Long had our avaricious neighbours, the Dutch, continued to foment the spirit of rebellion in the Western World, by various supplies, without which its virulence, nay its existence must have ceased. With one uniform character for punctuality in dealing, to an extent and nicety rarely known but in our own land, these moral virtues, which can alone give joy to the wealthy, are absorbed in the Hollander by an unceasing pursuit of the same object. The bonds of nature, and all the ties of honour which unite nation to nation, are sacrificed by him to the call of self-interest. This fiendly passion, and the repeated injuries sustained by England, brought on a rupture between the two countries, friends by alliance, but enemies in their principles of action. The detention of Count Byland added fuel to the flame, by furnishing means to the emissaries of France, in Holland, who were active in working upon the popular mind. From the beginning of 1780, the cause of these hostilities, which commenced towards the close of the year, may be dated. The conduct of the neutral Powers, at this crisis of accumulating difficulties, was equally ungrateful. At the head of them was Russia, whom we had nurtured in Naval tactics and the arts of civilization, by a long train of friendly good offices. But her early energies were levelled against the life of her Patroness, and in defiance, too, of that maritime code of laws, which had been long recognized by Europe as the fixed standard of commercial intercourse. If ever there was a period of our existence that urged general union it was this. Our Country seemed doomed to destruction, and, like vultures hurried on by instinct to the spot of animal dissolution, every nation crouded against our island to lay claim for its share of our tottering Empire. To prevent the repetition of such a period in our history, a fostering care of our Navy, and every branch attached to it, appears the wisest system, and the most incumbent duty. Sir Henry Clinton having been freed from every fear by the glorious repulse of D'Estaing from Savannah, had it in his power to carry the British arms to any part of the American coast. His first essay was aimed against the province of South Carolina, and his operations commenced on the 1st of April against Charleston, its Capital, after having landed upon John's Island, and from thence advancing by slow steps; which afforded time to the Rebels of fortifying every point of defence.