The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-23 00:00:00

THE LATE ELEC77ONt.

Tim following Extrafts from a Pamphlet, entitled
" Considerations on the late EleCtions for West-
minster and Middlesex," now that the minds
of Men are no longer inflamed by violence of Con-
test, must, we think, have considerable weight
with those who have the disposition and the ability
to consider the Subject with candour. The style
is temperate, and the assertions supported by un.
questionable Evidence.
The Author, after commenting upon-part of Mr.
Fox's Address to his. Constituents,. previous to the
Election, proceeds thus
" The Address of Mr. 'Fox ro'ilie-EleCtors, con.
tains another passage," too importdm to pass thin,
tired, his Apology to his Constituents for his
.negleCt of attendaeice in the last Parliament.—
When a man travels out of the plain road of duty
and propriety, ii requires more talents than Mr.
FoX possesses, to justify his aberrations. 'His ex.
ruses are poor indeed, they are not even specious.
Common sense, and I appeal to the common sense of
every man, without fear of contradiction, deCides
without hesitation, that the Desertion of his Corps,
in the midst of contest, was diigiaceful, and that
thinking, as he professes to
.think, the measures of
Administration arbitrary, unjust, unconstitutional,'.
'and impolitic, he was bound by duty- to stand at
his post, and whatever success might attend his'ex..
.ertiOns, to oh,oe 'every AEI; and every Proposition;
which he' deemed hostile, to the Interests of his
'Country, .or the-Rights of the Subject,
" Instead of gratifying his Indolence at St. Anne's
Hill, and soothing his vanity by idle dreams of his own
personal importance, he ought to have stood at the
head of his phalanx, and brayed the fury of the battle.
" The despair ivf rendering any Useful service
to his Constituents or, his Countty, by 'a regular At-
tendance in ibt House of Commons,' stifles the zeal,
and enervates the vigour of the Patriot. The Ro--
man Senate conferred their thanks upon one of their
Generals, because he had .not despaired of his Coun_
try, and Mr. Fox would have deserved'better of
his Constituents, if br- had remained at the post,
where they placed hiC ;Arid opposed the sevenfold
shield of his abilities, against those attacks upon
the Constitution, with which he now charges the
last Parliament. DereliEtion Of Duty is pleaded as
a Merit, and
,thus modern Patriotism, as well as
modern Morality, has- its peculiar Character.
" Yet Bittrrus is an honourable man.

• " To this Pidure of human Infirmity, and polls.'
tical Inconsistency, let me oppose .that of an able
Statesman- and true Patriot, to whose 'Wisdom,
Energy, and persevering Fortitude, we are, under
Providence, indebted-='for the Security of our Con-
stitution, against the multiplied Atraekssof internal
Sedition, and foreign Hostility. At rriOds, when
the bravest contemplated the Situation of this Coun-
try with alarm, when the judgrnent of the Wise
was confounded by their apprehensions, when the
zealous Patriot shrUnk from the Station of Danger
and Responsibility, when the Public Fears sunk in
the silence of despondency, this man stood un-
shaken' at his Post, animated 'the drooping spirits,
and roused the expiring vigour of his Countrymen,
and (I had almost said) with the Providence of 'a
Guardian Angel, penetrated the secret 'haunts of
Treason, developed the machinations of the' Sedi
tious, and met accumulating emergencies with en-.
,creasing resources: - This Man did not. despair 'of
his Country,. and his confidence and fortitude are
amply repaid by the returning prosperity, And the
grateful acknowledgments of a free people.
" The magnanimity displayed by the late Mi-
nister,. is no less conspicuous' in the resignation of
his Office; and in his, subsequent eondud. If, a 3
some surmise, a leading motive for his resignation,,
was to procure the restoration of Peace, by the dis:
solution of an Administration which, in opposition
to his opinion, determined to persevere in hostility,
it proves his attachment to the interests' of his
Country, to be superior .to his ambition. Bo sup.
posing Mr. Pmt.'s resignation to have proceeded
-from motives altogether different, his condud since
that event, is no less.entitled to the tribute .Of our
warmest applause. Mr. PITT with candour, inte-
grity, and discrimination, commended the measures
of the New Administration in 'negotiating a Peace;
he expressed, with unimpe,ached sincerity, his hearty
acquiescence in this happy event, and, superior to
every jealousy, 'he has continued his support to the
present Minister, in A mode which proves-his con_
dud, the result of principle.
" This panegyric of Mr. PITT, into which. I
have been led by accident, not design, may have
some weight with those who are disposed to felled
before they decide, and to weigh before they con.
demn -or applaud. If, during the long period of
seventeen years, every measure of his Administra7
tion has not b4en altogether free from blame, he is
entitled to indulgence for human errors, from which
no man can hope to be exempt, and the genei•al te-
nor of his conduit is to be opposed to accidental in-
advertence. During the first seven years of his
power, he restored the depreciated Credit of the
Nation, and laid the foundation of that prosperity
which a protrated War,- with all its Burthens, has
not been able to annihilate. The last ten years were
a period of dismay and embarrassment, exhibiting
political phenomena, reducible to no law -of expe-
rience, and which baffled the conjedures of the
wisest ; those only who attentively observed them,
are qualified to appreciate the difficulties of his sta-
tion, and such only can form an estimate 'of that
wisdom which, under Providence, has concluded us
safely through them."