The National Register. — London, England, 1808-05-23 00:00:00

MAY 30. frequently induced to make that beneficial which in itself ap pears pregraint only with mischief, and mischief too of the most fatal and horrible description. For some of the powerful pro prietors there are, who amid all their magnificence are in con stant need of ready . money : and theseare glad to dispose of their boroughs to any body who is willing to buy theta. Now it seems rather a paradoxical thing to assert : but the fact is that the most independent then in the whole House of Commons are for the most part the members for the rotten Boroughs : for they have paid so much unieey for their commodity : they wanted the importance or the conveniences that a sent in Parlia ment titfords, and they have bought that importance and those conveniences for five or six thonsaud pounds. These men ate dependent upon no creature. They are under no of►ligation to the great man who returned them, for he was paid for his goods. '!hey are under no necessity of obeying the fictions rabble of a ciamtv, " the inconstant multitude, who like not in their ,jtalg " mem, but their eyes :" for their contitutents are few and un important, the Mayors and Corporations of petty towns, people who know nothing and care nothing about politics, and whose concern with party goes scarcely beyond the knowledge of the separate interests that agitate two or three greatfamilies,distin guished by red, or blue, or orange yockades. What is the natural consequence ? Why, that the members are more likely to vote freely. Certainly there are many of them who arc willing to favour the schemes of Government : but of every political body it is fair and right that government should be assisted by somewhat more than half : and even if the proportion of these borough members who support goveynment be in the ratio of three fourths to one-fourth of those who befriend opposition, while Covernment has a proportion of seven-eighths among the county and city members, who approach, in their mode of election, Pinch nearer to what is called a pure organization of Parlia mentary representatives, even then the borough members are upon the whole a more respectable body than any other set 0: men in the [louse of Commons. But the boroughs that are not sold by the great men whose influence reigns in them, are also attended with great advantages to the state : advantages which alone vs ould, in our opinion, he sufficient completely to counterbalance all the mischiefs that the clamourous friends of cotwitutional purity are so perpetually and so factiously deprecating. These great men, having boroughs in their hands, are desirous sometimes of turning those boroughs to the increa s e o f th e i r repu t a ti on ra th er th an o f their wealth. Now every great man, from the time of Illtecenas to the present day, has loved the credit of patronizing genius, though all great men have had not liberality enough to pay the due price for that credit. But those who prefer honour to mo ney, or rather those who have already money enough, and want a little honour to grace it, are glad to gain, by the reflection of the talents of *others, that lustre which perhaps they cannot shed from their own fires : and accordingly they put men into Parliament who,e genius may be capable of exalting and publishing pa tronage. But for this system, we could hardly ever hope to see any man of talent in Parliament : for nobody who was not ex tremely powerful could expect to obtain the suffrages of his couutrymen, if the full proportion of his countrymen had a right to vote at the election. Even for any one of the counties, where, according to the present system of election, every per. son possessing; a forty shilling freeh o ld has a ri g ht to vote, how dithcult would it be fur any man to gain a seat who had not great estates or family interest in that county ! And how much must this difficulty be increased, if, as the Burdettites wish, each individual, whatever his property, were equally permitted to vote ! Surely, if t h e whole country were placed upon this foot rng,the House of Commons most necessarily become a mere meet mg of great merchants and country gentlemen. Now, among these country gentlemen it is not likely that we should Mid quite so many men of talent, as we dad in the same number of Mem bers constitutin g the Houses of Commons that are now orga- Fur it is nut likely that six or seven hundred per sons, picked out of the rich and landed gentlemen of the country, would afford quite so muc h gen i us as s i x or seem hundred inell picked out of every class and denomination of the country. lk sides, it cannot be denied, that at the present day the Merchants and country Gentlemen are by no means the independent persons they were formerly. They are now much attached to the rown : and there Li scrxrely one of them that is pat looking up to a Peerage, a Baronetage, a Colonelcy, a Lord Lieutenancy, or a County Receivership, if not actually to a place or a pen £llll. It is very well known. that the persons who have a p.ood deal, arenot the persons that want least and when we recollect how rapidly honours have lately been accumulated on rich Mcr cr•rel Aldermen, Backers, County Members, and other pee- - 4$ ior • ~, e: THE NATIONAL REGISTER. ple who seemed above the temptation of little attars or gew• gaws, we cannot see much reason to wish for the adoption girt plan that must throw all the seats of Parliament, (w ith very, very few exceptions. in some districts where public spirit might be less' inert,) into the hands of people so likely to be tempted, and so unable to resist temptation : while men of indepenient, but moderate property, who could pay a thousand a year for a seat, but who could Hot sustain the exiiettee of popular elec tions, would be totally excluded : and not only these, but all the men of talent, who are now brought is at no expense to themselves, and who, having no money, could otherwise never be brought in .1:t In short, till sir Francis Burdett con alter the nature of eon- Ntituent ,, , and prevent them from accepting bribes, it seems very improbable that Candidates, who arc eager for success, will , •"fuse to give those bribes ; and it bribery is to be tolerated in he people, it seems almost a joke to rail su loudly against cor ruption in the Parliament. " Private vices," says Mandeville, " are public benefits ;" and we think we have clearly proved, in spite of the Declaimers nho hold forth at the Crown and Anchor, that the corruption of Parliament, like rotten manure, while it offends the senses, enriches the soil. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FROM THE FRENCH, DVTCH, AND GOTTENWIGH PAPERS. F R.% N C PARIS, MAY I'?.—The Moniteur of yesterday contains the :illowing articles : Letter from hie Majesty the Emperor to the Prince of "Muriel. " Mr BROTii ER !—I have received the letter of your R►,s al etigbness : in the papers which you have received from the King, your Highness's father, y ou must have found a proof of the .oterest which I have always felt for you. You will permit me, under the present circumstances, to speak to You with truth and frankness. I wished by my journey to Madrid, to draw oser my illustrious friend to some necessary ameliorations of his States, and also to gi ve a certain satisfaction to the public feelings. The removal of the Prince of Peace appeared to me to he necessa ry for the prosperity of his Majesty and that of his subjects. The itfairs of the North retarded my journey. The events of Aran uez took place. I pass no decision on what had previously fal len out, nor upon the conduct of the Prince of Peace ; but I know well that it is dangerous for Kings to accustom their peo ple to shed blood, or to seek to redress themselves. I pray God, that your Royal Highness may never feel this by your own ex perience. It is not the interest of Spain to bijou. a Prince who has married a Princess of the Blood Royal, and who for a long time directed the affairs of the kingdom. Ile no longer has any friends ; your Royal Highness will possess them no longer than while you shall be fortuaate. The people willingly revenge them selves for that homage which they pa) us. How call the process be drawn up against the Prince of Peace, without involving in it the Queen and the King your father ? This process would give nourishment to hatred and factious passions, the issue of which would he fatal to your Crown. Your Royal highness has no "Aber riVit thereto than that which you derive from your mother. If thi. process degrade your Royal Ilig - hness destroys your own rigat. Ile who has leant an ear to weak and disloyal coun sels, has no right to pass sentence on the Prince of Peace. His aiisdeeds, if he can be reproached ss itis them, go to destroy the rights of the Crown. I have frequently expressed a desire hat tae Prince of Peace should be removed from atLirs; the friendship of King Charles ofuen induced me to remain silent, and to turn away mine eyes from the weakness of his conduct. Unhappy mortals that we were weakness and error, these :ire our mottos ! Butt all may be arrin;ed : namely, that t he Prince of Peace should be banished trout Spain, and I should invite him to a place of retirement in France. As to the abdication of King Charles the Fourth, that has taken place at a period when my troops were traversing Spain ; and in the eyes of 1;u -rope, and posterity, 1 shok.:(l scoqi t. have sent so many troops solely far the purpose of padnag from his throne my Ally and Friend. Ai a neighboar S.lyi-reign, it IA fit that I sheeld know this abdication, before :wino) islt . dle it. I say it to N . o6r Royal ligmess, to the Spaniard:, an: to the whole world if the ab dication of King Coarles na. pro( urdA from his own will, if I7e was not driven to it by the insorrcctiou and uproar at Aranjucz, make no scruple to accede to it, and to acknowledge your Royal Highness as King of Spain. 'lle circumspection which I have observed for this month pa't, must be aseetairy to you 839 lirth vr. .1 _