The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-09 00:00:00

4M

ple. Although you attach yourself to an obstinacy more
wilful than error, there arc others in the County of Hamp-
shire, and in every County of Great Britain, who will seri-
ously and deeply consider of the nature and the possible
effect of a plan for uniting the people of England, in one
common cause, in order to obtain an object of speculation
by means, I/ am t a sured and undefined, the attainment of which
may lead 1.1 no practical good, but the means of obtaining
which may lead to events the roost deplorable. I shall
bavc proceeded no short way on my road, if I am able to
shew that almost every political association, for the pur-
pose of carrying any one point, • offensive to the Govern-
ment, or for obtaining any one object of importance to
themselves, in which it has been necessary to call for the
assistance of the great body of the people, has invariably
produced anarchy, contusion, proscriptions, and murder.
In opposition to this assertion, I am aware it will be
asked, whether there are no events recorded in our own his-
tory where associations of the people have been followed with
fortunate events : there are three—the association of the
Ba.(01IS at Merton—that in the reign of KING JOHN, and the
Fatuous Coalition of the Whigs and Tories, in 1688, to in-
vite the Prince of ORANGE : but certainly the two former
were not associations of the people. It would be a waste
of time to argue this point. At the Revolution, inched,
there were two associations—one to invite the Prince, the
other was an instrument drawn by BURNET at the request
of Sir EDWARD SEYMOUR. The invitation was (to make the
most of it) only the work of a few; the latter was to use
BURN is own words merely, " an engagement of the sub-
scribers to stick together in pursuing the ends of the
PRINCE'S declaration," which declaration was confined,
to past violations of law, and a requisition of redress by
Parliament. It is true, that while the event of the Revo-
lution was held in suspense, the populace twice declared
their will and pleasure upon the subject. After JAMES had
failed in his attempt to go over to France, he returned
to London. 66 Never a Prince," says HUME, " returning
after victory to his capital, was received with louder accla-
mations of joy" by the POPULACE. This was on the 16th
of December. On the 4th of Feb. following they expressed
their pleasure a second time by tumultuously assembling at
the .doors of the Parliament House, abusing and insulting
those who adhered to their former will of the 16th Decem-
ber, and they carried this so far as to oblige the PRINCE of
ORANGE to issue a Proclamation to stop these disorderly
proceedings, although favourable to his own cause.
-But even this interference was very different from an in-
terference of the people—it was merely that of the heads of
parties.
In the second place, I thli.tc I shall have but little diffi-
culty. in proving, that whatever may be the object for which
the populace is set in motion, upon whatever ground it
May begin to act, it will presently be lost sight of, and
some other object which would have created alarm, if ex-
posed at first, will be substituted in its place.

This will render it useless to prove, thit you or your as-
sociates, among whom the political parson (I suppose you
were. sneering. at Sir F. Buancres half canonical nurse)
may be..inclUtled. Indeed I think it very unfair.in you to
assume the merit of being the principal literary advocate of
Refarm,_considering the higher pretensions of the political
honour. You have certainly never abused
as distinct and unmeasured. You