The National Register.
London, England, 1817-02-10 00:00:00

Ur t issitr+

tutton an ital 336.

'ARY 10, 1817.

posed at present ? Besides, how could men s uneducs.
ted, so fi•ehle and fluctuating in their opinions as the 'T‘
rubble geaurally arc, and always have been since the
consulship of Curiolanus, be able to judge of' the qua.
lifications which ought to recommend a candidate to
their selection ?

The idea of annual Parliamentsis equally unsupported
by history, take it upon the grounds of utility and rea-
son, and it will appear fully as erroneous. It is alledged
that they would overthrow the influence of the Crown
at the elections. On the contrary, we are sure they
would increase it, because they would urge the Minister
to gre.,ter exertions, and absolutely compel bins to ex-
tend his patronage much wider than it is at proscnt
If he deem it necessary, now that the Parliaments are
septennial, to secure the support of a certain no:n%)er of .
the country gentle:nen, he would then be obiiged mot ,
only to Mni them by stronger ties in proportion to the
frequency of their services, but to add all those whom
honours and rewards could purchase to the catalegue of
his friends. We do not say that this srstem of patronage
ought to exist, but we contend that from the infloenots
of splendour over the human mind,and front the neces-
sity of that influence being exercised, this system never
can cease to exist, so long as there is a Parliament to
furnish supplies, and a Minister to demand them. If it
it be said that annual Parliaments will keep the repre-
sentatives in constant fear of voting for any measure .
not approved of by their constituents, then the Parlia-
ment ceases to be a deliberative assembly—the mombets •
no longer give their own free opinions, and in this view
it would be bet te; at once to retract the delegated power,
and to retain the right of legislating in the original as-
semblies of the people. Annual Parliaments lend in-
evitably to this conclusion, and consequently they would
go to destroy the whole frame of government. .
So much for universal suffrage anal annual Parlia-
ments. It is probable that these subjects will be again
brought befbre the public view to-day, amid when
they arc disposed of, •the people collected at Spafields
will be entertained the live-long day, with a detail of
a conspiracy which Mr. Hunt has recently discovered
against his honor gad reputation. He will produce the
libels which were written against him—he will tell
of all the dangers he has undergone—the mid-
night daggers he has escaped—anti the combats
which he has sustained, all flit the public good. Be
it so. Let the gentleman talk of himself as long as he
pleases—if it amuse the populace, vec have no objection
to his telling curious anecdotes and dismal stories, even to
the setting of the sun ; but we would then reemnmend
him to return to his home, and remain there. Ile
never can become a great man, as his friend styles him,
he has nut the talents, nor the virtues, nor the inthr-
mation necessary to gain an ascendancy in these days,
of civil and military renown, anti of literature and sci-
ence—he has no one attribute r,,quisite to constitute a
great man. Let him go home in the name of reason. He
is deluded into a belief of self imprtance, because 3
few of the rabble shunt after his ea•rriaze ; but even this
source of fume is poi:salons to his ambition. The po-
pular litvour is always held by a very slender thread,

" A breath can bred. it, as a breath has made,"

and the example of &Janus, ho was much more accept-
able to the people of Rome, than ever Nfr. Hunt was, or
will be to the people of London, ought to make him
feel, that though his image may be a;l:rrod to-day, it
may to-morrow be flung from its pedestal amidst the
hu z aas o: the .poral

It remainv for us to expr;ss our fer...mt hope, that
thAse who m2an to attemi to-ma row at Spatiells, will
be cautious in voting. fir such measures as must eventu....
ally produce confut,ion and revolution in the state, anti •
annihillite every s: stem
piness and the freedom of

which is sacred to the Lael
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