The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-08 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

THE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM.—" 1 do believe, on my
soul, if religion was. altogether left to the voluntary in
this world, it would die a nateral death ; not that men
wouldn't support it, but because it would be supported
under false pretences. Truth can't be long upheld by
falsehood. Hypocrisy would change its features, and in-
tolerance its name; and religion would soon degenerate
into a cold, intriguing, onprincipled, marciless supersti-
tion, that's a fact."—Sam Slick in England.
SIR CHARLES NAPIER.—The following extract from
" Division Orders" by Major-General Sir Charles J. Na-
pier, the commander of the British forces in Scinde, dated
*. Sukkur, 21st November, 1842," evinces an eccentricity
of style not without example in men of great military
talents

" Gentlemen, as well as beggars, may, if they like, ride
to the devil when they get on horseback ; bur neither gen-
tlemen nor beggars have a right to send other people there,
which will be the case if furious riding be allowed in camp
or bazaar. The Major-General recalls the attention of all
in camp to the order of Lieut.-Col. Wallace (dated the
18th ultimo), and begs to add that he has placed a detach-
ment of horse at Captain Pope's orders, who will arrest
any oflender, and Captain Pope will inflict such a fine or
other punishment as the bazaar regulations permit.
" This order to be published through the cantonment by
beat of drum for three successive days. Captain Pope is
not empowered to let any one off punishment; because,
when orders have been repeatedly not obeyed, it is time
to enforce them. Without obedience, an army becomes
a mob. and a cantonment a bear-garden. The enforce-
ment of obedience is like physic—not agreeable, but at
times very necessary."
The Bombay Times, whence we borrow this morreau, ob-
serves that the passage, that " beggars and gentlemen have
a right to ride to the devil," can be matched by the fa-
mous order of the late Sir Lionel Smith, prohibiting
pariah dogs and galloping cadets from appearing on the
Poonah parade-ground during divine service.—Asiatic
Journal.

ADDISON IN PARLIAMENT.—Addison sat for Maims-
bury in the house of commons which was elected in 1708.
But the house of commons was not the field for him.
The bashfulness of his nature made his wit and eloquence
useless in debate. He once rose, but could riot overcome
his diffidence, and ever after remained silent. Nobody
can think it strange that a great writer should fail as a
speaker. But many probably will think it strange, that
Addison's failure as a speaker should have no unfavourable
effect on his success as a politician. In our time, a man
of high rank and great fortune might, though speaking very
ill, hold a considerable post. But it is inconceivable
that a mere adventurer, a man who, when out of office,
must live by his pen, should in a few years become suc-
cessively Under Secretary of State, Chief Secretary for
Ireland, and Secretary of State, without some oratorical
talent. Addison, without high birth, and with little pro-
perty, rose to a post which dukes, the heads of the great
houses of Talbot, Russell, and Bentinck, have thought it
an honour to fill. Without opening his lips in debate, he
rose to a post, the highest that Chatham or Fox ever
reached. And this he did before he had been nine years
in parliament. We must look for the explanation of this
seeming miracle to the peculiar circumstances ;n which
that generation was placed. During the interval which
elapsed between the time when the censorship of the press
ceased, and the time when parliamentary proceedings
began to be freely reported, literary talents were, to a
public man, of much more importance, and oratorical
talents of much less importance, than in our time. At
present, the best way of giving rapid and wide publicity
to a statement or an argument is to introduce that state-
ment or argument into a speech made in parliament. If
a political tract were to appear superior to the conduct of
the allies, or to the best numbers of the Freeholder, the
circulation of such a tract would be languid indeed when
compared with tne circulation of every remarkable word
uttered in the deliberations of the legislature. A speech
made in the house of commons at four in the morning, is
on thirty thousand tables before ten. A speech made on
the Monday is read on the Wednesday by multitudes in
Antrim and Aberdeenshire. The orator, by the help of
the short-hand writer, has, to a great extent, superseded
the pamphleteer. It was not so in the reign of Anne.
The best speech could then produce no effect except on
those who heard it. It was only by means of the press
that the opinion of the public without doors could be in-
fluenced ; and the opinion of the public without doors
could not but be of the highest importance in a country
governed by parliaments ; and, indeed, at that time
governed by triennial parliaments, The pen was, there-
fore, a more formidable political engine than the tongue.
Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox contended only in parliament.
But Walpole and Pultney, the Pitt and Fox of an earlier
period, had not done half of v hat was necessary when
they sat down amidst the acclamations of the house of
commons. They had still to plead their cause before the
country, and this they could do only by means of the press.
TLeir works are now forgotten. But it is certain that
there were in Grub-street few more assiduous scribblers
of thoughts, letters, answers, remarks, than these two
great chiefs of parties. Pultney, when leader of the op-
position, and possessed 0fX30,000 a year, edited the Crafts.
man. Walpole though not a man of literary habits, was
the author of at least ten pamphlets; and retouched tind
corrected many more. These facts sufficiently show of
how great importance literary assistance then was to the
contending parties. St. John was certainly in Anne's
reign, the best tory speaker; Cowper was probably the
best whig speaker. But it may well be doubted whether
St. John did so much for the tories as Swift, and whether
Cowper did so much for the whigs as Addison. When
these things are duly considered, it will not be thought
strange that Addison should have climbed higher in the
state than any other Englishman has ever, by means
merely of literary talents, been able to climb. Swift
would, in all probability, have climbed as high, if he had
not been encumbered by his cossack and his pudding-
sleeves. As far as the homage of the great went, Swift
had as much of it as if he bad been Lord Treasurer.—
Edinburgh Review.

OUR POLICY TOWARDS IRELAND.—The actual state
of Ireland is this :—A very powerful party avows its in-
tention to accomplish a measure which is acknowledged,
universally, among all parties in the legislature, to be
equivalent to revolution and ruin. This measure, it is
very unequivocally declared, will be extorted from the

. .
fears or the feebleness of its opponents. The masses who
contend for it will not proceed to actual violence unless
violence be necessary; but it is very plainly avowed, that
without or with violence, the measure must be carried.
Shall it be permitted to men who have thus declared their

purposes, to gather together in hundreds of thousands, to
march in sections, to obey leaders who give, with military
precision, their words of command, to parade with flags
and music, to combine the exciten-tiint of stimulating
eloquence with that imparted by spectacles of immense
physical force—shall all this be permitted as the legal
right of disaffection ?—and if the state, among its pre-
.

cautionary measures, shall think to combine and array
those classes of its subjects whose loyalty may yet be
relied upon, whose loyalty may be ensured by showing
confidence in them, and concern for them—shall this be
denounced as if it contained a menace of violence against
the masses who threaten to shake and dismember the
empire ? Is repeal free to collect its armies ?—are its
soldiers to be esteemed as loyal subjects until they have
actually commenced the war?—are they to remain unmo-
lested, enlarging their forces, extending their organiza-
tion, improving their discipline, while waiting for the
favourable moment or occasion in which the struggle is
to commence ?—and if the state adopt the resolution of
securing the services of more than two hundred thousand
brave men, of tried loyalty, whose interests, inclinations,
prejudices even, are all favourable to British connection,
but who, if forsaken, may be warped from their allegi-
ance, is a cry to be raised which will scare a just govern-
ment from its purpose? Is THE STATE TO BE DENIED
THE POWER OF PROTECTING ITSELF AND SUBJECTS?

ARE NO RIGHTS TO BE HELD SACRED SAVE THOSE OF
INSURRECTION ? But supposing the state to observe
still the policy against which so loud protests have been
raised, to indulge the repealers in their licentious abuse
of constitutional privileges, to leave the friends of British
connection smarting under a sense of wrong, exposed to
seductions which cannot be thought of without alarm,
can anything be done to avert the national ruin ? Can
individual exertion be so directed as to compensate the
neglect with which the legislature and government have
been charged? Yes : it is possible yet to do much. It
is possible, even yet, to combine the Protestants of Ire-
land into an efficient confederation—to diffuse union
throughout the physical force of the body, and to provide
an organ through which the reasonableness and justice of
the Protestant cause may be rendered manifest to all who
will return a true verdict according to the evidence. We
warn all who have influence or authority, all who can give
counsel or assistance, to be on the alert. Be wise in time,
tis madness to defer. A great society should immedi-
ately be formed, into which not merely all Protestants,
but all who can subscribe to the principle of the articles
of union, should be admissible. It should combine the
physical force of loyal men throughout the country, and
it should have in the metropolis an arrangement for con-
veying assistance and instruction to its members, and for
making known to the empire the whole strength, moral,
intellectual, and physical, of the cause of those who up-
hold the legislative union in Ireland. There are mate-
rials for such a society ; men upright, and wise, and re-
vered, to direct its proceedings—multitudes honest and
brave to constitute its strength. We commend the
thought of it to all who have their country's interest at
heart, and who can influence public opinion. It is possi-
ble to form a confederation of Protestants in Ireland,
such as shall enable Great Britain, without shedding of
blood, to maintain the legislative union—or, should Eng-
land, which is scarcely to be believed, forsake them, to
maintain themselves in separation.—Dublin University
Magazine.

CAN THE REPEAL MOVEMENT BE STAYED?—Is Mr.
O'Connell competent to stand still? and if lie be, is he
willing? We entertain serious doubts upon both heads.
Mr. O'Connell has launched his boat upon a very strong
current. He has hitherto managed it well, steering with
remarkable adroitness rminfl the. .h.,41g which

would have long ago made shipwreck of a less dexterous
pilot. But there are limits even to his skill at the helm.
It seems to us impossible that he should stand where he
does. If he make no ulterior move, his partisans will
make it for him ;. and the moment they begin to act of
their own accord, either in advance or in retreat, there is
an end to his influence over them. On the other hand,
we greatly question his will to subside intq the condition
of an ordinary person. Neither the state of his finances,
nor the conformation of his mind, would allow it ; and
Mr. O'Connell is not what we take him for, if he resist
the pressure of two such influences as these. The proba-
bility, therefore, is, that he will go on. He is already
wielding the functions of a government in some of its
most important details. He levies taxes, issues edicts,
forms laws, and prevails on some millions of people to
obey them. His next step will be—indeed, it has just
been taken—to appoint tribunals before which the people
may appear, and judges to administer justice among
them ? Will this he permitted? Perhaps it may ; and if
so, we shall by and by see something still more curious.
He has told us that there is no law to prevent three hun-
dred noblemen and gentlemen from meeting in Dublin,
and discussing, at their leisure, plans for the general im-
provement of the country. He has hinted at the possi-
bility of their recommending to the people of Ireland a
cessation of commercial intercourse with England • and
should such a recommendation actually appear, who can
doubt that it will be attended to? What then? There
will be found in Dublin, as there were in Boston, indivi-
duals who prefer their own gain to the united wishes of
their countrymen. A ship will arrive in the Liffey,
freighted with English broadcloth. The parties to whom
it is consigned will make ready their warehouses to secure
the cargo ; when suddenly, in the dead of night, the ship
will be boarded, and,the broadcloth cut to ribands. Now
all this, if it occur at all, will occur so suddenly, that the
power of preventing it will be wanting. There may be
ten thousand troops in the garrison, and a couple of gun-
brigs close to the quays ; yet the Repeaters will manage
matters with such dexterity, that neither soldier nor
sailor shall know anything of their plan, till they find it
anticipated. The morrow dawns, and it is discovered at
the castle that an atrocious act of piracy was perpetrated
over night. His excellency the lord-lieutenant is filled
with indignation; and a steam-boat being sent to sea, the
government in Downing-street is informed of the occur-
rence. How are they to act ? Will they now at length
establish martial law in Ireland ? NS ill they issue a royal
proclamation, send patrols abroad in all quarters, arrest
the leaders of the Repeal movement, and otherwise bestir
themselves? If they do not, we shall have more acts of
piracy in abundance ; if they do, will they not be precisely
where they would have been had these proclamations been
issued while as yet the Dublin convention bad not met,
nor the organisation of its voluntary subjects been ren-
dered so complete as now we find it ?—Frazer's Maga-
zine for August.
ADDISON AND LADY WARWICK.—It was probably in
consideration of his political services that Addison re-
ceived the lucrative appointment of one of the Commis-
sioners for Trade and Colonies ; but the most interesting
circumstance of his life, at this period, was his marriage,
on the 2d of August, 1716, to the Dowager Countess of
Warwick. The history of this alliance will probably
never be clearly understood ; but, if we cannot produce
all that is true concerning it, we are at least enabled to
shew that much which has already been related is false.
It is not surprising to find Tonson imitating the incom-
parable phraseology of the Ducal Squeers, already men-
tioned, and attributing to Addison a design of obtaining
the countess from the moment be was " recommended
into the family ;" but we do feel mortified when a man
like Johnson substitutes supposition for fact, and disco-
vers in the behaviour of Sir Roger towards his disdainful
widow a reflection of the conduct of the author himself.
Tonson's insinuation is unconsciously refuted by Addi-
son's own correspondence. In 1708 we find him writing
to the young Lord Warwick ; and three years after, in
enumerating to Mr. Wortley the calamities which had
overtaken him, he says, " I have within this twelvemonth
lost a place of £2,000 per annum, an estate in the Indies
of £14,000, and, what is worse than all the rest, my mis-
tress;" and why Addison should have looked with such
a reverent and retreating humility towards Lady War-
wick, it seems by no means easy to comprehend. He
was not altogether a man without mark. He had filled
distinguished offices in the government, and was conspi-
cuously pointed out for higher duties still ; he was a mem-
ber of the British senate, he was celebrated for his intel-
lectual powers and his literary attainments, his reputation
was unblemished ; into what society would Addison not
have been welcomed? what gate of exclusiveness would
not his name have opened ? If it be said that the Coun-
tess of Warwick possessed great wealth, and that Addison
sought her for the sake of her dowry, Miss Aikin has sup-
plied us from the MSS. in the British Museum with a sa-
tisfactory answer : " Tell Lady Henrietta," wrote Dr.
Cheyne, to Lord Harley, at Wimpole, " that Lady War-
wick's marriage with Mr. Addison was upon terms, he
settling (or giving) £4OOO, in lieu of an estate which she
gave up for his sake." " But," says Johnson, "it is
certain that Addison has left behind him no encourage-
ment for ambitious love." How is it certain ? where are
the proofs? Does Addison reveal, in any paper or writ-
ing which has descended to us, the misery which he en-
dured? But his contemporaries affirmed the fact. Did
they ; so then the story of Addison's matrimonial infeli-
city rests upon that most dangerous of all foundations,
uncontradicted report. Now we agree with Miss Aikin,
that it must be shewn that this report, so decisively ad-
vanced, ever came to the knowledge of the parties con-
cerned ; and, when that has been shewn, we are entitled
to ask for further evidence as to the cause of their silence.
They might have passed the report over from a sense of
its veracity, or they might have despised it from a sense
of its malignity and its falsehood. Is every uncontra-
dicted report to be converted into a witness? The late
Dr. Southey formed an early resolution, which he kept,
never to expose the injustice or the untruth of any criti-
cal report respecting his own productions ; are these cri-
tical reports now to be received as authentic illustrations
of his genius ? Addison's marriage was dissolved by
death, after the brief period of three years. Now, though
we have no means of sheaving in what manner that season
was spent, we can, fortunately, throw some light upon its
close; though we are unable to prove that Addison enter-
tained feelings of love and esteem towards his wife during
his life, we are able to shew that he loved and esteemed
her in the closing days of his existence. In his will,
dated only one month before his death, he bequeaths to
her his entire property, real and personal, charged only
with a legacy of £5OO to his sister, Mrs. Combs, and an
annuity of £5O to his father's widow ; and he adds this
most affecting and emphatic testimony of his respect and
regard :—" And I do make and ordain my said dear wife
executrix of this my last will, and I do appoint her to be
guardian of my dear child, Charlotte Addison, until she
shall attain her age of one-and-twenty, being well assured
that she will take due care of her education and mainte-
nance, and provide for her in case she live to be married."
Thus is Addison called, as it were, from the very shadows
and silence of the grave to speak to the character of his
wife. We hope to hear no more of domestic annoyances
that embittered the life of a good and gifted man, or
drove him to seek in a tavern those consolations and en-
joyments which it was impossible for him to obtain at
home.—Fraser's Magazine.