The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-12-14 00:00:00

MI N IST EWA L MORALITY.

To connte►art the feelings of the pienple—to re-
-1 res. their enthusiasm and drown their cries, the
rld was- .droop is raised, Licentiousness and blas-
phemy are the them:. of the loyal trumpeters—lt-
c-riti;nosiiess awl blasphemy are bellowed forth by
cot.tructors, I•rhbrls, prosioners. eitircurisis, and
when► tic Treasury crit bribe or
interest. are invited to oppose with their clamour
tie voice of the This trick is now .tale;
the intention too evident to produce much effect ;
roost of these hrllowers are known to be interested
I.iy;nt•, or ear-miss of the press and of Inlb.•rty, Of
I.l.rrplienly no Oil- can be guilty who is not mail.
blaspheme is an art of insanity ; a putty inortill
to speak evil of the Nlajusty of !leaver' deserves
r or pity more than In ell a,rs and
in all climes this cry has been raised by running
when their cr.& was in dourer, and
they have found enough to he (biped by their
rtr.ig m. It i, as blasphemous in 11:r stib:lvets or
11:r Glatsll I.uiria not to devour his sscred
v. it is in Rome to (Icily that the Pope is
the Vic.r of God. These trumpeters are rqu:illy
on the alert in cotolr.mitiog whe they c,rll the
l:;:.-titiousiress of the press; they are not satisfied
with the sufferings of the victims, groaning in
diingeoi.s, to glut the vengeance cf those who fear
ir tors of power trorn the conflict of argument--
they shackle Ihr press till they I. ill reduced
its free dont to the promulgation Of flitter• of Nlinis-
ter:: soil prose of their government. Instead of de—
ploring the: useless utvl unjust severity of the laws—
iostead of exposing the folly that would check
11 tipreuil ref opiiiion—instrail of withdraw-
rig the veil from despotism—instead of admiring
that trerrinu► which is the fruit of knowledge, they
wreirld dea•roy the tree, and envelope inaokind
t!•e rlou•Ii of ignorance. Undur the in:isk of
vir-
Itie they affect a stern morality, that shuddera at
female d-gravity, and delights in male wickedness.
murality-mongers, devoted to the purse of
the Treasury, cover the acquitted Queen with all
the beautiful and chaste epithets their knowledge
afr•rrds or their ingenuity cin invent. They mea-
se•e imp,' crimes by the standard of interest, and
hick is white or white black with them—an object
cl• hatred or admiration as it proceeds from the
powerless or the powesful. What can be Or she
give is their great question : if the Royal person
ire powerless, criminality files on the character—if
powerful, tern vice becomes a virtue. One of these
sycophants declared. that the Soverrigns of Eng.
isnd cannot sin; hut one of our best po.:ts did not
p.rufess this creed. lie describes the Court of Ar.
shot as the circle of virtue, and admits, that since
kw time a change had taken place. Thus sings
the poet, ind I.Jets, it has been said, succeed best in
fiction:—

•' The■ Courts of Kings were held in high renown,
Ere made the common brothels of the town.
There virgins honourable vows raveled,
But chaste as maids is mona►teries he'd.
The King himself, to nuptial ties a stair,
No bad example to his poets gave."
Nought has been more injurious to society than
these interested cries of licentiousness and blab-
!Amy—nought is mare injurious sto loyalty than
the ►ite epithets heaped upon the Queen ; many of
the attributes of royalty are like the beautiful plu.
wage of the butterfly—a slight touch will destroy
the which no art con restore. These are not days
in which the exposure of Majesty tends to incre.ise
its strength; nor ■re they its true friends who,
blind to the errors of one party, aggravate the
wroni,es of the other. It is high time fur the people
to turn their eyes to the condition of the country—
@ Loudition which soon will be irreparable, if they
do out, with steady hand, arrest the ills. Every
day brings Hew c.ilinnity with it; and the omits of
the people inciesse with the increase of the necessi-
ties of the Guyer 1111 l ent. " There is something rot-
ten in the State of Denmark," and it is wise to
check its progress before it reaches the heath—
( Ilse Alfred.)

and Mr. Gregory, Under Secretary of State. By
this correspondence it appear+, that Dr. Engtand
had discovered, through the Means of a man who
was about to expiate his offences by a public
execution, and swim afterwards suffered the list
dreadful sentence of the law, that there were
certain peasants in the county of Cork who
had secreted arms. Mt visited those infatuated
persons, and his exhortation, had such un ttleet
ofmn them, that they agreed to give up their
arms, provided they were saved harmless from
the consequences. This circumstance he commu-
nicated to the lord Lieutenant, and he received a
reply from 3lr. Gregory (tile Under Secretary), re-
questing that Dr. England should put himself in
cominustiests MI with some of the resident magi-
strates of the district, in order that the arms
should he torretnlered with all the formality pre-
scribed by the Inv. Doctor England replied; that
the inliormation hr had received was communicated
under the sanction of confession, and that he could
not,. of coarse, comply with the, part of the letter ;
he intimated, however, if we understand the dolt
of his letter rightly, that he should be able to get
up the arms 011 the promise that the magistracy
should remain ignorant id the ottensisrs.
" We know not Inc this affair terminated, yet
we csoutot h ut lament that a form, which we pre-
Plante M". Gtrgory is of opinion that he cannot vio-
late, shall lie found Io contraveue an arrangement
to which every rational and moderate Maui most
feel willing it/ give his sauctiose. We hope awl
trust that to smell au arrangement recourse will still
be had, and That the deluded men will be induced,
without the apprelto,.sinii of cruise/111,41er,,
to d. Is;s arms which must ultimately prove
fatal to 111,iitss Ive•, if vot itsjurious to the peace of
the country.

" Tle-re is, however, u:ie consideration that arises
from this ci.cnint•tittice which, we think, is passed
over too liglttiv—lamely, the little confidence, or
rather the hostility which prevails bet ern the su-
perior and the hover ranks of such ty its Ireland ;
and yet this con.itierieroto is Ity far the most iu►-
pnrtant feature iti the subject. Much may be at.
tril►ute;l to ignurancc—ti great deal to the prover-
blisl credulity of the Irish prinstitry—sninething,
perhys, to tlu-tr insoloorditiote habits, and mitre to
thin. 11r..indict'. Stijl it is melancholy to ill►-erve
that these finks iu their character—that there vices,
which are it sl•psrable front their condition, have
old, except to a very few inst•anct 0, been attempt-
ell to be corrected by their natural pmtecturs and
leaders, the gentry of the country.
" We do not choose to follow the subject into
the inferences to ulach these premises would lead.
It 14 runt h flat we can exemplify the Ito-anon by
the very case In- fore mitt. !fere are men who have
guile astray, who have seized arms, and who are
lioarthog them, fir the porpro.e, when they think
an opportunity shall creur, of using them against
the politic peace. Yr' they know that their condi-
tion is dangerous—they know that death or trans-
portation wails On drtertloll. The danger nod the
Cu 1111.1.:::11!y of their rit.suit has been demonstrated
to Ihrw by a clergyman of their own f.ersnasion;
and he PUCCeedeit PO 1.4 mitt la induce them to
.give
promise of suit-yodeling their arms, provided they
might he secured luau the consequeticrs. %Ire
have !on gui2il VII opinion of the gentlemen of Cork,
and varticulsrly of tl.e magistrates in question, to
entertain um, apprehension of their rocurity ; we
are sure ditit they woold be perfectly sore lii potting
their list+, or their liberties, to the safe custody of
those ceritlernen ; we Luke it for granted that they
would not by afterwards marked men. But it is
clear they ore not of this °pluton, ur they would
surrender at once; it is clear that they have no
co.didetice in their natural guatiliat.s and protec-
tors. Fear, rather than affection, is the bond of
their obedience."

TO CORK ESPON DENTS.
IV The ettustaicationv of Clemens will Bei suit

TYR BRITISH Pans.