The National Register.
London, England, 1820-01-10 00:00:00

IRELAND.

GRATH of the RIGHT HON. the COUNTESS TALBOT.
Thursday livening, D. 30.

(FroVlfit; Patriot:)
It has pleased I)ivine Providence to visit our
illustrious Viceroy. the good and popular Lord Tal.
bot, with one of the severest trials that can afflict
man in this world. At a quarter before six o'clock
ea* morning. the amiable and most excellent Count-
ess Talbot departed this life. Her Ladyship's dis.
order was an inflammation of the bowels.
Frances Thomasine Countess Talbot was diarrietl
to o:tr beloved Viceroy on the 28th day of August.
1800. She was our countrywoman; she was still
more--she was the friend of our country, the prow
tectress of its industry, the patroness of all its
benevolent and useful institutions. The whole king.
door will mourn sincerely the death of this most
excellent Lady, whose exemplary domestic virtues
and amiable private character set a distinguished
example to females of all ranks. Her Ladyship hat
left eleehn children. Viscount Ingestrie, the heir.
apparent of this noble house, was born un the 11th
of July, 1802.
His Excellency Lord Talbot was a constant
attendant at the bed-side of his Countess from the
first moment of her illness. We shall not attempt
to describe his Excellency's agony of grief: it is SW
sacred fur public observation.

- ,
RODNERT 011, TUB SOLTHANIIITON cense.
gnruce ut the inconvenience and distress arising from the
suspension of payment at Messrs. Smith's Rank, a meet-
ing was held at Fletelter's Library on Tuesday last, con.
sitting of several highly respectable gentlemen el floe
town and neighbourhood, who passed a shine of resell'.
Lions, pledging themselves to discharge the whole of din
bills of their respective tradesmen before the Ist of Fe-
bruary. This well-contrived, I taratmt, end judicious
measure, hots also the Imbue Callelllrenee and approbation
of many other of the principal gentlemen in the vicinity,
whom the shortness of the notice and the slide of the
weather prevented from being piesent and it is
nut doubted that it will be the means of bringing mat 7
thuttsinitis of pounds into immediate eirculation among
those who have been principally inemumusleil by the
areideat of the Rank- The chair was tai.en by Admire/
scud, and the resolutions Well: moved anti In Coildird
W A. Mackinnon, Esq. M. P., and Sir James Lied,
K. C. B.
A young man of the mime of Jones (whose mother
and family reside in Centime:ton) met with aii untimely
death recently, while in the :RI of rowing his little punt '
in the shore (he having gone out for she nurivi,..e of shoos.
ing some Wild fowl) its cutler In at oiti tile effects of an
approaching storm. Capt. lamer, of die Resolution
reseitite cutler, perceived him struatilitip, is the wane',
and immediately ordered a boat to le: maimed ; to.; ins
praiseworthy exert were tmfortutiaa ly frmtra.eii, he
hat Mg stook lielitre the boat reached the spot.
Samuel 111elliiikotitt, titivate in the
lately tried by a ttelitret eo.itt.m.itiiel at curt" Mc pe,•
seating his musket at Lietit-Smith, whilst eitercistie
Neweosile, cutillly of Limerick, was sentencedmi gin)
lashes. 'lite sentence has hecit entnuoited to drum-
ming him, with iGitowitti, unit Of that fulreetAball'
*corps.

.

4..

~, '~'tYL:r::~se~

111

(4%• PAR 1.14.41 E T.lll Y Milt' EN CE.

Cottu, who stands high in the annals of
French literature, was deputed by the French Go-
varnment some time ago to visit England for the
purpose of possessing himself of every information
nn the subject of our laws. He has published a large
volume on the subject, " De l'Administration de la
Justice critninelle en Angleterre, et de I'esprit du
Government Anglabr" The remarks are very good

—those on our criminal law are too long for our

present purpose; but his description of Parliamen-
tary influence is too just to be passed over. He

says,—

" In England public tranquillity is founded upon
the equal means of attack and defence possessed by
different parties; and it is on this account that Par-
liament always evinces so much difficulty in adopt-
ing any changes that are proposed in the constitution
of the kingdom. This body understands, as well as
any other, the specious good which those changes
promise; but it is restrained by the fear that their
sonsequences may derange the relation of powers
actually subsistingolestroy the political equilibrium,
and throw the whole system into confusion. Ad.
verse pretensions are balanced in the actual state• of
things ; and it is in this that the wisdom and per-
tbetion of government are to be finmet. Whatever
tends to disturb that even state is eheurd, and may
cause the destruction of the political machine.
" Every Englishman is therefore exalted by this
reflection—that it is only by his courage and de-
votedness that be can preserve his rights) as well as
his property, for ever threatened by the attacks of
innovators. He well knows that the loss of hit
liberties wonld soon be followed by the loss o' his
property, and there is no reason why the one should
be respected more than the other. Ile is, in con-
sequence, always ready to defend theta, ether v:ith
his person or his purr-. Very unlike us French-
men, who, accustomed peaceably to enjoy the fruits
of our industry, or the inheritance of our fathers,
rely on Government for the save of protecting
them : the English, on the contrary, make this care
the first of their duties, and the most important bu-
siness of their lives. They are born, re it were,
soldiers fur this kind of t'arfare, and their whole
education is directed with a view to reader them
capable of managing it with SUCCOSE.
Such is the true source of their so much boasted
patriotism. I would net wish, however, to dispute
what is called their public spirit, and the dispesi.
lion which they manifest to sacrillec all their pos-
sessions to the defenee, and even to the glory of.
their country ; but this
.sztttiment that aedresses
itself so powerfully to their hearts (et critical occa-
sions, is not that to which 1 conceive nu ought ex-
clusively so attribute the ordinary preeision with
which they perform their civil duties. This preci-
sion flows from their individual interest, end the
opinion entertained by all—some that their liberty
and others that their rank and fortune and privileges
depend on the uninterrupted exercise of those rights
which they derive from the mortitutiou. It is
• this feeling which prompts the chief proprietors in
every county eagerly to procure their names to be
enrolled on the list of grand jurors, or in the com-
mission of the peace, and to charge themselves with
the painful fie Aaiun* of the magistracy. The same
sentiment renders 'those who enjoy the elective
franchise so jealous of rights, is which, ex I shall
afterwards prove, they find a daily source of at.
tention and benevolence on the part of the first
gentry in the country ! and inspires petty juries
with so generous a devotion to their duties, in the
assurance %%Mill guy have, that Ly these means
their fortunes, liberticr. and lives, are secured
against all ate assaults of power and tyranny.
.1 It is also from a similar motive that the Pons of
farmers, or proprietors of moderate fortune, are de-
sirous of registering themselves amongst the Yeo-
manry, and form a body of cavalry, whose principal
object is to keep the peasants and artisans in subor-
dination ; and that the suits ot mere wealthy pro-
prietors place themselves at the disposition tof the
sheriff, in order to serve as special coosti.bles, when-
ever public tranquillity has been disturbed by any
sedition. Once eloth:d with this temporary office,
they are seen to precipitate tileins,_lves, arnied only
with a simple stall, the di,tinctive sign of their
authority, into the midst of the most tuniultoes as.
semblages, endeavouring. to diverse them by
exhorts Mtn, ; amt if they iltrinot prevail, arroaing
the distorts r.; at the peril of their lives. And let
it not be supposed that the oiler which they make of
their )(must:nice may be quite illu•ory, and that in
the moment .1f da.ii..,er it may be ea ,y to withdraw
from the obligation which they have contracted.—
flat the cult of the sherd!. they should not instantly
repair to the aecne of disorder, they would not dial
w be severely punished, .on the rerun:mica of trail-

Till NATIONAL REGISTER.

quillity, as guilty of negligence in the exercise of
their functions; and they would inevitably be con-
demned to snake a reparation according to their
means, and to their culpability.
" All these cares, embarrassments, and dangers, are
not felt by the English as oppressive burdens, but
are regarded as the necessary consesuenees of their
liberty, and are converted into a sort of occupation
into an abject both of interest awl pleasure. Their
rights and privileges become even more estimable in
' their sight from the fatigues attending them, as a
child is often more endeared to its mother by the
searing, which its birth occasioned, and by the
ingnietude produced in its tender age. Without
the sort of agitation wbieh rult* from these differ-
ent causes, they would perish in their vast mansions
with abundance, happiness, and ennui.
" But all the sacrifices which I have described
are as nothing when compared with those mode by
the principal country proprietors, whether to pro-
cure their own election as Members of Paha-

----
ment or the election of their friends and depen-

dents.
,g When I formerly beard in France of the im-
mense sums which the English expended in order
to be returned to Parliament, I found it ditacult
to imagine what was the equivalent advantage to
be derived from their nomination, or what ream
pence it could procure. them. Where, indeed, was
to be found the compensation for one or two million
of livres? This formed a problem which I could
no...then explain ; but at that time I was untie.
quamtod with their manners.
Accustomed to pass their lives on their caates,
' the first want which they experience is that of
public consideration---tiot of that modest considera-
tion foundftl solely on an esteem for private virtues,
but of that brilliant and envied estimation which
is the fruit of credit and power. Then, co the
strongest evidence of this credit is to be named
Member of Parliament, there is nothing which an
Englishman is not ready to sacrifice in order to at-

%lain it.
.6 An election to mere its Parlktmens has more-
over this particular attraction—that besklm its
being the roost certain mark of the actual inlateuce
which the member exercises in his district, it fur.
nishes the means of acquiring a new influence,
especially when he happens to be in-the interest of
the Ministry. He then becomes the dispenser of
all the vacant employments in his own tamely.
There may not, perhaps,. be one that will not ha
granted to his recommendation—eecleriastical bene-
fices. offices with and withottt duties settees/al to
them, posts in the excise, favours of every descrip-
tion; nothing is refused, and the Ministers reap the
double advantage of thus dmwing closer the bowl
s.hich attacleee the member to their cause, and ot
assuring to thems?lres the continuance of his sup-
port in the next parliament, because the numerous
services which he has rendered in his county hr.ve
already prepared' his re-election.
" There arc several zreat homilies whe; devotee:
in this manner to the governee.ent from hither to
son, appear to have tamtracted with it a secret en-
gagement, by virtu: of which they hall thentsalees
bound to emph.y every means in their inures- tc
procure the return to r Ailment of a relation
or a friend, upon the condition :hat in ex-
change for the sacrifices they Leek- they shall lirve
almost the absolute disposal of all the offices in their
county. Thus, when Lord Lonsdale, for example,
spends 50,0001. or 40,0001. in order to bring
about the election of 11;s son, or one of his depend-
ants, to a seat in the House of Commons, it is not
sa much the honour of reprer..otatita. that he pur-
chases ut so exhorbitant a price, es it is the crown
itself of Westmoreland.
" In the cities and counties where the side ct op-
position is embraced, a return to Parliament is nut
less eagerly sought after, inasmuch as it is a shining
token that the successful cantlidavt is luoied upon in
his district au the ehiefof his party, or as the man
most competent, by kis talents and his influence, to
oppose, or perhave defeat, the enterprises of
administration.
" But as this much envied credit with electors,
like all other popular affectiels, is extremely subject
to alteration, it is only by a continual course of
benefits that it can be preserved entire; awl it is
thus that the love of authority- and supremacy,
which amongst all other nations is the most fre-
quent cause of pubic mistiertunes and individual
grievance, becomes in Lagland an inexhaustible
source of good offices and of protection.
In order to turn eerily • conception of the whole
extent of the benefits which those who aim at in-
fluencing elections engage to distribute over their
counties, it should let known that the right ot
voting is not confined in England as in Frunee to a
small...n(6'liter Hi citizens. It belongs to every
citizen who possesses 40s. of revenue (freehold t,
(about 48 livres French); and in some char-
tered towns, it is only necessary to be a part
of the corporate hotly, to ertjoy the elective

franehist: so that it may be said, with the ezeep.
tion of the low people, whose influence over elec-
tions is still very considerable, as I shall hereafter
show, that every citizen has a right to assist in thsr
appointment of members of Parliament,
( To be cootioutd4