The National Register.
London, England, 1818-01-25 00:00:00

ON THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

" All might go well in the Commonwealth, if every one
iu the parliament would lay down his own interest, awl aim
44 at the gtneral good. If a man were sick, and the whole
" College of Physicians should come to him and administer
" severally, haply so long as they observed the rules of at t, he
" he might recover ;—hut if one of them had a great deal of
" SCIIMOny by him, ie must put off that, therefore he presc:'i bes
" Scamony ; —another had a great deal at Rhubarb and lie must
" put oft that, and therefore lie prescribes /rhubarb, &c. they
" would certainly kill the man. We destroy the Common-
" wealth while we prCbtl ve our own private interests and
." neglect tite pubis."

Si,. DEN.

The meeting of the two great Assemblies of the na-
tion, which is fixed for Tue.Alay next, the 27th inst. is
a circumstance to which people in general look forward
with a coosiderable degree of interest. Whether in a
time of peace or of war, the vast andimportant concerns
of the nation which are then discussed, are sure to ex-
cite a lively concern in the minds of a very large pro-
portion of the Community. We are now fortunately •
placed beyond the necessity of raising supplies for war-
like operations, but such has been the paralysing na-
ture of the dreadful conflict in which wo have been en.
gaged, that the severity of the shock has extended to
the remotest parts of the kingdom, and has been felt
through all the ramificatit ns of our widely extended
commercial relations. We can, however, at length,
alter having weathered the storm which has proved so
disastrous to most of the Natione of Europe, congratu-
late ourselves on the recovery to health of the body
politic, on the resuscitation of the trade, manufactures
and commerce of our country, which has taken place
in a very material degree since the last Session of Par-
liament, and which must be a matter of rejoicing to
every well wisher to the prosperity and happiness of
Old England. Still, however, much remains to be
done, in regard to certain matters nearly connected with
the welfare and improvement of society, and which,
we trust, the Members of both Houses, during the
recess, have not failed seriously to consider. On the
Meeting of Parliament, the nation might fairly antici-
pate a remedy fur every pressing evil, an enactment of
me4:nres tending to the general benefit of the Com-
mouwealth, would every Member, as Selden observes,
" My down his own in!erest, and aim at Me general
goud,"--but the circumstance which occurred during
a late session, when the Minister was abandoned in
his attempt to carry the Property Tux Bill, by those
wealthy Members who had before voted with him upon
all occasions, [Winds a sufficient illustration of the de-
pendance that is to he placed upon any description of
men when their own immediate interest is concerned.
The character of these persons is analogous to that of
the Quack Doctors with their " &oniony° and their
" Rhubarb," and we may attribute to them a consi-
derable part, if not the whole of the difficulties with
which Ministers have had to contend, in regard to the
financial operations of Government.
Among the most prominent subjects likely to occupy
the attention of Parliament in the ensuing Session, we
may anticipate an early debate, (though probably it may
go no further than a desnitory conversation) on the sub-
ject of the late long-to-be-lamented breach, made by
death in the Royal House. This will probably be fol-
lowed by some observations on the subject of the succes-
sion, which, however, is already so settled as not to
require the aid of parliamentary interference. The
Habeas Corpus Suspension Act will be sull'ered to die a
natural death. The tranquil state of the country, and
the generally improved aspect of domestic affairs, are
sufficient to warrant this supposition, were it not
strengthened by the circumstance of the liberation from
prison of all the persons who were confined under its