162 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



attached a peculiar character. In 

 former days the mercantile cha- 

 racter was marked by frugality 

 and industry ; but trade was now 

 commuted for speculation : a lucky 

 hit produced the objects of a 

 whole life ; if the speculation was 

 unsuccessful, hundreds were re- 

 duced to poverty, and the princi- 

 pal consigned to a prison and ob- 

 livion. War produced loans, con- 

 tracts, and not unfrequently an 

 extension of commerce to those 

 engaged in certain branches of it. 

 Was it uncandid to suppose that 

 those who contemplate war under 

 this aspect would not be as averse 

 to it as the landed proprietor, who 

 knows and feels its miseries ? He 

 who spends a considerable portion 

 of his time in the country, neces- 

 sarily witnesses the hardships to 

 which war subjects the lower 

 classes. The power of interest 

 over judgment and every patriotic 

 feeling was strongly exemplified by 

 an occurrence which Mr. Curwen 

 wished to God could be erased 

 from the memory of man and the 

 page of history.— On the Royal 

 Exchange, when the lord mayor 

 communicated, in 1806, the mis- 

 carriage of our negotiations for 

 peace, his auditors expressed their 

 indecent and unfeeling exultations 

 by three cheers ! 



By the alterations Mr. Curwen 

 proposed, a larger proportion of 

 the landed interest would appear 

 amongst them in the House of 

 Commons ; while the mercantile 

 portion of the community would 

 continue to represent the metro- 

 polis, and those other cities and 

 boroughs where they had a natural 

 interest ; as it was fit they should, 

 since the very excellence of par- 

 liaments consisted in their con- 



taining a due proportion of all 

 ranks in society. Considering the 

 importance of our commerce, he 

 should be very sorry, he said, if 

 they had not amongst them of 

 those who pursue it their due 

 proportion, as well as of the army 

 and learned professions. But the 

 peculiar advantage of having the 

 landed proprietor in that house 

 was, that each individual brought 

 with him the affections and the 

 confidence of a portion of the peo- 

 ple. Thus the united affections 

 of each portion of the empire were 

 concentrated in parliament ; and 

 hence the moral power which it 

 possessed. The infallible conse- 

 quence of increasing the number 

 of our country gentlemen within 

 these walls would be to make us 

 more pacifically disposed; it would 

 give a different tone to our coun- 

 cils ; it would check the rage for 

 foreign commerce, and the acqui- 

 sition of fresh colonies ; it would 

 turn our attention and our eff'orts to 

 domestic improvement, to the me- 

 lioration of our internal resources, 

 and the happiness of our country. 

 It would inspire greater modera- 

 tion of conduct towards other na- 

 tions, and dispose us not to imi- 

 tate on the ocean those strides of 

 power which we deprecate on the 

 continent. — " If we evince a dis- 

 position (said Mr. Curwen in con- 

 clusion) to reform, we shall heal 

 our divisions, and re-establish our- 

 selves in the good opinion of the 

 people. Then may the British 

 minister proclaim to all Europe, 

 it is not on the bravery of her 

 troops, or the unparalleled prow- 

 ess of her navy alone that our 

 country builds her strength ; it is 

 on the hearts and affections of her 

 children ; possessing these, she 



can 



§ 



