The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-10-04 00:00:00

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N acts of injustice and oppression, exercised on • enormous debt incurred since his Majesty's Coro. - o WILSON, TIIE,AWDESTRL4N.
ft
single individuals, excite indignation in the human nation. And it is well known that the profits alone
—ism-
- TO THE EDITHIt eri*tHE STATFSMAN.
breast, how much greater must be the excitement, derivable from the White Herring Fishery, if con- . Ma. f..DlToll,—This :nap's case is unquestionably
she" the pilvileges of a whole nation are insidiously ducted on the plan formerly adopted by the Mitch, • hard one, end 1 am very glad to understand that
betrayed atid violated, and its property basely anti. would amount annually to three times that sum.— he found support in a liberal-minded public; but ha-
cot.oo.. and usurped by the pretended fathers of the •But we may rest assured, that Ministers will never 'minify is lint the only sentiment which ought to be.
.veople. listen to Ingestions, or adopt measures that tend to .excited by the strange treatment he has experienced.
In the investigation of the causes which have in- diminish their influence; by liberating the people It ought to be known to every man, woman, and
volved our unfortunate country in circumstances from oppression. The National Debt has been child in the island, that, enle's they commit some
of unparil!eied misery and embarrassment, we find augmented to a sum equal in value to all the land- offence Punishable by the law, their persons are as-
them emanate from that 'Went of corruption and ed property in the kingdom, and Government and ever]. Now a hat crime has WI r.soN committed to
every political evil, the National Debt, the history its creditors are so inseparably connected loge- render him obnoxious to the punishment that has
of ,oici, will at once furnish an irrefraoible proof tiler, that they must stand or fall with each sheen inflicted cm him—for a grievous punishment it
how a great nation may be enthralled, and posterity other. Here the policy of keeping the
scation unquestionably is, to deprive a free man of his per-
ruined, by the corrupt devices of a single Minister. in debt is apparent. This is the great but- sonat liberty?. If it had not been so held and
At ttie time of the Revolution the public revenue in wark which . protects every Administration, and esteemed by our ancestors, a clause would not hive
net moue}
amounted to no more than two millions secures its measures from controul. Every Stock- been inserted in Magna Charta for the express pur-
ooto„,,ny, which sum was sufficient to defray the or • holder, or possessor of a Bonk-note, in respect only pose of guarding against it : and therefore I ask
Binary expenses of the Crown, as well as to main- lof such stock er note, is on implied servant of the again, what has WILSON done to be punished- with
•
rain n fleet and•a greater army the was et that time Crown, he, therefor., never can V, espected to make loss of his chartered rights? Why is he put out of
necessary for the defence of The realm. 'lids revs.- any effort that may endanger its loss ; and the landed the pale and protection of the F:nglish Constitution?
nor wis raised without any tax on land or malt, and proprietors will continue to support public credit, Surely it will not he said- that he has sold his birth.
ty very few duties on commodities of necessary con.ilest their estates should be -rendered liable to the right for a mess of pottage! If he has neither vo-
public debts,. tto, on the event of a national bankruptcy. temerity renounced it, nor criminally forfeited it,
sumptcon. The nation knew nothing then of public ,
These mutual fears maintain the erptilibrium between
,hut is deprived of it by superior force, that deprive-
debts; far soon after King WILLIAM came to the
Throne, notwithstanding a great military esta..: resistance and submission,' and keep the country in Alton ought to breed a general alarm, inasmuch as it is
•bildnent was necessary to be supported, it was a' state of miserable and insupportable thraldom. i a general attack. When Sir FRANCIS Bottom wits
ascertained that the revenue then subsisting, aid- The Revolution of 1688 was thought glorious, be. sent to the Tower the periple were indignant, because
ed by a land-tax, malt-tax, and a few other cause it emancipated us from impending Popery and i they considered the. violence done to his person as a
tales, which could easily have been raised with-
arbitrary power, but •it introduced en infinitely : general attack upon their constitutional rights.—
In the year, would he amply adequate to defray greater evil; it hay been the Means of subjecting the :The cases are very similar. In both, no offence
the whole expense of the. Government. A scheme Crown itself to the worst of. all 14avery..•-• depen;lo; whatever was committed against the law ; and conse-
for this purpose was suggested, and allowed to he ence upon loan-lenders, bankers, and stock-jobbers, oquently, In both, the legality of the warrants have
practicable, but it was rejected by the lin yA • istr for for its very existence; without them Ministers could i-been rightly questioned i for a warrant is not an or-
the following political reasons, which deserve more not perform their functions. To whom then do rte! Filtrate mandate launched forth by a
.man under nu.
than ordinary consideration : because (hey will not owe allegiance, is it to a Corporate Body of Money- teerityo acting upon his arc's discretion, but a, regu-
only give us an insight into the secret motives of lenders,'or to the King ? We rosy talk ofrefurm and tar sad necessary process issued by the Civil Ma-
ertry succeeding Adminitration, but will also de. wish for it, hut it is evidently impracticable, it swill -gietrefts, as simple executor of the law, for the sole
motistrate how the adoption of one corrupt measure never be accootplished whilst the Stockholders
_ere P
I- urpose of giving that law its " due retest" curd ac-
c.ompohmeet : upon this ground, %%Welk I oppi ehend
. ll.like animated with the hope that the land will be • their
will generate others, to a contagion they be-
come universal. It was contended, that a new: ultimate security ; and_ the loandholdersare paralysed eut L
Os .-sst a‘RATICJI BURDZ2T, and that of the humble
Mills fear of its being inevitable..
Government established against the ancient pried-'f' Pedestrian above mentioned, were an mipardonalble
• and wanton stretch of authority. As to the differ-
ples and actual engagements of many people, could .• Alas! we here terminated wars only to lay the
of rank in the it. beim: no real or fit
mot he so effectually secured any way as it would be foundations of socceeding ones—we have exhausted deh.seet. , h - parties, , . •
le Rife no ri,hts, such
if the private fortunes of great numbers were made to. our blood and .treasure to gain only the laurel wreath distinctionsl'
Il n c i l ° ')
; ewr e:i e indeed,the
Paetotelilded in : the noble slave,
depend on the preservation of it, and that this could of victory. But what is all our indium? and naval who is the nominal own of an estate (for the real
not he done miles% they were induced to lend their tannin to an insolvent country, an unemployed and owner of all property, in that case, is the despot), is
tonnes to the public, and to accept securities under•-•Ofaiving population ? The inability to procUre the considered imaodlfferent light from the menial .slave
the poistiog establishmeut. This specious argument' common' weans of comfort at home, has- already who is attached to it; bet iie Ottgland, w
herehe all the
people share in one consvis.4 WA:right, irtin
prevailed, and accordingly the system of borrow- driven many of our ingenious artificers and_ me-
of that right is equal, teassideved as a publieaffence,
ing commenced, and the method of funding, and chanics to foreign realms, and we shell soon see a whether the injured" party be•noble -or ignoble—rich
the trade of stock-jobbing began, which was competition in foreign markets,_, which will convince t ~,- poor. It is obvious, that Clothe poor man-who
the origin of the National Debt, incurred solely us that the mansfoctures of Greet Britain are not t has not offended thellitre 'rim," by a wanton , etietch
as it appears for the purpose of attaching a essentially necessary to the whole work]. CoMpare jof nulhority, be appr.ilitiaed tea culprit, And not
strong party to the .Government, .by involving the balance of trade in our &Your, it the beginning t only 'disgraced,- but, deprived of his self-enjoyment,
free-will, amid 'tbety of actieu,therecan. in that ciao,
the security of private property in the fortune of the last century, with what it is now, and observe h .• 'toot
h. • .
eno securtty te rach.mae either against similar
of the State. In 1698, the public debts amount- its appalling diminution. At a nation relying upon d• g• 1 ' e'
,disgrace, or strut similar coercion. 14,4eam I apprehend,
eil, according to Dr. &men, to 21 millions and a commerce for support, our foreign trade ought to r necessary for the legal apprelienviOn of Wrosom, that
half, hut according to Dr. Monster'. to 17 millions, have increased in proportion to the numerical in. aninfoo-mnifiviiipon oath should previously have been
who estimated the revenues at five millions, and the crease of our population—that is to jay, it ought to merle 'before 'therMagistretes of some ntlence against
gain of the annual balance of trade at about,l3 mil- have doubled since the period just alluded to; on the the. Iswit . by•lias• done, nod committed; wltheiit
; tende
liens. At this time the population was about half contrary, our genii of trade have been reduced . , o
such giduittl forr their proceedings, their,
was (as I enneeme) not only wanton, arbitrai d
y,
of its present amount. In Queen Anna's reign the its the same ratio as all nor necessaries of life and cruel, but'" • . al • 'I rd -Il '' I
uncons uterine al i ega .--
Notional Debt increased to 53 millions. In Gtones have been enhanced in salue.—The insolvency All that has been said by Lord Crete against
H.'s reign it increased to 146 millions, and, at this which has already mule such tortoises amongst Judges and other 'arteries. Magistrates acting
present blessed era, that the gyeatest possible secs. our tradesmen, is now esteciliiig to our agri- from discretion, is applicable to that discretion,
•
rity might he established to render the Government I
culturists, and every day elevolopes a new -melon-
which appears here to have been used by these
Ma
immutable to eternity, the National Debt has aug- ' choly instance of a rapid approximation to some dread.
Kentish
abused their gistrates. We know that Judges have
authority, and been punished for it by
neuter( to nearly a thousand millions. This debt ful catastrophe. A political storm imponds, and fine, imprisonment,- arid even with death; and we
having thus been gradually increased to a magnitude ' will ore long burst forth like a volcano. It is not know, too, Ala the same abuse in inferior Magi-
which cannot be rressured by the ordinary powers of from the rich that the national shock can be expected, strates sometimes happens from mere ignorance.—
mental calculation, in order to give unlimited power trit from the immense multitude of unemployed per- It is impossible to select a County Magistracy with-
to theCovernment upon the principles of salvation laid sous, whose desperate circumstances will over-rule .)
meal, or both : hot the grand security consists in
down at the commencement of such a debt, it seems • and extinguish every principle of lubordination.—
this, that, according to our Constitutrom the Mee.
Surprising that a fund should ever have been suggested Should this be the case (which Heaven avert!) it will strate is a mere mechanical Instrument, confined in
mid formed for its extinction, commonly known by he unlike the ancient contentions between the Barons his motions by certain rules, and invented merely to
the name of the Sinking Fund ; for if the principle and the King. or the Crown and the Parliament, but give effect and . operation to the low ; so that the
of the former were found to be beneficial to the :it will resemble the ferocious contest of which we power we are bound to obey is not the power of
'
State, surely it was iticonoistent to counteract it by ' hare had a memorable example in the French ReVo-
the Magistrate, but the power of the law. This
power is so great that no man, hnwestor exalted,
the adoption -of the latter. But this, like all other lotion, when a vulgar end despised rabble subverted shall it offend Against with impunity ; and it is more.
political stratagems, was a State jueele, adapted to all the constituted authorities of the State, usurped over so just, that ne man, however poor and mead,
• toloquillize the triuds of the deluded 'subjects, and the national power, and conferred possessions and who has not offended against it, shall suffer the
to divert their attention from the original design, ; dignities on the vilest of society. Are we they tb least harm or molestation, even from its -own
e Lich was always intended to go on progressively.—; wait passively for the infliction of the like horrible Ministers; for it communicates authority to cor-
rect the wrong doer, not to oppress. the innocent.
Hence we find, that in the year 1716, at the aeces.; calamiles ? Or is it not better, that the actual state
tirhen WILSON walked upon the public road, either
air ii of the Brunswick Family to the Throne of these I of the nation should be deliberately enquired into by i for his
pleasure or his profit,' no matter which, he
kingdoms, the Sinking Fund was declared by the such of our Representatives as may be able
to corn- I exercised a right inherent in every Englishman ; and
l'atlianient to lie inviolable, amid to be appropriated ; bine all that is to be combined on such an impor.! the Magistrates, instead of vs ithliolding from Wm the
solely to the extinction of the public debts: and in• i tent occasion, and by reflecting on the past, and by' legal exercise of that right, were bound iti duty to
deed during a few years it was suffered to operate oni observing the present, to judge of the future; that :protect him in it. Those who obstructed him, arid
trod upon his heels, were the real offenders against
its object. But the Minister, finding the debts de- measures of alleviating the public burdens should be the law, not IViroort; and they were the ptrsona
crease faster than was consistent with his views,l adopted ; that a system of political economy should
that ought to have been the objects of magisterial
' I'llenated and anticipated the Sinking Fund, which ibe established, and constitutional abuses reformed ; interference and correction, if any interference and
il a short tutee he found would have liquidated the; that an Administration be composed of men faithful correction were at all necessary ; hut really,
,Mr.
National D.bt ; yet no punishment was inflicted l` F
to the Prince, as well as to his people, not to be se- •
RITOIt, this case seems to verify an old remark made
,
who says,
- s, .
for this tiolatisn, though in a Roman age of virtue'
1 duce~] from their duty by insidious arts, or meretri-
by the witty BUTLER) ilks iti! Iliidgia
that—
Ito would, for lids dereliction of public duty, have i cious practices? Such men, even in these times, are
been justly hurled from the summit of a pre.
l• to be obtained : for good Ministers will never be
cipice.--The came of a Sinking Fund is still I wanting to a Prince, who has discernment enough to
kept up to cajole the people with delusive hopes f seek for them ; who selects them for their superior
that its appropriation .will lighten their burthens.l talents; experience, and integrity; and who resolves
.---!lut however plausible this may appear, past `to support them, as Homo IV. of FRANCE Sup•
experience has convinced us that the annihiliatioa of ported his Minister, SULLY, against favourite mite-
the public debts never coincided with the policy of tresses, court intrigue, amid priviie confederacies.
any Ministers, because it would contravene their We are in a political crisis that must foul either to
Woofs of ambition and aggrandisement, and dimi- life or death ; a timely exercise of wisdom may yet
pish the preponderating influence of Administration. lead to the former, whilst a stubborn insensibility to
Had Ministers been disposed to suffer it, the Sink- the evil* which menace us-, will inevitably facilitate
it% Fund, properly appropriated, would have die- the speedy destruction of the Constitution ; and
charged the debts long ago, and even now it hi easy those who have contemned the danger, and despised
enough to prove, by arithmetical demonstration, the warning voice of reason, will then deservedly
that theapprOpriation of three millions a year by feel the-vengeance of a Nation whom they are no
all of intepound Interest would, during a period longer able to oppreis by their power, or delude by
. •
no longer thin the present reign; liquidate all this their sophistry.

" Juqice, though she Inoka o'et cruses,
" Stuiribles`nn innocence sOmetionesi."
I trust, Mr. EDITOR, you will. excuse these few
lines from one who consider nothing ynimportant
that relates To the rights and liberties.of the. people;
sod remain, Sir, your's &c.
Pluck inghainchire, TIMOTHY TRUIMAN.
S. pt. 49; lbls.

THE BAKERS' AS•4IZIE BRRA D•—Accottling to
the stated price of Flour, !he heit Wheaten Loaf,:for
the ensuing week. ought not to excved 114.
Buicserom.—The proprietor of tile Wr,t. Cliff Li-
brary, taking advantage of the misunderstanding
which exists between our M. C. and the proprietors
of the Castle Rooms, and 'which has occasioned the
closing of the same, has introduced waltzir;g, enta-
lions,• and dancing as evening amusements at his Li-
brary. Mr. WILSON officiates as M. C. at these as-
semblies, which hitherto-have been both etzint and
tusteroul.