at this moment, with some pretty same time, there came athwart serious thoughts. If I were a my mind, the recollection of per Minister of State; if I had, in secution, of ruin, of dreadful pu conjunction with colleagues, had nishments, that I had caused to an absolute majority in the Par- be inflicted upon those who had liament during twenty-three foretold that my measures would years; if I and they had, during lead to these national calamities: that time, caused such laws to be if I were such a Minister, Sir, passed, such treaties to be made, with what sort of feelings, think. such taxes to be raised as we you, could I lay my head upon pleased; if I were a Minister of my pillow? And, if, in addition State, who, for twenty-three years, had had such power; and if, during the same period, I had caused a jubilee to be held, and had caused three hundred thousand pounds to be expended upon feasts and rejoicings, to celebrate the glorious victories of the nation; if, in addition to all this, I had made a peace, which I had called the fair fruit of a long and triumphant war; if I had obtained votes of millions to reward the heroes of the war, and to erect monuments and triumphal arches in commemoration of the peace that they had won; if, after all this, I found myself sitting at Whitehall, every messenger and every post bringing me intelligence of the ruin, the misery, the starvation of the people, whom I had had under my sway, and whose prosperity and happiness I had had the charge of for those twenty-three years; and if, at the to all the other bitter reflections, there were this, that I had pursued my mischievous course, that I had persevered in destructive measures, and that I had rejected salutary measures, because these latter had been recommended by a man to cause whom to triumph was what I could not endure; if this reflection came at the back of all the rest, who shall describe what must be, or at least, what ought to be, my shame and my remorse ? Now, I do not positively assert, that this motive has been the cause of that series of measures which has led to the present state of things; but, this I know, that great numbers of persons have observed to me, that they believed this to be the case. It is my own belief; and, I am persuaded, that if any one were to take the Register in one hand, and the Orders in Council, the Proclamations, the Acts of Parliament, and the Par-lived all this time amongst poliliamentary Speeches, in the other ticians; that 1 cannot have lived hand; if he were to take these, a dozen years or more of the time for the last twenty-three years, within the purlieus of the court; and look carefully at both, he that I cannot have had so much would say, that the whole of the to do with petitions and remonaristocracy, that all the persons in strances and bills and all sorts of power, legislative or executive, things; that I cannot have had that all the speech-makers, and this piece of the press in my that all the writers, little as well as hands all this time, without being big, have been, each as far as he personally acquainted with a great has meddled with the matter, en- many men in Parliament, or in deavouring to carry along, or to something or another, that placed get carried along, the Government them in the way of knowing the of this country, and the affairs of sentiments of men in place and this country, in some manner or power: this has, in fact, been the other, contrary to the advice of case. I have known a great many William Cobbett. Good God! such persons; and I have had the What a thing to say! Yet, from certain knowledge of measures the bottom of my soul, I believe it having been adopted because I to be true; and, a comparative condemned them; and of other statement of the measures recom- measures being rejected, because mended by me, and of the mea- I recommended them. I know sures adopted by the Government, this to have been the fact, in four during the last twenty-three years, or five instances; and I believe it would prove the truth of the fact to have been one of the general to any man who should make the motives that have been at work comparison in a spirit of impar- during the last twenty-three years. tiality. It was not an ordinary man that you had to deal with. I soon perceived, that you all hated me most sincerely, because you were afraid of me. I felt the injustice of your hatred; but I had no power to avenge and I never liked to show my teeth when I was unable to bite. I saw that If thousands of other persons have perceived this, assuredly it has not been hidden from myself. I have seen it all along, from the moment I began to write the Register, which was in 1802, to this present day. The public will be well assured, that I cannot have it; you had all resolved, both parties, very extensive vengeance and I all parties; the whole of you that had very little means, for some years, of causing the public, or any portion of the public, to do me justice, or, rather, to do justice to my opinions; but, I had this for me: I WAS RIGHT "; and I was sure that, at last, it cut any figure at all in or about the State, including all the Jolterheads into the bargain. I saw that you had all perceived that there was a great deal of industry here; a great deal of capacity; a great deal of spirit, unconquera- would become evident to all the ble independence, great self-con-world that I was right. I have no fidence, great boldness of enter- scruple to say, that hostility to you, prise you all perceived it by in- and the whole gang of you, Parliastinct: there wanted no conspi- ment, Ministry and all; I have racy or combination or agreement no scruple to say, that a desire to of any sort I saw that you all be revenged of you for your unfelt towards me as nature bid you just and mean hatred; I have no feel; and that is, just as rats feel scruple to say, that this feeling towards a terrier. I saw that it added greatly to my industry and was perfectly useless to attempt my perseverance. I desired, I conciliation: I wished, at first, must have desired, to have some not to give offence; but, I soon sort of satisfaction for this unjust found that such wishes and such antipathy. I knew; experience endeavours were useless: I soon had shown me, that I possessed found that attempts to be civil, more talent than any of you; only added to the acrimony of the saw that you were children comhostility against me. "In short," pared to me; I felt that I had a said I to myself one day, "what mind that enabled me justly to "terrier was ever fool enough to estimate the great causes of na"endeavour to conciliate rats? tional happiness and national un"I will worry them for the future happiness; I had seen a vast deal "without sparing;" and, Sir, of the world, and have all my life upon my word, I have always long been a great observer of found (as terriers find it with rats) causes and effects as relating to that those which I have bitten be- the wealth, the poverty, the greathaved better for the future than ness, the weakness, the prosperity, the decline, of nations; and as to the rest. I had, however; no means of this monstrous affair of Debt and I Paper-money, I came to the study | to the nation; I have kept on foreof it wholly unprejudiced; and, ftelling and fore-warning; and it I very soon perceived that that seems to have been your instincwhich was a sort of mystery to tive delight to avoid, by all means every body else was as clear to whatsoever, to avoid adopting me as my fingers upon my hand. measures recommended by me. I therefore felt indignant at your Upon many occasions you seem instinctive conspiracy; but, as I to have adopted measures for the said before, I had no means of purpose of giving me the lie, and immediate vengeance. I per- for no other purpose whatever. ceived, however that TIME only Good God! how this nation has demanded of me to have patience, smarted for those measures! I do in order to give me ample revenge. not know why I am not to assume, To time, therefore, I committed as a matter of course, that such my case, with this resolution;were your motives upon several namely, never to suffer you to occasions. The larger part of the adopt any measure that should nation believes it. A great matend to rescue the nation from its jority of the nation believes it. difficulties, dangers and suffer- And, indeed, why should they not ings; never to suffer you, I say, believe it, when they look at my to adopt any such salutary mea- warnings, and when they look at sure, without making the people your subsequent acts. Who, incry out with unanimous voice, deed, can doubt of the fact, when THIS IS A MEASURE OF they look at my warning of 1818, COBBETT! That was the only and at Peel's Bill of 1819; when vengeance I sought; and that they look at my warning of the mode of inflicting vengeance spring of 1822, and at your smallhave pursued from the year 1803 note bill of the summer of that to the present hour. year; when they look at my You, your colleagues, the Par-warning of the fall of 1822, and liament, all the whole tribe of you, at your efforts to push out the both factions, both houses, all the paper in 1823; when they look at whole thing, and all belonging to my warning to the holders of Spathe thing, have persevered in your nish bonds, and when they look instinctive hostility; I have kept at your impudent and empty on recommending measures; efforts to make the people believe that the French could not march have kept on stating useful truths into Spain, and, of course, that all know it; and, what is more, fothose bonds would remain good; reign nations, or, at least, foreign governments, know it too. They all know the principles for which I am contending: they have long witnessed the instinctive combination against those principles: they your projects: they see that I am right and that you are wrong: they know that you have power and that I have none; but they also know, that the power must when they look at my warning as to the danger of trusting South America, and at your most impudent efforts to make the traders believe that you had there found the land of promise for them? watch you very narrowly they Five hundred people have observ-see that you are baffled in all ed to me, that Peel's Bill would have been repealed long and long enough ago, had it not been for your pride; for the pride of the instinctive combination, which made you shudder at the thought pass away from you, and that, of doing that which the gridiron perhaps, in no very peaceable prophecy had foretold! Gracious manner, unless you act upon the God, what ruin, what distraction, principles that I have laid down; what mental agony, what bodily unless, in short, you adopt the pain, what torment, what hunger, measures that I have recommendwhat strife, have not arisen from ed; and, Sir, (a word in your ear) that instinctive hatred of me THE MOMENT YOU DO which has caused the continuance THAT I AM YOUR MASof this wretched measure! And, | TER! after all, the wretched measure is half chipped away; while enough of it remains to torment and agonize the nation, that whole nation exclaims, "Cobbett is right, Cobbett is right at last!" 1 “Aye,” say you, " and that we know, too, and the devil of any terrier shall be the master of us rats!" Nobody can blame you for that. I never in my life had the conscience to blame a rat for This is the history, so far, of the holding possession to the last posfight between the thing and the Re-sible moment. But, there is this gister; it is so far an account of to be considered, though; the more the instinctive conspiracy's battle obstinate you are in keeping posagainst me. It is nonsense to at- session, the more sudden and untempt to disguise this. The nation comfortable may be the ejectknows it well. Friends and enemies ment. As to time, too, there ap |