"worthy of the attention of all those who "desire to have accurate information and to form just opinions respecting the finances "of the country;" had they done this a year ago, or, indeed, at any time previous to the rendering of the account which has settled the dispute, they might have received some marks of the Premier's gratitude; but, as it is, they can expect nothing to afford them compensation for the public scorn.. Naturalists have observed, that those creatures which are most venemous, are, upon the whole, also the most impotent: the serpent race have neither hair nor feathers, neither legs nor wings nor fins, they can neither run nor fly nor swim; so the British Critics seem doomed to crawl through the world, cursed with the constant disposition to wound, but having, wherewith to effect their purpose, neither industry, talents, judgment, nor wit.

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES.-Cobbett's PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES, up to the XVth Number inclusive, are now published. Some information respecting the mode of obtaining these Numbers ap pears to be necessary to persons who live at a distance from the metropolis, and who, in many instances, seem to suppose, that they can be sent by the post, in the same way that the Register is. This is a mistake. Every number is a pamphlet, and can be procured only in the same manner that pamphlets, reviews, and magazines are; this is, generally, by application made to a country bookseller, who has a direct and frequent communication with London, of which description, booksellers are to be found in every country town of any importance.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.--Many gentlemen, who do this work the honour to choose it as the repository, of those statements, remarks and reflexions, which they think proper to lay before the public, accompany their communications with a request to have an early insertion, and sometimes, to be informed whether their performances will be inserted at all, and, if at all, when. Notices to correspondents have been found to be greatly inconvenient. They are irksome both to the writer and the reader, and they occupy some little portion of that room, of which the Register stands so much in need.. For these and some other reasons, it has been thought advisable here to state, once for all, that no more Notices to Correspondents will be inserted; but, it

is proper, at the same time, to assure all those, who have already communicated, or who shall hereafter, communicate, their essays to the Editor, that the greatest possible attention is, and always will be, paid by him to every thing so communicated, and,. that, on no occasion, a delay in the insertion will ever take place from neglect or inattention on his part. It must, however, occur to every person at all acquainted with the nature, and the manner of conducting, such a publication, that delay, and even delay of considerable length, is frequently unavoidable. Nor can it be an invariable rule for each communication to be inserted in the order in which it is received. The Editor must sometimes be controled in his wishes by the length of the essay; and, he must much oftener yield to considerations as to the nature of the subject treated of. Some essays suffer nothing from a delay of a week or two, whereas others, though valuable at the time, become perfectly useless if kept back for a single day. This is so obvious, that it is hoped that no other apology will be required by several correspondents, whose communications have given way to others of a date much more recent. In short, it is evident, that each admission, or rejection, depends, and must always depend, upon many circumstances, of which the Editor only can be the judge: his judgment may not, indeed, be thonght the best that could be wished for, but that is a point relative to which the writer must be supposed to have made up his mind, previous to the making of his communication. If he may be allowed to add a wish of his own, on this occasion, it is, that no communication should be accompanied, either in writing or verbally, with a discovery of the name of the writer. A deviation from this rulest, as often as it takes place, subject him to some embarrassment,, and can seldom fail to fetter his judgment.-Cn the score of impartiality, he looks upon himself as bound, by no tie whatsoever to admit any writing that is communicated to him, though, it be in answer to a writing which he has published; because, were he to square his conduct, in this respect, by the rule of abstract impar tiality, he would thereby be shackled by that which every other political writer sets at defiance. Nevertheless, he can truly affirm, that he never has rejected any performance, in which his statements and opinions have been controverted, provided that it was, in other respects, fit for publication.

VOL. V. No. 15.]

THE STATE-PHYSICIAN.

SIR,In the course of my reading Mr. Gisborne's excellent work" on the Duties of "Men," I was struck with the following passages in the chapter which relates to the duty of the physician. "Let him not (says Mr. G.) endeavour directly or indirectly to cause himself to be more highly esteemed, than the testimony of his own conscience will justify; nor insidiously abuse the character, and sap the credit of a rival. Let him guard against all affectation of cour teousness, all assumed and delusive softness of manners; let him not become a supple, cringing, and servile attendant on the great : ready at all times, like the cameleon, to take the colour of surrounding objects."-Again, "He will be the first in critical or uncommon circumstances to suggest the propriety of calling in additional aid. He will not indulge a lurking wish to persevere in a dubious or unsuccessful system of medical treatment, from the apprehension, that a change will argue ignorance in himself, or redound to the credit of another person, who may have suggested it." As our ideas, Mr. Cobbett, are bound together by association, my thoughts were irresistibly directed towards our political Doctor, who at present possesses the authority of feeling the pulse of the United Kingdom, and prognosticating as to our security or danger; and to whose sagacity and discretion, the power is entrusted of drawing the blood from our veins, and the money from our pockets, according to what appears to him to be the exigency of our case. If the truth of the above recited maxims of the moralist, as applied to the physician, depend on the mischief or good which he may do to individual patients from disregarding or following them; if it rest' upon the responsibility of his situation; what a tremendous weight of obligation to regard these salutary warnings is heaped upon the man, who has taken upon himself the care and the cure of the aggregate body of individuals who compose this nation, who perseveres in filling that station which constitutes him responsible for the security of Englishmen in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and for their deliverance from the evils, with which, in the present crisis, they are threatened; evils, which Englishmen must deem to be infinitely worse than death itself! Every person, Mr. Cobbett,

[Price 10D

who loves his country, has a right to propose this question: does Mr. Addington possess those qualifications which, as an honest man, he pledges himself that he does possess, by accepting and retaining the office, which he fills? And for the failure in which, the pub. lic would be justified (to use the lawyer's phrase) in bringing their action of as

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sumpsit" against him. The Doctor may say that he is sensible of his responsibility, and that he is ready to abide the consequences of it. But if, through his incapacity, we are brought into dangers, from which we cannot be extricated, it will be of little consolation or advantage to us, that he has been impeached, that he has lost his place, or even his head: we may have been hurried by his want of wisdom and foresight, into utter ruin, which may preclude even the benefit of his example from being extended to us. The hon. Henry Addington may, in consequence of his own weakness and folly, be the last, as well as the least of our prime ministers.That Mr. A. is wretchedly deficient in the qualifications essential to his situation, and which we have a right to expect in him, is a fact so evident, and so notorious, that I think, that it would be a waste of time were I to enter into a formal proof of it, by minutely comparing what he has done, with what he has left undone. That I may not, however, be accused of absolute silence on this head, I shall mention two prominent instances of his in capacity, which must be as obvious to the lowest farmer in every parish, as they are to the sage and solemn stock-holder, who shakes his head over the Newspaper at Lloyd's. My instances shall be taken from the Doc tor's plans of finance, and his plans of defence in this our momentous struggle with the enemy, "who would swallow us up quick." First then, as to finance. And here I shall not draw out a long line of figures, and set the rules of addition and subtraction to work, neither shall I give the Doctor an opportu nity of shuffling as to the time when his accounts begin, and when they are closed, nor of plundering one year to patch up another, What I shall mention is grounded upon facts universally known, and of which every person is competent to judge. In the first place then, I refer to the mode of raising supplies, which the Doctor has prescribed unto us in that voluminous and complicated Act called the Property, Profit, or Income

Act; which, Mr. Cobbett, seems to be in our Statute Book what the Mithridate" is in our dispensatories, which consists of five and forty ingredients, and after all is fit for nothing. This Act has been constructed upon principles so beautifully and delicately theoretical, that it cannot bear the rude hand of practice. And it is at last discovered, that the strict law, in spite of the arbitrary interpretations of the self-appointed legislators, at the Tax-Office, is incapable of being carried into execution. And, if I am informed rightly, no regular or legal assessment has hitherto been made under it. So, Mr. Cobbett, through the mighty cleverness of the Doctor, we shall have a whole year's Income-Tax to pay at once in one round sun. And there is reason to fear, that the collectors will find even more difficulty in collecting these round sums, than the commissioners experienced in discovering the meaning of the law by which those sums were to be levied. Here I think, that the Doctor has failed in making his specific medicine palatable. He has not gilded his pill at all for us. So much for finance. Now for a few words as to defence. Rumours upon rumours have been coming thick upon us, like the leaves in autumn, for a considerable time, of the certain and speedy attempt of our desperate enemy upon our coasts. yet, strange to tell, after so much deliberation, and talking" about it and about it," the final regulations respecting the volunteer-corps, on which force the Doctor has informed us we must chiefly depend for our security, are not as yet passed into a law. And, after that the Act shall have passed, I doubt not, Mr. Cobbett, but that we shall still have many more last words" upon the subject. Now, I think, that it does not require very keen penetration to discover that the Doctor has been slow, in these two important instances, I wish that we may find him sure, There is one circumstance which makes these instances of incapacity infinitely more glaring and inexcusable; and, it is this, that the Doctor had the start of us by many months, as to the knowledge of our real situation. Whilst we, poor easy souls, were flattering ourselves that we were in

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And

Instead of suffering a selfish pusillanimity to beguile him, instead of allowing himself to believe what he wished, he would at once have looked forward, with dignified composure to the worst, and bent all the energy and the resources of his mind to one point; viz. how he might enable his country to meet the worst with dignity and honour. He would have set himself to work with promptitude and vigour, so that at a future day he might be able to come forward prepared with measures matured by sober reflection and practical inquiry, applicable at once to the probable exigencies of his country, and the known spirit and temper of his countrymen. Our provident Premier, in this important interval, does not seem to have "laid "down" even the "keel or ribs" of any salutary measure, he seems to have had nothing" upon the stocks." No; he found himself sufficiently encumbered, and distracted, and perplexed with the business that immediately engaged him, and thought that he was doing enough, if he kept up the sparring altercation of the lengthened controversy. In the mean-time he was deceiving himself and others by talking, and wishing, and hoping about the continuance of peace. At last, when the danger is at our very doors, talking, and wishing, and hoping, are no longer of any avail; the Doctor is now compelled to put on a grave face, and propose measures that bear some relation to our emergency. But the Doctor's measures were as ripe for execution, as his sixty sail of the line without men were fit for action. How crude and undigested, and how ill adapted to the real state of things those measures were, I need not insist upon. The plain facts, which I have stated, speak for themselves. They have taken up the time, and wearied out the patience of Parliament: and, although they have run the gauntlet of discussion, correction, modification, and revision, again and again, and have come forth unlike themselves, yet still they bear the marks which sufficiently indicate whence they originated.

-Whenever I go into company, Mr. Cobbett, I constantly hear the observation made, (which observation, I doubt not, is made in ninety-nine companies out of an hundred, from John-o'-Groat's House to the Land's End,) that Mr. Addington is not the minister that suits the present times. I sometimes hear this observation coupled with a sage and candid proviso:" that however unfit he may be for his situation, he is never

tance.

What, Mr. Cobbett, would a real statesmen have done in a similar situation?

I wonder not at such a sage and candid proviso. For we live, Mr. Cobbett, in the age

of candour, moderation, and liberality. Besides, I know fall well how indolent "the "many" are, and how disposed they are, (somewhat after the manner of the "hogs "in Westphalia") to pick up what falls from another, to swallow it at once without examination, and to retail it, in their turn, to their next neighbour, For my part, Mr. Cobbett, I am not disposed so easily to swallow all that these candid and liberal gentlemen have to say in favour of the wellmeaning and honest minister. I say with the proverb, "handsome is, that handsome "doth." I am no methodist. I am no supporter of the doctrine of faith without works. I judge of Mr. Addington as a minister, from his conduct as a minister. In order to bring this honesty and these good intentions, which are said to belong unto him, to the test, I would ask, is he himself conscious of that incapacity which is so universally acknowledged? I may be told, in reply, that he feels no consciousness of this sort. To what a colossal size then must his vanity be magnified!! Now I affirm, Mr. Cobbett, that it is incredible, nay impossible, that he should not be conscious of his incapacity; such a consciousness must be forced upon him every hour of his life, in spite of his vanity, enormous as it is. Vanity must have something to fix itself upon, before it can render a man utterly blind to his real character. A man possessing the common features of the human face, may look into a glass, and through vanity may imagine that his face is handsome. But if a man that has only one eye, or who has lost his nose "in the service," should flatter himself that his face was beautiful, we should consider him not only vain but mad. Now, I affirm, that Mr. A. in many respects, and on most occasions, possesses nothing on which vanity can fasten. There

is an absolute vacuity without a single speck of pretension, unto which his vanity can cleave. How often, Mr. Cobbett, must his heart from within, and circumstances from without, have told him the unwelcome truth? How often, in the ordinary course of business, must he have been encountered by his utter ignorance of the subject! How frequently must he have found himself in situations where he knew not what to think, what to resolve, nor whereunto to turn himself, and has been at his wits end? Could va nity dare to tell him, at those times, that he was at his proper post? No; vanity must have shrunk back, and self-complacency must have been confounded at the boisterous intrusion of doubt, dismay, and apprehension That his talents and his services are applauded by the nation at large, the

-

Doctor cannot be so blind, so deaf, and so stupid as to believe. If we may judge of his opinion on this head, from his uncommon exertion of influence, which his situation enables him to exert, we may conclude that he knows the truth. The press, I believe, Mr. Cobbett, was never under so powerful a controul, nor so grossly abused to the low purposes of crafty misrepresentation. Yes, the honest, well-meaning minister can find the means of "insidiously abusing the character, and sapping the credit" of a man whom he may vainly call his rival; but, who will never so far lower himself as to give that title in return to Mr. Addington.The Doctor does not seem to have much reason to flatter his vanity, and self importance from the consultations which he holds with his coadjutors in the administration, Do his patch-work measures which result from those deliberations, do his gigantic promises, and his pigmy performances of them, shew that he has that commanding influence at these deliberations which should belong to every prime minister, and which every prime minister should possess the talents to secure? No; nothing but half-measures issue from these consultations, where the sage, and the safe Premier, takes a little from one and a little from another; and (to use the market phrase) splits the difference between the divers and sundry opinions of his brethren, in order to please them all! But, I may be asked, does not Mr. A. see in the House of Commons enough to gratify his vanity, do not his large majorities bear testi mony to his sufficiency and his merit? I answer, no. If he possesses the faintest spark of penetration, he must discover that the reverse is the real fact. He may indeed, command the compliance of the House, for reasons well known. But do his talents, and his measures command the attention and respect of the House? Mr. A. cannot but remember the conduct of that House towards his predecessor in office, and he cannot fail to make comparisons not very flattering to himself, Attention and respect were uniformly and scrupulously paid to Mr. Pitt, even by the bitterest of his opponents. He was listened to, and looked up to by all parties, as one who did credit to the assembly, and to the station which he filled in it. Can the most clamorous of Mr. Addington's proselytes; can the vanity of Mr. Addington himself dare to affirm that this is the case with respect to the present Chancellor of the Exchequer? No; amidst his "troop of friends," the most zealous are ashamed of their leader, and can scarcely stifle their contempt. All that they have to give is

---

Mouth, honour, breath "Which the poor heart would fain deny and dares "not."

The Doctor's affected condescension and courteousness, and his occasional acts of cunuing and duplicity, prove that he is not altogether so confident in his capacity and talents, as not to resort to other means of prolonging his power and his emoluments. And does not his general conduct prove a consciousness of incapacity? To what are we to attribute his indecision, and his putting off the evil day of looking danger in the face, but to a consciousness of want of resources to meet it fairly, and to grapple with it. Hence it is, that he has thought, that “suf"ficient for the day is the evil thereof;" and that he has only provided for the day, with out daring to look forward to future conse quences. Hence it is, that he hath contented himself with patching up a present urgent necessity, without removing the evil; with affording palliatives rather than remedies. The Doctor, Mr. Cobbett, puts me in mind of those indolent housewives, who, instead of sweeping their houses clean, sweep all the dirt into a corner, and put the brush upon the heap. In the same manner does our sage and safe politician suffer difficulties to accumulate, instead of vigorously removing them; till at length, they will amount to so complicated an assemblage, that they will force themselves upon his attention, with an importunity that will be heard. Then, Mr. Cobbett, if our condition should admit of consolation, we shall see our honest and well-meaning minister driven from his post, which he has so long retained, to the disgrace and the danger of the United Kingdom.→→ Let Englishmen, Mr. Cobbett, be opposed to Frenchmen upon the seas or upon the land, I fear not for the issue of the conflict. Under Providence, I confide all I hold dear to the spirit, bravery, and perseverance of my countrymen. But, when I see Mr. Addington and Co, pitted against Buonaperié and Talleyrand, I see feebleness, indecision, and folly, opposed to boldness, energy, and foresight. I tremble at the unequal contest. I despair not, however, as to the ul timate event, under all our disadvantages. Yet I tremble at protracted warfare, and at the great expenditure of blood and treasure, that under the discretion of the counsels of our safe politicians, and economical financiers, it must cost us before we can arrive at a successful termination of the contest. Yes, Mr. Cobbett, I tremble at the difficulties and dangers in which we must be involved, circumstanced as we are; and which we might avoid, if an enlightened, sagacious, decisive

minister were at the helm: one indeed, who deserved the name of statesman. The essential qualities which form a statesman, Mr. Addington possesses not, and never can possess. And he must, I say, be conscious of his deficiency. And what clain can he have to honesty and good intentions? When so much is at stake, how can he answer it to his conscience, his country, and his God, to fill a station for which nature never designed him; a station indeed, which he may think to be the highest honour, but it must sooner or later bring him to disgrace and ruin. -I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant.

THE VOLUNTEER BILL.

A. Z.

SIR,Mr. Secretary Yorke states the number of effective yeomanry and volunteers to amount to 27,000 cavalry, 4,000 artillery, and 300,000 infantry.This motley multitude, this amphibious army, it seems, can neither be dispensed with, nor suffered to continue in its present unwieldy state. How it is henceforth to be regulated, becomes, therefore, of the most serious importance, both to the nation and the individuals who inrolled themselves under the existing laws.

They have a right to expect, and they do expect, from the wisdom and deliberation of Parliament, that the rules and regulations by which they are to be governed-the duties, penalties, and forfeitures to which they are to be subjected; and the pay, allowances, and exemptions to which they are to be en.' titled, shall, all of them, be declared and defined so clearly, consistently, and explicitly, that men of common capacities, like themselves, may understand them, without resorting to the acute intellects of an Attorney-General, or passing act after act to explain and amend the former, through as many gradations as the history of "the "House that Jack built," aud yet (as Mrs. Dangle says in the Critic), "leaving the

interpreter the most difficult to be under"stood."--I have now before me " a

bill (as amended on second recommitment in the Commons)" to consolidate and "amend the provisions of the several acts