A Hundred Years Ago
The " SPECTATOR," APRIL 11TH, 1829.
DIARY Or A LOUNGER IN A FRENCH CABINET DR LECTURE.
Some of the French journalists are scandalized at the duel between Lords Wellington and Winchilsea, at such a moment ; and ridicule the elaborateness and formality of the official statement, the apparatus of notes and memoranda. "To see (gays the Merrier) all these documents handed over to the Treasury journal for publica- tion, one might suppose that it concerned some act of state, some measure of government, of which it was necessary to know all the motives and all the circumstances. This is surely to make too much noise about a matter which a sense of decorum would lease as much in secret as -possible. The situation of England, too, ought to- have prevented such an exposure._ Catholics are arrayed against Protestants, when passions of so iiifiammable a nature are excited, surely it is not for those who ought to weigh gravely and maturely the interests of the country to give an example of so violent an irritation. When the First Minister and a Peer attack each other with pistols, we must not be surprised if Orange Clubs and Catholic, Associations engage with muskets. Is not this rather to encourage than prevent disorder ? "
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