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to it such high importance in war, he will confer upon it all the blessings of peace; he establishes its internal administration; he creates for it a commerce of staple and transit, destined for it by the rivers that bathe it, and the communications of which it is the centre; its plains, formerly desolated by banditti, are delivered from the scourge, by which, for ages, they have been devastated. The blessings which accompany the Emperor have been heard along the whole chain of the Apennines. Genoa has heard themshe has hastened to present to the Emperor her homage and her wishes-her wishes are to be French-she is half so already, by her affections, by her habits. The interest of her own existence commands her to be entirely. Inclosed between the sea, which formerly nourished her and of which our enemies, who are her enemies, have shut the passages, and those mountains, of which our laws, wisely prohibitory, make a bartier for her, Genoa, in want of every thing, without troops, without laws, almost without government, solicited the honour of an adoption, which has united her to a great people, and admitted her to a share of the blessings which they enjoy, and, of the first of all, their government. This wish has been accomplished. It was that of all classes of citizens, and the union has been, to all, a benefit. The Emperor has consecrated it by his presence. It has been received with the transports which a deliverer has excited. Genoa, French, receives the commodities of Piedmont; furnishes France with the produce of its industry; lives and enriches itself by her; and promises her, in her turn, an increase of maritime force, and of commercial riches. Several of her citizens, already known to the Emperor, have received from him flattering distinctions. The French laws are introduced there, without hurting any of the interests which formerly flourished there. The public debt is consolidated; its territory aggrandized. It. is divided into departments, and the department nearest to France has received a name which recals to the memory one of the first victories of the hero of France; one of the first crowns with which victory adorned that forehead, since so covered with laurels. The land on which this first laurel, the presage of so many immortal successes, was gathered, well deserved to be French. The benefit of this organisation is secured to Genoa by the choice of a grand dignitary, nominated to establish it.-Parma and Plaisance, long uncertain of their destinies, still subjected to Gothic institutions, have also

from his passage a code of laws, a system of administration, suited to this enlightened age. If false alarms have excited a momentary disturbance in some vallies of those states, prompt, but mild measures have soon restored order among the misguided shepherds, incapable themselves of assigning the cause of an agitation almost puerile,and which ceased, the moment it became the subject of serious attention. Meanwhile, Italy has changed its face, and the ancient kingdom of the Lombards is restored at the voice of Napoleon. Italy, reposing under the shade of the monarchy, from its long convulsions, has nơ longer any cause to envy France. The same breath animates it; the same power protects it; the same spirit forms its new institutions. accommodating them to its situation and its manners. Milan has saluted, in the name of its King, him, whom it had called its deliverer. Mantua received with transport, him, who was, under its walls, the vanquisher of five armies, sent to defend it.-Assembled at Castiglione, the French soldiers recal to their memory the successes of the army of Italy. In whatever part of Europe the genius may conduct them, who has so often led them to victory, they promise themselves still more brilliant successes. Italy is proud of receiving laws from a new Charlemagne, and fancies that she sees springing up with her ancient glory, all the prosperity which her climate and her soil en¬ title her to. A Prince, taught by his lessons, adopted early by his affections, as he has been since by his decrees, continues, his work, in forming himself upon this model.-Italy attaches herself with enthusiasm to his steps. Displaying a new character, she hopes to prove, that her long weakness was the vice of her institutions, and not the fault of her inhabitants. France, who receives with avidity the detail of these grand creations, supposes the Emperor still occupied in accomplishing them, when he is already at the gate of the capital to give an account of the internal situation of the empire. In a few days after, England, astonished, hears resounding upon the coast of Boulogne, the report of the cannon which announces bis presence. It is there, in the midst of the chosen troops of his army, in the last cares of these grand preparations, that he comes to taste repose. His long calculations are just on the point of execution: The army, impatient, fancies the moment arrived, which will recompense its long labours; but England, trembling not for its glory or its commerce, but for its very existence, has prepared upon the Continent, a powerful

VOL. IX. No. 13.]

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SUMMARY OF POLITICS. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. (See former observations upon this subject, from page 353 to 368.)————On Friday, the 21st instant, MR. TIERNEY moved, in the House of Commons, for the second reading of his bill for altering and amending the act, called the TREATING ACT, the origin of which act, as well as the nature of it, the reader will remember that we spoke of in the article just referred to. Upon the motion for the bill's being read a second time a debate took place. MR. FULLER was the first to oppose the motion, and that upon the ground of the bill's being evidently calculated to operate as a virtual disfranchisement of a great proportion of those persons, who, at present, exercise the right of voting. MR. MORRIS, in a very able speech, opposed it, partly upon the same ground as that taken by Mr. FULLER, and also upon the ground of its being quite unnecessary as a declaratory or ex planatory act; and, in my opinion, he clearly showed, that the act, as it now stands, accounpanied with the constructions put upon it by courts of justice and by committees of the House of Commons, is sufficient for every practical purpose, there having, in fact, been, as far as I could learn, no one instance, in which it could be shown to have produced any serious injury or inconvenience, either to candidates or electors. MR. FRANCIS, MR. LEE, MR. COURTENAY, Ma. JonnSTONE, and some others, spoke against the motion; the speakers for it, being SR RoBERT BUXTON and OLD ROSE. MR. Fox (and upon this we shall have a good deal to say by-and-by) expressed his intention not to oppose the committing of the bill; but, begged the House not to conclude from this, that he pledged himself, in any degree, to approve of the principle of it. The new ATTORNEY GENERAL expressed himself to the same effect, going, at the same time, into a good deal of detail, in order to show, that to do something was necessary, seeing the very great uncertainty in which every candidate was placed in consequence of the

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different constructions, 'which, by different courts and committees, had been put upon the Treating Act. But, much as this gentleman said; minute as he was in his description of the difficulties arising out of the act as it now stands; backing his reasoning, as he did, with the observations of twenty years of his own experience as an electionlawyer notwithstanding all these efforts, he did not remove from my mind the impression made by MR. MORRIS; for, after all, the difficulties appeared evidently to lie in the theory and not in the practice; and, whatever might be the literal meaning of the act, it had, generally speaking, been so construed, as to make it efficient for all the purposes which it was intended, or, at least, which it ought now to be intended, to answer. -MR. TIERNEY was less happy in his answer, than he had been, when he opened the subject, on the 10th instant. A remark that he made upon the inconsistency of MR. Fox and the ATTORNEY GENERAL shall be noticed by-and-by. He did not, any more than the ATTORNEY GENERAL had done, succeed in removing the strong impression produced by the speech of Mr.Monais, as to the bill's being unneces sary for any purpose of an explanatory nature But, his main effort was directed to the removing of an impression, which he seems to have perceived had been produced, in as well as cut of the House, by his former speech; and, so full did his mind appear to be of this object, that, in consequence of an observation of Mr. FRANCIS, he thought it necessary to beg leave to say a word in the middle of the debate, in order to convince his hearers, that he never had, for one moment, entertained a wish to make the freeholder's qualification thirty pounds a year, instead of forty shillings. Yet, anxious as he undoubtedly was to remove the impression here spoken of; prepared, as he evidently came, for effecting this purpose, so important, not only to his bill, but himself; notwithstanding this, he did, I think, completely fail; such was the opinion of all

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those near whom I was sitting, and such, I am persuaded, is the almost unanimous opinion of the public. His doctrine relative to the political effects of the depreciation of money had excited a great deal of attention; and, observations such as those made in the pages from 359 to 363, which observations must have suggested themselves to the mind of every reflecting and tolerably wellinformed man, did demand some answer from the man, who had broached doctrine like that just spoken of. But, instead of an answer; instead of any attempt at answering observations of this sort, Mr. TIERNEY dispatches the topic for ever with a few words: "we will say no more about the depreciation of money, or any thing of "that kind; but I will ask this one plain "question: has the voter a right to demand

a conveyance, clear of expense to him"self, to and from the place of election? "and, if he have not that right, what does "this bill take from him, and how can it "be said that he is virtually disfranchised by "the bill?" Here, from his confident manner, which was, apparently, rendered more confident by the animating chearings of his worthy co-operator, and most worthy brother privy-councillor, old Mr. GEORGE ROSE, he seemed to think that he had fallen upon a stunning argument; which, however, I am sure, he will, upon re-consideration, find to have been nothing but a little hit of sophistry. We do not contend, we never have, and never shall, contend, that the voter has a right to demand a cost-free conveyance to and from the place of polling; but, we do contend, that he has a right to accept of such conveyance at the hands of any one who will give it him; and, it is because we know that the bill would deprive him of this right; it is for this cause, that we complain of the bill, perceiving, as the consequence, that the depriving him of this right would, in numerous instances, operate as a virtual disfranchisement of the voter. Will Mr. Tierney deny, that the voter has a right to accept of a cost-free conveyance? Where will he look for the grounds of such denial? No where, I am certain, but in the Treating Act itself, which then we must consider merely as a prohibitory law, and, as to the construction which this act ought to receive, that is the very object in dispute. As to the reason of the case, as to the spirit of the constitution, if Mr. Tierney should contend, that a cost-free conveyance of voters is a thing which was never thought of in former times; perhaps he would be correct; but, was a Freasury Bench in the House of Commons ever thought of in

former times?

Were close boroughs ever thought of in former times? Was it espected that a peer would have it in his power to send three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or perhaps more members, to the House of Commons? Was it, in former times expected, that the House of Commons, the members of which were paid for their attendance, would enter upon that service as a stepping stone to the peerage? Was it, in former times (for there is no knowing where Mr. Tierney will stop) expected, that the clergy, then chiefly under the influence of the Pope, and forming a power strongly checking the King, and thereby making the good will of the people an object of great importance with the King; was it, in those times, expected, that the clergy would all become dependent upon the King; and that, in the choosing of the members of the House of Commons, the whole weight of the church would be thrown into the scale of the crown? I am not expressing, or insinuating, any opinion as to the quality of this change; but, no one can deny that it has taken place; no one can deny that it is of great importance; no one can deny that it has produced an effect fully competent to balance against any change which time may have produced in favour of the extension of the elective franchise, and, indeed, I am persuaded, that no one will attempt to deny, that the latter has been, beyond all comparison, overbalanced by the former. Here, then, is the point upon which I make my stand: I say, that all has undergone a change: that things have, from one cause and another, grown into their present shape: that circumstances have arisen here and there promiscuously, that they have been rolled along by the power of time, and have jostled themselves into the present state, Do you want a reform? Now, when the "hurricane" is over: now, when we have no longer to dread the effects of mad democracy now, when despotism is the great and prominent evil that threatens the world: now, when a reform might be effected without any evident danger, perhaps do you now want a reform? With all my heart; but, then, let all be reformed; let all be brought back to the spirit of the constitution of England; or let all alone as it is: do not appeal to the spirit of the constitution partially; do not, by the means of such an appeal, virtually disfranchise any part of the people, while you suffer the effects of all the other changes to remain to operate in their full force against the people; and, as to the professed objects of the reform proposed by MR. TIERNEY, let no one again mention

them, until an answer be given to the arguments in the pages from 364 to 366, to which arguments no answer has yet been attempted. There remains, before we come to an account of the conclusion of the debate, a few remarks to be made upon the singular course pursued, upon this occasion, by MR. FOX. MR. TIERNEY observed, that it was inconsistent in that gentleman to consent to the bill going into a committee, while he, at the same time, pretty clearly signified his disapprobation of its principle. And, surely, MR. TIERNEY was right in this observation; for, as the very object of the first and second reading of a bill is to give the House an opportunity of expressing its approbation or its disapprobation, of the principle of such bill, and of throwing it out, in case of disapprobation, to consent to a bill being read a second time, and, of course, to its being committed, is, in fact, to approve of its principle; and, whatever might be the motive of MR. Fox, however he might qualify his consent, upon this occasion, that consent, to say the very least of it, did amount to a declaration, that, as yet, he had not made up his mind as to the goodness or the badness of the principle of this bill; upon which declaration, when compared with the long struggle which MR. Fox supported in the cause of parliamentary reformi, always having for its main object a great addition to the number of voters, I must leave the reader to make his own observations.— The charge of inconsistency preferred by MR. TIERNEY against MR. Fox, Lord PORCHESTER was desirous of warding off from himself; and expressed his resolution to oppose the second reading of the bill. This, in an excellent, though short, speech his lordship did; and, thereby, he produced a disposition, on the part of several members, to divide the House, which was, from the notion that there would be no division, now reduced to less than a hundred members, of which 17 were against the second reading of the bill, and 73 for it. The bill was, of course, ordered to be committed. -Upon the further proceedings relating to this subject some observations will be offered in my next number.

That the bill should ever become a law, I cannot bring myself to believe; but, there will arise some good, perhaps, from the agitating of the subject, especially as Mr. Tierney has thought proper to introduce the interesting question of the depreciation of money, as affecting the political rights and liberties of the people; a question, which, notwithstanding his recommendation to " say no more about it," he must, and I am sure he will excuse us for

discussing at a proper time, a little more at large than we have hitherto done.

ALEXANDER DAVISON.-The appoint ment of this person to so important an office as that of Treasurer of the Ordnance has excited general attention. There is a measure before parliament; a bill, fast becoming a law, for regulating this office, and for the preventing of any misapplication of the public money by the Treasurer. This measure, a writer in a weekly newspaper, called the "INDEPENDENT WHIG," has, in terms of high commendation, attributed to the effect produced upon the public mind, and, through that channel, upon the mind of the ministers, by the letter of my Bath correspondent, in page 242 of the present volume; upon which I shall, for the present, only say, that I wish the effect had been of a nature more efficacious. As to the object of the bill, Lord HENRY PETTY, upon moving for the House of Commons, on Monday, the 24th instant, to go into a committee upon it, "it was," he said, "first, that the "House might have under its view a cor"rect regulation in the mode of expenditure "for such sums of the public money as it "should think proper to vote for this branch "of the public service; and, secondly, for

securing the responsibility of the public "officer, charged with the disbursement of "such expenditure; and to prevent, as far "as possible, the misapplication of money "entrusted to his charge." Very good objects indeed; and such were the objects of the famous bill, according to which Mr. DUNDAS was to manage the Treasurership of the Navy! Mr. HUSKISSON, (Smooth your beard and look grave, reader!) said, "that "for a considerable time before the decease "of his late rt. hon. friend, a project was not "only in contemplation for the establish"ment of effectual checks, such as now proposed, on the expenditure of public money in the Ordnance Department, and in every other public office, as professedly in"tended by the Noble Lord, but that the plan had been long acted upon, and only "waited an opportunity of parliamentary regulation, under a bill in the contempla"tion of his right hon. friend."- How happy must the nation be to hear this! It was rather like a death-bed repentance, to be sure. It had been put off too long; and the crircumstance of prevented accomplishment should operate as a warning to future ministers to think of "effectual checks" in the time of their youth, and when the

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evil days come not, when they shall say, "we have no pleasure in them.' But, how happy is it for the nation, that these "effec