Star.
London, England, 1812-04-02 00:00:00


0 THOUGHT.

Passing shadow of the mind!
Boundless Rover unconfined!
Trait of Imperious reign !
Lard of pleasure and of piin!
. Teacher of the erting heart,
Wisdont's ray to me impart !
CorLe with'fit r enlighten'd pow r;
Renovate life's drooping hour !
Pure and of celestial kind,
Let me thee an angel find!
Ever guarded by thy sway,
• Ever mindful of the thy, ,
When by awful Fizav'tes deciee.•
I l'ust give account of Thee I
Yet—in temper'd colours drest,
fashion'] like a rain-bow's vest ;
Blended hues of grave and gay,
Cheer my spirit on its way!
Come and wander wi h the Muse,
Free her airy path to choose,
Free with her to rise and fall—
Soar to 1-Irmr's at Fancy's call,
Cling to sublunary things,
Or above expand thy wings !
Still my timid soul review
In thy garb of rosy hue!
Chase the fear that hints the sorrow,
Bring the hop: that crowns the morrow;
Bring RaLlGJON—Heav'n-born child,
Smiling like a cherub mild !
Bring the faith that meets the skies!
FA ITU that promis'd bliss supplies;
When her bright unclouded mien
Gilds with joy the closing scene !

DISTRESSES. OFTHE M44NUF2IC7URERt

Although we do not coincide in ail the opinions ezpre‘sed in the
following letter, which was lately addressed to the Earl of
Moir A, by Sir RICHARD Putturs, we think it worthy 'of -a
place in our Columns, as It relates to points of internal policy,
highly interesting to humanly and the public welfare :

.......•
41 MY Loin--Observing that your Lordship,
during the late Debate on Lord BORINODON'S Motion,
alluded with appropriate sympathy to the starving
condition of the Population of Ireland, and to the
Distresses of the Manufacturing Districts of Great
Britain ; and aware of the natural benevolence of
your Lordship's heart, which has led you, during so
many years, to endeavour to ameliorate the iron sway
of our Laws, relative to unfortunate• Debtors, I am
induced to address you on a subject which has long
weighed deeply on my mind, and which has prbssed
itself on my feelings and my reason with such force,
that I have thought it culpable to suppress my con-
victions, and deem it my duty to submit them to
your known public spirit and patriotism
46 lad addressing my sentiments on a stibject of
public Policy, to a Nobleman of your Lordship's per-
spicacious and extensive views, on all topics of this
nature, I feel that I have no claim to your notice,
but on the data on which our separate reasonings are
probably founded. I live, my Lord, in a closer re-
lation to the miseries which I deplore, than any Mem-
ber of the House of Peers ; and I can identify myself
move closely with the victims of harsh Laws, or false,
policy, than those who have been educated, or who
bare lived, in the lap of abundance, and who have
-never felt any want, except in regard to the quantity,
or the quality, of their luxuries.
'44 it has for some time been evident to many think-
ing persons, that the affairs of this great nation are
verging with accelerated force towards a crisis—
that the system on which they have long been di-
rected, has become almost impracticable, from the
.complexity of its own machinery—and of ceurse, my.
Lord, that it depends on the foresight, and on the
enlarged and liberal views cf perst ns placed at tlte.i
helm cf Government, whether the change supposed
to be pending, be gradual and salutary, or abrupt
and destructive—or, in other words, whether it re-
ceive a m ise'or beneficial direction, like the s.ream
with which we irrigate our meadows, or whether it
is to be pent up till it force its bounds, and carry all
before it in an ungovernable torrent.
44 I am aware, however, my Lord, that selflove
renders the signs of impending destruction to the
body politic, as equivocal as we are apt to behold the
signs of the approaching dissolution of the body
.natural.; the warnings of experience are cautiously
shifted or evaded—and States, like individuals, can
seldom be made to believe in their mortality, till they
have arrived at the last gasp. Hence it is, that Art,
Wisdom, and the Sciences, founded on History, are
so little useful in real life, and that the fate of man,
in his individual or social condition, is still as much
• governed by caprice and momentary circumstances
as in the infancy of the world.
46 Surely, my Lerd, the first principles of social
• convention do not require to be ascertained in the
• year eghteen hundihd and twelve, after the writings
Of GROTIUS, SELDEN, MILTON, PUFEENDONF, LOCKE,
• MONTESQUIEU, and BLACKSTONE ; and it will, I trust,
~ 11E4 now be disputed—that all Lawful Governments de-
rive their power from the People, and are instituted for the
. .catitmon Lenffit—nor, that Government: arc bound to pro-
_ Jett equally, the interests of the whole Population—to divide
equally those lone: which are the result of its own acts—
and to indemnify, out of the public stock, partial sacrifices
made for the common knelt.
~ Such I believe, my Lord, are the recognized
principles of British Legislation, and on their wise
and benevolent application, denend the advantages to
the people of any Administration of Government.
Such, in truth, have alWays been the admitted prin-1
ciples cf the British Constitution, as exemplified in
the distribution of 'faxes, and in innumerable Acts
of Parliament particularly in the late Laws relative
to invasion) sufficient in number to deduce the pin-
ciples from them, if the principles themselves had not i
been the just foundation of the Laws. 1
Gs As a corollary flowing from this train of reason.'
ing, allow me, my Lord, to express my astonish-
meat and grief, at the reasonings and conclusions of
the present Minister, when the Petitions of the
starving .Manufacturers were lately laid urns the
Table of the House of Commonly! The facts re-
lative to their condition were not denied, nor was it,
or could it be controverted, that the sufferings of
the Manufacturers arose out of a War undertaken for 1
/
alltAged public objects, and, in prosecuting which,