I NEVER could agree in opinion with the philanthropic, and
well-intentioned, and honest, Major Cartwright,[33] in his unqualified
scheme of universal suffrage; because I conceive that the ignorant and
the wicked ought to be debarred from voting for anything; they should
neither be honoured with privileges nor employed in any office of public
trust; a virtual representation is all-sufficient for them. Could
matters be so managed that none but sensible, honest men should be
allowed to vote, either for members of Parliament, or for any other
public functionary, the country would, in a short time, put on a very
improved appearance. It is quite natural to suppose that, were elections
entrusted to this description of men, they would elect none but those of
similar character to their own. But, should it be found impracticable
thus to order public affairs, then the next best plan,—and which might
easily be accomplished,—would be to confer the additional elective
franchise upon householders of probity and honour,—that is, upon those
who, in their own spheres, by industry and intelligence, maintain
themselves respectably; for it must be admitted that the poor are
frequently as wise as the rich, and as remarkable for integrity.
Footnote 33:
Major Cartwright, died 23rd Sep., 1824, aged 84,—an honour to his
country and to human nature—an upright and inflexible patriot.
If an overwhelming mass of selfism did not paralyze every improvement,
how easily and how soon all this might be done. By making elections
simple, candidates would be spared the expense of a canvass, and
drunkenness and the base, wicked effects consequent thereon might be
avoided. This business through the whole kingdom might be done in a few
days, by summoning the electors (as soon as the candidates were
nominated) to attend at the several polling places, to vote by ballot or
otherwise as might be determined. The public should only be addressed
through the medium of the newspapers. What a real honour would it be to
be thus elected! What a saving of expense! What can any gentleman, after
spending thousands in the present mode, say for himself? Does he expect
to be repaid, somehow or other, by the nation? or, has he lavished away
such sums for the “honour of the thing,” and thus robbed his own family
by wasteful expenditure?
While sentiments of patriotism were entertained in our country,—clouded,
indeed, by fears of an opposite tendency, as noticed before,—the
attention of all was drawn aside to view the confederacy of despots
directed to shackle the understandings of mankind, and to keep them in
slavery and degradation. Would any man in his senses, in the present
enlightened state of the civilized world, have thought this possible?
And yet, as a finish, they have called it the “Holy Alliance.” My most
fervent prayer is, that no king of the British Isles will ever keep such
company; but that our sovereigns will ever stand firm, uncontaminated by
the infectious effluvia of arbitrary power, upon this proud ground—this
soil fitly tilled, but only wanting some weeding to render it perfectly
ready to produce a rich crop of liberty.
Most men were beginning to hope that emperors and kings had discovered
that, if the people were not enlightened, it was high time for them to
use their kingly influence to make them so; and that it is far safer and
better, as well as more honourable, to preside over an intelligent
people, than to govern men brought down to the level of unreasoning
brutes. The wretchedly bigoted, and consequently oppressed, people of
Spain will, no doubt, see things in their true light at some future day,
and free their fine country from misrule. The times in which Galileo
lived have passed away, but we still see the same kind of despotism and
superstition ready as ever to burn such men alive, and to strew their
ashes in the wind. The affairs of mankind, managed in this way, will be
likely at no distant period to put such kings and their priests out of
fashion. Superstition makes despots and tyrants of all the sovereigns
whom it influences: they become the confirmed enemies of knowledge. The
die is then cast. Superstition never did, nor ever will, listen to
reason; for credulity is the offspring of ignorance, and superstition is
the child of credulity; and this breed is nursed and kept up by
despotism, as its mainstay and darling. The sun of reason may be clouded
for a time. As long as falsehood in the garb of truth continues to lead
the great mass of mankind, so long will they struggle in vain to attain
the paths which lead to perfection and happiness.
“We should always repute it as our business in the world—the end and
purpose of our being—our duty to our kind—the natural use of the powers
we enjoy—and the suitable testimony of gratitude to our Maker, to
contribute something to the general good—to the common fund of happiness
to our species.”[34] Benevolent and patriotic sentiments of this kind
ought always to be kept up, and the mite of the humblest individual
ought to be received and acknowledged: the reveries of such ought not to
pass without being coolly examined by men of experience. I well remember
my name having been set down as that of a person who would, without
hesitation, become a member of a society in Newcastle, “for the
suppression of vice.” To this I decidedly objected, and told my
well-meaning neighbour,[35] who named the matter to me, that I thought
the magistrates were quite competent to manage that business; but that I
would have no hesitation in joining their society if they would change
their plan, and make it “a society for promoting and rewarding virtue.”
I have often thought since that, if such a society as the latter—to be
called “The Society of Honour”—were established in every parish, it
might, if well managed, do great good. The society ought not to annoy
any one, by being over officious, nor to meddle otherwise than by
quietly, and yet publicly, rewarding, or expressing the good opinion
they entertain of the conduct of the person honoured.
Footnote 34:
Dr. F. Hutchinson.
Footnote 35:
Mr. Benjamin Brunton. He was a popular man, and was often chairman at
patriotic and charitable meetings, and had been one of the committee
who sued the magistrate of Newcastle on the Town Moor business before
mentioned.
Another society of a very different character to the last-named is at
this time winked at in this land of liberty. I mean the present great
and mighty Inquisition, held under the denomination of “the
Constitutional Association.” These men—the secret admirers of “The Holy
Alliance”—may more properly be called the suppressors and dreaders of
truth. Acting, indeed, under the mask of advocating the cause of
religion and liberty, but in reality in lurking enmity to the latter,
and to all free enquiry and investigation, they have arrogated to
themselves the power of punishing a man for his unbiased opinions, even
on subjects which do not militate against good morals, or against the
happiness of society; thus taking the power out of the hands of the
national authorities, as if they were unfit and insufficient to do their
duty. A House of Commons ought to see this with indignation, and this
self-erected Inquisition, instead of ruining parties by their
prosecutions, should be invited to answer truth with truth, as well as
they can; leaving the world to judge how it stands between them and
their opponents.
When men break through laws, made with care for the good government of
the community, they ought, as at present, to forfeit their liberty, and
in some cases their lives. It is a pity that those who have betrayed the
innocent, and robbed the fatherless children and widows, cannot be sent
to live with savages, and to have their backs tattooed with
hieroglyphics, expressive of their crimes.
It has often been a matter of surprise, in the circle of my friends,
that criminals are not transported to the West Indies, there to undergo
a purgation till they have redeemed their characters, in which case they
should be allowed to return home. It has also appeared to us that the
law is defective, in not, somehow or other, protecting such men after
being released from prison. Some association should be formed—some
friends to them and to humanity might be invited forth to pass their
word, for a time, for their good behaviour, to prevent their being thus
cast friendless upon an unforgiving and censorious world; for it matters
not how fervently a man may wish to redeem his character, no one will
employ him, and he is thereby driven to the necessity of flying to some
villainous scheme to enable him to live.
It is painful to speak about punishments to be inflicted upon one’s
unfortunate fellow men: it is equally so to contemplate their
self-degradation. But, when it is considered what a voluminous mass of
laws we have, neither understood nor explained, we cannot wonder that
they are broken; they are so multifarious and complex, that, as to the
illiterate description of persons they are meant to keep in order, they
are almost useless. An abridgement of the laws of England would perhaps
fill fifty folio volumes. These laws, at the time they were made, might
be good and proper, but most of them are now inapplicable and obsolete.
To amend them seems impossible, and an act to amend or explain an act,
by adding confusion to confusion, is truly farcical. It is a pity that
the whole of them cannot be abolished at once, and short and clear new
ones substituted in their stead. As they stand at present, few men can
understand them, and to men of plain, good sense, or of ordinary
capacities, they appear altogether a great mass of unintelligible
matter, or a complete “riddle-me-ree.” This may, indeed, be intended or
winked at; for it gives employment to a great number of men of the law,
of all kinds of character, from the basest up to others who are
ornaments to their country. Indeed, were it not for the latter
description, the rest would not be endurable. They are more to be
dreaded than highwaymen and housebreakers, and as such are viewed by the
thinking part of the community; but the former find employment from
clients of their own character, who trust to them for their ability in
twisting, evading, and explaining the law away.
In passing through life, it has fortunately been my lot to have been
intimate with both military and naval gentlemen, as well as with those
of the learned professions; and, though several of each class have stood
high in the estimation of the world, for their gentlemanly manners and
unsullied worth—to which I may be allowed to add my testimony, as well
as to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe some of them for their
kindness and attention—yet, on taking a comparative survey of the whole,
I cannot help giving a preference to medical men; for, besides their
learning and attainments in common with other professions, they appear
to me, generally, to be further removed from prejudice, more
enlightened, and more liberal in their sentiments than the other
labourers in the vineyards of science and literature.
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