The National Register.
London, England, 1809-02-19 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

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NO. 60. •
8U N DAY FEB RUARY 19, 1809. •lt
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QVISITIOZit. garb and manners of their ancestors, their minty notions S
PoLITICAI.4.PIS
aumpts=mapiri== of patriotism ; and, in assuming the vices and dress of
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SUMLIER. FIrTY•EIGHT. courtiers, have adopted their code of political morality.
THE DUKE OF YORK. .
A community may be said to enjoy the !Amines of free-
dom, when every member composing it is subject, without To pander to the lieehtious appetites of a Prince, .and to
convert the secret of his vices into a means of advancing
the fortunes of a family, arc denominated disinterestedness,
honest zeal, and attachment to the person of the So. ereign. ~ ,
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distinction of person, office, or rank, to the controul ef To dishonour the profession of a soldier. to change the
the law. The reverse of the position mast be admitted, office of commander into that of army-broker, to employ
as soon as certain persons are permitted to arrogate an ex- the immense• patronage of the military establishturnt for
emptiou from this coercive influence. It betrays, there-
the purpose of catering to the extravagant wants of a pros•
fore, an excess of extravagance, to assert that .a people
titute, to connive at, even to share, during time years,
are free, when the persons entrusted with the management the infamous traffic she carried on, to riot in the ahatuira- 1
of their affairs may be guilty, with impunity, of the ble profits, to enable her to live, to the detriment of the
' grossest •ma!versations. Were men instinctively inclined to soldier of fortune and merit, in princely magnificence,
act .right, laws and government would be superfluous ; whilst the widow and orphan children of the fallen hero
but as there is an undeniable tendency to render the inter- are left to pine in neglect and often in misery t these are
eats of others subservient to oar awn desires, the necessity
frailties unworthy of animadversion, and undeserving of
of salutary restrictions was soon discovered; 'and the ex- inquiry 1 i :..
i perience of their general utility taught mankind by degrees Woe to the country whose means of defence are en-
to revere what the individual submitted to at first with re- trusted to an enervated libertine, to a senseless debauchee 1
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luctance. In ordinary times, when no danger menaces front abroad.
.-e, We are not insensible to the ridicule we incur, in pre- and the people, unoppressed by taxation, and unharrassed
. tending, in our age and country, to see the necessity of in- by military levies, see in their government only all object t
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culeating truths which are coeval with she very existence
of regular government ; and we would justly merit it, parition, so .flagrant a violation of consistency:,
were there not some bold and shameless men, pretending p p
to, and assuming, a superiority over the rest of their fel- of their veneration and attachment, such a monstrous ap-
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pro alarm, disgust, and, ul:ivately, tlis.iffect uou!d
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But when the state is weighed down by oxt.:,,i;ve 11:1;.dviiii
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Sow citizens, who plaiuly evinced a disp4 mition to bring into of every description, when its fortuees are,! t I.,tri‘lil.;,: 'lk
disrepute these self-evident maxims. They are now known : , the balance, when only an accidental parti, c nliin.., "'ilk
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-.I r. - they have had the follY tcr betray their intentions; and, the oppesite scale, when vigorous men begin to (!-spoild,
happily for society, their imbecility is equhl tq their want and minds of a religious cast believe to atx: a visitatteu of
"of principle. In their miserable jargon, the honest citizen, Heaven, in the alarming occurrences of our time, when
who sincerely and disinterestedly loves the government of the ardent patriot and the, enlightened statesman vainly afs
bis country, and endeavours to render it an object of ye- feet to conceal their apprehensions, when the vast resource
aeration, by attempting to remove its abuses, is-denomi- of a continent are combined for its destruction, when an
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noted a conspirator; whilst they have the effrontery to in- inveterate, active, intelligent enemy, at the head of the.
'innate that an. adherence to thoSe very principles which mightiest empire ever recorded in the annals of the world,
place, the' house of Brunswick on the throne of Great Bri- and s,vereign arbiter of the lives and fortunes and talents
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fain, evinces an hostility to that ill tastriens latnilv. Shame of its immense population, has conspired against its cue!.
n:t their torpor, Vil their Anti-British .sentiments 1 Their sure, we may then safely pronounce, if so revolting. an . ~
slew-fang-led doctrines might secommend them to the fa- abuse be permitted to exist, on the fate of that devoted ..
your of the new dynasty of the Bonapattes ; for similar community. ~
maxims and practices have paved their tray to the thrones To quit, however, a subject which can interest the pub-
, of the Bourbons, .
. lie of this country only as .a matter of mere speculation,
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These observations naturally present •thenlseivez in ad- as-a reference to disorders which have subverted sir many
Yelling to the motion of Mr..Wardie. We are acquainted kingdoms, and humbled in the dust so. many powerful dy- • I ....
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. with the patriotism and disinterestedness of the individuals easties on the Continent, but which, we trust, can never
- • who chewed an aversion to the investigation. We appre- visit us, -or-endanger oui• safety and that of the Illustrious
ciate fully their motivesa and know the sentiments of the House of Brunswick, we will proceed to advert to the
public on the line of conduct they have pursued. But they charges against the Commander in Chief. -
have calculated falsely ; the alarm of Jac4inisrn is now We .acknowledge we are among those who glory in this
over, and all their cries, hypocrisy, and contortions, will investigation. The Commons of Great Britain have now an
• not convince the people of this country that the state is opportunity oftppearinz in the exalted character of a Ro-
in danger,' because some attempts are made to reform its . - • the • lversal;ona of a VERRI:s ;Or
man Senate, examining tna .. . .
. abuses. in the light of a certain assembly, alluded to by the Ulus-
, How opinion varies he the course of a century 1 The trious Dean of-St. Patrick. We arc far from pronontica.7
present generation seem to have cast off, with the simple udgment on the Duke of York, or even insa:eating thaw •
Pal. 11.--Na. LX. i ~