The Sun.
London, England, 1821-01-01 00:00:00

WEEKLY RETROSPECT.

'Midst the wonders of the past week, we have
certainly had Two most extraordinary defences
r--one, of a spirited patriotic REVIEW ; and the
other, intimately connected with the true British
spirit—the defence of a patriotic GINSIIOP
It is btit fair, to be sure, that every man should
.speak well of his own, and it is not to be ex-
pected even that those who have shewn them-
.selvd, in some instances, qualified for Billings-
gate-, will yet, in the elegant phrase of that ora7
:torical school,
,cry,- " Fish !" Still must we
think that the first of these subjects in question
.had very little to do with an address of loyalty
.to the throne. •
Loyalty and attachment to the throne were
-however claimed as equal to any—we deny it
not—yet :still we cannot help thinking that a
strange mode has• been adopted of shewing
.them !

The learned defender owned indeed that
CC much discontent and some disaffection" exist.
We know it, and are sorry for it—but we ask, if
discontent shad not been excited by the Whig
press generally, to say nothing of the Radical,
vs hat ground would there have been for "disaffec-
tion ." Let the Whigs answer that if they can,
to their own satisfaction !
• We are told moreover that " one side thinks
but of putting down discontent by forse"•
we answer that the point has been, not to put
down discontent, but to repress rebellion. Then
the learned Editor, in pursuing his plea of justi-
fication, informs us, that his party think tranquil-
lity can only be restored by ascertaining the real
causes, " by inquiry and investigation."—Now
we think that the real causes are plain to all,
that those who run may read, whilst passing the
book and print-shops of the metropolis, in addi-
tion to the lucubrations of patriotic reviews, ma-
gazines, and newspapers, with the whole fly-
ing artillery of twopenny registers, Men in the
Moon, Ladders, collection which only
"requires a halter to make it complete !—The in-
quiry and investigation proposed would only turn
the empire into a debating society—of which we
have full enough at present, with tinkers and tai-
lors tnending.the constitution, whilst butcher-boys
and other " youths of the metropolis," not for-
getting the 4c Coopers' apprentices," are called on
to give their opinions on female delicacy, and
their suffrages as to Royal decorum !

'-bu t

The praise so liberally bestowed on the work
in question 'did not-surprize us—as coming from
the " liberal sde"—but. we cannot subs...rihe to
the assertion that the Iyhigs are only anxious to
gain over thenadicals to their• banners. If indeed
t%ey can so far avail themselves of the Radicals

as thence to hoist their own banners—good----
1-:. that is a!! ; yet they nay find, .when too
Lite, that in.grasping at a shadow they shall lose
the substance—both for themselves and others.

Short, we must still doubt the political sa-
gacity of those who have been deceived in every
prophesy 'with which they have favoured the
world—yet who have learnt so little 'experience
is still to look for , liberty in "Revolution; even
with the, events now passing before their eyes in
Spain, Portugal, Naples, and .Sough America ;
'here we see the same 'arbitrary proCeedings prac-
iised in the name of Liberty as under the old
Establishments, and where, as in. the. BUENOS
AYRES intelligence of the past week, the" friends
of Liberty" are merely contending for power to
the alarm and annoyance of the moderate, and
the disgust of the well-judging

,For duonotice cf the SECON'D defence we have
xcarcely left ourselves room,--that it was receiv-
:ed with universal applause, when spoken, cannot
• 1)t, doubted—it came home to the feelings of 'the
•!
•
a.Oitory, many of whom had 'experienced, its
;. •,... . • .• • .•
:open doors, and enjoyed its comforts, -especially
' after a visit to their uncle—many who would
. pledge themselves, or any thing else, for the re-
, spectability of a trade which hires upon the
'starvation of its custoniers, which plucks their
Wings, after they have been feathered by the
pawnbroker, and by a liberal supply of what i 5
-so elegantly termed "-Blue Ruin," hurls its un-
'fortunate votaries into ruin everlasting! But the
Gin7sAup and the, Tallii-ikop, we leave to. the
.Speaker and to the Chairman, as equally qualified
to descant upon their advantages and•upon their
mysteries.; and proceed to notice Some very ex-
traordinary points in the proceedings atclicsrEn,
where the wise CAeesernongers
.liave displayed.
either their ignorance of very modern English
history, or their intention of supplying U,.; with a
quaall Regnant, iusteaci
,of a Queen Consort!
'The toast of " C A ft 01.7 NE I." will surely bear us
out on this dilemma! Those political.Witlings in-
deed talk of a " Crown for Innocence;"—if "they
will venture to_the metropolis they may find such
innocence for half the money, and dear too !
Against such folly, however, a strong re-action

is now at work. It only requires a little politica
steadiness on the part of the friends to order.
these wish for an example, let them look to the
High SherjET of NORTIICMBEIILAND, who is nei-
ther party-man nor time-server.

If we look from home to the Continei t, the
picture,. if not gloomy, is certainly not -very
cheerful. The /Vhig press indeed finds iii ,
in every revolution—but change is not freedom .',
To prophecy results we shall not venture,--bu;
this we may observe, as a guide to opinion, tha
although the BRITISH CONSTITUTION is the mo•
del which both Kings and People look up to, yet
pride, vanity, jealousy, together with the politi.
cal and moral state of society on the Continent,
will and -mist prevent any thing like a fac-simile
of that Constitution being instantly adopted.
The grand error qf all modern revolutions is,
that their promoters wish to jump 'at' once from a
state of civil and religious bondage to the fiat
freedom of Britain ; a state of freedom to which
wc have only arrived through slow gradations, in
which our national character. has been formed pro-
gressively ! The grand error of our Reformers
at home is, that, forgetfil or ignorant of the pro-
gress that Britain has made to the apex of political
and social freedom, they are caught by the splen-
dour of contrast in young Constitutions, and would
carry back our manhood to political infancy

1. G. N.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.