concur in the propriety of the proposed "committee, where every question con"nected with our security may be fully in"vestigated." Well, then, Mr. Windham, might have said, we see, that the ministry now contains all the same men, the very same men, with the exception of Lord St. Vincent and Mr. Yorke, that it contained when this speech was made. Therefore, Mr. Pitt must unsay what he said upon Mr. Fox's motion, he must confess that he gave an untrue description of eight out of the eleven of his present colleagues, he must, in open parliament, regorge the charges of "incapacity and imbe"cility," or, he must insist that he and the three other new cabinet ministers (aided by Messrs. Canning, Trotter, Fordyce, Huskisson, &c. &c.) possess all the present capacity and energy, and that the noble Sidmouth and his part of the cabinet are nothing more than mere signs of ministers, merely like woodenbacked books in a library : "one of these "courses he must take," it was observed on a former occasion," or he must assent to the "propriety of going into the proposed com"mittee." I was mistaken. He found out a course which I did not perceive, and which, if I had perceived it, I should have thought quite impossible for him to pursue. Yet, why should I not have thought it possible, and even likely? Yes, this question is pertinent enough now; but, in spite of every thing that had passed, I could not, a month, only a month ago, have believed of him what I have now witnessed. It is curious to look back, and to trace him downwards in one's mind!He could not have answered Mr Windham's speech; that was out of his power; but, he would have attempted it, could he have ventured to re-assert his former opinions pecting the "incapable and in becike

who are now his col

leagues. If he spoke, it was absolutely necessary to make this re-assertion, or to unsay his former assertion. The latter he was ashamed to do in so direct a manner; and the former he knew would have driven him from his place, and from the cabinet for ever.

Indeed, it was positively and most exultingly asserted amongst the partisans of the noble Lord Viscount Sidmouth, that Mr. Pitt, whenever Mr. Windham's motion canie on, would find it convenient to unsay in the most unqualified manner, all that he had said last year respecting the "incapacity and

imbecility" of Mr. Addington; and THE TIMES (the Addington newspaper) went so far as to state, that they (the writers in that paper) had "much too high an opinion of

the heart as well as the head of the Right "Honourable Chancellor of the Exche "quer" [this paper has never called him the minister since the noble Lord Viscount Sidmouth's return to power] 66 not to believe "that he would sieze the earliest opportunity "of not only acknowledging, that his "charges against Mr. Addington were unjus"tified by fact" [that is to say that they was false], "but that the measures and conduct "of that gentleman, who was so unworthily "treated, deserve high commendation, and

ought to be imitated by his successors to "the latest posterity." The Viscount was, in the mean time, taking, upon this subject, a corresponding tone in the House of Lords. In the debate on the 15th ultimo, in allusion to what had been said relative to the "inca

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❝ters.

pacity and imbecility," with which his present colleagues formerly charged him, he said: "I have to-night, for the first time "sioce I bave had the honour of a seat in "th's House, heard what I have been too "much accustomed to hear in another place, "of the inefficiency of His Majesty's minisI ever have, and ever shall, treat "such charges and insinuations, come from "what quarter they will, with the contempt they deserve." Mr. Pitt had been an observer of this; and, therefore, he chose, upon Mr. Windham's motion, the course of silence, leaving his partisans to give to that silence the most favourable interpretation; and, on their making most strenuous efforts he might safely rely, because, however their opinions of him may be altered, however they may, in their hearts, think meanly of him, yet they are, they have long been, and they must remain, his partisans, or be politically annihilated: they wear his livery, and, like the footman of Nell Gwyn, they are tighting for their own reputation, and not for his. "What business had you fighting?" said Nell, looking out of Ler coach-window,

"Why, madam," said the knight of the rainbow, "this fellow called your ladyship "a whore."...." Poh! you fool!" said she, 66 every body knows that!"...." Do "they so," said the knight to himself," but "they shall not call me a whore's footman "though, as long as I have a pair of fists" This is a distinction which is founded in reason and nature; but it is one, which, in estimating the conduct of political partisans, we too often leave out of the account.———— A very few days after the Viscount had made the speech above referred to in the House of of Lords, had so openly expressed his contempt of all those who should talk of the imbecility and incapacity of himself and his colleagues, alluding, at the same time, very intelligibly to what had passed in the other House of Parliament. Four days after this (that is on the 19th ultimo) and only a day or two after the above quoted broad hint had appeared in THE TIMES newspaper, Mr. Pitt (in a conversation upon the salt duty, and in answer to what Mr. Sheridan had hinted at respecting the care which ought to be taken not to run down the measures and opinions of the late finance minister) said: “[ "am disposed to pay every respect to the rt. "honourable person, to whom the honour"able gentleman has alluded; and I cannot

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prove that disposition better than by adopt"ing his conduct"!!! Adopting his conduct! Disposed to show " every respect to," and even to "adopt the conduct" of the "in

capable and imbecile" ministry! Of that very minister, whom he had loudly accused of" tardiness, incongruity, languor, incapa"city, and imbecility!" Show every respect to, and adopt the conduct of, him to whom, though minister, he "boldly" asserted, that no part of the measures taken for the defence of the country ought to be attributed! This bold tone seems to be gone off, as far, at least, as relates to the Viscount and his friends.--There is no getting over this. There is no quitting the subject. The surprise, or whatever feeling it may be called, is such as to divert the mind from every thing else. What! disposed" to show every

respect" to that person to whom he was alluding, when, in the debate of the 18th of June last, he said: "it is insinuated, that "there has not been a sufficient change in "the ministry; but, surely, the right hon. "gentleman below, must, at least, be satis"fied, that the change is sufficient, and "that the present is really a new adminis‣ "tration. Few will doubt, that a very real "change has taken place, when they con"sider that the office of first Lord of the "Treasury is now held by me" And yet,

the man who made these modest observations, now stands up in the very sa ne place, and declares in the hearing of the same assembly, that he is disposed to show every 16 respect" to, and to adopt the conduct of,”.

the person with whom he was here putting himself in contrast! There is nothing like this in the history of parties in this country, or in any other history that the world ever saw.. Mr. Canning, too! He that used to joke about the Doctor's emetics," and about" brother Hiley's 14 shilling warm

great coats!" I'll warrant that he will crack no more jokes upon the medical profession. Van Butchell and other gentlemen of that description will, in future, be spared in his verses; and, as to the great coats, he will never put on his own without recollecting, that that is a subject to be avoided. Mr. Canning! he who "objected to the head" of the late administration, and who told the House of Commons, that that was changed!”. Mr. Canning! yes this very Mr. Canning never even alluded to that part of Mr. Windham's speech, wherein, as the very foundation of the argument for going into the committee, upon the avowed sentiments and principles of Mr. Pitt, it was stated, urged, and insisted on, that the late cabinet, when compared with the present one, was a cabi net of wisdom and vigour. This was the part of the speech to answer first of all. It was first in importance as well as first in order. Last year, said Mr. Wardham, you voted and spoke in favour of just such a motion as this, in favour of a proposition for the House to take into its own hands an examination into the state of our military defence; and this you did, because the mi nisters were so incapable and imbecile as not to be worthy of our confidence. Well, the cabinet is now composed of the same persons that it then was, except that Lord St. Vincent and Mr. Yorke are gone out, and Mr. Pitt, and Lords Melville, Mulgrave, and Camden are come in, I insist that the present cabinet is, and has by its acts shown itself to be, more incapable and imbecile than the late cabinet; and, therefore, I call upon the House, and say, that without glaring inconsistency you must support my call, to go into a committee for the purposes last year proposed.- -This came directly honie to them. It was a point blank ap peal to their spirit. But, all was in vain. Not a word by way of answer from Mr, Canning; not, as was before observed, even an allusion to the contrast that was drawn between the present and the late cabinet Such was their dread of the consequences, that they dared not assert even that the

present cabinet was not more incapable and imbecile than the late cabinet ! Never

was humiliation so complete as this. Never before were power and emolument purchased at so dear a rate. Call not this conduct ambitious! Let not the feeling that dictated it be dignified with the name of ambition! Disgrace not so the passion which leads to noble deeds, and which is always distinguished by a contempt of precisely those things, which alone are here kept constantly in view. No: it is not ambition: the operators are not endeavouring to vault above the heads of other men, but to climb up in the best way they can; and, as was, with respect to them, once before observed, in the words of Swift,

climbing is performed in the attitude of "crawling." The endeavour will not, however, succeed. The times are approaching when they must rise, if they rise at all, in a very different way. When I see a climbing young friend casting his eye about him; attentively observing the daily increase of grey hairs; minutely calculating ages, constitutions, and contingencies: when, in imagination, I see him lost, as it were, in reveries of this sort, I cannot help calling to mind the fate of poor Captain Blifil, who, while he was walking over his brother's gardens, and forming a plan for altering them when they should fall to him, dropped down dead in an apopletic fit. A stroke of the funds, or some such thing, would, the young friends may be assured, produce amongst them political consequences not less swift or less fatal.

IRISH HABEAS CORPUS.--The date and the result of the debate in the House of Commons upon the introduction of the bill for the further suspension of the habeas corpus act in Ireland, were noticed in the preceding sheet, to which I beg leave to refer the reader Previous to any remarks upon this measure, it seems necessary to describe the nature of the habeas corpus act; for, really, men appear almost to have forgotten what it is. The hired writers in the ministerial newspapers tell us, that' "there is one "great crror or deficiency, that runs through. "all the military opinions of Mr. Windham, namely, that he appears not suffi

ciently attentive to the distinction be"tween this free and happy country and the "nations of the continent." [All of them, observe.] "He never takes into his views

"tion of force, which was likely to be pro"cured by Mr. Pitt's defence bill, to that great standing army, which appears to be recommended by Mr. Windham." And, these are the slaves, observe, who have been defending, through thick and thin, all the measures relative to Ireland; the suspension of the habeas corpus act, without inquiry in the first instance, and its renewal for another year and a half, perhaps, still without any inquiry, without any evidence before parlia ment, whereon to proceed to such an act of rigour, and that, too, at a time, when the parliament had, from the ministerial bench, just been congratulated on the "tranquil "state of Ireland!" At a time when the hirelings are bawling against the dangers, which the liberties of the people bave to apprehend from a standing army, and are, at the same time, justifying the treatment of Ireland, it seems necessary to show what the habeas corpus act is, what that is of which Ireland has been so long, and is to be for so much longer deprived, not only without exciting any portion of that "constitutional "jealousy," which Mr. Canning (an Irishman and an Irish member) is said to entertain with respect to a standing army, but without operating powerfully enough with him to prevent him from voting for the further suspension. Endless are the culogies that have been pronounced upon the writ of habeas corpus, particularly as its powers are explained in the act, called the habeas corpus act, which was passed in the 31st year of King Charles the Second. I will, at present, confine myself to BLACKSTONE, who has taken great pains to describe this valuable and once revered part of our laws. "In a former chapter of these commentaries," says he, "we expatiated at large on the per"sonal liberty of the subject. It was shown

any case without the special permission of "law. A doctrine co eval with the first "rudiments of the English constitution; " and handed down to us from our Saxon "ancestors, notwithstanding all their strug "gles with the Danes, and the violence of "the Norman conquest: asserted after"wards and confirmed by the Conqueror "himself and his descendants: and though "sometimes a little impaired by the fero "city of the times, and the occasional des"potism of jealous or usurping princes, yet "established on the firmest basis by the "provisions of Magna Charta, and a long "succession of statutes enacted under Ed

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necessity of expressing upon every com"mitment the reason for which it is made; "that the court, upon an Habeas Corpus, "may examine into its validity; and ac"cording to the circumstances of the case "may discharge, admit to bail, or remand "the prisoner." (Book III. ch. 8.) Thus, we see, that according to the opinion of this very eminent lawyer, the personal liberty of the subject is no new thing in England. That it is not, when enjoyed, a gift of any body, and that it has not arisen from any modern institutions; but, that is a right, not only of nature, but of inheritance from the earliest times. After describing, in another place, the extensive operation, and efficacious nature of the writ of Habeas Corpus, the same writer proceeds thus to speak of the excellence of the act which prescribes the methods of obtaining the writ. "By 31 "Car. I. ch. 2." says he, "commonly "called the Habeas Corpus Act, the me"thods of obtaining this writ are so plainly

pointed out and enforced, that, so long as "this statute remains unimpeached, no sub"ject of England can be long detained in

prison, except in those cases in which the "law requires and justifies such detainer. "And, lest this act should be evaded by de"manding unreasonable bail, or sureties for "the prisoner's appearance, it is declared "by 1 W. and M. st. ii. c. 2. that excessive "bail ought not to be required.-Of great "importance to the public is the preserva

tion of this personal liberty: for, if once "it were left in the power of any, the "highest magistrate to imprison arbitrarily "whomever he or his officers thought pro

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per, (as in France it is daily practised by "the crown) there would soon be an end "to all other rights and immunities. Some "have thought, that unjust attacks, even upon life, or property, at the arbitrary "will of the magistrate, are less dangerous "to the commonwealth, than such as are "made upon the personal liberty of the

"

subject. To bereave a man of life, or by "violence to confiscate his estate, without "accusation or trial, would be so gross and

notorious an act of despotism, as must at

"once convey the alarm of tyranny through"out the whole kingdom. But confine"ment of the person, by secretly hurrying "him to gaol, where his sufferings are un"known or forgotten, is a less public, a less "striking, and, therefore, a more dangerous "engine of an arbitrary government." (Book I. c. 1) I am, and always have been, one of those who entertain this opinion. The partial, capricious and cruel blows of despotism are much less injurious to the general and real liberties of a country, than are any of those proceedings, by which tyranny is exercised under the names, and with the forms and appearance of law and justice. Nobody sees the man that is carried off to a gaol; or, if they do, it is an ordinary act, though, in reality, it may be wickedly unjust. I do not here mean to insinuate, that such acts of wickedness have been committed in Ireland, under the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act; for, 1 am, as most other persons in this country are, totally ignorant of the matter. But, if we do not allow, that such acts may be committed in consequence of such suspension, all the praises which have been bestowed upon this "second magna charta and stable bulwark of our "liberties," as Blackstone elsewhere calls it, are mere empty sounds, which can be of no use, except to amuse ignorant people with the illusion of liberty and security. Blackstone, in a subsequent part of his Commentaries, gives an account of several shifts and contrivances, by which the benefit of "this great constitutional remedy" were defeated, by the judges and others. "But," says he, "whoever will attentively consider "the English history, may observe, that "the flagrant abuse of any power, by the

crown or its minister, has always been "productive of a struggle; which either "discovers the exercise of that power to be

contrary to law, or (if legal) restrains it "for the future. This was the case in the "present instance. The oppression of an "obscure individual gave birth to the famous Habeas Corpus Act, 31 Ch. II.

2, which is frequently considered as "another Magna Charta of the kingdom; "and by consequence has also in subse

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quent times reduced the method of pro"ceeding on these writs (though not within "the reach of that statute, but issuing mere"ly at the common law) to the true standard

of law and liberty.--The statute itself "enacts, 1. That the writ shall be returned "and the prisoner brought up within a li"mited time, according to the distance, not "exceeding in any case twenty days. 2. "That such writs shall be endorsed as grant

"ed in pursuance of this act, and signed by "the person awarding them. 3. That on "complaint and request in writing, by or "on behalf of any person committed and "charged with any crime (unless committed "for treason or felony expressed in the "warrant, or for suspicion of the same, or

"

as accessary thereto before the fact, or "convicted or charged in execution by legal "process) the Lord Chancellor or any of "the twelve judges, in vacation, upon view"ing a copy of the warrant or affidavit "that a copy is denied, shall (unless the

party has neglected for two terms to apply 66 to any court for his enlargement) award "a Habeas Corpus for such prisoner, re"turnable immediately before himself or any other of the judges; and upon retura "made shall discharge the party, if bail"able, upon giving security to appear and "answer to the accusation in the proper "court of judicature. 4. That officers and "keepers neglecting to make due returns,

or not delivering to the prisoner or his agent within six hours after demand a 46 copy of the warrant of commitment, or shifting the custody of a prisoner from "one to another without sufficient reason

or authority (specified in the act) shall "for the first offence forfeit 1001, and for "the second offence 2001., to the party "grieved, and be disabled to hold his of❝fice. 5. That no person, once delivered "by Habeas Corpus, shall be recommitted "for the same offence on the penalty of "5001. 6. That every person committed "for treason or felony shall, if he requires "it the first week of the next term, or the "first day of the next session of Oyer and "Terminer, be indicted in that term or "session, or else admitted to bail; un"less the King's witnesses cannot be "produced at that time: and if acquitted, " or if not indicted and tried in the second "term or session, he shall be discharged "from his imprisonment for such imputed "offence: but that no person, after the "assizes shall be opened for the county in "which he is detained, shall be removed " by Habeas Corpus, till after the assizes "are ended; but shall be left to the justice. "of the judges of assize. 7. That any such prisoner may move for and obtain his "Habeas Corpus, as well out of the Chan

cery or Exchequer, as out of the King's "Bench or Common Pleas ; and the Lord "Chancellor or Judges denying the same,

capital offence in the place to which they "are sent) shall be sent prisoner to Scot"land, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or any "places beyond the seas, within or without "the King's dominions: on pain that the party committing, his advisers, aiders, "and assistants shall forfeit to the party

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grieved a sum not less than 500l. to be "recovered with treble cests; shall be "disabled to bear any office of trust or "profit; shall incur the penalties of pre"munire; and shall be incapable of the "king's pardon." (Book III. ch. 8.) Drawing towards the end of his work, the. commentator thus concludes his account of the progress and completion of the restoration of English liberty. His words are well worth remarking. "Though the monarch," says he, speaking of King Charles the Second," in "whose person the royal government was. "restored, and with it our ancient con"stitution, deserves no commendation from "posterity" [not very grateful nor very decent), yet in his reign, the concurrence. "of happy circumstances was such, that, "from thence we may date, not only the "re-establishment of our church and mo"narchy, but also the complete restoration "of English liberty, for the first time. "since its total abolition at the conquest." [And yet the king deserves no commendation from posterity!" For therein not only "these slavish tenures, the badge of foreign "dominion, with all their oppressive ap

pendages, were removed from incumber

ing the estates of the subject; but also "an additional security of his person from

prison was obtained, by that great bul"wark of our Constitution, the Habeas "Corpus Act. These two statutes, with "regard to our property and persons form

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a second Magna Charta, as beneficial and "effectual as that of Runny Mead. That only pruned the luxuriances of the foedal

great measure enervated by gradual cus-"tom, and the interposition of our courts "of justice, Magna Charta only, in general "terms, declared, that no man shall be im"prisoned contrary to law: the habeas cor

pus act points him out effectual means, as "well to release himself, though committed "even by the King in council, as to punish