the whole nation knows, that those Bills were levelled solely against my publications. There is not a man of sincerity, in the whole nation, who will not say, that this was evidently the case. Indeed, this is a fact too notorious to be insisted upon. The Circular of Addington, the persecution of the venders of the Register, the Reports, all the whole of the falsehoods, the infamous pretences and infamous acts, of the year 1817, arose out of a desire to prevent the circulation of my publications. Now, the general tendency of those publications was to preserve the tranquillity of the country, by proving to the labouring and distressed classes, that their sufferings did not arise out of the misconduct of any kind, of farmers, millers, bakers, butchers, or employers; but, that they arose out of taxation co-operating with a system of paper-money, which, by being left to the discretion of interested parties, violated contracts, ruined industrious and honest masters, and deprived the labourers of employment, food, and raiment. This was the main tendency of those papers, which the Borough-ruffians dreaded, and to put a stop to the reading of which they resorted to so many acts of savage tyranny. Well, then, if you were really an enemy to those infamous acts, what so natural as noto to say openly, that those publications had now received from events the stamp of truth, and that that truth had been acknowledged? What but the lowest of all low motives could have restrained you from making this declaration? A declaration demanded by bare justice; a declaration that one might, under such circumstances, have expected from an enemy. Upon such an occasion, what would have been an honest part? What would a man, worthy of the name of nobleman, have said? "Sir, it gives me great pleasure to observe, that "we appear to be in a fair way of "rendering justice to that writer, "who has so long been labouring to 65 "enlighten us upon this great and "interesting subject; he whose la "bours have astonished all the re lecting part of the nation; he who "seems never to have enjoyed a "moment's rest from those labours; "he who, to the disgrace and infamy "of the last parliament, was, by the "acts of that degraded body, com "pelled to cease to instruct us, or to "instruct us from a foreign land; he "who, notwithstanding this treatment, has retained, in their full force, all "his sentiments of attachment to his "country, and who still labours with "unparalleled industry and effect to "serve that country; he who alone "appears to understand, thoroughly, "all the causes and consequences "which it is now of so much import"ance to understand; he whom it is "the duty of this House, by a solemn "vote, to recall from his exile, and "to make him ample compensation "for all the losses and sufferings, " whether of himself, or family, aris"ing out of that exile; he whose "advice, cordial good will, and ener"getic exertions, are more likely "than any thing else can be, to save "this our beloved country from all "the horrors of revolutionary mad"ness; he, in whose mind, a selfish "thought never existed, and whose "whole life contains an unbroken "series of proofs, that he has never "known any enjoyment so great as "that of endeavouring to promote "the happiness and honour of Eng"land; and, above all, he who has "been driven from the country for "those very writings, the truth and "wisdom of which are now echoed "within our walls." { Now, my lord, you may think as you please; but, you are able to say or do, nothing to bring to yourself so much honour as this short specch would have brought you; and, be you well assured, that the nation will make the speech for you. I am sitting in a tent in Long Island; but, I know, better than you do what is passing in men's minds in England; and it will now be but a short time before I shall hear it from their honest lips. they will do their own business. Their "plan" as Grenville calls it, will do them up, if they dare begin to act upon it, which, however, they will not. If the Borough-Bank has made any changes in the form of its false promises, pray take care to send out specimens. If I should happen to have sailed at the time of the specimens' arriving, the bearer may deliver them to Mr. BENBOW, No. 63, Fulton Street, New York, where they will be taken care of. But, you may say, that I preached parliamentary reform as well as a hatred of the paper-system. And, was it not time to take the affairs of the nation out of the hands, which had conducted it to such ruin and misery? The ruin, the misery, the starvation, are now acknowledged to exist; and to have been produced by that system, against which I have been protesting for the last sixteen years. What more need we to prove, that the affairs of the nation ought to be placed in other hands; that they ought no longer to be entrusted to the slaves of the owners of Boroughs? Grenville will not leave power any longer in the hands of the Bank, because the Bank has not managed the thing well; and, upon the same ground, the people of England will no longer, if they can help it, leave power in the hands of the Boroughmongers. These are the bane of England: these have been, and are, the cause of all the ruin and misery and starvation; and, until these beminal value. I did this job for them ( removed from their usurped power, there can be no happiness for the people and no safety for the throne. WM. COBBВЕТТ. TO HENRY HUNT, Esq. 12th July, 1819. .. : A one pound note will do, till my return, in order that Mr. Benbow may just see what sort of a thing an inimitable note is. It will be a curiosity at New York, especially when it is known, that so many titles and parks depend wholly upon it. As to the old notes, we have plenty of them at 57 per cent. discount for hard dollars. I would buy some, if I thought the thing was safe till I got home. No emigrant should bring out Borough-Bank Notes. They can be got rid of only by selling them to brokers, who will not give half their no last winter. Have you observed how Castlereagh sneaked out of the debate on the Bank affair? PEEL was put forward as being one, who was less detested. He was younger, and had not so many damning sins upon his head. CasTLEREAGH still harped upon his idea of temporary distress. You know how we laughed at that in 1816. This is the most shallow-pated ass that ever stood up erect. It is impossible for a nation not to perish in such hands, if it continue in them for any length of time. MY DEAR HUNT, Accept of my best thanks for the confusion, into which the villains were thrown by you, Mr. Wooler, ard Dr. Watson, in the city, in May last. Old Peel was shocked at the circumstance of your siding with the Minis ters and the Boroughmongers. And Taylor Stuart of the COURIER felt his dignity exceedingly hurt at having to record, that your name (oh! horrid) had been mentioned in the "honourable House." It was a fine occasion to annoy the vagabonds. Did I not tell you, last year, not to fret and teaze yourself? Let them alone; | a vengeance! Another time, if any ELLICE, whom some of our "friends" got in for Coventry instead of me, and whose real name is, I dare say, ELIAS, is, you see, a loan-maker with RICARDo for his partner. You see, that he has been endeavouring to prevent, or, at least, delay, cash-payments. How the good men of Coventry must be enraged at this! This is a Reformer with 1 body of the people should have thoughts of entrusting me with a seat, I shall beg "our friends" not to meddle with the matter; but to leave me and the people to judge for ourselves. I have now the debates, and I see, that "the couquering hero," "West"minster's Pride," "England's Glo"ry," did nothing in the Paper-money affair. But, he did as much, you. will say, as he ever did before. Nothing will rouse him. He is a sluggish lump: all clay: a kneaded clod. To be sure, he is a fit epitome of the glory of England! We shall let him see, I think, before Parliament meets again, that he will not quietly shuffle through this seven years, at any rate. He has been suffered to shuffle on too long already. He shall find, that "England's Glory" does not consist of a shifting and a shufiling. You perceive, that changes of ministry are things no longer talked of. No matter what happens; no matter what changes of measures; the same set go on with them; and both sides of the House join in the support of them. The truth is, that the thing is now in such a way as to make the post of minister not at all desirable. No man can tell what will happen in two months. A mere trifle will overset the whole fabrick. You will observe, that, in the whole of this new scheme, no reduction of taxes is talked of or contemplated! On the contrary, they are to be augmented! Pray bear this in mind. 16 is the main thing. The vagabonds give us such sport, and will give us such sport that I really think it would be a pity to put an end to it just yet. To puff the thing out now would be like shooting a hare a mile from the place where the hounds would kill her. However, do not misunderstand. me; the accursed thing will not live long, at all events. Br, therefore, of good cheer. My coming to this coun try has been attended with many and great benefits; and it ought; for it was a wise step, and taken from the best of motives. The paper-money is at work here also. The great Banks pay in specie, and the taxes are paid in specie. So that all is safe as to the government; but there are numerous small Banks, which are continually breaking, and the notes of which are at an open discount. At this time this is the case in a great degree. The consequence is, that the circulating medium-is lessened in quantity, prices have fallen, and, especially in great cities, a want of employment is felt. Buildings are left unfinished; people turn off work. You see clearly, I hope, to the bot-men; and a great stagnation prevails; tom of this new humbug? You see, that it would be easy enough to pay in specie; only, then, the whole thing must go to pieces in consequence of low-prices and want of employment. Be steady in your view of this matter. It is the all-in-all. Be prepared; for destruction to the system cometh like a thief in the night. and, it is thought, that the next win ter will, from this cause alone, be one of great suffering in the cities. Ouly think, then, what a curse this is! Only think of a country like this to experience misery through the means of a set of rascally paper-money makers! But, in England, the very existence of the government depends upon such a vile thing. I can see, that, at last, the noble Boroughmongers are alarmed. Some little knowledge of their danger has been batter Pray write to me, and tell me what were the Resolutions that you proposed at the meeting of the Swindlers. Tell me how they looked, and what they said, if they did not speak in Hebrew. 1 ed into their heads; and they hope to If I should be off, before your letter arrives, my son, or Mr. Benbow, will open it. They will be glad to know any particulars that you can give them. get rid of it by their new measures. I believe, that they are scared at the idea of a puff-out. I believe this, because, is no one instance, have their slaves of the press alluded to it. They i 1 re afraid to awaken attention to the matter, for fear some one should be induced to do it. They know, because they must know, that it can be done, and, if done, they know that the blow is decisive. I have thought, therefore, that they wish to get a large parcel of gold ready in the Bank, in case of emergency; and that they expect to effect this by making the Bank keep a quantity of bullion constantly in hand. They will be deceived. They cannot effect this. For, if the Bank get gold, it must first put out notes to the amount of it. If, indeed, a scramble be intended, the Boroughmongers may seize the bullion, and let the note-holders keep what they have got. But, then, there is an end of the thing, at any rate; and, really, so that it be ended, it matters not much in what way. set of beggarly fellows met in a street in London! Only think of such fel lows as Bosanquet and Thornton telling the parliament, that they think it their duty to caution the parliament against measures that it is going to adopt! Thus, you see, the sway, the absolute sway, over the country is in their hands; for, mind you, it is, and it must be, in their hands, as long as the system lasts. They have hitherto acted as the tools of the Boroughmongers; but, tools are fre quently the real masters. 1738 d At last, just as I foretold, the par ties have quarrelled. The tyrants wish to shake off their tools; but they cannot. These latter know a vast deal more about the matter than the tyrants themselves do. The tools, seeing the tyrants in a headstrong humour, will give way for a time; but, when a little while has been al I cannot help thinking, at times, of the empty plans of the Corn-Bill lowed for cooling, the tools will ex plain to the tyrants, and the thing will go on. There will be no real payment, be you assured... What will be best for the Reform. ers to do in the approaching time, I cannot now say; but, of one thing I am certain, and that is, that England will never see a single happy day, 'till a Reform shall take place. I am most faithfully yours, ১ P. S.-I think, that some of our pretended friends, but fault-finders, must be a little ashamed of them: selves now; if they be not, they never will be. Great multitudes will be converted to common sense by Grenville's and PEEL'S speeches,... ! یه gentry. I used to tell Coke and Wes- Entered at Stationers' Hall. 299, Strand. Vol. 35, No. 6.--- Price Two Pence. fo COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER. 161] $ LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1819. [162 IN During the Debates that now lie before me there were put forth such a multitude of opinions, differing from each other, that one would be astonished (if any thing in the way of absurdity, in those assemblies, could astonish us at this day) at the decision being by unanimous cote. This proves, that the decision was not the result of con viction, and forbids us to attach any weight to it. Indeed, the foolish, the contradictory, the childish conduct of those assemblies, for years past, makes us suspect the wisdom of all they say and of all they do; but, in short, what do we want more to induce us to disregard their decisions than the fact, that they have, by their measures, brought the nation into a state, which they themselves call distressed and ruinous, and which we know to be miserable beyond all example? They blame the Bank Directors for their way of getting to the point proposed; it is so round-about, so crooked, so out of all rule, that one can hardly say what it is likely to produce; but, it is quite easy to say what it will not produce, and that is, specie payments at the conduct; but, the Bank DirecBorough-Bank.ators, bad as they are, could not Printed by HaY and TURNER, 11. Newcastle Street, Strand; T |