CORRESPONDENCE and ME VOIRS of JAMES ACLAND. Proprietor and Editor— written by Himself. " J 1IKE HONESTY IN ALL PLACES."— Judge Bayley. Printed by JAMES ACLAND ( SOLE PROPRIETOR AND KDITOHI at liis PRINTING OFFICE, NO. 28, JAMES' Street, Bath, and Published by him at his Offlcas of Publication Bridewell Lane, Bristol, and No. 8, York- Street, Bath. Vol. IV — No. XXIX. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 9, 1831. Price IK WHIG TREAt HERY. BlUSTOLI AKB, / At this eventiul moment, eventful to our un- fortunate Country— eventful to its miserable and degraded people, 1 cannot refrain from address- ing )(> u on our present desperate condition— from directing your attention to the real value ofliie professions of the Aristocratic Reformers, and lo the only rea- o iabl » means of national salvation. We hive now an Administration which avow- edly advocau s economy in ihe Government expenditure, reduction of Taxation, and Reform of Parliament. lj for one, have all along doubted the honesty of the professions of these new Mi* llisters, and 1 have so doubted, not because they are Whigs— but because they are Aristocrats. In this respect Parliamentary Whigs and Par- liamentary Tories are on a par—- nei. her ofthein better than the other, and both equally opposed to the best interests of ihe people and of tho- state. At this moment, the Country is divided into but two parties. On the one hand, we have the People, taxed heyord their means; and on the other, the Aristocrats, pensioned on the National Poverty. The question with the Whigs and Tories is, simply, which shall have the power of plundering the cotters of the State. The consi- deration with the People is, siraply, how to avoid being starved by the Aristocrats, and how to re- gain that just influence in the State of which they have so long been deprived, and to which they are constitutionally entitled. Yet the Whig Ministers have sworn so deej I) that they will actjus lj towards ihe People, thai hundreds of thousands of the unthinking mass have given them tlnir confidence, on ihe as sumption of their honesty and truth. This was all very well, so long as the decep- tion might last. Bui . the bubble has burst, and the confidence must be withdrawn. We have seen the cold- blooded indifference with \ vh ch the Wbigs have taken the lives of the poor peo- ple, whom despotism and distress had driven to acts ot desperation, aud we now witness the equal indifference with which they take from ihe bread of the poor, to give to the rich and noble beggars of their own class—- the pensioned aristocrats. The Parliament has commenced its career under i s new leaders, the Whig Ministers.— The first Parliamentary proposition of those Ministers is, that ihe poor who are starving shall still be taxed for the gluttony and pageantry of royal whores and noble rogues— for a heart- less and unprincipled gang of beggarly aristo- crats and pauper drunkards, whose only title to our consideration is their contempt for those upon whose ill- stored cupboards ihey are quar- tered. The continuance of this system for a single day is an outrageous insuli to the nation— yet, the Whig Ministers propose that all who yesterday robbed ihe public, shall be permitted to do so, so long as their continued existence shall curse the community. The Aristocralic Pension List comprises a host of names of ihe members of both the Whig and Tory parties. The Tory Ministry were displaced, because they impudently . yet frankly, declared lliat the eyes of the public should be blindfolded whilst they were being robbed. The first proposition of the Whig Ministry ( who thereupon came into office) is yet more impu- dent. Taey say " we will still rob the peo- ple, but they shall have permission to look at us whilst we introduce our hands into their pockets !" Was ever greater insult offered to the coun- try ? The Minister tells Parliament, that ihe gang of corruptions s have no legal claim to ihe continuance of their wages. Yet, in thu same breath he asks the self- called representa- tives of the people to agree to the continuance of such s) stetn-— to this bare- faced plunder of their constituents— this impudent claim of high- born beggars, that they may be permitted for the remainder of their lives to live in splendour on the hard- earned wages of the industrious and laborious classes of society ! The proposition is monstrous. The Minis* ter has been told so by Messrs. Hume and Hunt. And what is his reply r Ilow does he parry the patriotic thrust ? Forsooth, by the entreaty that the People will withold their condemnation of the Ministry, unt iltho ( flcicJ^ ccj'cd nt- Z/ Cc C¥ frcc_ cvC / f^ fca/ i^ u^ / jiO/ c^ m^ ty. & 3/ y- eo 7t> I es- lt- jfti ' 1.4 THE BRISTOLIAN Reform me sure shall have been submitted to the consideration of the House ! How low must be their estimate of the Public mini ! What fools— what drivelling idiots must they deem the People! Their conduct may be aptly likened to that of a naval captain, who should, in cloudy weather, propose to scuttle his ship, and on being remonstra: ed with on his folly, attempt its justification by prophe- cying a fine day for the morrow 1 What consolation would that be to the dtowning crew ? Yet such is the comfort offered us by the Whig aristocracy. They do not even gild the pill which they would have the na- tion to swallow. Far, very far from it — They candidly enumerate all its nauseous ingredients. " It is a nasty compound" say these quacks, " but take it— and three weeks hence, you shall have a little gold leaf. Its medicinal qualities are injutious— but take it, and three weeks hence you shall have a more ben ficial dose 1" Such is their mad proposition ; the people, if they allow them- selves to be so drugged, will dese ve the perpetuation of their poverty and oppression- It the Lower House of Lords which calls i'self the House of Commons, were not a mere Band of Gentlemen Pensioners— if tl ey were anything better than Aristocrats ( whether In descent or by usurpation) the proceedings on such a proposition as that of'he Whig Minister, would have been widely difttrenl from those recorded. The sum proposed for the lit yal Expendi- ture is— Ptr Ann. Privy Purse, or Pocket Money...<£ 110.000 For Tradesmen's Bills 180,000 making together ,£ i90.000 To this amount not a single objec tion was raised in the debate of Friday. Every body praised the King to the skies, because the King is the King. Every body thought the amount no more than commensurate with the neces- sities of the Royal Tabk— lo which every Aris « tocrat expects or hopes to have access. Yet, notwithstanding this Parliamentary sycophancy — I do not think the absolute necessities of a good ; King in time of so great National distress as the : present— allowing for luxury as well as eotiif> rl, j and only not allowing f> > r waste and exnavagai. ee — ongl^ t to have required more than a thousand pounds per week frotn the earnings of his pau- perised people. If 1 am right in this estimate, the seif. called representatives of the people have unani- mously agteed that one hundred antl thirty eight thousand pounds shall be annually squeezed froui the wants of the people to be wasted by the King on his Aiisucratic minions! And am I not right? Is not < 5^ 5: 13: I for every hou>, day and n gilt quite as much as any honest King can desire to receive— or any honest Minister desire to give— from the earnings of a dis- tressed people— for the reasonable gratifica- tions of their Sovereign? 1 am at no pains to calculate the precise amount really neces- sary for the Royal support and maintenance. But I have taken good cate to put it out of the power of any reasonable man to say that my estimate is inadequate, or my al- lowance mean. And so assured am I of thejust:- ce of this reduction that, had I a sea1 in the little House of Lords, I would unhesi. tatin'gly divide the Members on this first question with regard to the Civil List— if a seconder might be found with an equal sense of the necessities of the People. The next item proposed by the Whig aristo- crats is £ 150,000 per annum, as salaries to the great officers ol the Household— that is, in more homely phrase— for savants' wages— not one farthing of which should be taken from the pockets of the people, as in addition to the allowance to die sovereign. Wages are part anil parcel of the expenditure tf housekeeping, and w ith : 13 : 1 per hour— theie ought lo be. no lack of means for securing an ample atten dance of efficient servants. If the K ng desires to be surroumkd with gaudily dieted show folk, there are doubtless many among the aristo- crats who would be glad to serve him, and feel amply remunerated by the honour of the str- v'ee— and an aristocrat wtll do as well for the mere lot k of the - tWrig as a better man. All this, however, is a mere matter of ta. te, and I, for one, imagine that our highl> popular S. iilor K ng would r. ither be yr. thout such a parcel of landlubbers than otherwise. Ifthfse two ex- travagancies he added together, we shall have the sum of two hundred and sixty- eight thou- sand pounds per antrum !! ! I now come to the third iniquity— the Peir- - toir List of ,£ 144,000 per annum — the right of the claimants having ( on the admission of the Whig Minister himself) legjlly terminated witU the decease of ire late monarch. That single fact, in addition to the notorious distress of the people, renders hesitation criminally treasonous to the national inierests, and leaves the minis- try without an excuse for their culpability.— Yet Lord Altliorp atj; ne>, that although tilths caterpillars of the S ate have no legal right, they have an equitable claim because they expect- ed when they first received their pen ions, ilrat they would be allowed lo receive them f r tiro period of. their exi- tence- Indeed! Vet tins same Ministry hangs the unfortunate, and calls such hanging legal, whilst the nation believes it to have been most cruelly imquilablc!!! What a pretty argument! la it not a jtjstifi-. cation for those who want, taking from those who have to spate? That would certainly be ilio- agl— but as certainly would it be equi. nble ! Thus it would seem, that what is legally adverse to the wants of the people is to secure them a halter— whilst that which is legally adverse to the rich man's indulgence, by the convenient substitution of equitable injustice ( for such, in truth, is the incongruity) is to be waved lest the bun vivant should lack his usual allowance of claret or champagne! Here then, they who are not blind, may read the grand secret. Whig and Tory are both Aristocrats, and both the enemies of the Peo- ple. They are alike devoted to the advance, ment of their caste at the expence of those w horn they treat as they would their s'aves — Qf no further value than as they can be made to minister to their unfeeling gratification. THE BR IST0L1AN n5 The proposition of Lord Althorp, the the voluntary bestowal of justice from the hands Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Friday night of the Whig Ministry ? The people are betrayed ; last, goes to the taxing of the People to the and if they expect '' Vote by Ballot" from such extent of ,£ 412,000 annually beyond the ne- a Ministry, they deceive themselves. They cessity of an adequate provision for the can no longer possess the confidence of tha Sovereign ! country. They began with the gratifying de- Let the people look to it. Let them say claraiion that the nation was no longer to be whether a Ministry from whom such a pro- governed by corruption. Their next act is to position has emanated, be worthy that degree propose that the people shall pay £ 413,000 a- of public confidence which the Whig Ad- year into the purse of the aristocracy. The hy- ministration demand. They throw them-: pocri'es! selves on the People for support;— yet their j What remains to be done? What remedy first act in return for such support, and as 1 have the people ? what chance " of escape from an earnest of their intention to deserve it, is this aris'ocratic impos lion ? to abuse the National confidence, and tax the Tfiise are questions which force themselves industrious poor for the maintenance of Aiis- on our attention. The ul erior measure to tocratic beggars ! The State leeches are to be which a desperate people mny be goaded— th gorged with the life's blood of the impo- ou;- of- doors reform with which the aristocracy verished people ! Shame on such Govern- ment ! " ' Tts an unweeded garden thai grows to nought. Things rank and gross in nature possess it merely." How has the Country been deceived i Loid Althorp is as dishonest a minister as Mr. Goulburn What he might be in a Re formed Parliament, is matter of speculation — but it is evident, that he lacks mora! cou. rage and political fidelity. ' 1 he People thought him their friend— but he h; vs forfeited their confidence, and no longer deserves their sup port. Nor he alone. 1 he proposition is official!) made— and Lord Althorp is but the organ of his coadjutots. The Whigs have onlv shewn themselves Aristocrats. Some needed not the detnonsttation, but it will be of service in opening the eves of those, who thought there was mote virtue in a W— an H — an I and a G, than in a T— an O— an II and a Y. Shakspeare. after asking " What's in a name'' have long been threatened within the walls of their little House of Lords, approaches. Mean- while it will become the people to n il their op- pressors of their injustice, and to let the voice of public opinion, and the thunder of public de- nunciation leverberale from the walls of either House of Commons— reach the- throne of our beloved s « veteign, and, haply, secure the nation ftoin the threatening convulsion, which the Aristocrats seem determined topiovo- ke. JAMES ACLAND. TO THE CHURCHWARDENS OF ST. THOMAS', BRISTOL. GENTLEMEN, You inform the Public by advertisement that some person has threatened to burn down your Parish Church— and you offer a reward of <£ 100 for the detection of the epis olary incendiary. I have said on a former occasion, and now repeat, that the burning of churches is to be tells us " A rose, by any other name, would i expected, however much it may merit our smell as sweet"— and the new Administration ! deprecation. Men will be excited to such are able commentators A minister, whether 1 « * » by a desire of vengeance- whenever they Whig or Tory, will tax the people for the , de5P* ir ° f otherwise obtaining redress support of the Aristocracy, without caring for j f°* the heavy burthen of Church Taxation the distress which his unfeeling exactions, | with which they have so long been cursed, may produce. 1 Be it also observed, that in but too man\ in- Are there any, now, so fuulisb, as lo e » pec;, stances the parochial incumbents seem to dare the ill will of their parishioners, by conduct the most unbecoming as preachers of humility, and the most imprudent as the occupiers and receivers of property and income which ought to be on the footing of voluntary contribu- tions. Need it be now staled, that nothing can eifect the Salvation of the EstablishedChurch, but the manifestation of a truly Christian Spirit by its Ministers? Yet, ho. v many of these jppear ignorant of this fsct! How many devote themselves to Political intrigue — to the pleasures of the world— to anything and every thing but religion, its advocacv and its demonstration ! Witness the Bristol hole- and- corner meeting the other day. wheie twenty- seven of the Reveiend children of humility, sanctioned a lying representation to Parliament, accompanied by the prayer, that Aristocrats ma, yet be tyrants, and the people, slaves. It seems not unnatural, that the great body of theit fellow Citizens should regard these twenty - seven traitors to Christ as their heart- less enemies, and if the P. ector of Saint 1 homas was of the number, I shall be more grieved than surprised to hear, that his Church has been burnt down, or himself insulted. A Minister of the Church of England not unfrcqiiently supposes ( or acts as though he supposed) the coali ion between his Church and the State to be an exoneration of himself from the more serious duties of bis sacred office— and hence the rapid spread of sectarianism.— 1< is painful for one who highly appreciates the excellence of the Established Church as a system of religion, to be forced into the be- lief that its Ministers are alike indifferent to the claims of that Church on their zeal, hu- mility, and love for mankind, and of their own j obligations to the Church and its members.— Yet, alas ! such is the conviction forced upon me by observation, and confirmed by the daily conduct of Church of England Ministers, with very few exceptions, coni| aratmly with the many instances of so glarir- g unwoithiness. 116 TIIE BRJSTOLI AN To instance the Diocese of Bristol were per. haps unfair--— its Bishop, having himself more • regard to the good things of the world, than to the vital interests, and essential obligations of Christianity;— witness his conduct to the Rev. Mr. Hunt, the late incumbent of Almondsbury, whom he deprived < f his living because he re- i tusi d o exch tnge it for another wuh which the son of the Dn'Ce-- an w i « dissatisfied But, take the neighbouring B'shoprick of Bath and Wells, in which the example of their Clerical head justifies the expectation of at least the virtue of imitativeness in the general Clerical hodv. 1 have received several letters in com- plaint of the haughtiness, pride, affectation, and uncharitableness of different Min> ers which sufficiently evince the absence of gos- pel influence and even the lack of a regard for the decent semblance of religious motive. Among these I find the Rev. Charles Radford— a pluralist— whose neglect of his Church duty is notorious, and indeed necessa- rily consequent. This gentleman, as Curate of Bathwick, is entrusted with the disbursement and distribu- tion of the Sacrament monei— and his man- ner of bestowing the charily bread, therewith purchased, is at once unfeeling- and impolitic. One of the poor applicants he upbraids with her worn out hablimcnts— an itber he threat ens with the refusal of charity, because she took the wall of him on a day in the pre- ced ng week— and a third he prohibits from ever again applying for relief, for the reason that she allows her child to frequent the Sunday School attached to the Rev. Mr. Jay's chapel ! Is this the courlesy — is this the kindness— is this the evidence of Christiani- ty? God forbid ! It is by such conduct as this that the Church of Lngland has sacrificed its conscientious mem' ers and supporters. It is by the mani- festation of this unchristian soreness— this irreligious irritability— this unbecoming jea- lousy of dissent, that the unwise Ministers of the State Church have provoked enquiry, and driven believers from the proud Temples of Episcopacy to ihe les9 imposing altars of a less pterending priesthood. The poor mother who sent her child to Mr. Jay's school for instruction on the Sab- ba h, did so Ijecause. unable to spare her little helpmate during the week, she was naturally and laudably anxious that she should learn something on the Sundav, when, and when alone she needed not her labor. At the Sun day School attached to Bathwick Church, I believe teaching is but little, if at all. attended to. I allude to the important object of read- ing ; . tnd I am informed lh. it the instruction at this place comprises little more lhan Psalm- singing, and ( heart of moving in processional parade from the School to the Church, and from the Church to. the School. Such is not the ease at Mr. Jay's establishment— where reading is taught— and wh » ie, therefore the faitnful mother prefers to send her child Is Mr. Radfo'd thus authorised to refuse the loaf of charity lo this poor family ? I otherwise read the parable of the Samaritan. Such injudicious— 1 must add such Un- christian Ministers of the Established Ch , rch have done more in aid of Dissent than all the talent, piety, and z.: al of its reverend Apostles. To such conduct is it attributable that the State Church is in a fearful minorilv. and if, as present appearances forbode, it be doomed to fall, the disgrace will justlv attach to the suicidal instrumentalitv o'. the noxious rep- tiles it has fosieied. in its bosom of innate purity. As a geheral principle, it is beyond ques- tion, that no religion can long be upheld by compulsion. Its only stability should be soughl in the inducement of a convicti n of its truth nnd usefulness and in the excite- ment of an affection for its unos entatious virtues The policy of such a chuieh as ours, should be tather to remove the cause oi dissent than confirm it by a worldly oppo- sition. Le: religion entice the wanderer to its fold — not by bad feeling— not by the ex- action of Church Taxes— but by the evidence of its worthiness, and the praclical elfects of its influence. The Church of Christ is not a worldly Church— nor should the Church of England be so. if it depend for its stability on its Chris- tianity— which is unambitious, unavaricious, and zealous only for the Salvation of Souls How far this great object is Jo be rendered attainable bv the taking of one tenth of the earth's produce from those whose wants are much greater than the wants of the Tuhe exactoi, it woul. t puzile a conjuror to decide. How political oppression and magisterial seve nly can be made to conduce to lhe peace and har- mony which ever ought lo exist between the Priest- hood aud the People, I ain not logician euough to understand. Indeed the entire of the eonduct of the greater portion of the Church of England Clergy is only to be uuderstood by men of common sense, on the supposition that they hove not the welfare of souls for their object— that they desire not to attain ihe ooafidence aud secure the affeciious of their folds— but that they look for their reward in the power, influence aud wealth which this world may give them. Ou this rational solution of ihe inconsistency which would otherwise exist, depends the stability of the State Church. If 1 am right— its tall— the fall of its foolish shepherds, and uot of its system of truth— is at hand ; if 1 am wrong, the tilhe is .' a blessing on the agriculturist and the Parson Magistrate and the Dancing Rector miracles of propriety and patterns of excellence. | On Mon. lay night a Bishop told the House of Lords that Tithes are the private property of the Church ! This is a new position— and I await wiih anxiety a sight of the title deeds or of the Acts of Parliament that prove them so Prebendary Dennis of Exeter has claimed of the Premier ( E* rl Grey ) th ir ihe Clergy of the Established Church shall bo admissible to the Mouse of Commons jasM. inbers of Parliament! The spiritual warns of S their congregations are to be set at nought by these I miuisterial M. P.' s ! Am I in trror then, in thiuking the Slate Clergy look rather to temporal honor aud the wages of time, than to the Christian's hope of Eternal reward for Eartblv suffering and mortification ? Alas! no I JAMES ACLAND. To the Corporators of Bristol. Sins, Yoa refuse to pay P< or Rules for your new Cattle Marke', I » m informed. Well, if the pa- rishioners ol Temple parish think they can b.' t- er afford to pay them than you, and feci dis- posed to do so, tha' is an ^ ifTtir of theirs in which lean have liulc concern. But you have no right to shift the burthen off your shoulders on those of other persons, and with your im- mense pioperiy it is rnean and disgraceful in you to make the attempt. Ten to one, little Brice is at the bottom of it, Wliy. it is as iniquitous as ihe imposition of the Dock Tax on the householders of Bristol by tile Dock Company— thau which I know of no greater iujustice. The Dock Company pocket the profits, and make the Bristol housekeepers pay for their repairs. And « o io the present case : you pocket the profits of your New Cattle Market, aud saddle the Parishioners of Temple with the Poor's Rate, Once the Parliament ail honest one— once vote by ballot secured— and all these thievish propensities of your's shall be put an end to. Meanwhile, I can only tell you of them— hearafter you shall he made to answer for them before greater men than even your- selves to tert-^ BEAt. R H PR ESENTa TIVCS UK THE PEOPLE. JAMES ACLAND. HF. roRMKB acquaints me with the fact of a Reading Club having unanimously resolved on the burning of Felix Farley's last publico ion, aud the future discon tinumce of their patronage of the traitor to his fellow citizens. I am not surprised at this circum stance, and hope such events may not be without their influence on the mind of Ihe party most directly concerned.— 7 hey should teach him political honesty. He who sells his principles would buy stolen goods for the hnpe of a profit— nnd if need were. J. A. Primed by JAMES ACUKD, ( Sole Proprietor and Editor) at his Priutiug Office, No. 23, James- Street, Bath, aud published by him at his Offices of Publication, No. 8, York- Street, Bath, aBd Bridewell- Lane, Bristol.