The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-09-09 00:00:00

DRCRY L.LV! THEATRS.

Richard the Second was last night reviv►d at this
Theatre. Mr. K►:.AN's representation of this unfortunate
monarch, has long since been ranked amongst his most
masterly performances. The feeling and power with
which he played it last night would have given effect to
a part with far less susceptibility of being rendered
effective. Perhaps there is more of real pathos and subli-
mity in the language and sitnations of this play, than
even the genius of Sit 11(i:SPEARE bits infused into any
other; and it is exactly of that description of the pathe-
tic in which Mr. KKAM so eminently excels. The beau-
tiful soliloquies in which the heart-broken King plays
as it were with his own woes, and moralizes upon
his own griefs, derived a melancholy lustre front the
manner in which they were deliveryd that carried them
still deeper into the heart. We can say of the whole
performance, what cannot often be said of Mr. KICAN.S.
that it was chaste and perfect. Of Mrs. W. WIPIT'S
last scene, as the Queen, we knew not how to speak.
It has been said that a man who saw Airs. Stnnoxs as
Lady Altiebeth must consider that time as an era in his
life. We are sure that there who saw Mrs. Wave last
eight over the dead body of Richard, will never live
to forget it.

An Address • from the City of Chichester to the
Queen is now in course of signature. It is expected to
be very numerously signed. That city is well known to
be devoted to " Church and State," for it is a Bishop's
See, and ruder the sway cf the Treasury as well as of
the Clergy. This movement, therefore, to address her
Majesty, is a striking proof of the strength of popular
sentiment respecting the prosecution of the Queen.
No such symptom of independent spirit has appeared
in that place sinee the year 1;93. •
It will be recollected that it was assidnonsly circa-
lated by the Duke of Rutland, and others, that no ad-
dress war presented from the Leicestershire militia to
the Queen on the subject of the ermspiracyagainst her
Majesty. Lest, however, there should be any dispute
upon the subject, it should seem that 300 men of that
regiment have actually signed the petition afresh ; and
that it was this address, so signed, that was presented
afresh yesterday to her Majesty. The Address would
have had many more than 300 signatures, had not the
greater number of the men been engaged in harvest-
work In different parts of the county.
Manned.—Thurmlay, It appears, that blijoeei, In •
the company of another of the witnesses arsinst her
' Majesty, made their appearance in the boxes of one of
the Theatres. They hail not been there long, when M.
jocci was recognised, and it seen went over the house,
and the confusion was so gteat4 diet Majocri, or the
ftPeohrenatodhnmeamitsir:e:
0. w:Hsbuegataifdwteerwarrahrtteei applied
was
stPeiheetillsiedsedtagu:e leave
r
Roy Bov Majesty, when she
visited the House of Lards, addressed Sir Thomas
Tyrwhitt in the following manner :—" Well, Sir
Thomas, here I am, and here I shill be, till the day of
Jrelensent." •
•

■

~
r

L 11011 t oplt, Lot. RICH!' HON. 11. (au rrAN.

tt en:tutted from oar paper of Monday last.)
The .--lehrat-d tleelarAtimi, that the Kings, Lords,
Hid Col iiiii ,Ms of Ireland rir.ls t?,;(11t1 snake lasts to blidlt
ter in any east' trlonever limint passed, the gratindr
ai the u :tion was como.eii,urate n ith the bnelit. Mr.
Lir.stt.tn, iu cArciing this meas.ire, unassisted by power.
amide I by partk, po-se‘cing no Wineriee except
th-st results from talent and truth. was hailed
by his enthusiastic conntrynten a% a being almost alive
hutrunity: and in the universal and overpowering title
of delight to which it give birth. the legislature
i'sclf appeared to participate, fur a proposition was
made, amidst immense cheering, that 100.0110/. should
Or given Itha as a mark of the national approbation and
Fratitade.

- This proposition, however, was not adoiated in its full
rVent fir on a sttbseqnont sitting. of the [louse, at
Vie particular reqoest of air. Grattan'► friends, it was
t0..e:1 to 59,000/. anti the vote passed unanimously.
A. day of general thAnksgi%itig was also appointed
a' out. the saute time, to return thanks to Almighty
crud to: the onion, ham mOO% , soil cordial affection
• Itieh this important declaration had produced he-
twezn the two kingdoms.

These haleyon slays of newly-recovered liberty
worts not to last long in uninterrupted splendour.
IVhen duo skies look the loveliest, and the sun shines
the brightest, the storm i• frequently forthc iiiii log—
So it was with Ireland. Two or three gentlemen.
of tnirfouleed intevity and considerable talent, the
clief of whom tray Mr. Flood. had been solicited,
when the address was nis:sest, to rive their opinion
w!felle- any addition st ar Iti•ers•ArV, but they tuba-
n'tnnusly signified their approval of it its its then
s'uspe. Allem:tots, from some rause ot other, °writ•
gentlemen discovered that nolltioz isa. done, and
that any measnre short of ass emits. renunciation on
the part of England to hind It eland by English
laws, would he invalid and Float,
0:oar eloquence, like his name, W.V. a rapid stream
of :limos: irresistible influence, made .nut excellent
cutethes in support of that position : lint the Ilunne
of Commons, and the majority of the U.'oll:e, seemed
content with the simple ri.pril of the tith of tiro. I.
which had resulted from the famous declaration
toured by Mr. tiralton.

It is an unfortunate fut in the history of Mall and
of nations, that when revolutions become necessary,
t•.l take p:ace in a state, the nuilittitile are lly
rileh more intinemed by the itoisv demagogue, than
: virtuous patriot : anti that he who ta!hv the Widest,
magnifying their powers and flattering their vanity.
fregneetly enakled to force the reigns of legislation
Crum the l an,l, of experience, of honesty. of talent,
47. of integrity. 31r. tirattan, nhose boson' swelled
ith indignation at the wrongs of his country, and
would Kladly hare sacrificed his life to redress
t! em, was at the same-time coal, prudent, and
inating. lie knew that to ash too notch at since would he
'o gain nothing at ill ; and that it was the delight of
o....pvtisco to take allv:!n! t4e of and extraordinary elolil-
E.lon of enthusiasm anionic the people, 110C-ening
t:•eir chains the stronger, and making theil hurdeas
t'.c heavier and the more oppressive.

With this melancholy truth before his eyes, he op-
po-rd the proposition of Mr. Flood in a I risty of ar-.
laments, which the vccellent biographer of Lout
Claremont has pre-erved tv the it vrlil in the following
words :

" Legal security was strongly need tic dis•
c•ottented ; but the idea of uoci kingdom binding
another as by bond and warrant. uses laii,rheil at :
tool it was urged that, if England, after forinallv
r Tea.ing a statute, which solemnly declared her
right to make laws for this country, determined to
resume that riglit, a renuticiat• w.oild stand as
little in the way of such perfidious liositlitv as any
other declaration whatever. If the faith of kin.lred
r alone wan nu: to be relied on, what else was
to be resorted to? Open war could only ter-
minate such conflicting pretensions. Nor could Ire-
land expect that England would so far prostrate it-
suit', as in a subdued and grovelling tone to declare
;toil( an usurper. Redress betneen individuals was
never considered as effectually obtained, because ob-
tained in a gentlemanlike manner, and without
n-ging too far that just pride, the concomitant of
all honorable minds, which, when so urged. may
v..ry naturally, but sery fatally, spurn at all con-
cession or compromise whatever. ' nation,' to
make use of Mr Grattati's words, that insists on
humiliation of another, is a foolish nation.' Dis-
satifactioa was nevertheless gainiug ground ; nor
were any arts wanting to disseminate it. On the
Slat of July the volunteers at Belfast declared, by a
majority of two voices, that the nation should not
be satisfied with what had been dune.'
The people, when their tumultuous joy had some-
what abated, began to grow suspicious of Mr. Grat-
tan, in consequence of his conduct, and within a short
period this idol of their hearts became the object of
their hared. His steady perseverance in his efforts to
gradually emancipate and ameliorate the sufferings of
his countrymen, was represented by his enemies as the
hypocritical patriotism of a would-lx courtier; and
thr.glorious deed he had recently achieved, was fur-
gotten in his opposition to the neisdimed measures of
his louder aid more imprudent cotensporaries.
Finding, therefote, that uith this tide of unpopu-
larity be would have little chance of benclitting his
country further, he exchanged angry war of politics
for th. soft peace of domestic love, by leading to the
altar a lady of the name of Fitzgerald, for whom lie
ever displayed the &oat ardent and unceasing affection.
Though he retired front the most prominent parts of
legislation, his solicitude for the happiness of Ireland
had not is the least abated; for un an attempt by
England to destroy the fabric his eloquence had reared,
her was again beheld protecting the glorious, though
unfinished, edifice. Again his Angle eye was seen de-
tecting and exposing the sophistries that would inveigle
it.; and again his country beheld with admiration the
man who was at once her deliverer, her hope, and her
brightest *raiment.

The late Vice• Admiral Unzer, who fell off his horse
a few days ago, in a flt of apoplexy. at Plymouth, died
there on Saturday last. This Oentlenuin was the nephew
of the late Lady Hood, and cousin to the present Lord
Hood.

LRTTEL To, ,•I BRtrisn sE.y4rOR..
(Concluded from yesterday's paper.)

.4 stale accessily ought to Le apparent to every
niember of the politirat body, and convincing to She
meatiesi capacity. The maxim Of Neressiles won ballet
m implies, that it is a supposed or presumptive
exception to all human. ordinances and constitutions,
hot then it must be inquired what, or who is the rause
of this necessity, and whether one lath fallen udder
the necessity by his own neglect and default.
There is however such a thing, according to Per-
FEN l'Ure, lit. I, cap. 6, a. I, as the Neve:sky of roe-
reni,mee, which, he says, " weighs very little, either
in the defence, or in the excuse of actions, unless when
the cause comes before such a Judge as hath more
regard to his our,, partial inclination, than to the :Ng-
gisiioNs of wisdom and to the dendattds of right."
I should snggest this species of acres:kg to the
Ministers in their proposed ez-posi fire to Bill, to make
es rirtne i? 1; and at the same time I should remind
them of the I aw of the LOCII.Oia, that he who was
desirous that an old Law should he abrogated, and
another Aulistitutril for it, was obliged to make his
propebal with a rope about his neck, and if it hap-
pened that his new Law proved not better for the com-
-wealth than the old one, he was to be hanged
with it.

It is proper for Inc to remark on the subject of
Sioic .Veeersity, that it is a doctrine which has been
found !, experience to be highly dangerous to incul-
cate into the public mind. You cannot he ignorant
Brat state :Verity/1y Iraq by nearly all the
Judges its the great Ship Money rase of John !lamp-
den, as a joAtillegii of the at hiirary :sets of Charles
the First ; but what OW% JAW.' 'bank X MIN Fay on
that nwarinre. " A man shall not unprntioably expend
his contemplation, that consider. the me hod of Rod's
justice, that the same principles and the same appli-
catiowof those principles should be used to the wrest-
ing all sovereign poster from the Crown, which the
Crown/lea/ made use of, for assuniiiir all arbitrary
and unlimited power to iuvasle the peoples rights. A
inppr,aeti suer. axi/ g was in !Ilia ruse thought g reload
plod eniisszls to create:sod assume a power, and a bare
avertssent mod allegation of that necessity, to beget a
practice to impose what tax %%as thought ronvenient
upon the people by Royal Mandates, called Writs, of
Ship Mosley mer, I":l.sse kiw.ra, and rr am; pond sae-
I-rowdy afterward.. ; and a bare averment of that news-
sity, was as eonfsilrest;y concluded to be a good ground
to remiss& the (*routs from the use of any power over
11w Militia, ley ass ordinance never before heard of;
and the same maxim of Salmi popsei seruttio
which bad been wade use of for extirpating the pen.'
pies' sights, was in its torn nsade use of. for over-
turning the regal preroga!ivs."—See I 1'01.:142.
'I bus the plea of State Necessity eras made the Orel
tenre by Charles. to exeselse arbitrary dominion over
the people, and the saner plea was adopted Isy the
people, as a pretence to destroy his life OR the seaffoM.
King James the Sieeossil insisted opine the same plea.
and lost his Throne. In Politics, as well as Ethics,
the like cause, will proikee rile claw efforts. I there-
fore implore p.n, as my Representative in Parliausest.,
to exercise your utmost eadeavours against I:se recep-
tion of so cane, so dangerous a print iple, as a Sloe
eVeerazily, and tie resist the establishment of as cz-
post jitriu law grounded on that principle.

Sir Elea too Coat: in h.. Institutes, 7 Vol. 37, tells
►utt that the snore high and Absolute thejarisdiction
of the Court is, the more jlist and homiorable it ought
to be in the proceeding, and tii give example ofjestice
to inferior Coatis." In roturnt•uting tin that execrable
Art of II Henry VII, which gate limpson and Ihtilley,
the King'. Privy Cosuseillors, an opporti:tii y of op-
pressing the subject, be say.. 'fhi. is a gond edre•el
to Parliauu•nts. to leave all rattse•4 ro ht• measured by
the golden and strait tnetewand of the law, and not to
the stairertain and rrookra cord of disr•ethiu ;” and he
observed, " that lie had %%owed the just inconveni-
ences thereof, to the rn.l, th.it ilie like Would never
hereafter he altempte.l in ally Court 14 Patliaitient, and
that others might at °id the feartul end of those two
lime screen+.•'

BLACIOTON It also in I Com. Ii I, tells Con, " that
the Law of Parliament is part of the general law of the I
Lund, and must be considered anal construed like all
other laws. The Members of the respectite houses of
Parliament are in most instances the Judges of that
Law, and like the Judges of the Realm. a hen they are
deciding upon peal laws, they are under the must sacred
obligation to inquire and decide what the law actually
is, and nit what in their trill and pleasefrr, or even
in their reason anal wisdom it ought to be."
The patriotic Lord HOLT, in Salt, .7)(L'i, held " that
the authority of Parliament it from the Law, and as it
is circumscribed by Law, su it may be exceeded, and if
they do exceed those legal bounds and authority, their
Acts are wrongful, and cannot be justified any more
than the acts of private men."
I should also impress upon your mind, that Sir
Enw ARO ('acs asserts, " that it is the law and rus-
t of Parliament, that when any 1, flr dr sire is moved
on the 117,dg's hchttY, for his aid, or the like, the Com-
mons may answer, that they tendered tt e King's
Estate, and are re..dy to aid the same, only in this
arse &rice, they dare not agree without conference
with their counties, whereby it am eareth, that such
conference is warrantable by the law and custom of
Parliament." See 7 Inst. 14. I cannot conclude my
observations, without mentioning an historical fircuut-
stance related by BLACKSTONE, I COM. 255. " In the
reign of Queen Anne, the Ambassador of Peter the
(heat, of Russia, was arrested in London for a debt of
501., whirls was an offence against the law, but could
only be punishable at the discretion of the Court, by
flue, imprisonment, and pillory. Peter, however, de-
manded, that the Sheriff of Middlesex, and all others
cuncersted in the arrest, should be pet to death, bat
the Queen instructed her Secretary to inforq him,
that she could inflict nu punishment .upon any, .the I
meanest of her subjects, unless warranted by t e fearefi
the loud. This answer not being satisfactory to Peter, I
and the foreign Ministers making a great clamour on
the occasion, an Act was passed, to prevent and
punish such outrageous insolence as arresting an Am-
bassadur ; antran envoy was sent to Moscow, to declare,
that thou /h her Majesty, could not indict such a
slie4n to him which he bad denied to me. The next
morning he was expelled the schools bat, in onnsi•
deratiun of his family very little was said *best it—

[AN.

•
home{.v..y root kftlle.%ttp9l, svhu.hi! wts gen!•
rally undcrstool was occasioned !.y this unfortunate
event. 31yfathci. was Sent lot', and he ratite ever im-
mediately, to psirtiripate'Uiffa me in the Imp:aine..s
felt, at bfillg SO C 1)11.11:1*- eiculpateti from from all
1111Sple1011 ; anal every indeniour was made to render
me, as far as it wits possibla4,*totupcntation fur any uf-
it. r i n
I trust that this circtimstance will prove to the
reader the danger 711111 tbe injustice of contlemniNc
any person upon there circumstantial'evidenee. How
cautious ought jitters upon their oaths to be, bill to
find men guilty upon mere circumstances; and, par-
ticularly, when davit verdict may :live the vary over,
bound hand and foot, and place his life tar his liberty
at the disposal 441 orrupt, wicked, cruel, and vindictive
judges !

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COVRT, Serr.

The Court met this morning at ten o'clock, and
Aare orcupirtl the greafer part of the day in heating
motions 11tit+ were of Ito interest except to the par-
ties concerned.