The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-05-25 00:00:00

,fit refarien dc. izns in the month of December. 14.
n, t that time actively employed in promoting
ceded attack at the Earl of W T MOO L %ND'S, OD
etl2sioO of a gram' cabinet alinuer. Of this de-
er, which appears to have commenced and resits*
in Matell', it seems he moat hare made sots* coAS-
men:ration to 3linisters, ;at a period he bail hoped to I
t,riar it forward ; for laurel Ilaulaou HT, it %rill Ise re- 11
raPecied, stated on the trials at the Ohl Bailey, that
linisters had been apprised of plots ae.aitist them.
Ire toontl.s before the explosion, is the 'north of
frirra.t:y, of the Cato-street conspiracy.
It are (hallo existed of the falsehood of the eharees
aysinst the spy ; if any means could be in-
bv which the evidence or the moil% ,s of the
v;:ne,ses before the Grand Jory e,atlat hr overturned
•., que-tiuuctl; if it cool.' be any how disproved that
it was br the suggestions and the means that Leibardi
ei.:t the whole vonspiracies were trained and
• reed on, the pnlalie must remain eons i need that
e :weal Isr;vr made to Justice could not possibly be
a ‘Jileo.

When the astr.ologers in France were every rear
foretelling the death of Henry the Fourth, " These
said lokit•oguisishe rigid at lost,— Anew ith
maul um* orgy the same thing. hr said the, mi.
merons predirtions which have atsifflleti a final period
to the Funding atulPaper•wouvy sy.teitot ; to the latter
rf which tile Statesmen in whose shout r-siaohry
041 porn% cm demand originated, have now colictirred
in king a definite period. It it ip,l breatiNe men, the
nowt acute, anticipate unduly the eveitt of systems or
nwasnres, as to the precise moment of their dissolution:
it is not bermsc the imagination k exercised or.`.
lion, the positive decision on which is n ,t within the
Mere of hnmaa knowledge ; it is pot because FFFECT
does nut fo!low CAI-At conspicootudy and pr, ',Hit ord'',
and in the order and time conjectured, that therefore
the lrssons of wisdom and expel fence are Iv lie invslit
data, or that effect must not invariably follow Cr,',%
it it becalm a certain class of pertons, (oinhap-
I iIY uvouler..ll4,) persist in believing. when all ratioital
::reforsit of he;ief err ettingnithed, or bream... they
hopes against hope," that establishments, which will
se hear the test of truth and of tuber critical investi-
tatiun, will toot rune to a fatal if nut an untimely end.
Erruhetous faith ill monstron. tysteneo of %%list was then
called relig:ou distinguished the crednliont of the days
that are past ; and a belief ropiallv Erroneous. and
*early as revolting to common .cute, in vstems of pu-
litinthreenomy tad political jutliee, st-elll5 likely to
obtain for the present age (at beat in this counts') a
character for simplicity whit Is may be fairly matched
with the fully s 4 the past.

How long, however, (it wly he asked) is this strange
....,:ateAllailighioihnLl liiii_iongle overweening con-
fidenceSo'3ll, 07tviat the dictates otemiallaon sense. anti
si. yertioacionsly :o hold the place of reason ? Are the
warnings of the wise (confirmed by the uniform experi-
ence of every age and nation where the Fending. System
L 44 been adopted) to be for ever looked upon as the
Sibyls' leaves, which. however oracular, may be eon-
teamed with impnnity:- Was the safety of the Missis-
sippi sehento in France, or of the South Sea hublile in
England, ensured by the insane delusion with which
each acre for a time supported? And could the coon-
o-nance afforded to the former by cite nctlevr and the
Kisc, and to the latter by the Minister and a portion
of the (incontinent, prevent that sure and certain de-
struct:on with the seeds of which the.e once boasted
financial projects were thetmelces pregnant ? These
mielity bubbles of their day have burst : these schemes
of fictitious and paper-moneywealth (At that time rivalled
oniy in folly by the starch 1:r the philosopher's stone),
have met with their deserved and wren, fate. and,
" - like the baseless fabric of a %kW',
" Leave lot a wreck behind."
Days, awl months, and years, have since rolled away :
and, if the sober pare of history did not with 'imp's-
tionable veracity testify to the reality of these monu-
ments of human fully, disbelief in their existence would
be neither unjustifiable nor unjust. Bet, alas! with
Vii.in, has alsa pass d arey the impressive lesson which
they were eminently calculated to teach, and perhaps
in this, the centenary of the explosion of the South Sea
babble, a still more signal punishment awaits similar
transgression of the dictates of common sense.
In 1791, the whole of the taxes paid into the Ex-
chequer for every pn:pose of novetument amounted
not to 16 millions and a-half, and the provision by
rates for the impotent, the sick and the aged, equalled
not the sum of three millions. The house of an En-
glishman was then consider d to be his castle, and he
"Ircised the right of keeping arms to defend It; the
press, was not then degraded by fetters ; grievances, if
;bey el,:sted, could be complained of in the open manly
good old ittigiitit way, and petitions fur redress be
voted in pubar' at the will of the complainant, needing
no to be skulked about in private, with the caution,
if nut with the codsciousness of a conspirator. Wise,
we see a eonntry so changed, a people so altered, te-
nants so distressed. rents falling off, estates partially
occupied, manufactures rapidly declining, commerce
extinguishing, a failing revenue, and a starving and
therefore dimontented anti dangerous population ;
what most we think of the annual demands of Govern-
meet on the property of the country, increased from
16 to 66 minions! Whit oust we think of a dui
lap army of I IP,OQU men Hi rime of ram, is a eras-
. try called free, maintained at as ezpence of upwards
Pi Tel artwoxs or NOSILY!
If the Conatry Gentieesen are Word awakened to a
atone of their road situation, the Report of the House