when the King and the Constitution of his Country are at variance, he is bound by every moral, by every patriotic obligation, to side with the latter, although the former is insidiously placed first in the oath which is tendered to him on his first entering the service. Indeed, we imagine that it would be much better to swear fealty to the nation, than to any individual whatsoever; for at present the soldier is, in many instances, undecided how to act ;-the King and the People are at variance-the latter pay him for his services the former commands him to crimson his sword with their hearts' blood! and he is sworn to obey him!!-and this is the English Constitution in the nineteenth century!!! We have before given it as our opinion, that the Suspension Act is to be renewed, and a Bill of Indemnity passed to screen from Justice the Manchester murderers; and to be prepared for the irritation in the minds of the people, which such infamous conduct doubtless will excite, the military force of the country is to be augmented, although much larger at present than the spirit of the Constitution of England will admit of. Mr. Wyvill's opinion is exactly similar: "Having observed," he says, "that it is intended by the Ministers of the Crown to add to the disposable force of the country, 11,600 men,-no doubt exists in my mind that the remonstrances of the People are to be silenced by the sword." We will now draw the attention of our readers to the following sentence, and if any of them should per-* chance be a member of that or any other Corps of Yeomanry, they will do well to ponder on the virtuous lesson it inculcates.- 66 Having, my Lord, as high a veneration as any man for that Constitution which has so long been the pride of England and the envy of the world,-as an Englishman I feel I should be unworthy the name, were I to consent to draw my sword to blast for ever that freedom which it must be the duty of every individual of the State, by all constitutional means, to maintain." The people are now assembling for the recovery of their rights, and those who would wantonly seek to offer more human victims than have already błed before the shrine of Despotism, must be worse than demons. We sincerely hope that none such are to be found in England. Her fair annals have been sufficiently disgraced by the Massacres at Manchester, without sinking her lower in the scale of civilization by blotting those annals with new atrocities. The page on which is registered the occurrences of the 16th of August, is written with blood and by blood, and blood alone can it be erased!!! 'DESIGNS AGAINST THE PRESS. THE High German Decree of the Regent of Hanover, for establishing a censorship in his dominions, is a pretty forcible indication of the spirit which exists in a certain quarter with respect to the press in this country. The persevering workings of that mighty engine have spread through the minds of the peasantry and artizans of the United Kingdoms, so vast an extent of political intelligence, and so irrepressible a determination to use that intelligence to the eradication of those foul excrescences, that have rendered the whole of the Constitution a nauseous mass of corruption! that the malignancy of the vermin that feed on the putrid redundance is roused to the most apprehensive activity. The press must be destroyed, or the project of establishing a boyonetic code of laws cannot be achieved. The blessings of Germanized customs have in many instances been introduced among us, even to the cultivation of mustachios on the fat beef-and-ale countenancss of our English farmers, who have learned to play at soldiers. The system must be completed: we must be fraternized with that flourishing and respectable kingdom which Napoleon created for the House of Brunswick, and for which in return he experiences the true Hanoverian gratitude of an assigninent of the vast territory of St. Helena. The meeting of Parliament wil certainly be fraught with important results to the state of the times; from a body se constituted no good can be expected; but it may be the medium of such flagrant attempts further to cripple the freedom of the country as in their insupportable nature may arouse an effectual and overpowering resistance. It will require more ingenuity than is pessessed by a cabinet so defective in talent as that which curses and insults this country with its misgovernment, to frame any effective restriction on the issue of that politicab information which they affect to despise, and denominate trash," but which they really tremble at to the inmost of their guilty hearts. The mental hunger of the public is insatiably raised-they will have political enlightenment. It has become as indespensible to them as the air they breathe, or the sustenance of their bodies; and an attempt to enhance its price will only sanction with another cause, their hatred of ruling oppression. If a weekly publication which is read with avidity by the people, be advanced in price by an arbitrary duty to ten times its former amount, where a man purchased it for himself before, he has only to join with nine of his neighbours for mutual accommodation, and the difficulty is surmounted. T. DAVISON, Printer and Publisher, 10, Duke Street, Smithfield. Cap of Liberty. A London Weekly, Political Publication. No. 11, Vol. 1.]. Wednesday, November 17th, 1819. [PRICE 2d, If Humanity shows to the God of this World, 'Tis that of a PEOPLE with banner unfurl'd, C. PHILLIPS, PERSECUTION OF MRS. CARLILE. THE spirit of Christian persecution seems to have gained ground rather than decrease as, the votaries of the Christian faith becomes less numerous. Mrs. Carlile although far advanced in a state of pregnancy, must yet be dragged into a Court, (we will not say of Justice, least we should be considered by our readers as libellets) to shew, cause why a rule should not be granted, to file a criminal information against her, at the investigation of the self-constituted So+ ciety for the Suppression of Vice And for what? Why, for publishing a fair and accurate report of the proceedings against her husband, under the very appropriate tille of the "Mock Trial." That trial was indeed a mockery, but yet it was the duty of a publisher to give it fully and fairly to the public, or suppress it altogether! A partial statement would have been injurious to Mr. Carlile, and he was therefore bound by the regard, which is inherent in every man, for the impeachability of his character, to publish it complete in all its parts. When we say "impeachability" we mean to be understood, that although his conduct has been impeached by a set of fanatic bigots, yet in the estimation of the great majority of his fellow countrymen, it is pure and unsullied as the brightest constellation in the expansive vault of Heaven. That constellation, without losing one spark of its native brilliancy, may be obscured by a passing cloud, and thus the character of this meritorious and praiseworthy individual is still untarnished, although the fanatie stupidity of others, has drawn a veil over the greatness of his virtue. A most dangerous precedent is about to be established by the Twelve Judges of England, which however we hope Printed and Published by T: DAVISON, 10, Duke Street, Smithfield. may be defeated. These learned gentlemen, or lords if they wish it, have given it as their unanimous opinion, that trials in an open Court should not always be made public, or at least, that in many instances, a great part should be kept back from the knowledge of the public. Cases have been cited in support of this doctrine, where evidence has been so indelicate, as to be unfit for publication. This may all be very true, but those cases should be left to the discretion of the Editors, who will find it their interest not to stain the columns of their papers with obscenity; and, if such a rule be once established, nothing in the shape of a trial, however true, can be hereafter published, if it be in any way offensive to the Court of St. James's, or to any ministerial dependent's dependent. Mrs. Carlile will, we hope, persevere in the publication of the Mock Trial, for if that is surrendered in passive obsequiousness to the Society for the Suppression of Vice, these gentlemen, who are members of it, will (priding themselves on their success) attack every work that is in print, except the Bible and Testament; nay, we doubt not if there were only these two most Holy and most miraculous miracles of books in the whole universe, the two would quarrel, and this very Society would attack the Bible, as virulently as they have ever done the Age of Reason; and finally the four books of the New Testament would be split asunder, and for want of something to do, for their principle motive in those prosecutions is not to be thought idle, and of no consequence. they would first attack one in the name of the other three, and so on till their word of God was bandied through every Court in the kingdom alternately, as truth and falsehood. It is a most mischievous Society, and should be put a stop to by some means or other. The members of it are neither remarkable for virtue or honesty: they can only be considered as a Society of busy-bodies, who are ever interfering with what does not concern them. The principles of Paine are daily gaining ground: those of the Christian, though supported by persecution, as daily losing it. We cannot tell as yet what the punishment of Mr. Carlile may be, but we doubt not that it will be dictated by a Christian spirit, and therefore will be heavy. He, however, will carry with him to his perhaps solitary prison, the heartfelt consolation of having done his duty. If every heart in England courageously stood forward as he has done, how soon would fall the fabric of tyranny and corruption, religious and political. The hour, however, is not far distant, when this great object of the People will be attained. Church and State already begin to totter-one effort more, and they fall, crumbling beneath the mighty pressure of Reason, of Truth, and Liberty. When we say the State will fall, we must not be understood as being desirous of anarchy and confusion. Nowe mean the present state of corruption, bribery, and murder, must ere long receive its death-blow, even though supported by, we believe, one hundred thousand bayonets. SENTENCE OF MR. CARLILE: Since writing the foregoing, we have heard the sentence of Mr. Carlile, which fully answers our expectation of the mercy to be expected from those Christian persecutors of every one who attempts to exercise that reason which God has given them for the purpose of detecting imposition" in every form and shape. For publishing Paine's "AGE OF REASON," Mr. Carlilé is to be imprisoned two years in DORCHESTER gaol, and FINED One Thousand Pounds and for publishing Palther's PRINCIPLES OF NATURE," he is to be imprisoned in GLOUCESTER gaol twelve months, and FINED in the sum of Five Hundred Pounds; and after the expiration of the term of imprisonment, to find security, himself in £1000, and two sureties in £500, each, to keep the peace for the term of his natural life. We would ask, if Mr. Justice Bailey imagines that Mr. Carlile has got the nine lives of a cat, (as folks say in the country,) for, otherwise, we are at a loss to conjecture what his Lordship can mean by "NATURAL" life. Who can dispute the merciful disposition of our Christian Rulers, when we perceive that for the sole purpose of giving Carlile an airing, they change his place of imprisonment at the expiration of the first two years. Good creatures! how plentifully endowed are they with the milk of human kindness! We pray to the Great God who rules the universe, and whom these lawyers would calumniate-most fervently do we pray that they may each and every one be rewarded according to his merits. A ropemaker near us has most devoutly responded, "Amen," with an addition of " trade will be brisker than heretofore." Mr. Justice Bailey, in passing sentence, made a long, tiresome, and stupid preface, which he, perhaps, meant for admonition. If he had done this preparatory to a light and trivial penalty, it might be passed over in silence, for every man is not gifted with eloquence, neither are, they gifted with knowledge, or the knack of rendering their words |