The National Register.
London, England, 1819-10-24 00:00:00

ationai Mtitittr+

Our Ulna, it olultitution attb U aiul.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER f 4, 1819.

evidently intended by an evil-disposed Jury upon
the bold anti manly anticipation of riot at Manches-
ter, and a petition that so disagrecble a subject may
be stirred no further. Should this pretty interlude
' be acted we hope it will be carried on and performed
by real characters. It is always of some importance in
Society to know who are its fools. There is an
unfiartunate and blundering wrong-headedness in
the Ministerial paper,s as now conducted, which
render the comments on public business, which
they ventures to give quite ridiculous. They
deprecate County Meetings upon the outrage at
Manchester, because forsooth it would be unjust
and ungenerous to say any thing upon a subject
which would be discussed before other tribunals,
and because they never approve pejmdgi tg the
the high and venerable authorities, whose conduct
was already in course of inquiry in our Courts of
Law ; and yet these very Papers set out by
pronouncing lung ago with all the solemnity of
judgment, that the Riot Act had been twice read,
that the Meeting was illegal, that ruin and devas-
tation, and the overthrow of every thing sacred and
profane was threatened and intentlad, and that the
soldiers and MagisPates had neither dune too much
nor too little, neither fallen short nor exceeded the
narrow path of their duty, and were entitled to
their thanks. " Verily they have their reward."
We wish the other wise reason they assign us, were
really true, instead of being falai and groundless.
For neither the Magistrates norY inanry of Man-
chester are upon their trial at nor is it, we
firmly believe, intended that they r shall, if the
powcrof Government, exerted to i strength,
can save them. No, we are ed, unless the
the firmness and unanimity of the lie voice avert
it, to sec what Mr. Burke pre& ed of another
memorable instance, "-a tragi-coliedy, performed
by his Majesty's servants, for the4enefit both of
Hunt and the stipendiary Justices of the New
Bayley, at the expellee of the Laws and Constitu-
tion." But, thank God, this idle sophistry of the
" Courier" is now fully and nobly answered.
Norfolk is at length roused, to follow the great
examples of York and Cumberland. She is at length
awake to what she owes to herself and to the
country, to the throne, and to the "people. The
most splendid and numerous requisition ever sent
to the Sheriff of that County, is nor signed, and
we are happy to say, that in the tudividual now
occupying that important office, ill a man whose
sound judgment and constitutional understand-
ing, will give rise to none of ti‘ose impediments
which, to their shame and disAsee, have been
thrown in the way of the expression of public sen-
timent and feeling in several other places.

ON THE IMPOLICI OF .ENG44.i BECOM-
LAW A MILITARY NATION.

' . •
The impolicy of England neglecting her Navy,
and sacrificing its weltlire to the military mania, has
often been descanted on ; we have however, met
with no observations more appropriate than tho fol-
lowing, which are the produce of an American
writer :

" In cardinal points there was but little difference
between the administration of Pitt and Fos, though
to the former may be ascribed the present state of
which has been gradually acquit log a form

patrE 9;4.

which now threatens serious injury—and, had the
latter lived and enjoyed a more general share of
public confidence, a portion of these evils would not
have been known. Great Britain missed her aim
when she became a great military nation. To ac-
quire great maratime influence, was probably con.
sistent with her policy as a commercial and manu-
facturing people; and certainly while her efforts
were confined to the increase and renown of her
navy, she not only monopolized trade and commerce

but acquired a very commanding influence among
the Governments of 'Europe. The ambition, how-
ever, of being a great military and also a great na-
val Power, has bums a very serious injury to the
British. England, 'lfiy its position, was intended
only for a naval Power; but, setitt..ed by the mar-
tial display of Napoleon—by his battles, his victo-
ries, and his bulletins, the Ministry were restless,
until the nation was plunged iu all the expense, the
danger, and the doubtful issue of a military origi-
nation; they resolved, with a feverish anxiety, not
only to sweep the ocean with the flag of St. George,
but to exhibit their scarlet coats and Tower-proof
muskets on the Continent. To accomplish this
great end, it was necessary to stir up tbe'Continen-
tial Powers against Buonaparte ; it was necessary
then to pay them, to subsidise each Power i^ to hos-
tility, and this was accomplished at an inordinate
increase of the national debt, and the British, from
this weak ambition, became paymaster and auxili-
ary to all Europe. Well, peace and internal tran-
quility prevail every where except in England ;
the pressure of :this impolitic liberality, joined to
other eating. s, is now felt and resisted. It is true
that Iltionaparte is at St. Helena, but they ' paid
very dear for the whistle' in getting hint there.
It is true that the British fimght bravely in Spain
and Portugal, but what blessings did they achieve
for those Governments? They drove out a King
of talents and character, because he was an intruder,
and they restored a legitimate blockhead, whose
pride of ancestry and whose bigotry has reduced
the nation to a cipher ; as to the King of Portugal,
he has left his kingdom in Europe in pawn to pay
his debts, and now resides at the Brazils. In what
manner, then, has Great Britain been benefited by
becoming a military nation ? In no manner ;it has
nearly ruined her; she has grasped the shadow and
lost the substance ; her naval power, on which all
her dependence rested, has decreased, and her mili-
tary character, which was worth little as an insular
nation, has increased ; she has made peace on the
Continent, and covered the sea with conimereial ri-
vals; she has given an impulse to the manufactures,
to the agriculture, and to the commerce of the
Continent. This certainly is very benevolent,, but
it is like parting'with a last sixpence in charity to
others.

"In this state of affairs, the clamours arising
from an increase of taxation, and from a want of
employment, have become very powerful, and the
tumultuous meetings lately held have been sith:e.ts
of real alarm to the Government. Hitherto no de-
finitive plans have been adopted ; various resoluti-
ons have been paned, and many speeches made, vet
the Reformers have made no satisfactory prev-Tess.
They talk of wiping off the national debt, which.
would go to annihilate the existence of the Govern-
ment—a change of Ministry would produce no real
benefit—a more fair and equal representation iTt
Parliament might be adopted—the overgrown pen-
sion list might be decreased, and a system of greater
economy adopted. These measures might allay the
popular fury. and produce tranquility ; but it is un-
questionable whether a radical reform can be produ-
ced in the present disordered state of commerce and
manufactures; and, if it can, it mug grow out of a
c viand dispassionate view of things in genera!, and
not by mobs or tumultuous association!."

Lord and Lady Castlereagh arrived nn Tuestiay,
nt their house in St. James's-square, from their seat,
North Cray, Kim.
The Address voted at the County of WA: meet.,
ink,;, h, to he presented t•o hk v. oy:•1 ; n by
the Duke of Northlk, a!td the 1;;;,r1 of Thatati.