CONTENTS. Further illustration of the advantages of Nobility, or the Patrician Order, in the institution of Free Governments, as demonstrated by the history of the Roman Empire: original letters of Napoleon, The Christian Covenant, the basis of the settled Constitution of Great Britain, as confirmed by the Norman Conquest, under the Estab- THE LORDS AND THE PEOPLE. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. "Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, VIRGIL We have arrived at that eventful period in the historic page of Britain, when the refined sentiment, so beautifully apostrophised by the classic poet, is especially adapted to the reflection of every moral or Christian patriot. Those who have, indeed, traced effects to their Sublime Source, and by becoming resignation, or rational philosophy, deduced therefrom the comprehensive designs of Infinite Wisdom, controlling the affairs of Man, can justly be said to have cast both fear and fate beneath their feet, and may, with great propriety, be declared happy! Whatever is calculated to promote the independence and happiness of individuals, in a state of civilized or cultivated society, is equally capable of advantageous application to the feelings, prosperity, and comfort of an entire People, if truly virtuous or Christian, in the regulation of its domestic Polity. It is only by a consistent exercise of the reasoning faculties, and B rational submission to the operation of those contingent and incidental circumstances, which Providence has wisely permitted to form the attendant lot of fallen humanity, in the character of secondary causes; sustained by a calm, but devoted reliance on the justice and bounty of the Supreme Being, that either Individuals or Nations, can become permanently satisfied with their lot, and fairly be said to have risen superior to the varied machinations of Evil predominating in the moral World! Ambition and the love of change, are the leading characteristic propensities of mankind, in every state approaching to civilization; and these become enhanced, in proportion to the growing intelligence of individuals, and the increased prosperity of national undertakings-est natura hominum novitatis avida;—so it is equally the folly of educated Man, in the indulgence of imaginary notions of perfection, to hazard the shipwreck of his legitimate possessions, and barter with even his moral repose, under the irrational hope of realizing the ultima thule of social felicity, in a state of sublunary existence! This infatuation, prevailing with a great number of the intelligent portion of human nature, who are considered capable of exercising the faculties of ratiocination, with advantage to themselves and the good of their fellow-men, it ceases to be matter of astonishment, that those who are not gifted with talent, nor improved by the possession of the cultivated attributes of our species, or controlled by the superior influences of rational religion, should be led away by the god of Error, under whatever specious form, or mantle of enchantment, its pretensions are emblazoned. When the sun of Napoleon's ambition was setting, and in the calm of his retirement on the barren rock of St. Helena, his reply to the question of his supposed belief in fatalism, was equally remarkable for its evidence of the superior powers of his mind, as it is apposite to the preceding view of human nature, even in the most civilized or puissante society-" How few amongst the mass of mankind are influenced by reason,— how many are governed by prejudice! I have found it necessary, in order to attain great objects, to yield to the follies and prejudices, when I knew an appeal to the understanding would have been fruitless; and thus far have I been a fatalist. You may judge of my sincerity by my attachment to the society of the intelligent and reflecting, who alone possess the materiel of real power. I have weighed cause and effect, and if Cæsar or Alexander the Great were again upon earth, they would do the same; but they would learn the increased necessity for governing, by reason only, under her sterner policy!" If these were the sentiments of an Individual, who, more than any other man in modern times, had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the essentials of government, and of forming an accurate opinion of men and things in general; we may fairly be pardoned for questioning the value of principles, which put at issue the authority of all past judgment and all experience, on subjects of the highest moment, to the continued repose and prosperity of a great nation, for whose permanent welfare we are justified in entertaining a more than ordinary solicitude. It has been boldly asserted, that the present age possesses the spirit of perfective excellence,-armed with the magic wand of knowledge, and the power of directing the rule of sovereignty, by sound reason, on the enlarged understanding of mankind; and consequently, that all pre-existent learning, customs, and opinions, must bow in submission and worship at its shrine, or pass into oblivion, before the irradiant rays of that liberal sun of Intelligence, which has burst upon us in the nineteenth century, and illumined a portion of the human inhabitants of earth with Wisdom! The design of |