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a body as the Electors of Westminster, it is not to be wondered at, that I should have incurred the displeasure of the upholders of a corrupt and despotic system.

The same assembly that dooms all their fellow countrymen to perpetual servitude, can have little compunction in sentencing an individual to temporary restraint; and since those who have sent me to this place look for the justification of their conduct, not to the old English Laws, nor to the prin◄ ciples of common justice, but in certain extravagant pretensions of their predecessors, which they please to term precedents, I should perhaps praise their forbearance, which has contented itself with simple imprisonment, instead of following the more atrocious examples that are to be found in the records of Parliament.

In one respect, indeed, I am given to understand, that the Honourable House has been pleased to dispense with even its own usages. In the last case of alleged libel-that of Mr. Jones in 1810, Mr. Speaker Abbott asked the accused,

what he had to say in his behalf," and upon his reply, again said, "have you any thing more to say in your behalf."

In the House of Lords, which certainly must be allowed to sit sometimes in a judicial capacity, but whose power to commit has been repeatedly questioned, a hearing has, I believe, been invariably granted, for, in the case of Flower in 1799, Lord Chief Justice Kenyon refused the application for a Habeas Corpus, partly on the plea, that Flower was heard in his defence, and had the same opportunity of calling witnesses that every other defendant has in a Court of Justice."

The case most similar to the present practice appears to be that of Sir John Mortimer, in the reign of Henry VI. who being brought into the Parliament, without arraignment or answer, was adjudged to be committed to the Tower of London, to be drawn through the city of Tyburn, and there hanged, drawn, and quartered; his head set upon London Bridge, and his four quarters on the four gates of London." But even here Sir John was " brought in," and his judgment was pronounced by both Houses, yet Lord Coke, whose authority the defenders of "Privelege" are so eager to quote, declares that the proceeding was evil, for (he adds) by the Statute of Magna Charta, cap. 29, and the 28th Edward III. cap. 5. no man ought to be condemned without ANSWER." For the accounts I beg to direct you to Cobbett's State Trials, Vol. I. p. 267, and the 4th Institute, 38.

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What breach of priivlege is, no man can tell; and even

for thus stating my opinion, that the Honourable House has overstepped its own precedents, it is possible that I may be removed from this prison to the dungeon of "Little Ease," in the Tower, as was the case with the Warden of the Fleet in 1,603, for contumacy after commitment. Some persons offending the Honourable House have been fined, others forced to kneel at the Bar-others paraded on horseback with their faces to the tail. But a debated precedent never can establish a positive right, and, privilege of Parliament in the sense now resorted to, has been questioned from time to time, by the best and ablest of our ancestors, as well as by our cotemporaries.

Arbitrary proceedings may make martyrs, but cannot make converts, If it is was always my opinion that the House of Commons has no right to commit to prison for constructive libel, I am not likely to change that opinion now. I will not, however, indulge in any impotent complaint, but endeavour to content myself as becomes the man who has been distinguished by your approbation; and no act of mine either on this or any other occasion, shall tend to compromise the rights and liberties of my fellow-countrymen, Believe me, Gentlemen,.

To be, with unfeigued gratitude,

Your most obliged fellow-citizen,
JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE.

APOSTACY AND TERGIVERSATION OF MR.

COBBETT:

We have this week a duty to perform, which we consei entiously think is owing to the memory of the immortal Paine-to the arduous services of almost the only. patriot in the House of Commons, (Sir F. Burdett, whom it is almost superfluous to name to many of our readers,)—and also to the Republican principles which we have supported, and which consequently we will defend even against the gigantic Cobbett, who has wantonly attacked them with barefaced assertions, devoid of argument, devoid of reason, and devoid of proof. It is well known to the Public that Mr. Cobbett has written as virulently at one period of his life against every principle of Liberty, as he has since done against those of Despotism. It is not impossible that a man should change his opinion in the course of years, and therefore we will not atack him upon the score of tergiversation; but we will, in as concise a manner as possible, prove to

our readers that he is as dishonest to the character of Paine knowingly dishonest-as he was ungrateful for the generosity of Sir Francis Burdett, For this purpose we will quote the following paragraph from his Review of the Life of Thomas Paines

From the furnished lodgings in which Paine had hitherto lived, the young couple soon removed to a house, for which they with some difficulty obtained furniture upon credit. But he having contracted debts which he was unable to discharge, our adventurer, with his wife, found themselves obliged to take what is called in Scotland a moonlight flitting; and on the night between the seventh and eighth of April, 1760, they set out from Sandwich to Margate, Thomas carrying with him the furniture which he had purchased on credit, a stove belonging to his house, and the stays of a customer. The stays were recovered from him by a timely claim; he sold the furniture by auction at Margate. The sale of goods obtained upon credit on a false pretext, is a crime that was formerly punished by exposure on the pillory; which has since been changed for transportation."

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All this may be true or it may be false, and false we believe it to be; but without stopping to canvass that question, we will proceed to expose the wilful dishonesty of Mr. Cobbett's concluding remark, and if a writer attempts to deceive his readers by deceptive reasoning, what faith can be placed in his political honesty. In his remark he introduces the words on a false pretext," which even his own villainous and calumnious tale never was made use of. He attempts to imply that Paine was guilty of swindling, though upon the very face of his own account, he was guilty of no worse conduct towards his creditors than Mr. Cobbett is given credit for by the world, in his own pecuniary transactions with the unfortunate tradesmen who trusted to his principles of honesty; nor can Mr. Cobbett plead the same excuse which he allows to be valid in the case of Paine-absolute

poverty and want. Whatever side of a question a person advocates, truth should be invariably their guide; but here we perceive that to support his arguments he wilfully draws a conclusion obviously dishonest, to blacken the character of a man whose political honesty is less durable than that of Mr. Cobbett, and who refused to withhold his writings from the world for the sake of private pecuniary profit. Mr. Cobbett's writings have often been quoted to prove his apostacy: this we conceive to be unnecessary, and in quoting passages from his Life of Paine, which we shall do in some

of the ensuing numbers of this independent publication, we shall only do so to prove his inconsistency to the very principles he is laying down for the perusal of his readers, which we think is a sufficient proof, that he is wilfully misleading them, and consequently entitled to no confidence whatsoever as a popular leader.

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We know that the course we are taking against so celebrated a writer is hazardous to so young a publication as ours, but, true to republican principles, which we are determined to advocate, we must expose the want of principle and consistency, in those who attack such, principles with assertions unsupported by ought but promises to prove their authenticity at some future time. It is true, Mr. Cobbett's." attack was more directly levelled at Mr. Carlile and the Republican," but, for the foregoing reasons, we think ourselves bound to repel his unfounded aspersions of a republican system of government. He has, however, not as yet, put it into our power to defend them in any other way than by stating our readiness to do so, for as yet he has advanced nothing but assertions; when he does condescend to tell his readers what his reasons are for calumniating, republican principles, at the very time he is lauding the greatest advocate for those principles to the very skies, we will not, shrink from supporting them to the utmost of our abilities. It is not Paine's Theological works he praises him for, but for his political ones; and yet, strange to say, while praising republican principles, he condemns a republican government. Until Mr. Cobbett gives us more substantial reasons for the truth of the assertions he advances, we shall be apt to suspect the plain English of the paraph to which we allude (and which we give our readers in

is nothing more than this: "Mr. Carlile's Republican sells better than my Register, and therefore I must write him down, or my trip to England* will be unprofitable."

We will now just take a short glance at his conduct towards Sir Francis Burdett, whom he dignified with the appellation of SHOY HOY, because, as we understand, Sir Francis closed the strings of his purse, which scared away the voracious beak of Mr. Cobbett. That Sir Francis lent him money which has never since been repaid, is, we beHeve, beyond a doubt; it is equally beyond a doubt that he has abused Sir Francis upon all subsequent occasions in his Twopenay Register, and it is (if we are to believe the Public Prints) also certain that he has meanly stooped to

This paragraph was written previous to his leaving America.

employ his friends to endeavour to effect a reconciliation between them, which, however, was very properly scornfully, rejected by the patriotic Baronet. Mr. Cobbett having stooped to seek a reconciliation, is a proof to us that his allegations against Sir Francis were malicious and unfounded; for he never would seek, as Sir Francis very justly, observed, to be reconciled to such a character as he described him to be in his Register, if that character was supported by truth; and if not, we think it unequivocally a most unpardonable act of meanness and despicable effrontery.

We have stated in a former number of The Cap of Li-
berty that, although professing, republican principles, we
yet do not wish to induce the People to look forward to
that form of government, because that the blood which must
be shed in order to obtain it, would be more than its equi-
valent, though when once established it is indubitably the
best."
There is, therefore, nothing inconsistent in our
offering our tribute of praise where we think it is deservedly
due, and consequently we now freely declare, that Sir.
Francis Burdett is deserving of the warm thanks of every
friend to Freedom-of every independent Englishman..
We think he has done his duty, and we also think this is
more than can be said of any five Members of the House of
Commons, or of any equal number of men of property in the
nation. He has ever been consistent in his political career-
he has nobly withstood the torrent of Ministerial corruption,
and, notwithstanding, came beneath the lash of Mr. Cobbett's
too inconsistent and, we suspect, too venal pen.

A NEW LAW FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF
ENGLISHMEN.

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THE

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DOMIMINA

THE Stamp Duties Bill was passed through the House of Commons on Monday night, as we expected; the debates were, as usual, tyrannical on the part of the Ministry, and milk and water on the part of the Whigs. There was, however, one thing worthy of observation, which fell from His Majesty's Solicitor-General, so contemptible, so ridiculous, and so laughable, that we are really astonished how any man in his senses could give it utterance. The Learned Gentleman said, that according to the Constitution of England, no Englishman has a right to be out of prison, without giving good securities that he will keep the peace against his Majesty's subjects. The House laughed at the Learned Gentleman most immoderately throughout his speech, but he notwithstanding, persisted in his arguments,

NUS, TIO

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