Star.
London, England, 1819-07-02 00:00:00

tributes which were essential ta its 'dign e,_
tiaas. ,
! public mind was intexicated by his elOquence, and
which it had been stripped by the bonaugh f
it and of I tire ascendancy over the councils Of kis coronary. The
security of every throne.
The love and reverence of its subjects werewtahhee,bwesats
hdeeluansidonslisepondelduesliuosaiohnarve:eceitasehdistocgoemthmerasndan. d But
and only lasting
taken from magician was no more, an t country
rtes
great property of the Crown had been .
the meace of securing them to be uithheld? y Thereality stood naked.befodre
hoeureyes. Twhaes
which powerfully reminded him of those lines
ob- of that delightful poet Armstrong
great pensioner on the Public. It had been
. well
it, and it was now placed in the odious light of a i suasion
Mr happiest yOU of all that e'er were mad,
served by Junius, that " the feather which adorns mini gha St"
Or are, or shall be, could this folly last :
the royal bird supports his flight ; strip }situ of his
But soon your heaven is gone ; a heavier gloom
plumage, and you fix him to .the earth." Such a con-
Shuts
dition of things was wholly inconsistent with the sti.taisno' eT oeryoitasr eabhanktis, sod,w
ihzthdeenthund'riiig
mountain
rstuceant,,
le
SSino when the frantiultc raptures in your breast
ancestors, and ks from it s tum
plan of government established by our to a sint brook ;
in his opinion quite adverse to the real trite tests of Subside, you languish into mortal man, . ,
the country, He knew from our own history in many
You sleep, and, waking, find yourself undone ! '
of its most brilliant parts, and from the glorious
countrywh o hadtoa carriedhigher Incncitsi:lplawseosubled
‘bseillthaewfaaktee,oafadth, is country—after a
.......... waking, find herself undrine ! .
side
in thez a
In vain might Gentlemen. on the opposite side
in any other station, what streams of public good
pointin happinesspt
hl enofavoa was and
iv iodwdgni li
unprat :fret Kings,icach their
o individuals
talk of our flourishing revenues, our industry, our
et
idan exercise
hahad
vested o f those
ia pre-
she
which we
anewdemenidneavoylovuedr twoapsuaseirmagdineaursyth. that
otltreervuei in
yoga be
mroiggathtivflens wwhfrnichtuththee Cuonnfetsttiertu
Crown. In the maintenance of-his Royal dignity, ------- to whose magic song
the King of England had formerly exercised a hes- The huge Plinliramon bov'd his cloud-capt head,
$ would be competent .
to such an undertaking.---
ging the love of his subjects, and their willing obe-
pitality suitable to it, and well calculated for en
avail,a-
SthuerchthuaanreatledyescprripotvieodusthwaetreGoofvleartalemeat
w aansy
cfoaar-.1
far-
dience to his authority. If he were to refer to any
himselfrio rl, ornio
stto4ainsvyoses ode eretoi
been said by some Gentlemen, "Give us good men—
pride
scious of. owing something to the people. It had
let us have a change of Ministers, and we will ensure
gnchewrihshosewimthernsennriimtaswasof
Sete-
and fondness, it would undoubtedly be the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. That exemplary
..
reign wanted no standing army ; such pn institution than such a maxim. It could not besmaintained for
you good measures.' Nothing was more visionary',
was contrary to all her maxims of government. The
an instant, but against the experience of all history
dangers, however, with which she had to contend and all men—against Locke, against Machiavel, and
were greater than any which had ever threatened the
above all, against our great and glorious country.
country since, or perhaps•before. By the wisdom of man Harrington. That excellent man had held, that
her counsels, and the heroic courage of her nature, he who says—" Give us good mew, and we will have.
she was enabled to, overcome them; and when asked
good laws," had spoken the language of a dema-
by the Spanish Ambassador, as he beheld her receiv- gogue ;but that he who said, " Give us good orders,
ing the unbought homage of affection, where her
and they will give us good men," spoke the axiom ofl
guards were, she pointed to her people, and said-a Legislakorr—Wear, hear). Ile (Sir Francis) and all
e These are my geards." To her mind, there was
the friendeof Reform, would maintain that to pro-
no satisfaction in occupying a throne surrounded by mote it was the interest of the King and of peo-
armed men. It was also an observation of the same ple ;of the public creditor ; in short, of all ordeis
magnanimous Princess, that her best exchequer was and ranks. Indeed, there was one class of the people
to be found in the purses of her people. By a steady to whom it would be obnoxious, but to whose ex-
adherence to these principles, she had left a name, istence the Constitution was totally a stranger—he
which, though not altogether unblemished, would
or Eng- meant the proprietors of rotten Boroughs. Again he
last as long as England should be a nation,
should ask pardon for being obliged to use terms, from
lishmen.retain a sense of duty, patriotism, or grati-
tude in their hearts. Another point that required which he should much rather abstain—ingenium meurn
non moverat sed necessitas cogit. The simple truth
the most serious consideration was the enormous ex- was, that the system of corruption in Parliamentary
pense—an expeose which the people would notper- representation was grinding the people to atoms.
haps be much longer able to support, which this Because these Borough-men had great influence in
system had imposed upon the country (Hear, hear! the State, because they hti barracks erected round
We had arrived at such a point of taxation, that the the country, they thought that they could support
Right Honourable Gentleman, the (Chancellor of the the baneful system against the moral sense of the
Exchequer), whom he willingly believed to be in people at large. If they thought so, they were widely
private life an example of morality, of good con- mistaken ; and with respect to a great standing army,
duct, and good feeling, when applied to for the re- though the experience of history had decided that
mission of a tax which operated to injure the health such establishments could not consist with the liber-
of the people in Ireland to such a degree that it was ties of the country where they existed—and though,
called the" Fever Tax," as W contagion was not suf- he was convinced that whatever was in the circum-,
ficiendy destructive amongst a people, whose open stances of England to render her an exception to this
doors and hospitable tempers more peculiarly exposed great rule, still he was not sufficiently so as to make
them to its ravages, the Right Honourable Gentle- him think that they could not be quite harmless
man replied, that be was excessively sorry, but the there. Yet he must be permitted to observe, that he
tax could not be spared In the labouring state of the had. far less apprehensions of those who were cleithed,
finances, So when hewn called upop by another in red, than of the Gentlemen of the long robe, au&
Gentleman to abandon another plan for raising mo- those 'lathed in black—(Laughter). I%e country',
ney, which might be said to return a mere pepper- was absolutely Undone by taxation. The taxes pressed
corn to the Exchequer, in comparison with its per- upon -the strings of reproduction, and in -effect it was,
nicious tendency to create low gambling and every a moot point amongst some, whether the system
species of immorality, although the Right Honour- would not fail in mealier year, in case that the come;
able Gentleman was, he believed, a Member of the try was summoned to any considerable exertion.
Society for the Suppression of Vice—(Laughler)— Even supposing a war,
,ever so necessary, were to
he was forced to declare, that the distressed state of call upon the country, it would be etterly impossible
the country rendered Lotteries indispensable. The that under the present state of things, that that del
same statement was reiterated, when the situation of mand could be answered. It was said, that we should
large classes of persons who were almost expiring be placed in a commanding position—that we should
under the weight of their burdens, was brought for- be put in a bullying . state. Nothing could be worse
ward as a case that called upon Parliament for re- than such a suggestion at a moment when our pow*
lief. It had been said, that from no plan of eco- was exhausted. Why, there was not a boxer in E '
nomy could any great relief be immediately expected. land who could not inform the Minister there was no
He himself certainly looked upon it as hopeless,, un- good in a permanent attitude of defence. He would
til that House should be differently composed, and recommend a relaxed state of the body at intervals,
the whole system of Government carried on upon a as necessary to recruit it. Just so the country,-1
- reduced scale of expense. And here he might ask, It requires to be placed in a relaxed posture—it was
what would be the situation of the public -creditor, to no purpose thus to stretch it eternally in an atti-1
unless -measures of solid economy were adopted? He tude of defence, ready to drop on the first object
was immediately interested in a Reform of Perlis- that approached it. But he would defy the Minister,
ment. His security must be increased by the effec- or any other man, to support the present system upon
tual accomplishment of an object, the consequence -the ground of our strength. Suppose that the spirit—
of which would be the equal protection of the rights not of Cain, but of Hampden, should re-animate the
and interests of all. If a crisis should arrive when people—still there would be as little reason as ever
the interests of the public creditor must come into for those, whose employ it was to vote away the
conflict with those of the borough faction, no doubt liberties and lives of the country. But all these
the ordinary result would take place, and the weakest grievances will be put a stop to, says the Minister,
would go to the wall. From what he knew of the by the strength of the country. The circumstance
state of the country, he had reason to believe that reminded him of a story he remembered to have read
the £3,000,000 of new taxes would not, at the expi- of Dr. Johnson's father. He .was a bookseller in
ration of the year, haye produced £9,000,000 of re- Litchfield, and an exceedingly cautious careful man
venue—(Hear, hear).—The public creditor, therefore, in securing his shop door and windows at night.—
and, indeed, every class of society, from the King However, by some chance, thieves got into the house'
to the Cottager, had a strong motive for desiring an and stole away the goods by a back door. Thus were
improved popular representation. The advocates of Ministers circumstanced.` They guarded the front
Reform had been called visionary, became-they of the country against intrusion—they bolted and
they.e()-
dwelt so long and so often on what they esteemed barred at one side—but here in Parliamentary
the one thing needful. He had, nevertheless, seen ruption was a little black dog, whichagainst
men of at least as great talents as were possessed by could not guard. In short, there was no security
any whom he saw around him, (and he said this with- for the country but a House of Commons appointed
out any wish to disparage them, or extol departed, by the great bulk of the people at large. Extensivel
at the expense'of living merit), who entertained the suffrage, in his mind, was less useful than that plan
'same views. So many ineffectual efforts hid been of mirage which shall give equal rights to a majo- I
made, so many hopes had been disappointed, that thy bf the country. He had not so much in view to
the people were almost in a state or despitir. He urge any particular plan of reform, as to point out
himself had no confidence in the probable success of the necessity of it—to expose the corrupt state of re-
any measures, however ingeniously devised or exe- presentation—and to induce the House of Commons
cuted, so long as the system remained unaltered. The to hold out some hope to the wounded mind of the
failure of. former plans of amelioration and relief people. He would mot now insist on the abstract
had been foretold, unless the one thing needful , right to extensive suffrage which the country might
should be adopted, and their failure had punctually possess—he would only seek for so much as was ne-.
taken place. Many years ago, Mr. Pitt had declared cessary for his purpose. The Right Honourable Gen-
e Reform in the Representation to be absolutely ne- tleman opposite, and his colleagues, talked much of
cessary; he had said, that in the present stateof the the flourishing state of the country—all said they
Representation no honest man could conduct public were very. well. This business of " very well" and
affairs, and, in fact, that no honest man could be e very ill" however, was all matter of calculation.
Minister. He predicted, that without a Reform the A thing might be " very well" indeed for ore, but
country would be plunged into new wars, undertaken very ill for another. Dividere, antputare, secure Wet,
like the American war, for the purpose of extinguish- said a great surgeon—a surgeon by the bye, who
ing liberty in whatever Trader of the world it should did many very inhuman acts in the course of his ex-
appear. He foresaw the accumulation of fresh debts periments. The system of cutting and hacking, ac-
and difficulties, and unfortunately heed to verify and cording to him, would work " very well" : but what
illustrate his own predictions. Aided by h,is own was the opinion of the poor patient under the knife—
apiandid talents, and by an extraordinary coincidenee did he think it le very well ?"—( A laugh).—The
of circumstances, he was enabled to acquire an en- dialogue between the grave-diggers in Hamlet would