The National Register. — London, England, 1809-11-26 00:00:00

V. "lb 3 Ltl • : • '7 • 2:li ~_~... • Y ""`.- '-; I . ' Our aim comqitution, anti 11.avo. 2 1- SUNDAY, N 0 E M U : F4 R 1809. . .1 No. 100: !T • I , ' • POLtricAL DISQUISITION. ); .• .... • -13 • • Wingigibit WIN ICTIr•ICIGhtT. ; ';' 11.11 lISTERIAL ARRA!*GEMENTB. -• The Earthquake, which freqesenay spares the cottage, levels the proud dome, and the stupendous palace in the dust. Laws, exmitly similar, ,Itlet*: to govern the moral world ; and the great marls of men are nut excessively af fected by'cbnvolsiOns, which sweep 'away every trace of genius and public spirit. • This is:illustrated by the History of the French;' English, and Roman Revolutions. They were ushered in by an uncommon, display of talents and Virtue; and may, perhaps, be as much attributed to a imperabendanste of abilities, as to a complication 'of abuses. GOverninent, under its present form, almost in any coun tryi .could not satisfy the wishes, or the wants, of a very enlightened community. The most perfect. were formed in a rude ageoufa calculated fot the necessities of rude men: As this is the origin of nearly every political establishment, on unusual concourse of extraordinary men, out of the pale, within which, the efficient members of Government are generally chosen, are extremely dangerous to a barrier, they consider injurious to their pretensions. This was the pritieipat'enuse-of 'the memorable Revolution of 1789, Whith 4 rilittu . rired not only the French Throne, but threa tened to subvert the established, forms of polity, in every ether country. • Fortunately, for our olvn constitution, the talents of the governing, at that time, were so transcend . ant, ants outshine the great mass of light, which was spread through the several classes of the community. This was the reverse in France, where men of the . first genius, appertaining to the, body of the people, by birth ; and se - eluded from office, by prejudice and intrigue, overturned, -in o. moment, the Altar and the Throne. But, of all the - eminent men, who impelled, or were impelled, by the vortex of that dreadful Revolution, and whose genius tempered iteexcessive violence, few exist in this moment ; and this disappearance may be termed the last act of that •memetable drama. This is .by far the most lamentable •effect of political convulsions ;—they destroy, or disfigure • the nobler organs of the social body, and leave behind a -bloated,fputrid mass, and languid inefficient members. We may safely assert, that there never was, sincethe commence - meat of society, a greater display of talents of every descrip tion, but particularly, in the science of goversussenkthan at the beginning of the Revolution ; And, after an interval of twenty years, we can scarcely discover four or five persons of that description,. scattered over the wide surface •f Europe.—" Bari nantes iu Gurgile vasio." The danger and the storm have not decreased ; but, we look, in vain, for pilots, who, like BURKE, Fox, and PITT, joined hardi hood to experience,• an all inspiring confidence to the most consummate skill. This dearth of distinguished abilities is deplorably visible, in this moment, amongst the leaders of both parties ; but in examining the present Mithsterie/ Arrangements, we are Poi. ll.—Ne. C. e : : -. i Pn Ick 942. appalled with terror, at seeiug, to whose hands, the helm of the State, in thiS awful crisis, is con tided. We are no alarmists; and have no personal objection to the members of the present Cabinet; bet feel an unutterable anxiety, when we reflect on the consequences that may result front their continuance in office. Let us take the range of a Century, and it is impossible, to discover au Administra tion, so deplorably defective, so miserably constituted, so destitute of public contidencei—as the present. Taking ten times that range, or the whole course of our instruc tive annals, we shall not discover a single period, in which transcenthuit abilities were more imperiously requisite,. This is a most alarming contradiction I Danger swells about us. It assumes, every hour, a more menacing, a more . gigantic form. Our friends, our neighbours, have been successively ingulphed in its vortex. All their efforts, sup ported. by desperate firmness, and repeated with unex ampled obstinacy, aided by our pecuniary, military, and naval resources, have not bees sufficient to save them front the calamity r• and they now contribute, by their accessary streams, to swell the torrent, whose devastating violence be. soon directed, exclusively, against this country.— Confidence, under perilous circumstances, implies magma mity, superior to every danger; or betrays foslhardieess, the surest symptom of impending ruin. It merits the, former appellation, when a people, thungb,aresaesi,by ask' t extraordinary accumulation of difficulty and dangers', Inca- • fice remoter views to the urgency of the moment; associate cordially their common energies, by agreeing to renounce • vexatious distinctions, which one. province, - or a particular sect, may arrogate over another; and thus co-operating with one hand and one heart, are-guided. by a governMent, which has wisdom enough to encourage this unanimity ; and talents, as well as popularity, to employ it effectuakr. Under such circumstances, that people are superior to every contingency of fortune;, and display magnanimity in re posing the most unlimited confidence in their own exer tions, and the wisdom of their leaders. But, reverse the position, and suppose the Government, on the contrary, actuated by the blindest prejudices, and, whilst every other member of the coirsvnunity, whose of inion has any weight in moral and political questions, scot is and abhors every degma tending to disunite,—so devoid .of the liberal and. -enlarged spirit of true policy and genuine philanthropy, as to express apprehension and doubt, about the expediency -of cancelling grievances, which oppose au insurmountable barrier to unataimity,—stippose them, at the same time, labouring, under a strong suspicion of similar narrowness in -every branch of administrative science, and practical wis .dotn;—then confidence, under the guidance of such men, and in a crisis of unprecedented danger, betrays, on the part of the community, the blindest rashness, and the most - thoughtless levity. . To illustrate these general remarks, and to apply them to ourselves and to our own situation, let us take a dispassion- ..., ate view of the internal state and foreign rflations of the eznp:r.e. We d;srlairn, in the strungest terms, and the widest sense, a subserviency to Ova vicovs or a . ‘y.,party,;. mad, in -~