justice, that divinity on earth, as Sheridan has sublimely pourtrayed her, "august and pure, the archetype of all that is perfect in the spirit and aspirings of man, where the mind rises, where the heart expands, where the countenance is ever placid and benign," (not the savus ille vultus et rubor a quo se contra pudorem muniebat,), "where her favourite attitude is to stoop to the unfortunate, to hear their cry, and to help-them; to rescue and relieve; to succour and save; majestic from mercy, vene rable from utility, uplifted without pride, firm without obstinacy, beneficent in each preference, lovely though in her frown, deliberate and sure, abstracted from all party purpose and political speculation*."Perhaps, we say, Judges of this higher order of mind, not menial minds, who, by a sudden gust of good fortune, have heen raised into a situation, in which they can scarcely look upon their robes, without exclaiming, like Christophero Sly, when he wakened in his bed of state, "how the devil did I get here?"but men endowed with a reach of thought that can look a long way before, and after-perhaps we say, SUCH MEN, Would not think their duty fully performed in summing up evidence, delivering a charge, giv. ing sentence upon a criminal, and then hurrying to their dinner, but might think it proper, as they deeline not to report to the fountain of mercy on the case of the criminal individual, to make at this momentous time, a full, clear, and comprehensive REPORT to the LEGISLATURE on the case of their criniinated coUNTBY. A court of exchequer chamber could not be assembled on a more worthy purpose, that, in the high In this description we think we see the lard-chief-justice DOWNES. independence of their impartial offices, and with the experienced futility of special commissions in reaching the source of the evil, to make a thorough developement of the real,though remote causes of these opprobrious insurrections, and rather, far rather, than prompt the re-enactment of the penal code, to stand as a mediatorial and intercessory power between the offended legisla ture, and the miserable people. And thus to save from the dreadful, and ever to be deprecated visitation of LAW MARTIAL, their native land, their seats of justice, their adored constitution, their liberties, their privileges, and possibly, their lives. It has been, and it continues to be, our firm persuasion, that the prime remedy for those disgrateful evils, lies in the political emancipation, or complete incorporating adoption of our catholic countrymen ; and that until that æra arrive, there will be a periodic necessity of these special commissions, which hold up from time to time, such documents of terror and repulsion, to the other parts of the empire. There is a sympathy which takes place throughout the whole catholic body, kept as it is in a distinct state of existence, and, if we may use the term, individualized, the more, by their political exclusion. Far be it from us to suppose that there is the smallest overt, or secret connection of an illicit nature, between the superior and inferior orders in that body. All that we presume to say, is, that the unhappy consequences of a general dissatisfaction, may operate as a sort of negative encouragement to those partial excesses. The lowest order may deceive others, and perhaps be deceived themselves, into the persuasion, that they too are acting for the common cause; and there is a silence, an inaction, an indifference among the higher orders, which is, and always will be, liable to misconstruction by the multitude. any catholic No-God forbid that of any common feeling or understanding, should instigate to such disgraceful acts of licentiousness, but let us, in the common sympathies of our nature, translate ourselves into the catholic bosom, and then, in the closet of our hearts, ask ourselves, shall we, excluded from all trust and confidence in our native land, put forth all our exertions, our utmost efforts, to mollify and assuage, or are we silent and indignant, to stand by, perhaps with a degree of internal satisfaction, at the perplexities and en barrassment of an administration that knows only to repel by punish ment, not to concentrate by conciliation. Alas such is human uature. It will make choice of this latter alternative. But if, on the other hand, there was a proper, and natural communion of political offices, the satisfaction of the superior orders, would gradually, but not slowly, make its way through the whole mass; a healing process would begin to take place from that instant; an active and efficacious interference and influence of the superior classes of catholics would soon become conspicuous in its effects; and special commissions would be wholly superceded by the uniform and easy application of the usual circuit judicatures. Partial and penal law would then gave place to that law, (better entitled to the appellation,) in which the object and the will are both universal. It is not for us to speculate upon the motives which have induced the Prince Regent, instead of acting for himself, and we must add for the people, to act merely as the temporary deputy of his royal father. That people will, we trust, give him the largest credit for good intentions; and perhaps even good wishes, in such a situation might be so far embodied, as would, in no small degree, contribute to the salvation of this part of the empire. Nothing we firmly believe is so much wanting, as a mutual respect between the two kingdoms, which may remove the haughty contempt, on the one part, and the hoarded hatred on the other. We are fully conscious, that we are able only to cast a pebble into a pool; but were we powerful to influence the tide of the times, as the moon does the tide of the ocean, we should say to Englishmen-Reverence Ireland, if you have any regard to yourselves; not with that reverence due to boys ("reverentia sit pueris") not that respect due to women, but with that honourable and dignified beisance, which a man owes to his equal man, which a Briton owes to the co-heirs of Magna Charta. We anxiously look around for some means that might avert impending miseries. The presence of the Prince Regent himself, for a short season, would do much, but if that be incompatible with duties supposed superior, might not a PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION be appointed, under the auspices of the Regent, which might repair to Ireland, be fully informed as to its wants and wishes, and then report the truth, THE WHOLE TRUTH and nothing but the truth, to the supreme authority of the empire--We have had committees on the state of the coin, let us have one on the state of this country. Let not an Irishman be a member of this commission. We should rejoice, as Irishmen and members of the empire, to see five men named on such a commission; for example, Lord Erskine, the Primate of Ireland, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Whitbread, and sir Francis Bardett, sacrificing all political and religious differences at the altar of their country, and join ing their heads, their hearts, and their best endeavours really to accomplish an honourable and faithful union between the yet dissevered portions of the empire. On the whole there is, we think, subject for hope, that even the personal influence of the prince, may infuse a spirit of amity, and conciliation into the measures of government. We think we can discover several symptoms of this more moderate tone, in the speech of the Regent to parliament, particularly with respect to America. Lord Liverpool in his speech goes so far as to observe, "In the maintenance of our own rights, some incidental effects might take place, but these were merely incidental, and never directed against any particular power whatever." If this passage alludes to the new interpretation of blockade, which extends the application of that term to an indefinite line of coast, before restricted to the place actually invested, it certainly seems a striking infringement on the rights of a neutral power, and America appears to be, at present, the only neutral, and therefore the particular power only meant in Lord Liverpool's observation. The power of the British navy is so great and extensive, that it has in this, as is too often the case, been taken for the right, and the maritime rights, or powers (for they appear synonimous) which Britain lays claims to, in iuing an interdict of all trading communication with any extent of coast or country she may think proper, by an order of council, to designate, appears completely to place all the rights of the neutral, under the will of the belligerent, indeed to annihilate them altogether. America hitherto appears to have held an impartial, and by no means a fraudulent neutrality; she has not associated herself in the war, nór given warlike succours to one of the belligerents in prejudice of the other. She therefore claims in all articles not contraband, that is, in all commodities not particularly used in war, that liberty of trade which is the result of the law of nations, and which forms the acknowleged right of neutral states. the truth is, that in the progress of war, not only the usual signification of words, but the natural distinction of things is lost or forgotten. But As right and power are confounded by the all-powerful, so it soon happens, that common goods which have no relation to war, are no longer distinguished from those peculiarly subservient to it; whole coasts are put under an arbitrary and illegitimate blockade; and all trade is prohibited as much as if contrabund, from a whole territory, as it used to be from a besieged town, and thus in the end, neutrality loses its appro priate meaning. In this confusion of words, and things, the spirit of hostility, far from relating solely to military transactions, is carried into the whole reciprocal intercourse of nation with nation, and of man with man. Thus the independence, the rights of sovereignty, and supreme dominion of the neutral nation, become compromised; The neutral is placed in the state of a passive belligerent, suffering all the inconve niencies of a state of hostility, in regard to its intercourse with other nations, without any expectation of benefit from the result of the war. this If then the maritime rights of great Britain necessarily include right of indefinite blockade, we know not how it is possible to prevent America, who protests against this latter right or claim as contrary to the law and usage of nations, from falling into the scale of France, renouncing her neutrality and conspiring in the non-import agreement of the European continent-the great object of Bonaparte. But from Lord Liverpool's declaration abovementioned, we should hope, that this system of paper blockading, as it is called in Ainerica, is to be modified away, and then, and then only, we shall have ground to renew the relations of a mity with that power. DOCUMENTS. LONDON ADDRESS TO THE PRINCE TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF "MAY IT PLEASE YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, "We, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the city of London, in Common Council assembled, most humbly approach your Royal Highness with the warmest assurances of the affectionate attachment to your Royal Person, and unshaken adherence to those sacred principles which seated your family upon the throne of this realm; fully convinced that those principles afford the best security to the honour and dignity of the sovereign, and the rights and interests of the people. "Whilst we offer to your royal highness our sincere condolence upon the severe visitation with which it has pleased divine providence to afflict our most gracious sovereign, which has occasioned a suspension of the royal functions, it is with heart felt consolation, that, in common with all ranks of our fellow-subjects, we behold in the person of your Royal Highness a prince highly endowed, and eminently qualified to exercise the regal duties...a prince who has so greatly endeared himself to the people, by his moderation and forbearance on various trying occasions, and the attachment he has so uniformly shewn to their rights and liberties. "Had indeed, the desire and expecta tion of the united kingdom been realized' by vesting in your royal highness the full powers of the executive authority, we should have had just cause for congratulation, confident as we feel that those powers would have been wisely and beneficially exercised, to enable us to meet the extraordinary exigencies of so perilous a crisis. Deeply impressed with a sense of the mauy and great difficulties, which, with powers so limited, your royal highness must have to encounter in the discharge of duties so arduous, and feeling towards your royal highness the fullness of that loyal affection, which, in deeds as well as in words, we have so long demonstrated towards your royal father and family, we would fain have forborne to cloud the dawn of our intercourse with your royal highness by even a glance at our griev ances, manifold and weighty as they are, but duty to our sovereign, duty to our country, the example of our forefathers, justice to posterity, the fame and the safety of the kingdom, all, with voice imperious, forbid us to disguise our though or to smother our feelings. the necessary "Far be it from us, insulted as the corporation of this ancient (and at all former times, respected) city has recently been by the servants of the crown; far be it from us to indulge in complaints of grievances peculiar to ourselves, ready and willing as we are, to share in a burdens and all the dangers It is of general grievof our country. ances, grievances sorely felt in all ranks of life; of accumulated and ever accumulating taxation, rendered doubly grievous by the oppressive mode of exaction, and of the encreased and increasing distress and misery therefrom arising, of the im provident expenditure of the immense sums thus wrung from industry and labour; of the waste of life, and of treasure, in ill-contrived and ill-conducted expeditions; of the attempts, which for many years past, and especially within the last three years, have been made, and with but too much success, to crush public liberty in all its branches, and especially the liberty of freely discussing the conduct of public men, and the nature and tendency of public measures. "Can we refrain from humbly expressing our complaints, when we have seen those ministers who have so long usurped the royal authority, and who, it is now discovered, have, by practising the most criminal deception upon the parliament and the people, carried on the government during his Majesty's former incapacity, exerting their influence to degrade the kingly office-when we have seen measures adopted, evincing the most unfounded jealousy and mistrust of your royal highness-when we have seen the prerogatives of the crown curtailed and withheld-when we have seen a new estate established in the realm, highly dangerous and unconstitutional, when we have seen power, influence, and emolument, thus set apart to controul and embarrass the executive government at a time of such unprecedented difficulty-when all the energies of the state are sary to enable us to surmount the dangers with which we are threatened, both at home and abroad-we confess that, feeling as we do the most unbounded gratitude to your royal highness, for undertaking these arduous duties at a moment of such peril, and under such circumstances, we can discover no cause for congratulation, on the contrary, we should be filled with dismay and the most alarming apprehensions, were it not for the known patriotism and amiable qualities, which your royal highness possesses, and the resourse which we trust your royal highness will find, in the zeal, ardour, affection and loyalty of a free and united people. neces "Numerous other grievances we forbear even to mention; but there is one so prominent in the odiousness of its nature, as well as in the magnitude of its mischievous consequences, that we are unable to refrain from marking it out as a particular object of our complaint and of your royal highness' virtuous abhorrence—the present representation in the Commons House of Parliament, a ready instrument in the hands of the minister for the time being, whether for the purposes of nullifying the just prerogatives of the crown, or of insulting and oppressing the people, and a reform in which representation is, therefore, absolutely necessary for the safety of the crown, the happiness of the people, and the peace and independence of the country. "Reposing the fullest confidence in your royal highness' beneficent views and intentions, we can only deplore the present unfortunate state of things, fully relying that under circumstances so nov el and embarrassing, every measure which depends personally upon your royal highness will be adopted towards extricating us from our present difficulties, and for promoting the peace, happiness and se curity of the country. "Thus to mingle our expressions of confidence and affection with the voice of complaint is grievous to our hearts; but placing as we do, implicit reliance on the constitutional principles of your royal highness, we are cheered with the hope, that such a change of system will take place as will henceforward for a long series of happy years, prevent your roy al highness from being greeted by the faithful and loyal city of London in any voice, but that of content and of gratitude. Signed by order of court, 66 HENRY WOODTHORPE." To which address his royal highness was pleased to return the following most gra cious answer : "I thank you for the assurances of your attachment, and of your confidence in the sincerity of my endeavours to promote the welfare and security of his majesty's dominions, by the faithful administration of those powers with which I am entrusted during the lamented indisposition of the king. In the arduous situation in which I am placed, I can assure you that it will be the happiest moment of my life, when by the blessing of providence, I shall be called upon to resign the powers now delcgated to me into the hands of my beloved and revered father and sovereign. "My own disposition, no less than the example of my royal father, will make me at all times ready to listen to the complaints of those who may think themselves aggrieved, and will determine me on all occasions to regulate y conduct upon the established principles of that antient and excellent constitution, under which the people of this country have hitherto enjoyed a state of unrivalled prosperity and happiness." SUNDAY SCHOOL-We feel much pleasure in publicly noticing an Institution in this town, which is as honourable to its founder and supporter, as beneficial to the objects of his exertions; we allude to the Sunday School established by Mr. William Booth, in Union-street. Mr. Booth is a native of England, and although he has been but a short time in Ireland, has at lis |
