The Sun.
London, England, 1820-12-27 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

NIATCH TO DO FIFTY MILES IN TEN HOURS.
A Gentleman named SMITH, an officer in the
army, undertook yesterday, for 100 guineas, to
do the above gr-at match, which was made on
Saturday night at a sporting house in St. James's,
to be done within 48 hours. It was considered
impossible, without previous training; but it
seems the pedestrian is always in training, or; in
other words, he is an abstemious man, who takes
wonderful exercise. The work was • done over
a five-mile piece of ground on the Hounslow In-
closures, as follows :
MILES. MIN. sI,C

. 9 0
. 9 14
. 9 10
. 13 10
• 15 0

MILES.
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .
5 .

lIHSAWN.SEC.
. 0 40 0
. . 0 4/ 'lO,
. . 0 42 :50
. . 0 50' 30
. . 0 48 0
. . 1 30 30
. . 0 50 0
. . 0 48' 11
. . 0 5G ~40

1 58 '5B

9 47 4s

- The pedeStrian. was much beat after the :15
miles,.but he had: made good his ground at going
off, and he had leisure to rest an hour at intQrvals
in the last .five miles. The weather .vas
his
friend, and betting was 2 to 1 on him after, doing
25 miles in •3-hours, 42 minutes, and 30 seconds.

BETTING-ROOM, Dec. 46, 1920.
DERBY.
3 to 1 agst GOstaros 16 to 1 agst Charm
sto 1 agst bro. to Andrew 118 tot agst Polygar..
The ti,hl apt Line.
OAKS.
6to I,agst My Lady. •
No betting o'n.the Itiddlesworth or St. Leger.

HUN'rENG INTELLIGENCE.' • •
The Earl of Derby's Stag-ltounds.4nert oorFriday, Ufeht-
terltam CorunrQ.
H. 3ollitfe, I.:4(1:s Fox hounds meet to-usoiraw, at ltkiel-
wood ; antl'on Saturday, at Übaldo:). •
,The Surrey Fox-hounds. meet to•ntorrow, at Ilaussey
Green ; and on Saturday, :it Oxted.
The Harrierstmert e•rt•ry day, . •
. •,

Yesterday afternoon the Duke and •Duchoss
DE CAZES and Madame* PIENTEU,Iek-Oir
residence in Portland-place,.• for their,,keai:,. at

Harrow on the Hill.
A most fatal and melancholy - evot,toA
on Saturday at Wimpole,, the seat of.:ithe:karl,of
Hardwicke. Lord' Pollington, qo ckti;"abd.
Mr. 11. Lindsay, with his son,. 'be'ini,g
woods shooting-, the.gun of Mr. hindsayls son
went off accidentally, by which unfortunato.; Cir-
cumstance a young man of :the name .of
acting as game-keeper, lost his life, the contetts
of the gun having'entered his:head, which, pro-
duced instant death. A Coroner's Inquest was
held on the body, and returned a verdict of-
-1" Accidental Death."

THE LONDON JOURNALS.

tOMLY ExTRAcTs vit()%l 'l't-1E MORNING PAPERS

[Morning Chronicle.]

)1y an arrival at Liverpool advice, were yesterday receiver)
fraiia Biletios Ayres, dated 4th October. By these accounts
rt. would seem that another Revnlutinn, or scramble for.,
power, had taken place in the capital, more serious than the
preceding ones which had divided that unfortunate c4y.—
Vier the defeat of Alhear and Carrera, at San Nicolas, RO-
nriguez placed' himself at the head of the Government, by
overcoming the party in favour of Balcarce. Towards the
close of September, a runner got abroad that it was the in-
sentiou of Rodriguez to bring back Pueyrredoo and his col-
leagues, and a great fermentation was consequently excited
among the people. A serious conflict took place in the night,
in which many persons lost their lives, but eventually Rodri-
' ititry was pot down, awl, when the last letters were dated,
the C.Lbildo or Municipality were governing the city, and
:preparations were making far fresh elections. The comma-
, nitations with the interior were still extreneely partial. Ad-
cher, front Valparaiso, dated the 22d August, have also come,
to band, at which time Cochrane's expedition had not sailed.
Letters from Maranham were also received yesterday, dated
etti November, being upwards of a week later than the last
advices from Rio de Janeiro. They state that the Oporto
)terOlittion was known there, and had excited great joy
askikeng well-informed persons, but the Lisbon events bad not
readied them.

[Morning Post.]
We cannot but sincerely join with a writer to whom, in
politics, we are almost constantly opposed, in wishing that
t•he commercial treaty, which is understood to he now in tie-

gociat ion het we 01 this country and France, ►nay he brought
to a successful termination. This is one of the subjects into
which no party-feeling ought to enter. Too long has it ben
the. policy of the two countries to regard each otter as na-
fkiral enemies, and their measures have in consequence been

fratued with aview to war, and have generally been admirably

calculated to produce that state of things against which it was
their ostensible object to guard. The dinfomatist and the
statesman cannot he better employed than in inquiring into
the practicability of placing the relations of these great
Powers on a different footing. Hitherto to talk of humbling
Prance has been the favourite theme of England, and of
course, a similar tone against this country became the pre-
vailing sentiment in Franee. Yet why should this be? Each
possesses many articles of commerce, of which the other
stands in need. Why then should net the comforts ef-both
be promoted by an exchange.? The discoverer, or the con-
queror of a world, would deserve less of his country than
that Statesman who should relieve England from the dread
of having to meet the terrible enemy she has so often found
in France,—who should put an end to her ambition, not by
the sword. but by making it her interest to be the friend of her
ancient rival. How sure, how lasting that. friendship which is
•cemented by the benefits arising from an active and well re-
gulated commerce, is seen its the history of the • connection
which has so long subsisted between this country and Portu-
gal. It would be well that it should be remembered both on
this anti un the other side of the water, what the two nations
bare lost from their hostility. Very ritticult would it be to
point out an object of national importance, however superb,
that might not be obtained at far less expense than each
e,tuntry has been subjected to, whenever war has been de-
clared against the other. The trophies of conquest have by
turns swelled the pride of each, hut in every great struggle
one only could triumph, and both uniformly suffered. This
is so obvious that we -need not appeal to the widows and
orphans of war to sustain the assertion. But in finan-
ces—in national strength—in greatness as well as in hap-
piness, both have suffered. Flail peace subsisted between
England and France as long as it has remained unbrok-
en between England and Portugal, how different might
the situation of the people of the two nations have been
at this day—how difforent that of all the rest of the world!—
There can be .tin doubt that commercial treaties may be ar-
ranged wit is France and other countries Upon terms more
henrficial to Great Britain atrl to them than the regulations
now in force here and .in those countries; but it is alike
.ovious that these arrangements should be separately made,
with a root carefit I view to the immediate returns of benefit,
which Great Britain shall obtain from the statt-s in wimie
favont,any relaxation mae be granted, and not upon any ge-
mend expectations of profit, which may accrue hereafter to
when sse shall have enriched our neighbours. The posi-
tion, that " it is nor interest to make our customers opulent"
is a vast deal too extensive and too inde6inte. All that is
true in it is this—it is our interest to constroct our commer-
c'al regulations, with so much attention to others, as well as
to ourselves, as that they and we may be enahled and induced
to trade with each other, to the utmost extent of a possible
common utility. To talk of making. our costumers I ich, as a
preliminary, is alisind. We might mate half nor own popu-
lation paupers, long before the returns'should come in from
this new trading Venture in immoderate liberality. We sin-
cerely hope however, that a liberal and an enlarged view will
be taken of this most interesting subject. The restlictious
which at present fetter the efforts of commerce all over the
wOrld, demand immediate and most serious attention. "the
oriseries of the world spring from the errors of mankind.
Were unwise regulations and uncalled for precautions dis-

missed from the-system of each country, the ample earth,
rfch in valuable products, and the exhanitlesv ocean, would
furnish a sufficient field for industry, and al►undant sources
of sustenance and enjoyment would be open to all.

• [British Press.] •
The itfindiciotts anxiety of the Ministers •to behold their
heeds lauded in Addresses to the King, and to cast,at the same
time, the severe reproach of disloyalty and sedition upon their
<lvo:meats of every class throughout the kingdom, will place
'tliefeii at the meeting of Parliament in an awkward dilemma,
irom which- not even the ingenuity of • Lord Castlereagh can
easily extricate- them. They must either confess that the
charges preferred against the people were false, and that no
tr:,Ces of the crimes alleged were discernible except in their
own bewildered fancies, or they mast consent to stand con-
victed of Want Of energy, wisdom, and capacity, for not hav-
ing made a single effort to check the. foul contagion of such
ilangei oils criminality. The guilt must surely be rely ap-
potelit, at least to ministerial ryes, which could call forth
/WA mid angry invectives, joined with pitiable lamentations
•Itotsi the -Cabinet and its immediate adherents in all parts of
the empire; nor could it, from the nature of the charges
-tiffelged, be so limited in action,. or he confined to individuals
toiew and so reserved, as nut to have afforded many oppor-
tunities of vindicating the authority of the laws, and the
ontraged majesty of society by the legal conviction and pu-
nishment of wicked and desperate offenders. The imputed
crimes of iedttion, blasphemy, libel, disrespect to the person
and government of the King, tumultuous and seditiout Meet-
ings, the vinintions of the public peace, and various other
offences of the same class, are all known to the laws of our
country .and it was only in the Session of Parliament before
the last that .the Legislature, at the speCial iletstand of the
Ministers of the Crown, consented to strengthen the hands

of Government with respect to this very .class of offences,
s„, degree required by the Ministers themselves.
j the c, hues now imputed by the Ministers he really in ei--
ietence, why, are not the guilty individuals prosecuted, and.
vet us bear no mote whining and whimpering about the pre-
valertee of offences which the laws are • capable of Checking,-
b4ri st4i ch the Government adopt 3 no measutes to restrain.
For what put-Pose ate raws_made but to prevent or punish
guilt ? and shall it be endured that a Government armed with
sit raordinary powers, intrusted to its 44iscrition for the pro-
tection of society, shall indulge in idle lamentations at the
saitid crowth of crime, have recourse to addresses fur correct-.
its priniCions influence, and stiffer the salutary terrors of
t law to remain inactive ? The Ministers, however, while
they alert to lament. the existence of an evil, are willing to
sOlter private individuals to undertake the ptinishment-of the
ilitendero. Thus we Fad that a new prosecution has been
commenced against that wretched woman, Mrs. Larlile,.fhr
some blasphemous publication, but the prosecution is com-
iaciaced, not by the Attorney-General on behalf—of the Go-
vernment. but by the Society for the Suppression of Vice.
Is. this mi,;erable woman the hnly culprit in the country ? is
iler situp .the only mart for *edition's and blaspbemoili publi-
cations? are•lier solitary exertions the only etforts that are or

liAve been u..01e to overturn the whole 'fabric of the Chris

Can religion, and poll down the pillars of the Constitution ?
Ili there be other Offenders equally daring and equally frir-
• /aid able, w•e t►ave a right t•u complain of the insctiiiiy of the
Ministers in not enforcing the jaws for the welfare• of so-
- tdi.ty.; and we are vreil.caribiced that 'there is not a man in
ad.: Empire wbuse goutl opir iuri ii riorth posessitig, who

would not rejoice is the conviction and pnniAurient of those
who commit such offences as are imputed in the Ministerial
Addresses, and recognised in the Answers which the Mini-
sters instruct the King to return. We will venture to affirm
on the part of the legitimate Whigs, that such are their ten-
diments upon this subject. They love their King as arden t-
. ly as any Tory in the Empire; they venerate thet Constitu-
tio►►, which they naturally reg.u•d as their own especial worh,
they adore the principles of liberty, which are necessarily in-
volved in the fabric of their Constitution; and tl►ey ablosr as
sincerely aS any of the Ministetial Addressers., doctrines de-
, rii.gatory front the dignity of the Crown, and injurious to the
simple purity of the Cheistian Religion. But they will spurn
with indignation any indecent ►uummery practised for the
purpose of diverting attention trout the actual offences of the
Ministry, investing them in the minds of the timid and ere-
dnlous with an interest that does not fairly belong to them,
and interpos►ng the sacred shield" of terror to protect
them from public contempt.

[Morning Herald.]
The fall of Buonaparte seems to have given rise to new po-
litical interests, new relations, andnew tendencies to alliance
in Europe. France, long called the natural enemy of Great
Britain, and not without reason, is now understood to become
every day more and mote closely united with her. This is
echoed from the foreign Jo► rnals. and rumoured at borne.—
It is probably well-founded.--Thisnew friendship with France
arises, no doubt, from the views which Russia is disclosing,
and the attitude site is assuming. The spirit of ambition and
aggrandizement driven from France, has reappeared in Russia,
and given rise to movements which it is the common and pres-
sing interest of France and England to resist. It is even re-
potted, we know not how far truly, that a commercial treaty
is negociat►ng between England and France, on the principle
-of a mutual and vast reduction of import duty on certain pro•
duce of both countries.—We only hope this may be the fact.
The Ministers, of course, will not .attempt unless it be
found as practicable in regard to the Revenue, as it is de•
sirable on general principles, and in reference to the public
wants. Front thz principles, statements, and reasonings of
Lord Liverpool, in the course of the last session, we very
much doubt the truth of the negotiation of a commercial
treaty of this kind to any extent. Perhaps the revolution in
Portugal, arid the probable change in our commercial inter-.
course with that kingdom, may produce some change in the
views of the Noble Earl and his colleagues, since last year.

[The Times.]
The charge against the nation of increased immorality
surely conies with a bad grace .from the advocates of hor-
rible green hag investigations. We are convinced, in corn
mutt with the majority of our countrymen, that more danger
may accrue to morality and religion froM the proceedings
against the Queen during this one year, than all the miserable
efforts of the Deistical tribe, with Carlile at their head, could
have effected. in thirty, or the exertions of the Society for the
Suppression of Vice would overcome in 60-years—nos that we
would advocate the cause of the +former, or undervalue the
merits of the latter. The charge of disaffection is equally.
false. That the country is dissatisfied we willingly concede;
and it has latter'y met with too many reasons for such
dissatisfaction—(independent of the treatment offered to
its Queen)—i,n the total suspension and neglect of pith-
lic business, in the unheeded cries of a distressed po-
pulation, and in a lavish waste of the hardly-earned pubs
Sic revenue. But where is this disaffection ? In what ob-
scure corner of the-. island is it whispered ? How is it
made kpown ? Did we hear its appalling' sounds, or-re-
cognize its desolating ravages, in the numerous assemblage
which ci °wiled our streets when her Majesty went, after thy
illustrious example of our late pious Monaich, to St.
Paul's, to return thanks to God fur a signal deliver-
ance from a calamity worse than death.? Was it to be seen
in the innumerable processions which hare conveyed
the dutiful expressions of loyalty and attachment to Bran-
denlinrgh-honse ? Nu. " There's no such thing :" it is the
political purpose of certain candidates for preferment " which
informs thus to their eyes." flowerer, the nation is nut
blinded by•thesr artifices. The total defeat of ultra addresses
in rations parts of the coantry, and the substitution of others
expressive of attachment to the King, but likewise respect-
fully praying for a dismiss;. of Minist:Ts and change of mea-
sures, show that patty intiigue will nut prevail against con-
viction and matter of fact.

[New Tzmes.]
The very great interest which at the present moment rm•
turally attaches to our domestic politics should not lead us
wholly to overlook the important changes which take place in
a neighbouring country. The French cabinet has received
the accession of three distinguished Royalists, Messrs. de Vit.
Corbieres, and Laioe. It is praiser that the English.
Piddle should be clearly apprised of the whole importance of
this event. M. de %Wele wss. the leader, in the Chamber of
Deputies, as M. de Clusteoltriand was in the Chamber of
Peers,of that parts so stapitilvand so wickedlyhranded withithe
name of Ultra-Itoyalists. (Ed Times in particular, bad
loaded these high and honoural4e men with the foulest slan-
ders, and opening its venal pages to the French police, had
actually charged these Notkonen with a participation in plots
of assassination amt. treason ! Wb have for years unremit-
tingly combated the (~!itsus and wicked calumnies poured
(span these illustrious St ttesmen ; we have contended that it
was only by such principal s and such talents as theirs, that
France could be saved. 'Pitts truth has now at last become
evident. M. De Chate.mitriand is called to a high diplomatic
appointment, and M. De Villrle takes his seat in the Council
of Ministers. The miserable Journal, which in its infamous
Private Correspondence of July, Isla, had marked out these
Noblemen by name as traitors, and had charged them with
heing concerned its a plot to murder their Sovereign—this
same infamous and unprincipled Journal nosh veers rottml the
compass, and declares I hem to be "nut merely the rational sup-
porters of Constit to-moat Mooarchy, but the personal friends of
the House of Boorbou!!" This circumstance ought at least to
teaelt us the propriety of.weighing and comparing the different
opinions which the same individnal maintains at different
times, on the sathe subject. There may doubtless be good
grounds, its certain cases, for abandoning. former errors; belt
what is the fact here ? While the French police is tinder the
direction of a revolutionary faction, who spare no money to
bribe venal writers, The 7'imes calumniates and vilifies the
noblemen -in question ; lent when they come into office, the
Editor at once discover.; that they are loyal and patriotic, en-
lightened am! moderate ! Wiil the public be deluded by this
barefaced prostitution of opinion ? Will anv Mats he so weak
as to deliver up his judgment to the guidance of a writer
who is manifestly destitute of the very shadow of prin-
ciple ? As a sort of cloak for its despicable inconsist-
ency, The Times pretends now to have found out a
new party of Ultras its France, and speaks of M.
de Vaublatic as their leader; but let us not be the dupes of
so shallow an artifice. Fur the last four years The Times has
persevered in stigmatising with the name of Ultras, not M.
de Vanblanc, but M. M. De Cliateatibriand, De Villele, and
their friends and followos. It ealumainted them as it now
caluMniates ninetenths of the true loyalty of England by call-
ing it Ultra-Loyalty; and sorry are we to say, that even
Statesmen in England because the dupes of this gross fraud,
and re-echoed the slanderous title of Ultras, so impudently
attached to men who are now confessed to be t he most rational
and constitutionalitoyalists in France. We, on the contrary,
laboriously endeavoured to defend the cause of true Loyalty
in both countries on the same ~grounds. . We shelved
the folly of applying the terns Ultra to Merl whOle loyalty
could not be separated from their patriotism, and who loved
their King, because they love their country. We predicted
that the same term would be applied, as it is now daily ap-
plied, in the pages of The Times, to stigmatise and discoun-
tenance all true attachment to the King And Constitution of
England. In that Journal yf yesterday the Loyal Addresses
and Declarations which have ()Hate issued from all parts of
the kingdoss, are with the most barefaced impudence and in-
solence attrilmted to "the underhand practices of Adminia-.
tration in procuring Ultra Loyal Addresses"—Thi: expression
lifts the mask of the Radical. We feel its gross injustice in
our own case; let us remember that it was equally unjust in
the case of France. Ultra-Royalist was a teras invented by
the blood stained monster Fouche. Ultra-Loyalist is a term
invented by the Editor of The Miles.

ft appears, by a statement from the Excise
Office, London, that t be. duty on Hops, of the grovith of 1820,
amounted, at /d. per lb. including old and new duties, to
240,5741. 14s. 10d.

_ .
CURIOUS ASSAULT.—A person. named Mailing,
charged one M‘Duggan, et Marlborough-street office, with.
assaulting him on Monday night. The'story is as follows:--
The Prosecutor had a friend lately buried in St. AIM'S church-
yard, and the wife of the deceased, an Irishwoman, suspect-
ing that her husband would be taken up, yin ploved Mailing
to watch over the grave, with particular injunctions for hint
to be-
very attentive on the night in ,Inestion, as she bettered
that her husband would rise on the third night. The defend-
ant, whom the prosecutor described tube a resnrrection-wan,
attacked him on his post, and with other Irishmen, knocked
hint as well as the watchmen, about. The Magistrate recom-
mended an aci;olnruoilittiun, stud the, dithreuees were settled•

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS.

[From the Durhani Counts/ Advertisertl
TO ./. G. LANiIiTON, ESQ. NI. P.

Stn.—l claim a right, as one of your constitu-
ents, to trouble you with softie remarks on the County Meet-
ing convened by yourgelt and your associates, and held at
Durham on the I:ith instant.

In the speech which you delivered on that occasion, you
stated your expectation that the part you Wulf, would expose
you again to the attacks of libellers of all' descriptions, Lay
as welt as Clerical. Sir, I have no concern in this allusion,
•and front me, .st least, nothing of that nature shall proceed,
unless you deem every opinion libellous- that differs from
your own, though couched in liberal and courteous language;
I abhor calumny too much to deal in it myself, mid what-
ever faults you may find in this address. it shall not contain
a sentiment unbecoming a gentleman to hear or utter. As
fur clerical calumniators, if there be any snch, it is not my
business to defend them; and I shall only chserse, that since
you omit no opportunity_ of reviling the. Established Clergy,
you haven() reason to complain if they retaliate, fur self-defenee
against aggression is not a libel. But I lease the vindication
to themselves, they are competent to undertake it, it they
think it worth their trouble.

, But, Sir, though I shall abstain from personalities, 1 will
not abandon principles; and the Freeholders of this County
have, I think, brought indelible disgrace upon themselves by
their submission toyour dictates, by suffering (with one feeble
instance af dissent) opinions to be publicly avowed, and mea-
sures promulgated in their name, subversive of the interest
and honour of the nation. The well disposed (for still such
are to lie found) cling to the inveterate delusion that a gentle
denial of concurrence is au antidote for this disorder ; but you
and your friends know better : arid truly any old woman's nos-
trum would do just as well; for violence can only be repelled
by vigour, and when factious men conspire for mischief, the
loyal must combine for safety.
Sir, the ostensible and the real object of your meeting,
though very different, were equally detrimental to the public
good : the ostensible purpose seas, a condemnation of the late
proceedings against the Queen ! the real purpose, which,
though not embodied in the requisition, was foreseen by intel-
ligent observers, and is now manifest to4ill, was a change of
government, i. e. a substitutiOn of the party denominated
Whigs for the present administration. These Whigs, who
catch at any means of furthering their views, have identified
her Majesty's_ interest with their own, forming, in conjunc-
tion with the Radical Reformers, a triple alliasrce,.of which
the folly is only exceeded by the guilt.
It there ever was a question on which party prejudice ought
to have subsided, it was tire late investigation of the Queen's
conduct—a question' not of politics, .but of justice, morals,
''and religion. You reprobate, however, Ist, the mode-2dlr,
the injustice-3dly, the disgusting and pernicious tendency of
those proceedings.
Ist. You deny that a Bill of Pains and Penalties is con-
stitutional:, Instead of arguing the point, which would oc-
cupy too much time at present, I shall remind you that this
method wee not only approved by the highest legal arid eon-
stitutional,authorities, including your party oracle Lead
Erskine; but that' Lord Grey himself admitted that such Bills
were known iii the best periods of our history ; adding, how-
ever, that such extraordinary exertions of power could never
be justified, except snider circumstances in which the public
safety and the public interest most imperiously required that
such proceedings should be resorted to. Sir, lam ready to
meet his. Lordship on this ground, and .maintain that a case
of more imperious necessity cannot he produced, for 'the in-
terest of every family in the kingdoni was at stake. I will
nut do you such an injury as to think you can ue ignorant
that female morals have an influence on domestic and na-
tional well-being, and that a woman, branded with suspi-
cions of such a nature, could not, with any prospect of our
happiness or safety, be, stationed as the head and model of a
sex which we ought to shelter from impurity, and which, from
having been the pride of England, and the admiration of the
world, would become at once our bane and our disgrace if
corrupted by licentious example. • Therefore I contend that a
Bill of Pains and Penalties was defensible on the principle
ado:Ate:chi. Lord -Grey. •
But•Qilly,'no injustice was committed ; for the method of
impeachment would not have mended her situation, and no
objection can he-valid against a judicial process of sonic. kind
ur other, provide lhe grounds of accusation were sufficiently
probable and strang.to put her on her trial ; and can any
one pretend that this was not the case ? Would any Grand
Jury have refused to.hnd a true Bill on such grounds ? Indis-
putably not. You, Yourself, Sir, as an -honest and conscien-
tious' juror, must have sent any one to- trial on charges so
attested. Consequently, no injustice was committed by ar-
raigning her. .
3rlly, You inveigh against the disgusting and pernicious ten-
dency of the proceedings, and vent your indignation at tire
nauseous details. with which the public has been afflicted—
and my ghborrence i! nut inferior to your's—but was it there-
fore expedient to blink the charges? You and your friends
say yes; I
.as confidently answer no; fiat Justitia is a rule
shish must not he surrendered; and no enlightened patriot
'will 'maintaio; as a general Maxim of State-policy,l that
it- is not expedient to punish rice; forsuch an encourage-
ment of licentioiisness would obviously tend to the demoli-
tion of society ; if justice be disarmed and fettered by conve-
nience, the law is a dead letter; 'and nu form of government
can stand. Nor was there any thing in the present case to
exempt it Irons the ordinary rule; you will not, I am sure,
contend that may authorise depravity, or that the im-
putations *ere:tits-nal a nature that we might safely connive
at, and con-sigp them to oblivion ; the higher the dignity, the
more darigeroos 'the example, and we have all a deep con-
cern that the feniale who is first iu station should not be the
last in cliaracter. _ _

If the recurrence of vice could be prevented by County
Meetings, they night thus prevent the recurrence of pro-
seetition;. Init'scriong as crimes shall be committed, crimi-
nals must be brought to trial; and the proceedings must be
equally notorious, whether they occur in the ordinary course
of justice, or by the proce-s of inipeaco went, or by a Bill
of Pains and Penalties; though -indeed the last "method of
proceeding • would be exempt from the evil of which we
speak. if the ancient privilege of Parliament were in practice;
and half a century ago the evidence in question would not
hare been pernicious, because it would not have been expcised
to public will not attempt to solve the problem
whether the publicity of Parliamentary Debates be hurtful
or beneficial ; hut I do think that the strenuous defenders
of that publicity should be the last to complain of any mis-
chief: that result from it. But even how, why is the evidence
pernicious ? disgusting it indispiitably is, but what renders it
pernicious.? not. the disclosure of facts which excite no feel-
ings but of horror, and %%bid) make vice itself appear more
hideous : no, Sir, it is the attempt to palliate, to extenuate,
to justify such enormities; it is the protection of licentious
manners, the patronage of indecorum, the adulation of im-
pudence, the exaltation of dishonour, the popularity of guilt.;
'these, Sir, are indeed pernicious, these are perilous and Or. ad-
ful : it is not the exposure of depravity, but the vindication
of it, the indulgence, the support, the favour lavished on it,
which appal the pious and the good. These are signs of the
times which may terrify the firmest heart, and justify Lord
Grey's quotation from the
.gospel. By the bye, Sir, I recom-
mend to your notice another passage from the Scriptures, ap-
plicable to certain persons who will not believe that her Ma-
jesty is guilty ; the Sacred Writer tells us, that they who be-
lieved not, moved with envy, tools unto them certain lewd fel-
lows of the baser, still, and gathered a company, and set all
the city in an uproar.*
But it has been said, that the result of the trial has proved
ats iropritpriety. Sir, it proves ino..such thing. Has tit♦ re-
sult exculpated her Majesty? The records of that tribunal
before which she was arraigned; lead us to a very different
conclusion ; they tell us that .she escaped, but was not ac
quitted ;
.nor would it foil iw that the trial was unfit, even
had she obtained a verdict in her favour; for if so, no cul-
prit, should be tried, for fear of an acquittal. That an ig-
norant and tumultuous rabble should proclaim her innocent
dues not surprise me; but if there be any man of common
sense who, having candidly considered the evidence adduc-
ed, can believe her pure, I do .not blame him fur declar-
ing his opinion, but I very much wonder how be came by
it. Yet such intellectual darkness does the spirit of party
spread around its votaries, -that some are to he found %silo can
Suit their faith to their convenience, and having declared her
guilty before she was accused, declare her ►potless after her
conviction ; like the bigot who said 'credo pia imposo•ihile eat,
•their assurance of her purity- inerea4es with the arguments
against it, and becoming the champions of this immaculate
Messalina, they will push their zeal for her to any extreme,
brit that of faking. their wives to visit her. A few of them
have even committed this; but you,'Sir, I am persuaded,t,will
not augment the number. • , _ _

Others, however, (anti I conceive that Lord Grey is of this
description) make a distinction between legal and mural eri •
Bence, and say that, although the guilt is established in our
belief, the proofs of it were not judicially conclusive. This re-
finement is suitable to judges, hut is too metaphysical for
common use: evidence which hi ings conviction to mv under-
standing is sufficient to direct my private judgment. Unques-
tionably, legal penalties cannot be indicted when there is de-
ficirncy of-legal proof': Out if the proof be morally decisive. I
know not how an honest man can countenance the culprit; yet
meetings like that which you convoked du in fact cotintenanct
the tiuceu j they are hriiled With shouts of triumph by bet
41 Acts, zeil. 4.

partizans, and stamp a currency on her behaviour ; they itt-
social e her cause, her fame, her deeds, and her &podium'
with names that ought to shrink (ruin such a junction. Oh !-
Sir, let us not teach our countrywomen that our esteem- and
good opinion are of no importance; that if they keep beyond
the lash °flintier, they may sin with safety, and he surfeittig
with popular applause ; let those Who think the Queen is
iti-
nocent, or who, like her, not the worse fur being others Ole,
subscribe their 501. to furnish her with plate, which, if God
in his mercy shall remove her from these shores, she miff
take abroad without dishonesty ; let them applaud her sym-
pathy for a female criminal convicted of uttering forged
notes, an offence as venial, no doubt, as the forgery of
bonds ; but let not the Wise and good do homage to pin"
lotion.
Sir, I shall probably have occasion to trouble you with 3 -
second letter, relatin,, to the real object of the County Meet'
ing ; but before I take my leave of you at present, permit me
to suggest that instead of Petitions to the two Houses of
Parliament to prevent the recurrence of a trial similar to tht!'
which you condemn, the more obvious mode would be to p
tition her Majesty never again to give occasion for it.
I have the honour, &c. &c.
Dec. 20, 1820. THEMIS.