The National Register. — London, England, 1818-06-22 00:00:00

ó'î tlldL ç> ~~~~ No. 541.—V0z.. XI. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. THE DUTIES OF ELEC lOUS AT THE PREiENT CRISIS. THE greatest beauty in the British Constitution is the principle of renovation: in the natural body, this principle characterizes living and organised beings, and provides for the preservation of the animal or plant amidst the constant flux and evaporation of the parti. rlsz of am..er of which it is composed. In the body politic it provides far the renovation of the Government by the election of a new Parliament. If this is our gmatan boast, it is accompanied, like all blessings, with correspondent duties of the greatest importance: and it behoves us not to pass over those duties care lessly. The present is the time to exercise diem.-- Whoever has felt anxiety upon public proceedings ; whoever has condemned or approved of the measures sanctioned by the late Parliament, ought now to recall his past reflections to revive his former feelings, and, weighing them with that coolness which time naturally induces, act up to those which he still approves. The olcient critic advises the poet to keep his pro'luctious for nine years, in order to profit by his own cooler judgment; unfortunately the politicians of this country find too much of that coolness in the shorter period of six years. Political questions succeed each other like figures in a magic lantern, and leave not the slightest vestige behind on minds which am never occupied but with the object which is presented to them by t!•e circumstances of the day It is net the mature jetig meta wlei.l Horace recommends for the author, bet the indifference which springs from indolence; it ;re -leefbles not the subje.•tioo of early passion to the con trout of reason, but the impotence of age, in which feeling is no more. It is of 101 marks the most fatal symptom of the times. The Members of the late Rouse of Cumulous arc now sent b:n•i: to their constituents, to be conarated or rejected, and their constituents think only of their coniluct during the last Session, or even the two last months of it, not recollecting the occasions during the five preceding years, when their Represeu t•ttives p-rhaps not only voted in d:rect oppositiou to their wishes, but formed a part of thwe large majorities who treat the petitions of those who sent them to Par :.ament with contempt and scorn. The greater the v. rung, the insult ; and the keener the feelings with which they were received at the time, the more childish and pitiable is this forgetfulness. The paaeur el circen sis of the Romans may be more odious, bat cannot he fore contemptible, for this is truly iufautine. Yet such ;:s exactly the case with a huge portion of the public in a country prnad of the selility aad dignity its na t;:inal character. Besides this strange forgetfulness, another and most extensive cause of voting for Candidates whose public conduct has not entitled them to the centiouation of their egmstituents' confidence, is private friendship— rot always for the candidate herself, hat fur same ef his committee, .or of his committee's friends, or their connexions, cr fer any one leo 1:e. taken a warm pert in the election. Such a ratuive tbr giving a vote for one of whose public conduct the elector does not him se t . approve, is absurd in the eye of reason. Vet men ve.ose understandings are by no means weak, and whose condnet in the:: own private eonee.-ns is any thing but absurd, are daily giving, their votes in th:s nu.nner. Would they tahe a deed• teieen tliet: itnew to be ignorant of the common rule.; ofarithieetle, or to be dishonest—or any other servant icier: aby expe rience to be totally unfit for his sitaati,o, and that si tuation of importance, merely to please a fit rid, or a friend's friend nine times removel Certainly not— ; they wadi' say at once " The may you mom. =end has been tried and convicted at the Old Bailey of fraud--I will oblige you therefore taty other way, I Zee- 4 PiticK 90. such has been, and such still is, the extravagance d Ministers, that, notwithstanding we cannot use any cf our five senses to any advantageous purpose, without paying taxes—yet still, and although we arc at peace, the money thus screwed ont of us is nut enough to pay the interest of the debt, and the expenees of Govern. meat ; so that we are obliged to borrow more evtry year. and thus add more and more to this debt, already. too much for us. Let every elector reflect on theme considerations, and. not bestow his vote on those who have supported Mi nisters in any unnecessary expence. Lct every elector remember that real reform must begin with the Consti tutent body—that if the counties, the great cities, and the open, uneorrupt boroughs would do their duty, and return those members only, who have supported, or who will support honest and economical measures in P:iliament, although (as the House of Commons is now constituted) the; would not form a majority, yet that they would form a minority of such weight and influence Cast no Minister would dare to act against their advice. Then we should have some prospect of our expenditure being ^educed within our income, and of our debt not being increased in time of peace.— But the electors must do their duty, and now is the time. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. --sionte-e FRANCE. EXECUTION OF THE ASIASIINS OF !VALDES. PARIt, Jura I:l.—Justice at length is satisfied, and so. ciety avenged. On the 2d of June, et half-past ten at night. the King's procurator to the Ti ibunal of Feist Instance of Albi, reerived by estafette the sentence of the Court of Ces sation, dated the 30th of May last, which rejected the a ppeal of the condenincd. The 'lonelier affirms, es the g townie fur rejecting the appeal, that the forms of law have been ob served in every point by the Court of Assizes. On the morning of the 3d the military guardswere doubled, and every measure of vigilance and precaution taken for putting into execution on that flay the sentence of condem nation. At 11 o'clock, the linissier, Comsat% al rived at the prison of St. Cecilia. The names of Ilastirle,iif Jowann, and of Collard, resounded through the vaalts, and retch of them Came forward, loaded with chains, and with his hands tied behind his back. They were still ignorant of the events in which they were so mulch interested ; they appeared torn with inquietude and fear ; the linissier read to them the see fetter which rejected their appeal. This done, they were IM• inetliat ely separated, and each a them :oe..ett Hp alone in a dungeon, with a guard in keep constant watch till the dread_ ful moment artived. .Jansion showed more calmness and re signation than could have been believed. llastide seemed touch east 11114 n ; that audacity, that courage, which lie had shew n dialog the trial, quite forsook him. Collard wept bitterly, protested his innocence, and still spoke of Arnie Benoit, who, en her pail ; was occupied with nothing but the fate of her tinfortnnate Collsrd. MM. Chatard and Ririe. es, the Chaplains of the prison, arrived in a few minutes afterwards to administer to the wretched criminals the spiritual comfort of their august ministry. Runde. and Jansion interrepti d the tlisconrse addressed to them, and desired that a notary might be sent for to take down their last will, awl receive certain new confessions. The law hes, in its wise foresight, required that Magistrates, stale to discover the traces of great crimes, and to secure the punishment of them, shall join to bncli services the useful duty of collecting the last thoughts and tile lint confessions et 4 criniiials. 31. Pagan„Comwellor of the Roy al Court, charged , with this office, reps iced at two o'clock to the it ison ; lie ere pioyed every effort to obtain front the enhatipy men abort to pay the forfeit of their Ryes. a confession of the het rib;e crime of which they were convicted. Addressing himself le Jawion, he invited him in the name of that Se. ereign .11:dge ' netere whom he was soon going to appear, Hot to conceal the teeth ; since imposture would only add re his crime, without t io Addy warding oft the punishment. Jawiou only replied, • that he starred innocently; and that, lin the Mowinr of his. titatily, he trusted they would t ake a sol«iitil rtcord o f his erotesaltions. Baiside answered in in .arly the smile terms. d protested his innocence. The Nlagistrele withdrew, without being able to obtain any salisi;:ctury to just.ce. The worthy chaplains were :semis introduced, and , daring thepreparaiton f i le the ex. co m, einitiliWit in esirthol emsinainion with the prisoners. At three o'clock two strong detaclauents of Irtool.llllrived on Ilse spot wet e the CACCII6OII was to take place; while alto* I he . ' party 01 w as stationed in front of t h e pr i son. _ Shoot . . ;.feet, the horse actiTiirsiwrie lode tip to the prison , . gates and lot chat ge 01 all O. ascot , a funf. it. Atiast, at lialf-past low the criminals isseed from the pi isco, and were placed upon the fetal cart. iinaiide. Jausiosi, and Collard, were in the middies The two chaplains seated themselves, one at each cud of the cart, and esborted the wretched men w ith a Teal which drew tears tom the spectators. Holding I I in weir hands the sign el our ledeniption—in the: Dame of Miami It toitittr+ Our wing, Comititution ant 1t a 5334. MONDAY, JUNE 22, 1818. but not by taking him into my counting house." But why, in the name of common sense, should not a simi lar answer be made respecting the member who has been tried at St. Stephen's, and who has there voted against the approbation of the elector, or who has, for the sake of good contracts or for his own rivatebenefit, its some way or other, given his unquelified support to measures which the elector did nut approve of? If the national concerns are of any importance to the public, such private motives, however pardonable on an indif ferent subject, arc unpardonable is this case. • But there are some, again, who entertain and pro- 1 mulpue an opinion the most erronenus ;tad the most 1 baneful in its effects—namely, that as Ling as their private concerns go on, they reed nut trouble them- ' selves about public affairs. Corsider:ng how obviensly false this notion is, it appears truly aetonishing treat it should be so prevalent. Helm collector of the poor rates of a parish absconds with the money which he has collected, in consequence of' the neglect of the parish officers who did not exercise a due controul over him, is not a new rate imposed to make good the de ficiency i—and is not every householder a sufferer in his pocket thereby ? If the Minister of the country is ex travagant, enters into unnecessary wars, or 11-manages those that arc necessary, whereby a vast debt is incur red, whict. have been avoided; and if the repre soma has of the people, who ought to cheek and pre vent the Minister from acting so, neglect their duty—is it not the necessary consequence, that heavier taxes are I impose. ? Is not every individual obliged to pay more fur his house, or his horse, or the goal: which he con sumes, in consecocnce of the increased testifier) ? How then can it be said that a nien's private interests are not affected by public measures—when the Government, With the cencurrence of a majority of the House of COMr.IO:IS, put their hands into every man's pocket ? It seems unnecessary to prove truths so obvious ; but let us carry this consideration a little farther. We now arc obliged to pay annually 41 millions sterling interest of the national debt, besides supporting all the unavoidable expencea of Government, civil, military, and naval. To do this we are obliged to pay taxes on every article we touch, and sometimes two or three times over —first on the raw material, and afterwards on the manufactured article. For inatance, gentle rea der, on the very newspaper in which these considera tions are urged to your notice, you pay xverel taxes. The metal of which the type is made wherewith these words are printed, istaxed—the ink is taxed—the pa per is taxed—the advertisements are lased—and Lefore the newapaper, having paid all these taxes , can be circulated, it pays un additional tax—the stamp duty. Now, reader, all this must necessarily come out ef your idaepcnee-halfrany. If so much debt had no: been incurred, that is, if ao mach money had not been seeet en sinecuriste, on wars, on personal eetievaereice at Brighton, and elsewhere, there would no: ke so many millions to pep for the interest of our debt---so many taxes need not' be imposed, and the paper you read, as well as the porter you drink while re elln; it, and time candle which you have just straffel, becaese it gave so bad a light, might all be bad at a cheaper rate, and of a ratter —How then can yen pereunde yourself that the manner in which public ailitirs arc conducted, does nut affect your private interests—in fact, dive snore or less into your poskets t—But these measures of ters cannot be coned into execution without the con cerrence of the iionse of Cemmone ; it is, therefore, to . ;teat importance to you: private interests, that you slice? I give your vote, if you have one to give, to a Candidate who win oppose, to the utmost of his power, • Ministerial extravagance ; and if you have not a vote, that you should exert your influence with those who feece: of such a Canltlate—fcr :7=Gt