fore, must have been radically removed by the treatment of his proposal relative to the tax upon the funds, which proposal, when the Doctor said NO, was rejected by a dead majority, and which same proposal, when, only twenty-four hours afterwards, the Doctor said AYE, was unanimously adopted! When Mr. Pitt went out of office, he had not the least suspicion, but that he should be able to enter it again whenever he pleased. The Doctor thought so too; and, for some time, he appears to have regarded himself as no more than a box-keeper; but, as the curtain rose, as the drama unfolded itself, he found, that he had acquired a real and permanent seat. The adulation which he at first received seemed to throw him into a state of amazement like that of NELL JOBSON, when she wakes in the morning, and finds half a dozen servants curtsying and bowing at her bed-side: he could scarcely believe his eyes and his ears: but he was not long in discovering that he had got possession of the drug, the political lovepowder, that supplies the place of wit and wisdom." Taxation is no tyranny," said Doctor Johnson, and he was very right. Nothing can be more evidently just, than that every man should contribute, according to his means, towards the support of the government, without which there can be no property, no liberty, no safety for life or for any thing. But, though taxation, in the abstract, be not tyranny, it may be carried to such a length as to produce slavery. It may be so far pushed as to make all the people of a country dependent upon the government, even for the necessaries of life; and yet all the forms of law, all the names, forms, and appearances of property and of liberty, civil and political, may still remain. In such a state of things, no one would, I presume, pretend that the people were free. This is, indeed, to suppose an extreme case; but, a nation may be very far from this extremity, and may, nevertheless, have lost, by the influence of taxation, a considerable portion of its liberty. This is the situation, in which I look upon Great Britain as being placed at this moment; and, therefore, those who think with me, will not be very sanguine as to the success of any opposition to the minister, unless the minister himself should be come terrified at the consequences of his own work; unless, in a war between his interest and his vanity, the former should triumph over the latter; unless a regard for his property and his personal safety should induce him, in time, to yield the protecting powers of government into abler hands; unless some motive such as these should operate with him, I have, for my part, not the least notion, that there is any human power capable of driving him, from his place, as long as he can continue to make loans and increase the taxes. If, therefore, the Doctor should be spared, as the Methodists call it; and if no sudden storm, foreign or domestic, should arise to sweep away his ministry; and, if he should not be seized with any sickly womanish fears, we must, in order to know how long he will continue to be minister, ascertain how long the funding system will last. This system will certainly last a shorter time, on account of the Doctor's being minister; so that his administration cuts both ways. "It is a monster that poisons the meat it feeds upon." But, the danger is, and it is a danger that every good man must tremble at, that the system, the ministry, and the inonarchy may all fall together. NOTICES. THE SUPPLEMENT to Vol. IV. of the Register will be published in a few days. The first, second, and third Volumes have been reprinted; and complete sets of the work, neatly and uniformly half-bound, with Russia backs, may be had by application to Mr. BAGSHAW, Bow Street, Covent - Garden, Mr. BUDD, No. 100, Pall-Mall, or to any of the Booksellers or Newsmen of London or Westminster. COBBETT'S PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES, in eight numbers, including all the Debates of the present Session, previous to the Christmas recess, together with an abstract of all the accounts laid before Parliament, and the titles of the acts passed, during that time, may be had by application made as above. These Debates, the Editor ventures to assert, are by for the most correct, full, and impartial, that were ever published in this country, a character which has, indeed, been universally given them. Upon the result of a comparison between this work and others, professing the same object the Editor, from the first, expressed his readiness to rely for success; and, he is confident, that, the more frequently such comparison is made, the more evident will appear the superiority which he has been so anxious to give to his publication. Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall. The TRUE BRITON and SUN Newspapers. The Press is of so much importance, its influence is so powerful, in almost every d-partment of public affairs, that, however low, insignificant, and worthless are the persons, in whose hands any portion of it may happen to be, it is itself never an object to be disregarded; especially when its efforts are made in the form of a newspaper. Under this persua sion it is, that I have thought it my duty to present to the Public, a picture of the political turpitude of the True Briton and the Sun, a morning and evening paper, which belong to the same person, the contents of which are the same, and which were originally established by, and still appear to be under the influence of, the late Secretaries of the Treasury. The picture is too glaring to need-explanation; it will speak but too plainly for itself; one circumstance only, therefore, I beg leave to point out to the reader, to wit, that the tone and sentiments of these papers, with respect to Mr. Adding on and the present ministry, did not begin to be bostile, till after the rupture of the negotiation between Mr. Addington and Mr. Pitt ! Confidence in the Government. We know that we have a government, able, observant, vigilant, and firm; and, wholly in different to the charge of adulation and subserviency, we readily leave to the public to determine, whether our confidence does or does not sympathize with the feelings and opinions of our countrymen at large. Feb. 28, 1903. Energy of Ministers. To those who have hazarded the idle and unfounded accusation of want of energy and vigour against our ministers, we answer by a single question. What solitary instance can be adduced, since his Majesty called them to their present situations, that can furnish even a colour for it? Jan. 1, 1803. Mr. Addington's Spirit. We have, in the experience of two critical years, an abundant pledge, that nothing unjust, unreasonable, or insulting to the honour of France, is likely to be required by our present rulers on the one hand, and that nothing will be admitted, insulting to our own honour, or derogatory to our essential interests, on the other.-March 9, 1803. The Country in a proud Position. Flourishing State of the Revenue. The Country on the Brink of Ruin. Setting aside the losses and the sacrifices we have been made to undergo, we have. sunk in the estimation of the nations around us. Our faith was till lately unimpeachable. England might sometimes fail, but she never. dishonoured herself. How is the scene reversed! but the work is Mr. Addington's. The progress to ruin is a rapid descent, when once the ball is delivered; and much do we fear that it was delivered with one hand, when he accepted the Seals from his Sovereign with the other.-Nov. 10, 1803. Deficiency of the Revenue. The injury sustained by our commerce; the Supplement to No. 6. Vol. 1.-Price 10d. rishing-our revenue never been so productive, even in the best times of the great minister, who laid the foundation of their prosperity, and to whose breast, we are persuaded, their improvement and increase will afford no less solid satisfaction than to his successor, under whose auspices we have the bappiness to experience them.-Nov. 29, 1802. A Change of Ministry unnecessary. To say that the present ministry want the power which is the result of reputation, is to slander the people of this country, and accuse them of the gro-sest injustice and ingrautude. The present ministry have followed the steps of the great statesman who carried on the war. The present ministry put an end to that war, and effected a peace, in which the national dignity and the national interest were secured.-The people of this coun ry, who enjoy the blessings of peace, and are likely to enjoy them every day more anmore, cannot but feel grateful to the ministry to whom they are indebted for those ble sings Oct. 2, 1802. No Change of Ministry necessary. The discussions which have taken place since the ecting of Parliament, have tended very much to strengthen the just confidence reposed in his Majesty's ministers, to improve the opinion which was entertained of our general situation, and to dispel the gloom which hung upon the minds of many. The suspicion of too ready a disposition to concede on the part of government, entertain d by some persons, has been done away. -Des. 24, 1502. Mr. Pitt the only Man to save the Nation. As the ivy that embraces the oak, is sheltered by its proud height and spreading branches from the ravages of the storm, so we cling to the genius of Pit, as the surest saviour of our country. It is he alone that, in our opinion, can successfully cope with the duplicity, the cunning, and the rooted enmity of France towards the British Empire. Let but the genius of Pitt preside, and we shall think ourselves secure.-May 4, 1803. Upon the voice of that great man (Mr. Pit) do we conceive the fate of the British Empire to be at the present moment in a great degree suspended.-Nov. 19, 1803. A Change of Ministry can alone save the Nation. Every thing shews the want of co-operation and of union in the great department of the state. We feel it our duty to say that a change of ministry can alone restore the proper confidence of the nation, and redeem our political character with the powers of Eu rope, a change which we know we are fully jutified in affirming to be ardently desired by ninety-nine out of a hundred of the whole population of the British empire.-Oct. 13, 1903. Any Change of Ministry must be for the better. Changes, and those very material ones, in the administration, are talked of. They cannot come too soon for the good of the country, and we have the melancholy consolation at the present awful crisis, that any chonge must be for the better, if that change is not confined solely to the paltry object of keeping the present inefficient and imbecile ministers in their places.-Nov. 19, 1803. Mr. Pitt not the only Man to save the Nation, That consistent statesman, Lord Grenville, is pleased to tell us, that Mr. Pitt is the only person, at the present crisis, capable of saving the country!!!-The measures of a government may be very wise and highly salutary to the country whose affairs are intrusted to its management, though unaccompanied with the display of extraordinary oratorical talents. Like the powers of mechanism, the affairs of state may generally be considered as going on the most correctly and satisfactorily, when there is the least appearance of effort, Mr. Addington the Friend of Mr. Pitt. We consider Mr. Pitt and Mr. Addington entirely and completely united.--That some of the friends of each have attempted repeatedly to disunite them, and that both the Old and New Opposition have never ceased to make that attempt, we know full well; but the honour, the public spirit, and the good sense of both have defeated every such attempt.July 31, 1802. On all sides, endeavours are made to separate Mr. Addington and Mr. Pitt. Some of the friends of both, we believe, to be constantly making the attempt. The Old and the New Opposition concur only in endeavouring to effect this purpose, and they are busily at work to attain their object. It is for themselves alone to frustrate such attempts. We cannot anticipate any material difference of opinion between these two men.-If such an event should happen, we shall be the first to consider it as a great misfortune to the country; but if it does happen, when we consider the characters of the men, we are sure, it will arise out of the fair consideration of public measures, not out of the intrigues of interested men.--Feb. 2, IS03. Mr. Addington a great Financier. This great financial measure, on which we believe but one opinion prevails, has established his reputation in that difficult branch of public business.-Jan. 4, 1802. We cannot but congratulate the country upon the flourishing and prosperous state of its resources, which has been proved, beyond all doubt, by the unanswerable documents brought forward by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.-Dec. 29, 1802. Mr. Addington's statement of finance, we recommend to the perusal of those who have so often told us that our revenue was kept up by the war, that our resources were nearly exhausted, and that the peace was a matter of necessity. These assertions have been often repeated-often contradicted-but Mr. Addington's Speech is the complete answer to them.-Jan. 4, 1802. Mr. Addington an excellent Man. The Jacobinical Chronicle, in one of the overflowings of its rancorous gall, generated by continued disappointment and increasing envy, has the audacity to couple the name of the excellent Addington with that of the notorious swindler Miss Robertson. We advert to this merely to shew what the writers in that print are capable of!!!-Aug. 12, 1802. Mr. Addington esteemed abroad. Mr. Addington the Enemy of Mr. Pitt. Against the principles (of Mr. Pitt and the great Earl of Chatham) and in professed opposition to their exalted system, you (Mr. Addington) have apostatized from them, and added personal insult to the unworthy dereliction. You have stung the heart that fostered you, and sent forth your hirelings to blast the character under whose benign influence you were too long sheltered. You are courting allies from the Bench which has displayed unvaried animosity for eighteen years towards the principles and person of your first friend, and have bribed to your confidence and united to your cause, the man who directed a pistol towards the head of your early patron.- Nov. 12, 1803. It is the fashion among the friends of ministers to decry the publication, (the "Cursory Remarks,") and to circulate it. They cannot deny the falsehoods it contains, but have no objection to profit by the effect their misrepresentations may produce. So much for the morality of our present precious ministers! Oct. 19, 1803. Mr. Addington no Financier at all. Ministers have produced a measure of finance, which having gone through both Houses of Parliament has passed into a law, which not a commissioner knows how to carry into effect, nor an individual in the community how to decypher or render intelligible!-Nov. 3, 1803. Mr. Tierney was taken into the ministry at the particular moment, to prevent his threatened exposition of the fallacy of Mr. Addington's financial statements of the 10th of December; which, whatever he may be. persuaded to the contrary, has not, nor ever can be forgotten, at least to the East of Temple Bar.-Nov. 11, 1803. Mr. Addington a Dupe or a Deceiver. We know not whether Mr. Addington be most of a dupe or a deceiver, or whether he be sometimes one and sometimes the other.-Nov. 3, 1803. Mr. Addington despised abroad. The best informed men who have lately talents are of the very first rate description. None better than him knows the value of the blessings of peace; but if forced into a war, an event not at all probable, he will possess the fullest confidence of the nation. -Nov. 20, 1802. Mr. Addington a Safe Politician. Ministers took their post at a moment of imminent peril, and complicated difficulty; and by the gradual operation of steadiness, temper, fortitude, and sound wisdom, they achieved the most glorious object of a true statesman's ambition, under the circum. stances in which the country was placed,that of restoring peace on such a basis as was the best calculated to ensure its continuance. -May 18, 1802. Mr. Addington's Wisdom. Mr. Addington's great object is to repair, not to speculate. The prudence, and enlightened wisdom, which he has hitherto displayed, delineates a mind competent to form, and a spirit adequate to execute great plans for the benefit of his country. We have now the solemn pledge of private and public faith, that the national revenue will be applied with economy to national purposes, in the gradual liquidation of the public incumbrances, and the encouragement of manufactures, the security of the colonies, and in the extension of trade and navigation. Disaffection vanishes at the contemplation of these great benefits. The people will be eased of their burthens, commerce must flourish, and produce such affluence, as will raise our country to the highest point of wealth, and spread its benefits throughout every class of the commu nity-April 5, 1802. Mr. Addington's Firmness. From the firm principles and unvaried conduct of Mr. Addington, in the most tremulous moments, the public must derive essential lessons of prudence. They will learn, that true magnanimity is the child of justice only, and that it is more conspicuous in the exercise of the milder virtues, than amidst the din of arms, and a nation's tears!! -April 5, 1802. M. Addington's Sound Policy. From Mr. Addington's conduct, the public will learn, that if it be honourable to treat with score a cruel and abject mode of policy, it is more glorious to venerate principles which have fed and sublimed the arrived from the different Continental courts assure us, that, for the first time, since the burst of revolutionary politics, the general. sentiment is decidedly against this country. The character of the British is lowered. Mr. Addington's administration has lost the con tinental possessions of his Majesty.-Nov. 10, 1803. Mr. Addington an Unsafe Politician. Ministers will find that they have exposed the country to great sufferings, only because they had the vanity to suppose themselves capable of performing the duties of offices, which they were totally unequal to execute. -Dec. 8, 1803, Mr. Addington's Ignorance. It is fortunate that the merchants engaged in the Portugal trade have long entertained an apprehension of the event which has now taken place. They have shewn themselves wiser politicians than our ininisters. They had too little confidence, from experience, in the wisdom of our ministers to follow their advice; but notwithstanding their prudence, much British property is at this moment in Portugal. Thus does the property of individuals, and our most important commercial interests become sacrificed to the ignorance and incapacity of our ministry!— Oct. 18, 1803. Mr. Addington's Weakness. Our present musters are acting under a most tremendous responsibility; but they seem determined to keep their places till the sun of Britain shall be nearly set. We look forward with a faint ray of hope to the meeting of Parliament; but, between that period and the present, what dreadful occurrences may not intervene ! Heaven avert from the country the evils which the weakness of our ministers exposes us to!Oct. 15, 1803. Mr. Addington's Weak Policy. The weak policy and wavering conduct of our ministers have furnished to the enemy the means of prosecuting the war against us with vigour for years to come.-Oct. 21, 1803. HREE |