Vol. 62.—No. 1.] LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1827. [Price 6d. "The question upon which we are at issue involves considerations of TO MR. TIERNEY. ON THE APPROACHING DEATH OF THE SYSTEM. SIR, Kensington, 28th March, 1827. | Commons to adopt effectual mea- 66 Printed and Published by WILLIAM COBBETT, No. 183, Fleet-street. ful convulsion would be the end of calamities which they and their the paper system. parents have now to endure, and The broadsheet, containing the it is right that they should know report of your speech, reached me also, that that man had been in that retreat, which had happily driven into exile, to save himself preserved me from a dungeon from the dungeon to which he such as that of OGDEN and JOHN was destined for having been the KNIGHT, and of poor RILEY, foremost, the very foremost, most who, never having been confront- active and most efficient in ened with his accuser, never having deavouring to bring about that any thing but bare suspicion al- reform of the Parliament, which leged against him, unable to he had contended would prevent bear the torments of his dungeon, these calamities. to which he had been committed Whenever the Ministry, or the by the warrant of SIDMOUTH, put Parliament, or both, shall plead an end to his existence. I, more GOOD INTENTION, in having fortunate than these unhappy adopted" PEEL'S BILL," which sufferers, was living happily and provided for cash payments which jovially, laughing at your troubles, you so strongly recommended; when your speech above-men- whenever either or both shall plead tioned reached me in the base and GOOD INTENTION in this infamous COURIER newspaper. case; whenever they shall plead I had, a thousand times before, UNFORESEEN EFFECTS, exposed the shallowness of the as proceeding from this measure, opinions contained in that speech, whenever they shall put forward but, I thought this a pretty fair these pleas, here is the nation's opportunity of repeating these my answer to them: "You adopted exposures. I thought it right to your fatal measure IN JULY 1819; put my opinions once more upon and, here, in the letter of our counrecord; and that, for the purposes tryman, written in America IN mentioned in the motto. I knew JULY 1818, and published in Engwell that the time would come land in September 1818; here, in when the wisdom of my opinions this his letter to Tierney, are deand the folly of yours would be scribed, fully described, all the established by events; for, I also mischiefs which have arisen from knew well, that those events were this terrible measure; and, therebeyond the control of any buman fore, good intention and unforeseen power. effects cannot plead you a justifiAfter I have closed this letter, cation or excuse. It is curious I will insert (for the third time) enough, Sir, that, in the letter to the whole of my letter to you, you, which I shall re-insert byfrom which letter the above motto and-bye, I exhorted you to read is taken. It was written and pub- what I had already written upon lished eight years and a half ago. the subject. "Never mind its Since that time hundreds and cheapness," said 1, "the blanthousands of English boys have" ketteers have all read it. Why become men. It is right that they" should not you, one of the grave, should know, that there was one "reverend, noble, and right homan, at any rate, who foresaw the "nourable privy council, be as "wise as the blanketteers. If you "had read, you could not have "made this speech." that bill ever went into full and complete effect. Hence the gridiron, now taken as my crest; and hence the fame which will long be attached to the name of that culinary instrument. I observed then, and I repeat the observation now, that the reformers, even those of them who had not a second shirt upon their On the evening when CANNING backs, understood the whole mat- brought forward the Corn project, ter well, while there was not the 1, who have a greater opinion of smallest appearance of its being his heels than his head, was waitunderstood by any member of both ing to see him get out of his carHouses of Parliament. Much riage at the entrance to the Parabout the same is the case still, liament house, in order that, by and my opinion is, that thus it will seeing how he stood upon his pins, continue, till Noah shall go into the I might be able to judge of him Ark; that is to say, till it will be as to other matters. I missed my much too late to endeavour to pre-man, who, it appears, out of pure vent that overwhelming desolation modesty, I dare say, entered the which this infernal system of fund- House through some unostentaing and paper-money is naturally destined to produce. tious channel. But, I saw you, Sir, and, whether you believe me When the bill had been ac- sincere or not, I was very glad to tually passed in England, amidst see you look fresh and stout. You those universal plaudits, that the are an old antagonist of mine, and ALLWISE - CANNING drew forth, particularly upon this great subwhen he congratulated the "col-ject, which is now about to be delective wisdom" on the question cided for good and all. I think having now been "set at rest for we are both likely enough to see ever;" when this bill had been the system come to its close; and passed, and the news of it had I do hope, that that close will be reached me, who was still in my as complete; as much of a finish; retreat from the dungeon; when as radical, and as lasting in its this news had reached me, I consequences, as it is possible for hardly knew how to contain my- close to be. self for exultation. 66 Now," said This much, Sir, by way of pre1," the savage boroughmongers face to what I am about to offer will meet with their match." After you, on what I deem to be the about eight and forty hours think-proaching death of the system. ing of the matter; after riding There prevails at present, an round to the houses of three or universal belief, that some great four friends to laugh with them at and awful change is approaching. the trap, which had been set by None but the most thoughtless of themselves, and into which our men, the most contemptible drienemies had fallen: after this Ivellers, or the wretched poltroons began to write upon the subject; who are blinded by their fears, and, in the first article I wrote, can possibly hope or believe, that I put the passage pledging myself the present state of things can to surrender my carcase to be long continue. Every where, exburned upon a GRIDIRON, if cept amongst the mere tax-eaters, ap there is most acute suffering, either evils. Will you say, that this was bodily or mental. Several mil-nothing to any of you? Will you lions of pounds sterling have ac- ask, why you are to believe me? tually been taken out of the pock- why you were to think me right ets of the merchants and manufac- and yourselves wrong? If you turers of England, and put into ask me for the WHY of this, I refer the pockets of the merchants and you to the event for an answer. If manufacturers of the continent, you tell me, that it is more by hit by the new edition of PEEL's than it is by wit, that I am right, Bill, which came piping hot from I answer, that the proof of the the press of the "collective wis- falsehood of this is, that I maindom," in the month of March tained my opinions by arguments, last. No nation ever suffered so which not a man of you ever atmuch, in one year, from pesti- tempted to answer. It was not lence or from famine, as this na-assertion that I called upon you tion has suffered during this last to listen to it was argument that year from this new and improved I called upon you to listen to: it edition of PEEL'S Bill. This I was proof that I called upon you assert most distinctly, and I defy to be convinced by: no attempt any man to bring me an instance to answer has any one of you ever of equal suffering from pesti- made, while no small portion lence or from famine. There of you have wantonly calumhave indeed been both pestilence niated the man, who had tenderand famine these rage yet, and in a constantly increasing degree; but, besides these, there has been a mass, and there is still a mass, and a growing mass, too, of moral suffering, of mental agony, such as never was witnessed before in this world. You will please to observe, that this horrible mischief has all been done in the face of ample ·warning of the consequences. I have nothing to do, but to open my book. If the nation were to call upon me for proof that these evils might have been foreseen and prevented; if the nation call upon me, for the grounds upon which I have blamed the measures of mischief; if thus called upon, I have only to open the Register, which affords me ten thousand proofs, that I foresaw, foretold every consequence, and that I pointed out the means which would have prevented the : ed you the proof. There has been amongst you, apparently, a tacit, solemn convention to do every thing that you possibly could, to keep my opinions away from the ears of the public, and to prevent even my name from being mentioned. The various arts and tricks, that have been used for this purpose, that sort of involuntary and tacit agreement to keep me out of sight; these have been the talk of no small part of the whole nation. The meanness, the baseness, and something worse than baseness, indeed, that has, upon various occasions, been brought into play for this purpose, but especially the MEANNESS, the poor, pitiful, caponlike folly, of supposing that you could make the people not see, if I were the object to be looked at; this folly has been the subject of ridicule for years; and, there is not a man of sound sense and of a just way of thinking; there is serve at their hands much greater not one such man in this whole praises than their tongues and nation, who does not exult with pens are able to bestow. They me, when he beholds you embar-have heaped their praises on rassed, bewildered, frightened out speakers and writers, who have of your wits, and your knees used all the means in their power, knocking together at perceiving not only to counteract my efforts, the awful workings of the system. but literally to destroy me, body "CORBETT IS RIGHT is the cry as well as mind. I am a singular, of hundreds of thousands of just and, perhaps, a sole instance of and sensible men; and, when the one man having been right all the system shall finally be destroyed, way through, as to a matter on and shall, by some great and glo- which the fate of the nation turned, rious national effort, be hurled while I have had the whole mass down into that hell from whence of power belonging to the state, sprang, the signal for the onset the whole mass of influence prowill be, "COBBETT'S RIGHT." ceeding from sixty millions anAye! my worthy representative nually of taxes, and eight millions: of the free and independent bo- annually of tithes, together with rough of KNARESBORO', these the influence of the enormous mowords will live in print; this sig-nopolies arising out of paper-nal will be repeated by English-money, all constantly employed men, long and long after the pre-in order to counteract, embarrass, sent faculty of representative-distress, and ruin, that one man! making by the borough of KNARES- This is notoriously true; the BORO' shall be, if remembered at whole nation knows it to be all, a subject for a ballad or a farce. it true; and, therefore, from me no compassion is due to any class, As for ME, no compassion or to any one person of any class, whatever is due from me, towards except those who, from the nature any class of sufferers, except the of their situation in life, could not labouring class and the class of possibly know any thing of me or inferior tradesmen and farmers. of my labours. I have said it All the rest have been able to many times, and I now repeat it, hear my voice. They have all that I verily believe that the prehad an opportunity of hearing, if sent calamities and perils would they would, and availing them-have been prevented, if they could selves of it. Some of them have have been prevented without makturned away from the sound of ing the whole nation see, that the that voice; others have shut their measures of prevention were ears against it; others have endeavoured to stifle it by lies and every species of malignity. So that, I should be unjust, as well as foolish and base, if I were to feel any compassion for them: am not unjust, and I am not foolish and base; and, therefore, I feel no compassion for them. I de MINE. Let any just man say, then, whether I ought to feel compassion for the sufferers, or to exult at their sufferings! Oh! no, let them have compassion from you, from CANNING, from BROUGHAM, from SCARLETT, from the LOAN JOBBERS, from HUSKISSON, and from all the supporters par |