The National Register.
London, England, 1812-10-11 00:00:00

—••-•, ,adio•
WOOD.

That wi,,est of men, Alderman IVuod, in his address on Friday sein-
niulit, had the modest,/ to tell the Ligery, th,it " if tiny preferred
purity to venality, peace to war, lelilrnl to abuse. religions liberty to
unchristian-I.lw persecution, mid the reqoration of prosperity to int..%
table runt, they mitzht yet. by their individual sulTratws, and 15
coustentancous and noble effort, prevent cila lonics so dreadful, obtain
advantages so important, mid realize the hopes whie h the recollecti,
of their p .st labours and ardent patriotism could not liti! excite.'
Meaning of course, that all this was to be etikxted by their ehoositc,
him for their viiresentaitive in Parliament, and that he, if re-
turned, f r " Venality," " War," " Abil,e," ‘• Unehristian-like ver-
seention.' and, " Inevitable ruin," he would wire the Livery of Lon.
dun " Ptoi.y," " Peace," " (win," Religious Liberty," and
" The Resti,ration f Prol/4per.ty." We terve o:t n heard of the putrs
of quacks, but such a pir.re of jorrhaz tpurckera %% e never taw before.

SIR FRANCIS BURDETT.

The following extraordinary Address has appeared in fie daily
Papers :
TO 'PILE, ELECTOR~ OF W EST NI INSTEP.
GENTLEMEN—in addlessing so enlightened a portion of thecommue
nity as the Electors of the great Metropolloe. City of Westminster,
it would ili become me to adopt the Wet nied ,tyle of congratulation
and profession listed on occasions like the le esein. I cannot congra-
tulate the People on the opeortimity eirrded them for redressing their
manifold grievances, by a due exereise of Ih eir constitutional right, to
appoint th_ir Reoreseetatives i Parliareelit, w' II knowing, ;tett that
too they know full well who cause this clieating appearance of en
Election to tike place. that no such opportunity is, in point of fact.
or is intended to be, atreded the p2ople. You, Gentlemen, are too
well intormed of the real cendi•sion of your Country, not to regard such
language as deceptions, and to treat it with merited contempt. Nei-
ther can I, with truth, profess that I steel he highly, or at all grati-
fied, by being returned a Member of an Assembly where corruption is
acknowledged to be as " notorious as the sun at noon day," and where
" practices which would have made our forefathers startle with indig-
nation i I utter oblivion of every former maxith anti feeling of Parlia-
mem," have been impudently avowed, and shamelessly jusCtieti.
This %as brought us Into a situation almost impossible, within tha
limits of an advertisement, to depier. Nine hundred millions of debt ;
inland fortresses under the name of barracks; au army of
aid other foreign merc2neres ; an army of spies and int-miners ; et`
Tax and Excise Agents ; an Inquisition of private properi v ; a pilau_
torn for a King ; a degraded Aristocracy ; an oppressed- veopie; 4
confiding Parliament ; irresponsible Ministers ; a corrui'r and neieee
datel Press ; pensioned justices ; packed Juries ; vague aid sanguin-
ary laws, sometimes shamefully relaxed, at other times violently
stretched beyond their tone ; which, together with a host of failures
of foreign Expedition, and the present crushing but then of •faxation,
are some of the bitter frUits of corruption in the House of Commone.
A House of Commons. the Members of which elk!, agreeably to a re-
turn laid before it in 1808, put into their DWI: pockets 178,9941. a-year
in sinecures, salaries, and oense•ns, besides their Staff A ppotntment s,
and their Commissions, and besides the money teeei yeti by their Wives
and other Relations. tact, the whole of the evil arises here.
Those who vote the money a'e, some way or other, interested in the
expenditure of it. The small number of Independent Men have no
weight at all.
Gentlemen, it is often affirmed, that the savings in cur power to
make front Sinecures anti Pensions, would afford no relief to the Peo-
ple ; let us take a few out of numerous instances. The House of
Commons itself, in sheer Places and Pensions, swallows as much as
wooed give fifty shillings a-year to 71,224 families. Would this be
nothing ? Would it not be telt by the People ? Lord Arden, brother
to the late Minister, with reversion to the late Minister himself, re-
ceives front his Sinecures 38,.e711. a-year. This is the exact sum
stated. But it is said, that he has besides immense sums arising from
interest. Here is support all the year round, at twelve shillings a
week for more than one thousand Lamilies. The same may be said for

,•Z - ti

. .
taiiiity -of Grenville. '1 he Duke of tir.iitost's Sinecures and
svoithl maintain hail as many ; 'and, in short, it is in tics
the nat;in is insooverishee, seat rednied to misery. 'f'l'u lend
Civet jn,rice Ellcohorough, be-ides his salary', 'receives m Sinecuies
•i•year ; Itesttle, Bevil s olliecs to sell and particiisasinein tlse
e uolsintents of his (assist ga Tee Sineosres itt. the. Chief justice
‘N•0111‘1 kteq) three Nt!..Gerisier the AvolueLetl • -
General. ha• a clear 12,00.11. _)JrAe accOrtling to Isis •ow
; hesiles the stims given to the P. iitCes rest of site Doors et
Adul,r3;f3'. .tte: privaree property m the Insrl-ereeisipt.d Irons
Ihe 'lissome Tex, and Ale Athlir.erin, ineker Mid •t he breaker of
the Treaty or A miet,o.ii. fits 44,7:0.000i '(voted
ferethe Civil List) as a tom. to the !lake .c.f .1%41: , Orly a SOLO' part
'irt .vhich has been repaid ; that wilhoet ititeree. lust noble
..examples they set ti;, of iiiak:og saciitiees--and ter reconciling the
' Petiole to their suitirings, frets: the weigitt of Coe taxes, auditse
dis-
or the time,e • . -
(;elitlernest, there was formerly a law for ptittive bedsze of dis
tinetioe en every petiper teecivine alms from hi. Latish ; but whet
e. :season I Feet ydo 'hoe :nen desei ye. who thus closet Aisis fr. in
eve! y nein in every parish in Loglattil ? ho ee zee its manne-
.ri..et ptitsieiss, ai.ti siiseci• re places. hay prtvete puree, the.
rr.'s.serrecs of Ilte:r cottiory.
Gentleder, our ltsurping oligo•rehy•assuniesa nower of making roue
errit ineecent ee• loos- Itii.-le.'seenors; 'ot &eerie-lining points of la*
aepeal ; Asti of imprisening our persons without tri.el ; 1,1
'reakirreitiocis our houses with the staie'ine tomer, and murdering the
...'eople lac sties;ts. by soldiarrs-paid by the people •theinselses for
ihtl, oc:cm:v.—Geoid -mut), before recent experts?, ce, we shots:lt here.
ilaCdly ti osight that a here vote of the Lower House wieuid hive been
suiticie t force. as arts Court of justice, to overpower the solemn
Ictownt of King and Parliirsiesit. Gentletnets, the. J inleeis, in the
t• me orC hailer; I. decided ilea ost Hampden in tie. greet cause of Ship-
aneees---14tit set uncluiti keens mie-etiir is/at-Ines Haisepileni"—Gentler-
..nue • to Ilse ac,loti brought egaisist me by the presto' excellent High
Westmiii ter, whids 1 detended-because I thou...lit it my
.duty not to give tap y.•iir oeiite„ Lord lelletiborosieh dirj,:cicd the lury
to find sereict for the High li. I ill, rereonsi •g in flits cliPi,OlS man-
" ttirtirO ;41,41411e ht ns- fit ought to go togeither, therefore as
1 had had the beoc.fir," sa'isi his Lordship, " by takiirg the scat, the
• -ail: viols expenses ought to fall upon me." As t." taking the thin.
was compulsoty, in duel etice .to the King'S. Writ ; and. what the.
na.Nfrit is, of a seet in the Heuse of Commons, 1 am still to learn
II
:MAY Isis I.olCithip • cool" make so malty blunders, both in law and
}exit., in so smell a 33011ipd:s, It is impossible to iinaeine. toeless it
could, for an howl, he suoposcal arat his Lordship spite froineet--
.4, tierce; aildeisai, having found a sent in the Hoarse, a convenient
*mipming stone•to the Bind!, he hid iO4,otrell she aiseierit thcOry in,
firm tnedern practice of the Constitution ; With the Latter of w
g.,:rositip is :Am robe to theltill as weli a. quaintest as wttlethe former...l
?tut there is nothing in the comlitet of I rreges, either ancient Or mo--1
diem, to iiirluce u, to resits., at the shrine ot their aothotity. all pre,
teusioris coalmen sense, .raid to ..•.re understanding of plain Esiglish.
How re we the better tort lie noble srt liggl:a of oar the fat hers against
arbitrary power in the King, it we endure it in much woese hands—
sr hose of our tellow-subjects ? What signifies to us she law declaring,.
Woo no man shill- te ieseri,ored without lawful itnlgsexist of saes
er
eers, if the jarzon of " I.cx et consucto •(.s scrap of
Latin is ever introduced to eover a cheat,) cats resider all the lawuse•
less. ? M
store is the flock the better from big ..afe from the-wolf; if.
-they ate devoured by the very dogs placed to defend them ? What
avails resistiog the Lion to tall into the jaws of the Jackell ? to have
• intoned the Eagle's wing to become the sport or prey of Daws and
• ites ? Despicable condition ! chnted, sold, and arbitrarily ruled by
ter own servant, who exceed Judas in treachery, and equal to him in'
•guiltl—Thelleuse cf Commons, instituted to redress our grievances.,
is become the gvatest of all grievances itself, the ready instrument of
;all our oppressors; a two-edged sword to destroy, itistead of a shield
jo protect-us.
• Gentlemen, the people of England arc entitled, by several positive
laws, as well as by that which is superior to all) Law, Reason and.
-Commas Sense, sort Ccininon
Good,
to ANNum. AR•LIAMENTS and
:free Elections. The.se are the vital principles of the Constitution;
the only means of Ilisuring Justice, Peace, and Security to the corn-
=unity at large.
Gentle' en, we once had this happiness ; our Laws were made by
Representatives of our own choosing; our money wasnot taken from
'us but by our own consent, and the Laws made by commen consent
were the meesure of the King's Rule and the subjects obedience. To
use•the words of our great Dramatic Bard, •
" Look here upon this picture, and on this •
" The counterfeit presentment of two Brottsers,
al See what a grace was seate.l on this brow."
" A combination, and a form, indeed,
" Where every God did seem to set his seal.
" This was your CONSTITUTION, Look now, what follows
" Here is your CONSTITUTION."
We may well conclude by asking, frith the Poet,
• What the devil was't
hat thus h cozeu'd es at bootlnieis blind ?"

•••1•-•.
TITE NATIONAL- itrrTsTPl? .
••- . •

Oxford, Oct. 6, Nl2.

OCT. 1 ia

Gentlemen, under the present system ito change of Ministry can
be perstraiwinly and importantly useful to the eritantry:- The Present
are just as good as airy of their pre., ct rs-ers during the present reign,
or as any that are likely to .timeretl them.. The fault sir not, in the
sielividuals, bid in the rastem ;—a• rirstrm tancler which no station
ever did or can prosper I—J st,tlll nt the most infant-lot and ruin.
-pikrted corruption. T.) thi4 Otters:al is.tuation of the Country, fele.
sir: to draw .toe atter.tion ht my c•uatuvrnen, perstta,:ed that 'how
hence alone port.ee..-.ls all out mtornal stiderink,s, and external weak.
I err:6 ; by the removal tit tbi= ety stem, ynn ni iy hive foreign ton.
:l
quest. if that is etc-is able ; by tlw non renroval ett it, ever vietOty
mat Lonteleipt ‘ll4 serve 4111.11 to collative. and to cos ily the notional
stivittlttee depravity, and y. ststen. merst he pot a blot)
to by r JEWS hem without the doe,rs of the of Ccrmous, fur,
be asia.ired, the Gentlemen within will never refuetn thetritclves.—
They will no mere part with, heir rotten borooglis than a highway.'
man will% his prqerls. t•PI RI T of NA M t' DEN must revive
in the breasts of our C Gehtltmen, "And the l'eople,.w th
.led voice, must DIMA%It R4)5111-.11' a iarigriagc t or to be misnodtr.
stood. Until vane stmia spirit shall raraiiirest irsclf, lam desirous 0;
withelrawittg troin acti• g it, part io the Low rAack, carried on in St.
; co! Tes'it,hiliA two your 'hands your delegated trust; of re.
• 'tot tiing to that Vettirelrtect had tinsel% when you so unexpectedly
ptaced toe in yo•rr service ; 'Wert ing that in so degra.ted, and di.graditt,;
.rate of the counts, ..4 hire po,t of honour is a priyatat
stall n."
At the same titre, GenVo.inert, be well issetred, that nottriarg can
ellace trout my receillectien the deep !int. r-ssion of your noble and
, generous coivtuct. 0n this pee itt all the wo: hi ale
.agreeil, whatever
tidier...awe of opinion eXtst aLtAlt tite object of your choice.
Get tlemen. your kind ;Aid consid‘'reeee behaviour has Made •a bur.
then, fir too heavy for iny•shonideri. sit taster thant could hate
expected. Not oi.ly.have• I - been tree • from importunity. but even
from the slightest tepu:st liana a single instividuat of your numerous

body.
.
. .
Gentlemen, this conthsct fills me. with esteem end. respect,. and
must ever bind me to the I.lectors. t 4 West► inster. by indissoluble
ties of gratitude and affection.' hut, Gentlemen, Edo most earnestly
wish to sp.sre myself the erabrtification, and ;on the disanpointtneut
of p.osit.g a painful lit: in undignified becatise unsupperteci, awi
unavailing efforts to stem 3 tt;f11011 of corruption; as itiesi.,iible as
iufonous ; of " dipping buckets into empty wells, and gnAt,ing °Lel
''.
in ti awing nothing up:"

G entlornm, • •
I rcniaiti mnst
prOu,ptut gutitutk and erwtri;esn,
Your Servant,
- . CIS BURDETT.

'TO THE INDEPENDENT LIVERY OF LONDON.

GENTLEMEW, •
1 should tie equally unworthy of your present favour and future
support if I could abandon the can ,e,wn,:ch,you have invited me to
maintai.i. Zdo nut consider myself an ordinary Candidate upon 211
ordinary occasiottliii is only solicitous for his cat‘ n success, but
an ohject selected* you for the display of your zeal, and who hay-
ing accepted your kiavitation, !mist firmly await the result. I t;llere-
fore should not rectile, even if I did despair-Of an tiltimate triumph;
and as I am not-Pt-destitute of hope, I shall cLeei fully te•lrem the
pledge which I gave, and J lull continue to contest the Election dur-
ing the continuance of the Pol. But whilst' • rbits • pe.rform my
duty to you, 1 Must remind )ou, that yoti have important and sa-
crcd duties to tWscharge to --yOutselves, to, your children, to your
country, and to the world.. The whole Empire observes your con-
duct with anxiety, intermingtt with hope. Your ixample has
frequently animated the drooping advocates of Fuipdom and 'Peace-- •
do not now doom them to•-desparr. Multitudes, ignorant of the ,
calculable difficulties you have to surmount, will impute your failure
to causes equally unworthy and intorrectl A-;a1 by your CnarlittA,
'who know and create the oli,tacles, it will be Pepreseilted xs wis indi-
cation that the ,prescnt syste uis approved by you—that the- enlight-
ened Inhabitants of the metropulis disc Lin Peace, Liberty, and Re-
form—and that your It I,bours and peat remonstrances• !lave pro-
ceeded only front a minority, ignorant, riisatlectedi of perverse
The baseless fallacy of such conclusions we indeed. can ex plaht-'--but
let us not leave " a peg to hang a doubt upon." C:INE day
(MoNo,Ay) only remains. • •Contentn• the treats which would appal
the apathy which would paralyse,' and the .protnises Whiclf vroold
allure you. Let every unpolted Eleoor hasten to maintain iris
pendcnce, and to exercise his rights, and avert impending calls and
degradation lay etibrts proportionate to the emergency, .by .ttnanirnity
1 and promptitude. I have the hollow to remain, Gentlefffent
Your devoted faithful seittant,
MATTHEW. WOOD.
Saturday, October 10, 1812. .
The Committee tweet on Monday at-the Paul's Head Rooms,
Cateaton- street, where they will thankfully receive your communi-
cations and entreat you to "form yourselves into Sub-cormhitteeso ti r.
every district, canvass the victuityi earl accompany the V.orors tllP
without delay.