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you cannot be safe against BAD MINISTERS, nor can even Good Ministers be of use to you-No HONEST MAN can, according to the present system, be Minister."

"That corruption and patronage had overspread the land-that the King's name was frequently prostituted by his Ministers -that Majorities were found to support the worst measures, as well as the best that through Parliamentary Reform ALONE, we could have a chance of rescuing ourselves from a state of extreme peril and distress," was the solemn declaration of Mr. Fox.

To the eloquent and recent appeals of Mr. (now Lord) Grey, and to the Petition of the Society called the Friends of the People, praying for Parliamentary Reform, and which may now be found upon the table of the House of Commons, I need not call your Lordship's attention.

Nothing can be farther from my intention than to say any thing bearing the least semblance of unkindness to a man, whose intentions I believe to be perfectly upright, and whose sincerity is unquestionable; or I might here perhaps be allowed to ask your Lordship on what foundation these late changes have been made against the Friends of Reform? Whence these denunciations, which to many a mind may have given considerable pain, of persons seeking for visionary improvements, aud "raising the passions of the people by attempting to fill them with fancies which had no solid foundation."-To shew my Countrymen that the Reformers of England conceive they have "some foundation, and that a very solid one too," for the cause they have hitherto pursued, and in which I trust they will persevere to the end, is the only object of this letter; and I trust, after the statement I have made, that the friends of this measure will hear no more complaints on the score of " MODERN INNOVATION."

In endeavouring to effect this, I have not trusted to my own speculations and inquiries I have rather chosen to submit to your Lordship's view the learning and the researches of others. If I should have succeeded in condensing, without injuring its force-in giving it "a tangible shape in placing within every man's reach those valuable documents, in which he will find his great prerogative-his RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE in a FREE PARLIAMENT, recognised in the laws of his country-I shall feel satisfied in having done some trifling service to the cause I have espoused!

Your Lordship is reported to have said at Leeds-" If by Reform is meant the removal of any Corruption or Abuse, that may have crept into the mode of electing Members of Parliament; or any thing which affects its INDEPENDENCE, no man is more friendly to it than I am.'

Now, my Lord, is not Borough Patronage an abuse?-What says the great champion of your Lordship's favourite measure, the Revolution, Mr. Locke?-What says the Declaration of that Prince whose avowed intention it was to RESTORE the Constitution of England ?—What says the Bill of Rights itself!-To what purpose, if the present practice is constitutional, the first and solemn resolution passed when Parliament assembles, a resolution which as yet has never been impugned-"That for a Peer to INTERFERE in the election of a Member of Parliament, is a gross infringement of the Rights and Privileges of the Commons of Great Britain."-Is it not, my Lord, in direct opposition to these statutes and authorities that the supposed right is founded which gives to 182 individuals, in a population of fourteen millions of people, calling themselves free, the dangerous privilege of selecting a majority of those, whom they think best fitted to fulfil the great and sacred duties of legislation?

Perhaps it may be argued that the Borough Proprietors have an interest in serving their country, and that though they do nominate for Boroughs, they do not neglect the "common good." How the Patron sometimes finds his interest consulted by the disposal of seats, is very satisfactorily explained by Bubb Doddington in his Diary. And Doddington was possessed of all the qualities which are now considered necessary for a Legislature" a great Landholder-a great Officer in the Stateeminent for his knowledge, eloquence, and activity." (See Paley's Moral and Political Philosophy.)

"I believe (said this Right Hon. Patron) there were few who could afford to give His Majesty Six Members for nothing."

"Mr. Pelham declared that I had a good deal of MARKETABLE WARE (Parliamentary interest) and that if I would empower him to offer it to the King without conditions, he would be answerable to bring the affair to a good account.”—Pages 282, 308, Diary. What was this account?"The Treasureship of the Navy, he says,

Leeds Mercury, October 10, 1812.

the price of his seats."-Volgato imperii for that " THE BILL of RIGHTS, with every arcano!-What has happened, my Lord, preventive regulation which our ancestors once, may happen again-What has oc- with parental anxiety suggested in the days curred in one instance, may take place in of simplicity and truth, to guard the Freeone thousand. dom of Election, ought to be cast into the fire as waste paper and rubbish.

It is not, however, always the Patron's practice to dispose of his seats to his relatives or friends, or persons on whose integrity he can reckon.-They are a commodity in the market-they are avowedly and repeatedly on sale to the best bidder-the way, therefore, is as open to the monied adventurer as to the English Gentleman. Mr. Pitt roundly affirmed in his day, "That the emissary of a Tartar Prince had eight seats among the Commons of Great Britain," having thus an equal weight there with the County of Middlesex, and the Cities of London and Westminster. Now, my Lord, are these colours of sufficient force to paint this dreadful enormity? -What but a Parliamentary Reform can shield us from a repetition of these attacks? -For the same inlet through which the rupees of Mahomet Ali Khan, insinuated his Agents into St. Stephen's Chapel, are still open, and if your Lordship's arguments are valid, ought not to be shut against any intruder.

These two cases however cannot attach to your Lordship, for no man can harbour the remotest suspicion, that either your Lordship or your Lordship's family will ever act from interested motives. Let us then consider the last and only remaining case, let us suppose the Borough Patrons to be actuated solely by the purest and most undivided love of their country, still there are very forcible reasons why the power should not be lodged where it is at present. Great Property, my Lord, is not always coupled with sound judgment. The best of us, (and the Borough Proprietors are not exempt from the common lot) have our Partialities! For a variety of reasons, therefore, it is obvious, that the "Common Good" should not be at their disposal.

I shall pursue this subject no further. Upon the authority of our illustrious ancestors, who were the proud actors in that "great but necessary violation of the law," by the operation of which "a Tyrant was cashiered for misconduct," and upon the Bill they passed declaratory of an Englishman's rights, I fearlessly take my stand upon a rock, from which I trust "the puny breath of modern dialectics" will never be able to shake me. I contend either that the present practice is WRONG,

Your Lordship has often demanded of the friends of Reform, to what period they would revert to seek for the Constitution of England. The Reformers, my Lord, will make answer, and tell you that the real Constitution, only with a much greater latitude of suffrage than is now sought for, existed from the earliest times to the famous disfranchising act of the 8th of Henry 6th. Since it appears by the latest inquiry into the early history of our country, that the Norman Conqueror made little or no alteration in the civil government of the country,-(See Sir W. Jones's admirable speech on Parliamentary Reform, Vol. 5 of his works,) a speech which ought to be deeply studied by every friend to the measure; the speech of a man who was made up of religion, learning, and integrity; the speech of a man, of whom it was emphatically said, "that it was well for the world that he had been born."

The Reformers will tell you, my Lord, that it was lost both in theory and practice, during the distracted times of the latter period of the 15th century—that it was kept down by the tyranny of the Tudorsthat it spoke again, through its organ, the people, to two of the Princes of the house of Stewart-(see the Petition of RIGHT,) that its balance was "by the caprice and partiality of our Kings, from Henry 6th to Charles 2d gradually vested in the inferior boroughs"-(see the Yorkshire Memorial, 1782,) and that it would have effectually and proudly raised its head at the "Glorious Revolution," had not the Prince of Orange bullied those of whose lives, liberty, and property, he professed himself the friend and defender.

For the real history of the Bill of Rights, I must request your Lordship to turn to Ralph's History of England, Vol. 2, p. 52. Your Lordship will there find that the Bill of Rights was only the Bill declaratory of our rights, and that it was to have been followed up by another, making specific provision to carry these rights into effect, which was defeated by the Prince of Orange himself, who roundly declared, that if Parliament insisted so much on limitations, he would return to Holland, and leave them to the mercy of King James. Thus, my Lord, to use a homely expres

sion, The Bill of Rights was the Bill of Fare, but the dinner has not yet been served up!

tween us.

OFFICIAL PAPERS.

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English Bulletin.-(Continued from p. 574. That I should impute any improper moHaving learned that the enemy had octives to your Lordship, God forbid, but there may be an error of the judgment, as cupied the town of Wolokolamsk, threatenwell as of the heart; and I could not hearing by this movement my right flank, I the cause of Reform arraigned without immediately detached Colonel Benkendorff making the best efforts in my power to with the Cossacks of the guard, and the interpose in its behalf. To your Lord- regiment of Tchermosonboff. I ordered ship's arguments I have opposed those him to reconnoitre the enemy, and to drive which have confirmed me in my opinions; him away, if it be possible, from Wolokoboth are now before the public, and in lamsk. I ordered Colonel Jelowaiskoy not their present, as well as future views of to retire one step, that the enemy might In the this subject, that public must judge be- not perceive my movement. mean while, I have advanced with the whole of my detachment towards the town of Klin, and posted myself seven wersts off in the village of Davidofka, in order the better to support Colonel Benkendorff, and anticipate the enemy in his movements from Wolokolamsk towards Twer. Yesterday I received accounts from M. Benkendorff, that Wolokolamsk was only occupied by a part of the enemy, who have retired towards Roussa. I have ordered M. Benkendorff to post himself near Roussa, and to occupy the environs of Mojaisk: and then, after having joined the detachment of Major Prendell, to act upon all the roads which lead from Mojaisk towards the North,

In addressing this letter to your Lordship, I have only taken the liberty, I have only exercised the right which the meanest of your Lordship's constituents possesses; when a man's country is at stake, he is no friend to it who suffers ceremony to sway him. I have endeavoured, however, to discuss the point with all the temper such serious subjects require. I have not, I trust, for a moment, lost sight of that respect which I owe and feel to your Lordship's situation, public services, and private worth, and though I may be in an error, (which I must share, should that be the case, with some of the most famous Parliament Statesmen, Lawyers, Jurists, and Moralists that England ever knew;) yet I shall think myself well repaid for the attempt I have made, if in explaining the causes of the Political Faith which is in me," I shall have succeeded in persuading your Lordship, whose good opinion I very much value, that my mistake has not originated in thoughtlessness or vice.

I shall now, my Lord, bring this letter to a close, I have disburdened my mind, having, I trust, said enough to shew that Parliamentary Reform is not the " baseless fabric," your Lordship has represented it to be, and that a man, so long as any weight is attached to grave and virtuous authorities may entertain a conviction of its necessity, without labouring under the imputation of vanity or presumption."

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I have the honour to be,

MY LORD,
Very truly and faithfully yours,
WALTER FAWKES.

Farnley Mall,

Nov. 6, 1812.

-This very moment, I have received from M. Prendell the intelligence of his having already had some affairs with the enemy. I am convinced that the move, ments of Major Prendell were the cause of the abandonment of Wolokolamsk by the enemy, who, according to Major Prendell's report, suffered great loss. He has sent me thirty-six prisoners.- -To-morrow I shall myself advance towards the town of Woskreseuck, whence it will be easy for me to reinforce my advanced guard, which is at Tschernoy Grjas, as well as Benken dorff's detachment; at the same time I shall attain by this means my principal object, which is to cover Klein and Twer, as well as the road from Petersburgh.

Twenty-third Bulletin of the French Grand
Army.-Moscow, Oct. 9.

The advanced guard, commanded by the King of Naples, is upon the Nava, twenty leagues from Moscow. The enemy's army is upon the Kalouga. Some skirmishes have taken place for the last three days. The King of Naples has had all the advan

been able to console himself in the society
of the English Commissary, Wilson.
The Staff-Major will cause the details of the
battles of Smolensko and Moskwa to be

tage, and always driven the enemy from their positions. The Cossacks hover upon our flanks. A patrol of 150 dragoons, of the guard commanded by Major Marthod, has fallen into an ambuscade of the Cos-printed, and point out those who distin sacks, between the road of Moscow and guished themselves. We have just Kalougo. The dragoons sabred 300 of armed the Kremlin with 30 pieces of canthem, and opened themselves a passage; non, and constructed cheveaux de frize at but they left 20 men upon the field of all the entrances of it. It forms a fortress. battle, who were taken, amongst them is Bake-houses and magazines are established the Major, dangerously wounded. The in it. Duke of Elchingen is at Boghorodoek. The advanced guard of the Viceroy is at Troitsa, upon the road to Dmitrow.The colours taken by the Russians from the Turks, in different wars, and several curious things found in the Kremlin, have been sent off for Paris. We found a Madonna, enriched with diamonds: It has also been sent to Paris. We add here a statistical account of Moscow, which was found among the papers of the Palace.It appears that Rostopchin has emigrated. At Voronovo he set fire to his castle, and left the following writing attached to a post:

Twenty-fourth Bulletin of the Grand Army,

Moscow, Oct. 14, 1812.

General Baron Delzons has marched upon Dmitrow. The advanced guard of the King of Naples is upon the Nara, in the presence of the enemy, who is occupied. with refreshing his army, and completing it by means of the militia.

-The weather'

is still fine. The first snow fell yesterday. In twenty days we shall be in winter quar. ters.- -The Russian troops in Moldavia have joined General Tormazow, those of I have, for eight years, embellished this Finland have disembarked at Riga. They' country house, and I have lived happy in came out and attacked the 10th corps. it in the bosom of my family. The inha- They were beaten; 3,000 men were made. bitants of this estate, to the number of prisoners. The official account of this 1,720, quit it at your approach (1); and I brilliant combat, which does so much ho set fire to my house that it may not be pol-nour to General de Yorck, is not yet reluted by your presence. Frenchmen! Iceived.All our wounded have left have abandoned to you my two Moscow houses, with furniture, worth half a million of rubles; here you will only find ashes (2).

"COUNT FEDOR ROSTOPCHIN. "Voronovo, Sept. 29."

Smolensk, Minsk, and Mohilow; a great number are restored, and have rejoined their corps.Much private correspondence between Petersburgh and Moscow has, made known the situation of the empire. The project of burning Moscow was kept

secret.

The palace of Prince Kurakin is one of individuals knew nothing of it.The The greater part of the Nobles and those which has been saved from the fire. Engineers have drawn out a plan of the General Count Nansouty is lodged in it. city, marking the houses which have been -We succeeded, with great difficulty, saved from the flames. It appears that in withdrawing from the hospitals and there has only been saved from the confla houses on fire, a part of the Russian sick. There remains about 4,000 of these wretch-tenths of it no longer exist. gration the tenth part of the city. NineThe number of those who pe

ed men.

rished is extremely great. -We have had for the last eight days a warmer sun than is experienced at Paris at this season.

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Letter from M. Marcoff, Commandant of the Militia of the province of Moscow, to Count Rastapchin.

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Mojaisk, 24th Aug. (Sept. 5), 1812. On my arrival at Mojaisk the 21st Aug.

We do not perceive that we are in the North. The Duke of Reggio, who is at Wilna, has entirely recovered.-The enemy's General in Chief, Bagration, is(2d Sept.) the head-quarters were at eight dead of the wound which he received in wersts from this town. The line of the the battle of Moskwa. The Russian two united armies was at six wersts. The army disavows the fire of Moscow. The first army occupied the right, the second authors of this attempt are held in detesta- the left; the corps of reserve consists of 15 tion among the Russians.They consi- battalions.- -The Prince is determined to der Rostopchin as a sort of Marat. He has (To be continued.)

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'As illustrated in the Prosecution and Punishment of

WILLIAM COBBETT.

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In order that my countrymen and that the two sureties in the sum of 1,000 pounds each; world may not be deceived, duped, and cheated that the whole of this sentence has been executed upon this subject, I, WILLIAM COBBETT, | upon me, that I have been imprisoned the two of Botley, in Hampshire, put upon record years, have paid the thousand pounds TO THE the following facts; to wit: That, on the 24th KING, and have given the bail, Timothy Brown June, 1809, the following article was pub- and Peter Walker, Esqrs. being my sureties; lished in a London news-paper, called the that the Attorney General was Sir Vicary Gibbs, COURIER: The Mutiny amongst the LO the Judge who sat at the trial Lord Ellenborough, "CAL MILITIA, which broke out at Ely, was the four Judges who sat at passing sentence Ellen"fortunately suppressed, on Wednesday by the borough, Grose, Le Blanc, and Bailey; and that "arrival of four squadrons of the GERMAN the jurors were, Thomas Rhodes of Hampstead "LEGION CAVALRY from Bury, under the Road, John Davis of Southampton Place, James "command of General Auckland. Five of the Ellis of Tottenham Court Road, John Richards "ringleaders were tried by a Court-Martial, and of Bayswater, Thomas Marsham of Baker Street, "sentenced to receive 500 lashes each, part of which Robert Heathcote of High Street Marylebone, "punishment they received on Wednesday, and John Maud of York Place Marylebone, George a part was remitted. A stoppage for their knup- Bagster of Church Terrace Pancras, Thomas, "sacks was the ground of the complaint that ex- Taylor of Red Lion Square, David Deane of St, "cited this mutinous spirit, which occasioned John Street, William Palmer of Upper Street "the men to surround their officers, and demand Islington, Henry Favre of Pall Mall; that the The first Prime Ministers during the time were Spencer "what they deemed their arrears. "division of the German Legion halted yesterday Perceval, until he was shot by John Bellingham, and after that Robert B. Jenkinson, Earl of Li"at Newmarket on their return to Bury."That, on the 1st July, 1809, I published, in the verpool; that the prosecution and sentence took Political Register, an article censuring, in the place in the reign of King George the Third, and strongest terms, these proceedings; that, for so that, he having become insane during my impridoing, the Attorney General prosecuted, as sedi- sonment, the 1,000 pounds was paid to his son,, tious libellers, and by Ex-Officio Information, the Prince Regent, in his behalf; that, during my me, and also my printer, my publisher, and one imprisonment, I wrote and published 364 Essays of the principal retailers of the Political Register; and Letters upon political subjects; that, during that I was brought to trial on the 15th June, the same time, I was visited by persons from 197 1810, and was, by a Special Jury, that is to say, cities and towns, many of them as a sort of depuby 12 men ont of 48 appointed by the Master of ties from Societies or Clubs; that, at the expirathe Crown Office, found guilty; that, on the tion of my imprisonment, on the 9th of July, 1812, 20th of the same month, I was compelled to give a great dinner was given in London for the purbail for my appearance to receive judgment; pose of receiving me, at which dinner upwards of and that, as I came up from Botley (to which 600 persons were present, and at which Sir place I had returned to my family and my farm Francis Burdett presided; that dinners and other on the evening of the 15th), a Tipstaff went parties were held on the same occasion in many down from London in order to seize me, per- other places in England; that, on my way home, sonally; that, on the 9th of July, 1810, I, toge. I was received at Alton, the first town in Hampther with my printer, publisher, and the news-shire, with the ringing of the Church bells; that man, were brought into the Court of King's Bench to receive judgment; that the three former were sentenced to be imprisoned for some months in the King's Bench prison; that I was sentenced to be imprisoned for two years in Newgate, the great receptacle for malefactors, and the front of which is the scene of numerous hangings in the course of every year; that the part of the prison in which I was sentenced to be confined is sometimes inhabited by felons, that felons were actually in it at the time I entered it; that one man was taken out of it to be transported in about 48 hours after I was put into the same yard with him; and that it is the place of confinement for men guilty of unnatural crimes, of whom there are four in it at this time; that, besides this imprisonment, I was sentenced to pay a thousand pounds TO THE KING, and to give security for my good behaviour for seven years, myself in the sum of 3,000 pounds, and

a respectable company met me and gave me a
dinner at Winchester; that I was drawn from
more than the distance of a mile into Botley by
the people; that, upon my arrival in the village,
I found all the people assembled to receive me;
that I concluded the day by explaining to them
the cause of my imprisonment, and by giving
them clear notions respecting the flogging of the
Local Militia-men at Ely, and respecting the em-
ployment of German Troops; and, finally, which
is more than a compensation for my losses and all
my sufferings, I am in perfect health and strength,
and, though I must, for the sake of six children,,
feel the diminution that has been made in my
property (thinking it right in me to decline the
offer of a subscription), I have the consolation to
see growing up three sons, upon whose hearts, I
trust, all these facts will be engraven.

Botley, July 23, 1812.

WM. CORBETT.

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden.
LONDON: Printed by J. M'Creery, Black Horse-Court, Fleet-street.

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