The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-24 00:00:00

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fanciful systen4, not to overthrow establ ;shiner, t bUt•
merely to restore the balance 'which had for a 'mo-
ment been threatened. In questions of such a na-
ture, in a danger pressing and evident, th?re is. no
-Occa,ina for inflammatory persuasions to revolt, there'
is no need of tavern dinners or secret meetings to
inake,the people disaffe6ted ; the etic is produced
by the cause which cannot be hid ; and whenever
a king of this country ventures to infringe the laws-
he is sworn to guard, whenever he attempts to ren-
der himself absolute and independent of the other
branches of the government, there will need no
meetings or dinners, or drunken speeches, or covert
insults, to rouse the people of England. They will
aa as the barons did by John, or as the whigs did by

James, without the di6tation of a tribune, or the in-
centives of mock patriots, who seck, in revolution,
nut an increase of regularity, but the breach of all
order, in which, like French and not English revolu-

_ .
they may plunder, enrich, and perhaps ele-

sate theingelses.
" I shall not detain you with details respe6tieg the
reforms proposed by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, in
the reign of Richard the Second, who would have
murdered every man of rank and property in the
country, and actually did execute many, for no other
crime than that of being of a certain quality ! but
proceed to the efteatual operation of reforMing prin-
ciples in the overthrow of the monarchy, in the
murder of Charles I. Let us attend very particular-
ly, my dear countrymen, to the circumstances con-
netaed with this great rebellion, to Which some of
our bolder reformer, refer with expressiofts of delight
and satisfactoo, and in reference to which, the good
old cause, a cant word well known to )ou all, has
to date iis
" You all recollect that popular distontentS were
'industriously fomented by certain hot-headed en-
thusiasts, in the reign of Charles I. against that trio-
- parch, . who, whatever might have been his public
errors, wa,s in his private lite an example of every
t domestic virtue and of great piety. He certainly
was guilty of a great offence against the first' princi-
liales of the constitution, by endeavouring to assume
too great a share of power; but to ibis even he was
(trivet) by the necessity of the times, and the oppo-
sition of his enemies. Whatever, however, were
his-failings or his virtues, his overthrow was decreed,
and his assassination accelerated for the avowed pur-
pose of reforming abuses, rooting out corruption, and
restoring the constitution to its primitive vigour and
purity. History tells us, that preachers, who then
answered the purpose of weekly political registers,
had long been employed particularly against the king
and the prelacy. " They took care to treat of- the
reigning divisions in parliament, and ascribed then
entirely to the selfish ends pursued by. membets.—
In the hands of those members, they said, are lodged
all the considerable commands of the army, all the
lucrative-offices in the civil administration; and,
whilst the nation is falling every day into poverty,
and groans under the insupportable weight of taxes,
these men multiply possession on possession, and
will be in a little time-masters of the wealth of the
kingdom : that such persons as fatten on.t he calami-
ties of their country, will ever embrace any effectual
measure for bringing them to a period,.or ensuring
final success to the war, cannot- be expeCted.",--
" After exaggerating these disorders," continues the
historian, " they besought the lord to take his well:
into his own haods; and it the instruments he had
hitherto employed were not worthy to bring to a
conclusion .so glotions_a design, he would inspire
others more fit, who might perted what was begun."
Now who would not thmk that all this was written
last week, who would not take it verbatim for Mr.
Cubbett's Register ? It is so tike, and so blashphe-
mous, and so untrue, one would almost. swear, that
it was in his hand-writing. It is clear from this that
Mr.Cobbett is not an original ; fur the reformers who
brooghtChatles I. to the block ,itiought,or I should ra-
ther say, spoke precisely as he WI ; and of them he is
unquestionably a very notable copy. If they are his
model, and the i;iodel of modern reformers,we may,
rrhaps, by examining Either this good book of ex-
perience, discover what are their future and more
hidden objects, in the event of succediug like their
great originals. It may be doubted whether the
people derived any advantages, became more rich,
more independent, were treated with greater consi-
deration, or received higher privileges and fran-
chises, by having a good king butchereu by his
subjects. But we have no right to doubt, whilst the
fad is open to our inquiry. Let us read further and
grow wise by experience. Well, then, the histori-
an, I find, proceeds to inform us that those, who,
from republican and levelling principles, had been
induced to join the party of the usurper and mur-
derer of their sovereign, were speedily undeceived,
and they sent back to their homes empty-handed,
and without redress. Nothing was thought of for
the people; who were kept in order by a lawless
military force, and more restained than ever from in-
terfetino in public affairs."