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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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Untitled Article
^ world . All bear the marks of human imperfection , and it is to be always kept in mind that however beautiful may be the theory of a government , the happiness of a country depends very much on its manners , and the character of the people to whom the government is intrusted . Quis custodiat zpsos custodes ? A , melancholy account from that country has raised many different reflections . Whilst the Dutch were thinking of their constitution the
English were venturing their lives to secure to them the country itself . Bergen-op-Zoom , the strongest fortress in if , was attacked by them with their accustomed valour , and temporary possession was obtained of the walls . A few hours changed the scene , and after dreadful slaughter and wounds
the besiegers were all taken prisoners , and in a short time released on condition of not serving against France chiring the war > or till they were exchanged . It does not appear that a single : Dutchman was employed in this attack , nor was the possession of it of such consequence as to warrant the risk of so much life ; since its capture
could have but little influence on the war near Paris , and its fate would depend on the negotiation . Spain has not yet received its kinghut he is daily expected on the frontiers . The existing government has
at ; ted , however , very honourably in communicating to the other states all tfee proceedings relative to the treaty made between him and Buonaparte , its declaration that every transaction
of the sovereign , whilst in confinement was invalid , and its determination to continue , in concert with the allies , the war against Buonaparte . It is a great question among politicians , whether the power of declaring war and peace should be vested in the king absolutely or uoi . T ^ case before us shews evidently that such a power ought to haveits limitations : for if the king is
a jprisoner , or if set at liberty yet in tqe dominions of another , and in a situation where he could not have full ijpA ^ er ajiii ability to determine on the proj ^ iety of cither measure , surely no Q ^ e could contend that the power of peace and war is so completeijp the prerogative of the crown , that even in til is case the nation ie to submit to its
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dictates , however injurious to the general interest . The two houses of parliament met on the first of March , pursuant to adjournment , and after a few observations adjourned to the 2 lst , In the lower
bouse Sir Samuel Romilly brought forward the appointment of the attorney-general to be chief justice of Chester , arguing against it with the greatest propriety , both as it affected the independence of judges and the administration of justice . In the latter
respect the appointment is subject to much animadversion ; for how can a criminal expect justice from the bencli when the prosecution of him has been previously recommended by the judgi ? in his office of attorney-general . Tn <* house heard these observations withgreat attention , and we trust that toe question will not drop here , bi ^ t b&
fairly examined by all sides of the house , that if the impropriety of such an appointment should be generally allowed a similar one may never in future take place . On a subsequent day this worthy lawyer begged leave to introduce a bill to prevent the corruption of blood in cases of high treason , and to make some alterations in
the mode of punishment . This was resisted on the usual plea of all innovation being a dreadful evil : the speaker upon this occasion forgetting his Kentish origin , and that the change proposed by Sir Samuel could be uo more injurious to the kingdom , than the want of such corruption of bipod had been pernicious to on « part of it . In Kent the law is ,
The father to the bough , The son to the plough . u e . if the father is suspended forhigu treason the rights of the sou tire tipt ; maimed ; he takes possession of tjie , lands in the same manner as he would have done if his father had di ^ d a , natural death . Leave was however given to Sir Samuel to bring ia his bill , and we trust that he will be
successful in this and many more efforts to improve our laws . As to those persons who cannot suffer any improvement to be made , we lament tne narrowness of their minds , and pity their destiny , that they were born in fepg ^ land Hot in China , as in the latter country they might have enjoyed the comfort of a finger nail longer than
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r State of Public Affairs . 1 §§
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1814, page 199, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2438/page/63/
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