518 
ditioned bit that is to be found in the 
whole Piccadilly length. iWO3 5 
So much, in-one instance, at least, for 
facts. Your’s, &c. 
A Dairy PERAMBULATOR OF 
PiccaDILyy. 
——_>— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sir: 
i | REQUEST permission, on public 
grounds solely, to venture a few 
remarks on a late critical analysis of 
Lord John Russell’s “ Memoirs of the 
Affairs of Europe.” The book itself 
has passed the ordeal of public opinion, 
and is universally allowed to be a men- 
tal effort the most liberal, enlightened, 
and argumentative, which, with few ex- 
ceptions, hath hitherto proceeded from 
the pen of any member of our high 
aristocracy. The talent, acumen, and 
bona fides of the noble lord appear in- 
disputable; and, with the general stric- 
tures which I may feel myself warranted 
to make, I must disclaim, so far as the 
noble lord is concerned, all ideas of 
censure. My views are directed to the 
sentiments or prejudices, and the inva- 
riable conduct of the whole class. With 
respect to the criticism, that also has 
shared in the applause of the noble au- 
thor; being deemed, so far as I have 
seen or heard, and, in my estimation, 
justly, one of the most powerful, 
searching and judicious essays, in that 
department, which the present literary 
era, of high pretension however, can 
boast. 
We have been accustomed to witness, 
both in the instructive pages of his- 
tory, and by our own personal observa~ 
tion in all countries, but more espe- 
cially in our own, the utmost and over- 
flowing abundance of wealth, the very 
acme of prosperity, affording every pos- 
sible mean of human happiness, to the 
classes privileged either by rank or pro- 
perty, whilst the greater part of mfi- 
nitely the most numerous class of the 
people have been constantly held in 
poverty, degradation and misery. The 
agricultural labourers have been the 
most flagrant examples of this. And, 
notwithstanding the never-ceasing pe- 
riodical reproaches of this political dis- 
honesty, the fact, and its consequences, 
have been habitually overlooked by our 
public estimators of natioual prosperity, 
whose leading axiom has seemed to be, 
that rank and property, in a_ state, 
alone were entitled to consideration. 
I have heard many politicians ex- 
claim, and, by way of eminence, I quote 
a well-known public man, an_ wlira 
Strictures on our Remarks on Lord J. Russell's “ Memoirs.” 
[July 1, 
Whig—“ poverty can possess no rights 
—what can a man have to do with li- 
berty who has no’ property ?” — a 
maxim, which, acted upon in a system 
of human government, far exceeds, in 
flagitiousness, all the private robbery 
which legislators punish with such 
exemplary severity. j si 
It will be readily conceded, that great 
and beneficial improvements have been 
made in the conditions of human life 
within the last century ; there are, ne- 
vertheless, yet human miseries enough 
susceptible of alleviation, and political 
errors which call Joudly-for correction. 
# * * * * 
A great orator, indeed, assures ‘us 
on his own knowledge, that we are ex- 
tremely well off, nay, that our position 
cannot possibly be mended; and his 
whole political life is an admirable com- 
mentary on that text. “ What,” says 
he, “would you have more? does not 
the representation, in its present state, 
collect and embody the whole talents 
of the country?” It may well do so. 
And this body may be elected and col- 
lected for the service of the minister of 
the day, who is enabled, by our patrio- 
tic scheme of government, to purchase 
such service. Should a part of this 
body prove refractory, cne single vote 
will turn the scale against a mass of 
talent. Immense sums may be voted, 
and should their purpose or applicatiow 
be questioned, the answer of a maso- 
rity never fails to produce conviction. 
Penal laws may be passed, rendering it 
perilous to handle these topics too 
closely ; and, as the awtima ratio, a nu- 
merous standing army may be barracked 
throughout the country. And, to con- 
clude the solemn farce, corruption may 
be explicitly avowed by a minister, and 
the avowal garnished with a smile! 
In pure and naked truth, the advyan- 
tages of property and talent under the 
social contract are, and, necessarily, 
ever must be, paramount. The little 
finger of influence is far heavier than 
the aggregated loins of numbers: as a 
single mechanical engine, scientifically 
contrived, shall exceed, in operative 
effect, the labour of thousands. The 
plea of ignorance, and the apprehension 
of bribery in the commonalty, are fatile. 
Are none of their superiors ignorant or 
corrupt? No conjuration is required 
in the simplest man to enable him to 
choose his representative, since there 
the matter ends: and he pretends to no 
higher degree of. political knowledge. 
What plea, again, canbe yalid against a 
natural and positive right? Ignorance, 
indeed, 
