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the above passion in its full force, (though a man and woman are seldom married without one of the two feeling it) it still becomes them to act with the same fidelity as they otherwise would; because, though they may not feel scrupulous on this point, yet they should consider, that though it may not touch their own feelings, it possibly may touch anothers'.

Having stated, as clearly as I am able to do, the design and end of matrimony; and having also stated the duties of those who may become its votaries; and having also shewn, that by the performance of those duties, not only their own individual happiness, but the happiness of society may be promoted; the next thing to be ascertained is, how far you have fulfilled those duties by your conduct towards the Queen; merely to contrast that conduct with the conduct that appears to be consistent with the principles I have before laid down, (which principles I have deduced from nature) would be sufficient to enable any person to draw just conclusions, as to the uprightness of that conduct. I cannot however resist the temptation of reviewing that conduct generally.

In the first place I must ask, whether the social intercourse of man and wife is not the main spring, by which their happiness is promoted? and whether a family of children does not constitute a source of happiness to man and wife? and whether any happiness can equal that which arises from the giving vent to their parental feelings? These questions may be safely answered in the affirmative; for what more is wanting to make those happy who know how to appreciate the blessings of a numerous offspring? And is it not in the hope of enjoying this happiness that mankind (the female part in particular) are induced to tie the marriage knot? Undoubtedly it is; what therefore must be the feelings of a woman, who marries with such hopes existing in her mind, when she finds those hopes, together with every source of matrimonial happiness, destroyed? Has not the Queen had her hopes and her happiness thus destroyed? Has she not been shamefully neglected by you, who have sworn to protect her? Has the not been hated, nay more, persecuted by you, who have sworn ete nal love and fidelity to her? Need you wonder therefore, that you are hated; while the Queen is beloved and sympathised with, by every man and woman in the kingdom who is not dead to moral feeling?

You have, I believe, endeavoured to excuse yourself, on the ground that your inclinations are not in your power; though I grant that you can have no power over your inclinations; yet I assert, without fear of contradiction, that it was in your power to know, whether you had or had not any inclinations towards the Queen, when you led her to the altar. Therefore, upon the supposition that you felt or fancied you felt, any inclinations towards the Queen; how came those inclinations to vanish after the matrimonial knot was tied! You cannot excuse yourself on the ground, that it was occasioned by the disap

pointment you experienced, on finding that the Queen, so contrary to your expectations, was destitute of those accomplishments which add a grace and ornament to her sex; or that she had any bodily or mental defect. What then was the occasion of your treating the Queen in the way you have done? Was it because her sterling virtues were so bright, as to reflect your sterling vices; whereby, you not only could not bear her presence, but determined to dash the reflecting mirror into pieces, in the hopes of being able to hide from yourself your deformity? What a man's feelings must be towards a wife, who by her conduct presents a contrast, between her virtues and his vices; may be easily guessed. And to what lengths such a man would go, in order to rid himself of such a plague, (for a plague it must be to him) you have given us a rare specimen.

I know there are those who would wish to excuse you, on the ground that as you were compelled by law (if you married at all) to marry from a limited number, for fear of tainting the royal blood, or breed, (I don't know which, for I have not Blackstone's sublime commentaries on this point to refer to) it is almost madness to expect you to bear those affections towards the Queen, which would otherwise have been the case, if you had had the whole world to range in choice of a partner, and had chosen the Queen to be that partner. This excuse would be a very just one, if the law had compelled you to marry the Queen; but no, though the law forbade you to marry whom you pleased, it did not compel you to marry against your inclinations. If you had hitherto contributed, and did you now contribute, as a man of honor would do, to the personal comforts of the Queen, (considering the unhappy situation in which she has hitherto been, and is now placed,) scarce a single word, by way of complaint, would be uttered against you. But when the people see the very reverse of this; when they see the Queen persecuted' by you, for having done,or under the pretence of her having done, that, which you have so repeatedly been guilty of, what conclusions can they draw as to your principles other than those, the being conscious of the existence of which, must make you hang down you head with shame.

Your rank, Sire, does not exempt you from having conclusions drawn from your actions; any more than if you were one of the lower orders; who by the bye, I am inclined to think would, if “virtue alone the difference made on earth," be entitled to take precedence of the higher orders.

Upon the supposition of the Queen being guilty, nothing plausible can be said, to justify the unparalleled persecutions and insults, she has endured: for upon the above supposition, the first thing that Laturally occurs to every feeling mind is this; ought her guilt to be considered as having arisen from depravity, or ought it not rather to be considered as the natural consequence (and as a matter of course excusable) of the neglect, and what is worse than the neglect, the persecution of the man called her husband. The latter is the conclusion

drawn by every man and woman, and consequently not one wishes to see her deprived of her share of the throne, if you are permitted to fill it for why should infidelity operate as a bar in one case, and not in the other. Disgustingly depraved as the enemies of the Queen represent her to be, I am inclined to think, upon the supposition of its being true, that if the right to the throne depended upon the respec tive merits of yourself and the Queen, that you would be thrusted into the back ground: for your guilt we have every reason to believe, arises from depravity; whereas the guilt of the Queen does not. Therefore, "twist which way you will," you encounter the public scorn; for there still would be suflicient in your conduct to spurn at, were the Queen guilty: but when it is known that she is innocent; that nothing can be alleged against her, except by perjured wretches, first paid for their crimes, and then absolved (satisfactory to their minds) from all responsibility, here or hereafter, by those monsters in human form, the priests who accompany them; when all this is "as notorious as the sun at noon-day;" imagine, Sire, (for I cannot describe it to you) the indignation it must create in the breast of every one not dead to all feeling.

For my part, I hope to live to see the day, (for I am not yet 20 years old) when the rights, interests and feelings of the women, as well as those of the men, will be consulted: and when it will be declared, that a woman shall not be deemed guilty of adultery, if she seek that happiness elsewhere, which was denied her by her husband: and when too, (under ordinary circumstances) the wife shall not be deemed more guilty, nor suffer any greater penalty, should she transgress, than is imposed on the husband; as I conceive, that if a man would exact fidelity from his wife, he should consider it his duty to sel an example.

Yet, I

To appeal to you on the morality of your conduct, will be vain: and perhaps equally vain, will be an appeal to you on the policy of your conduct. But, surely Sire, you who are so superlatively gifted with every attribute, that can throw a dazzling lustre round a throne; cannot wish for destruction to the noble and sublime edifice. cannot but think you do, for nothing is more calculated to effect that object, than the "equitable, legal, and justifiable proceedings" now adopted against the Queen: proceedings so equitable, so legal, and so justifiable, that there is scarce a man or woman in the kingdom who is not lost in admiration!

How ashamed of his adoration, the most superstitious adorer of monarchy must be; when he sees that your thron, instead of being ornamented by every virtue, is debased by every vice; and should he ever contrast your conduct, with that pointed out by nature, reason, and morality; by every tie that can hold or ought to hold society together, what a sight will one side of the picture be to him; how amazed he will be, on beholding in you, vices which would disgrace the lord of a seraglio; on beholding in you a creature so destitute

of moral feeling, that you could deliberately marry a woman, when you knew, or ought to have known, that your inclinations were not disposed towards her, and swear fidelity to her when you knew that fidelity was impossible; and what is more, when you knew she had sworn fidelity to you, could basely, and without the least remorse, deprive her of that intercourse which, as has been before obr served, is the main spring by which the happiness of married people is promoted; and when, too, you must have known, that as a necessary consequence of this deprivation, every other source of matrimonial happiness would be destroyed. This, surely, must be enough to shake his faith in monarchy; but when he sees you raise your coward hand against the Queen, for having sought, or rather under the pretence of her having sought, that happiness elsewhere which was denied by you, from whom alone she did, or ought to expect it. When he sees this, he cannot but exchange his monarchical faith for the indiguation of a man.

Your conduct presents itself in another odious light. You, doubtless, are aware that nature, by her operations, seems to say to mankind, I have endowed you with certain propensities and feelings, in order, not only to conduce to your happiness, but also for the propagation of your species; and if you do not fulfil my dictates, you shall feel the punishment due to your crime. And pray what is the punishment usually inflicted by nature on those who disobey those dictates ? Is it not constant ill health, and in some cases premature death? Thus, Sir, you will perceive, that you have pursued a line of conduct that was calculated, not only to shorten the life of the Queen, but to render that life miserable while it lasted: and if the people of England could silently view such an outrage on those natural feelings and inclinations which affect all in a greater or less degree, they would be a disgrace to human nature.

You will perceive by the signature to this letter, that I am a republican, yet I, as well as every other republican, would not scruple to lend a helping hand to obtain redress for the Queen; not because she is a Queen, but because (to use the words of that bold republican, Mr. Carlile)," it is sufficient for us that we see her a persecuted woman, and that we know her persecutor or persecutors to be most abandoned villains-wretches in the human form-knaves and scoundrels, among whom, to be virtuous, is to be offensive, and to incur wrath and punishment." Be assured that redress will be had for the Queen, you drive things to a crisis. You may think that perseverance will not bring on such a crisis; or if it should, the soldiers will stand by you possibly they may stand by you to see that you do justice to injured innocence; but to suppose they will stand by you while you commit a manifest injustice, is to suppose that to the possible which is impossible, for you must know, that soldiers are married men, and do you think that their wives would countenance them, or that the lasses would countenance the unmarried soldiers, should they be disposed to

if

aid you in trampling on the rights of women? No, soldiers begin to reason, as has been gloriously proved by the conduct of the soldiers of Spain and Naples. And do you think that English soldiers do not reason equally, or, perhaps, more acutely? But, lest I should be ac. cused of wishing to excite disaffection among the soldiers, I shall avoid any further observations with respect to them, and shall now conclude with the following observations-that, as an enemy to mo narchy, I wish you to persevere in a similar line of conduct to that latterly pursued by you, in order that you may expose the corrup tions; and, that, as a friend to every individual of my species, (if a king may be included amongst them), I advise you to pause, ere it be too late.

I am, Sire,

A REPUBLICAN,

QUEEN'S ANTHEM.

God save Queen Caroline
When wicked men combine,
Basely and mean;

Against her royal life,
As an adulterous wife,
From the assassin's knife,

God save the Queen,

May thy protecting arm,

Keep her from every harm,

And courtly spleen;
Though priesthood cannot pray,
For her, each sabbath day,

All loyal laymen say,

God save the Queen.

While potent lords accuse,

And Caroline abuse

With their bags green:

Most Englishmen declare,
Join'd by each British fair,
This is their heartfelt prayer,

God save the Queen.

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