The National Register. — London, England, 1808-01-10 00:00:00

Tit o *- v . + lons invectives, and malignant Insinuations, _thy 3 14 ‘414° 4 01 4 0 reputation of intiividuals. Xet witch r po t u f "ro.riplip4: boo s Editors of all those newspaper', whichdecidedly. ftand fortkau the champions of a particular faction. The mercenary -Editor receives his cue ; and, whatever he knows or believes, his de. voted pen disperses abroad, with equal alacrity, the most un deniable truths, or the most villaineus falsehoods. The ineffa ble contempt which we feel for men who thus dishonour their natures, would prevent us from even.noticiag their servile de clamations, were it not for the effect which .they produce on the honourable and unsuspecting part of the comteunity, whenever cnti imagine that apparent zeal, and warm professions of pa triotisra, should proceed front such Ignominious motives, and be designed fur such infamous purposes. These considerations oblige us to pull off the dkguise, and expose the cloven foot of thcse betrayers to the world which they have duped. • Of the r e periodical instruments of faction, same, after hav ing by popular arts acquired a great circulation, have been brought over to the cause of their patrons by the usual means : such are The Morning Post and The Courier, whose change of party was as sudden, as their zeal has since been ardent. Others, such as The Sun and The Morning Chronicle, have been originally established, and since supported by their respective factions, front whose mandates they dare not swerve a tittle. Among them all, The Morning Chronicle holds the tirst rack for consistency; that is to say, for having zealously and perse veringly said just what its patrons were desirous it should say, s ithout once pretending to those qualms and scruples of which few persons can wholly divest themselves. This bumil iatioe sort of consistency, has, strange to tell ! actually been the boast of every sueressive editor of that paper; aed we have heard some of its admiring readers observe that, amidst all changes, the Morning Chronicle was always on the same side ! Among the numerous instances which we ha ve seen In t hat paper of the virulent attacks mode on individuals, because they were connected with the political antagonists of its party, and merely because they were so, we shall only select the most recent—an invective against Lord Strangford, which appeared in The Chroniele of Tuesday last, the sth of January. Of 1 erd Strangford, we know nothing beyond what is known to all the world! ner da we desire to kuow any thing of him, ueless the public services which he may hereafter render his country. It is not as an indisidual that Lord Strangford calls forth our strictures in his defence, and far less qs the member of any political party t it is as the representative of nll those whose reputation stay be injuriously traduced to serve the views of a &teflon, that we are desirous to rescue him from the fangs of interested harpies. It is a cruel private ioury to give unde served stabs to the reputation of a man just commencing his career: it is a eruel public injury, causelessly to destroy the respectability of a man to whom a portion of the national in teiests is horns ted. Stich are the considerations which call forth our present remarks. As soon as it was known that the Court of Portugal had ac, tually entig,rated to the Brazils, The Moraing Chronicle began to prepare the public mind by announcing the extreme import ance of appointing an Ambassador of commanding talents and dignity to the new empire; and thus, as soon as the expected nomination of Lord Strangford was made public, the meditated blow was ready to be given to Ministers, through the character of tits young neociator. That his reputation was to be saerificed, merely for the sake of hurting the Administration, will pretty clearly appear, from the proofs adduced of his incapacity. First, we are ini'ortned, by The Morning Chronicle, that his Lordship possesses no qu:Jiticatione, of any sort, which could point hint out as a negotiator; that the world knew nothing of hire, except his having• published a few amatory poems awl translations, from Cantoens. We must own it to 1.);.: a me lancholy truth, that little attention} is ever paid to the origiai4l qualiEcatiotu of our ; Writ z!pvttintmut is matter :TV! 4 100140 4 110; 11011 Agimifte4iavix. pkoaethrepy la 194 UrMi h a l li;s rib', 4+P lha►vP.Pitive 4 themakets 014rxts*. • • I A ,this et i nte : of .ttfts,,,.ll.ord Scramford's nomloa.. tiokto ailiplontaticAnt4so, mast Ise'considere4.as rather a for . - uulate selection. His isoetic4 effusions prove ,that. be Is pos.. sesied of some genius and some .14stej :his trumlations front Camoens skew 'that he was well aqquainhul with She !Portuguese laairattgr, and solicitous about the literature, and, consequently, the manners of that country. How many of. our Secretaries of Legation could be named with equal‘qualilleatioos ? How many even of our Ambassadors know and care nothing more about the language of the country to which they are.sent, thee. the bear! of Siberia: The next objection is, that altbough.Lord Strangford may do very well for some subordinate place, fur a Secretary of i.e. gation, yet he is every way unfit for the high station of Ant. hassador ; that he has neither rank to impress the Portuguese with a sense of his dignity, nor experience to make up for this lamentable deficiency; that he is only a poor Irish Lord, wl u must have recourse to his industry, and has hitherto beet; eta+ plowed in a subordinate office, it is curious to observe the cloven foot of this tool of the great aristocracy, which somethnes pretends to he.the friend of the people, the assentor of equal rights. Because Lord Straugford is not born a Marquis or a Duke, we are told that he isnot at all a fit person to negociate with the Portuguese Graudees, the Sourns, and Araujos, and Alineidas, and twenty other, odd names, of which no one ever heard before : 'nen who would have hem ;lad to retain their places at the price of licking the dust off a French Viceroy's foot; and whose counsels protracted the,stay of their Prince, till he could scarcely evade, the chaips of jai l oppressor. It is amusing, in the nineteenth century, to hear 44 objected to an Ambassador, that he was not born; to a great title; at a period when the greatest generals, statesmen, and negociators of the age can scarcely tell the names of their great grandfathers; when the ancient nobility of the Holy Empire are hardly ever mentioned, and the ensigns of the Apatite Legiop of honour are received by Sovereign Princes with profound rev*. rence. We must own that we have no particular satisfaction is . seeing important trusts placed in the hands of antried men, merely because they happen to be bora harls or Dukes. We never heard that those servants were best who received the wages before they did the work ; every employer will tell you, that such a practice serves ouly to render them negligent, lazy. and insolent. The unhappy Emperor of Austria affords a sad instance of a great Prince, ruined by adjartimg the appoiut tnents of his servants, according to the tank or their birth. The argumeut which flee Morning Chronicle here urges against Lord Strangford's appointment, we should urge in favour of it. Although a lord, he is not possessed of suaicient influerce Of wealth to enable him to make a figure in the world, without his own exertions; he must execute his commissions well, otherwise he will have no inure entrusted to him; while, without these apponaments, he must he reduced to obscurity and itteligeone. Such is the man %I ho is likely to tw a:it:naive in the management of our political Interests, since 'upon his. euccese entirely de pends his own future fortune. But if this objection to the appointment of Lord Straoeford so manifestly turns in his favour, what shall Weeny to the other objection, that lie is unqualified for the bi;ber ore*, because ho lets tilled the lower; that he is toffit 'for discharging the duties of an Ambassador, at the same' court where be has ettted as Secretary of Legation ? ley this rule; tt snettavettid be rendered unfit for an office,' wady by taking the preparatory steps to qualify hinesstirfor it ; Itial it wohld . be fliebest polio! in the e mid to make some brainless Earl or Marquis,- xs ho understood about as much of diplomacy as he did of the language and mans tiers of the country to which he was unit, vault iate the stattoa of, Ambassador .see 'fie lead of szt:SCAIIIitt iti , Lpoptiont ea. •peyicueed iu all the e - aidtspernable •requisitta.., Nefey , i thily,.•ll . . . , . C . ; .1 . . • . • f.5..•r.R.~ U JAN. 10 1 lour iuvectiv reputation a Editors of ai the cbampio: receives his voted pen di deniable true We contentk natures, wo clamations, honourable e CILII imagine triotista, sht b-Figned fu oblige us to these- betray Of these jog by pop brought ovt such are party was Others, sue originally t factions, fr, Among the for consiste, veringly sa ithout on few person! of consistel . every sueee •f its :Win Morning Among tt of the viru connected because the invective Itta;--ing ( ~rd Sulu 211 the w, I VW! 46 5