On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    a ; , ^ eery considerable majority : How he sl ^ Quld have been deceived in this las t circginsJaB ^ ce is matter of more surprise , for it , is evident , that on the night when he brought on the debate , he had the fullest confidence in victory . Yer ^ little debate iupwever arose , the parties seem to have been satisfied , that enough had been said Upxin both sides 5 and the question was called -for with eagerness when a fevv speakers only bad deJivered their sentiments . The result was , that the Minister was left in a minority . The difference between the majority and minority being thirty seven . Thus ended this great struggle , and it is evident that the declaration of the popular feeling * had its share in the overthrow of the Minister . But people must not be 1 $ 4 away with the idea , that it is in this CQuntry alone that a minister is kept in

    a ^ e , byt popular feeling *; the fact is t he knqws with us its power , but he views it without dread or dismay . In despotic countries popular feeling finds a vent in a very different . way . At Constantinople the head of the offending Vizier would have been thrown over the walls of the Seraglio :

    in Russia the Prime Minister would have exchanged the luxuries of a palace for the horrors of Siberia . In our country a questipn in discussed in court meetings , city halls , borough meetings . There may be energy and indignation , but animosity

    anij , ferocity are never seen there . If the general voice is heard , the minister retires from his station , or giving up the measure continues in it . The country is satisfied with its triumph , and has none of those base sentiments , which belong to the slaves of a despot .

    Still it is difficult to account for the Minister ' s permitting * his weakness to be made so manifest . He ought to have known better his own strength , aud that of his adversaries . But there may be cases , which justify this sort of pertinacity . The measure was probably determined on in Cabinet , when it was presumed , that

    tbe utmost reliance might be placed on the House of Commons , and the great measures ° T government were , formed on this consideration . There are some minds not e #£ vJ y convinced , and when a project has been once formed they will not be diverted fro m , jt , by the clearest prognostics of its future ill success . Hence the voice of the

    country went for little , as indeed if other parties remain firm , it is not of gr-eat estimatjon . This might have done in ordinary questions , but in this it must be considerep ^ h aj the voice of the country was in u ^ spn , wj thu the private interest of the Tt ^ ppf ftn ^ hLOwever ^ ptne , might , from' their <* Tfy ^ j Und < r government compensate themse ^/ es ^ for , the tax on their private estates , yej ^ l ^ QPuld i ^ o t be the case gene rally , WfftflW *¦ qjwtfwjg Q » Whbbii * dm < lm * i »

    Untitled Article

    wo n I d exercise , their privatp . judgment . The ciiriou * tie ' s , by ^ whieh £ arHatkentary connexions are bound together , render it a matter of amusing investigation to see hy what means a minister , confident three months before of a decisive majority fee ?* himself unexpectedly in a minority . The discontinuance of this odious and

    oppressive tax is a subject of joy not merely in a pecuniary but in a moral point of view . The decline of kingdoms from a state of great prosperity , is owing sometimes to foreign force ; at * -others from the ruin introduced by the governors themselves . This ruin works gradually , and when its evil effects are at * ast discovered , it is too late to check the evil . Such

    would have been the case , if this pernicious tax bad been continued . The whole character of Englishmen would have been changed . # Every man would have his neighbour prying into his concerns , and financial espionnage would have prepared the way for espionnage of every kind * The noble independence of the English mercantile character would disappear , and

    when that is lost in vain are to be expected those riches , which have been derived from it . Let us hope that the sentiments which have displayed themselves every where upon this occasion , are a presage , that the horrible war in which this country has so long been engaged , will be followed by years , in which the ancient British honoftr , economy and industry will appear to greater advantage .

    Symptoms of reviving spirit appear in the atttention paid by the House of Commons to that , which is indeed an important part of their Txusiness , the expenditure of the country . The Crown recommended economy in its speech , and the whole house is sensible of the necessity of it ; but on entering" into the details of the expenditure , little regard seems to have been paid to this virtue . Indeed the war establishment is of itself

    sufficient to confound all expectations that might have been entertained of substantial reform . Many of the petitions from the country were sensible of this inroad made upon our constitution , and spoke of it in appropriate terms . The apologies for it in the House were weak , yet the measure will , it is to be feared , be finally

    accomplished . An investigation stricter than usual is taking place into the estimates laid before parliament , and as yet the pretensions of ministry to economy appear but in very ludicrous colours . The fact is , the affairs of the country require a serioua , dispassionate inquiry , an examination into

    the past to prevent , future abuses , w }» placing of our finance system on a solid footing , such that it may be examined / mtk the same ease as that of a tnercbftUJt <' fl count ing-house , and every farthing' tf m # n * y may he traced through every cJuMtpti fro ^ it * receipt to it * expeuditifcrcuu * . < ' u

    Untitled Article

    la © State ofPubUa Affairs .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1816, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2450/page/58/