The Sun.
London, England, 1821-01-29 00:00:00

other hand, a little harmony anti moderation, a- mutual ob-
livion of the past, and a inutscil forbearance for the future-ma
a temporary truce to angry discussions on minor points, and
R sincere regard for the general interests of the empire, might
yet, in a short time, relieve us from our apprehensions, and
extricate us from our dangers. This is the It ;ulnas principle
which, in the following rtbservations, I shall endeavour to
establish. Whatever be the On'ClitiOn, I need not be ashamed
of the design. Other incidental points, which I shall state
hereafter, will indeed naturally beblended with it ; for we
must endeavour, in the first place, to distinettish with acen-
rail, and precision the teal evils and the real causes of tlrose
tils: and, in the second, to point out t hose retnedies, which
are not only the hest in themselves, but the most practicable
in their application. The nacre knawledge must he nugatory
and useless; and may even iocrease the distemper by the alarm
which it excites : yet without such knowledge we shall begin
to act upon mistaken principles ; we shall administer our reme-
dies at hazard, like the political.empirice who surround us ;
and, instead of removing the disease from the body politic, we
shall aggravate its symptoms, and fix it more deeply and
more permanently in the constitutton. At last, however, we
must arrive at the conclusion, that the most disastrous evil
under which we labour consists in those interested factions
which dismember and distract the State, while they prevent
that 'mien and co-operation, which, if they cannot emu' e,
must at least tend to advance the national and common wel-
fare. - .And surely, if it be owned that our preset!t politics are
part of a dwindled, and confined, and mischievous system,
it will lie lint too easy to prove, that thieve never was a period
in this country which called more earnestly and more im•
iteratively for either enlarged policy or genuine patriotism.
" I have lived in times,' said Lord Grey, big with ex-
traordinary events, without a parallel in the annals of the
world.' And who is there among us, whose beat tis not an
echo to the sentiment of his Lordship ? We have, indeed,
been thrown into an age pregnant with confitsimmn, and
marked out, as it were, by Pt ovidence, for uncommon "oc-
currences. Revointion upon revolution, and convulsion
upon convulsion, have passed before our eyes on the
inighzy theatre of the universe, with the same rapid succes-
sion, the same wonderful vicissitudes, as on the stage of mi-
mic representation—or rather, the dramatist would nut ven-
ture to exhibit such surprising changes as the Historian must
describe. Kingdoms have been the scene, anti their Sove-
reigns the actors. %Vats—the most extensive in their scale,
the most complicated in theit operations, and attended with
the -most unprecedented variety of fmtune—have carried
mourning and desolation into every country of Europe but
our own. The gigantic designs of despotism, the policy of
state, and the aehievements of military valour, have been but
playthings in the bands of that Eternal Destiny, which seems
to have had a special design, while it chastised the madness
of ambition, to show the nothingness of power, the insecurity
of thrones—and to convince mankind, that monarchs are not
exempt front the miseries of humanity.
" Of this last assertion, England; although preserved from
those more violent calamities which have deluged surround-
ing aations with tears and bloodshed, may yet afford ex-
amples, which are fresh in the recollection of us all. On this
account, too, after having been conspicuous for the heroic
generosity of her efforts in the common, cruise of Europe, she
has become once mere a spectacle for the world : and, per-
haps, among the events, without. a parallel, which it has been
the lot of the existing generation to witness, the subiect
now agitates anti distracts the nation is, after al). the most
remarhahle. Nor will it be matter of astonishment, that
these proceedings have worked up the feelings, both of par-
ties and of indtviduals, to. fever and almost to delirium—
when we remember, that while they possess the great-
est public impottance, they blend with it that more intense
interest, which the heart naturally takes in domestic
troubles—and more especially in the domestic troubles of
royalty. If, indeed—and the fact is notorious—those amour the
dramatic writers, who have been most distinguished for their
knowledge of human nature, have invariably found their
most moving subjects in the internal disagreements of
princely families, even of another country anti a remote pe-
riod—we cannot wonder that such an intensity of interest
should be excited, when these very eircithistancts, involvine
our own age and nation, occur in their momentous reality
tamfore us, when, too, we are told that not-merely the locums
of an individual but the safety of the empire is at stake!
" But it is not the interest of the subject, however great
or universal, which has tempted me to the discussion of it.
The mind most be at last weary of the proceedings which
have so long mid anxiously engrossed 'its thoughts; or even
were it otherwise, I shoull bill as low in my own estimation
as I should deserve to fall in the opinion of every honest
men, of every party in the State, if, front the mere tempta-
tion of discussing an interesting topic, the little weight
which I could throw into the scale should he employed to
foster anti keep alive the portentous disturbances of the coun-
try. Nor indeed is it see pleasing a task, whatever he the
opinion of our modern patriots, to dwell upon the national
dissentious and the national infatuation. If, therefore, the
question regarding the conduct of her Majesty were now-
likely to rest, I should lie most unwilling to revive it. But
it is too evident that the agitation of the piddle mind has not
subsided, and that hoth parties are preparing •for a renewal
of the struggle. There is every reason to fear that, with the
opening of Parliament, the fury of faction will not only re-
commence, but rage with greater violence than before, em-
bittered by deeper hatred and tome iuveterate animosity. A
sincere wish to avert such evils has been, as I have stated.
toy principal inducement for reviewingl he transactions of the
period. The endeavour may be unsuccessful, lint at least
it is honest. For my own part, I have the firmest cenvic-
tion, that to give a connected and impartial statt went of the
whole proceedings on this occasion, would be the best and
surest method to demonstrate the senseless natore of the
present onteryngainst the Government, to arrest the pro-
gress of popular delusion, and to satisfy the mind of every
man, who has not his own views to accomplish in the confu-
sion of his country. There are . men too, among us, who
would religiously preserve the remembranceomf these occur-
rences in the same garb of falsehood, and distortion, and ex-
aggeration, with a hich the zeal of modern patriotism has
laboured to invest them. Even now, they, represent the ob-
jects with the features enlarged, and the colours heighten-
ed—that front the horror of the picture the impression may
lie more strongly retained. Never will these transactions be
suffered " to sleep and be forgotten," while they can excite
angry feeling in the mind of the lowest of the popu-
lace. Thee will fonts one of the. common-places in the
rhetoric of our modern demagogues, together with the riots
at Manchester, the emplm.yment of spies, the miseries of the
people, and the inequality of the representation. It be-
comes, therefore, of importance, that among the sounder
part of the community, the impression should be true as well
as deep; and that, when we toils back upon these proceed-
input some future moment, we may view then) in their just
bearings and dimensions, add be able and willing to distill-
guisit the real circumstances of the ease, and the seal motives
of the parties. The present petiod is, besides, a history in
itself; and must engage the serious attention of our most re-
mote descendants. The future philosopher will turn to it for
an instructive display of the huntan heart,- and. the future
historian will see in it some of the most awfol proceedings in
the annals of -his country. From considering, therefore,
earnestly this extraordinary case, and from deeply feeling its
importance, the following question has occurred naturally to
me mind; when the existing generation has past away, when
the accusers and the accused sleep together in the grave—and
when the party violence of the ointment is forgotten--what
description must be given by history of the transactions of
this period ? I would endeavour to remove myself from the
age in which I live—from the faction, and misrepresentation,
and madness. that surround me—and anticipate in imagina-
tion the records of impartial posterity.
" But who, at a moment like the-present, shall pretend to
perfect impartiality? Who can hope—when he is obliged to
perceive on all sides such violence of invective. such repug-
nance to reason, such prematurity of decision—that he alone
has kept himself uninfected by the epidemic phrenzy of the
nation ? 4 thousand circumstances may give ant involuntare
bias to the mind a thousaod prejudices may lork there, of
whose existence we are ourselCeS unconscious, and of which,
if their exiatence was pointed out to us, we should be unable,
to trace the origin. Early habits, prepossessions, or cen-
neXiens—nay, even some casual caprice—may aid time natural
deceitfulness of the heart. W.e may not be willing to ae-
kolowledge it to ourselves ; yet may sit down to the investi-
eation with a wish at least to believe every thing on the one
side and nothing on time other. We may have lived with pet-
sons to whose autlunity we are accustomed to pay deference,
who have brought into action all their 'ingenuity and acute-
ness to represent One view of the case in the darkest or the
brightest colours; or if, on the contrary, we have met with
persons outrageous and intemperate in favour of one party,
that very circumstance may have engendered in out minds art
inclination to time other ; and from a natural dislike
to itli-
heralitv of sentiment, we may have undertaken the defence,
without imeirg well acquainted with the goedness of the cause.
Any of these things is snfficient to exercise over the mind a
secret but powerful influence. Who then, I would ask again,
shall say that Ins own heart is free from prejudice in any ease
—more particularly, then, in a case like the present, which
involves both a public and domestic interest, and in which
personal feelings are mixed tip with political partialities ?
dare not make the assertion of myself: although. in forming
my opinion, there is none by which I MU Tensible of having
been actuated. .1 would, therefore, advise any man who may
tie inclined to.follow me in these remarks, in the ratan,
place,
strictly to exablitme the nature and origin of his own. senti-
merits; and, inihe second, to read the opinions which are
, here offered to bilsonsideration, with that cantiort, and even
with that suspicion, {Nina I W 001,) myself use in the perusal
of-any production, confianporary with preceadiugs of so seri-