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right or interest to inquire whether the appointment be of his own making or not. Each case resolves itself directly into the case mentioned before. But, it will be said, "how far is this to extend, for if you assert that the appointment to offices rests solely "with the King, then he can appoint to every office, and will thus really himself manage every department." To this objection, I answer, that I imagine in point of fact, that the appointment of inferior officers in each department, necessarily comes through the chief of that department. I do not actually know the fact, but I presume this to be the case; viz. that the appointment of an inferior officer to be valid, must be countersigned by the chief of the department to which that officer belongs; and then that chief becomes directly and evidently responsible for the appointment. But, even if this is not the case, if the King can of his own motion appoint the inferior officers, yet the responsibility can with great facility be traced directly to the chief of each department. Each such chief is responsible for every act done by every subordinate agent in that department. What? When he does not appoint these subordinate agents? Yes, truly; for though he does not appoint them, he is able to retire from his situation, if he cannot confide in those placed under him. He may withdraw himself from the responsibility by withdrawing from the place; or he may keep them both; they cannot be separated. My butler is answerable to me for the care of my plate; do I then leave it to him to choose the servant, who, under him, cleans and watches it? No; I choose that servant myself; and, if I choose a man in whom the butler does not confide, and on his representation do not like to part with him, the butler in common prudence withdraws from my service and the responsibility at once. With respect

to "secret advisers" as they are called; the doctrine concerning them I dislike in another view. For without being pushed by any means to extremes, it goes to prevent the man, whom chance has placed upon the throne, from having any thing like a private friend; and to deprive him of one of the greatest of human blessings. It goes to prevent him from holding familiar converse with either his queen, or his son, on public matters; for they would be equally, with any others, secret irresponsible advisers. This would be a cruelty not to be endured; it is a private persecution which, I think too well of the constitution, to believe it subjects any man to. But if my doctrine is true, then I say this difficulty is entirely got

rid of; and as much security and responsi bility exists, as in any case can be wished for.I have written upon this subject, much more than I intended when I first began. I believe I have stated the doctrines which I have alluded to correctly; and, I now send the result of my opinions to you, Mr. Cobbett, for insertion in your paper, if you think fit. If any person is inclined to controvert iny doctrine, and to argue the point with me, I shall be very glad to see his arguments, and am really open to conviction if I am wrong. But, I beg to reserve to myself the right of replying, whether the answer be published in your paper, or sent to me, privately. If they are published in any other paper, it is possible I may not see them. You will be kind enough to keep by you, to be called for, any letters directed to Censor, No. 15, Duke Street, Westminster; to which address, I beg all letters controverting my doctrine, and not meant for insertion, to be sent.CENSOR.

THE KING NEVER DIES.

SIR,-Your learned correspondents of the Inns of Court have given you many extracts from Doddridge and others of great force and authority, which prove indisputably, that, if the King is ill, the Parliament onght to ascertain the state he may be in, clearly, and in a way to satisfy the country, and not to trust only to the reports of a secret committee of ministers and physicians. I beg leave to call your attention to an event which occurs in our history, (vide Hume), and which seems to me not unworthy of your notice. In 1454, Henry the Sixth fell into a distemper, which rendered him incapable of maintaining even the appearance of royalty. The Queen and Council appointed the Duke of York Lieutenant of the Kingdom, with powers to open and hold à session of Parliament. That assembly also taking into consideration the state of the Kingdom created him protector during plea

sure.

In 1456, Margaret produced her husband before the House of Lords, and he was re-instated in his sovereign authority. It does not appear, Sir, that when the King fell ill there was any delay in appointing a regent. The constitution suffers no suspen. sion of the executive power; no pause, no interval in the government. Blackstone uses these words, "a third attribute of the "King's Majesty is, PERPETUITY; the "law ascribes to him in his political capa "city an absolute immortality; the King

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dormant for a moment, to this constitutional King, that every ioyal Englishman ought to be attached but it seems, Sir, that there are in this country men (and among those too, who talk loudly of prerogative) who are only inclined to support the monarchical power, while the person, that suits their private interest is invested with it.———I am, Sir, &c. &c.-O. B.

MASSACRE IN SAINT DOMINGO.

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Crimes, the most atrocious, such as were until then unheard of, and would cause nature to shudder, have been perpetrated. The measure was overheaped. At length the hour of vengeance has arrived, and the implacable enemies of the rights of man have suffered the punishment due to their crimes My arm, raised over their heads, has too long delayed to strike. At that sig. nal, which the justice of God has urged, your hands, righteously armed, have brought the axe upon the ancient tree of slavery and prejudices. In vain had time, and more especially the infernal politics of Europeans, surrounded it with triple brass; you have stripped it of its armour; you have placed it upon your heart, that you may become (like your natural enemies) cruel and merci. less. Like an overflowing mighty torrent, that tears down all oppo-ition, your vengeful fury has carried away every thing in its impetuous course. Thus perish all tyrants over innocence, all oppressors of mankind!

The following statement is taken from the New York papers of the 4th of June last. The Proclamations of Dessalines, which follow, but too fully establish the correctness of the statement. "We have received the melancholy intelligence of the massacre of all the white Freach inhabitants of St. Domingo. This bloody work commenced in Port-au-Prince about the middle of May. An account of it was soon received and published at the Cape, and immediately after about five and twenty hundred persons, men, women, and chil---What then? Bent for many ages undren, indiscriminately, were deliberately massacred there. It was general about the same time in every place which the blacks possess. It is evident, from the care with which they selected their victims, that the plan has been long formed, and deliberately matured.-None but French have suffered, and of them hardly one has escaped. Every care had been taken to prevent the white inhabitants from leaving the island; row boats were employed to board and examine every vessel going out of the harbour. A short time before the massacre took place thirty passengers were found in a schooner, which had got out of the harbour, bound to St. Thomas, and, with the crew, they were immediately put to death. At Port-auPrince between five or six hundred persons fell under the bloody hatchet of the Haytians, and the warm stream of blood which ran from them, quenched the thirst of their murderers, who went on their knees to receive it. Dessalines has published a proclamation, justifying the extermination of the French, and offering fifteen days to the Spaniards, who occupy the eastern part of St. Domingo, to determine either to submit to him, or share the fate of the French; he has sixty thousand men ready to march against them, and is determined that no European shall hold an office of power on the island. "Toussaint," says he, "did his work by halves; but I will complete it."

Proclamation by Dessalines, as Gov. Gen. of the Island, dated at the Cape, April 28, 1804; first Year of Independence.

der an iron yoke: the sport of the passions of men, or their injustice, and of the caprices of fortune; mutilated victims of the cupi dity of white Frenchmen; after having fattened with our toils these insatiate blood suckers, with a patience and resignation unexampled, we should again have seen that sacrilegious horde make an attempt upon our destruction, without any distinction of sex or age; and we, men without energy, of no virtue, of no delicate sensibility, should not we have plunged in their breast the dagger of desperation? Where is that vile Haytian, so unworthy of his regeneration, who thinks he ha⚫ not accomplished the decrees of the Eternal, by exterminating these blood-thirsty tygers? If there be one, let him fly; indignant nature discards him from our bosom; let him hide his shame far from hence the air we breathe is not suited to his gross organs; it is the pure air of liberty, august and triumphant.--Yes, we have rendered to these true cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage: yes, I have saved my country; I have avenged America. The avowal I make of it, in the face of earth and heaven, constitutes my pride and my glory. Of what consequence to me is the opinion which contemporary and future generations will pronounce upon my conduct? I have performed my duty; I enjoy my own approbation; for me that is sufficient. But what do I say? The preservation of my unfortunate brothers, the testimony of my own conscience, are not my only recompense: I have seen two

classes of men, born to cherish, assist, and succour one another-mixed in a world, and blended together-crying for vengeance, and disputing the honour of the first blow. Blacks and yellows, whom the refined duplicity of Europeans has for a long time endeavoured to divide; you, who are now consolidated, and make but one family; without doubt it was necessary that our perfect reconciliation should be sealed with the blood of your butchers. Similar calamities have hung over your proscribed heads: a similar ardour to strike your enemies has signalised you the like fate is reserved for you and the like interests must therefore render you for ever one, indivisible and inseparable. Maintain that precious concord, that happy harmony amongst yourselves: it is the pledge of your happiness, your salvation, and your success: it is the secret of being invincible. Is it necessary, in order to strengthen these ties, to recall to your remembrance the catalogue of atrocities committed against our species; the massacre of the entire population of this island, meditated in the silence and sang-froid of the cabinet; the execution of that abominable project, to me unblushingly proposed, and already begun by the French, with the calmness and serenity of a countenance accustomed to similar crimes. Guadaloupe, pillaged and destroyed; its ruins still reeking with the blood of the children, women, and old men put to the sword; Pelage (himself the victim of their craftiness), after having basely betrayed his country and his brothers; the brave and immortal Delgresse, blown into the air with the fort which he defended, rather than accept their offered chains. Magnanimous warrior! that noble death, far from enfeebling our courage, serves only to rouse within us the determination of avenging or of following thee. Shall I again recall to your memory the plots lately framed at Jeremie? the terrible explosion which was to be the result, notwithstanding the generous pardon granted to these incorrigible beings at the expulsion of the French army? The deplorable fate of our departed brothers in Europe? and (dread harbinger of death) the frightful despotism exercised at Martinique? Unfortunate people of Martinique, could I but fly to your assistance, and break your fetters! Alas! an insurmountable barrier separates us. Perhaps a spark from the same fire which enflames us, will alight into your bosoms: perhaps, at the sound of this commotion, suddenly awakened from your lethargy, with arms in your hands, you will reclaim your sacred and imprescriptible rights.——After the ter

rible example which I have just given, that, sooner or later, Divine Justice will unchain on earth some mighty minds, above the weakness of the vulgar, for the destruction and terror of the wicked; tremble, tyrants, usurpers, scourges of the new world! our daggers are sharpened; your punishment is ready! sixty thousand men, equipped, inured to war, obedient to my orders, burn to offer a new sacrifice to the names of their assassinated brothers. Let that nation come, who may be mad and daring enough to attack me. Already at its approach, the irritated genius of Hayti, arising out of the bosom of the ocean, appears; his menacing aspect throws the waves into commotion, excites tempests, and with his mighty hand disperses ships, or dashes them in pieces; to his formidable voice the laws of nature pay obedience; diseases, plague, famine, conflagration, poison, are his constant attendants. But why calculate on the assistance of the climate and of the elements? Have [ forgot that I commanded a people of no common cast, brought up in adversity, whose audacious daring frowns at obstacles and increases by dangers? Let them come, then, these homicidal cohorts! I wait for them with firmness and with a steady eye. I abandon to them freely the sea shore, and the places where cities have existed; but woe to those who may approach too near the mountains! It were better for them that the sea received them into its profound abyss, than to be devoured by the anger of the children of Hayti.- War to death to tyrants!" this is my motto; "liberty! independence!" this is our rallying cry.Generals, officers, soldiers, a little unlike him who has preceded me, the ex-general Toussaint Louverture, I have been faithful to the promise which I made to you when I took up arms against tyranny, and whilst the last spark of life remains in me I shail keep my oath-"Never again shall a colonist or an European set his foot upon this territory with the title of master or proprie. tor." This resolution shall henceforward form the fundamental basis of our constitution.--Should other chiefs, after me, by pursuing a conduct diametrically opposite to mine, dig their own graves and those of their own species, you will have to accuse only the law of destiny, which shall have taken me away from the happiness and wel fare of my fellow citizens. May my suc cessors follow the path I shall have traced out for them! It is the system best adapted for consolidating their power; it is the highest.homage they can render to my memory.- As it is derogatory to my charac

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ter and my dignity to punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty, a handful of whites, commendable by the religion they have always professed, and who have besides taken the oath to live with us in the woods, have experienced my clemency. I order that the sword respect them, and that they be unmolested.—I recommend anew and order to all the generals of departments, &c. to grant succours, encouragement, and protection to all neutral and friendly nations, who may wish to establish commercial relations in this island.

Proclamation by Dessalines, dated at the Cape, May 8, 1804; first Year of Independence.

before my intrepid phalanxes that all the resources and the skill of Europeans have proved ineffectual: and that into my victorious bonds the destiny of the captain-general Rochambeau has been surrendered. To lure the Spaniards to their party, they propagate the report that vessels laden with troops have arrived at Santo Domingo. Why is it not the truth? They little imagine that, in delaying to attack them until this time, my principal object has been to suffer them to increase the mass of our resources, and the number of our victims. To spread distrust and terror, they incessantly dwell upon the fate which the French have just experienced: but have I had reason to treat them so? The wrongs of the French, do they appertain to Spaniards? and must I visit on the latter the crimes which the former have conceived, ordered, and executed upon our species? They have the effrontery to say, that, reduced to seek safety in flight, I am gone to conceal my defeat in the southern part of the island. Well then! Let them learn that I am ready; that the thunderbolt is going to fall on their heads. Let them know that my soldiers are impatiently waiting for the signal to go and re-conquer the boundaries which nature and the elements have assigned to us. A few moments more, and I shall crush the remnant of the French under the weight of mighty power. Spaniards! you, to whom I address myself, solely because I wish to save you; you who, for having been guilty of evasion, shall speedily preserve your existence only so far as my clemency may deign to spare you; it is yet time; abjure an error which may be fatal to you; and break off all connections with my enemy, if you wish your blood may not be confounded with his. Name to me, without delay, that part of your territory on which my first blow is to be struck, or inform me whether I must strike on all points without discrimination. I give you fifteen days, from the date of this notification, to forward your last intentions, and to rally under my banners. You are not ignorant that all the roads of St. Do

Scarce had the French army been expelled, when you hastened to acknowledge my authority; by a free and spontaneous movement of your heart, you ranged yourselves under my subjection. More careful of the prosperity than the ruin of that part which you inhabit, I gave to this homage a favourable reception. From that moment I have considered you as my children, and my fidelity to you remains undiminished. As a proof of my paternal solicitude, within the places which have submitted to my power, I have proposed for chiefs none but men chosen from amongst yourselves. Jealous of counting you in the rank of my friends, that I might give you all the time necessary for recollection, and that I might assure myself of your fidelity, I have hitherto restrained the burning ardour of my soldiers. Already I congratulated myself on the success of my solicitude, which had for its object to prevent the effusion of blood; but at this time a fanatic priest had not kindled in your breasts the rage which predominates therein: the incensed Feerand had not yet instilled into you the poison of falsehood and calumny. Writings, originating in despair and weakness, have been circulated; and immediately some amongst you, seduced by perfidious insinuations, solicited the friendship and protection of the French; they dared to outrage my kindness, by coalescing with my cruel enemies. Spaniards, reflect! On the brinkmingo in every direction are familiar to us;

of the precipice which is dug under your feet, will that diabolical minister save you, when with fire and sword I shail have pursued you to your last entrenchments? Ah! without doubt, his prayers, his grimaces, his relics, would be no impediment to my career. Vain as powerless, can he preserve you from my just anger, after I shall have buried him, and the collection of brigands he commands, under the ruins of your capital! Let them both recollect that it is

that more than once we have seen your dispersed bands fly before us. In a word, you know what I can do, and what I dare; think of your preservation. Receive here the sacred promise which I make, not to do any thing against your personal safety or your interest, if you seize upon this occasion to shew yourselves worthy of being admitted amongst the children of Hayti.

Remarks of the American Editor-In consequence of the first of these proclamations,

an indiscriminate massacre of the whites commenced, on the 19th of April, and continued till the 14th of May. Letters, as well as the verbal accounts of the passengers agree in representing it as being horrible beyond. description. On the 14th of May, when the informant left the Cape, the infuriated negroes had sacrificed to their uurelenting policy not less than 2500 human beings. The work of destruction then ceased from necessity, for no more victims remained The details we have received of these transactions are shocking to the ear. Indeed, no language of which we are capable, can describe with accuracy the horrors of the carnage, which had no respect to the infirmity of age, or the innocence of childhood; but involved in one common ruin, and frequently with the same sword, the infant sucking at the breast, and the unoffending mother from whom it derived its nourishment. On the last mentioned day, Dessalines left the Cape by way of Port-de-Paix and Gonaives, for the purpose of enforcing the terms of the second proclamation, which he had caused to be issued in that part of the Island of St. Domingo inhabited by the Spaniards. He also ordered that the occupiers of houses should remove, with all possible speed, to a ditch at the side of the mountain, the dead bodies of the murdered which remained in the streets, that they might not be either devoured by the dogs, or be suffered to produce a pesti lence. The quantity of silver plate, jewellery, gold ticles, &c. plundered from the dead, and brought in by the negroes, was immense, and frequently offered for sale, at half its value.- On the 22d April, Fort Dauphin was pillaged, a part of the town destroyed, and the whites massacred to the number of from 85 to 90. A few days afterwards, the French inhabitants of St. Jago, and other parts of the interior, were escorted to the Cape, under a strong guard, and there butchered.

PUBLIC PAPERS.

Convention concluded between his Majesty the Emperor of the French and the reigning Count of Bentheim Steinfurth. Dated Paris, May 12, 1804; and signed by C. M. TALLEYRAND and Louis, reigning Count of Bentheim.

Art. 1st. His Excellency the reigning Count of Bentheim shall, with all the proper and customary forms usual in Germany, be put in possession of the county of Ben

theim immediately on paying into the Hanoverian treasury the sum of 800,000 livres, which, without the deductions, which the French Government resigns, is the original sum for which the county was pledged.— Art. 2d.-The French Goverment guaran tees to the Count Bentheim Steinfurth the maintenance and full force of this Convention, whatever may be the future fate of the Hanoverian territory.

Ratification.-His Majesty, the Emperor, approves and ratifies the above Convention, which was signed and ratified on the 22d of Floreal, of the year 12, by Charles Morice Talleyrand, our Minister for Foreign Affairs, provided with full powers for that purpose, and Count Louis, reigning Count of Bentheim.. Given at St. Cloud, the 2d Prairial (22d May).—(Signed) — Nápo•

LEON.

Note lately delivered to the Dict of Ratisbon, by the King of Great-Britain's Electoral Envoy, BARON VON REDIN, relative to the County of Bentheim.

His Britannic Majesty and Electoral Highness of Brunswick Lunenburgh, having learned that the Count of Bentheim Steinfurth, has in the course of the preceding summer, attempted to avail himself of the unexampled invasion by the French, of the territory belonging to the German Empire, and appertaining to his Britannic Majesty, as Elector of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, in order, unjustly, to appropriate to himself the County of Bentheim, which, as is well known, is possessed by his Majesty as a security. Not being able to succeed in the attempt, Count Bentheim Steinfurth, according to every appearance, is now engaged in a negotiation with the French Govern ment, to obtain for himself, in the most shameless and unjust manner, the abovementioned security, which was made with the full consent and concurrence of the House of Bentheim Steinfurth, and the validity of which was never disputed by the present Count. His Britannic Majesty might have left this injurious transaction to its own nullity and invalidity; but he has rather chosen explicitly to declare, as he has already publicly made known his determination with respect to all loans of money, that he will not acknowledge any negotiations or treaties that may be entered into without his consent, relative to the County of Bentheim, but will assert his just claims and rights against the Count of Bentheim Steinfurth.

Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Cover: Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall.

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