The Sun. — London, England, 1822-02-05 00:00:00

prattle might te'regttlarly di*tussed.—(Groans anti other Iftywkwof disapprobation.) Matskx.ir was ready to sign a requisition for a meeting - 10 Imiianseratry Reform ; but he would not destroy the urn -- nimity of the agricultural meeting. If the High Sheriff should ream, as 4 Magistrate of the' County he would join in calling a-meeting.— (Applauac.)--He hoped, therefore, that the agn onktual Interests would not be injured by caba l speaking.— It seas the desire of many to , get the force of such meetings de stroyea by confusion and irregular proceeding's. let them look the real disease which they wiebed to remove. The vital in 'teams of the commanity were at stage. If the agricultural ki te:colts were not saved, the labourer woLild, fall—the state would ultiniately fall 'Therefore it was a great object to consider this subject wisely and deliberately. He conjured them to exercise their understandings on this point. It was not heeausehe was not friendly to Parliamentary Reform, that he entreated of them nO to intermix, it•• with the present question. How to ob tain. remote relief was not the qu:;stioa, but the immediate reduetito of taxation. The expenditure of Government has" dice, tied the estimate of their awn Cormalittee in 1817, Co an average 1.600,n001. annually. Though Parliamentary Retinal Ina the most desirable thing they could. have, it was irutxpedient to connect it with the present petition. linconjurecl %tem, therefere, not to do what would be unreasonable, and *cold it diet - condom • Mr. LEtca explained, that he lal refused to sign the re ' snisation because he wished reform to be prominently mention eal—not because he had thought the mention of it in the -requi *don essential to the discussion it sit the meeting. The H Pau SitERIFF said, he could not allow Mr. Leech td proceed further on a topic that was not before the meeting. • Mr. Taowtit sroke to order, and contended that the in irtaluction of Parliamentary Reform would make the meeting THtt.wAtt. argued at great length, that reform was. iheluded in the requisition, inasmm ch. as the cause was insepa ri.hly connected with the rustere - •and the. cure of a disease.— iMr. Cobbett was very consOn'aclAs hi eneculaing Mr. Thel-' widi, and applauding him.> - • Mr. LowlinEs oppoaed. the proposed amendrri4:;it, and also • 'objected to the intro - action of any matter was not cam prebenticd in the reereition. The H on.G enthern an then pi-en:ceded to aegtie on the impropriety of intiodusing any irrelevant matter t. wlikh he maintained the proposed ainendmere to be), but was .401.Tequently interrupted by cries anti calls of various kinds, impossible tocollect a connected detail of his remarks. - • • Tibseindhidual from the crowd frequently called out—" . Mr. :ipawrdes, have not you been living on the taxes all your life ?" This question way repeated at /east a dozen 'times t.but'Mr. • Lo odes could .not have heard 1' from the situation in which the p.2tson who 'proposed it occupied. ..Ai'ter several ineffectual • tempts to fix the attention of the audience, Mr. LowntieS gave • • , ,trei *.e task, and withdrew from the front of the waggon: , The eon: fL 0. Br-4;z4ET next addressed the meeting, and was received with loud cheering. He began by observingothije on the present occasion he felt himself in a very awkWard_sitti a ution. In allusion to the distresses which now prevailed in the country, the first word he was disposed to pronounce was—Rea form. The last word was elso—Reform. He had, ,olin every occasion which had presented itself in Parliament, maintained the r.ecesrity of that measure. Indeed, of its necessity there now remained not the-slightest doubt. The want of it was the strarce of ail the misfortunes under which the country now la boured ;—it was the cause of the excessive taxation, and of all theseee miseries of which we had to complain. (Hear, hear.)' His owh mind was fully made up on the subject. It was one .• which he 'ned.omitted no opportunity of advocating for years_ and one which he should continue to support as - long as he lived. iiat on. this occasion there stood a difficulty. The question, was now bronght forward without a specific notice. The reformers of the county were not present ; and, instead of having the ques tion carried by a large majority, as he had no doubt it would hare beetl e if a due notice had been given, it might perhaps be negati eed altogether.—(Cries of " No, no," from several parts Of the meeUng.) He was fully aware of the feelings of the Ceara' , of Surrey on the subject. They were in unison with those of the-great body of freeholders of almost every county in the kingdom. They were all agreed, that in an effectual re form lay the remedy for all the grievances of which they com plained. But then the reformers present must he aware that tine subject was not mentioned in the requisition which had call ed the county together. If he had had any hand in the draw tMg. up of the requisition, no doubt it would not have been omit ed ; but the dilemma in whichhe found himself respecting it was, that it was omitted; and in consequence the High . Sheriff refused to put any amendment which had direct reference to it.— The Sheriff felt it his duty, and this was one blessed effect of the Six Ants, to refuse to put any question not directly noticed in the requisition.--(Cheers, and sonic cries of " Heinle Sum mer supported those Acts.") By one of those blessed acts the High Sheriff was bound to adhere to the strict letter of the re sattisition.—(Crics of " No, no.") It might not be so perhaps, bu t t'iey had only the Sheriff's opinion to go by at present ; and no doubt, whether right or wrong, that opinion was given conscien tiously. Now the remed y which he (Mr. H. G. Bennet) would pro poet: would be this—that a requisition should then be drawn up send signed, calling on the Sheriff to call the county immediately . ibr the purpose of considering the question of reform ; but if he should refuse to comply, why then, after the business for which they had assembled was ended, iey might go into the room 'opposite (the asserrthly room at the Spread Eagle), and there the primer of the Sheriff' would, notwithstanding the Six Acts, be at end.—(Cheers.)—They might there call a chair, an d agree toany resolutions or petitions on the subject of Reform which they might think proper. But while they had the oppo:tur.ity of doing this, they ought not, he submitted, to neglect the one „list then before nfiem, of agreeing to apetition to Parliament on toe cause of, and the remedy for, the distresses of which they omnplained. The petition before them complained of the excessive weight of taxation, and of the exorbitant and unnecessary ex penditure of the public money, and it prayed for economy and Fetranchment. Now lie implored of the meetino• not to forego the opportunity of sending the. petition to Pa rliament," as it 'orotild not at all interfere with any resolution to which they mighhafterwards come on the subject of reform. That eco oemy and retrenchment were necessary, no one would deny.- 1 1.'he country was just in that state when such measures must bee pressed, if it was intended to save it from destraction.— Vhe were like a man whose estate was burdened .with debts ; he must, if he intends to act honestle, dismiss those servants whom he carinot afford to keep—he must have a smaller retinue ; and if he cannot afford even one servant, must learn to wait upon himself.—( Hear, hear.)—ln short, a man so cir cumstanced, who expects to support a character, must do away with every superfluity until he is in a condition to pay for it.— It - should be so with the country ; there was an accumulation of debt and a load of taxes too heavy to be borne : the remedy was— retrench and economize ; and until those measures were aaopted, all others would be useless. It would be quite absurd, in the absence of such measures, to talk of reduction of the in terest of the national debt. He himself was not a fundholt'er : he wished he was ; but he would say, that to talk of a reduc io • of the interest of the debt, the striking out of any part of the in• west or capital, dr any other revolutionary measure, would oc madness and injustice, while there was an expenditure of a single penny which was not necessary , to the Country.—(Cheers.)—lf that strict economy should not do, why then some other must'be resorted to ; for the people and the country must live.- 4-le world nut have those who' had property in the funds, lay the flattering unction to their souls," that they had. a mortgage upon the land, and he might say, the lives of those who possessed prOperty in land. They had a guarantee, only, upon the consolidated fund; let that pay, as far as it went, or as far as the country could afford ; but if that were pressed faether—if it was sought to drain their. of their last penny to support a lavish and unnecessary expenditure—if their ..property was to be so called upon, he would only say for one, tnat God had giyen him anarm, and he would use it in the de thnce of his property whilst •he had life. (Loud cheering.)— lie most happy on the present occasion to see so large and so apectahle an assemblage of the county : This was the second time that he had had. the honour of being present at a county meeting of Surrey. He would wish they were more frequent. lie wished to see them annual, or even oftener; for he conceived that the greatest advantage would result from them. On the present occasions- he sincerely hoped the meeting would not throw away the opportunity which they had of.expressing their sentiments. He trusted they wouldfirst agree to the petition' which they had heard read, and after that, they might assem ble on the subject of reform without the fear of the slightest I . disturbance. Air. COEBETT made a long speech, with which tre do not choose to incumber our columns. Mr. LEECH now addressed the Sheriff, and trusted he would net decide upon rejecting the resolution which he had to pro pose, without at least hearing it. The hints SISEILIFF hoped he was too well known to have it imagined that he would decide- hastily, or without strOng - grounds for his decision. In the present case lie had made up his mind ; he was there the judge of what was or was not releh vent teethe cbject of the meeting, and he decided according to the best of ids judgment: and he would not swerve from the opinion he had given. He would not put the resolution, as 'lie conceived, according to the words of the Noble Lord (King), that it would be a fraud on the county. Mr. LE Ec *4lll pressed : the reading of the resolution. He was displayed, he said, to abide by the decision of the Sheriff, as he had no doubt it was conscientiously given. The Hon: Gentleman then read the Resolution, which was as follows : " Resolved, That it appears to this meeting that Mr. Hume Reduced documents in the last session of Parliament, clearly proving that the public expenditure; both foreign and domestic, admitted of retrenchments to a very large amount, in despite of which,. all the propositions submitted by him to effect this de sirable object were negatived' by great majonties of the House of-Commons, thereby tanking still more manifest that the cor ps state of the repratellshon of the people IS the real cause of all our aid treSg. It it, therefore, our decided sonviction, that until the people are fully and fairly represented in the Commons' House of Parliament, no permanent and general relief from the pressure of our burdens Can reasonably be expected." The High Sheriff again objected to put such a resolution. Mr. 1 4 OWNDES said that he would not only lose his arm, but his head, rather than consent to such a resolution. Some person in thoerowd here cried out—." Remember what was done in Suffolk and Devonshire." The H Slim:Leal- replied, that what had beandone in Suffblk and Devon was no rule for the county of Surrey. Mr. LEr..cii observed. that he was most unwilling to press any thing against the opinion of the Sheriff, or contrary to the feelings of those friends who were ahout,him ; but he did hope, that the Sheriff would at least consent, Wit requisition, respec tably signed, were presented to him, to call a meeting for the present day on the subject of reform. The HIGH SllERlFF.—Certainly not for this day ; and I beg I may not, be misunderstoOd in what I said.—l now repeat, that if a requisition, numerously and respectably signed, be pre. sented to me, I shall hare no objection to convene a meeting on the subject of reform on some future day, first giving due no tice to ihe county. Mr. LOWNDES.—And, Mr. High Sheriff, if the word "mo derate" he prefixed to reform, I shall have no objection to sign the requisition. Mr. CASE next presented himself to the meeting, and in a short speech maintained the propriety and necessity of adopting some measure on the subject of reform. He thought the reso lution which had been read by Mr. Leech was one which came sufficiently within the requisition to be adopted. Mr. DENISON was always happy to meet his constituents. and trusted he had not failed in any of the pledges he had given them when they first called him from retirement to repre sent them in Parliament. He had ever supported the cause of Parliamentary Reform. He had voted for it in 1797, with his Noble Friend Earl Grey, and he would always continue to vote for it while life remained in his body. The causes of the present distress he ascribed first to the long war in which the country . had been engaged, for it was not to be supposed that it could spend 104,000,0001. in a year, as it did in 1815, without a direful re-action when the bill came to be paid. That Bill was now to be met. The next cause was the issue of paper money, not for the convenience of the country, but to favour the Measures of Ministers. The third was Mr. Peel's Bill, which he approved in principle, but he thought it had been adopted too soon, or rather brought too rapidly into action. He had wished that it should not come into play before the year 1823. He compared the expenditure of the country in 1792 with what it had been in 1021, and maintained that great reductions might be made in the public expenditure. Looking at the precept state of the world, he thought reductions might be made in the army. He hoped to see a redaction made in the civil department of the navy ; and trusted that school for rising statesmen would be looked to, and that the Lay Lords would be thought fit to - turn out in the world. The Ordnance mid Colonial Departments might be reduced, and . lthe expense of collecting the revenue ought not to be forgotten e as that atm:mated within a fractioh to the whole expenditure Of the country when the late King ascended the throne. He i'as against reducing poor clerks; but wishing to keep faith With the public creditor, he thought the sinking-fund might be resorted to, in. order to di minish our present burdens : and if these measures were adop ted, he was of opinion that-the duties on malt, salt, candl,s, and leather, might be repealed. - Mr. H. Sy3INElt came forward in obedience to a call from the crowd. He had expected unanimity on the present occa sion, as for once he had had the pleasure of agreeing with those who called the meeting. Whatever faults might be imputed to him in the 10 or 10 years that he had represented them in Par liament, he had never flinched from appearing beforehis Con stituents, or from avowing the principles by which his conduct was regulated. Two years ago, he had endeavoured to get a Committee appointed to inquire into the Agricultural Distress, and succeeded in the first instance, but had subsequently failed. He was convinced ehat the present distiess could not be relieved by a corn bill, and he foiind it difficult to make up his mind as to what would be the proper remedy. Much had been said of taxation ; he had thought the late war was brought to our door, that it was necessary to enter into it and go through it as we had done. The efforts we had made to remain a free people, instead of becoming a province to France, had caused an expenditure of 600:000,0001. But he was satis fied that the preterit Administration were making retrench. meets, and were disposed to do so as far as it was possible with justice to the public creditor and with due regard to the safety and honour of the country, and with the claims of those whe had been engaged in its service. When it was said the pub lic expenditure was so much larger than it was in 1792, Gen tlemen omitted to state that in the present charge 3,000,0001. for Ireland was included, which was not in the charge of 1792. It ought also to be remembered that of the Army Expendi ture 4,000,0001. was for the pensions of those who were no longer capable of efficient service ; and would it be well to withhold the pay of those who had toiled through the war in the Peninsula, and shared the laurels won at 'Waterloo ? lie wished for a diminution of the public expenditure as far as might be consistent with the safety and honour of the country, and further he.was not disposed to go.—He then defended his own parliamentary conduct ; and defied the foulest breath of ca lumny to prove that in 25 years he had ever given one interest ed vote. Mr. LEECH approved of the proposition for reform, which had been brought forward by his namesake ; hut he recommend ed that the present petition should pass ; and that afterwards they should go into the tavern, and agree to petition for a reform in parliament. • The Iltox SfiErarr then proceeded to take the sense of the meeting on the petition as originally moved, which was nega tived by a great majority, amidst shouts of laughter. Mr. BENNET hoped that some petition for a redres.s of griev ances would be agreed to, and that the meeting would not se parate, having done nothing at all. COBRETT again intruded an observation or two. The liic a Sinerary• again explained the motives from which he had acted, and dissolved the Meeting. Mr. H. SUMNER regretted the Meeting had been so sud denly dissolved, as it precluded hhn from proposing a Vote of Thanks to the Sheriff. MEETING IN THE ASSEMBLY ROOM. Lord 16.stn, ETT ABERI.Y, and a num ber of Gentlemen then went into the Spread Eagle Tavern, and drew up a new requisition, calling for an immediate Meeting to petition for a Reform in Parliament. Mr. LEECH waited on the High Sheriff' with the Paper. Lord KING shortly after announced the result. He stated the High Sheriff to have declined with much civility, for the reasons previously stated, calling an immediate meeting, but he had consented to call one for that day fortnight. He, how ever, added, some difficulty might possibly arise, as this was the period of the year when the Shenffs were usually changed, and when the time arrived which he had named he might no longer be ir. office. Thanks were then voted. to Lord KING, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MABERLY, and one or two other Gentlemen. A vote of thanks was proposed to COBBETT, but was not pressed. The business then terminated. A Requisition, very respectably signed, - has been presented to the High Sheriff (ELIAs ISAAC, Esq.), to call a County Meeting " for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro priety of laying before the Legislature the se vere and unparalleled distress under which Agri culture has so long laboured." The acknow ledged importance of the subject to almost all classes of the community, leads us to expect that this Meeting will be attended by most of the leading Gentlemen and Yeomanry of the County. The Meeting is appointed to take place on Fri day next, at'the Guildhall of Worcester.—(lVor alter Herald.) On Saturday last, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, about twelve o'clock, it began to blow (and continued seven hours) very violently from W.S.W. The river Tyne, at the Quay, was so extremely. agitated, that no boat 'could venture to brave the surge. The spray flew over the bridge like a shower of snow. It is presumed a great de:o.l of rain has fallen to the westward, as both -the Tyne and the Wear have had great freskes in them these last two days. The Edin bUrgh Mail was detained full three hours on Sunday morning before she could pass the Wear at Croft-bridge, near Darlington. Yesterday morning, the last division of that distinguished regiment, the 91st, under the com mand of Major MAcoobTALD, embarked at eight o'clock, at the Broornielaw, Glasgow, on board the Glasgow steam-boat, on their route for Ja maica. Both officers and men appeared in great spirits. During its stay in Glasgow, this fine re giment conducted itself with much propriety,and was repeatedly cheered on embarking.----1-(Edin burgh -Courant, Feb.?.)' FOR THE SUN. The MALTHUS SCHOOL of POLITICAL ECONOMY. [LETTER VI.I " To bestow alms, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, " to shelter the houseless, to snatch the expiring victini from " the jaws of death ; these always merit, and the world is al " ways so just as to give them, unequivocal praise. But - far " gruater is the praise due to those who endeavour to provide, " or who cause to be provided, the means of preventing naked " ness, hunger, and destitution of shelter. This is true charity ; " this is what our country and the Laws of God call for at our " hands."—Cobbctt's Monthly Sermons, p. 91. MR. EDITOR—In my last letter, I intimated that Mr. Malthus and I, though intent on the 'ame pursuit 2 --namely, the substitution of moral restraint for vice and misery, as a check upon an increase of population disproportioned to the means of comfortable subsistence, were about to separate at a certain point to which I had cheer fully anti pleasurably accompanied him. I have subscribed to the correctness of the proposition su b stantiall y stated in several passages of the Essay, that moral restraint is found to have the strongest influence upon those persons who have something valuable to lose, and a reasonable prospect of improving their condition ; while it is seldom, if ever, that the wretchedly poor give themselves much concern as to the remote consequences of their actions. It is when Mr. Malthus (after having critically reviewed a great variety of plans and suggestions, some of them for mitigating, and others for wholly removing the evils of poverty) proceeds to favour us with his own plan, that I find myself compelled to reject his guidance, under a per suasion that he would reconduct me to the Ser honian Bog, from which I had so happily escap ed. Many of his criticisms upon the schemes of other writers arc themselves very liable to criti cism, as I may perhaps endeavour to prove here after. I have not judged it expedient to take the ground upon which Mr. Godwin combated the doctrines of Mr. Malthus, because, as I have ir refragably proved, there was not the smallest oc casion to deny thepower of procreation to double the number of a community in a very limited period of time, in order to overthrow the basis of Mr. Malthus's Theory. When a question regard ing human powers is agitated, we are apt to esti mate our own strength, and looking at home, I found that we had more than quadrupled our numbers in the course of about seventeen years. Such an obtrusive illustration of the mete power of increase did, I confess, predispose me to ad mit, without much hesitation, the fact alleged by Mr. Malthus, that under the most .favour able circumstances, mankind may double their numbers in the space of twenty-five years ; and therefore, I did not much relish the idea of resting the argument against the Malthus theory upon a negation of the before mentioned power. To my great joy, I found that there was not the smallest occasion to attack a position so strongly fortified by numerous tables, the mate rials of which had been collected with wonderful pains, and arranged with considerable skill. To have adopted that plan of operation would, I clearly perceived, have protracted the war to an indefinite period, and after all would not have afforded an assurance of` ultimate success. On closely and minutely reconnoitring the enemy's works, I found, (as I have said, to my great joy) that his whole force and attention had been be stowed upon the defence of his front ;—that he had totally neglected his rear ; and that I had nothing more to do than to march boldly in by a good road, which he had himself put into excel lent repair, and to take undisputed possession of his citadel. There lam at this blessed moment. My flag is flying ever the turret,—you, my good friend, are kindly conveying on sun beams the news of the victory ; and I defy Mr. Mal thus, and all his host, horse and foot, light-armed and heavy, with their field pieces and battering train, to dislodge me while sun, moon, and stars endure. Mr. Godwin says, " the only substantial evidence which has been collected on this branch of political economy, teaches us, that the numbers of mankind have no permanent tendency to increase." (He qualifies this assertion a little in a note.) " The population of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, is at best at a stand. In some countries it is certainly diminished; and we have, I believe, no sound reason to think, that in any it has increased. The solitary example of North America is pro duced against this mighty mass of experience,. North Ame rica, a country which for a century past has been the recep tacle of almost all the emigrations that have been made from all parts of the world. Even in North America, the inhabi tants of the British dominions have not increased, and the negroes have not increased. A man must be the free citizen of a republic before he is entitled to the benefit,—for a benefit there it is considered to be, of the geometrical ratio."—p. M)2. Now I honestly confess, that I felt very tot terish on Mr. Godwin's ground : because I was aware of the process by which, it might be cut away from under my feet. Mr. Malthus would have only to say, I have proved that in some cases (that is, under the most , favourable circum stances) mankind have been known to double their numbers in 25 years. Here then we have the geometrical ratio. I never asserted that po pulation every where always has doubled ; but the reason that this has not happened, is becaus e their numbers are diMinished by vice and mi sery, except where, as in America, circumstances are favourable to the progressive increase of the means of subsistence. Where this is not the case, I do not say that children die from starva tion soon after they are born, and that the streets are strewed with their carcases : hut I do say, that a scanty supply of food, and the vices and wars engendered by poverty and cui.idity, are the causes which fully account for the fact stated by Mr. Godwin, (if a fact it be) that the population of Europe, of Asia, and of Africa, is at a stand. This Mr. Malthus might have said, and 1 rather think something to that eliect has been said for him ; and; if Mr. Godwin shall persist in denying the power of increase, and shall labour to justify the assertion by popula tion returns, I promise him, he, and his friend David Booth, will have employment for the rest of their days. It is, alas, but too true, that vice and misery, disease and war, have hurried, and continue to hurry, vast numbers of mankind to a premature grave. And such is the imperfection of the science of statistics in most countries, that there will be little difficulty (beyOnd the labour of procuring them) in raising piles of antagonist censuses to the height of a first floor, I have she w u him a more excellent way of dealing with Mr. Malthus;—namely, that of making him refute himself. But, although I have not derived the smallest aid from that part of Mr. Godwin's Treatise upon. which he has bestowed the most pains, I shall be proud to avail myself of several glowing passages, which cost him nothing more than the trouble of writing them, as they flowed spontaneously from the exhuberant stores of his cultivated mind. " The proper tendency of Mr. Nialthus's System (says Mr. Godwin) is to persuade us to sit still, or rather to deliver our selves, bound hard and foot, into the hands of. the awful and mysterious power that presides over those deeper seated causes of evil, in comparison with which human institutions are mere feathers that float on the surface. For, as I have already ob served, and this, M I apprehend, none of Mr. althus's disciples will be disposed to contend with me, if human institutions can do comparatively no harm, it must, in fairness and consistency of reasoning, be adthited that they can do as little good."-- (p. 538.) I must confess that the foregoing sen, tence did not appear to me justly to describe the character of Mr. Malthus's Essay-: but just at present it strikes me as being a faithful por trait. If you ask me, " Whence arises this vacillation in your judgment I must reply, that it is owing to the incongruities, or rather, to the palpable con trarieties, of which that work is composed:—Here it is black as Erebus,—there, it is white.as ala baster; and, viewed at a certain distance, it is difficult to say precisely what. is the colour .of The effect of the tout ensemble, however, is far from pleasing. N hen I am in Mr. Malthus's company, I am like the man with his two wives, —one old and ugly, the other young ,and pretty, w'ro amused themselves alternately in plucking from his grizzled head and beard—the old lady all the bliick,—and the young bride bill the grey hairs. Mr. Malthus dazzles and perplexes me by shifting from side to side, and compels me to ring constant changes upon the words, right, wrong,. true, false, good, bad.—He. bends my mind this way and that way,—pushes the forward, and puts me back again, until I become comatose. Mr. Godwin appears to have been somewhat similarly affected by the Essay. " To this doctrine of quietism, (says he) there can properly, upon our author's principles, be but one limitation ; and that is, from the consideration of the mischiefs to he apprehended from all attempts at improvement. As the elder Cato con cluded all his speeches, upon whatever subject, in the Roman Senate, with, Remember Carthage I So Mr. Malthus is bound upon every occasion to lift his warning voice, and exclaim, Remember Utopia ! Reject every measure, however specious in its appearances, that looks that way I—The proper question upon every new legislative proceeding that is suggested is, does it not interfere with those causes which contribute, in what ever degree , to shorten the natural duration of human life'?" " When he had done all this, however, and properly com pleted the mighty. web 'of his theory, there was a latent sen timent remaining in the author's mind that all was not right. This doctrine of quietism, and of negatively presenting a front of resistance against all improvements, hardly amounted to his idea of a treatise upon Political Economy. He was accordingly seized with the ordinary passion, that in ancient times modified the obsolete systems of Plato and Aristotle, and became de sirous to be doing. Strangely, therefore, and with an incon sistency hardly to be accounted for, but from the original in firmity of our nature, veteres arias Tibi de puhnone revello, towards the conclusion of his book he purposes to inquire res pecting our rational expectations with regard to the future improvement of society.' The checks for which he has pleaded through three ample volumes, strike him as somewhat too hor rible, and lie proposes certain restrictions to counteract these checks. " lle hes several very different ways which he proposes for this end. They may all,howevcr be reduced to two The securing that no child, and no human creature in the lower walks of society, should be subsisted but by his own labour, or that of his parents :—and, 2. The providing that the reward of labour, and consequently the power of every man to subsist either himself or his children, should, to the operating hand, be reduced within the narrowest bounds. These are the restrictions that Mr. Malthus proposes, to check the excessive inroads of vice and misery upon man kind : and it may, therefore, reasonably be remarked that the author of the Essay on Population has the talent to render his benetits,no less odious than his injuries:' " The first thing that Mr. Malthus attacks under this branch of his subject, is the poor-laws of England, upon which he pro nounces the sweeping censure, that they are an evil, in compa rison of which the National Debt, with all its magnitude of terror, is of little moment. " Since, however, this tremendous evil of a legal provision for the necessitous poor of England is in existence, Mr. Mal thus is, by all means, for its very gradual abolition. " As a previous step to any considerable alteration in the present system, it appears to our author, that we are bound, in justice and honour, normally to disclaim the right of the poor to support. And why have they no right ?' " There was an old maxim, the repetition of which has been attended with some compunction in the minds of the tender hearted and humane.-- 4 Ile that will not work neither shall he eat.' " But Mr. Malthus's rescription is of a very different sort, and includes-1, Man in is infancy and childhood, whose little hands are yet incapable o the labour that should procure him the necessaries of life :--.9.d. The aged, whom length of years, and the hardships they have Crkdured, have finally rendered as feeble as helpless infancy :—:.ld. The sick, the cripple, the maimed, and those wlio labour Under one or other of those dis eases which make the most fearful, part of the picture of human life :-4th. Those who being both able and willing towork, are vet, by the ill constitution of the society of which they are members, or by some of those revolutions, to which, perhaps, all societies are liable, unable to procure employment. These are the persons whom, in justice and honour, we are bound to inform that they have no claim of right to the assistance of their prosperous neighbours. " There is no nsed of informing them, that they have' no right, tbunded in political law, to assistance, except in those countries and to that extent, where, and to which .a provision is made for that purpose as by the Poor Laws of England. " But Mr. Malthus's appeal is to a very different jurisdic tion. lie denies that they have any right in morality to the as sistance of their neighbours. "'There are two heads and springs of moral duty, as far as this country of England is concerned ; the first of which is to be found in the records of the Christian . Religion, and the other in the instruction we derive from the light of Nature. I should not think myself justifiable on the present occasion in overlook ing the first. " The lessons of Christianity on. this subject are plain and. incontrovertible. We are there taught to love our neighbours as ourselves, and to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us. - " By Revelation we are instructed that wean stewards; not proprietors, of the good things of this life ;—we are forbidden to pamper our appetites or our vanity ;—we are commanded to be feilow_w•orkeis with, and impartial ministers of, the bound , ful principle of nature : and we are told that when we have done all, we have done nothing of which we have any right to boast. " Such arc the dictates of the Christian Revelation in this particular : And in all this there is nothing new—nothing that. the light of nature did not as clearly and imperiously prescribe to every one who was willing conscientiously to inquire into the law of morality. " We arc here then furnished with a complete answer to what Mr. Malthus says in another place, that 'every man has aright to do what he will with his own." '—Vol. 3, p. 222. " Indeed, I was beyond measure astonished to find such a sentence as this in a book professing itself to be a hook of science,—and, in a pat of that book, treating of the rights of human creatures. " Mr. 3lalthus could scarcely intend by this any thing so fu tile as to inform his readers, that the laws of all civilized coun tries protect a man, and justly, in the exercise of his own discre tion as to the disposal of his property. " Did the author propose then to be understood as speaking as a moralist or a divine, when he said, Every man has a right to do what lie will with his own ?' fn every moral question, - or,it; other words, in every question where the pleasure or pain, the happiness or unhappi ness of others is concerned, there is one thing which it is a man's duty to do, end he has no right to do otherwise. " The sick man, therefore, has no right to withhold his as sistance from his rother-man in distress, except in the sense That he cannot reasonably be brought under the jurisdiction of a court of justice, far his breach of tlle moral law in this respect. _ _ The rights of any man, as to his treatment of his fellow - - man, are rights of discretion merely : in other words, that no man must attempt to compel him to do that which it is his duty to do. The appeal is exclusively to the judgment of bin who is to act ; hut he is bound to inform his judgment to the utmost of his power, and rigorously to adhere to the unbiassed decisions of that judgment. So far is it from being true, that every man has a right to do what he will with his own.' 4 "rhese are the fundamental principles of moral law ; and though they are so plain that the most uninstructed man may comprehend them as soon as they are announced, they cannot be repeated too often. " Thus stood the principles of morality before Mr. Malthus wrote his Essay on Population. " The rich man believed in these principles : and though he perpetually offended against them by the sums he wantonly expended upon his appetites and his vanity, his conscience al ways reproached him. This was still something. "'The poor man believed in these principles, and though he saw how little tlley prevailed in the world at large, yet he had the consolation to know what ought to be, and to compare it with *hat was. lle knew that he could not, in law or mora lity, compel the rich to part with their superfluity ; but he did not less know that the poor, that is, the infant, the helpless old, the sick, and the man who cannot procure employment, has right to support. " In this belief he was borne out by the light of nature, and by the Gospel. Neither the Evangelists, nor Apostles, nor the Holy Spirit that inspired them, were aware that these maxims were subvert!-..d by the principle of population. " Mr. Malthus indeed, as far as he has succeeded in his Essay, has changed the situation of the rich and the poor. " To the poor he has taught that if they receive any relief, they owe it nat_to any claim they had to relief, but to what he sometimes calls the spontaneous charity and pure benevolence of the rich ; though since, as he tells us, ' private charity almost invariably leads to pernicious consequences ;' he should have said, they owe it to the want of fortitude and firmness in the rich, and to their vices. " To the rich also he has read an important lesson. A great portion of this class of society are sufficiently indisposed tQ acts of charity, and eminently prone to the indulgence of their ap petites and their vanity. " But hitherto they had secretly reproached themselves with this, as an offence against GOD and Man. Mr. Malthus has► been the first man to perform the grateful task of reconciling their conduct and their consciences, and to shew them that when they thought they were allowing themselves in vire, tY.y were in reality conferring a most eminent and praise worthy benctit upon the community." (p. 533 to 54f1) Sir, it is, i find, dangerous to quote Mr. God win : it is like bestriding a fiery steed, from Whose back you cannot dismount till it pleases him to stop. Mr. Godwin has fairly run away with me to the end of a chapter of his book, and I am too much out of breath tQ add more than that I remain, Dear Sir, Your's truly, Feb. 2, 3822. INDEX. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS FAX TWELVE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock —.2421 242 242 3 per Cent. Red.... lni 3 per Cent. C0n5....7a 77 77L 3i per Cent 88 4 13i 4 per Cent la ( ... i 8 5 per Cent. Navy Ann.... Mil Bank Long Ann. 19j India Stock 2411 241 India Bonds 795. New Annuities 7 6 i Excheq. bins 8 7 9 pr. Cons. for Account ... 771i,:d4i HIGH WATER AT LONDO Morning, .54 minutes after • 1. , IN RR IDGE TO-MOR ROW. 1 Evening, 18 minutes after 2. THE s • SOLEN OUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDEAT LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1822. MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. Ilis MAJESTY this day, at two o'clock, pro ceeded in state to the 'louse of Lords, in order to open the Parliamentary Session. His MA' JESTY was accompanied on his entrance into the House by all the Great Officers of State and of the Household, and ascended the Throne. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod was then ordered to command the attendance of the House of Commons. The SPEAKER and a consi derable number of the Members immediately after appeared at the Bar, and his INIATESTY des livered the Speech from the TFnone, of which the following is a correct and ample outline : His MAJESTY begins with stating to the two Houses, that lie has the satisfaction of informing them that He continues to receive from Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition to this Country. He then states, that His endeavours have been directed, in conjunction with His Allies, to the settlement of the differences which have arisen between the Courts of Russia and Turkey, and entertains hopes that these differences will be satisfactorily adjusted. His MAJESTY then expresses the gratification} which, on his late visit to Ireland, he derived from the loyalty and attachment manifested by all His Subjects, and remarks, that, with this im pression, it was matter of the deepest concern to Him that a spirit of outrage, which has led to daring and systematic violations of Law,has arisen, and prevails, in some parts of that Country. He avows His determination to use all the means in His power for the protection of the PPrAons and Property of the 1 oyal and peaceable, and sub mits to the immediate consideration of Parlia ment, whether the existing Laws are sufficient for the purpose. His MAJESTY then di.cia-es, that, notwith standing the interruption ofthe pablic tranquillity, he has the satisfaction of believing that his pre sence in Ireland had been p . oductive of very beneficial effects, and adds, that all descrip tions of ilis People might confidently rely on the just and equal Administration of the Law, and on His PatQrna.l Solicitude for their wel fare. MS MAJESTY next states to the Howe of Commons how much he is gratified to inform them, that, during the last Year, the Revenue has exceeded that of the preceding Year, and appears to be progressively improving. His MAJESTY acquaints them that he has di rected the Estimates 'to be laid before them, cu. ( and tor, rnal ditt Est bot tas ruez are tOu C 7 , !. lull at I; imp, by Pea( alt ( ir on cee,i "as germ Ilsua