Essential Writings Volume 2 by William Cobbett

Author:William Cobbett [Cobbett, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Politikwissenschaft
Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
Published: 2018-03-19T23:00:00+00:00

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER. LETTER XXIII.

Gentlemen,—

Thinking it proper to offer to the public some observations upon the question of PEACE, which is, at present, much agitated, I have, for the reasons stated at the outset of the preceding letter, thought it right to address those observations more particularly to you.

First, Gentlemen, let me beg of you to come to the consideration of questions of this sort with your minds divested, for the moment at least, of reflections upon the internal corruptions, of which we complain, and which, sooner or later, we shall be able to eradicate and annihilate, without exposing our country to subjugation, and ourselves and our children to the just contempt of the world. As I observed to you before, Gentlemen, the corruptors and the corrupted are not those, who would most suffer by the conquering of our country. They would easily accommodate themselves to the business of raising contributions upon us. Sycophants, be assured, are not nice, as you may probably have perceived, in the objects of their subserviency. The toasts, songs, and sentiments, which they have now in use, would suit very well, in a new state of things, with a mere change of names. It is the profits that they love, and not the patrons. They would, you would soon see, find many and most admirable reasons for throwing us into prison, or hanging us, if we expressed our discontent at the exactions of Napoleon. When a country is conquered, individual safety depends upon readiness in submission; and, it were folly in the extreme for us to suppose, that, in a race of slavery, the base wretches, whom we now hate, would not outstrip us. No, Gentlemen, a remedy for our evils is not to come from without. That, as well as the defence of our country, lie solely in our own hands.

The question of Peace has been much dwelt upon by the editor of the Morning Chronicle, in an article, which I shall presently insert for your perusal. But, I would first beg leave to observe, that, though, for the reasons, which I shall hereafter submit to you, I am of opinion, that, at present, there is no chance of our deriving benefit, of any sort, from peace, I am by no means an advocate for a war, grounded merely upon a hatred of Napoleon, and, above all, for a war carried on now for what has been called the deliverance of Europe, and which “deliverance” Europe itself has not seemed to wish for, having, as I verily believe, very little reason to entertain such a wish. We should also guard our minds against the conclusion, that, because the wars, in which we have been recently engaged, have been conducted in so foolish a manner, and have produced such fatal consequences to all those who became our allies; we must guard our minds against concluding, that war continued now, would be productive of similar effects; and, that peace would put an end to the evils which have arisen amongst us during war.

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