The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-10-26 00:00:00

LON DON,
TUESDAY,. OcrosEa 26. 1819.

Yemeni:ly being the aisiiiversary of the KING'S
Acteasi 111 l to the Throne of these realms, was ob-
served a+ a holiday at the public offices. The Stock
Exchange, however, was open, and much business
was transacted. The alarm excited on Saturday by
•the proposed measure of increasing the military es-
tablishment —hy the removal of E ir I FITZWILLIAX
from the Lieuteisancy of the West Riding of York-
shire—mid by the absurd and mischievous repoot 01
the asszissiivitiou of Lord CasTLEaraots, was still
felt iii the market yesterday, nor do the most expest
riecced speculators seem for the present to antici-
pate au improvement. A thousand vague and
ridiculous rumouas were industriously circulated in
the neiglihouiliooll of the market, and although
many laughed at the idea of danger, and ridiculed
the notion that the Radicals could entertain the
desperate resolution of disturbing the general tran-
quillity of the country, yet it less manifest that
alarm was either felt or effected to a very great
extent. Should this sense of danger continue for
any considerable time, it must be attended with very
injurious consequences to the commercial part of
the community, and the Lords of the Treasury
will, we rear, have to deplore it at the termination
ef the current quarter.
It cannot safely be denied that there exists in
the country an active spirit of discontent, which
possibly might, without a►uch difficulty, be per-
verted to purposes of mischief, and it is also very
probable that the Ministers have received, from
what are called the " disturbed district.," com-
munications of an attaining character. The doors
of office in Downing-street have ever stood in-
vitingly open to stories of disaffection, and when
the taste of the Government is well understood,
cat will never be wanting to pamper its de-
proved appetite. The experience, however, of the

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year 1517, wilt ne least justify the public in not
lending a credulous ear to the cry of treason, when
traised by Ministers, upon the reports of interested
iiiul designing men. When Miuistersojts 1817,
required from Parliament extraordity4 .powers,
suspending the Constitution, they weso. well sup-
plied with evidence of sedition, and prevailed upon
; a Committee of tither !louse to sanction their mea-

sures by their unanimous approval. We do not de.

sire to throw any reproach upon the Government,
fur reposing ton easy a confidence in such represent
. tali nn s, and still less upon the Committees of
Pediment fur- adopting the impressions of the
Ministers, oo 1.6 e analstirity of vague or treacherous
statements.' Minieteti the retirement of their
closets most); erlicoiirit;, depend upon the reports
of etheri, and egfortunately the individuals who
claim their unreserved confidence in 'natters of
such importance, are fur the most part men of
indifferent reputation, upon whose veracity little
reliance ought to be placed. The office of a spy is
in itself so degrading and infamous, that the man
alto stoops to it must be lost to every sense of
shame, and be ,deprived of every good and generous
feeling. Events proved that the Ministers were
egregiously deceived by their spies in 1817. Al-
though several individuals were arrested, charged
atilt treasonable practices, only four were brought
to trial, who were acquitted, sod all the rest, up-
wards we believe' of one hundred persons, were
liberated without trials either absolutely or upon
their own recogniztuces. The remembrance of
these circumstances ought to teach us distrust in
the present tales of alarm, and prevent us from
reposing an implicit confidence in the assertions of
Ministers, who have proved themselves credulous
to a degree that bordered upon imbecility.
Nothing can be more easy at ally time than to
raise a cry of danger, and the greater the mystery in
which it seems to be enveloped, the more surely
will the object of the alarmists be achieved. At
present we are told nothing about the extent of the
danger, the point or object of attack, the leaders
of the enterprise, or the means that are destined
for its support. The enemy is generally known
under the name of 1, Radical Reformers," and these
are at one moment ridiculed for the paucity of their
numbers, and at another maguified into a danger-
ous importance from the overwhelming weight of
their 6$ physical force." They are certainly con-
fined to York, Lancaster, and perhaps a few dis-
tricts in other manufacturing counties, but it
would. be idle to think of ascertaining their num.
bers ; they have been raised into a factitious and
unnatural importance by the indiscreet energy of
the Ministerial writers, and have acquired a degree
of consistency and uuifnrmity of at tion from the
unfortunate uffitir of Manchester, which otherwise
they would never have obtained.

13st what could mere brute force effect against
the organised power, military skill, energy, wealth,
intelligence, and talent of the whole empire ?
Whu are the leaders of this undisciplined rabble?
Are tiny those owes we barstasionally
It a r.teimal veil al ,•maiaibeAt $43 to `a rq