the accompanying historical Treatise, is to unmask the position and to illustrate without restraint, the intrinsic value of an assumption, which stands unsupported by any fundamental principle of Veracity or Excellence; but which has been promulgated, without reserve or qualification, to the Peers and People of England-intelligent and non-intelligent-reflecting and unreflecting-for their instruction in the art of civil legislation, and the mysteries of national policy! In joining issue with this "Spirit of the Age," we fearlessly assert a Principle; and prepare for the defence of its integrity and value, with no unbecoming feeling of arrogant presumption; but, under a sense of duty and of right, will even deign to grapple with a phantom, and scrupulously sift its pretensions, lest the delusive shadows it casts forth, may, in the eyes of the unreflecting, assume a substantive form, or be hailed by any portion of an intelligent people as the ascendant of a system of Truth. The moral greatness of our common country has arisen in proportion to her respect for chivalric Honour, her esteem for Virtue, and her veneration for Religion; and by the inconsiderate desertion of any one of these essential characteristics, her prosperity will inevitably become bounded, and in exchange for solid happiness, she will, like ancient Greece and Rome, leave behind only the wreck of her glory, as the reward of her apostacy, for the contemplation of future times!

Thus, the Author aims not at tendering any apology for the expression of opinions, which are the result of calm reflection, and affectionate regard for that land wherein he was born, and under whose free constitution he was nurtured, in conformity with its best principles. An Englishman's honour should be equally independent with his pride, "without fear and without reproach," in the advocacy of a question of vital moment to the interests of his compatriots. Politically, un

connected with any party in the state, he is content to throw himself on the general good sense of Englishmen, for a correct appreciation of the object, rather than the exercise of a critical analysis into the literary merits of the production. The Principles advocated in the succeeding pages, being drawn from a higher source than human imagination; require no apologetic introduction to attract attention, disarm animosity, or pave the way to the good-will of those, whose favourable opinion is most worthy of estimation. They stand on their own merits-on the attributes of a sacred foundation; and need not the aid of fictitious bolstering in support of their just pretensions! Infallibility is not the lot of human nature, and has not been aspired to by any man beneath the station of the Roman Pontiff; nor, are we bound to yield our judgment heedlessly to the prevailing cavillatio captiosa, against the evidence of plain understanding; nor place implicit reliance on the assumed Wisdom of any Man, or set of Men, however bright their oratorical powers, or professedly liberal and disinterested their views of social policy. To many such the lines of Terence are more than applicable,—“ His nunc præmium est, qui recta prava faciunt." If such vitiated taste, want of discrimination and moral independence, prevail amongst a people, seeking at the same time the improvement of their social condition, there is little ground for wonder, that the governing fabric is not only constructed with materials, at once incongruous and imperfect; but that it is liable to disruption by every wind of popular ebullition or theoretical frenzy which arises!

In the republic of letters, despotism, liberality, and even licentiousness, claim divided empire, and each has its supporters; but, under the sovereignty of Morals, there can be but one correct rule of action; for that which appears politically right may be morally wrong; and in opposition

to those who would inconsiderately call upon us to remove, with precipitation, all the salutary restraints which have been deemed essential for the government of mankind and the security of society, we may, with confidence, array the sublime sentiments of Locke, in his preface to the Common.. place Book of the Bible." There the favourite watch-word of the French Encyclopædists-“ écrasez l'infame,"—is fairly illustrated; yea, even that modern patriotism, which presumptuously questions the Authority that declares, "Man can receive nothing except it be given him from above," is best answered by the written opinions of one of the most liberal writers on religion and civil government, who asserts that "the great sectaries of nature, in their four thousand years of improvements, in opposition to precepts the most pure and perfective for mankind, gave us little besides blunders and blotted paper!"

The desire to set up systems of government, independently of the admonitory authority of religion, and the ordinances of God, is a predominating feature of the times in which we live, although it is by no means an ephemera of modern growth: yet the salus populi in every civilized state can only be effectually preserved, by a steady attention towards the attainment of those purposes, which should at once become the great aim of man's social existence, as they constitute the true end of his creation. All history shows, that a deviation from this line of conduct has brought with it impending misery and final ruin on the most powerful empires,—with the Jews, by their neglect of the express commands of "The King of kings," and amongst heathen nations, although possessed of learning, as in the governments of Rome and Athens, by their adoption of luxury and licentiousness, in exchange for Morality and Virtue !

The safety of the State considered, with reference to the

increase of population and its necessities, as well as the concomitant distribution of Wealth, may, in reality, require an enlarged sphere of action,-a comprehensive expansion of Ideas, in the regulation of matters of popular interest and inter-national policy; but, the principle of Security, alone, can never be sustained, without due attention, on the part of Government, to the certain operation of cause and effect, in the measures propounded. Thus, the reformed Commons of England, have entailed difficulties upon their own body, and upon the Peers of Parliament, of no ordinary moment,-they have to contend, on one hand, with the unnatural extension of principles, the result of foreign influence, of decided revolutionary tendency, and with the changes of European policy, on the other, with the increased wants and irrational desires of a highly speculative and commercial community, which has extended its desires and its objects far beyond the boundary of prudence; whilst they have voluntarily fettered that moral independence, under which Statesmen can alone, in a free country, act with credit to themselves, the real advantage and satisfaction of their constituents, and the general weal; thereby verifying the prediction of the immortal Burke, in his memorable address to the electors of Bristol, in 1789. They have, in fact, become the Vassals of popular suffrage, of a power at once tyrannous and dangerous to the State, of which they are the chosen Conservators, and possess no longer a free discretionary will, to enable them to direct, with happy effect or becoming energy, the destinies of a great nation!

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It was wisely observed by Lord Bacon, that, 'to deliberate about useful things, is the safer delay," and, in contradiction to that specious philosophy, which is based on the shallow foundation of expediency, (a term of modern invention and convenience, in statistics,) which illustrates its objects in

theory, at once plausible and "passing beautiful," but leaves practical utility enshrouded in the imagination, it is fearlessly contended in the succeeding pages, that the genuine powers of government are fixed and determinate, as well as rational in their principles and their objects,-neither can they be set aside without positive violation of duty to the people at home, and breach of national faith abroad,-without injury to sound understanding; and their annihilation will bring with it inevitable punishment, in individual ruin and national dismemberment. Those who exercise the authorities of government entrusted to them, are, unquestionably, to a certain extent, responsible to the people for their correct application; and the concurrent approbation of the people themselves, is essential to their due direction; but, with reference to the duty and obligation of Christian legislators, neither the power itself, originally, nor the rights and privileges which have emanated therefrom, nor the uses and purposes for which those rights and privileges were instituted, came from Man, neither can they justly be annulled by Man, unless it can be satisfactorily shown, that they are perverted and rendered inapplicable to the ends for which they were ordained, by the Supreme Founder of the Universe!

An extension of the elective privileges of the people is perfectly compatible with the increased diffusion of wealth and intelligence; but it is one thing to desire an end, another to devise the means by which that end may be accomplished, without hazard to the national prosperity; and it must be equally evident to every reflecting mind, that numbers alone will not afford protection; and that unless humanity itself is reformed,—an extension of remedies, with an acknowledged increase of opportunities, will never produce the declared intentions of the Reform Bill, as far as bribery and corrupt influence are concerned; for the impressions resulting from a