The National Register.
London, England, 1819-11-29 00:00:00

tit lit),

No. 23L.—VoL. XII.]

political itrtrosptct.

THAT no Parliament, ever convened in this
eonntry, has been called to consult upon more mo-
mentous subjects, on topics more intimately con.
nected with inherent serenity and with our future
welfare, is a fact which no man of whatever party
can hesitate to allow. We arc now in the fifth year
of peace. %Viten the evil and imbecile policy of our
Rulers was urged some years ago, when the misera-
ble and distressed state o' -the Country was then
pointed out, and pressed upon the attention of the
public, the universal answer both of Ministers and
their supporters was " These things are, and must
be, the inevitable consequences of a long protracted
war ; the same has been the situation at the close
of others, and why should you not allow it to he so
now !', Nay it was stated as un undeniable defence
of our public Councils, that distress prevailed not
only in Great Britain, but in at least en equal
degree,over the whole Continent of Europe, and that
such was, and must be, the natural effects of a•t-ran-
sition from War to Peace. •Patience and humble
acquiescence in troubles which would soon have an
end, were the remedies forcibly inculcated as be-
coming good subjects and reasonable men. We
hope the most infatuated and prejudiced mind can-
not now hesitate to admit that the trial of this
argument has been fairly made. In fact, for u
season, truth seemed to be clearly on its side. The
native energies of British industry and enterprize,
unshackled by the trammels of those chains which
war always imlo•es, burst forth at once into
useful action. Capital found for itself new channels,
and the vessel of the State seemed to outward ap-
pearance to be sailing with all her canvass full set,.
before the most favourable breeze that her pilots
could hope or wish for. The public funds, which
the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself insisted•
-upon as the surest • criterion of public prosperity,
rose to 84 in the 3 per cent Consuls, and a very
considerable impulse was given in every part of the
kingdom to our trade and manufactures The song
of triumph was shouted by the advocates of the Pitt
sy►tem, and the " war-party," as it was called in
Athens, maintained that their policy had first s•ived
the Country, and now mimed it to the highest pitch
of wealth and glory. Those, however, whose re.
{!actions watt :somewhat deeper, whose views were
not confined to one fleeting hour, for which they
knew that a lamp almost burning down to the very
dregs, might yet be coaxed to flare and blaze
before it ultimately expired, still continued to judge
more soberly, and as it unfortunately turns out,
much more wisely. They knew that natural causes
must be at last followed by natural effects; that it
was quite impossible that a lavish and wide-wasting
•national expenditure should not be followed by a
corresponding kgree of national embarrassment and
distress. The great and leading principles of public
policy are more plain and simple than many would
persuade us. Nations are only to be governed
by the same rules that prevail in private
families.—Profligacy can never lead to prosperity
nor extravagance to wealth and affluence in either.
We would wish to put it to the honest and unpre-
judiced decision of any men, whether the state of the
nation is now what it ought to be, what our pre-
sent rulers pledged and promised that it would be,
and whether any causes except their own abominable
code of political maxims can be possibly assigna for
it. The temporary vrouperity above alluded to has