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neral, and in particular their own countrymen, out of the taxes exacted from whom they are paid the amount of that hire?

The two principal Magazines are the "Gentlemen's," and the "Monthly," the independence of which latter, after having cost the editor, Sir Richard Phillips, a large portion of all he possessed in the world, after having brought . upon him all the weight of Bank and Government persecution, has still been upheld, the weight of talent and of useful matter being too great to be overcome even by such weighty means. This work has a wide circulation and numerous readers; and though it is a kind of work for which I myself have not much taste, I venture to say, that any one who wishes to receive an English Magazine, will, in this, find a great deal of enter taiment, much really curious and useful matter, perfect impartiality, with no bad principle, and as much good as the editor dares to put in print.

every man, who has at all signalized himself as an oppressor or robber of the people. I need not say, that the editor is rewarded. He is one of the government printers, with a profit, perhaps, of two or three thousand pounds a year, which profits he would instantly lose if one article in his Magazine were hostile to his employers.

The other Magazines, of which there is a rabble too numerous even to name, are all more or less under a similar influence. One inserts all the articles that the Bank wishes to have published; another is devoted to the Admiralty; another to the East India Company; another to the puritans in the Church; another to those out of the Church; another to the princes and princesses, and so on ; there being, I verily believe, not one, which is not under undue influence of some sort or other, except that of Sir Richard Phillips, and that is under the influence of fear of the Church and of the Treasury, the Attorney General being always at hand to answer, in the most conclusive manner, any thing that Sir Richard may incautiously publish to the prejudice of either of these precious establishments.

The GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE is principally in the hands of the Church, and slavish to the last degree. It is, however, as stupid as it is slavish. It appears, when you look into it without attending to dates and names, to have been To expose all the particular written in the time of Laud or acts of corruption, appertaining Jeffries. There is little of vio-to the press, is a task not to be lence in it; but, monk-like, when performed in a narrow space. To ever it deviates from downright assert without stating particulars, dullness, it is only to discover its would be unsatisfactory. For the malignity towards toleration and facts, which I state, I pledge myfreedom. A great part of its pages self; and, therefore, I will state, are filled with an account of deaths, no fact, on this, or on any other which is written in a style to ren- subject, which has not come withder even the king of terrors more in my own knowledge, or which is than ordinarily terrific; yet, the not as notorious in England as the work is here true to its principles. burning of the buildings at WashIn this list of the exploits of death ington is notorious in America. is eulogized to the third heaven,To render my statement useful it

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must be precise and full; and, therefore, for the present, I must confine myself to much fewer instance than I intended when I began this article, with a promise, however, to return to the subject on some future occasion.

That amours of our great men are sometimes pretty handsomely paid for by the people has been clearly shown in the history of the Duke of York and Mrs. Clarke, in the pensions which we now pay to the natural children of the late Mr. Fox, and to the daughter of Lord Dunmore, (Lady Augusta Murray,) who was married illegally by the Duke of Sussex, which are three instances out of perhaps, hundreds, that might be pointed out with time for the task, and materials at hand.

sary to do something in order to choke off this ferocious enemy of Cupid. After a long negotiation, during which the virtue of Benjafield struggled against the wiles of the little god, the latter, finding blandishments to be of no avail, levelled at his antagonist an annuity of three hundred a year for life, besides the purchase money of the Morning Pest, and a commission as a Justice of the Peace in the county of Suffolk. This triple-headed arrow brought down the virtue of Benjafield, who thus became a country 'Squire, soon married a rich lady, in the same county, and got possession of a fine estate. Fortunately for him, as he thought, but unfortu nately as it finally proved, the lady had a relative (also with a good estate) who became insane, and as she was his nearest of kin, Benjafield, in her right, put in his claim to have the care of this in

But the case I am going to mention, is one connected with the press, and, therefore, claiming a place here. At the time when the amour be-sane person, and to manage his tween the Prince of Wales and Mrs. estate for him. The other relaFitzherbert was at its height, the tives not relishing this, applied to Morning Post newspaper levelled, the Court of Chancery to set this very frequently, a paragraph at claim aside, upon the ground the lady's reputation. That pa- that Benjafield was a person per was under the control chiefly of frail virtue; in support of of a man named Benjafield. Many which they brought forward those attempts were made to soften the proofs of the victory of Cupid asperity of this gentleman; but, above-mentioned. The Lord he being, like Fielding's post-Chancellor decided in favour of chaise boy, a person of high vir- the applicants. But, this deci tue, that is to say, of virtue of high price, he persevered in his cruel inuendoes. It became, at Jast, however, absolutely neces

sion, being contrary to the usual custom, excited curiosity in Suffolk; curiosity led to inquiry;

the facts became known, and ous act of making such a man a

Justice of the Peace, possessing such vast powers as Justices of Peace now possess in England; powers extending to fine, to imprison, and even to transport. There are still some Gentlemen left in this station, of which we have a proof in the refusal to sit with Benjafield; but, I leave the reader to judge of the profligacy, the insolence, the contempt of all moral considerations and of pub

some gentlemen of fortune and spirit, Justices of the Peace, refused to sit on the same bench with Benjafield, who was thus, in some sort, banished to his estate. A very short paragraph, mentioning this occurrence, appeared in the County Herald, published by a Mr. WHEBLE. Benjafield (it was in 1812) brought an action against Mr. Wheble.lic opinion, at which the governThe latter pleaded in justification;ment must be arrived before it he summoned Lord Moira and others as witnesses, who proved the truth of all the facts; and having employed a spirited young barrister whose name was HOLT, he gave Benjafield and whole cret such a drubing, that the jury, which was composed of London Merchants, and not of the hired special men of Middlesex, gave a verdict for the defendant, in spite of a posi-end Editor to fight a duel, which the tive charge of the Judge to find for the plaintiff.

the

could think of delegating such ex-
tensive powers over the property
and
persons of the people to such
a man as Benjafield.

As a sort of companion piece to Benjafield, I will take the Reverend Bate Dudley. This gentleman started in public life as the editor of a paper, called The World. He wrote scandalous articles against Lady Strathmore, who had refused the addresses of a Mr. Bowes. Bowes challenged the Rever

latter accepted. They fought. Fortunately no lives were lost, and Bowes got Lady Strathmore, or, rather, her fortune, as the price of his gallantry in defence of her reputation. The villain, unable to strip the lady of her last guinca, used her in a very brutal manner, for which he was imprisoned for want of bail, and in prison ended his infamous life. The Revcrend Gentleman continued with great

But, what is the result? The annuity was to be paid by the Prince; and, as the parliament voted the payment of his debts out of the public money, this annuity, being one of those debts, actually continues to be paid by the people to this day. This, however, bad as it is, falls short of the outrage-suceess his trade in paragraphs; and

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and a Baronet of the United Kingdom; and, just, at this time, Gamble died, thereby surrendering to him possession of his rich living at Bradwell in Essex. Thus is this notorious priest, this reverend duellist, this partisan of the basest injustice and cruelty, become, solely through the means of a newspaper, devoted without any reserve to the government, the possessor of two livings, a Dignitary in the Church of England, a Justice of the Peuce, and a Baronet, the last being a hereditary title, and, of course, to descend to his heirs.

desirous, apparently, of redeeming in some degree, the pledge he had solemnly given at his ordination, when he declared that he "felt himself called by the Holy Ghost to enter on the "cure of souls," he purchased a living in the County of Essex, where, in consequence of the loyalty of his paper, then become the Morning Herald, the government made him a Justice of the Peace. Thus busily employed in taking care both of souls and bodies in Essex, and in inculoating loyalty in London, what was his surprise to find that the Bishop of London had discovered the purchase of his living to Now, without going into more parhave been a simoniacal contract. ticulars at present, is it possible for any He was compelled, for the life of just man to say, that these facts ought not to be known to the world? the next possessor, to give up the Will any Englishman, who shall read living, the bishop, Porteus, being inex-this, say, that it ought not to be orable, and the Duke of York wanting the living for his chaplain, Gamble. The Reverend Rector, thus robbed of his living (for in fact it was a robbery under the pretext of sanctity) for the life of Gamble, when it would revert to him or his heirs, set to work to seek a compensation. He first obtained a good liv. ing in Ireland; but having taken in his Lewspaper, a decided part against the Princess of Wales, in the last grand dispute; having blackened her and defended her husband through thick. and thin, he became a visitor at Carlton House; was made an Archdeacon, in Ireland, (poor, insulted Ireland)

made public? And will any man, with pretensions to common sense, profess to believe, that a press thus sustained, thus infuenced, thus rewarded, is not was inflicted on a nation? And yet, I one of the greatest scourges that ever am sorry to see, because it is a reproach to America, that there are not wanting writers in that country to join our insulting oppressors in censuring and calumniating those who fall under their grasp, and who are punished without mercy for endeavouring to arrest this torrent of corruption and WM. COBBETT. tyranny.

Error in No. 21.' The line at the bottom of column 661 ought to have come in between the two bottom lines of the succeeding column.

Entered at Stationers' ball.

Printed and Published by and for WM. JACKSON, No. 11, Newcastle Street, Strand; and Sold Wholesale and Retail, No. 192, Strand, London.

Vol. 33, No. 23.---Price Two Pence.

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER.

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To

ᏢᎪᎡᎢ .

LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1818.

LETTER III.

North Hampstead, Long Island, 9th April, 1818. FRIENDS AND FELLOW-COUN

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resolved to enter on it; for, I have.
no notion of putting off the matter
'till all is ruined by confusion. You
recollect how the infamous petty

TO MESSRS. BENBOW, EVANS SENR.
EVANS JUNR. JOHN ROBERTS,
JOHN SMITH, FRANCIS WARD,
JOHN JONSON, JOHN KNIGHT, tyrants, the Noblesse of France
SAMUEL BROWN, JOHN BAGUELLY, acted. The moment they found,
AND THE REST OF THOSE, WHO that they could no longer keep the
HAVE ACTED THE SAME NOBLE people in the state of cattle, they
resolved to tear the country to
pieces; and, there is now no doubt
in the mind of any well-informed
man, that it was they, aided by
English gold, the fruit of the peo-
ple's labour, who set to work
ROBESPIERRE and most of the
rest of the savages who disgraced
the French Revolution. My wish
is, and I know it is yours, that we
may obtain our just rights, without
any other change. But, as I, for
one, am resolved to have those
rights, or to die during my

TRYMEN,

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efforts to obtain them, I think

In my two former Letters, addressed to you, I have caught at objects as they arose before me, rather than aimed at any thing like a regular train of arguing. It is my intention to submit to you, as fully as my time will permit, and as clearly as my head will enable me, the thoughts which I entertain on the sub-it prudent to be prepared for ject of that important Right, the all contingencies; and, as I have Right of Resisting Oppression, thought a great deal upon the and also upon the means of Re- subject of the means of preventsistance, lawful and proper to be ing any villains from playing the used by those who are oppressed. part in England, which the NoAnd, in addition, I shall, before blesse played in France, I will I have concluded my correspon- frankly and undisguisedly put dence, or, rather series, lay be- those thoughts upon paper. Some fore you my ideas respecting what people will call this a very imought to be done, when the day of prudent step; but, there may be freedom and justice shall arrive. cases, when to be frank is the Ticklish as this subject is, I am height of prudence; and this is,

Printed by W. Jackson, 11, Newcastle-street, Strand.

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