The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-07-09 00:00:00

rangir O,F rf
RIE. ;
M•. 4478 SESSION OF
PALIENT;

I 1:1°Int the DCBLLY CIPARESPONDpIT.]
ti on; of our latest pablications, we observed,
ere our retrospect to. the proceedings of last See-
3iuu yf Parliament would be highly interesting,
ii
out extremely gratifying to all those, who are
I,odahly anlipus for thp character of the British
Leislature; and, now that we have reached the
peaced of its prorogetipe, in the language of Lord
Vraettyt, " the vantage ground," from which,
they may be surveyed in their fullest iotegrity, we
t!tall enter upon a review of the senatorial labours
of our Representatives, with all the respect which.
is de . to, their station, but, at the same times with
that freedom of *cession,, which is the distin.
characteristic of ah independent Press.—
Such, tempered conduct we think strictly due to,
the critical situatihn at which the Empire beis ar.
rived,. or to which it km been condactedo Ands if
a resokotioas most at last be taken, there ikaohe
so nisei; to be supported with *sees% es that
Which has been adopted Olt moderation.
It was the opinion of as great la a Statesman as
any who compose the present Cabinet, and who
di.eeted the affairs of En land at a juncture ap.
katottly as dangerous, and certainly as glorious,
to that in which it is our fate to bre, that
4` ENSLAND COVER NETER BE DESTROYED BUT
SY APAti t. m .r." The possibility of our ruin,
Anti by such au ihstrument, is thee admitted by one
perfectly competent to judze ; and the opinion, we
remark, is tittered, sot in llie warmth of
ekebite, not in the affectation of paralos, but
seimuilly recorded iu an apophthegm, which, frogs
; couractiut% of its truth, was coestantly- in the
tim;tl; of that illustrious( character. gx.PeriglAci
coqcerred with speculation to support his theuryi
Ile know that i 4 a preeeilkog reign a PI rkkament
bad poen lease enough to confer the le4hilative
poetics upon the ware reoclamationa of the
Crawl); and acqualoterls ,s um( with this doa
privity of !Nemo maitre, and its proatencA to,
corruption, he might conclude, although, qo
it, with relitetauce, as to the pearitalki, tltltt
At some future age e. irarliarnetit might utast, of
which the Minister would be the soul toad *alma.
ing spirit, no matte, IRK destitute of talent or
principle he might be; which would confoand
subservience to his wilt with attachment to the So.
vereign, and cover the basest sacrifice of duty at
the Shrine of office with the imposing mask of
iqyalty ; which would regaid public meesures,
net as they affected the public, bet the Minister,
and applaud or condemn from the impulse of
nasty, rather than the independent exercise of
reason; which would become the mere organ of
an influence more powerful than prerogative, and
watch but to obey, every change in the. Mmes.
phere of the Court:—baring been forced so far
os to admit the possibilitiof the existence of such
Aepretentatives of the People, he could enter-
tain ee doubt of their betreying their trust, and
knew that, whatever might become of the forms
of the Constitution, the ruin of England most he
the necessary consequence. But quitting, for the
present, the opinions of Lord Beacaron, which
may be considered as a digression, let us resume
our own upon a subject, with which we' here a
nearer and more important counexioq. - 1.
It would he, perhaps, invidious at.the preseni,
moment to dwell much upon the otanier io whallt:"
PERCEVAL and his Cellelzos
especially as they have slway
etie**
iihility, delicacy, or shyness at any alluelosefao
that circumstance in their political life. Thai disisr','
pie of England, upon thatoocasion,. acted -bps&
the liberal and patriotic principles of p!,44E; opt'
held it to be the duty of a' man to fight4hilils
country, into whatever hand* the Goverata' cat of j
it may have falleq!' " It is net fur us," said sbe,
" to mind state affairs, but tq keep foreigners
from fouling us." 4ceordiqgly, the Peopleqf Eng.
leed, *wed by the terror of a fqreign force, which
threatened tbemmith invasioqs tined all their at.
teetion to the newly.rpeme4 Cabinet; and without
eaarniuing very scrupulously its claims tq public
coesdonce, placed greet reliance on the wisdom,
foretight and vigor qf en AclatiniWatit?ns w4°
bed been loud in their declautetien ;Oast
the ignorance, blinducss, and debility of their
predecessors, Thet the present Ministers have
acted M a very different mapper from their
pedccessors, no man will deny ; that they
Bare cultivated foreign alliances, been gtmerenisly
prqfuse in the e4peqdituFe of the pqblic money,
and equally foriartl in eatariirius of great me.
mew, and big with expectation, is most certain ;
but if we look to the result, in our foreign atid
domestic relatiopi, it may be very (lily aughted,
Nether, iheither of theist, reipects, the People of
the Uuited Empire stand upon much higher girinil
than they did, w hen those wise, provides, and sifeas.,
roes politicians undertook the management of theft
affairs. To say that they have been unifortnifeitt.'
succesbfot in their measures woild„bS lllibeiralr
because it would be false ; but Alte,, mischief
•:14t, ;sere their success has been. omit Apparels/a
as in the several military actioup &Whit tlitltara.,

• Lord livtinsu.

paigni an the Peninsula, is where they themselves
have least appeared ; whereas, failure has been
most conspicuous, where the Ministers have been
most bustlingly active. That this is neither
eiiiison or declamation, but downright fact, will be
perceived by any one, who looks into his own
thoughts, atid-clamines his ideas of the different

traps4ctiuns orehe war. No man attributes, in

the remount ileirce, the honour obtained at the
battle of Talavera to the Pursica ; whereas, the
glory of the' Welchem Ea edition plays with
pointed and concentrated splendours around the
bcovt of tho Minister. To Lord CASTLEREAGH.
we may say, in reference to that memorable event,

nihil sibi cx ista laude centario, nthil prefect's:,

nii#l cOz.ors, nihi,L turms, decerpit.—Quin
ditto; ilia ipsa, renon humanarum Domino
FogruNA in bilge se societatem glorice no‘

()pa tibsi ced(l : foam; essc tutam ac propriaas
fatclar. Nunquam cam temeritas cum sapientia
comnoiscelur, ncc ad consitium caaus. admittitur.

With all due deference to Cicero, we assert that
this language is at least as applicable to our re, l
spected coontryman as to Cirsaa, as the following
almost literal. version of the passage will pro/c.
4,4 No, no, my Lord, you can throw no share of
the blame upon the General or the Admiral, the
Colonel or the Captain, the Army or the Fleet.
Nay, fortune herself, who bath such broad
shoulders, and who is so ready to land the% for
the support of blunders, that the vanity of matt.
kind, is onwilling to take epee Itself, will not
serve your turn upon this (weaken. phe your
late Constituents, she has left your Lonithip in
Word, She gives you full credit and complete
alWwisoce for this far-famvk and much.laughed.at
l'hilpeditkoy. Not will all your circumlocution anik
AVtillistinctness of statement;' prevail with the Peo.
.., 0,
ploitil the United Empire to confound, out of
enesugiatent bp you, rashness with wisdoms or
charms with design.'
i' Vs mind toi the public was natontsded by a ie.
, crs the cause of which was easily to
,464 ow* „
be traced to the Ministers themselves ; but yet, In
that temper, which has always distinguished the
inhabitants of the British Islands, they looked to
the meeting of parliament for information and re.
dress. Yes, whatever the philosophers of the New
School of politics may say, or even do„ the words
of Lord VoacttEsTEß were strictly descriptive
of the feelings of the people : " the expectation
of the country," said his Lordship, " is directed
towards µs ;I'• at which expression, a sardonic
laugh was heard from the Treasury Bench, as if
in derision of the. confidence of the country,
and in aptieipatipo of its disappointment. We
will venture to say that, If such wes the moo.
ing of their irony, their foresiOt has been justifi.
ed in the event, and that the disappointment and
comment merti4Fation of the country have given
life and spirit to a faction, which would otherwise
be scarcely heard within the walls of the Senate,
but vvhich now mingles its voice pith that of the
people, to which it has in some degree given its owe
tone, and may be nltirnately identified with it,
if a total change both of • men and measures
do not anticipate and prevent such a consent.,
maticoa of evil. Be this as it may, on the pti
of 4anuary, Barliament was opened, or, to adopt
the military langegge of Lord Viscount pm.
Tt.Etteliclt upon a former occasion, cc the raiiia.
liannattstYy Campaign began." It Isnur"pprpose,
'l9;poesnance of.the soldier-like metaphor of our
Iluttrious Countryman, to give a detailed account
iff 'the events which have occurred• dttring this
'r,anipaign, in *lflticbi without any fifore or hyper.
ig‘
bele, wp may safely aged, that the British Con.
etitutiou hat entered more severe and deogerous,
wouode, thxu ever have beep inflicter} opon her
since the ppiod of ill ilevelittioo!
The Speech from the Throne, on the ropetipg
of Parliament, avotipdly the committer? of Mi.
Mater% contained a brief recapitulation of the
politiCal events that bad occurred during the
period of the recess, the fatal .termination of
the Campaign on the partube?—the Seandal9us
failure ot the upedition to Walcherettp—the per!
chase of a peace by Sweden, wittiest consutting
England a; to, the terms ef the hesitant—the glori-
ous, but ineffectual victory of Talaveray—the tinbir
ous state of the two nations upon the feninfula,—
. ant! the WO, tardy, end unwilling adoption of
that, which ought t 4 have been the very first mea-
sure, after a strictly popular insurrection, the ai.:
iambi), of the Cortex in fipaln,—and the threatened ,
rupture with the United States of America. Each
of these topics had undergone ample discussion
among the people, and upon most of theist the pub:
lie mind was made up. Whatevcr contempt the
members of the legislature may atkct to entertain
for the opinions and understanding of " those out
of_ doors," certain .it is that the ogillilun 9f
peellt of thel fieestiooe in either !louse of
Parliament, did not throw one additional
!ray ;of light upon any of them, pave
'wttai might be derimi from the pietopeica.
. 001 At Official, documents, which were entirely
within; the 'power of the Ministers titeo!sein",
and' the colOsos!ve possefuoe of which, is bat
inlene gives pear that :0 of superiority' that they
. ,-, • itriA ' •

TH SIPATgSI44N.•

,

7..."191"111;r(f,.. * •-• 'l*
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: -
seem to hue over other men. thollpsoch friim
the throne, his Majesty had been made to pro.
wise " that such documents and papers should be
laid before Parliament, as should Aria satisfac-
tory information epos the *abject of the Ex pedi.
tiers." The caution, with which this promise
was expressed, denoted an' intention of partial
disclosure, and as the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer bad been, in his time, a very eminent Special
Pleader, the terms, in which it was conveyed,
were examined with, jealous and scrupulous atten-
tion by the members of the Opposition. To ob.
slate any evasion upon his part, therefore, and
for the purpose of bringing the Right Hon. Gen.
tlernao at once to issue, Lord donee moved an
amendment to the proposed address, which end-
ed by demanding, upon the pkrt of the House of
Commons, " that the most rigorous inquiry into
such disgraceful expeditions, should be instituted.".
Now, although, Lord CASTLEREAGU professed him.
self ready to submit to the most rigorous scrutiny
into that part of the expedition to Waicheren, "for
mk(diltie could be deemed to be at all responsible ;"
though Mr. CANNING " put in his claim for his
CO part of the responsibility," and Mr. PARCETA L
" oas extremely anßious fmr, the most rigorous
investigation of the whole of the business," yeti
some ilo.lc In other, not one of teem could
the proposed amendment, which, notwithstand.
ing seemed. so well calculated to meet ti the rea.
diners" of the first, the claim" of the second,
and ". the eßtreme anxiety" of the third. Whe.
Vier itwas that Mr. Pencevat, did not like inch.
{hod notice,, or that Mr. CANNING 01 Rot cl Rie
to receive any conceavion of indulgence from the
enemy, upon OR classic Flociple of timed Danaos
et dolts ferenles, or that ;,tord Carmearaou did
Rot think the Noble Meyer 4" sufficiently distinct
as to the (Neet of hie !amendment," they all
;poke in oppositiort to it, and in Cupped of. the
original Address, which was earriiAl bx a 'Hum-,
pliant majority of ninety-sitr in favour of Mi.
nistm.
'To be continued.)