The National Register.
London, England, 1808-01-10 00:00:00

Tit o

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lons invectives, and malignant Insinuations, _thy
314‘414°40140
reputation of intiividuals. Xet witch rpotuf"ro.riplip4: boos
Editors of all those newspaper', whichdecidedly. ftand fortkau
the champions of a particular faction. The mercenary -Editor
receives his cue ; and, whatever he knows or believes, his de.
voted pen disperses abroad, with equal alacrity, the most un-
deniable truths, or the most villaineus falsehoods. The ineffa-
ble contempt which we feel for men who thus dishonour their
natures, would prevent us from even.noticiag their servile de-
clamations, were it not for the effect which .they produce on the
honourable and unsuspecting part of the comteunity, whenever
cnti imagine that apparent zeal, and warm professions of
pa-
triotisra, should proceed front such Ignominious motives, and be
designed fur such infamous purposes. These considerations
oblige us to pull off the dkguise, and expose the cloven foot of
thcse betrayers to the world which they have duped. •
Of there periodical instruments of faction, same, after hav-
ing by popular arts acquired a great circulation, have been
brought over to the cause of their patrons by the usual means :
such are The Morning Post and The Courier, whose change of
party was as sudden, as their zeal has since been ardent.
Others, such as The Sun and The Morning Chronicle, have been
originally established, and since supported by their respective
factions, front whose mandates they dare not swerve a tittle.
Among them all, The Morning Chronicle holds the tirst rack
for consistency; that is to say, for having zealously and perse-
veringly said just what its patrons were desirous it should say,
s ithout once pretending to those qualms and scruples of which
few persons can wholly divest themselves. This bumil iatioe sort
of consistency, has, strange to tell ! actually been the boast of
every sueressive editor of that paper; aed we have heard some
of its admiring readers observe that, amidst all changes, the
Morning Chronicle was always on the same side !
Among the numerous instances which we ha ve seen In that paper
of the virulent attacks mode on individuals, because they were
connected with the political antagonists of its party, and merely
because they were so, we shall only select the most recent—an
invective against Lord Strangford, which appeared in The
Chroniele of Tuesday last, the sth of January. Of
1 erd Strangford, we know nothing beyond what is known to
all the world! ner da we desire to kuow any thing of him,
ueless the public services which he may hereafter render his
country. It is not as an indisidual that Lord Strangford calls
forth our strictures in his defence, and far less qs the member of
any political party t it is as the representative of nll those whose
reputation stay be injuriously traduced to serve the views of a
&teflon, that we are desirous to rescue him from the fangs of
interested harpies. It is a cruel private ioury to give unde-
served stabs to the reputation of a man just commencing his
career: it is a eruel public injury, causelessly to destroy the
respectability of a man to whom a portion of the national in-
teiests is horns ted. Stich are the considerations which call
forth our present remarks.

As soon as it was known that the Court of Portugal had ac,
tually entig,rated to the Brazils, The Moraing Chronicle began
to prepare the public mind by announcing the extreme import-
ance of appointing an Ambassador of commanding talents and
dignity to the new empire; and thus, as soon as the expected
nomination of Lord Strangford was made public, the meditated
blow was ready to be given to Ministers, through the character of
tits young neociator. That his reputation was to be saerificed,
merely for the sake of hurting the Administration, will pretty
clearly appear, from the proofs adduced of his incapacity.
First, we are ini'ortned, by The Morning Chronicle, that his
Lordship possesses no qu:Jiticatione, of any sort, which could
point hint out as a negotiator; that the world knew nothing
of hire, except his having• published a few amatory poems
awl translations, from Cantoens. We must own it to 1.);.: a me-
lancholy truth, that little attention} is ever paid to the origiai4l
qualiEcatiotu of our ; Writ z!pvttintmut is matter

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UrMihalli;s rib', 4+P lha►vP.Pitive4 themakets
014rxts*. •• IA ,this etinte:of .ttfts,,,.ll.ord Scramford's nomloa..
tiokto ailiplontaticAnt4so, mast Ise'considere4.as rather a for.-
uulate selection. His isoetic4 effusions prove
,that. be Is pos..
sesied of some genius and some .14stej :his trumlations front
Camoens skew 'that he was well aqquainhul with She !Portuguese
laairattgr, and solicitous about the literature, and, consequently,
the manners of that country. How many of. our Secretaries of
Legation could be named with equal‘qualilleatioos ? How many
even of our Ambassadors know and care nothing more about the
language of the country to which they are.sent, thee. the bear!
of Siberia:

The next objection is, that altbough.Lord Strangford may
do very well for some subordinate place, fur a Secretary of i.e.
gation, yet he is every way unfit for the high station of Ant.
hassador ; that he has neither rank to impress the Portuguese
with a sense of his dignity, nor experience to make up for this
lamentable deficiency; that he is only a poor Irish Lord, wlu
must have recourse to his industry, and has hitherto beet; eta+
plowed in a subordinate office,
it is curious to observe the cloven foot of this tool of the great
aristocracy, which somethnes pretends to he.the friend of the
people, the assentor of equal rights. Because Lord Straugford is
not born a Marquis or a Duke, we are told that he isnot at all a
fit person to negociate with the Portuguese Graudees, the Sourns,
and Araujos, and Alineidas, and twenty other, odd names, of
which no one ever heard before : 'nen who would have hem
;lad to retain their places at the price of licking the dust off a
French Viceroy's foot; and whose counsels protracted the,stay
of their Prince, till he could scarcely evade, the chaips of jail
oppressor. It is amusing, in the nineteenth century, to hear 44
objected to an Ambassador, that he was not born; to a great
title; at a period when the greatest generals, statesmen, and
negociators of the age can scarcely tell the names of their great
grandfathers; when the ancient nobility of the Holy Empire are
hardly ever mentioned, and the ensigns of the Apatite Legiop of
honour are received by Sovereign Princes with profound rev*.
rence. We must own that we have no particular satisfaction is .
seeing important trusts placed in the hands of antried men,
merely because they happen to be bora harls or Dukes. We
never heard that those servants were best who received the
wages before they did the work ; every employer will tell you,
that such a practice serves ouly to render them negligent, lazy.
and insolent. The unhappy Emperor of Austria affords a sad
instance of a great Prince, ruined by adjartimg the appoiut-
tnents of his servants, according to the tank or their birth.
The argumeut which flee Morning Chronicle here urges against
Lord Strangford's appointment, we should urge in favour of it.
Although a lord, he is not possessed of suaicient influerce Of
wealth to enable him to make a figure in the world, without his
own exertions; he must execute his commissions well, otherwise
he will have no inure entrusted to him; while, without these
apponaments, he must he reduced to obscurity and itteligeone.
Such is the man %I ho is likely to tw a:it:naive in the management
of our political Interests, since 'upon his. euccese entirely de-
pends his own future fortune.
But if this objection to the appointment of Lord Straoeford
so manifestly turns in his favour, what shall Weeny to the other
objection, that lie is unqualified for the bi;ber ore*, because ho
lets tilled the lower; that he is toffit 'for discharging the duties
of an Ambassador, at the same' court where be has ettted as
Secretary of Legation ? ley this rule; tt snettavettid be rendered
unfit for an office,' wady by taking the preparatory steps to
qualify hinesstirfor it ; Itial it wohld. be fliebest polio! in the
e mid to make some brainless Earl or Marquis,- xs ho understood
about as much of diplomacy as he did of the language and mans
tiers of the country to which he was unit, vault iate the stattoa
of, Ambassador .see 'fie lead of szt:SCAIIIitt iti,Lpoptiont ea.
•peyicueed iu all the e -aidtspernable •requisitta.., Nefey,ithily,.•ll
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f.5..•r.R.~

U
JAN. 101
lour iuvectiv
reputation a
Editors of ai
the cbampio:
receives his
voted pen di
deniable true
We contentk
natures, wo
clamations,
honourable e
CILII imagine
triotista, sht
b-Figned fu
oblige us to
these- betray
Of these
jog by pop
brought ovt
such are
party was
Others, sue
originally t
factions, fr,
Among the
for consiste,
veringly sa
ithout on
few person!
of consistel
. every sueee
•f its :Win
Morning
Among tt
of the viru
connected
because the
invective
Itta;--ing (
~rd Sulu
211 the w,

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