he might, and it was his duty, quit his place, and state to the nation his reasons for so doing.What, then, are the changes produced in the affairs of this nation since 1784 (for, let it be observed, that the system of Mr. Pitt has been acted upon to this hour); what are these changes; what is the state of England now, compared to what it was then, with regard both to its domestic and foreign affairs--George Rose will tell you, that you are to judge From the Imports and Exports, the Cotton Mills and Spinning Jennies; and Sir John Sinclair will say, look at the increase of Canals, Turnpike Roads, New Enclosures and Threshing Machines; while it is not improbable that Messrs. Perceval and Ryder may endeavour to draw our admiration to the fruitful Statute Book, where we shall find a greater bulk of laws passed during the sway of Mr. Pitt and his successors of the same school, than was passed from the origin of Parliaments in England to the Reign of George the Third; but,

Well! exclaims the true Pittite; but,
what signifies this, if all go on increasing
with the expenditure? Age, but do you,
together? If the means increase along
then, take it for granted, that an increase
of taxes imply an increase of means to pay
them? That would be a strange way of
increase of the distress and misery occasioned
reasoning. Say, rather, that it argues an
by additional burdens; and, then you have
the proof at hand, in the increase of the
parish rates.

He found the annual Parish
Rates for England and
Wales..

He left them (three years

£.

2,167,749

"Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey "The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay," It is yours to judge by other signs than these; it is yours to judge by those effects which regard the happiness of the people and the permanent security of the country's independence.If, in a single family, consisting of ten brothers, all engaged in industrious pursuits, and gaining each a comfortable subsistence, such a change was introduced as should lift one or two into a coach and four and plunge the other before his death)............ 5,348,205 eight into misery or dependence, would And, if they could now be ascertained any rational man, any man having a due they would, it is fair to presume, be found sense of real good and evil, any man hav- amounting to not less than seven millions. ing just notions of happiness and of ho- The number of paupers, in 1803, exnour; would any man say, that that family ceeded 1,200,000, exclusive of a dreadful had been prosperous? Would he not say, increase of common beggars; and, indeed, that, upon the whole, its affairs had been is it not notorious to every one who has badly managed? And, if he could point eyes or ears, that pauperism and misery to the person who had been the cause of has increased almost beyond.conception, the change, who had had the absolute con- since the fatal day when Mr. Pitt, through troul over the affairs of the whole of the the folly of a deluded nation, obtained a family, would he not charge that person predominance in England? Since that with having been the cause of a great day, the character of the people has been evil? Just such has been the great and changed; by the pressure of misery they general tendency of the system of Mr. have had gradually worn out of them that Pitt; a system, which has taken the earn- independence of spirit, that dread of beings away from the nation at large and coming dependent, that pride in keeping heaped them upon selected individuals, their names from the parish books, that who have been found, in various ways, ne- shame to be entered on the list of paupers; cessary to the support of the minister's by the pressure of misery, occasioned by power.- -This is proved by facts that no taxation, all these feelings have been one can deny, and which facts stand re-swept away, and now no one seems to orded in the official documents laid be- care what are the means by which he can

make shift to satisfy the cravings of hun- Is not this the real state of the case? ger and to keep the cold from his carcass. Will any one deny it? Is not this our si In the year 1780, or thereabouts, in a tuation with regard to France? For what, parish in Hampshire, which has in it more then, have there been expended NINE than a hundred labourer's families, there HUNDRED MILLIONS of pounds in were but seven families on the parish these wars against France! If, indeed, the books; about five years ago, in that same wars had succeeded; if he and his sucparish, there were only seven not upon the cessors of the same school had diminished parish books. This is, perhaps, rather a the power of France; then there might striking instance; but, who does not know have been some room for saying that there that the increase of pauperism and the was, in our security from without, a comconsequent degradation of character has, pensation for the fatal effects of taxation; been dreadful? What, reader, can nay, if France had been kept within her ever compensate us for this? The plague, ancient limits, within the limits in which or civil war, are trifles to such an evil. he found her; but, who is the man that Haif a people swept away by either would will now find a consolation for our internal have been preferable to this general de- sufferings and degradation? Who is the gradation of character; to the fatal ope- man that has the hardihood to look us in ration of this system, which has made the the face and deny, that the whole of this higher ranks of life dependent upon the minister's system has been the most_fatal minister of the day, and has thrown the that ever nation endured ?- ." But," lower upon the higher in the character of say his advocates, consider the difficul paupers; thus forming and cementing ties, which he had to encounter." I do; into a chain of dependence the whole of but, I also consider, that he was the maker the community, of which chain the minis- of those difficulties. It was he who made ter of the day holds the end and turns the the war with France; for, as to the quibble swivel.- -Such, deny it who will, has about the first act of hostility, all the world been the effect of Mr. Pitt's measures upon knows the worth of that. He was the authe internal state of the country. "But," thor of all the difficulties that ensued. InI shall be told, "that great as such a stead of following the advice of Mr. Fox "sacrifice is, it is no more than ought to and others, he pursued his own plans; he "be made for the maintenance of the na- conceived the project of beating France "tion's independence against the designs of a through her finances, he repeatedly pre"foreign enemy. Why, if you could dicted, in the most confident words, her prove to me that the degradation of the defeat from that cause; and, at the end of people was the best means of providing for 4 years of his war, he saw her replenished national defence, I might argue with you with gold and silver, while he had to anupon such a proposition. But, to discuss nounce to that same Parliament that had this point will be unnecessary, if we only so often been charmed by his predictions, cast our eyes towards the theatre of our that the Bank of England could no longer pay tours; if we only look at the continent its notes. How often did he promise this of Europe, where we see that all Mr. credulous nation "indemnity for the past and Pitt's wars have failed, that all his sub-security for the future"? How often did he sidies have been thrown away; and that the sweat of England, while it purchased the blood of the allies that he gave her, has, in the end, in every instance, insured the destruction of those allies; till, at last, we see France, that France whom he found in a state of distraction and debility, the absolute mistress of all Europe, holding the keys of all the rivers and ports, build ing fleets in places whence from the topmast may be seen the mouth of the Thames, and, in short, making it a question with us when and how she will invade us, there being no one, not even Lord Liverpool, that now ever dreams that we have, or shall have the power of retaliation, either in the way of act or of menace.

say, that he could consent to no peace in which both should not be obtained? Have we obtained it? What indemnity shall we ever see for our nine hundred millions expended in these wars, and for the flower of the country who have therein shed their blood? And, alas! when will England again know that state which shall merit the name of security?Still, there might have been something to say in his behalf, if he had not been forewarned of the consequences of his measures. But, at every stage, he was so forewarned. He was told, from the very outset, that, "should he suc "ceed in stifling liberty in France, he would

cause the erection of a despotism a thou"sand times more dangerous to England

43]

than any free government could be." | kind, very great talents. All the merSo that, the consequences were not "such chants and manufacturers who ever ap"as no human foresight could reach," as proached him were struck with admiratione his advocates have pretended. They could of his talents. He, according to the vulbe foreseen; for, they were foreseen and gar saying "knew their meaning by their He knew all their business "gaping. foretold; and the only answer those who foretold them received was, that they were jacobins, friends of France, traitors, and atheists, and as such were they freated; till, at last, scarcely any man dared to open lips in opposition to any measure of the minister. And yet, we are now to be told, that it is calumny to deny that he was We are to have before our a great man! eyes this deplorable situation of our country; we are to behold the situation of the Bank, where paper is exchanged for paper;

his

we are to hear one of his own creatures
acknowledge, in print, that the Bank notes
have depreciated three shillings in the
pound, and that the fund-holder receives
them in this state with the certainty of a
daily further depreciation; we are to see
the East India Company, which he pro-
mised us should contribute towards the
expences of the country, come to the
parliament for assistance out of the
taxes; we are to have fresh in our
memories his loan to Boyd and Benfield
of £. 40,000 of the public money, with-
out interest, to enable them to make good
a loan to that Public, upon which they re-
ceived interest; we are to see him sliding
out of office while Mr. Addington made
peace and funded the sums for which the
Income Tax was pledged, and, after
wards joining his own old opponents to put,
Mr. Addington out of place, coming in
himself with a part of Mr. Addington's
colleagues whom he had declared weak
and inefficient; we are to see him set out
with professions in favour of Parliamentary
Reform, and we are afterwards to hear his
evidence in the case of Mr. Horne Tooke
who was tried for his life, under his admi-
nistration, for endeavouring to accomplish
that which he had originally brought for-
ward in conjunction with that very Mr.
Tooke; we are to see him in a minority
on the question of the Slave Trade; we
are to have upon record all his predictions
about French assignats, all his military
projects, we are to remember his cars and
catamarans and sympathetic battalions;
and, with all this and a thousand other
proofs of his real character before us, we
are to be called calumniators if we deny
him the title of A GREAT MAN!
But, do we deny him talents? Oh, no! We
never did. He had talents, and, of their

To a

better than they did. His quickness was
He was an incomparable
astonishing.
accountant, a consummate clerk, and he
was besides a matchless debuter.
fluency, a command of words, that, per-
haps, no man ever equalled, he added a
readiness of conception, an adriotness in
parrying the force of an argument, a
command of temper, political courage, at
once a decorum and disregard of means,
surpassing any man of whom we have
ever heard. He was a showy and a shal-
low man; but, his talents were precisely
of the right kind for the theatre on which
he had to act, and all the machinery and
tactic of which he understood and knew how
to use better, and used with greater suc-
cesses for his objects, than any man that
ever lived. Here are an abundance of
talents; but, they are not such as mark the
GREAT MAN, a character, which, when
we are speaking of statesmen or ministers,
belongs to those only, whose wisdom is
proved in the benefit which their measures
produce to their country, not one instance of
which can, I am firmly persuaded, be
produced with regard to the measures of
Mr. Pitt, with the single exception of the
Mail Coach establishment, which has in it
the rare union of effects productive to the
revenue and beneficial to every individual
in the nation, but of which he was not the
projector, and the manner in which he
treated that projector takes from himself,
in my opinion, more than the merit of the
adoption. --Now, whoever is offended
at this my opinion may be well assured,
that I am not to be answered by imputations
of bad motives, or by charges of calumny.
If my facts be not true, or if my inferences
be not fair, the proving of the falshood of
the one, or the unfairness of the other,
will be an answer to me; but, to call me
a calumniator, in answer to fact and argu-
ment, will serve no other purpose than
that of exposing the accuser to contempt.

I should apologize for having taken up
so much of my room and of the reader's
time with the foregoing statements and ob-
servations, were I not thoroughly convinced
of the great importance of the subject, and
convince me,
did not experience of the past
that the making of a question of Mr. Pitt's
character ought not to be considered as a

mers effusion of friendship or gratitude, | Pittites, they will share the fate of all tem-porizers; they will verify the old saying of the two stools.Their adversaries understand the system better than they do. George Rose or Mr. Huskis son would beat them off their ground, and render them an object of ridicule with the very clerks in their offices. They have no idea of the ludicrous fate that awaits them, if they attempt to bolster up this hated system; and, if they do attempt it, they will, to all their other mortifications, have to add that of hearing me remind them of this prediction, and seeing me take my motto from the Political Register, Vol. XIX, page 33,4. There never were men so deceived as they, if they imagine, that they will be able to jog quietly on in the old track. The country expects a change of system. This is the expectation of the country; the promise of it would be, in itself, a tower of strength; but, without something in that way be done, there will be no real strength, and the thing will ex hibit something worse than weakness.What is it that has made the people cold and silent, upon many late occasions? Is it supposed, that they did not feel for the sufferings of our armies under-Sir John Moore and Lord Chatham? Is it supposed, that they were indifferent to the fate of so many of their countrymen and kindred ? Is it supposed, that they had no feeling for them; and that they were also, insensible of the cost to themselves? Is it sup-posed that they were deaf alike to the voice of humanity and of self-interest? There is no one who can suppose this. No; the truth is, that the people were withheld from stirring upon these occa

but an indication of a settled purpose to involve the Prince's ministry in a participation of the Pitt system of rule. Indeed, this appears evident enough from what is published as a report of the debate last referred to, where Mr. Cauning is represented as having asked, whether he was to consider the opinion of Sir Samuel Romilly as an intimation, that the coming ministry meant to depart wholly from Mr. Pitt's system. The answer of Mr. Ponsonby, disclaiming, apparently, what had been said by Sir Samuel Romilly, was noticed in my last; and, Mr. Canning is reported to have said, that he was satisfied with Mr. Ponsonby's declaration.--So am not I, and so is not, and never will be, the people of England, who if they were polled, would be found, ninety nine out of a hundred, of Sir Samuel Romilly's opinion, and who are now against all limitations on His Royal Highness, because they hope and believe, that he never can be prevailed upon to suffer a ministry to act upon the Pitt system; but that, on the contrary, he will be surrounded by men determinedly hostile to that system, which has brought so much misery upon the country,This casting of Sir Samiel Romilly overboard has produced already a deep impression; and for an opinion, too, to which every heart responses. What! is His Royal Highness to be saddled with this system? Are his ministers never to dare to open their lips upon the evils of the measures of the last 20 years? Is he, who has been one of the victims of that system, now to take it under his fostering care? Is he indeed heir apparent to Mr. Pitt's measures, hissions, which were of a nature to move intaxation, his wars, his Bank Restriction, his paper-money, all his pauperising measures? Oh, no! He is heir apparent to none of them; he had no hand in their invention or their adoption; he is, as yet, free from all connection with them; and he will not be so easily persuaded to ally himself with them; to embark his fortunes and bis fame in the same boat with measures hateful to the people. Whoever may become ministers, their fate, as such, will wholly depend upon whether they do or do not pursue that fatal system, which it is necessary for them distinctly to disclaim at the outset, if they mean to possess the confidence of the people, or even to retain their power. If they temporize; if they attempt to steer a middle course between the people and

animate clay, because they saw no hope in any change of ministry that their stirring might tend to accelerate; because they, in the conduct of those who were candidates for office, saw no indications of an intended change of system; because, in short, they saw, that, when the accusation of seat-selling was brought before the Commons House, and proof of the fact offered to be produced at the bar, both sides join in "making a stand against popu"lar encroachment." This was the cause of their silence; this was the cause why their voice was not heard; this was the cause of their taking no more interest in the questions than they would have done in a question of who should possess such or such a sinecure. Their feeling is very different now. They are well con

vinced of the benignant intentions of His Royal Highness towards them, and they hope from his long experience and sound judgment for such a selection of ministers as shall give operation and effect to those intentions. This is the reason why they now take an interest in what is passing; this is the reason why they are anxious to see him possessed of all the powers and attributes of the kingly office. But, if they could suppose, that there was no change of system intended; if they could suppose, that they were still to hear measures pro posed and defended upon the ground of the example of "the great statesman now no more," does any one think, that they would stir an inch?The public expectation is on tip-toe. It never was more alive. Every man asks his neighbour what his hopes are; but all hope for something; and, if nothing is to be done, if every one is to be thrown overboard, like a Jonas, who does not believe Mr. Pitt to be a great man, it is hardly necessary to

say, that this pleasing expectation will be Parliamentary Debates:

changed into disgust.It is thought by
some, perchance, that a peace would do
every thing. It would do just nothing, if
unaccompanied with a reform. And, be-
sides, what sort of peace could be made?
Sweden, Holland, the Hans Towns, Spain,
Portugal, Naples, all must be left in the
hands of France. All the sea-ports, all
the arsenals, all the maritime means of
Europe. Could we disarm in such a peace?
What, then, would be the use of peace?
But, reform and tranquillize Ireland and
reform England, and you may almost
disarm in war.
It is at home, therefore, that
the preparations for peace ought to be
begun. Being all right at home first, we
might talk of peace in a bold tone; and,
if we obtained not safe and honourable
terms, we might still set the enemy
at defiance, and convince him that
we dreaded not perpetual war.-I
know it has been said, that we (for
be where I may I will ever venture to
rank myself amongst the friends of free-
dom) are bidding for the Prince.. And,
who have a better right? Who can bid
- above us? We have to offer him hearts and
sinews, and lives if he need them, and we
ask for nothing but our well-known rights
in return. We want nothing from him
but those rights. We want to strip him
of nothing. We grudge him and his fa-
mily nothing that the constitution awards
them, or that they would ever wish for in
the way of splendour. All we have to

The FIFTEENTH, SIXTEENTH, and SEVENTEENTH Volumes, comprising the whole of the Debates and Proceedings in both Houses, during the Last Session of Parlia ment, are now ready for delivery.

OFFICIAL PAPERS.

AMERICAN STATES.-President JAMEs Ma-
DISON'S Message to the Congress, dated
at Washington City, 5 Dec. 1810.
The embarrassments which have pre-
vailed in our foreign relations, so much
employed the deliberations of Congress,
make it a primary duty, in meeting you,
to communicate whatever may have oc-
curred, in that branch of our national
affairs.-The Act of the last Session of
Congress "concerning the Commercial
Intercourse between the United States and
Great Britain and France and their depen-
dencies," having invited in a new form a
termination of their Edicts against our
neutral commerce, copies of the Acts
were immediately forwarded to our mi-
nisters at London and Paris, with a view
that its object might be within the early
attention of the French and British go-
vernments. By the communication re-
ceived through our Minister at Paris, it
appeared that a knowledge of the act by
the French Government was followed by
a declaration that the Berlin and Milan
decrees were revoked, and would cease to