The Statesman.
London, England, 1813-02-22 00:00:00

Itess's wrong'. When we had perused this affecting
Lotter, weettuld not help exclaiming, the " sge
of
. chivalry it gone ;" aye. and the age of justice too !
Butaarely, though redress was not obtained, instant
at'least, was paid to this interesting and
. ,
'pathetic appeal to the Royal feelings. No ; it was
pent awl returned twice mu-pelted, and when, on the
third time, it was either read by the PRINCE REGENT,
•or reed to him, he not chuse to signify his plea-
sure c amt as her natural Protedor had thus refused
to listen to her complaints, she was reduced to the
distressing dilemma of submitting to be branded with
guilt, or. as her last resource. to, wipe off the stigma,
.by a public assertion of her innocence. She chose,
and, in one opinion, wisely chose the. latter.• The
people of England have long sympathised. with • her
hapless fate, and nothing is so likely to procure her
/Loyal Ilighttess;iiibstantial justice, as a clear, dis-
t'_.!pct. and oneqltivocal expression of public opinion.— .
This Letter has, however, by the parasite* of power,
& n. attacked in all possible formsby weep- I
fug and, lamentetion, like 46 Recasts.. mourning
for her-. children, because they were not"—by cla.
nr and rriarobation, as if a second Gun-powder'
Plot had been discov2red. Hear how the whining,
fashionable Poi blubbers :7-•••"With feelings, which,
to a dt,gree inexpressible, not' only distress, but i
sicken the heart, we return to • the consideration of
a stibiect, the ret,ewed -agitation or. which most,
we arc persuaded, afford equal cause of grief and of
disgust in every manly, generous, and LOYAL mind."
'this MU feels no grief, no disgust, at libelling pri-
vate character, however excellent, to gratify his.
'stupid malignity ; but when the virtues of 'his worthy
patrons are questioned, he whimpers, like Miss hi
her Tee- ns, and winds up his doleful, pensioned gide-
glum, with the emphatical word kozau. Enough
of this rush-light of the foshionabk world. But the
Gamier, the man of all-work, what says the ug
and Tory Courier to her Royal Highness's Letter ?
Hear-4. While we 'feel on her Royal Highnesss
account, we view with deeper and unmingled inte-
rest, the situation in which his Royal Highness Li
placed, as a Husband, as a Father, as a Prince, as
a Mani not merely the mark, from the eminence of
his station,,and the brightness of his name, for the
shafts of vulgar and traitorous malignity, but ex-
posed, as*the reward of an unobtrusive magnanimity
and forbearance, to inuendos• and imputations, to
which no private gentleman in his dominions could
with honour submit."—Excellent ! we were pre-
pared for magnanimity, but we expected also to
have its application to the case in question Clearly
explained. The Courier only says, it was displayed
" in forbearance to inuendos and imputations."—
Why, the inueinlos and imputations can only moan,
that Royal highness has long estranged himself
from the Princess—that she has-been accused,' tried,-i
and itonourably acquitted—but-if not with his appro-
bation, tt least with his knowledge, still left a prey
to tat solitude and sorrow, which could only-with
jt't.ce be allotted to guilt. If these facts are un-
rive• .(..table, we can see no great magnanimity in
recit Ale,it to imputations that cannot hr an-.
swernd. Bet his Rovll Ilighnessis made a " mark
from the bright& ess of his name." It is net easy to-
answer this—brightness, as a figitre in speech, is al.
ways used in a good sense, and here it is certainly
intended to include, among other things, superior
virtue. If, then, this sort of brightness is not bor-
rowed from the Courier, but his Royal Highness's
own 0ti;.;:..al property, it 'may indeed offend his Imo.
desty to become a mark for the gaze of admiration ;
hot, alas ! this is a misfortune from which 'no human
effort can relieve him, till excellence and. virtue:have
lost their attractions. .Thu Courier talks of the
dignified attention of the .Pattocc REIASNT to his
aanffitter. This we do not at all dispute; but lig-
nifierd attention seems to be' rather too stiff and stately
an expression to convey a father's feelings: Why
-not call it affectionate attention ? No, It won't do
without dignity and magnanimity.---But the
Courier, in the following quotation; has brought
together his whole ingenuity and strength to the
support of his cause. Speaking, of the Princes& of
WALES, he says, " She may have friends to console
and caress her—every one may acknowledge the in.
justice of the treatment she meets, and pity her con-
dition ; but an severe are the rules of society, and for
the best purposes, that she is coldly received, and as
conveniently avoided as may be, until at last she be-
comes disgusted with public company, and finds her
only comfort in retirement. Impeachment by the
husband, entails three-fourths of the external conse-
quences of guilt in this world, though no internal
approbation may foliose." This is a most convenient
and delectable doctrine for a vast. number of hus-
bands, and will be hailed with' extacy 1. Any man
satiated with enjoyment, and panting for variety, has
only to impeach his wife, and he entitileon.hea
tenths of the external consequences of guilt m this
world Observe this admirable Moralist pauses at the
grar::), anti though you may console her and sc.
kr:...n:e4g- the injustice of her treatment, yet you
mast carefully avoid her. This new species .of mo-
rality may serve other purposes besides that of mer-
riment, and may, perhaps, receive some illustration
from the following imaginary, but certainly possible
case. Suppose a man, whose youth has beet spent
in riot and debauchery—Who has squandered his
patrimony in the gratification of wild end licen-
tious desires—whl having grown almost old with-
out being reformed by age, or instructed by expe-
rience—Co is arrested in his. guilty course, solely
by the Kant of means to continue his profligate,
career, should, to repair his broken fortunes, be at
last compelled to marry ? Suppose also; that his
unfortunate wife, who, though of unblemished cha.
factor, should soon tarn cot to he a bar to the re-
kumptiou of old habits and old coursections, and
wis4ing therefore to get of her, he should falsely
impeach her conduct, what would the world stay to
a separation effected by such means ? Say ! •Why
she would, according to this new system of ethics,
be only coldly received and carefully avoided. Aye!
but; says the Courier, we were not alluding to the
&se of nrditiary.men„ we were talking of the PRINCE
E FCC:NT—hue Lou any thing to say against him ?
C:Nrtainly not, Mr. Couarza, .he is indeed • a 'very
different heti of man from the one wetave supposed •
and with respect to his Royal Highness's ease, we
our sincere concern, that ever
cannot help expressing
CAESAR'S wife had ham even suspected.-

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