COLONIAL APPOINTMENTS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
" Quis custotliet ipsos custodes ?'
St a—Mr. O'CoNNELL's Letter to the electors of Kildare contains the follow- ing passage.
I told him (4r. illithren) that he stood convicted of crimes which were in the eyes, not only of gentlemen. but of every honest man. however humble, I the most divroccfni nature.' • • • • • " Men of the highest honour and integrity, had con- victed him of a crime nothing shed ■fi swindling and ft:se swearing." • • • • " Sr far from wishing to do him an injury, I told him that it would be in vain to expect that the Government could do any thing for him in Ireland. where his conduct was kIIIINI;; but that I would try whalter some'hing might not he done fiir him is one of the Co.'onies. I DO SOLEMNLY ASsUNE lot), THAT I Took ALL THE ?AIRS I COULD To AsciRTAIN WHETHER ANY COLONIAL APPOINTMENT COULD BE GIVEN HIM; but all in vain. I was told that it would not be listened to, nor even mentioned to any man In office."
Trusting to the'candour, frankness, and impartiality which characterize your journal, I venture to inquire of you, Sir, whether these are the sentiments of the party calling itself the Reforming party of Great Britain, with regard to her Colo- nies? If so, let us know the worst: let us at least do justice to the Tories, whom we have been taught to consider as the authors of all the misgovernment under which we have suffered ; let us cease to attribute to aristocratical cupidity and favouritism the appointments which have for years been the disgrace of England and the scourge of the Colonies. Let us not be amused with the fiction of a party guided by principle in the choice of public servants, or with the hope of seeing among us examples of that probity, intelligence, and knowledge, those profound and liberal political views, those pure morals and decorous manners, for which England is so fond of claiming a preeminence. If we must at last admit that our case is desperate, let us at least enjoy the gloomy sight of despising and hating those who misgovern us; and not waste our loyal affections, our profound respect, our anxious expectations, on that noble and just and humane English nation, which exists only iu its own declamations. If Mr. O'Cox NELL do indeed speak the sentiments of the People of England, greatly has the Government of England been wronger! in the estimation of those who thought it needed control from public opinion. The corruptest of colo- nial governments never ventured thus cruelly to outrage and trample on the feelings of the communities over whom it presides. It never went the length of denouocing a man as " convicted of crimes, &c. &c. of the most disgraceful nature," and, in the next sentence, of " solemnly emoting" the public that the wretch had taken "all the pains he possibly could" to get that man a place " in some of the colonies." That many appointments not a whit less objec- tionable have been made, no one disputes ; but they were made by persons who never prof( sserIthat government was administered for the good of the governed— never filled the ears of the people with declamations about freedom, justice, and the like. They provided for their disreputable and needy dependents quietly ; they varnished over their vices, and exaggerated their merits. It was reserved for a democratic leader to propose to send a man to govern the Colonies with the brand on his forehead hot from the very hand that sent him. I call upon you, Sir, as a lover of truth and justice befote all things, to mark with your reprobation a sentiment in which you cannot share—a sentiment which for unblushing profligacy and reckless cruelty has seldom been equalled. Assure your fellow subjects in the Colonies that this is not the sentiment of English Liberals. Tell them not to despair, as they may and must if the con- sciences of the sovereign People of England be thus seared and their hearts thus hardened against their dependencies—if England, instead of dispensing over her remotest and humblest dominions the light, and hence the happiness and the virtue in which she is so rich—instead of sending forth the wise and the just from her bosom as missionaries of civilization, converts her colonies into receptacles for those of her sans of whom she is weary and ashamed, and afraid, but to whom she does not scruple to commit the fortunes, the lives, and, above all, the understandings and the morals of millions.
I am, Sir, with great respect, yours,
A COLONIAL SUBJECT OF GREAT BRITAIN.
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