which offers fo many temptations to indigence, and fo many incite ments to rapacity. "It seems effential to the public intereft that no perfons fhould fit in the Houfe of Commons who cannot give a pledge of their independence in the poffeflion of a certain definite and competent por tion, not of fictious or involved, but of folid, real, and unencumbered fortune. By thus removing one of the ftrongest inducements to corruption, we, in a great meafure, invalidate the potency of temptation, and break the fpell of the tempter. Parliamentary integrity is, by no means, to be looked for in any member who is not, in his private circumftances, placed fo high in the fcale of competence, as to be above the lure of bribery, and the neceffity of fawning upon the infolence of power for the earnings of obfequious depravity. mere "To fuffer that qualification of property which is requifite to the free exercife of fenatorial independence, to degenerate into a ideal and nominal poffeflion, is to fuffer needy adventurers, panting. for the wages of iniquity, to step over the threshold of that affembly which can open, at pleafure, the fluices of the blood and treasure of Englishmen. It is, in fact, to offer a premium on the introduction of perfons who are already predifpofed to corruption, into thofe walls which ought for ever to be the fanctuary of integrity. "I am, indeed, perfuaded, fo frail is man, that no leginative provifions, however wifely framed, or faithfully enforced, can entirely bar the avenues to corruption *; but he is certainly lefs expofed to the temptations of bribery who has an unembarrafied income, than he, who having no property at all, or who, owing more than he poffeffes, is reduced to the alternative of either felling his confcience and his. « A laxity of private is that which caufes a want of public principle. Public and private virtue are, in fact, only branches which iflue from the fame trunk. There, perhaps, never was a more dangerous or falfe notion propagated than this, that a man's private has no relation to his public character, or that worthleffness in domestic was no obftacle to purity in civil life. According to this mode of reafoning, an unprincipled gamefter might be a good Lord of the, Treafury, or the keeper of a bagnio pure enough for a Chief Justice. This peftilent doctrine was the invention of men deftitute of principle; and who wished to repair their ruined fortunes from the fpoils of the commonwealth; men who, confcious of the notoriety of their vices, were anxious to make the people believe that thofe very vices were aufpicious, or, at leaft not inaufpicious, to their public integrity. But is a man grofsly immoral in all the relations of private lifea bad husband, a bad father; a treacherous friend, an adulterer, a. gamefter; a man whofe criminal extravagance, and whofe guilty pleafures, are the themes of public reproach-is fuch a man worthy the public confidence? Is he fit to be placed in any flation, in which great temptation is to be refifted, and an inflexible integrity to be exercifed? He who has but a spark of virtue will anfwer, No. Country country, or of ftarving on the barren contemplation of his virtue. There are many chances in favour of the first acting on principles of independence; every chance is against the laft acting on fuch principles." Pp. 33-36. It is, indeed, high time to put a stop to thofe fcandalous evafions of what may be called a leading principle of reprefentation, which renders the pofleflion of property an indifpenfible qualification for a reprefentative. Let thofe men, who fo loudly declaim on the neccility of a recurrence to first principles, begin their patriotic career by the application of an immediate and effectual remedy to this ferious evil, which has done more to depreciate the Houfe of Commons, in the minds of fober, rational, reflecting men, than all the culpable mifconduct of former Houfes, the inconfiderate decifions of their Election Committees; their frequent facrifice of public con.fiderations to motives of perfonal intereft, in the difcuffion of private bills, whether their object was the erection of a theatre or the formation of a canal; their occafional infringement on the regular mode of judicial proceedings; their toleration of feditious and treafonable language, within their own walls; their contradictory determinations on queftions of the first importance; or their ufurpation of powers and privileges hoftile to the genuine fpirit of the British Conftitution. Even thefe grofs inftances of mifconduct, involving confequences which it would be foreign from our prefent purpose to difcufs, did not, at the time, create fo unfavourable an impreflion on the public mind as the evil in queftion. This ftrikes at the root of all parliamentary purity, materially promotes the growth of corruption, and deprives the PROPRIETORS of the kingdom of that full portion of fecurity which the Conftitution of the British Government is fo admirably calculated to afford; by facilitating the introduction of needy profligates, and uncertificated bankrupts, who may defraud their creditors, and feek, in parliament, a protection from a goal. This is, indeed, an abufe that requires inftant correction; a corruption that demands immediate reform. To fuch a reform, every man, who has the intereft of his country at heart, must be a decided friend. To atchieve this defirable purpofe nothing more is neceffary than a ftrict adherence to the provifions of the Statute of the 9th of Queen Anne, by which the qualification of a member was finally fettled. Upon the fpirit and intent on of that law it is impoffible for any two honeft men to have a difference of opinion. It lays down the neceflity of a clear, unencumbered, bonâ fide, property, to a certain * * The words of the oath, preferibed by the Statute, are- amount, to render a man eligible as a member of the Houfe of Commons; a mere illufory property, obtained for the exprefs purpofe of qualification, and restored, after that purpose has been answered, to its lawful poffeffor, is not the property required by the law; and the man who, poffeffed of fuch a property only, takes the oath, is unquestionably guilty of moral, if not of legal, perjury. Befides, it was evidently the intention of the legislature, and, indeed, without fuch intention, instead of giving ftrength to the provifions of former ftatutes, it would have enfeebled their operation, and defeated their effect--it was its intention, we fay, to render the permanent poffeffion of fuch property neceflary to the enjoyment of a feat-in other words, that the moment a man ceafed to poffefs the qualification required by the law, he fhould forfeit the character of Representative. Were it neceffary to defend the principle upon which this falutary law was founded, we could easily adduce fuch arguments in its fupport as would convince the judgement of every man who admits the neceffity of giving a due influence to property, in all matters of national import. But the law exifts, and its rigid execution becomes, not a matter of dif cuffion, but a queftion of duty. We earnestly with to fee the British Houfe of Commons maintain its dignity unfullied, its fplendour undiminished, its confequence unimpaired: we wifh, in fhort, to have it firmly fixed in that precife fituation which the Conftitution has affigned it; and which it is effential to the happiness of the people, and the profperity of the empire that it fhould ever continue to hold. When we confider that this depends entirely on itself, and that its own exertions are alone neceffary to give folidity within, and to "I, A. B. do fwear, that I truly and BONA FIDE have fuch an Eftate in Law and Equity, to and for my own use and benefit, of or in lands, tenements, or hereditaments, OVER AND ABOVE. WHAT WILL SATISFY AND CLEAR ALL INCUMBRANCES THAT MAY This oath may AFFECT THE SAME, of the annual value of," &c. be exacted from any candidate, by any other candidate, or two electors, at the time of election, or before the meeting of Parliament. The oath which must be taken, when a member takes his feat, is fubftantially the fame.-The words are "I, A. B. do fwear, that I truly and BONA FIDE have fuch an Estate in Law and Equity, and of fuch value, to and for my own use and benefit, of or in lands, tenements, or hereditaments, OVER AND ABOVE WHAT WILL SATISFY AND CLEAR ALL INCUMBRANCES THAT MAY AFFECT THE SAME, as doth qualify me to be elected and returned," &c. fecure fecure confidence without; we entertain the most fanguine hopes of seeing our wishes fulfilled. Let the exifting laws be enforced; or if, indeed, the smallest doubts prevail, as to their spirit or provifions, furely they deserve an act of amendment or explanation, calculated to define their object, and to facilitate their execution, at least as much as a regulation of police, or a matter of revenue. The author expreffes a wifh (P. 50) that another offer of peace may be made by this country to France. Such an offer we are convinced, and we imagined the whole nation were convinced, with us, could produce no other effect than a repetition of infult, and a confequent degradation of the national dignity. Our comments on this book must have convinced the author that we deemed it worthy of attention. We trust that he will be induced to re-consider those points on which we have chiefly animadverted; and we shall be truly happy to fee his mind, when matured by reflection, again turned, to the dif cuffion of political fubjects, for which it is, in many respects, fo well qualified. ART. XII. Travels through the States of North America, and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. By Ifaac Weld, junior. Illuftrated and embellished with fixteen Plates. 4to. Pp. 464. Price 11. 10s. Stockdale, London. 1799. TH HE freedom, happiness, and political liberty, or, in other words, political power, enjoyed by the inhabitants of America, have long been the theme of exultation to patriots. and republicans in this defpotic and miferable country. A peace-making Marquis, and a filver-tongued Barrister, have been fo thoroughly convinced of the fuperiority of a tranf atlantic government to the British monarchy, that they have felected the United States as the beft theatre for exhibiting to their promifing fons the great fpectacles of a happy and profperous nation. The writer of thefe travels, when he left Ireland, his native country, like a Cooper or a Priestley, entertained ideas of a fimilar defcription with these great men; but experience is an excellent fchool-miftrefs, and three out of the five have been reftored to a found mind, and just notions of things, on the comparative ftate of England and America, on the liberty and freedom enjoyed by fubjects, and the flavish dependence of citizens. Mr. Weld appears faithfully to have delineated the manners and cuftoms of the inhabitants of North America. The pic NO. VII. VOL. II. H ture ture will astonish their friends and admirers in this country; fome will attempt, doubtlefs, to ftate, that the representation is incorrect, or unfaithful, and that the difagreeable objects only have been felected by this traveller, and that he has diftorted the general outline; but we can affure our readers, that we have strong collateral authority to fupport his ftatements, and to fanction his evidence relative to the white flavetrade. We know for certainty that it exifts, and that thoufands of deluded and deceived people were exported from Ireland, and that an act of the Legislature has been paffed in that kingdom, to prevent or counteract this nefarious traffick in Chriftian blood. But take this author's account: 66 MY DEAR SIR, York, March. "I arrived at this place, which is about twenty miles diftant from Lancaster, yesterday. The inhabitants of this town, as well as thofe of Lancaster and of the adjoining country, confift principally of Dutch and German emigrants, and their defcendants. Great num. bers of thefe people emigrate to America every year, and the importation of them forms a very confiderable branch of commerce. They are for the most part brought from the Hanfe Towns and from Rotterdam. The veffels fail thither from America, laden with dif ferent kinds of produce, and the mafters of them, on arriving there, entice on board as, many of these people as they can perfuade to leave their native country, without demanding any money for their paffage. When the veffel arrives in America, an advertisement is put into the paper, mentioning the different kinds of men on board, whether fmiths, tailors, carpenters, labourers, or the like, and the people that are in want of fuch men flock down to the veffel; thefe poor Germans are then fold to the highest bidder, and the captain of the effel, or the fhip holder, puts the money into his pocket.* "There have been many very fhocking inftances of cruelty in the carrying on this trade, vulgarly called The white flave-trade.” I fhall tell you but one. While the yellow fever was raging in Philadelphia in the year 1793, at which time few veffels would venture to approach nearer to the city than Fort Mifflin, four miles below it, a captain in the trade arrived in the river, and hearing that fuch was the fatal nature of the infection, that a fufficient number of nurses could not be procured to attend the fick for any fum whatever, he conceived the philanthropic idea of fupplying this deficiency from amongst his paflengers; accordingly he boldly failed up to the city, and advertifed his cargo for fale: A few healthy fervants, generally between feventeen and eighteen years of age, are juft arrived in the brig their times will be difpofed of by applying on board. The cargo, as you may fuppofe, did not remain long unfold. This anec "Thousands of people were brought from the north of Ireland in the fame way before the war with France." dote |