* 
Europe from the Peace of Utrecht. 
ion, breathing discord and distrust into the 
REDE eople, who, awakened from 
their former slumbers, are at these times, 
tod apt to‘Sée ‘a tytant in Whoever aspires 
to"eonduct then.” 
‘He must have shut, his, eyes, indeed, 
to, the. evidences. of experience, who 
does not. admit, that men of every one 
of the descriptions here enumerated do, 
in, reality, even in this country, swell 
the heterogeneous ranks of the nume- 
rous, body of reformers. But is there 
not in fact, some: strange admixture of 
fallacy. and prejudice veiled even be- 
neath the yery truism of, this, descrip- 
tion? His Lordship, be it remembered, 
has divided the reformers into. but two 
classes; ,and he has described them 
both. Unhappy, indeed, is | this coun- 
try, and worse than desperate are the 
prospects of all reform, if there be in 
reality no other. But let us proceed to 
the analysis, 
‘That “men of low rank” there un- 
doubtedly are, who “ bear a malignant 
envy, to their, superiors,” cannot. be 
rationally denied : for men of all ranks. 
are liable to envy ;,and sometimes, it 
may even be found in the assemblies of 
Oligarchs, and_in. tlre Courts. of Kings. 
But does not his Lordship.mean to in- 
sinuate—nay, did not his ewn. preju- 
dices seeretly whisper to .him while, he 
wrote this sentence, that all. men of 
inferior: rank who. profess. themselves 
reformers, do so from such malignant 
enyy ? if SO, We must venture to dissent 
from.so sweeping a.censure;,and to call 
in_ question the impartiality, of his Lord- 
ship’s judgment, and his, knowledge. of 
human nature,.There are minds. of 
unsullied. pu in humble, as well, as 
in exalted stations: morals, as, well, as 
intellects, that soar above the sordid 
destiny of birth and_ occupation ; that 
plu e themselves in higher attributes 
amid the wrecks and frowns of fortune: 
that belong, in fact, to Nature’s own 
nobility, though their lot is among ple- 
bians. Shall such men be forbidden to 
be reformers, lest their aspirations in. 
behalf, of truth and justice, and the 
rights and duties of universal benevo- 
lenee, should doomthem to be classed 
andiconfounded with those, who, from 
thedowness of their rank alone, bear a. 
malignant erivy to those above them ? 
Nay, may’ not the charge of malig- 
nafit' envy be sometimes hurled. back, 
upon the superiors, themselves 2-—Not 
up Ay éhe noble, author, of , this, highly, i 
aie; ind, , generally... speaking, 
cre 
truly, liberal and patriotic memoir, 
587 
Nothiagcan be further from our thoughts 
than:a personality. ‘But we would wish 
the; eyes of his'Lordship*to’be open to 
the failings a8 well ‘as the virtues of ‘his 
own class';'and to the virtués as well’as 
the vices of those beneath him, Is there 
never any such thing as a_malignant— 
a proscriptive, a persecuting envy on 
the part of the superior clésses, when 
they behold the bursts \of intellect, or 
of any thing like popular talent. espe- 
cially, in those whom fortunehas placed 
at an humble distance below them? 
—when any portion of that popular at- 
tention which they have fondly sup- 
posed belongs, as.an exclusive property, 
to their exalted birth and: high educa- 
tion, is claimed. and extorted by some 
mere child of incident and nature—who 
has neither the patent of birth, nor the 
certificate of education to ‘recommend 
him ?—and who, nevertheless, has‘'too 
much independence to’ waste the torch 
enkindled at heaven’s own fires*in’the 
smoke and incense of subserviency' and 
adulation ? ] 
That men there are, also, such’ as: the 
text describes, “who hate the superiority: 
of virtue. still. more than that: of birth 
and property,” is equally a lamentable 
truth. They are to be found in ‘all 
ranks, in all parties, and under all deno- 
minations. ‘There is, perhaps, no other 
species of superiority, when it happens 
to manifest itself, which has so many 
and such bitter haters. Such men, 
not only when they. come on. the 
scenes of revolution, but when_ they 
burst into any popular assembly, or 
mingle in any discussion designed 
for the public good, come indeed “ like 
furies, and breathe nothing but discord 
and distrust.” But all who breathe dis- 
trust of popular or party leaders, are 
not necessarily of this description. Un- 
limited confidence is not the necessary 
virtue of an honest patriot: nor are 
even exalted rank and more exalted 
name, indisputable pledges of unassaila- 
ble integrity. Experience of the past 
does not justify the conclusion—either 
that every profession is necessarily sin- 
cere, atthe time when it is made; or 
that the sincerity with which it’ was 
professed, is an indubitable’ guarantee 
for the fulness of after performance. 
The good that ‘was intended when the 
power was only in prospect, is some- 
_times rendered powerless by the very 
possession of power; and thie’ mostdis- 
interested patriot thay, soniétimes doubt, |’ 
whether he should’ encourage or alarm 
the confidence of a trusting public. 
AF 2 Yet 
