The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-12-29 00:00:00

I

ON TIIE AkTAIRS.

Prr pueorr, pro ESTfinealia, pro tirtate, titularies, largitio,
ararilia,vicohnl. Vary tanortsi animas 411110 nueba r
.r lett% nsearrit c.•:irins; Semen ;refer taala:ritia irn6, cilia aget,
a torrapto,!encialur.—Sizttsi. Belt Ca. trafor.

It is a cott,iction.tiith which I am deeply im-
plebsc.d, that the fate of this country must be. de.
cih.d in tl approaching Session of Parliament.
By many, I am aware, oar situation is deemed ra-
ther calamitous than alai ming : evil without
or With ta peril. wither great or immediate. To
such an opinion it is the disposition of human ria.
lure to incline ; but• its pi evidence, when tin.
fotintle'd*,• is pregnant with roil. I propose to
stare, 'with the utmost simplicity, the grounds of
TT- persuaSion. The crisis is acl.nowledged by all
to he difficult ; and no candid discussion ran fail
to he useful. It will he one' aelvatitag,! attending
this brief survey, to collect the-principal circum.
stance: of our situation into a connected view.
We arc engaged in a War, by its very character,
formitlenle in the extreme ; a war for national in-
dependence. That this is its Character ap:sears
trunk the circumstances of its commencement. It
AsTs our policy to precipitate resistance before
the enemy had ac:ptir• ..1 an itticontrutilable advan.
1.4,,e. We befit :d his strides of pacific aggrandize:
moist isiOv .4ann 11410 rti'in.t in .; under the
exhaustion of recut warfare, eoull allow ho
breathing elate of prase.
When the conflict began, the enemy was held
in cheek by three powerful empires ; and this
teutitry bed reason, to calrislato 'Tun their ail.
It *as cltiAly io the hope of combining them in
resistance, while they', et remain:Nl entire, that we
precipitated hostilities. In the course of the con.
all these empires lure been transferred from
oor owls scale into that of-the enemy ; his power
has butono conso:idated, and be is established
master of the Clittinent; Spain, governed as she
is, cannot be.e:moceted to resist many months his
tindistractid force. Whatever cause of alarm el.
isted at the outset, is now. prodigiottsly augmented.
A contest for the decisive stake of independence,
in which, with the half of Europe our ally, we
hate increased our difficulties manifold, most be i
prosecuted, without the possibility of alliance,.!
against all Europe, animated and directed by
iranseendent genius and i'Mplteahle hatred.
Such is the stare of our exterual relations. IVhat
is our condition at home?
The first objects that present themselves are, a
tational debt c:teeeding 600 millions, and an an-

tilt3l drain of favation exceeding 70 ; a magni.

rude of financial inCurtabrance, which, making
!Jeri' fob the 'dlrPleellifitaii of money,
hat never, , by a •vaSt'interi.i', been approarhed ;
that questeatth, extraordinary as it Is, is not so
extraiwarchari as air ; that the present
aysteat, alr4dy strained b...yoadvarury opinion of
its caparsisn sailass4. he cwaipailed.muelt farther ;
these are three proofs. the riatinnid batik • for
years ost itfsofvcit in specie, a fifth part of our
poputation driven by absolute want to parish alms,
and Mualltitei of extreme vi4ottr pursued in levy-
ing the actual taxes. It I. the ,7,-irral sentiment,
confirmed by the late practice of our financiers,
that additional imposts,. operating chiefly to
Wish the productiveness of the present; will raise
filth; atldition of revenue ; and it is certain, that.
any considerable increase of burthens, must be.
enforced by the bayonet.
Added to these pecuniary diffichlties, the public
-niud is convoked. The series of disastcrl tha.
Ms-Marked the: war, :13.1 the monstrous speeticks
es liibitcd in the •aate, hart. imnaircd cnnfid:•nce, and
impress:A bt•ry generally iudignation and eon-
ttinpt. We ac,u cen expand to a fatal disit•ion.
A Lii.;otry the most deplorable (I use no other epi—
t:.t.t) 'withholds from the common rights of the
t ltd a fifth part ef the population ; awl this in
mast volocratile varier of the empire. While
t:arliotie Emancipation is refused, a descent upon
Ireland cannot he imaxined without dismay ; and
Spaita, the nu'; present obstacle, will soon be
converted iaato an opportieriit* of arced.
Rut, 3 trait in the last dezree orninAls, the Pub-
tic is cootathinated isith corruption. Influence,
overflowing Iron its original scat among the
Wgher orders, descends in copious poison into
tiier two tKawoNlaepolitical body. Throughout
st. laystoptsportiva *of :common sbriety, patriot.
.
ism la a sordid spirit of ge
of pursuit, at.e lucrative
contracia-,.aa1l ; the "i• Vel.""
of pridao court dapesadenee, a barunetcyrad.i
t.lissioss* tv 'Sae 'crtnieseending smilc of -the gi-eat:
to cilkder t(4 obtlin these, the bait* eryilit.r. is
. .

cu;:ivat:d : that the emolument derived feninikm.
may be more secure and abundant, all
,untrt)til
ul.un public men is v.olentry opposed- A mere
assent to the ductviite of cuntroul brands the clia.
raster with sedition, Shuts up the arenues at ad-
•ancement, incurs the lot 4 of any assailable
a !rant:l;es alrealy possessed. If a detector of
of-
ial abuse can be represented to be -of doubtful
chaructet, thu,einctlon displayed is unt_anprelteu.
slim lest a favourite chest- should be debased, but
a triensphitit hope that a cause the mOst odious
has ban btatetl. The imospurt timedf all bouuds