The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-20 00:00:00

TO THE tinTou OF THE BURY GAZETTE.

sin—l proceed to observe, in continuation of my last week's
remarks, that very different is the violation of political integrity,
• and very much increased the reproach of it, when men are in-
fluenced to vote contrary tostheir declared opinions, not from mo-
tives of gratitude for favours received, but from the covert hope
of advantage in expectancy. I would have these gentlemen
recollect, before they yield
,to the prevailments of such seduc-
tiOns of their probity, that a conduct of this kind is the nearest
approach any mind can make, and especially a well-informed
one, to what is dishonest and dishonourable. ,Sent qulrdam
vitiorum ekmenta ; but this stretches further into the womb
of evil, and gives us it in its full birth, with all its limbs, joints,
and organs, strongly knit and formed at once. If virtue is to
be laid asleep, and appetites of this coarse and voracious na-
ture alone to wake, we know that the feelings of integrity will
be sacrificed to the calls of interest; that the notice of die great
will be courted by unworthy submissions ; and that he, who
sets his heart upon preferment, will not be anxiously scrupu-
lous about the means of obtaining it.
I confess I know not a greater debasement than for a man to
desert his grounded sentiments, because he believes that such
desertion will aid his interest more than the maintenance of
them. Such a conduct, in the private transactions of life,
would go near to be our ruin. In our public political conduct
'alone the sharuefulnesss of the deed is varnished over by its
adroitness ; it passes for a sort of lucky hit ; a felicitous adust-
ment of the mind to the varying complexion of the times ; a
skilful appropriation of the ambitious views of others to the
concealed designs of ourselves. Amid the crooked aberrations
of callous consciences, the want of political integrity is a very
trifling affair of the heart indeed. It seems to regard no
sanctions, and hardly to require them ; and that which
every man does, when it tallies with, his particular views, or
makes for his private ends, every man is conceived to have the
right to do when the slave market is open, and he can have his
own price.

If these be maxims that hold in the World, they should yet
not hold, in a place set apart for preparing the mind fora re-
nunciation of that world ; for a seclusion from its cares—a dis-
dain of its allurements-,-and a calm sequestring of the mind
from its pomps and. vanities, its riches, its honours, and its
magnificence. Here surely, if any where, life should not be
found perpetually-throbbing with inordinate desires, nor inte-
grity disturbinglier'peoce for boobies, whit -if s'o:c obtain, she
can merely gaze and dote upon for a nanucnt. So far as pre-
ferment may be desirable; which is not aikveyt.. the ca e, it is to
be obtained, I trust, by a very diretero line of procedure; by'
doing our duty and the. result of it with ilt.:tven. if it
cannot so be compweil.::. Lich I will never be; ieve. sr. Img•as
am persuaded th...t Prn...idt,nt..7 ;catches ov. r the of men,
we shall have cause to r it as any thing rather than as a
blessing. If we can only e;o-t:.- the obJec of our ambition by
the relinquishment of onr intt.:o.4v; if we must continuo to be
poor, unless we will Consent: to be worthless, and the ironical
suggestion of the Ethnic. must become the sober rule -of the
Christian.

Qumrenda,pectmia prinirn ;
Virtus post maims,
the case is desperate indeed. Preferment may come.; but the
moment it knocks at the door, Honour starts up alarmed, In-
tegrity sighs and tleparts, Respect turns her back upon us, and
we are left to eat our morsel alone. Where duty, dignity,
principle, are forgotten, what less can be expected
no recompcnce to a mind not lost to virtue for such a volun-
taiy disruption of all her sacred intendments ; and let these
men be assured, however they may hope, in the partial judg-
ment of friendship, to palliate the unhappy error, that where
suspicion once fastens and scorn points her finger, preferment
is turned into dust and ashes !

Of s conduct thus polluted in all the honourable motives
by whi..ll it ought to be characterized, it is difficult to speak
with ju p ica, unless we speak with severity. Surely that man
is not to b..• envied who attains the accomplishment of his
wishes means that compel every one to lament at his suc-
cess ; who, looking down the avenue of time, and seeing the
golden image i,t die end, claps wings to his desires, and leaves
his integrity to follow after him as she can. If there be minds
of this disreputable cast among those who have lately ex-
ercised the elective franchise, (for I neither make nor intend
any personal application of my remarks) they must be content
to take our contempt, mingled with our regret ; for they are al-
together too mean not to be dcspisea, at-id certainly too miser-
able not to be compassionated.
That the Whigs coolly do these things, and scruple not to
violate all consistency where any thing is to be got by it, is no
apology which any right minded man will desire to rest in.—.
The Whigs have a latitude which no one dares allow himself
that is not a Whig. They are a sort of " chartered libertines"
who proceed all lengths, because they find that impudence
and sedition pretty well clear the way before them, and drive
off their timid adversaries on every side, Without the shadow
of a political character to support, the field is therefore open to
them for the commission of any enormities. With souls im-
mersed in the very slough of radicalism, they have, over and
over again, prostituted their itinerant talents to every audience
that has thought it worth while to coax and wheedle them in
their behalf. These usurping Whigs, professing the spirit
without a remnant of the principles of their original ancestors,
have, I repeat, neither characters nor consciences to stand in the
way of their proceedings. They may worship Aristocracy in
the morning, and deify Republicanism in the evening ; they may
protect what they affectto consider as injured innocence at one
season, and sacrifice it under the notion of polluted purity
at another; they may, like the renowned 31r. Scarlett,
come forward cockahoop for the independent representation of
a University to-day, and skulk back to the old kennel, the
bought and sold, hard and fast, rotten borough to-morrow,
In short, any inconsistencies of conduct, any commutation of
principle, these bastard slips of Whiggism may be guilty of,
and no one ask why they thus roll and wallow in the stye of their
own licentiouSnass. The circumstance may indeed create dis-
gust, but it cannot excite surprise. In a body without politi-
cal integrity, it is absurd to stand chaffering about political
consistency.
But to put this foolish faction out of the verge of any other 1 I
than aanost depraved imitation, their ability, Sir, will be found
quite as lean and ill-favoured as their honesty, if we may judge
of what they would do by what they have already done. They
made the experiment of purifying the augean stable of the
state somewhere, if I recollect, about the year 1006 ' • and
how, in the omnipotence of their diplomatic genius, how did ,

PRICE SEVEN PENCE

they succeed ? Did they discard influence ? Did they abo.
lish pensions ? Did they reduce the number of placemen ?'
Did they lighten the Publre expenditure ? Did they dissolve,
or even decrease, the usual sources 'of taxation ? And that
great eye-sore, the income tax, that they were evermore railing
against, did they fritter it down to a mere cypher? Or abroad,
put they on a higher form of sagacity and boldness than at
home ? 'Were their foreign achievements worthy to be engraved
on tablets of brass ? Did their enemies fear them ajot Did •
their allies a jot esteem them ? 'Who thought of them but with
regret when they were in power ? Who gave them a moment's
recollection when they were out of power ? Did a single tongue
speak their praise or a single heart immortalize their renown ?
EVery tongue had indeed its voice, and every heart its feeling ;
but that voice only resounded their folly, and that feeling. re-
verberated but their shame. Indeed, the senatorial essays ,and
exercises of these Whig Tyros, both at home and abroad,'bave
ever been of more sound than worth. They take nyon them
high enterprizes, and generally contrive; with all their pompo-
i sity, to sink them down into ridiculous performances. Like the
country pedagogue who fancied all eyes upon his Press, ,they
" publish a spelling book and dedicate it to the Uniivise Pt
It is unnecessary, I trust, to add;that, I am not here Speaking
of our Oxford and Cambridge Whigs, or of the legitimate off-
spring of the Whigs of 1688; but of that degenerate race who,
assuming this designation in- various,parts of the empire, buy
up corrupt spirits' atiufv price, and every where invite recruits
to their standard of disloyalty. Our Universities, lam willing
to hope, know nothing of such reprehensible characters. Men
differ there with far less of obnoxious feeling. They do not
carry with them, into those calm retreats, that bitterness of soul
against Government, ecclesiastical, and civil, which flames out
in the mob cavalcades of Smithfield, the demagogue elections
of Westminster, and the county meetings (made up of snob
orators, and freemen without an inch of soil), of Northumber-
land, Durham, Norfolk, Surrey, or Kent. Those consecrated
shades are, luckily, not blaSted by such mildewS of the mind.
There they learn to soften asperity by the lessons of philosophy,
and while they strengthen the understanding and correct the
judgment, they forget not that amelioration of the heart, with-
out which all understanding is strengthened and all judgmeht
corrected in vain.

But .I must leave this part, Sir, of my letter, where I dare
trust myself to do no more than merely fashion the first rude
outlines of a spirit thus corrupted in its prime and vital organi-
zation, I will not insist upon the injury sustained, when such
a question as that of the Catholic claims has to be tried for life
or death by such perverted Judges. I will get clear of this
darkness of the mind, this gross delusion to hope to reconcile a
righteous name with unrighteous doings, and will hasten to the
last excuse which political inconsistency, hurried and harrassed
in all her windings, cloth usually take shelter in.
A man's opinions, it is said, may, by the current of
events, or by times and circumstances not foreseen, or cal-
culated upon, or sufficiently prepared against, suffer some
modification ; some variation, therefore, in his original prin-
ciples must be expected and allowed for. Certainly allow-
ance should be made, and very liberal allowance too, for all
conduct influenced by an honest modification of, and departure
from our generally received opinions. To bind down a man
under the many changes of public events to no change of
public conduct; amid an ever varying system of polity, to
expect him to entertain political sentiments that shall vary
never, would be absurd and unjustifiable. The mind must
be left to its own boundless nature; to turn and use its
powers of reflection at will. It must be permitted to do this in
justice to the benefits, to be derived from its free exertion.—
It observes the government of human events ; the channels
through which life is running on in its divided streams,
political, moral, and religious, to the great ocean of eternity ;
and it sets itself, from time to time, to discover how this mighty
rush of intellect may lest pass without danger ; how it may so
pass 41S to dispense light, knowledge, and fructification, as it
proceeds. No man therefore can be the same at all times ; can
stand at all times in the same attitude with respect to society.
His conceptions, his apprehensions of evil and of good are suf-
fering perpetual inequalities in their vividness, perpetual
abatement and increase. He, at one period, may find the
Throne too strong and the People too weak : the despotism of
the Monarchs too high, and the liberties of the Subject too low;
the authority of the Clergy too great, and the understanding
of the Ltsioty boo acrooo,ai. no e.ey
that Republican notions are overpowing Monarchical feelings;
that Whig doctrines are embodying themselves with radical dis-
organization ; that popular rights are usurping upon royal pre-
rogatives ; that the Church, " militant here on earth," is ceas-
ing to le considered as useful, and the Throne as sacred ; and
that, in short, the whole head of the State is sick, and the whole
heart faint.

Under these circumstances, it is more than justifiable, it is
essential for every man to modify his principles, and so to con-
form them to passing events, as to meet, and with greater ef-
fect to counteract whatever may be the more settled infirmities
of the land. But let him not, when he has pared doWn his
principles to their demandable standard, forget to pare down
his conduct also ; let him not, when he " begins to feel some
rouzing motions" in bins, some strangely kindled symptoms of
good will towards the advocates of Catholic emancipation, con-
tinue his signature to anti-Catholic petitions; let him not in
one and the same breath declare, that though the admission of
these Catholics to civil power, would, in his opinion, h 3 totally
ruinous, he will yet give his vote, aye, and exert his influence,
for those .who are determined, if possible, to effect such admis-
sion. 0 never let him consent to trench on the very heart of
moral rectitude in this lost and deplorable manner ! All we
ask, and in duty to the virtuous feelings of the community, we
cannot ask less, is consistency ; for a man to be what he pro-
fesses to be. If he has the spirit of Toryism about him, let
that spirit (it is a noble one) shine forth openly and fearlessly in
his conduct. If he be possessed of the seven devils of Whiggism,
let him wear the contaminated badge, and practice his incanta-
-dons within his own select circle. Whether, in short, Whig,
Tory, Radical, or Revolutionist, let him be politically knOwn
for what he politically is—He must be known for this, or
for worse.

There is, in fact, Sir, no pretence adequate to the apology
which all tergiversation of the mind requires. Whether we
veil intention under the disguise of paying court to our patrons,
of bending to contingent circumstances, or of modifying opi-
nions, while our conduct remains unmodified, it is, in every
case, a sacrifice more or less, of principle to convenience ; cf
that which is everlastingly valuable, to that which is valuable
only transitorily, and to some private end. I think this might
be shewn invariably, and especially in the present instance it
might be insisted upon, that no member of a Protestant Uni-
versity was justified in voting otherwise than in pure consci-
ence, where a point so important to the interests of the Church
of England, as that of the Catholic question, was in debate,
and most alarmingly in debate. 1 am not, Sir, address-
ing my remarks to those who have reasoned, or dreamed
themselves into a belief that the claims of the Catholics might
be conceded without injury to the State, but to the conscientious
and orthodox opposers of those claims ; to those who, in all the
solemnity of conviction, have declared before God and in the
face of the sun, that Protestant Ascendancy lost, every thing is
lost with it ; that, from that moment, our Hierarchy is vir-
tually abolished, our Monarchy endangered, our Constitution
wounded to the very quick, and all our Legislative acts and
edicts a cold, stiff; and dead letter. To such surely I need not
observe, that to come forward and vote for those, who, in re-
turn, • will, themselves, on this grand question, vote against
them ; overthrow their best interests, and treat heir most so-
lemn convictions with disdain, can be only folly united with
madness ; and something, I fear, less excuseable than either,
creeping and shrinking, and sheltering itself under both.
Ilinow not, Sir, whom these concerns may affect, nor ought
I to be very solicitous about it, let them fall where they will,
and as they will, why should they not have their course ? Un-
sound conduct can never be defensible conduct. Plato and
Socrates cease to be venerable when they cease to be virtuous.—
Let the heart that feels itself tainted by any approach to these
infirmities take the measure of its own corruption in time, and
silently work itself into a better frame. It may clic) this, if it
please, and surely it is worth while to do it ; for what can more
powerfully incline us to return to rectitude than the recollec-
tion, addressed at once to our penitence and to our shame, that
where political integrity is outraged without a blush, moral
integrity itself' may cease to be reposed upon with our usual
confidence.

Some what, Sir, yet remains before I close this correspondence.
An event of so decisive a nature as the election of %lr. Pankes
ought not, considering under what circumstances it was effect-
ed, to pass entirely uncommented upon. It has a right to find
that praise which justice delights to award to virtuous,and inde-
pendent conduct. I must request, therefore, the admission of
a few observations in your next week's paper, connected with
this subject ; and as it will involve, in some measure, both the
doctrines and duties of a Protestant University, it cannot, I
trust, be a subject of indifference.

MARCUS.

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