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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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&ay , in different prisons of England for several years , and at last were discharged with the imputation of crime , and without the opportunity of freeing themselves from the charge by an open trial . The arguments , used by Mr . Pitt and his advocates , will be employed by Buonaparte and his
supporters : and assuredly nothing but extreme necessity can justify a sovereign hi using this species of terror . Whereever it is employed , the people are in danger of the greatest degradation : for how can nobility of sentiment 'exist , where life and liberty depend on the nod of an individual *
It is a curious thing , that the power exercised by Buonaparte and so justly complained of , is allowed , or at least is practised , in our own country , upon certain occasions , which do not by any means appear to call for such ah appearance of tyranny . The . H ousc of Co mmons thinks itself to be invested with
this power , and in consequence oF it , an individual is now in prison , sent there by a speaker ' s warrant , to be kept there duri ng the pleasure of the House of Commons , which in this case takes upon itself the offices of prosecutor , judge , jury , and executioner . The case has called forth a most acute
examination into the power claimed . by the House , and Sir Francis Burdett , one of its members , protests against it ; and , in a most valuable enquiry into the nature of the privileges of the House , shews that the imprisonment of a person on a charge of libel , is totally foreign to their institution . We do not wish that our House of Commons
should bear a resemblance , in this most important relation to the subject , to a foreign despot . But what does Buonaparte claim for himself ? the right of imprisoning without trial , the man who displeases him . What has the House of Commons done ? it has
imprisoned the man who displeased them . But the House of Commons may say , the man has infringed on our privileges ; and so will Buonaparte say , the man has in / ringed on rny privilege . But common sense tells us , that it is
dangerous , to trust frail beings , like ourselves 3 with the power of being judges in our own causes . True liberty cannot exist , where the executive , deliberative , and judicial powers are placed in the same hands . The argument of Sir Francis Burdett is de-
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cisive upon this subject * and deserves the attention of every one who has a regard for the true dignity of man . A completer analysis has perhaps never been exhibited , and we are not without hopes , that the House of Commons will perceive , that it consults its own dignity more by the rejection than the exercise of such a power . %
We do not hear that theFrench , who exulted so much , on the fall of their Bastille , have made any expostulations on the subject of this new decree . They are immersed in the splendor -of his reign $ and he employs their minds continually on ^ new objects . Holland and Hanover excited many conjectures .
The former country was to be absorbed in the French empire , and the latter was said to be reserved in its unsettled state * as a bribe for peace ,. to its former sovereign . Holland , however , remains a kingdom , though its sovereign has destroyed those edicts , by which he established a species of nobility in that country * Its destiny is not yet known .
It may still remain an independent country , if that can be called independence , when the sovereign is iu fact , only a viceroy of an emperor Severe orders are issued on the subject of trade , yet , we do not know how it is , but cargoes are transferred from one country to the other , and the prohibitions serve only to make the cornmodities dearer to the consumer . But
Hanover is completely severed from this country . It now forms part of the kingdom of Westphalia , and a Buonaparte is its sovereign . Cassel , that
metropolis formerly of the . Landgrave of Hesse , is the residence of the new king where he may occasionally visit his palace at Her re n h a u sen , and live among his Hanoverian subjects . His territories will thus be of considerable
extent ; and Westphalia freed from the pride of its ancient barons 3 may rise to a higher degree of comfort and civilization . The southern part of Germany is occupied with the passage of the various parties belonging- to the bride .
But the Tyrol is full of lamentation . It is ieduced to a state of quiet , and must submit to its new yoke . We hear little of the Russians and Turks , the latter cannot but be under some apprehensions from the rise of Austria after its sudden depression . What ¦ changes are destined to take place iu
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Stet * of Public Affairs . 153
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VOJL , V . X
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1810, page 153, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2402/page/49/
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