The Sun.
London, England, 1807-02-07 00:00:00

ovEßTfircoi,v OF CONSTITUTION.

• What shall T Sat,' of the subverion of that glorionq
fabric, the .British.(;onstitufion! We have been lately
exercisingth eleailie franchise, and if the spirit of-
I our Contests fm- Representatives in'Parliatiienty at this
arduous crisis', has in seine instances duserVedreptoof,
at least, we•tuut adthire that perfett freedom of dioice
I which so many 'have 'oeen able to' exercise. -Whether
more of that Iteedunt is safely attainable than the
plesent.4Cheibe Of llepies:litation affords, is a ques-
ti;:n which it 'NVould be impc•rtinent'to;discuss in
t;wse 4.!;?;.-sts.,.'1or is this a praper season for,discus-
:s not when the ship labours in the tem- ,
pest-, and wren breakers are under her lee, that ydu
%you!. t sei. about 'an. altenition . her cabin, .'or

even think of: repairing, her ,helm. It ;is :easy. to
find-thuits.in every thing-human,; but when indah-
. ger of Inning hat we love, we think not of its faults,
but of its value. Fie that really' loves nritish liberty;
theretbre,. will now- be disposed •to Ibrget. for a whiie
w.:,at hemay deem impel-feet its it, and refled with
fond atiety on its inestimable worth.
"-What nobkr civil'exhibition did earth eyeraffOrd
, than the ele:,tion:of a Brig is House of Commons I A
whole pe0•;.,.. Lot in a rudestate., or while few" in
number, but wi:cn forming a mighty nation, great
iii arias; great in civilization, commerce and wealth,
freely asbembie in'their 'varicius districts to. choose
', their own legislators, the organs'of their will, the
delegates of their authority, the guardians of their
'lf influence be used by the existing Admi-
nistration, what is the AdMinistration but a power
which the attachment of for Mer Representative's of
the PeOple,, as much-perhaps as the choice of the
Sovereign, has created or.upheld ? Influence too is
used in an opposite diredion,..not perhaps with lessi
ieal or effect. Man is not made Universally to a&
in satiety from purely spontaneous Motives: &it'
throe, brUte force, that engine-of usurped authority,
that instrument of alinost every other- human Go--
vernment, however legitimate, in matters that con.-
cern the State, is driven from the hallowed precinds,
of our elediVe freedom, like a demon fron copse-
crated grOund. The, ordinary instruments -of mo 7
narchical power, the _military, though" here never'
employed but in subservience to, and at the requisi-
lion of the laws, are forbidden to approach the place
where these high franchises are exercised, lest even
the shadow of constraint should seem to diminish
their lustre.,

-.Would French conquest leave its such liberties to
boast? Let us look to Switzerland, to Holland, to
France herself, for an answer to that-question,
The freedom of our Constitution, mortifying-,and
opprobrious in its.example.to Frenchmen, is the last
of our blessings that the Usurper would. consent to
share.To stibc-eit this freedom, by the inviting.
imase of ‘voich his throne is perpetually endangered,'
is more:than ambition, more' than revenge, or the
thirst of glory, the true objedof his arms. He would
rather by far leave us our political independency and
our commerce; ban our civil institutions.

I dare not t enture,Wowever, to- affirm, that'we
should, have no more Parlianients. It is his policy
to retain the name of every sacred establiihment,.
the spirit and nso of which he takes away : and
should probably, therefore,. in losing the substance
of Parliamentary 4epre'sentation, be insulted with
its empty torn. •

I am not sure even that we should not have mock
contested ele&ions : the Inuonnery of Gat'ret Gteen

. . _
might be transferred to Covent Garden or Guildhall.

But woe to thoSe-eleetnrs, or to that populace, which
should be simple enough to suppose tliat, the return
of Members was • indeed submitted to their choice.
A vote against the nominee of the Court, or a hiss at

the Frenchiheo -hireling, Wonld fatally mark the dis-
iiifetlion of its author', and e're long he would have
leisure in a dungeon. to bewail his temerityand folly.

The following melancholy event lately took plhce
at Coleford, Gloucestershire :—Mr. flAwy_ms, bro-
ther to Mr. HAWKINS,. of Monmouth, had come a
froM Cardiff to pay visit to hi.s friends ; and being
at Coleford, was amusing himself with shooting,small
birds, when, just after loading his gun, it went off;
and the contents wounded hith so severely in the
head that he died in a few days.