constitution; a man too who comes forward, not by his own desire, but by the repeated request of his fellow-citizens.

24th January, 1818.

BRUTUS.

To the Electors of Exeter.

When Mr. NORTHMORE's committee echoed the cry of "KING AND CONSTITUTION FOR EVER" my answer was "BE NOT DECEIVED,

O ELECTORS of EXETER."

How far this answer was just will appear from a perusal of the hand-bill issued this day, signed "BRUTUS," and entitled "Citizens of Exeter."

In this hand-bill the writer has evidently thrown off the mask, and with an ingenuous audacity calls upon you, his "fellow-citizens," "to range yourselves under the banners of CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY !!!"

LIBERTY! why this was the cry in France, when ANARCHY, ATHEISM, and IDOLATRY pervaded that kingdom;-when her amiable monarch, LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH, was unjustly brought to the scaffold; and when every succeeding day condemned innocent hundreds to the GUILLOTINE.

LIBERTY! so said ROBESPIERRE,-MARAT, —and BUONAPARTE; but you will doubtless be told, that this is not the liberty, which Brutus terms Constitutional.-Oh!He would induce you to believe, if he could, that we are all slaves, and that our government and parliament are corrupt.

Not content with this observation, he calls your present members, "hirelings of corruption," and asserts that" for the sake of present gratification and paltry bribe," "a part of you have promised to give your suffrages," "bartering your rights, and selling yourselves like slaves." "To such as you,” adds he "I disdain making any appeal whatever, looking on

you as a disgrace to your forefathers,—as unworthy of the name of Brilons,—and as a bane to your posterity !"

Now I appeal to the most dispassionate among you, whether language can be found more strongly indicative of a revolutionary spirit, than that which I have just extracted, and whether I was not, therefore, justified in my previous assertion, that "the sentiments contained in one of the hand-bills published by Mr. NORTHMORE's committee, were calculated to create a general insurrection ?"

But independently of this language, it is attempted, by a statement in figures, to disprove my words; and I am constrained to add that a false extract has been made from my publications.-Brutus states, that I boasted, that the "official accounts of the revenue" were not "defective."-Now I beg to deny this allegation; and if Brutus will be pleased to refer again to my first hand-bill, he will find the following affirmation: viz. "that no official account of the revenue has been given which cannot be supported by the most satisfactory vouchers."

Besides, I contend, that the revenue for the last quarter has materially improved; and, therefore, that we have reason to be grateful for the amelioration of our condition.

As to the expenditure exceeding the revenue, it is the natural consequence of peace after so long a war; but still, great as the deficiency may appear, so long as our credit is good, and we are true to ourselves, so long may we rely on the stability of our country.

Let me, then, intreat you, O Electors of Exeter, not to attend to the melancholy pictures thus presented to you, let me beseech you to weigh well in your own minds the distressing situation, into which you would be thrown, were these admirers of liberty once to rule over you. Even some of them, I am convinced, (at least such respectable private characters

as Mr. NORTHMORE) do not see the incalculable mischief, which a change of the system, in the way they propose, would inevitably produce; and I implore even them to reconsider their steps, and to let the same spirit of harmony, which pervades their families in private, influence their public principles.-As to the blessings and comforts, which you enjoy, they are, I maintain, in the strictest sense, numerous; and 1 am sure, that if Brutus had been witness to only half of the misery, which I have seen abroad, he would bend in humble gratitude to the Almighty for the comforts we daily enjoy.

Let us then, high and low-rich and poor,with one hand and heart make " A LONG PÜLL,A STRONG PULL,---AND A PULL ALTOGETHER," and let our cry be

"CHURCH AND KING!!!"

Exeter, January 24, 1818:

AN ENGLISHMAN.

To the Electors of Exeter.

The Englishman has seen a most terrible sight, if credence be given to his marvellous story. He has seen ANARCHY and INSURRECTION rearing their heads, and yet did not call the watch! If he opened his eyes and saw, why did he not stretch out his hands and seize? or if anarchy and insurrection ran away, why did he not obtain a search warrant? Is there any other man, or any woman, or any child, or any horse, or any ass, in the whole city, that saw this terrible sight, besides the Englishman? Where did he see it? When did he see it?-Did he see it in the committee-room ?—Or on the top of the handbill of the committee?-In the committee-room he may find two or three chairs in disorder, and the only insurrectionary animal, a poor little mouse searching for the cheese-parings and candle-ends, not of office, but of the committee. Do the magis

trates of Exeter sleep on their posts, that they have not tried to catch by the tails these terrible beings, anarchy and insurrection?-These beings that are wagging their heads in the heart of the city, like Matthew the Miller, at Westgate. Travellers see strange sights, but there is no narrative of travellers half so alarming as this sensible tale, so gravely told by the Englishman. If the Englishman continues to see such strange things, in a very short time, the dancing of a pea on a tobacco-pipe will signify insurrection; and the discharge of a pop-gun, revolution !

There is nothing like this, except the observations of Dogberry and Verges, and the Watch:-1st. Watch, -This man said, sir, that Don John, the prince's brother, was a villain.

Dogberry,-Write down, Prince John, a villain. Why this is flat perjury, to call the prince's brother villain.

-Sexton,-What else fellow?

1st. Watch, That Count Claudio did mean to disgrace Hero before the whole assembly, and not marry her.

Dogberry,-Oh villain! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this.

Constable,-Away, you are an ass.

Dogberry,-Dost thou not suspect my place? Dost
thou not suspect my years?
to write me down an ass.
that I am an ass!!

Oh that he were here
But masters remember

Dogberry, The watch heard them talk of one

DEFORMED.

*******,— Deformed means- -Revolution!

The Englishman's sight is on an equality with his "hearing, reading, and answering." He avows that he is not in the habit of " hearing, reading, or answering," the terms "False Prophets,-Tom Fools,

1

Maggots,-Dunghills; Horrid, Blasting, and Devilish." As to "False Prophets," of which he neither hears, nor reads, nor answers, FALSE PROPHETS are wolves in sheep's clothing ; does he know any such creatures?-TOM FOOLS are rampant fools who affect to be wise; did he never hear of such animals? MAGGOTS are dirty little things that creep and cringe, and twist and crawl in the slime of the treasury; did he never see such things? Surely nothing can be more HORRID than the constant attacks made on the just and constitutional rights of the people. Nothing more BLASTING than the blast of oppression which blows down the bulwark of the people's liberties: and nothing more DEVILISH than to consume the people's treasure in mad wars, Quixotic exhibitions, in blowing up towns and cities, and ravaging the face of the earth, He asks, "Is. allegiance slavery ?"-I answer, No. "Is obedience slavery?"-I answer, No. "Is respect to superiors slavery ?"-I answer, No. But I will tell him what is slavery: It is slavery for fourteen millions of people to hold their lives, liberties, and reputations, at the will of the ministers. It is slavery for free-born Englishmen to be immured in dungeons, and discharged without a trial. It is slavery to prevent Englishmen from assembling for just political purposes, without the concurrence of magistrates. It is slavery to prevent Englishmen from discussing, when and where they please, political subjects,-relating to the welfare of their country. It is slavery to be gagged, and fettered, and bamboozled, and to pay those who gag and fetter, and bamboozle the people, for gagging, fettering, and bamboozling them.

The "Englishman" fancies himself to be a pattern of mildness, forbearance, and candour; and yet he, with an effrontery unparalleled, dares to charge the committee with stirring up ANARCHY and INSURRECTION:-dares to depict them as desirous to chuse representatives to make laws for Europe. What