The Statesman.
London, England, 1819-09-02 00:00:00

'i'tlES 1 A'l'L~llA\:

REFORM, /NB TN NRCESSITY or (INIO,V
43101 VG RRE.ORMERS.

That a peculiar lone of thinking has of late edema
among et it too apparent not to be seen and acknow•
ledger!. Not very long ago the ides of " Reform,'
and the name of " Reformer," were consider./ os
little better than the schemes of designing men, sod
a term of reproach. Two parties divided the public
attention ; and while maoy support, I the Tory prin.
ciples, the remainder were quite satisfied that the
professed doctrines of Whiggism were sufficient for
all the purposes of the People, end all the ends of
liberty : it is net to be wondered at that this was the
state of the nation ; seeing tbet the country bad com-
paratively not long before escaped from those chains
•f despotism which a weak Monarch was week
, enough to forge for his People. The Revolution of
1688 followed, sod producing much benefit, was for
some tints looked back to as the revisal of Liberty.
liut time, which, eve■ in well-regulated States, I
and perhaps more especially in States like our owe,
brier along with it correptino, has, in the sense
proportion as it has at/famed the evil, opened to the
eyes of the Nation the seagnitoJe of it. At first we
tolerate tome little i a lion on the principles of
the Constitution, and thus the work of Corruption
goes on, gradually and almost imperceptibly, at least
for • time, unnoticed by the many, and winked at
by the few who may discover its progress. le time
of war, ton, this corruption and innovation on the
rights of the People, makes its most rapid and most
certain strides; blinded by the glory of conquest, and
the noise and pomp of armies, the People little
gine what a source of evil ;4;11 result from it; they
forget the increased power which it Kites to those who
are their enemies. end who, while the People are
blinded by the glare of victory, are busily employed
lin devising the means of continuing their Weise-
-1
lion. Like all other a} stems, when once began, it
must be persevered in ; and the longer it is peeve-
; feted in, the kresivr esertiness are necessary to np-
hold and carry on the work. Bat a state of peace
Idoes much fur liberty—it points oar attention to our
actual state; we wake as from a dream, and then
I perceive hoe much ear strength has decayed ; and
that, like Samson. though we had lain dose in
; strength, are awoke in weakens.
Thus, therefore, while peace n,domell thirties of de
People, their distresses do so I.ltervise, and serve to
the same purpose. Nothing can be more erring than
to sir, that by removing 4ie we should calm
the People, and present them from demanding their
rights: true it is that much cla•rrour and hustle neces-
sarily reaolts from the stagoetiori of trade, but the
stagnation being bet the roosegoences of a certain
system, leads to the conviction how fatal that system
has been, and how necessary it is to prevent its being
acted on hereafter.
B•dh the nlll parties, however opposed to each I
other, in minor matters, agree io this—that the
People mast be shot out from the possibility of die.
turtling their vie•s—tbst while they contend with
each niLer, the play most be in their nun bends.—
Hence there has naturally arisen another party (or, I
perhaps, m-fr properly speaking), hence has Munn
• spirit in the People of demanding for themselves •
ft form of throe Osseo which they find will never be
changed by Whig or 'rely ; since both parties are re-
solutely minket to hold them sacred. The nitres.
oily of this Reform is ton apparent, upon general
principles, to need the additional evidence in its fa.
your which the late prncerd;ne,s in the North Varnish
es
with. To attain, hnweter. sov good fie. Is from
this conviction, it Is indispensable that there be am
union of conduct among the Reformers themselves—
if there is not, the common cause will be greatly re.
larded—and this it has been already. more from the
disputes of its favor,' than the hostility of its one.
mice. In this respect, the Reformers stay with some
advantage take • lesson from the two State parties ;
and leant to make all their measures tend to the ad-
vancement of their object; they may, perhaps, erect
to despise the idea of a systematic party ; but let
them tonsideo the they hate parties to oppose, re.
golarly disciplined and gni rsha.led in all the arts of
political warfare, Above all, they should avoid that
petty keno; of political pride—that love of leader-
s)+, which displays itself so much among them ;
and not oppose plans, because they do not go all the
length they wish; but be content that their work
foamed, even in a little, and whatever may be the
hand that produces it. A change of system is nut
the less desirable, because it takes place by degrees.
Ilept.l, 1I!9. X 13.