The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-08-27 00:00:00

!Inapt* to defend tke eharsaters of Rossel anti
Syalotty and concludes with aiking. Where.
Sit, shall I find. in all the cumbrous volume•
of harangues which you have utterel during the
last ten years of treasons and conspiracies ngsms•
the throne and the life of your Sovereign, one sing),
sentence or phrase expressive of yens abhorrence of
those diabolical machinations r' (p. 719) To this
despicable, disloyal. detestable statesman. Mr. erth-
bett has himself stated (vol. vi. p 515) that h.
afterwards went over; he calls him, repeatedly.
' public-spirited an.' msessanimous,* and declines,
that, out of the five great qttestions to which his life
had been devoted, t'.erc never hal b-en but one on
which ti ey disagree. I. In a nunWer published since
his death, he speaks of the departed statesman in the
following terms: ' He who was in his nature kind
and indulgent to a fault ; who was wonderfully
gifted in the faculty of perceiving and of jodging,
whose he at and misd were always d'spc,:ed to the
right side; and who only wanted, as Major Cart-
wright observes, th • resolution to say nay to had
men.' (vol. xi p. 593 ) fhe truth of this charac-
ter might atone for much hastiness or error ; hut
rotbiug can expiate the base scurrility with .whir
it stands contrast.td ; nor was it fit that alt enco-
mium on Mr. Woe ahnsild he pronounced by lips
polluted with libels .vikh only atoned fur theft ma-
lignity by their gross and contemrible ai,suidity.
" The minor chat aete.rs are treated in the same
manner. Mr. Sheridan is a very eloquent and
patriotic person, wr.ile he is opposed w Mr. Ad-
dington ; when he stands against Sir Ft tnet
Burdett. he is a peculator, a PI yer . and a tool t• 1
corruption. Horne Tooke is hnin.Jed throu
many volumes, as a republican, Jacobin. and dema-
gogue. He is even accused pretty distnialy t t
having been guilty of high treason ; and yet we
find, in a late number xi. p. 812), a m•st
gracious and polite invitatinn to him to come f it-
ward for the public service ; nor do I believe,'
says Mr. Cobbet, 'that if the gentleman who is re-
presented as having such absolute power over Sir
Francis Burdett were once more to stand forward
in public life, he could in a short time hence meet
with any of the prejudices which have heretofore
ex sted against him.' Even Mr. Bowles, who is now
tar constant objeß of Mr. Cobbett's scorn and de-
rision, was once considered by him in the light of
a respeflable coadjutor. In the second volume we
bear of his valua'ile pamphlets, and of Mr. Cob-
bett's entire acquiescence in the sentiments they
contain. The sentiments of Mr. Bowles, for
which we ceryainly entertain no great respite, were
always, we believe. the same which be now pro-
fesses.

di Now, what is it that we infer from this strange
alter natinn of praise and blame in the pages of Mr.
Cobbett ? Why, dear nobody should care much for
either ; that they are bestowed from passion or patty
prejudice. and not from any sound principles of
judgment ; and that it must be the most foolish el
all things. to take our impressions of the merit of
any iadividua/, frem a man whose ewn opinions
have not only varied, but been absolutely reversed,
withia these four yeah. The consideration of this
versatility in Mr. Cobbett's likings and dislikings,
has, we will confess. been a cocsiderable encou-
ragement to us in the task of reviewing his lucu-
bration*. When we first felt it to be our duty to
paint out the pernicious parts of his tenets, we were
a little appalled by the prospea of the weekly abuse
with which we lay our account with being reward-
ed ; but when we discovered, in the course of our
reading, how kindly he repays the vielims of Li:
occasional reprobation, we grew quite easy upon
that milk& ; satisfied that, it he should abuse us
fur a month or two to come, he will make us ample
amends in the long-run, and end by being :he most
devoted of our admirers."

Again—'• There is only one other inkjet, we think,
upon which Mr.Cubbett used formerly to enlarge with
such trequency and seal as to make it one of the
fair chara.fteristics of his peculiar epinions ; we
mean his ardent love and veneration for the person
and family of the Sovereign, and for royalty indeed
in general. In his earlier volumes. there is much
fulsome cant and disgusting raving of this sort; but
since he has embraced the creed of Sir. Francis Bur-
dett, this fine spit it of devoted loyalty seems to be
pretty well evaporated. In his number for 24th
Match, 1807, he defends the toast of • Our Sove-
reign the People,' given at one of the worthy Baro-
net's dinners, and says, he has no other ohj.ittlion to
it than t!:at • it is not of plain unequivocal mean-
irs.' He nests with considerable derision a loyal
correspondent, who had 'aid, he trusted every true
Englishman would shed the last chop of his blood
iii support of his King ;—tells him the King has
about two hundred thousand gentlemen in red and
blue jackets whose business it is to support him. and
that he is able to take. care of himself ;—and that
pi, SUCI4 views of devotion ,be reasonable and manly
when we see the Kind ring up any point whatever,
however loudly called or, or from whatever quarter.
After this he proceeds to justify the part 7 at the said
dinner for omitting to drink the King a health ;
contends that this is merely a voluntary expression
cif admiration of his conduit—and that, for his
own pan, since the introdußion of so many Hano-
verian soldiers, the exemption of the King's property
from the income tax, and one or two other sus pi,
anis things et the same description, be has not felt
quite so much of that admiration, and doe. not
choose voluntarily to come forward with expres-
sions of that sentiment, Re. (vol. si p. 4.:G.) Is
it too much to say, that the scalp:is advocate of the
Bourbons. and of all their connexions, might have
been expeited to speak of the Sons of his own Saw!,
reign in terms of less contempt and acrimony ? His
ob.ervatione on the Dukes of York and Clarence,
though we had no great ohjeeion to their substance.
are certainly too much in the 2'oer:A Inc prislessed
enemies of royalty.

"We have dwelt on this subject too !mg ; but we
conceive that the charge of inconsistency is made
out completely r nod though we do not by any
means marvel. as Mr. Coblsett is moved to do on a
similar occasion,' bow a man can hold up his heed,
or even east, under the proof of such glaring tergi.
venation,' we do think ourselves entitled to say,
that dr proof which we have now detailed should
disable his jisdinssot, and donna from his autho-
rity, upon sU the =gees to which that proof is up-
plieahlr. infloosce or reputation he may
have acquired by his earlier writinr, should spryer*
against the do*rirsos which he is ow snspleied in

z_a~._