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You and I can call to mind some
things, Sir, which might have given
birth to such an idea without any
nonstrous act of violence against rea-
and common sense.
Sir Francis
as frequently said, that the law com-
pelled him to be Member for West-
minster I always thought that this

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He has dealt in evasions. First, he | was out in the gallery. That was not enough; because why was he not in the House? Then he did not think it just to be found fault with for what he had not done. No, no! Mr. HUNT did not find fault with him for what he had not done; but for not having done that which he ought to have done!" Nolo Episcopari" was little suited The very use of this sophistical, and, to politics. But, at any rate, if the indeed, Jesuitical, phrase, was, of it- law really did compel him to be a self a proof, that there was no defence Member for Westminster, there certo be made. Now, at last, he cries tainly was no law to compel him out, that we wanted to make a puppet to get into a Grecian Car, and to be of him! Well! but, this puppet mak-drawn, with Minerva at his back ing work must have been confined to (long after the day of election) afew; and he, in order to shew his four or five miles through the streets high mindedness, abandons the whole of London! There was no compulmillion and a half of Reformers! Ision of a legal kind here. I thought, see you shake your head! and I still think, that the exhibition Moreover, if the puppet story be was useful and proper. There was a not all a mere pretence; if it be any little too much of refinement in it; thing better than Mrs. Slipslop's but, really, after having quietly suffermarry-come-ups," when she wanted himself to be jaunted about in this ed to pick a quarrel with her Lady; if the puppet story be any thing better than this, or than the valour of the hero in the play, who was so extremely jealous of his independence, that he refused to fight, and quietly took a good caning, because he had been challenged; that is to say, urged to fight; or, as Sir Francis might call it, attempted to be used as a puppet." If the puppet story be any thing more than this, surely we shall be permitted to ask, how it happens, that such a complaint has never been made by Sir Francis, or by any one in his behalf, before? He says, and has many times It is useless, my dear Sir, for you said, that he does not offer himself as to feel regret at this examination; and a candidate. He says he is forced to it is still more useless, if that be pos be a Member of Parliament. Hesible, for you to endeavour to heal holds that his constituents have a right to instruct him. Here, then, is pretty puppet work! But, how long has this puppet-idea had a place in his mind? Yes, my dear Sir, yon may say, that all this is plain enough. To you and me it is; but, not to all the world. And, it must be plain to every body, before I have done with the subject. How long, then, again I ask, is it since this puppet idea was engendered?

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manner, without the least apparent suspicion of being "used as a puppet," it is a little extraordinary, that such extreme jealousy, should on this score, exist now. He did not appear to think himself used as a puppet, when the Middlesex crowds were dragging him to and from Brentford. He, in short, never started the idea, till he heard himself accused of not having done that which I say, and which his undaunted accuser said, it was his duty to do. It was then, and never till then, that the idea of puppetism came into his mind.

these sores. They never can be healed, except by Sir Francis's frank acknowledgement of error, and his distinct pledge to labour for the Reform that we propose, and for which the people petitioned. The very mention, in the heads of the pamphlet which I have been noticing; the very mention here of the_absence of Lord Cochrane on Sir Francis's motion; this alone convinces me, that

are you to derive aid from Sir Francis, who, in meaning and in distinct proposals, says it all; and who has said it, too, while the petitions of a million and a half of men prayed for the contrary!

No: a separation must take place: it has taken place. It has always happened thus in every great public cause; in every struggle against ty ranny. Some men, very ardent for a while, become cool. They drop off. They sometimes become opponents; and, then they are sure to accuse their former associates of going too far, of being too violent. It was thus in the days of the tyrant Stuarts; but, the

nothing can be said in defence of the latter gentleman. You well know, that all the Reformers scouted the idea of such a motion, as trifling, degrading, and mischievous, and it was Lord Cochrane's duty, if present, to have spoken of it as such. His Lordship, therefore, thought it prudent to be absent. Had I been in his place, I should have been present, and should have exposed all the folly and all the mischief of such a motion. Lord Cochrane's motion, from which Sir Francis was absent, was a defence of the Reformers, and intended as the ground work of a stand against the Bourbon Bills. Sir Francis's motion was no defence, but a clear abandon-cause jogged on! and the tyrants were ment of us, by implying a doubt of the justice of our demands; and, it was, too, brought on long and long after we were dungeoned and gagged. But, at any rate, supposing Lord Cochrane to have neglected his duty, what does that say in defence of Sir Francis? If any thing, it makes against him; for, what might not any man be tempted to do in the way of neglect, with the example of Sir Francis before his eyes? To lament this falling back is useless, but to act upon the hope of bringing Sir Francis up again to the mark, is a great deal worse than useless; for then we shall give up those principles, by which we have gained, and by which alone we can preserve, the hearty co-operation of all the sound and energetic part of the peo-but it will have no effect as to the reple. Will you give up the point of sult, and it will daily become of less Universal Suffrage? Will you agree and less importance. Events and cirto deprive of their rights more than cumstances create men, and men, in one half of the people, and those their turn, create events and circumpeople, too, who pay the largest por- stances. This defection, by setting peotion of the taxes, and who really fight ple to think; by making them speak the battles of the country? Will you freely, by leading to inquiries into what say to the Journeymen and Labour-Sir Francis has really done, and what "You are too insignificant to be "allowed to vote; but you shall, at "all times, be liable to be compelled "to fight for the security of gentlemen's estates." Will you say this? Excuse my asking the question even in the way of figure. I know you never will say this; and, how, then,

ers:

brought upon their knees in the end. The Boroughmongers are acting the part now which the Stuarts acted in those days; and the end of the former will be very much like that. of the latter, unless justice is done to the nation in a very short space of time. The defection of Sir Francis Burdett, who now calls our base calumniator his "learned and honourable friend," and who leaves your character, which had been aspersed by this impudent lawyer, to be manfully defended by my LORD GROSVENOR, who had never had the honour to know you personally, but who had heard your fame sounded in the nation's unanimous voice: this defection, Sir, will be an incident in the history of this struggle;

other men might and would have done, if they had been in his place: the defection will, by these means, create new men; while the people at large will, by the same means, be taught what sort of men it is that they can safely confide in; or rather, they will be taught, that they can safely confide

in nothing but their own exertions and watchfulness. Vain indeed, vanity of vanities, is the thought, that the cause depend for success on Sir Francis Burdet, or on any other man. I should, indeed, regard your death, at this time, as a very great national ca. lamity. But, if the nation's cause could be supposed to depend upon even your life, a thing so uncertain would not be worth contending for. That man must have heard your precepts with a very inattentive ear, who would feel discouraged by the death or the defection of any man. To oppose us Sir Francis has no power. In the ranks of our enemies of either faction he can carry only a dagger of lath and prime without a charge. The People are to him what the hairs were to the son of MANOAH. Deprived of the People, he is frail as a rush; and, without boldly contending for their rights, he cannot have the People.

grasp

who know so much, will easily see that
this is an event of very great import-
ance; but, your mind must have it
under undivided contemplation for
some time, in order to be able to
it in all its extent. Here is going to
take place a new distribution of wealth
and power amongst nations. If trea-
son, base treason, do not prevail in
England, she will fairly and honour-
ably receive nine tenths of that wealth
and power; while she will have the
glory of having given and insured free-
dom to twenty millions of people, the
most oppressed in the world. And,
is all this to be cast aside, lest Holy
Alliances abroad and Passive Obedi
ence at home should receive a deadly
blow? If this should be the case, I
shall hope to live to see the day, when
I shall have an opportunity of mould-
ing my Petition into Articles of Im-
peachment; not an opportunity of
talking of this; but, an opportunity of
doing it in good earnest.
I send you
an ACT, passed by the Congress of the
United States, in March last, relative
to the Spanish Colonial Revolution.
You, who refused to serve in the Navy
of your native country (in which
Navy you had fought under HAWKE)
when that Navy was to be employed
against the North American Colonists,
whom you regarded as men contend-
ing for their rights, will read this Acr
with great sorrow; and, while the

It was my intention to have remarked here at some length on the base conduct of the Boroughmongers with regard to Spanish America; but, not having room, I must defer this task. This I do with the less regret, as I have sent forward, some time back, a Petition * from myself to the Regent upon this most important subject, which, unless instantly attended to in a proper manner, I have directed to be published, that the nation may clearly see how, in this new and strik-fourth clause will leave no doubt in ing instance, the interest, the honour, the present and future prosperity and the present and future safety and glory of the country, and of the king's family and crown, are all sacrificed to the particular interests of a band of Boroughmongers. In this Petitioning for the accomplishment of that have clearly shown, that nothing but the dread of the effects of free principles of government can possibly prevent the English government from instantly interfering. All sorts of advantages, and all of immense magnitude, are tendered to England in the Inde pendence of Spanish America. You,

*Published in the Register in No. 38, Vol. 32, December 27th, 1817.

your mind as to the real object of the whole Acт, you will, with me, though thoroughly disposed to find apologies, be unable to discover, in any policy, in any probabilities of future rivalship, grounds sufficient to justify the seek

object. I am aware, my dear Sir, `of the offence, which I shall, by this part of my labours, give to SOME persons in the United States; and I foresee this, I assure you, with feelings of great concern; because it was my anxious wish to avoid giving offence to any description of persons. But, the Old Norman maxim has always been mine: "Fait ce qu'il faut, ar"rive ce qu'il pourra." Which an

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of a trial; but, the exposure of the infamous spy-system has done as much as the Juries, have done. The real traitors are caught in the toils of their own treason. The very Boroughmongers must tremble at the thought of a permanent dependence on the bayonet. So that 1 should now haye no apprehension of the dungeon; because such an act of execrable despotism could not take place unless a

swers to what I have so often heard you pronounce: "Let us do our "duty, and leave the rest to God." I have chosen a Petition to the Prince as the channel of my opinions upon this important subject; first, because it was my duty to lay my opinions before him, he being the official Chief of the nation; second, by insuring the actual delivery of the Petition to the Secretary of State, I lay the ground, for just accusation against the Minis-military government were at once esters, if they neglect their obvious duty in this respect; third, in a paper having this form and address, I was likely to be more careful, not only as to my language, but as to my statements and reasonings. It would be improper for me to publish the Petition here, because, until it has been presented to the Prince, or, at least, until it has been tendered to the Secretary of State, to publish it would be a mark of disrespect to the personage to whom it is addressed. But, I shall have no objection to its being published here, by and by; for, I hope, I shall never put upon paper any thing, of which I ought to be ashamed.

There are some things mentioned in your letter, which I must notice in a future Number. In the meanwhile I pray you to accept of my best thanks for your communications, and to remain well assured, that my return to England, whenever it shall happen, will lose much of its delight if unaccompanied with the prospect of again seeing you and profiting from your society. All under my roof join me in those sentiments of friendship and respect, with which I remain,

Your faithful

tablished; and, when once the thing were wholly in the hands of our friends, the Soldiers, I should look upon the day of justice as being close at hand.-But, here I am in safety, and being here, I will now finish several works, which I have long since begun, and which, if I do not finish them now, I am sure I never shall. It is, at present, my opinion, that I shall go home in about a year from this time; but, if a general election should be expected, I do not know that I may not go sooner. If the electors of some city or town should think that they have the power to choose their Members; if they should see, at last, that stocks and

stones are of no use in the seats of parliament; if they should see, that

the yea-and-no gentry are little better than stocks and stones; if they should be weary of talkers and be desirous of having doers; and if they should only say to me, that I should have an even chance; in this case I in a short time, offer myself in distinct would go home immediately. I shall, terms to the people of a City in the middle of England, to whom I am, in some degree pledged. I shall have, as yet, no very sanguine hopes of success. But, I am ready. Conscious as I feel of my power to serve my country in the capacity of Member of Parliament, it is my duty to offer myP.S. You tell me, that I may "now self, and to state specifically what I return with perfect safety". I believe will do if placed in that capacity. so, thanks to the integrity and reso- There requires only about half a dolution of the Juries, who have baulk-zen men of talent, industry, and pered the blood-hounds. Indeed, I severance, to make Corruption's life never feared any thing in the shape miserable, to worry the hag out of her

And most obedient servant,

WM. COBBETT.

1

senses, to drive her to cut her own throat, or, at least, to disgorge her plunder. But, nothing is to be done without industry. There is no use in loose talk, however fine and however loud. It must be do as well as talk, and all must be to the purpose. There must be something, to be remembered, done almost every day. The hag must have a blister stuck upon every part of her carcass. To do this would cost me very little trouble, as I have all the blisters ready prepared. Most of them I have had by me for a long while. They were got ready for other operators, who, from a want of nerves, or a want of industry and decision, have never used them, notwithstanding they solemnly pro- | mised to use every one of them. It has happened to me, more than twenty times (how many more I do not know, but I am sure, more than twenty, and, I might say more than a hundred) to be earnestly requested to get a blister ready; and, after I had prepared it with infinite labour and care; after I had seen it taken away with all apparent eagerness and haste to apply it; after all this, and after repeated exultations, on the part of the operators, as to the promised effects of it; after all this, it has, more than a score of times, happened to me,

never to hear another word of my blister! We have been, my dear Sir, in a bad habit: blisters should be applied by the same hands that prepare them; and, if the people of any city or town should have a fancy to see mine applied, and to see Corruption staring, jumping mad, they have only to let me know their wish.- However, there is one thing, which, if I have life and health, I am resolved to do, while in this country: to write an Account of the Life, Labours and Death of that famous Englishman, THOMAS PAINE; and, perhaps, to collect and republish the whole of his writings complete in a Cheap form, and with some explanatory notes to the Rights of Man particularly. I am here now upon the spot. I have within my reach all the means of correct information. There are only Long Island Sound and a very few miles of land between me and the . spot where he died. Justice to his memory, justice to the cause of freedom, justice to the country that gave him birth, justice to his friends on both sides the Atlantic, demand at my hands an earnest endeavour to perform this task in a manner worthy of the subject.

ERROR. In No. 3, folio 81, line 8; instead of will, read well.

Entered at Stationers' Hall.

Printed and Published the and lon WM. JACKSON, 80, 11, Newcastle Street, Strand; and Sold Wholesale and Retail, No. 19%, Strand, London.

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