD BAGSHAW, Bow Street, Covent Garden; RICHARDSON, under the Royal Exchange; J. MERCIER, Dublin; and by all the Booksellers and Newsmen in the Kingdom.-The volumes may be had separately. Those gentlemen, who have taken the Weekly Numbers, and who wish to be supplied with the SUPPLEMENT only, will please to address themselves to the persons who have supplied them with the numbers. The price of the retail Supplement is 89. 9d.-Particular care should be taken to direct the binder to bind the volume with a hollow back, by which means it will always open easy, and lie flat when open WEST-INDIA COMMISSION AND NAVY BILL. SIR,Your correspondent, TROPICUS (page 202) has taken notice of the two late Bills of Inquiry, the West-India and the Navy, for the purpose of contrasting the manner in which they were passed, without entering into the merits of either. I know nothing of the latter; but on referring to my signature, it will not appear surprising if the other has attracted my attention; and if you will excuse the manner for the sake of the matter, and accept a few words, on that subject, from a plain man of business, who has no pretensions to fine writing, they are at your service.-The history of the first is shortly this: When the expenses of the war, particularly in the West-Indies, began considerably to exceed the estimates made by the treasury, it became a favourite idea in that quarter, that matters in the islands were not properly conducted. A correspondence has been published between a gentleman in office, and another who had been employed there in a public situation, in which it was sung out by the one, and reechoed by the other, that all who had been concerned in that part of the world, with money transactions of the army, were no better than thieves and pickpockets, and the whole body of West-India merchants, viz. merchants in the West Indies, were stigmatised as a set of hucksters that would set their names to any thing. An enquiry was by both agreed upon to be necessary; though it was acknowledged by the one, and not contradicted by the other, that it was contrary to the rules of evidence that any one should be made to accuse himself. Nevertheless, a bill was introduced into Parliament in which this principle was not attended to; but that and many other powers were grant ed, and it was thought proper that the person who had been the principal accuser should be appointed one of the judges of the parties concerned; or, lest this term should be cavilled at, one of the commissioners to make the inquiry. This bill passed, as you have been already informed, without any opposition. Now, Sir, you are very much mistaken if you suppose, from any thing I have said, that I am an enemy to this bill, or rather to this inquiry. On the contrary, if government has been defrauded, it is highly proper it should be known by whom, and in what manner. All I object to is any thing that savors of partiality or oppression. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander. What is wrong in one case cannot possibly be right in the other: and the ori ginal Navy Bill having undergone so many amendments, the West India Bill should be new modelled to resemble it, or the objections to the first Navy Bill ought to be waved, and it made the same as the West India Bill. But this is not all. Are these the only two branches of the public service in which it is possible to suppose any thing has gone wrong? If not, why are they the only two pointed at? You yourself have told us a thing or two of the Post Office: but whether it is this P. O. or any other P. O. the A. O. the N. O. or any other letter of the alphabet that goes before O as initials, if enquiry is right in one 'tis right in all. Why should all men, down to every subcommissary in the West Indies and every underling in the dock yards, be hauled over the coals, and all big and little every where else remain unquestioned? No Sir, they should all, whether they live in Yards or Palaces, in Squares or Alleys, be put on the same footing. Mr. Wilberforce, it (is natural his name should occur to me first, who know the mighty good he and his motions have done to the cause of humanity in St. Domingo and elsewhere:) he, I say, and others who think with him, will tell us, and no doubt they will tell us true, that no honest man will shrink from this ordeal, and that only those will oppose it who are conscious to themselves of guilt. Let every man, in every department of the public service, be put upon his oath to declare whether, directly or indirectly, he has derived any advantage, to the injury of government, from his situation in office. If this is done, no one will have a right to complain: if it is not done, let certain folks give themselves what airs of patriotism or public spirit they please, they will never convince the dispassionate and discerning, that these enquiries have originated in any thing else than private pique and unprincipled ambition. I am Sir, your's, &c. A WEST INDIA MERCHANT. DESPARD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. The following article is taken from the MORNING POST. We insert it here with great pleasure, as expressing our sentiments, in a manner more happy than we, perhaps, should have done; and as coming from source somewhat more authentic than we can pretend to have access to, with respect to COLONEL DESPARD'S long habits of treasonable thinking and conversation. "When Thomas Muir was on shipboard in the Thames, on his way to Botany Bay, he listened to the suggestion of presenting a petition to Government, by which his sentence might have been remitted, and he might have escaped all those misfortunes which ended in his death. But A deputation from the London Corresponding Society waited on him, represented the disgrace of such a step, the glory his sufferings would shed around his name and their cause, and how much his martyrdom would increase their strength and numbers. He listened to them. His fate is known. "The same use is now made of the fate of Colonel Despard and his associates. The few who wish well to the designs he entertained endeavour to excite compassion for his misfortunes, and by working on the feelings of a humane people to make converts to their cause. They hope that the blood of Despard will raise thousands in their favour, and that his death will revive and reanimate their partizans. Hence the artifices to produce pity for Despard, and indignation at the Government. Among the well-informed classes of society, detestation of the man is disarmed by assurances that he must have been insane when he talked of such wild designs; among the poor ignorant classes it is said he suffered because he was "a friend to the poor."If you abhor treason, you are told Despard was a madman: if you are discontented with public affairs, you are told he was a hero. It is also said he was irritated by the refusal of Government to pay his claims. This, we believe, is much nearer the truth than that he died for the poor; but this apology strips him of all the glory of martyrdom, and brings him nearly to the level of a highwayman. His partizans assume any shape to avert public resentment, and turn his fate to their purpose. It is the duty of every good subject to see that Despard's punishment becomes a salutary example. Has the Government, or has Despard acted justly? Shall the Government, or shall Despard's partizans derive advantage from his death? Shall Despard's headless corpse walk into every tap-room, to make proselytes with an hundred fold the success he experienced in his life; or shall the aim of the law appear with all its just terrors to prevent the spread of treason, and the recurrence of such scenes as that of Monday? Those of the middling and upper ranks may smile at alarm; but let them explore the lower classes, and they will see it is not altogether without foundation. The word of the dying has great weight with the ignorant, who cannot believe that in death a man would tell a falsehood. When O'Coigley was executed at Maidstone, he accused every person concerned in his prosecution, magistrates and all, of perjury! When Despard was executed at Southwark, he declared he was innocent, and that he died because he was a friend to the poor and the oppressed! The poor, who feel effects without being able to judge of causes, may believe him a martyr. That a large mob, collected from among so many scores of thousands of the poor, as exist in this city, should be misled, when their pas- | sions and their ignorance are worked upon by the artful and profligate, is not surprizing. The spectators of Despard's death pitied him; and, from the crowd and compassion that prevailed, if he had been executed at Kennington Common, drawn more than a mile through the populace, some confusion would, probably, have occurred. "However easily the lower classes may be misled, no doubt can remain of Colonel Despard's guilt among those who were well acquainted with him. He made no secret of his designs, and WE WILL VENTURE TO AFFIRM, THAT NO ONE OF HIS FAMILIAR ACQUAINTANCE WAS IGNORANT OF THEM. To his openness the government is indebted for the discovery, we conjecture, more than to the evidence of accomplices, such as Windsor and Emblyn. Despard bas talked for years of such plots as that of which be has just been convicted. He was impressed with the opinion that a revolution was not to be effected by extensive associations, through which the design would transpire and be frustrated, but by a small party of desperate men, who, having struck one great blow, such as the assassination of the King, and filled the city with consternation, would find thousands to support them. However probable it may be that such a scheme would fail, yet certainly it held out better prospects of success than one founded on numerous and extensive associations, among a people not disposed to countenance a treasonable .conspiracy. "Much praise is bestowed on Colonel Despard for bearing up in his situation with so much fortitude, and for dying with so much firmness and equanimity. This virtue, if virtue it can be called, is common to nine in ten of the felons executed at Newgate. Cowardice is much more rare among men than courage. If a man dies without remorse for an atrocious crime, shall we admire his courage? Are not repentance and contrition the virtues which we should admire in him in such a situation? Was Despard's crime an atrocious one? Did he betray repentance or contrition? Should not his conduct excite horror rather than commiseration? Macnamara was the only interesting person on the scaffold. He prayed so fervently, and seemed so desirous of making his peace with Heaven, that he drew tears from those who best knew where to place their pity. "We again warn the public to be upon their guard. Attempts are making to raise, out of the death of Colonel Despard, strength to the cause for which he died. It is by compassion for his fate that treason is to be On hearing of Disapprobation expressed at the late Exe cutions for High Treason. Ye who, of Treason's arts, abroad, Why seem your wishes, to restrain The Assassin here, less hearty?— NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS, from p. 48. 2. A Few Days in Paris; with Remarks characteristic of several distinguished Personages. 8vo. p. p. 60. The author of this little pamphlet informs us, in the preface, that what he presents to the public is the substance of several letters, written to various individuals in England, during his residence in France. The work before us presents us with a disgusting picture of the state of manners in modern Paris. It contains some curious anecdotes of the court of the Thuilleries, and of our English patriots who were cringing last summer at the levees of Buonaparte. As a specimen of the performance, we shall present our readers with a few short extracts, and conclude with recommending the whole to their perusal. COURT OF THE THUILLERIES. "It must not be imagined that the court of the Thuilleries bears any resemblance to those of ancient times and long established governments: in them the monarch is acknowledged (in our's beloved) by the great body of the people. In the principal courts of Europe, the sovereign and his house indulge, more or less, in friendly intercourse with many families around them. This cannot have place either at Malinaison or St. Cloud, or at the Thuilleries. It would be tedious, and might appear personally invidious to go into the causes of this; they must be striking to every man of sense. Indeed, were it no. for the English |