that it was sinking fast into universal contempt; and in their zeal to maintain their party in place they sought a coalition with the Radicals and the populace. They did what no Government ever did before,-called in as judges between them and their more honourable opponents, the low rabble, the desperate physical force, whom, if they professed to be a Government, it was their first duty to restrain. These, however, were not to be won without a bribe. The bribe was large-it was political power. It was power-the power of a large dominion. It partook of the nature of that last and strongest temptation of Satan, when he offered "the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them." The coalition was perfected—and every old Whig principle was swept away in its potency. Whig principle would have recommended a deference to a Parliament that had so scrutinized and thrown open to public gaze "the Civil List,"-that had rejected a Tory Administration, and called the Whigs into power. But no-it was the fiat of the "sovereign people" that the Bill of the bribe should not be questioned. Hence the boldness assumed the dictatorial decision of the Ministry. Turn them out of the House, said the people, if they dare to hesitate to suggest the slightest alteration. The fiat is obeyed. Is the Parliament dissolved on account of any evil suggestion it dared to give? Quite the reverse; for the recommendation for which it was nominally ejected, is adopted. There must be a Parliament of the new coalition power-and the farce of an appeal to the "sense of the people" is enacted. The sense of the people is of course in agreement with the promises held out to them. Delegates, pledged,

chained down not only to the Bill, but to every measure, however mischievous, of foreign or domestic character, until the Bill shall have passed, are returned to a British Parliament, at the instigation and under the unprecedentedly exercised authority and influence of the Whig Administration. But the Whig principles are sacrificed-they are positively extinct. The new principles are dominant,-dominant alike over the Ministers who, in their envy, admitted them to a parley, and over the best, the Conservative, interests of the country.

These new principles, so directly contradictory to the old and many of them sterling good Whig principles, must be forced by a hired Press upon the Executive, lest they dare retract; and with the aid of the name of Government, must be forced upon the admiration, or at least adoption, of all classes.

For civil and religious liberty, a reign of terror must be commenced. If a Tory appear at an election, the cry is that he must be struck down. The Parson must be first insulted, and then crushed. The name of the King must be sent forth on errands of sedition and treason against the Constitution. The delegate Commons dare not oppose the Bill. If the Peers dare oppose it, they must be threatened with annihilation. If the Bishops, they must be dismissed from their seats, and held up to the execration of an infuriate mob. The Church is against it-rob her of her tithes, and reduce her Ministers to the condition of parish paupers. Peers, Magistrates, Clergy, Gentry-all shall obey-or they shall not be fit to live. And (is it to be believed?) these mandates-from the foul and slanderous breath of a malignant tyrant mob―are received, are furthered, are forced into execution by the Whigs!

Is there no generous spirit yet amongst that once proud body to break this unnatural bondage, and be free to demand of their leaders the charter of their party, and to record in protestation the principles of their foundation? Insecurity of property, the reckless annihilation of Civil Rights, and the desecration of Religion, are not in their charter.

To them, in the moments of cool judgment, may the Conservatives appeal, and not without hope, that after their transgression they will hear a better voice "in the cool of the day, and be afraid." Let them join the phalanx that still stands firm to the Constitution, and this detestable tyranny will be of short duration. The "will of the people" here, is not the old will of the people, which they would have maintained. The people of England are not "the people" of the Bill.* The cry for the Bill might even have been ten times greater, yet

For who are the people of England? Certainly not the wretched, vitiated mob, which is always found, when adverse circumstances encourage the demagogue to call it forth, in those districts where vicious indulgence and bad habits render a crowded population fit fuel for the incendiary to inflame. Yet it is this description of persons to which factious orators, nay the Whig Administration of this great country, lately gave the honoured name of the people of England. On the contrary, the people of England are composed of all the "ranks, orders, and classes of the social community established in England, who, with their connexious and dependents, have a deep interest in the well-being of this organized system, as it is regulated by laws and ordinances, either subsisting for time immemorial, or framed by authorities constituted upon principles which have subsisted for time immemorial ;"-while these tumultuous assemblies, to which the name of the people has been given, are mere excrescences,-aggregates of disaffected members,which hang loose on society, and which, as exhibiting themselves in tumult and intimidation, are in direct hostility to the people; and in the opinion of every honest and Christian man, ought to be coerced by the laws of the people.

not the cry of the people, but the rabble. If so profligate a Ministry can be imagined, let there be one that shall offer to their people, from the £10. renter downward, the immediate distribution among them of the confiscated property of the Peers, the Church, and the Tories, "the Malignants." These people would be in ecstacy-they would pull down all that stood in opposition to their wills. With this ministerial offer on their banners, they would be a desperate army to aid the Government. Neither then the cry, nor the will of “the people" so taken, would be the will of England.

And has not some hope, some expectation of this nature arisen and been fed? Who can be so bold, in the face of the outrages in Bristol, to answer in the negative?

It is a glaring fact, that the ferocious rabble have been let loose upon the quiet of society; and if they have restrained their hands, it has arisen from those old habits of respect to rights and property which we owe to our Constitution, and which are not yet eradicated; or, in the hope that an Administration to whom they can dictate will give them a legal possession, they have abstained in the affected dignity of power,-or, as an orator expressed it in Queen-square," in the dignity "in of moderation." England is now actually governed by the Political Unions. The Parliament of Birmingham issues edicts. There is little law, little punishment (how long none!) Revolution is openly sought; if by intimidation, and the form of law, well; if not, by violence. And what encouragement, if we can call the inactivity, the paralyzed stupor of fear in a Government, encouragement, has been given to this feeling!

The greatest men in the kingdom, for birth, for distinguished fame, for wisdom, for integrity, have been compelled to barricade their houses, an unsightly disgrace to the eye of a Government. Their houses are not safe, their persons are attacked, the boast that an Englishman's home was his "castle" is no more, for even the castles are demolished, and where is the protection? None. The mansion of a nobleman adverse to the Bill is burnt down,—yet Ministers take no notice. The country is disgraced with outrage-they are still under the "non-intervention" compact-they dare not, or at least do not interfere. There is a general confidence in mischief. The impunities that have disgraced Ireland, have been felt, known, and demanded in England. Up to the time of the Bristol Riots, the vilest wretches travelled through the country, instigating the populace to outrage, under promise of absolute safety. Nay, it required but little art to persuade the world of this. Where was the punishment that could be pointed out in contradiction ? Was it not easy to point out the honour in which agitation was held, and all that it had attained? There was more than reasonable expectation, to every man of ability to agitate, of rising above his low condition. Excitement was carried to its utmost, and the worst part of the populace of the kingdom were in the fever of Revolution. The Press, and the Demagogues, and the Political Unions, and Branch Political Unions, did their work, and well. The slanders uttered in Parliament against the Constitution, now issued through the Press, with, for the first time, the sanction of Government. The inference was plain. The laws, or Acts of Parliament that deserved not the name,