The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-04-23 00:00:00

'!'Ills RIGHT OF PETITIONING—PRINCE.
I.Y FAVOURITISM.
Whatever tends to interrOpt or divert the channel
of communication with the Sovereign, is an indirect
Infringement of the liberty of the subject. Minis.
ters demand, in their usual haughty tone, Where is
the right of the Lis cry of London to present their
Petitions to the King on the Throne ? We answer,

that it is founded in nature; distinctly recognised in
the Constitution and has been practised from timd
immemorial its-this country, till a power greater than
the throne itself, reared its imperious head, and or.
lonised, a systematirisonspiracy against the legitimate
cellos of the people. Kings derive the right of go-
verning originally ',from their stihjects;—they of
course have a claim upon their Rulers for a fair and
equitable distribution of the laws ; and if thiy- fail
in thh4,they are bound, agreeably to,the conwact
which)iihsiats between them, to hear and to yedresi
the'people's grievances when' they ' ccrmplain. Were
the distribution of instire or tbe managernent of
• /
the State„ a task ribicli Sovereigns coedd perform of
themselves, the means of redress .round always re-
main' open, because constant access would then be
had to their persons. glut as they are obliged to de.
legate these important duties to !se discharged by Mi;
nisters, the intervention of these mew removes. t);a
King and his suhjects many degrees frail each other ;
and as Ministers are, in general, more anxious to ng-
grandikelhernselves and friends, than 'to promote the
welfare of the people, we have ample proofs in his-
tory of theiratterapts, in this. respect, proving suc-
cessful, in the first instance, but which seldom failed
lit the end of being the cause of their own fall, and
the ruin of the too Unsuspecting Monarch, who
thus so far lost sight of his interest and his glory, as
to put his sceptre into the hands of a favourite mi-
nion. Whenever a Prince is led to adopt a system'
of favouritism, he never can have any inclination
even to enquire into the wrongs of his people, far
less entertain a wish to redress them. His ear is ef-
fectually shut to their lamentations and their cries;
and the man whom he has set up as his representa•
tire. left to exercise the sovereign nothority with.
out interference or controul, being well aware that
he ought to " trust not in Princes;" that lie may
soon be supplanted by some new favourite, who will
gain his master's good graces, and strip him of all
his borrowed plumes; such a Minister, we say, will
riot be slow in his endeavours to enrich hirnsckf and
his minions while his short-lived authority endures.
Ambition being the predominant passion in the
mind, the immense revenues of an extensive empire,
aro frequently found insufficient to satiate the rapa-
city of a Prime Minister placed in these circumstances.
Hence arises wars, a fruitful source of peculation and
of patronage; and heat e follows all those dreadful
evils which a state of warfare entails upon the human
race. The Sovereign whose enjoyments are no way
limited, whether the nation is at war or at peace, but
who, on the contrary, has his revenue increased
kith the increase of public calamity ; the King re-
moved at an immense distance from his people, is f

thus kept in perpetual ignorance as to their real si-
tuation; and, while the Minister takes special care
that all who approach his Ito% al Person, shall wear
the smile of contentment on their countenances-, he,
with equal care; shuts up every channel of access to
the R. ,yal ear, lest the prayers of an oppressed peo-
ple should bring-a
jar retribution upon his head,
and burl hint from his 6' high estate" mud' sooner,
and m ith greater effect, thou if he had merely %curt,"
the displeasure of his Sovereign on account of some
Frsonal cause. When the Citizens of London re.
fleet on the events of tb. it own day ; when,. they
contrast the rapid, though imperfect, sketch which
we hare viven of princely favouritism, with the eC.
ctirrences which they have actually witnessed within
these few weeks ; and when they recollect bow ne-
cessary it is to the security of the present Ministers,
that the actual state of the country should be kept a
profound•secret from the PRINCE REGENT, it will
appear no way.. surprising, that the favourite who
in these days guides the helm of the State, should,
in all respects,follow the example of his predecessors.
It was not till Mr. PITT succeeded in establishing
his own authority in placc.of that of his present MA-
EST-r, who; *is 'Weir known; baZ bbert tteady tati-
pable for twenty years back of attending to public
business, that the Livery of Loudon were denied ac-
cess to the Throne to lay a statement of their grie-
vattc'es at the feet of their Sovereign. It is also-
known that previous to that period, when his MA-
JESTY was capable of holding iutercourse with his'
people, he was frequently in the practice of receiving
Petitions with his owu hands from private indivi-
duals, and of affording them relief. But when the
" heaven-born" Minister, now no more, contrived;
to cajole the nation into a submission to his sway,
the privilege so long enjoyed by hull viduals,aud by the
Livery,. of London, was impetioosty denied them.
--
The only rational motive which can be assigned for
this grOlu infriugementof public right,whileCorpomte
Bodies are allowed it to its Mktg latitude, is, that,
the latter are uniformly undee;Sive ittituresos of the
Minister, while the former, no induce-
meet to coneeal 'from their Si reign the ►gfi'
esj
which they endure, and the distrtlitezwhich have *n
brought on the cnantry by the proillecy of Ministe*i
will speak the truth, however harsh in nay sound in:
the ears of Royalty.* Bot truthcia.seld 'be dangers
ous to ,Mr. Plods's!. and his Collessiises ; aad there-
fare, because the Petblon of the Livery cikitains facts'
of too palpable a, nature to be'sAverted, vet" by tt•