The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-25 00:00:00

APRIL 25. s i o n Bill. We stated to our readers some time ago, that we thought the Reversion Bill was not calculated, in its own na ture, to produce those signal benefits which some sanguine minds were inclined to expect from it : but we conceived it necessary to pass that Bill, however in itself unproductive of great advantages, because there are advantages infinitely great in the cireum neices that may be expected to attend it. We wish to see a an vil:iv!, even a useless sacrifice, made to the wishes of the people, if it can be made without danger : and further, we consider that this Bill, nnimportant in itself, may lead to reforms of an im portance which no one shall deny. But let us mark that Mr. Votobett, who so long has been bawling for reform, who so long has been inhaling the dust of Sir Ftancis Burdett's chariot sv heels, and preaching to the public the pernicious tendency of a spendthrift government. That very Mr. Cobbett, when a system is set on foot. which has in view the alleviation of the i,ohlic burthens, and which begins by softening public discon tent, that very Mr. Cobbett comes forward to say that the Committee of Finance is uu more than a trick : and though it as constituted for the furtherance of reform, he declares that it is calculated only to throw reform still further from our reach. ?ngenitius indeed must the Ministers be, who could frame an Act of which the title, preamble, and apparent construction 1-:!oulti go one way, and the real meaning the other—or else 11;o3t btrict mint he Mr. Cobbett, who sees an impropriety in the must honourable actions, and finds out mischief where weaker optics can discover only merit. After speaking in a vey slighting manner of the Reetrsion Bill and i:s principle, he goes on to say : " The petitions, indeed, from the Mayor, Aldermen, and " Common Council of the City of London, to both Houses of " Parliament, go deeper into the matter. They complain, that 4 ' there are numbers of abuses in the management and expenditure " of the public money ; that the peculators detected have not " been punished : that there are many sinecure places and pen " sions which ought to he abplished, for that they not only ' greatly add to the hurthens of the people, but create a per " vicious and dangerous influence, corrupting and undermining " the free principles of the British Constitution. True as this " is , and useful as it is to promulgate such truths, I should not, " had l been a Londoner, have joined in the petition ; and my " objection wmild have been that these sentiments were accom " panied a ith what was calculated to spread abroad the idea, "that the Reversion Bill ought to be regarded as a beginning in " the good work of reform, than which, as it is trident to me, no " thing could be further fron; the truth." So then, for fear of spreading abroad an idea that some good 'Would perhaps arise fro:n a niea4ure of the late Governme,a, Cubbett refuses to spread Sk hat he himself confesses to be truth, and to he such truth as it is useful to promulgate! What patriotism is here found in the Prince of Patriots !—W hat a noble contempt of those petty motives s hieh so ()firm, in men of less virtue and capacity, operate against the adoption of pub lic benefits ! Mr. Cobbett It ill not allow a particular set of seen to reap the sandiest credit; no, he Is ill rather set the whole kingdom is commotion : on, go on, great reformer :go on, and prosper. Do Hot let the country gain strength, if her strength Is to he increased by the credit of certain Members of the House of Commons whom vou dislike ; for what signifies " the good of promulgating troths," in comparison with the evil of spreading abroad an idea that may be creditable to .thoe Members! You will see right done on those men, we know; even though England should consume herself to death. Fiat justitia, runt clean, You would say, if Nou understood Latin it euough ; b ut you know vou despise the dead lamatages. y the bye, we, who read your paper, are rather sorry for your contempt of learning; because we very often find seuteaces eo u ngrammatical that we are started like men suddenly beaten, 01..1 feel a jarring sensation in our ears wilich stays with us a guar ler alas hour. As for instance, in thin very Number, where you THE NATIONAL REGISTER' 259 deny the advantage et' the new system of reform, and say, witis an exalted scorn of all the rules of composition : " Truly such a foundation did not promise much good ; and " whoever is disappointed at the result, the fault is entirely " their own." Here the plural their is coupled with the singular is: and their ewn, which is nothing more than a compound adjective, becomes, in your grammar, the antecedent to the relative tehoeuer. 0, Mr. Cobbett ! in one little sentence su much error ! For shame, for shame, why don't you get a private tutor? But to return to the reasonings of Mr. Cobbett, where there areas many false concords as in his style—The most that we can gather from his opposition to the appointment of a Committee of Finance, and to the Reversion Bill, and to the London Peti tion, is just this : that a man who sincerely wishes for refoilm, ought not to content himself at the beginning with something that goes a part of the way, hut should insist upon something that effects the whole at once. Your true reformer, like the fretful child, should not eat his cake by degrees, but fling it from him if he cannot get it all into his mouth without a second bite. What has been generally the difference between reform and revolution ? Why, that reform has been introduced by de grees, and in a peaceable manner ; revolution by one furious blow, which has seldom failed of drawing blood. A man of common- sense, in descending from a dangerous situation to the secure plain, will come down step by step, and take time to en sure his safety ; a madman who throws himself at once from the top, will sooner arrive on the soil, it is true, but he will pro bably he dashed to pieces by his expedition. For our own parts, we are glad to hail the slightest spark of reform: let us not puff it at once into a fierce fire, lest the heat become danger ous : let us gradually cherish and direct its flame, and then we shall profit by its warmth. The Reversion Bill has been infa mously checked, contracted, contorted: it inss been new -me-_ Belled, and now appear. " curtailed of its fair proportion, " Cheated of feature by diBsernbling natures " Deform's!, uolinish'd, sent, scarce half made up, " Into this breathing world." Rat shall we, like the Spartaw of old, expose or destroy our children as worthless and odibus, because they are not quite so fair as we could wish ? if the Reversion Bill be in itself ne powerful force; it is perhaps the Pioneer that clears the way fur the march of a more efficient ally : let us welcome it with ors arms, and not be so mad and so wicked as to throw away spat, because we have nut yet acrinised the win,ie. But the interest of Mr. Cobhett must surfer when the roveru ment of the country iosti lutes an ecimomical reform. He is one of these numerous declaimers who live by making the people of this country dissatisfied with themselves. The mischievous members of the government, perhaps, may suck the !stood of the country, and of that Mr. Cobbett would declare his abhor roost- : hut then Mr. Cubbet sucks at second hand, and draws by pecking at the carrion crows his quantum of that blood which the crow s have first sucked from the carrion. It would not be advantageous for him to abolish public grievances ; be cause he lives by exclaiming against the supporters of those grievances. A thief-taker cries out against thieves, hut hp would be sorry to see thieving abolished. Upon this principle perhaps it is, and not from absolute ignorance and folly, that Mr. Cobbett opposes the first advances of economical reform. lie spurs the steed, like the horseman in Roderic Random, who wishes the passengers to think Ite ,iseager to overtake the fugitive r, but as soon as the animal obeys the rowel, the admonition of the curb-rein prevents the inconvenience, - OWtipst attend an accomplishment of the ostensible object; •: e . .•' 1 • 10 . : ^ r. Cobbett, with all the ineonsleteoey :.trmk pvltiefflasf, quits his subject every now :;std then, t»¢ give4l Ilia few delight lid digressions of a very palatabferetird piquante personality,. Now it is very well to have &wide leftwetsi.tha acts ; but it ~~ •1 I # , i -4