181<5.3 



Flan for Restoring the Country. 



175 



fcut not till tlionsands have been r€d:iced 

 from comfort to wrctelicdiiesSjiVom intie- 

 pcnrlence to itisolvciicy, and Ironi credit 

 to baiikrnplcy ; or have been destroyed 

 fcy suicide or by want. T!ie dead utlcr 

 110 mimnurs, and the gvnmbling of the 

 workiioiise seldom passes the walls ! 

 This doctrine of ministers, if snc'i really 

 be their doctrine, is a safe one to the 

 weak or tiic unfeeling. Those who at 

 any lime screen themselves behind it, 

 hazard no reputation by erroneous mea- 

 sures ; while they have but to slnit their 

 hearts against the cries of misery, a 

 conduct which may, however, require 

 no exertion among practised statesmen ! 

 They may enquire, perhaps, what we 

 would do, were we in their situaiiou? 

 Our answer shall be brief, clear, and un- 

 equivocal : — ■ 



Let them call the parliament toge- 

 ther ; and, if a new parliament, let them 

 spare the public money during the 

 elections. 



Let them make their peace with the 

 moral sense of mankind, by directing 

 Wellington to cause the 12th article of 

 his just and expedient Convention of 

 Paris to be respected. 



Let them make their peace willi pub- 

 lic opinion, by withdrawing the British 

 troops from France, and by forbearing 

 henceforward to mix the interests of 

 those islaii'ls v^ith the jargon of conti- 

 nental polities. 



Let them disband the army ; retaining, 

 in time of peace, at most the guards, 

 an I depend for legitimate defence on 

 militias of the population at home and 

 abroad. 



Let them cherish our wooden walls, 

 and protect and honor those who man 

 them. 



Let them, as a temporary measure, 

 direct every parish-workhouse to giv e a 

 wholesome meal per day to every one 

 who says he is in distress, and who 

 asks for it. 



Let them so assess large farms, as 

 that it shall be unprofitable to hold one 

 of aiiove 400 acres, of average good 

 land, and that the maximum of advan- 

 tage shall arise to those uf bctneen 150 

 and 200 acres. 



Let them cause farm-lionses to be 

 built on all lands which, in consequence, 

 become unoccupied, by applying part 

 of tlic sinking fund for the purpose, the 

 rentals jiaying the interest and prin- 

 cipal. 



J>et them issue, on the .security of real 

 or personal property, a proportion of 

 lempuritry ctureucy, to aid tlie iieccbtiury 



changes from mannfacluring to agricul- 

 tural employments. 



Let them anange with the public 

 creditors, by a sub-di\ ision of real pro- 

 perty, and thereby abate the forty mil- 

 lions of ruinous and oppressive taxes, 

 now raised to support the funding 

 system. 



These ar« ovr general views of the 

 means of restoring this country to its 

 condition in the reign of Anne, or in 

 1792; and these plans, directed by able, 

 active, and benevolent ministers, would, 

 in our opinion, sustain Great Britaia 

 amoiig the nations in that degree of <lig- 

 uity which is eitlier useful or desirable; 

 and, what is better than tiie phantom of 

 public glory, they would render her 

 people prosperous and happj'. 



That eontem|)tible feeling, which for 

 some time past has pursued t!ie patrio- 

 tic Lord Cochkanu, Ims led to his be- 

 ing j)rosecuted for escaping from the 

 King's Bench prison, thougli it appears 

 that, on that account, he underwent 

 at the time the soAcrest punishment 

 assignable by the prison regulations. 

 The unquestionable facts being proved, 

 Lord C. made a most eloquent appeal 

 to the jury ; after which tliey returned 

 the following manly verdict : — " We are 

 of opinion that Lord Cochrane is guilty of 

 escaping from prison ; but we recommend 

 him to mere;;, because we thinli his suhse- 

 quent punishment fidhj adequate to the 

 offence of which he was guilty." Never, 

 perhaps, was the value of an appeal to a 

 jury ninre conspicuously proved. On 

 the verdict being recorded, the decorum 

 of the court was interrupted by clap- 

 ping, and other demonstiations of public 

 satisfaction. 



The Association for the Relief of the 

 niantifactiuing and labouring Poor lately 

 held a public meeting at tlie City of 

 London Tavern. It was attended by the 

 Dukes of York, Kent, and Cambridge, the 

 Duke of Rutland, the Arclibishop of Can- 

 tetbiny, tlie Bi>liop of London, Mr. Wil- 

 berforce, and several other distinguished 

 pcrsonaees. The only difference of opi- 

 nion arose as to the true causes of the pub- 

 lic distress. The Duke of York presided. 

 The first resolution, moved by the Duke 

 of Kent, imputed it to a transition from a 

 slate of war to peace ; (his was oppose<l by 

 Lord Cochrane; and a disapprobation of 

 the opinion was expresseii troiii other quar- 

 ters, as totally erroneous ; Lord Cochrane, 

 tlierefoie, moved an amendment, referring 

 the national distress to the enormous load 

 of debt which the cotintry has to sustain; 

 the military establishments; the profuse ex- 

 penditure of xovernment in other respects- 

 and the system of pensions and sinecures' 



ss 



