The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-05-01 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN.

DEBATE olv TuE RENEWAL OF THE IN'
COME TAX AS A MEANS of IVAR.

they must know that all the blood shed in such an
unnecessary conflict will be !aid to their account—
and they must expect, if they have any faith in Re-
TO TUE EDITOR OF' THE STATEgNIAN, relation at all, that Heaven wilt punish them for
Mr. EDlroß,—Lord COKE, in his 4th Institute, those multitudinous murders--They must ex-
c.l. has a section under this title•—•, What proper- pert, in short, something more than hard grind-
ties a Parliament man should have." Ho tells us ing taxation, or the total subversion of pa-
that he should resemble the elephant in three points:— per credit and funded cecuritr—punishinents too
" First he should he without gall; that Sl% S kadeqUVe to satisfy a just Froviletice for such enor-
he, 44 without private malice, rancour, heat, and mous crimes!—tire, most expect, if they believe in
envy ; considering only the good of the whole body the supreme government of such a Being, the. severest
—the Commonwealth. Secondly," says he, " he scourges that can bef4l nations, such as we are told
should be inflexible ; that is, constant, not to be were formerly made use of to punish the apostasy ni
bowed or turned from the right, either for fear, re. an ancient peepie, w lin pretended to believe in his
ward, or favour, nor in judgment to respect any Divine Law, yet would not practice it. If the ETIg.
person. Thirdly, he should be of a ripe memory, lish nation, with the ability of enjoying peace, do
and, like the elephant, uniting the greatest strength yet prefer a sanguinary war, let them be consistent,
and understandinc—maxima virtutis et maximi Intel• acrd openly abjute Christianity ; for it is but aggravat-
lectus." His Lordship also tells us, " that the ele- ing the offence to add by pocrisy to murder.
phant is an animal of a philanthropic propensity."— Doubtless, Mr. Encrou, the moral light in which
Whether the majorities in a certain Assembly have this subject is here considered, and ought to be viewed
followed a philanthropic propensitN or not, let the by the nation at large, is the grand and primary consi-
long and sanguinary warfare teat afflicted the nation deration.—And if the people will neither protest
for upwards of 20 years, and the present disposition against the breach of trust in their Representatives
to commence a fresh struggle, Goa knows for what, by the " unparliamentary grant of money," as Sir
that may likely have as long a duration, let these I F. B. properly calls it, for unknown purposes,—nor
say determine—l will not. Nor will I, Mr. Ent- petition the Legislative or FAecutive Authorities for
TOR, give any opinion, whether the people's Repre- the continuance of peace, they will, indeed, he ac.
sentatives, in strength and sapience, are to be coo- ve's'try to the war; for their silence will, in that
pared with the elephant. With regard to that in- case, be considered as a tacit approbation of what is
flexibility which this great lawyer tells us is a neces- going forward; and 'whatever may be the come-
sary qualification in a Parliament man—that he is quences of such measures they will have no right to
not to be influenced in his judgment by respect for complain of them. If the nation were:to uplift its voice
any person whatever, nor bowed nor bent from the and demand peace, they must inevitably have it,—
right path by fear, reward, or fur/cur—with respect but if they prefer a murderous, because.unnecesstry,
to all this, Mr. EDITOR, I will avow that now and war, let them not pretend that they are guiltless, or
then we do meet with an exhibition of such sturdy foolishly repine at the consequences. Taxation they
honesty as is here recommended—but then, on the know must be one consequence for certain; but there
other hand, we often see so much servility in some is another consequence not altogether improbable,
sort of folks, so much blind devotion to power, and and that is annihilation, for there are limits to all
such credulous faith pinned upon the sleeve of a Mi• things.
nister—so much arrogance on one side, and obse- A secondary and very inferior consideration is
quiousness on the other, that we are tempted ,to ask that of interest." No doubt," says Mr. Treeztu,
ourselves, can these men be trustees delegated to " the Continental Powers will be willing enough to
watch over the interests of the people, to guard their go to war if England will but furnish them with the
property from being squandered, their blood from means ; but is it to be borne that Prince METTER.
being unnecessarily shed, and their franchises from RICH, Prince UARDENBERG, and others, should mete
being invaded ?. How dare such men look their con- out the property of England, and be supplied by its
stitueuts in the face! Alas, Mr. EDITOR, their con. very last resources ?" Now really I do not very
stitueuts are, perhaps, mercenary borough-owners, well comprehend Mr. TIERNEY here—he says, 46 is
who have invested them with a representation of it to be borne?" Why, does be not see, that it is
themselves for this very purpose ! ! borne?—Does he not know that it has been borne
It is in the memory of us all, that Lord GREY, for upwards of 20 years past? And what sign is
then Mr. GREY, presented a petition to Parliament, there, I should be glad to know, of the patient sta-
in w ich he desired to be permitted to prove, that ferance of the nation being exhausted? There are
151 borough-owners returned a majority of voices in here in England so many people who thrive by war
that Assembly. Now let us suppose for a moment, —so many who have taken up the trade of man-
that a Minister had at his command an assembly so slaughter for bread—so many who deal in commodi-
constituted, what would be the consequence? Would ties that are enhanced in price by means of war—so
not all debate, in that case, be superfluous. Mini. man) holders of offices whom peace always puts out,
sters would have nothing to do hut to announce their of employment, that really I think it is in vain to
will, and that will would be obsequiously followed. make a general appeal to the nation on the footing of
But suppose a few Members should be found in scch interest. Those, however, who have no mercenary
an Assembly, posse sing those qualifications which propensities that lead them to favour the murder of,
that great lawyer, Lord COKE, desct ihes as essen- their fellow-creatures, ought to be desirous of dis-
tially requisite for a Member of Parliament—. tinguishing themselves from the contaminated mass,
men of inflexible integrity, who paid no respect and all men who have any sentiment of morality, who
to the judgment of any person, but following the frequent churches, chapels, meeting-houses, &c. and
straight path of truth and reason, were not to be, wish to be thoughtisincere and consistent Christians,
turned aside by " fear, reward, or favour," would will do well to consider what is their Christian duty
these honest, plain-speaking men effect a conversion on the present occasion.
in such an Assembly ?—No ; corruption, when ! Willi respect to Prince METTERNICIf and Prince
backed by power, never acts the part of the re- HARDENBERG, I must confess that I do not blame;
pentant sinner but of the daring, bullying, bar- , them in the least, considering the Masters the serve,
defied offender. In the case I have supposed attempts the Governments they live under, and the arbitrary
would be made to outface and overpower these true' principles in which they have been educated. It is i
Representatives, by attributing to them improper their business to get from us all they can—and a
motives, branding them with disaffection to the Go- thriving trade they make of it. We pay the expense,
vernment, and a partial leaning towards its enemies; and they share the profit, if any profit attends the
insinuations could not be spared, and perhaps gri- speculation : I mean, if the war is successful, and
maces, contortions of countenance, and other arti- there is something to divide in the way •f indemnity,
F.ces resorted to, in order to supply by stage effect some happily delivered nation to be allotted out and
the deficiency of sound reason acid argument. This .shared among them, like droves of cattle. How
would be the case, Mr. EDITOR, whenever the un- these pious designs have been abetted by our virtuous
welcome voice of truth broke out in such an Assent. negociators at Vienna is now notorious to the whole
bly, every effort would be made to drown it. world; and they who might prevent fresh wars on
It is not my intention to enquire into the present ' the same principle, and yet will not, should, I think,
state and formation of Parliament, though I must consider how incompatible such conduct is with Chris-
assert the legal right I possess, as a member of the tian philanthropy.—l remain, &c.
contlituent body, so to do, whenever I may judge it Buckieghaaishire, April 22. TIMOTHY TRUEMAN.
proper. I shall only now say, that if Lord GREY'S
allegations were then true, I know of no reason
wt.), they sho:rld be otherwise at present. In your
Paper of Thursday last, I have noticed some plaits
trt.ths, reported to have been delivered in the course
of the debate no the resumption of the Income Tax.
One of these truths fell from Sir F. BURDETT, who

DRURY-LA E THEATRE.—CUMBERLAND'S CO.
metly of the !nee' of Fortune, was performed at this
Theatre on Saturday night. The principal novelty was
KEA NI in the character of Penruddock. There is
something 'apparently easy, yet unaccountably diffi-
cult, in this mixture of misanthropy, tenderness, and
benevolence. It is one requiring inherent dignity
of mind, of steady and firm portraiture, not de-
void of passion, yet rising, like all true virtue,
triumphantly above the mastery of the passions.— I
liesiaLz has excelled in this character. KEAN, who,
it is allowed, possesses the power of expressing the
pathos of love and the tender affections in a supe-
rior slegree, could not fail in it. The performance
had all that interesting charm which the acting of this
great Dramatist never fails to possess; and if we
! were to express a regret upon the subject, it would
he that, in our humble opinion, the part, though it .
has touches which vibrate to the heart and the
dearest and most honourable affections, affords not a
sufficient opportunity of display to the powers of a
KEAN. In the scenes with Young and Old Wood-
ville, he was peculiarly impressive ; for it wa then
we had a glimpse of those qualities which we have
seen burst forth with such electrifying force and
energy in the matchless delineations of a SHAKE-
sPEA ItE. We need not say the whole of the per-
formance, as it merited, received the most unqualified
applause. We might extend our commendations to
other performers, but further remark may be deemed
unnecessary. •
_ _ _

may be called a Parliamentary elephant; he said,
thqt the 64 House was first called upon to give the

money, and they were afterwards to be informed as to

what was to be done with it. This was so improper

and so unparliantenturs a line of conduct, that he
could not agree to support any such grant." In my
opinion, had lie acted otherwise than he did—had he
voted away the money of his constituents without
knowing fur certain that it would be applied to some
purpose essentially beneficial to their interests, he
would have betrayed the trust reposed in him. Sir
FRA NUS, therefore, with great propriety, repro-
bated such a line of conduct as " improper and un-

parliamentary." Some home truths were also spoken
by Mr..TicuNiY, who observed, that " the Conti.
newa! Powers ought not to be usged into a war;
but he would assert that nothing uas so likely to

make them go to war as to show them that plenty of
money was ready from the pockets of the people of
this country. Sure he was, that the facility with
which the Government was in the habit of getting
money had caused the waste of many millions." I
perfectly agree with this Gentleman also, that the
'4 facility" he coniplains of has had the effect he de-
plores—a criminal facility. we may, indeed, call it,
since it has beets the parent not only of waste and
prodigality, and by consequence df much human mi-
sery, but a:so of much murder,—for wanton and
unnecessary bloodshed is murder. Mr. 'f. also re-
mai ked, that 4 6 it was his conviction it would be
our own fault if we did not remain at peace." Now,
it is a thing utterly itnpossible, in my opinion, Mr.
EDITOR, for a Christian people, that C3ll be at peace
if .they please, volentarily to prefer a state of war;
for that nation must know, if it is a nation of real
Chri,tims' and ;tot a nation of hypocrites profess-
ing in,,c.k thrisfertnii.y only, that such an election is
tuta:ly *lnc( natible with the duties of their religion ;

MAY BE, MIGHT BE, and MUST BE, are terms as
often and as significantly used as any in the English
language. That any one MAY BE in the possession
of riches by the event of a single hour, who MIGHT
se otherwise dependent all his life, is a truth ihat
MUST BE admitted !Ny every one; indeed, this MAY
BE proved to the Reader by his gaining a X 30,000
P!ize, or 3000 Guineas in Gold, if he adventures
in the present Lottery, which MIGWE BE other% ise
gained by a stranger, for they MUST BE all decided
neat Saturday week, and MAY BE instantly received
ou demand.

.~~_.