The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-08 00:00:00

rate Oligarcay to expect—therefore the Press, never the last to
safer %then freedom is assailed, has become, in proportion to the
augmentation of thew oppressions, more and more an object of
j.ftlinasy and vengeance. Ana after having seen the use that has
been made of the unconstitutional a.ssuciption of power of the
Attorney-General to file Ea-Officio 'ammo:vines, to acco, e, to
arraign, to amerce, to bold to bail, to ruin, or to pardon, whom-
sever he pleases; after having seen that h,s accuser, an Of-
ficer of the Crown, removable at its pleasure, has also the
' power of demanding a Jury', nut taken out of an impartial
panne!, but selected ny another Officer of the Crown ; having
seen a Jude, so eager to convict, as openly to anticipate guilt
before hearing the evidence in defence; after having seen the
sentences in cases of political libel, gradually become more and
more severe, till they have far surpassed in severity thosa for
, the greater part of felonies, including long imprisonment, heavy
fines, banislinient to distant jails, and confinement in solitary
cells, going to the almost certain ruin, and the probable death
of the persecuted
_parties ; having seen all this, add taking a view
of the number of persons now suffering, we cannot, we con-
fess, see n,uch room for repeating the congratulation of our
forefathers upon Use abolition of the cruel and accurs?d Court
of Star Chamber, which did a ithout Jury, that which is now
done by a Jurylchosea by au Officer of Lee Crown; an alteration
which only serves to screen a corrupt politicA Judge irons his
due share of public odium, and to deprive the victim of •hat
public compawiou, which is always called forth in behalf of those
who suffer from undisguised tyranny.
" To particularize the fatal effects of this course of misrule,
would, of it were possible, he uselne, they being too visible in
the multiplied embarrassments and abject state of /he country,
whether in its affairs at home or abroad • but, to the great cause
of all these evils we cannot, without a; shameful neglect of our
duty, refrain from beseeching the attention of your Royal Hilh-
aess, who will at once perceive that we allude to the wdat of a
real representation of the people in the Commons House of
Parliament. With a fair representation the people are never in
danger, because from whatever quarter they feel grievance ap-
proaching, here is their Court of Appeal, here their means of
immediate redress: without such a representation the people can
I never be safe ; they have no Court of Appeal, no friend in Go-
vernment, no means of redress or protection.
" 70 the want of such a Representation, to the want of a
House of Unmans emanating from the people's choice sod
making their sentiments, we owe the eighteen years of war
Craw, lest the example should &undue a Rlissaset
corruption and abuies at home. •
" To tie want of such a Representation We ewe the isainiant
of millions of debt, which have debased our eurreacy, sapped.
j the foundations of covenants, annihilated confidence, and added
ass:- crimes to our already sanguinary criminal code.
" To the waat of such a Fttpresentatioa we owe the unpu-
nished rapacity of prize courts; the ruin of commerce and ma-
' nufacture • the collude* uumber of paupers, whose state, when
contrasted with the luxury proceeding-from public money kt-
vished on placemen and pensioners, would be beyond human en.
durance, without the overawing aspeef of military force.
s• If any thing be yet wanting to work conviction of those
truths, we-implore your Ria. al Highness to cast your eyes over
the Continent of Europe. Not a Sovereign has there been de-
throned--not a State has there been overthrown, where the way
of the Conqueror was not paved by corruption in the Govern-
ment, and by the tyranny which corruption never falls sooner or
later to call to its support.
" And when we see the same causes at work amongst our-
selves—when we hear the wont sort of corruption not only not
denied, but unblushingly avowed and vindicated, upon the
ground of its being as notorious as the sun at noon-day, it were
presumption unparalleled to hope that similar effects will not
foliose.
14 To put an end, therefore, to comiption and abuses, by a
Constitutional Reformation of the Commora House of Parlia-
ment, appears to us to be the only means of reconciling nun to
their Garernmen,, of rekindling their zeal, of invigorating their
exertions, and of ensuring the independence of the country, and
the safety and statility of the throne."
Lord COCHRANE rose, and seconded the Ad-
dress of the Honourable Baronet. He perfectly
concurred with his Hon. Fiiend in all the sentiments
which that Address expressed, and more especially in
that part of it which related to the progress of the war
in the Peninsula. It was no less evident to him than
to his lion. Friend, that our exertions were misdi-
rected, and that we only sought to perpetuate a des-
potisin in the rulers, and a subjection in the people,
which a free nation should abhor. lie would allow,
indeed, and it must be allowed by all parties, that
our treaps had behaved with kgallaistry which might
delight but could not astonish us, and that they
were ably conducted by Lord Wellington ; but the
forces of Great Britain alone were inadequate to
contend with those of France ; and there was no cor-
dial co-operation between them and the Portuguese.
—lle spoke from facts that had occurred within
his own observation, and therefore he spoke decided-
ly. Nor was it possible they could cordially co-
operate in a cause which they were compelled to up-
hold under the pressure of a military system that was
horrible. He had seen, both in Sicily and Portugal,
the men driven like slaves, in chains. He had seen
them dying in the highways and fields like dogslwith-
out medical attendance, and without assistance of
any sort—he had beheld them without the covering
of clothes, and without the shelter of a house. And
he would ask, if men thus raised, thus treated, could
have the feelings of soldiers or of patriots? or if a
war thus carried on can boexpected to terminate suc-
cessfully ? But these were not the only evils of which
that people had to complain—that people to whom
it is our boast that we have given freedom. The jails
and the dungeons of the Inquisition were filled with
unhappy wretches who pined there in hopeless cap-
tivity, unvisited even by the cheering hope of a trial;
and so little influence have we in effect in that coun-
try, that a British Minister at Lisbon was forced to
make his escape to England that he might not share,
even by implication, the guilt of such proceedings.—
He would add also, from his own personal observa-
tion, that there is not an individual, either in Sicily
or Portugal, who does not thoroughly abhor the
British name; and that our army En the former place
has been sent out, not to keep the French from in-
vading it, but merely to perpetuate a most detestable
and insupportable oppression of the people. If the
Ministers had any doubt of these facts, he wished a
party. of them might be exported every year to Por-
tugal and Sicily, that they might see and know them.
In referring to the internal state of the country; it was
his firm opinion, that if the present system was per-
severed in, England must inevitably be ruined. Our
situation, indeed, was truly alarming—our bank paper
depreciated—our taxes increased .ind increasing—the
lower class of people in danger of starving, and the
necessary consequences of this, a number of needy
and vicious individuals let loose upon society. to
adverting to that part of the Price Regent's speechf
which related to the war in the Peninsula (which war
he believed it would, be impossible f• r us to carry on
without the revival of our former commerce), he
could not consider our army there in any other light
than an army of observation; it was incompetent to
the defence of ",:pain ; it might indeed defend Portu-
gal, till the French collect sufficient supplies, and
then it must fall back to Portalegre. Was this I de.
fence of Portugal ? It could not be called
We can remain there no longer than the French
choose to let us. After going through several of tie
particulars of the Hen. Baronet's Address, and ...eh,-
ing its sentiments wi• h regard tehe state of the prtmi
tix waste of public money. the 'axes, and their mbdo
of being levied, by whiA no traisi7s house etas ',..ny
longer sacred, the Hats. Lsl.e.-ni)ar adverted tir,v.ar
tural fitness fear cundmiring a *arid me -.eps;•litteK re•
ferred the MhiLstera tn:ll,:;.Cantion.s.t. Deffitisthel4s,

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