The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-03-29 00:00:00

executive body, for the purpose of overturning the out-door
r; influence, equally prejudicial." Equally prejudicial ! to
• I what ? This writer is well aware of the fact, that the
I
• combination we adverted to actually exists. Ile is loth,
however, to make this concession unequivocally ; he there-
Ifore admits it, jar argument'a alike. Well, accepting the
; admission on his own terms, let us see how the argument
stands. A combhation the bousee of agency is allowol
Ito exist, that may he laklily dungerous to flu intrresh and
I trellitre gr the company ; let us look at the rea cowrie/4,- -
la counter-totatinotion, for the purpose of overturning this,
he thinks, is cqu.tly pri:judieial. How can that be? eVhat
process of logic is it that could bring us to such a conclu-
sion as this? If certain persons have formed themselves
into a party to exclude the authority, or to over-rule the in-
fluence of the Court of Directors, their counter-combination
to protect theinseives against the evil consequences is matter
of self-defence ; it is justifiable oil every principle of ordi-
nary prudence. To say that the measures by which these
;dangerous consequences are counteracted are equally pee-
;
..eudieed, is not intelligible ; it is not merely an error in
logic, hues solecism in language. " In the present in-
stance," we are told, " the houses of agency were exerting •
• themselves to return a man of tried talent, " and that this I
,is some palliation ;" graidcd ; but the very term pallia- I
!Sian implies that there is something bee in the scheme, and
admits that the evil is wily lessened by the choice which :
I the confederacy had made of the instrument through which
it attempted to carry its purpose. This is, at best, but an
!awkward defence ; but " the Directors," it is added, " in
I opposing this, have procured the return of a man whose :,
!pretensions or qualifications for the cffice no one seems to
be acquainted with." As a Non- Prop, Oar, this gentle- 1,
man talks quite at his ease. But, in supposing the Pro-
prictors to have elected Mr. Mu se me TT, without any reasons ;
'for their preference, is really taking more for granted
than, as a disinterested spectator, he is entitled to do. In
; making this assertion, he must necessarily go much be-
i yond the full length of his knowledge. By the time he
:gets a star to his name, he will probably admit (should his II
candour keep pace with his opulence), that the paternal','
Government of our Asiatic empire is so much matter of
routine, as to call for no very splendid pretensions in the I ,
Candidate for a vacancy ; and that the best and most use-, •
ful qualifications for adinisaion into the great Protectorate
of our Indian Commonwealth, are stern integrity and prac-
tical common sense ; all the rest lie may depend upon it
is " leather and prunella !" Men of high intellectual cha- I
racter no doubt throw a lustre round every association into ,
which they are engrafted ; and there is no deficiency,eliat
we know of, in this respect, in the great body of Dim-
ton ; but there are few men, as far as mere fitness goes,
that may not be trusted in the pursuit of their own in-
terest, as connected with the interests of the body to which
they belong. We know not that Mr. TUCKER had any ;
merits in this way, in which lie outshone the Candidate up-
on whom the nomination fell. 111 other respects, he perhaps 1.
stood not quite so high. We would touch this part of the sub-
ject tenderly; we have, in truth, no wish to touch upon it at
all. As an expedient to defeat an opponent, we think the
mode of attack rescrted to against Mr. Tees ea was base,
illiberal, and unmanly : as such we reprobated it; and we
shall again do so should it again be resorted to. In so do-
ing, we are not leis advocates, but the advocates of justice
and fair dealing. It may be that lie may join in confession
with Gte BLAS—" Jr nc me acntais two Ia conscience
case nette pour etre contens dr moi." But if the Non-Pro-
prietor will permit us, we will—fet Mat pass. " East India
Proprietors," he tells us, "are generally considered men
of understanding ; but they have shewn that they are
as much biassed by interest as the veriest pot-wabblers in
existence." Indeed! What say the Members for Old
Sarum to this? And is it the " houses of agency" that are
to set the fashion of public spirit ? Are the supporters of •
Mr. Tucker the only persons who are likely to drive away
the evil spirit of corruption ? Or is it Mr. Tuck ca himself
that will set his foot upon that dragon's neck, and revive
the decayed spirit of patriotism in Leadenhall-street T We •
fear they are much too sanguine, who expect this consum-
mation from any alliance, holy or unholy, or from any
" heads of houses," royal or mercantile. The sanctifying
influence even of the Imperial ALKIANDE II has shewn,
that there is no virtue in a name ; and we doubt if
even " the seal SIMON Puss" is much better fitted
for the task of regeneration than any of one out of
the million of professors that have gone before him.
" If the Proprietors have any regard for their own cha-
racter," says the writer, who, net kin; one of them, it
costs him nothing to reprobate---" if they base any de-
sire to retain the good opinion of the public, they will
throw off these trammels and act as becomes them, free and
unbiaesed." Why this is just what they are doing. They I
are resolved to resist a combination of which the danger to
their interests has been already felt, and from which much
greater may be foreseen. Its adhereseent qualities can
only be combated by a strong counter-union ; for this
body is of the nature of a polypus ; if cut into two parts trans-
vercely, each of these parts becomes a complete polypus ;
on the very day of the operation, the second part, which
has no head, gets one; a mouth forms itself at the ante-
rior
end, and shoots forth arms. The combination to
which the Directors so firmly. and, as we think, so wisely
and justifiably oppose themselves, possesses but too much
of this reproductive power, and though cut asunder at the;
last election, new arms arc sprouting out, and it is becom- ;1
ing again as sctive as ever in all its functions. The con- I
elusion to be drawn from this is apparent, but as we may
possibly be called upon again to make some further re-;
marks upon it, we shall abstain for the present from en-
tering
into any additional detail.

• We are happy to find, by inquiries which we made last
night, that the report of the death of Mr. Scarlett is un-
founded. The Learned Gentlisnan conducted a cause in
the Assize Ceurt, at York, on Friday, and attended his
professional dutici during the day, being very much re
Covered from his late indisposition. We regret extremely
that the painful rtports respecting this distinguished ad-
vocate should have gained circulation, and are wholly at a
loss to discover their origin.