The Statesman. — London, England, 1814-02-26 00:00:00

. .~ . , I . THE STATESMAN. --=—----_ - -- -ic.- - _ — ___ r..... _,„--. - been said- 64 Witb humility, but with a confidence be ruined but by a Parliantog " and yet, to our of rectitude, we hold that the English Constitulastonishment, the sole prevention he suggests is, tion duty be thus defined and explained ; namely, 66 that ouch Members be delegated to this important a Constitution, whereof the spiarr consists of all i trust, as are most eminent for their probity, their those principle, on which political liberty depends ; thetas:fortude," and their knowledge." Yes, to be sure, anti the RIMY, or material form whereoficonsists of inks of corruption, will send forth 6 ' Mem the four institutions, which, for the State's self pre- bers" to rescue us from the 66 absolute power" of serration, fur the means of necessary legislation, for ' the accursed borough faction! the purposes of neagistraey, and for the security of Before we lose sightthe absolute rights of personal ,freedom, are equally indispensable; these I ever) Englishman," or of the pre-eminence of RIO four institutions being as follows : namely, lit, A i PRESENTATION, allow me to quote.the well-known NATURAL MILITI A, that consists of the Whole I on that' 66 a greater inheritance descends to physical strength of the community, from the duke , every one of us from itiuttr and the laws, than from Ably or inised : the same being ! our parents ;" on which Sir EDWARD Cl:me re birth-right _the _subject unwritten, Oren the learned are thereby misled ; error is abundantly disseminated forlrutli, and igno rance for loose ledge; the, foctions are taught how to cavil and misrepresent : while profligate plotters tre furnished with meatissof undermining and sub v..rting our libertieg, %bile they pretend to explain or to support the Constitution. As immediately connected with English eneca. Titre, I know but of two political works particular ly in use; the Commentaries on the Laws of Ea; - land, by OLACKSToNE; and The Principles of Mo rut and Political Philosophy, by PALEY. On these winks I shall submit to you it few such remarks as relate to the subject of these Letters. Those on BescerroNe I subjoin • those on PALEY must be reForcril for my next and i last Letter. When it is recollected how voluminous had been Vt ritings of some on the lairs of Eugland, and bow many had likewise written on its celebrated Constitution; when, in particular, it is observed, how much attention had been paid to both, in his Spirit of Lairs, by MONTESQUIEU,: whom our Au thor had diligently studied ; it was truly surprising, and greatly to be lamented, that, ellen first medi-. tating on the composition of his Cominesdarics. he had not asked himself this simple question—llave -l i tile words CONSTITUTION and Len• only one and Ike s rine identical meaning ;or do theyexpress two different i errs? had he fortunately asked himself this ques tieo, the train of reflection that, in a mind sodiscri minating, so well-stored, and so powerful, as his, must have followed, would del-listless have prevented some great blemishes is a work of otherwise extra ordinary excellence. flere I particularly allude to a radical error at the very threshold of his edifice—in his definition of LAW ; as well as to his iiiaccurate ideas of " su preme power," of ' 4 sovereignty," and of en abso lute despotic authority in Parliament. The first mentinned of these inaccuracies we may consider as a prolific seed, from which the other errors have ; and we are much indebted to a vigilant and virtuous constitutional watchman, who, under the si na t ure of Tatrenks, in the STATESMAN ' News paper, has, on the sound authority of BaActos, re cently pointed it out. 11tAcatTous defines law to be " a rule of action, which is prescribed by some superior, and which the :Inferior is bound to obey t" whereas BRAXTON says—" Lex est sponsio Reipublicm."—ln English, 6 ' Leiria the common of the Republic," that is, of the community or nation, as a state*. On an other occasion, BRACTON says, " Law is a rule set up by the consent of those who use it;" that is, for whose use it is made law. BLACKsToNE, stilt 'lilt-ler the influence of his first error, and with I;nglatiti of course in his mind, calls municipal law " a rule of civil conduct, prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what is right, and pro hibiting what is w song t;" and this " supreme pawn" he, without due consideration, and incon sistently with his own words in various itistar. places in time " legislature," or 4 ' Parliament." • ,To " Parlientent," he therefore attributes " ab solute despotic power," so " transcendent and absolute, that it cannot be confined, her for causes sr porvOns, slay bounds ." But how does this extraysgattenntiiii agree vt what he elsewhere says, in refei*eirto-Vhit has been written on " an original contract?" . " And this," says he, " is what we mean by the original contract of society, which, though peihaps in no instance it has ever been formally expressed at the first institution of a State, yet in nature and reason must always be un derstood and implied, in the very act of associating together : namely, that the whole should protect all its parts, and that every part should pay obedience to the will of the whole s." Ilad he attended to BRAGTON'S definition of laza, and consulted, in the outset, his own strong under standing, his Commentaries would have been as satis factory as they are eloquent • he would have seen that in the NATION alone resides a true, literal so vereignty ; that the sovereignty of PARLIAMENT, for practical kgislution, is fiduciary and figurative ;and the sovereignty of the KING, as the highest Execu tive Magii.trate, for executing the law, is likewise .ligurativv, and stilt Merit's to the other two ; being subordinate to that of Parliament. lie would then have seen his error, in talking of a 61 despotic power" in Parliament ; and that' it was not even a legitimate authority at all, unless it con tained an actual reprecentation of the people, accord ing to 64 nature and reason ;" he himself tells us, that 44 a statute is placed among the eccords of the kingdom ; there neeiliug no .formal promulgation to give it the force of law, becawee,..te:ery man in Eng land is, in judgment of law, party to the making of an Aced Parliament, being present thereat by his r t prfsentatives A gresiislfto Offs principle, and to BRACTOte'II de. finition.ollaw, be, in another place, says, " the DA: gine power of judicature, by the fundamental prin. ciplee of society, Is lodged in the society at large II" anti for explaining the ground on which legal pu. nishments are indicted, he remarks, th a t " the I temporal magistrate is empowered to inflict coercive penalties for transgressions ; and this by the consent' of individuals, who, in forming societies, did either tacitly, er expressly, invest the" [legislative] " sore reign power with a right of making laws."—" The inufniness, therefore, of punishing such criminals is tesiided upon this principle, that the law by which they suffer, was made by their ozvn Consent**." here, then, seeing that in every free state there tire three species of sovereignty ; the Ist ) original, inherent, and literally such, in the NATION ; the 94, derivative, fiduciary, and only figuratively such, hi the Lsoiss. eructs ; and the 3d, still farther deriva .." tiro, fiduciary, and also ,fsgarafieelg such, in the - CRIES MAGISTRATE; and seeing that both a con stitution and oidfnory law is " a rule, which a na tio,' sets op for its own use; " and that a Legislature and a Chief Magistrate, who officiate only in trust, require to be held to their respective duties, by bowls sufficiently strong, we come to see what is meant by a CONSTITUTION, in contradistinction to tin ter ry Lt.w. In An Appeal to the Nation +t, it has, therefore, EASt:INDI4I-110USE. A special general Meting of Proprietors was yes terday held, to take into consideration the Resolu tions of the Committee, to whom had been referred the question as to the propriety of - granting any in crease to the salaries of the Directors. After sotne preliminary discussion, the Chairman, Mr. R. THORNTON) stated the question to be, whether • the Court would agree with the first Resolution, viz.:—That all the documents and evidence deli vered as that of *l►lich i Proprietors. for here we are At ind rit ten - - - Itißjority pegtheitet Engllsid • See bir W.. 1 vt.. Intel means of Itemleivelett flints: Also an Appeal, Civil ..J.ll ou the English Catertitutio• 3 tied England's t lhid. $ 1. IS. lb A . r— C•ir,atimi IVII T. H 7. •• 1111 rUg. Coo. 425. • - Ste fatter ' ft 1.110, lb. gi 1. M. • ‘. Mr. PETER Moons then read several Resolutions respecting the increase of salary to the Directors, and gave notice that he should take an early oppor tunity of calling the attention of the Court to the consideration of them. . Mr. DIXON expressed his hope, that grant Wen. Ilion would be paid to the wording of the advertise; * The Government of Ersglaintoilitionscli It tualw a King and yet. a; rounded iii freedom, having for its object the common trent, it is nevertheless prnporly commonwealth g and formerly war so bt)ledt even la Royal Priselassistions Aos of Porliz.ment. +I. 41. 122. tl. 160. fY. 47. 1. 185. 11. *** 11f. 8. It rablieled 1815. 0 -h,, S +« meuts intended for the public Prints. In several4n. • \ stances, he said, but more especially in that of thii -- • debate upiits the remuneration to Gen. llislop, they hal t through 'sortie inadvertetrey r been drawn lip p• negligently as to render it uncertain whether 30001. or 15001. was the sum proposed. The CHAIRMAN was extremely sorry that the lion. Proprietor should think that proper i attentiou was not paid to the advertisements in the Public Prints. lie could assure him that the Court of Directors al.. ways paid the greatest attention to the preparation oil them. Mr. PETER Moonx then moved that the papers which he had laid upon the table be taken into consi. i Aeration this day three weeks, the 18th of March, to - the peasant, suitably orga, -, .. . from its übiquity and resistless force all potent ;*lia ; marks, 44 RIGHT is the best fi rth _ the possibility of dangerous bath ; (Cr, thereby his goods, lands, wife, children, - which was agreed to. . e police, by preventing riots ;in government, by preventing the possibility : his body, lite, honour, and estimation, areyrotected M. It..JACKSON moved, " That there be laid be. of serious iesurreetien or rebellion ; and in war, by I, from wrong+ -" a property in RIGHT, which cad fore this Court at, account of all pensions above2ool. preventing the possibility of successful ineasioo*, ! only be true o'f the right of REPRESENTATION, with- 1 per annum, now payable by the East India COm. " 2d. A LEGISLATURE of King, Lords, and ;out which there is NO LIBERTY. It matters not truly, with the terms and conditions upon which they Representatives of the C.:commons ; the authority of . that Coax, as a lawyer, took, like BLACKSTONE, a were respectively granted, in order that this Court P the latter being incapable of a duration beyond one ,mistaken view of Che e p re-eminent limier, think- . may judge how far the same will he fltected by the I year ; such Legislature, for securing a right ma. 'lug be found it in th ordinary LAW, whereas expiration of the present Charter.--'Ordered. . . 1 nagement of public affairs, being entrusted with a;it is only to be found in the CONSTITUTION, which is HERTFORD COLLEGE. magistracy, and the guardianship 1 ' a law to the Legislature ; a law which may no ! Court Mr. Hustu again begged the attention of the . ' ront.oul over all It co m m u p st an b y e hkadno foundedw n tothattmall, College he lof the p u blic purse ; and with authority also, as more be transgressed by that Body, than the,sta- 1 for a very few minutes to a subject o f great ,circumstances may require, of enacting such statute tutes enacted by itself may be transgressed by the I IL fora law+, and such only, as shall not have the nature of Peoples ;" for " a free People agree upon a Con- t said, a f e lo.de-se, by violating any fundamental principle : stitetion, by which, as a criterion of political- rec- : liertforA 'or the instruction of young men i n t en d. of the Constitution, the conservation of which (Rude, as a law to the Legislature as a limit which 'ed for the Company's service in India, and that it youngnot keptman f-storuld termsgo attothlitsul Constitution is the sum of the duties of the Legisla..! that Legislature is never to pass, and, as on all occa- ; was enacted b an express clause in the new Char ture. ! Mons, an indispemible rule of Government, they i writerrth at ho no hadCollege. asa 44 3d. An EXECUTIVE MAGISTRACY IN TIIE Ktno, ;consent their affairs shall be maneged§."—And we his person being inviolable, his Ministers responsio isle to keep in mind, that the Legislature being only • Now, he had understood that several departure, !wen ble. la derivative, fiduciary sovereignty, in trust for spe. ; were at this moment preparing for their 6 4 4th . TRIAL BY JURY, that public liberty may I dfic purposes, deriving trot only its power, but its i without ever haring - been at College at all. , not be stabbed through the sides of the private citi- , existence, from the will of the original, l aabsoute I The CHAIRMAN here interrupted Mr. Host; ' zen, by any injustice which might endanger his pro- sovereignty, inherent in the People, " the end nd and said, he thought he could fully explain this perty, his personal freedom , h is life, or re p utation ; object of the Constitution therefore is, that liberty, matte!. A letter was written some time a g o b y and that the individual, equally with the aggregate general and vidual, of the community, and of . Lord Minto to the Court of Directors, requesting of the community, may repose itt . tranquillity, pro- 1 the citizens, shall ever be held sacredit." ' them to sCnd out immediately not less than seventy tested by the Constitution and the Law." I remain, dear, Sir, writers. The Directors, however, thought t ha t a . As a definition and explanation, the foregoing, ' Truly your friend and servant, much more limited number would be found sufficient, condensed as ,it is, will, as I conceive, be found i JOHN CARTWRIGHT. and zecerdingly selected from the young gentlemen sufficiently ample ;I am not aware that more can * 1.1.61. ; then at College such as had made the greatest pro • i gross in their studies; and after a strict examination be introduced as an essential part of the Constitu- t Ali., Civ. and Mil., on Eng. Con. 22. t typenl to the Nation in ICI2, p. 2. lion, since, were all the powers and authorities ne- s but. p ibid. I sent them to India, though they had uot kept the cessary, in the first place, for the conservation of _______ the Constitution itself ; and, in the second place, 1 the origin of the report stated by the Honourable for supplying laws, either d eclarator y of funda- 1 • proprietor. for prietor. declared himself satisfied. It was then mental princlioles, or for the con venient conduct of M Hume public affairs. BLACKSTONE not having discovered moved by Mr. Hume, that no sums of money should that the Coro - moms/ought to be contradistinguish- ' ever be voted, excepting the usual divi dends, b y ed from ordinary LAW ; nor bein g aware within . fewer than 40 Proprietors. what a tinrrow compass the former was contained, 1 Mr. Netts moved, as an amendment , that th e words, excluding the Directors, or, 64 . includin g ,nor apprised of its beautiful simp licit y , fell, of them, be inserted. course, itif , , very confused and incorrect mode of expressi , . , : its nature; when lie says, °° 'That Consii- This amendment was carried, and the C ourt ade journed. lotion.: I flame of Government, that system o f laws, is 110 ,, • calculated to maintain civil liberty," &c.t. ; referred, in fact, to the mass of pOLICE. oar laws, written aL, .unw our Constitution Contists. i Mr. 1 3 1.0ME11 expressed his regret that a paper 1 Marlow nousc—W. Wi,ittiegstall. who wasegamined an " But, under so monstrous a suppositiop, Oef ! which he had sent in the form of a letter to the :l n fernier day ria a ritor.te of settint; lire milts house, was arch, Constitution, which •le in truth the standard of ail ; Chairman of the Committee, of which h e was him- ! i as-mi g ht All OH Friday. wisest Mr. fi A num attended as legal rectitude , rectitude, and therefore ought ever to be eine. I self -11 Member, should have beets excluded by the 1Vo l l; pe rPi;4 1 , 1 1 i's: p r l c h uti p vi!, and 61.atd^!(1;:ill not ali urnheziatVi hnnsr laii" templated as something fixed and certain, would; to 1 unexpected conclusion which hed beep put to' their I had acluall n s ses taken S e te, r l l l: ll 7;i i n t ie l of 4 ;he al T' e ris r ot t ie a r , ni e setting our inexpressible misery, be the most fluctuation; labours. He was friendly to their object, but he ti A lit to hi- beg -dothes, whatever might hare been his ultimns thing be' onging to us, absolutely changing ise idea-,I had objections to one of the Resolutions, and he cer- ze t w int e o r a ita c c ap at i l t a a n t . ,, l e m e e nce re . iolved itself into a misdetrisn our, aid tity, not only with every new statute, but even every I tainly thought that a greater latitude of discussion All the witnesses who were examined on a forinet exate new decisiun of the Judgesr If such were our Con- i ought to have been allowed. He would now, there.- rhino.'.lre It erillitisJamoemnSiadehrw)ikt;tmi,t will b t c he r : t ag e n t t e l d o iti d r lir : . siltation, " what a wretches! lot would be ours I.— ; fore, propose, if it should not be deemed too late, bed with the Prisoner, said ohr—would et swear tit her for- If the ABRIDGMENT of our law, by VI NE B., fill five- that it should's, printed, together with thedocumeuts utter esiden she had been drinking before she tvs (*x i amine& awns , in consequence, re-eintnined, whets she de and-twenty volumes in folio, or thereabout, and oc- I presented by the Committee. nied she ha ever said she sn.spected the Prisoner intended to set cupied more than half a century of that laborious I Mr. Hume cordially concurred with the last fire to his house, although she had said she thought be intended Author's time, such a Constitution must needs re- 1 speaker in reprobating the abrupt termieation with to make away with himself. She admitted she lino pat water quire nine times as many volumes to contain, it, at 'which - the Committee had closed the business. He t ii ke th b e es s t io u dr k - e b r ox ai tuid tblitaitt chi,the r e r ir a n d e t r o tad h b e i r d t h is er do ta of e tn awa the leasq." • hold in his hand a Minute containing all the re- rere.—The Prisoner wa. fully committed far trial. 1 BLACKSTONE'S notion of political liberty, as an : suits of experience and reflection as far as they sp. ni i i i i e A rw Tr e N c Grin a,ipeßrN .11—nIl‘lovvoeiteeca,s,,hveinz. -- were Pahiteanrd.derba, effect of the Constitution, was also narrowed by the ! plied to the present subject. This document hehad sent the two . Reads and l 'Matthews, on suspicion of making p and seal influence of his professional studies, as a lawyer. :to the Committee, who had .rejected it on the ground ing counterfeit Bank-token, a g reat e nema, of %shish are is In his Chapter on " The Rights of Perseus," be, that it was not received until an hour after the final the M P r I;tw il t o m f d th h e a e bo S v olie n i a t irle or d t,? ffi th e : " fittoh, attended wiles inderd, very properly premises, that " the absolute Resolution had been agreed to. Ile should likewise they were hronght up. hut it appearing that the Prisoners Wee '' RIGHTS of every Englishman (which, Wien is * t propose, therefore, that this Minute be printed with Vprehended its linundsrlitchatal-Petticuatme, thcy "'ere art , dered to he taken before the Lord Mayor fur examination. political and extensive sense, are usually called their 1 the other Papers. tatenTies), as they are formed on nature and tea- I A long conversation now took place, after which 1 ! ion, so they are coeval with our f orm of govern- the original question - was put and carried. 1 menti. After enumerating these "LI DERTIES" under Mr. RAxur.E JACKSON then rose, and, after a three heads, namely, " personal security, persona l ; fe w introductor y remarks, moved that the supple ' liberty, and the absolute right of private. property," tnentary papers tendered by Mr. Plomer and Mr. i ihe goes on to say, " so long as these remain invi- Hume be printed for the use of the proprietors. ' olate, the subject is perfectly free." Now it is most Mr. WHALEY and a gentleman whose name we certain, that, under any wise and benevolent despot, could not leans objected to the motion, as establish who should adopt the doctrines of t h is cha p ter, his ing a dangerous precedent. I slaves, in the enjoyment of all these advantages, Mr. Lowstues highly approved of it, and declared might have complete legal protection, without a par- that he liked to see individual members of a Commit s tide of political liberty. tee o pp osin g the body. Ile would not have a Corn- Wherefore the great Commentator, in not having mittee act as one wheel, lint as so many independent lenumerated among " the absolute rights of every wheels, each moving round its own axis. [A laugh.] ' Englishman," the right to li'gislative I.I.EPRESEN. Mr. PLosisat was desirous of receiving nothing TATION, which is only another word for .POLL- from the Court but what WAS just in itself and sanc- TLCALLIIIERTY, is here lamentably deficient, tioned by precedent. Ile had lamented much that as tenablell - these Other boasted -i . out either the Committee had not prepared a regular report; foundation or fence. Without TRW greatest of he had drawn up The skeleton of one, but finding that all rights, 61 personal liberty," and 46 private pro- it would not be entertained by the Committee, he pesty,"•oreinopty* attends. It is TIIIS, and Tuts had subsequently transmitted it in the form of a let tale, thatitamps on those a sterling value, by,im- ter to the Chairman. parting to ;Sheen . assuratea3 and stability. Unless-a I Mr. ELPHINSTONE) the Thputy Chairman, opposed Peopleiledividually and collectively, annually en- the motion. joy an ettitel election of national representatives, so Mr. Hume and Mr. PETER M OGRE both disap that /aro, according to the Constitution, and to the preyed of the premature conclusion to which the venerable BItACTON, be " the common will of the Committee had arrived, which had o ffended even community," to talk of " personal liberty , " and 1 sQme who were zealous in their support of the 4 private property," is mere delusion. Of what' measure. value are these, if Sir GEORGE SAvII.E spoke car- Mr. RANDLE Jacesost replied, and made some I rectty, when he told the House.of Commons " they pointed remarks on the fallacy of the arguments by might as well call themselves the representatives:di which his motion had been resisted. Ile hoped it France as of the people of England**-;" and it, as ;_would appear who among the Directors had favoured BLACKSTONE says, " the power and jurisdiction of f end who 'did been adverse to the me asure sehich the Parliament is so transcendent and absolute, that it i Committee had been appointed to consider. cannot be confined, either for causes dr persons,' Mr. Imams, the Director, conceived it would be within any bounds ++;" that it possesses 44 absolute . altogether Irregular to add to the opinions of a despotic poWertt ;" that " it can, in short, de overy- ! Committee the private sentiments of individual Mem thing that is not naturally impossible§§." • I bens. Such a picture thus drawn of an English Praia! The Court was then cleared for a division : meta, not failing to impress on him who drew it the For Mr. .Tackson's Motion - . gg extreme danger to be apprehended, he immediately . Against it - - 63 19 remarks—" It wale known at. - of the great -...._ Lord Treasurer IkBLEIGII, that 'could never Francis Tuite was found guilty, at the Sessions in Dublin, on Monday last, of the murder of Mr. Goulding, by shooting him with a pistol on the South Circular Road, when walking with his wife, Mrs. Goulding, on the 11th of September last.' The Prisoner, it will be recollected, was apprehended immediately after the offence, and, committed to Newgate, from which he made his escape, disguised in woman's clothes. .lie was ordered for execution on Wednesday. The magnificent Castle of Carlow fell on the more• ing of the 13th instant ; fortunately there was not a single soul hurt, though the noise terrified the neigh. boiirbood almost as much as the shock of an earth. 'quake. This accident was occasioned by the gentle man who has lately become the proprietor of the Castle, haring undermined the foundation for the purpose of making it a more convenientl'esidence.- - 1 There had been a large sum laid out lattr ift :in 'the Ist] pposed improvements Of thirrederelthe e f bet 1 alas all is now levelled with the dest'. This castle ; was the residence of Sir John di Varner . ; e little before the usurpation of Cromwell, who, during 141 ris;t to Ireland, attacked it, and after a spirited re. sistance from Sir Thomas Lougfield, then Governor, lit was obliged to surrender to the potent item of the renowned Oliver, and has since been iu a dismantled state, until Dr. Middleton, by expending a vast deal of money *wit, within these last two years, had restored the noble building to more than its erigiall splendour. . MARRIED. On Soaday last, at the Parish Church of •Epsom, Felix Or to O'Neil O'HAitlon, of Newry, in the county of Downe, to Eliza tieorgiana, fourth daughter of Samuel Hawkins, og . Mead-house, Epsom. Esq. DIEI/. On the 15th inst. in Grosvenor-plare, Mrs. Long Kingsmati, wife of William long Klayman, Fig. In _llarley-street, Mrs. Walker, wife of MajerAltem Walltar. On Wednesday, Feb. efl. after a most pain el and long-coati need illness, winch she bore with exemplary resignation, Alm Vuutiet cern the wife of J. F. Vanderentn, h.q. at his house, is Bash-lane, il;annon-street, London. On the lath instant, at Winchester-place, Pentonville, in her 534 year, Mrs. Bell, wife of Mr. Bell, of Bow Church yard. At his residence, Bearsted-house, Kant, Francis Armstrong, Esq. in his stith yeAr. LONDON! Printed and Published hZD. Levitt., 1I I`w STIATIONAN ovilcl, 97, neet4thwt. . N • • . • ~:. .. r e.. ~.•.~~ % I . 1 !* k. 4