The strictures provoked upon the underhand methods by which these addresses were forced upon the public are exemplified in an “Epistle to the _North Briton_,” which appeared in the _Oxford Magazine_, to accompany the engraving of the “Addressing Merchants.” The epistle is lengthy, and we have only room for the opening passages. It is possibly written by the “Brentford Parson;” indeed, the manner as well as matter indicates the authorship suggested. The motto is given, “There is nothing new under the sun” (_Eccles._ i. 9)-- “And so, sir, what you have often foretold is at last come to pass. We are fairly fallen back into the very dregs of the Stuart reigns. The party of _Abhorrers_ is once more revived; of those _Abhorrers_, who, in the reign of King Charles the Second, expressed their detestation of all the patriotic and public spirited, as I would say--but, as they were pleased to call them, the factious and insolent petitions that were presented to the king for assembling a parliament, and for securing the other rights and liberties of the People. “That such wretches should have existed at a time when the Sovereign claimed, and many of his subjects were willing to allow him, a divine, indefeasible, hereditary right to play the tyrant, and to destroy the constitution is nothing strange; but that any such should be found in the reign of a prince, whose family was advanced to the throne in direct contradiction to this absurd principle, would be really surprising, did we not know that human nature is always the same, and that though the seeds of slavery may be smothered for a time, yet whenever they meet with the vivifying influence of court sunshine, they immediately begin to quicken, and to spring up with vigour. And never, sure, did these seeds meet with a more fertile soil, or a more benign sky, than under the present arbitrary and despotic administration, when every man is sure to be rewarded in exact proportion to the servility of his character. “In this respect, indeed, the present ministers have greatly the advantage of all that have gone before them; for I do not remember a single compliment paid to the _Abhorrers_, in the reign of King Charles the Second, except the honour of knighthood conferred upon Francis Withers, Esq., who procured and presented the Address from the City of Westminster. But how much more grateful and generous have been our present ministers! They have made the late chief City Magistrate a Privy Councillor, and have given him a contract with government for clothing soldiers, worth £1000 per annum. They have pardoned the murderers MacLaughlin, Balfe, and McQuirk, and have even granted them pensions. This, say the ministry, is only supporting their friends; but, if murderers be their friends, I believe few people will envy them the credit of such a connection.