The National Register. — London, England, 1809-07-23 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL. REGISTER. I t fur iinc. cs.m4Cetution, ins Law. No. 82. SUNDAY, JULY 23, 1809. PRICE 9d. Silt, POLITICAL DISQU ISITION. NUMHI:R EIGHIY• TO COLONEL WARDLE. WINN a man, whether in parliament or out of it, leav ing the mass of !irk ate cititens, asserts pretensions to Superiority, and obtains the admiration and applause of his country (no matter upon what fancied grounds) his claims immediately become an object of public concern, and every individual has a r . :gitt to the foundation upon which they are built, and the - :lea.' by 7-bich the superstructure has been raised . I claiizi Ciis privilege in behalf of Myself, and of that part of public who con sider you merely as a political swindkr s ,you have cajoled the credulous out of their thanks by means of declarations the most false and'unfounded, and by a conduct which had slay thing but what was patriotic, gentlemanly, or even manly, for its motives. With an. unthinking gallantry which bespoke your spirit than your understanding, you undertook to bring forward certain charges in the House of Commons agaihst the DUKE of Yonx. You were suffi ciently bold in your assertions, and plausible in your state ments, to satisfy your empleycr and to stagger the public. The intemperance of false patriotism served to gloss over the infamy of your own evidence, and even the indelicacy Or your tonne:Aloes and your friendships might have been .overlooked, because the nation appearr4l 'to receive a be nefit from your exertions. Had you stopt here, the. con tempt which you 4eserve as a man, and which Mr. -Mao -11111 so nobly explained in the House, might have been balanced in the public mind by your merit as an accuser. The vilest animals in nature have their tese, and are pet-- witted to form a part of the great system, because they destroy others whose powers of mischief are more exten sive. Upon this plea, the calumniating informer, and even the executioner may be defended. Emboldened by success ngaitua the Commander in Chief, you mounted from par-1 titular characters to arraign the general military system, as well as the finance of the country ; and as if-your hall vidual attack had been insufficient to expose the pure pa triotism of your designs, yeti had the presumption to make a general charge at the end of the sessions, in order to work upon the minds of the credulous and ignorant, der. ing the prorogation of parliament. But your vanity has carried you still further, and unable to pay the price of your popularity, and belug deceived by those who pro mised to enable you to pay it, you have attached the very source from wheuce von derived it. It is fortunate fer the world that there are lengths e% en in "", beyond which, if a man attempts to go he defeats his own purpose, and the intended mischief recoils upon himself: you are pre cisely in this situation. The absurd inconsistencies which mark every step of your conduct, dearly prove, that hav ing quitted the plain road of common sense, you have run into the coemen error of little minds, which unexpectedly find themselves placed iu situatioui that ug ali;a'aue• proba- Lility had ais:gned them. You have misiakeu craft for sense, and low cunning for understanding ; you have, un fortunately for yourself, but fortunately for the public, exercised these qualities tipcn a person better gifted than you are, and have been fairly beat at your own weapons. You exhibit, the uncommon picture of a patriot without popularity, and a half corrupted courtier without a place (kinc illce lachrpnce). Flushed with an imaginary power over the undarstandings of the people, and exasperated by' defeat, you have, in the language of Airs. CLARK E'S Ad dress, "lost your prudence with your temper," and I as's dared to vilify the proceedings of the Court of Kilig4 Bench, by saying that a verdict was obtained by perj:iry, and to injure the characters of our most eminent counsel lors, by denying that they would not follow your adrice. your advice! Oh dear, Mr. WARDLE, your advice! Re member that 1 And in the new reforming regime which you propose to introduce, pray render the recurrence of such a circum. stance impossible. But really, Sir, the pill is too lame to be swallowed. We are not so gross as to take words for facts, or assertions for proofs. However sacred and infal lible the word of a patriot and a reformer may be within a certain pale, the people of the United Kingdom must have better and more substantial proofs of a divine mission, before they receive your dogmas as articles of faith. Rea son and experience are not to be discarded in a moment ;. we owe them too many obligations, and jou will find them the best searchers of Ike hearts ;Ind Wort of ihe There is something ridiculous in your distress which would excite our compassion it' it. were not folly or some thing worse to pity you. In the confusion of defeat you have intemperately appealed from the jury to the people, and the people have decided against you. You have done this intemperately : but men's manners as Shakespear well ob serves, like their judgment , are a parcel If Mali. fortunes. —.An adventurer accidentally raised from obscurity, to a state of popularity, you have not been able either by your virtue.; or by your abilitif2s, lo maintain the sl - :!tion, and arc BOW a fallen man stru%glili t : betwee:i hope and despair to re. cover what you have lost, and lost for ever. It 1.; acknowledged to be the peculiar privilege of the Almighty to b:ing good out of cvii, and the uablushieg eirrontecf, coupled with the incontestible meanness of your conduct, has had this happy effect —it has. opened 'the eyes of many whom party had blinded, or disappointment ex asperated, aml has turned the resentment and indignation of the people against the man who had deceived them with a distended and outrageous portrait of himself.—l do not eq)ect that I shall b e able to persuade you, or those Rho are influenced by the prejudices of party, that such has been your conduct,—aud that such is your present situa• tion. Ido not even expect to gain the attention of such, much less do I attempt their convection. Time and an ex perience of themselves and you, will do that by degrees which no argument can effect. Of these the well-intenti oned wilt sooner or later return to their natural bias, and others will in turn become as you have done, first the tools, afterwards the dupes, and ultimately-the vicCna of I~ I: ~~ '.