The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-02 00:00:00

DEr, 0, 1536

ministers wish to-be lauded for the virtue of forbearaneP.
imicyetnto: secure,, at. the same time, all the benefits of
aritwope'ratiirri,-cowardly, and despicable conduct ! It
is-not necessary. fOr US to discuss the question of inter-
fere-nee, ,or non-interference, in order to exhibit the
wind-tossed policy of the British ministry—cOncleded in
whatever may that question may be, it leaves them with-
out ene plea of justification. Will the eyes of England.
remain shut to these flagrant inconsistencies?7—shall our
"1161141' honour be soiled, and our national charactey be
aegradetl, by:such a combination of drivellers and,eqtiL
vocators,t who are not worthy to sit in one of the town
councils, of one .of the most disorderly corporations of
this country—even Liverpool. •
To:talk of protection to British property, is almost too
obscure for serious comment.. Ought
,England, the
Mistress of theOcCan, and formidableto every Continent
1413 feel it necessary, like an alarmed higgler„ watching
ills shutters at night., from' the dread. of entranee,and
robbery by a thief, to send out a naval police, to take
care of our merchants in a paltry state like -Pertugal ?
ought not her-,very: name. to give • security ?--7-and a
message, if necessary, to have the forceand.sanctity of
law ?—there was a-time; e'er England's griefs began,"
when the certainty of restitution and retribution, would
have checked in the-mightiest kingdom of Europe, every
design of viOlencekeu quantum mutate ab illo I If we
think-by this'" armed neutrality" (?) to give stability to
the present goVernment of Portugal, we reason like the
countryman in Horace, who waited
,till the: waters of a
rapid stream should all have passed by. Their forbear-
ance is the honesty of a thief, in the presence of a con-
stable—and, we think, the security of the poor Queen,
Romethink like what we ourselves have felt, on entering
the premises of a friend, and finding a savage mastiff'
loose, in an attitude ready to-attack its, but restrained by
the appearance of his master—Whilstite keeps close to us
we feel that so long we are safe; but we should dread,
even for a moment, the loss of our protector.
What are the restless elements that now convulse, and
threaten the overthrow of •so-many states, it would be
More than curious to inquire whether one principle per-
vades them ali—or whether an insurrectionary contagion
IS propagated from kingdom to kingdorn---7or whether
civilization which, it has done from the earliest: records
-cfAtistory, is still travelling westward, and the sun of
Political greatness is 'declining from the meridian of
"Rticope, are questions: well worthy. the attention of the
philosopher, who -delights ,to keep .within his compre-
'hensive scope; the vast revolution °led-wires. To some
of them the occurrence of passing events, and the deep
interest we feel to be involved in. their issue, will, from
tune to time, call our reflection.

We invite the attention of our readers to the extraor-
Ainary proceedings which took place in the- Insolvent
:Debtors' Court yesterday, of which we furnish a report
in another column. The facts elicited in the course of
the trial, are most instructive, involving as they do ques-
tions'of the -highest importance _to the Liverpool public,
and implicating as they must the character of our reformed
Corporation. We have only space thus briefly to ad-
vert to the subject to-day; we shall resume its discussion
on Tuesday.

There are some evils which, though fatal in their ef-
kcts, are limited in their operation. Hectic unsparingly
destroys its solitary victim, whilst the plague enters
every house, and. carries death into every retreat. In
like manner that political plague, refoim, and more espe-
cially municipal reform, has proved the bane of moral
principles. throughout the land. Every meeting partakes
of the taint Of its corruption—a universal delirium tre-
meus'hurries away its corporation slaves to acts of self-
-prostitution, from which they would once have shrunk
back with. virtuous feelings of horror. It is that figura-
,. Aive f‘ hot. iron" which, the apostle says, "sears the con-
science.". Society sickens under its influence ; and if we
had not the cheering prospect that it will soon, 'lkea mor-

tified member, slough. oftand leave the political body re-
novatedin health, we should grow weary of existence.
Is a man to be chosen chief magistrate of a borough,
whose business is, •in the langrrage.of Blackstone, to
"bring Justice to our doors ;" we first ask, is he .a Radical

or a Conservative? Do we want a watchman to protec

our properties, a scavenger to clean our streets. a mayor's
...1414P40,9,g44140 ron,onrerracds, or a char-women-,to Aeon
ua cororniqegThamber, we first inquire, what are their po-
olitics4 Mhat; we ask, has Radicalism or Conservatism
11,-,Wdeoviiht.he administration of justice, especially in an
7.r.lanmalpflicer ? Rattles, and brooms, and dusters, are
l'ACtriaAtig.ftaSociations, when the mind is, or ought to be,
flit4stions of policy, upon which depends the
111C,e)fiqg of thousands; or unravelling perplexing difficul-
..lfirmhich,arise out of the various and complicated rela-
-14044 §iicietyy But to come home to a question in
-tiw-hielklt4AtonOur of ottr town is implicated. By what
lagnit)cdtkentitrilet ion, what perversion :of principle, what
i9hlifinitortatjudguient, has , the, Committee 'of the Dock
'.,"l`r4fttt-118ifght,,Jit necessarytwo,make RadiCalism the sine
, .quat. 70tf of qualiflcation of, its Solicitor ? We do not
anitnadyekt,upou the object of, their choice, however des-
picably we think of his politics—that would be, ourselves
to be guilty of the fault we. contemn .in them., It is not
with the appointment we are at issue—it is with the nar-
row, minded,selfish, ungenerous principles, which were
duinnant.over the whole transacticin,,that we are at war;
and we have.a few reflections to make upon the preva-
lence of this- etliico=political depravity, which may at
'.PPee'seryttAblexpress. our reprobation of it, and, either
from shatne;or.rernorse, lead to its correction.
Without examining the stamens anti pistils of this nox-
. iotriverneiform-wei,A, it is easy to see, that it is an off-set
' TEORI,R not very old' dissenting .stock, which some time
agpfVread poisonous odour over the land; creating so-
, ,eial-confusion—heartburnings—slanders—feuds—and all
uncharitableness. 'Many of this pharisaical family would
not buy their sugar, or their candles, their snuff, or their
tol?acco, from any. shop but that of a thorough Dissenter;
as if the . sugar of a :Church of England man had no
spiketne.ss--.--his candles gave less light—his snuff was not
rikti.ltf, sti sternutative, and his tobacco had lost alliits aro-
-I.Anaii ;Horrible 'and debasing sentiments!—ungenerous!
unchristian conduct ! How calculated to destroy the
bonds of social compact ! It is the very same principle
-:tbatittinkvin'aetiOn undei the municipal ielortn bill In
ftblielfoi, to a committee of a Dock TruSt the
citietion is' not, as it ought to haVe been, uho is, pro-
• fessionally, best qUalifie'd to fulfil the' duties of that office,
bbt 'where can we find-one in whom is Unite-cf the
and the lawyer? We do not wish invidiously to place
-the candidates Mr. Bourne and Mr. Harvey in juxte-po-
sition-Lwe know, and when necessary, can use the arti-
,fice of contrast. But though we could say every thing in
praise of Mr. Bourne, as a private.gentleMan and as a
',professional. character; we shall not, we need not; build
`-i-liTCC4putation on the depreciation 'of Mr. Harvey. We
laroent'the choice Made, not from feelings of political (Ns,
'.ebmflttire;-•-not: from• malignant envy at Mr. Harvey's
',succes's ; because we think the principle which
theelktion is detrimental even to municipal
Policy, hut incomparably more destructive of moral.rec-
titode. - •

INSOLVENT COURT.