The Sun.
London, England, 1823-07-17 00:00:00

PRIZES IN LITERATURE AND POLITICS.

A Society of Statesmen, and of men of letters
who wish to become Statesmen, has, it is said,
been formed, and has commenced its operations
by propoSing a prize to the writer who shall
best demonstrate all the advantages of absolute
power, victoriously refuting the partizans of Con-
stitutions and Representative Governments. The
Memoir id to commence by an historical expose
of the benefits conferred by absolute power on
the earth amongst the ancients and amongst the
moderns. The author is to be careful not to
quote examples, except from the Government of
a single individual, for fear it should be objected
in such case, that absolute power was productive
of no inconvenience from its being dispersed in
the hands of many. This restriction will doubt-
less preVent 'many traits which might have
figUred with honour in the picture to be traced.
The exercise of absolute power by the peasants
of Suable, by the adherents of Vat Tyler in
England, and .by the men of the 42d of Septem-
ber, would furnish useful and facile embellish-
ments. But it might be a reproach to this dis-
play, that it was clothed with republican forms,
and the Seciety mean that all the eulogies are re-
served for absolute power, in the hands of a
single individual. It desires, moteoVer,that the
author of the Memoir should choose facts, ad the
ground of his panegyric, occurring under the
reigns' to, whiCh the charge of usurpation is not
applicable. Thus all the acts of Napoleon, what-
ever resemblance they may have to the proceed-
logs of such' or such' a Government, not that of
an usurper ; or whatever good there may be in
the principle which dictated them,' are. to form' no
part of the Citations entering into this part of the
work. The Strciety expecte that With ,sotne
!abhor the anilioi may find sufficient instances to
britig toglithei alt the requisite' qualities. It Par-
ticularly poiriti out th'e' reign of Louis Xi., that
of Charles. D 6.,, which. resent to the writer St.
Bariffolotnew, as an intfemlnity for the silence en-
joined
.on him' eispecting. the 2tl September;' a
part of that of LOWS on account of the
Dragonidee; that of Henry VIII. of England',
lietaiee it must enlist the fair sex into admiration
of absolueipoWer and lie therefore will not fail
to give an' abridged recital' of the destiny of the
wives of Henry VIII., and of nearly the whole
period of British history, froth 1660 to 1688 ;
together With
.the' giraffes of Kerrel7--of Jeffries
women drowned and burnt in Scotland, be-
cauee' they could' not give security for their' (ley°. '
tion to the King;: lastly,' the deaths of Sidney,
Easex,-and Russell', must not be neglected. The
author may give' also some anecdotes from the an-
nals of the. Ministry of the Marquess de Pomba' ;
and froth' thi life of one M. de Souza, whom the
absolute power of that Minister placed in a sub-
:terraneau clifugeetr, half of his body being in
water, where M. de Souza remaiued till his
death.. This l'eColfection- may encourage M. de
the'great grandson or grand nephew of
that M.'d'e Souza, to neglect nothing for the pur-
pose of restoring abretute power throughout Per-
fugal: Alter•haVing Out treated the historical
part,' the' author must take much care about the
reasoning+, Re must give to absolute power a
precise add exact definition. He must say that
absolute power, to exist in reality, must be above
,all taws,. for if there are laws to invoke against
'absolute power, there must be an authority sup.
posed capable of judging the validity of its acts.
From this circumstance alone such authority
would be above absolute power, the acts of which
it could controul, and it would follow that such
power would be no'. longer absolute.—(Courier
Francais).