PIGS' MEAT; OR, LESSONS FOR THE
SWINISH MULTITUDE.
PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY PENNY NUMBERS,
Collected by the Poor Man's Advocate (an old Veteran in the Cause of Freedom) in the Course of his Reading for more than Twenty Years.
INTENDED To promote among the Labouring Part of Mankind proper Ideas of their Situation, of their Importance, and of their Rights.
AND TO CONVINCE THEM That their forlorn Condition has not been entirely overlooked and forgotten, nor their just Cause unpleaded, neither by their Maker, nor by the best and most enlightened of Men in all Ages.
For the Needy shall not alway be forgotten: the Expectation of the Poor shall not perish for ever.
PSALM ix. ver. 18.
The Heaven, even the Heavens are the Lords: but the Earth hath he given to the Children of Men.
PSALM cxv. ver. 16.
VOLUME II.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. SPENCE, AT THE HIVE OF LIBERTY, NO. 8, LITTLE TURNSTILE, HIGH HOLBORN.
Wherefore seeing we — are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, — and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
HEB. xii. ver. 1.
ALTERATION.
NO longer lost in shades of night,
Where late in chains we lay!
The sun arises, and his light
Dispels our gloom away.
No longer blind, and prone to lye
In slavery profound;
But for redress aloud we cry!
And Tyrants hear the sound.
The pomp of Courts
no more
engage;
The
magic spell
is
broke;
We hail the bright reforming age!
And
cast away
the
yoke.
Our
substance
and our
blood
no more
So tamely shall we yield;
Nor quit like slaves our
native
shore
To
deck
the MONSTER'S field.
The
rotten lumber
of the land,
The
courtly-pension'd train;
Shall hear their sentence and disband,
As we our Rights regain.
The mitred villain as he rolls
In luxury and lust.
He blinds and robs the silly souls
Committed to his trust.
Amus'd no more with empty lies,
Of bliss we
never
knew;
The traitors lose the state disguise,
And closely we pursue.
THE RIGHT AND CAPACITY OF THE PEOPLE TO JUDGE OF GOVERNMENT.
From
CATO'S LETTERS.
HONESTY and plainness go together, and the makers and multipliers of mysteries, in the political way, are shrewdly to be suspected of dark designs.
Cincinatus
was taken from the plough to save and defend the
Roman
State; an office which he executed honestly and successfully, without the grimace and gains of a statesman. Nor did he afterwards continue obstinately at the head of affairs, to form a party, raise a fortune, and settle himself in power: As he came into it with universal consent, he resigned it with universal applause.
It seems that government was not in those days become a trade, at least a gainful trade—honest
Cincinatus
was but a farmer: and happy had it been for the
Romans,
if, when they were enslaved, they could have taken the administration out of the hands of the emperors, and their refined politicians, and committed it to such farmers, or any farmers. It is certain, that many of their imperial governors acted more ridiculously than a board of ploughmen would have done, and more barbarously than a club of butchers could have done.
But some have said,
it is not the business of private men to meddle with government.
A bold, false, and dishonest saying; and whoever say it, either knows not what he says, or cares not, or slavishly speaks the sense of others. It is a cant now almost forgot in England, and which never prevailed but when liberty and the constitution were attacked, and never can prevail but upon the like occasion.
It is a vexation to be obliged to answer nonsense, and confute absurdities:
but since it is and has been the great design of this paper to maintain and explain the glorious principles of liberty, and to expose the arts of those who would darken or destroy them; I shall here particularly shew the wickedness and stupidity or the above saying; which is fit to come from no m
ath but that of a tyrant, or a slave, and can never be h
d by any man of an honest and free soul without ho
and indignation: It is, in short a saying, which ought to
ender the man, who utters it for ever incapable of place or credit in a free country, as it shews the m
lignity of his heart, and the baseness of his nature, and as it is the pronouncing of a doom upon our constitution—a crime, or rather a complication of crimes, for which a lasting infamy ought to be but part of the punishment.
But to the falshood of the thing: Public truths ought never to be kept secrets; and they who do it, are guilty of a solecism, and a contradiction: Every man ought to know what it concerns all to know. Now, nothing upon earth is of a more universal nature th
n government; and every private man upon ea
ch has a concern in it, because in it is concerned, and nearly and immediately concerned, his virtue, his p
erty, and the security of his person: And where all these are best
eserved and advanced, the government is best adm
istred; and where they are not, the government is impotent, wicked or unfortu
;
d where the government is so, the people
there being always and every where a certain sympathy and analogy
etween the nature of the government and the nature of the pe
ple. This holds true in every instance. Public men
re the patterns of private; and the virtues and vices of the governors become quickly the virtues and vices of the governed.
Nor is it example alone that does it. Ill governments, su
si
ting by vice and rapine, are jealous of private virtue, and enemies to private property. Th
must be wicked and mischievous to be what they are; not are they secure while any thing good and valuable is secure. Hence it is, that to drain, worry, and debauch their subjects, are the steady maxims of their politics, their favourite arts of reigning. In this wretched situation, the people, to be safe, must be poor and lewd: there will be but little industry, where property is precarious; small honesty, where virtue is dangerous.
Profuseness, or frugality, and the like virtues or vices, which affect the public, will be practised in the city, if they be practised in the court; and in the country, if they be in the city. Even
Nero
(that royal monster in man's shape) was adored by the common herd at
Rome,
as much as he was flattered by the great; and both the little and the great admired, or pretended to admire his manners, and many to imitate them.
Tacitus
tells us, that those sort of people long lamented him, and rejoiced in the choice of a successor that resembled him, even the profligate
Otho.
Good government does, on the contrary, produce great virtue, much happiness, and many people.
Greece
and
Italy,
while they continued free, were each of them, for the number of inhabitants, like one continued city; for virtue, knowledge, and great men, they were the standards of the world; and that age and country that could come nearest to them, has ever since been reckoned the happiest. Their government, their free government, was the root of all these advantages, and of all this felicity and renown; and in these great and fortunate states, the people were the principals in the government; laws were made by their judgment and authority, and by their voice and commands were magistrates made and condemned. The city of
Rome
could conquer the world; nor could the great
Persian
Monarch, the greatest then upon earth, stand before the face of one
Greek
City.
But what are
Greece
and
Italy
now?
Rome
has in it a herd of pampered monks, and a few starving lay inhabitants; the
Campania
of
Rome,
the finest spot of earth in
Europe,
is a desart. And for the modern
Greeks,
they are a few abject contemptible slaves, kept under ignorance, chains, and vileness, by the
Turkish
Monarch, who keeps a great part of the globe intensely miserable, that he may seem great without being so.
Such is the difference between one government and another, and of such important concernment is the nature and administration of government to a people. And to say that private men have nothing to do with government, is to say that private men have nothing to do with their own happiness and misery.
One man, or a few men, have often pretended the public, and meant themselves, and consulted their own personal interest, in instances essential to its well-being; but the whole people, by consulting their own interest, consult the public, and act for the public by acting for themselves: this is particularly the spirit of our constitution, in which the whole nation is represented; and our records afford instances, where the house of commons have declined entering upon a question of importance, till they had gone into the country, and consulted their principles, the people: so far were they from thinking that private men had no right to meddle with government. In truth; our whole worldly happiness and misery (abating for accidents and diseases) are owing to the order and mismanagement of government; and he who says that private men have no concern with government, does wisely and modestly tell us, that men have no concern in that which concerns them most; it is saying that people ought not to concern themselves whether they be naked or clothed, fed or starved. deceived or instructed, and whether they be protected or destroyed: What nonsense and servitude in a
free
and
wise
nation!
For myself, who have thought pretty much on these matters, I am of opinion that a whole nation are like to be as much attached to themselves, as one man or a few men are like to be. who may be many means be detached from the interest of a nation. It is certain that one man, and several men, may be bribed into an interest, opposite to that of the public; but it is as certain, that a whole country can never find an equivalent for itself, and consequently
a whole country can never be bribed.
It is the eternal interest of every nation, that their government should be good; but they who direct it, frequently reason a contrary way, and find their own account in plunder and oppression; and while the public voice is pretended to be declared, by one or a few, for vile and private ends, the public knows nothing what is done, till they feel the terrible effects of it.
By the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement at the
Revolution,
a right is asserted to the people of applying to the King and to the parliament by petition and address, for a redress of public grievances and mismanagements, when such there are, of which They are left to judge: and the difference between free and enslaved countries lies principally here, that in the former, their magistrates must consult the voice and interest of the people: but in the latter, the private will, interest, and pleasure of the governors, are the sole end and motives of their administration.
Such is the difference between
England
and
Turky;
which difference, they who say that private men have no right to concern themselves with government, would absolutely destroy; they would convert magistrates into bashaws, and introduce popery into politics. The late revolution stands upon the
very opposite maxim; and that any man dares to contradict it since the
Revolution,
would be amazing, did we not know that there are, in every country, hirelings who would betray it for a sop.
A DREAM, REQUIRING NO INTERPRETER.
Were I, who to my cost already am,
One of those strange prodigious creatures man,
A spirit free to chuse for my own share
What case of flesh and blood I'd please to wear,
I'd be a dog, a monkey, or a bear;
Or any thing, but that vain animal,
Who is so proud of being rational!!!!!!
ROCH.
To the
PRINTER
of the
SHEFFIELD REGISTER.
SIR,
HOW disgusting is a state of society, when we observe men either tearing one another in pieces by violence; or taking every unjust means to undermine each other by cunning and treachery, each acts as if his
only
aim were the total extirpation of his species! how shocking the idea! that of all the animals scattered over this vast globe, man is the most ferocious.
Seldom or never do we see the most savage animals wage war with those of the same kind: that is a refinement in cruelty of which man only is capable. What a misfortune, that the social state to which man is from nature prone, and which in its own nature is adapted to give us the compleatest happiness this life is capable of, should be so uncomfortable, and fail so often of its designed effects!— But what else is to be expected, while people are so unwise in their choice of those who are to be the protectors of society: expecting happiness from the management of those incapable of giving it?—how oft do we see those inmuman
monsters
no sooner in power, than, merely to satisfy their ambition, madly hurry mankind into all the horrors of desolating war: seeming eager to destroy that society they but a few months before, (nay, perhaps but a few days; sword to be the guardian of.—These serious reflections having a few nights ago taken possession of my mind before going to sleep, raised in my imagination the following dream.
Methought I was transported to a large plain, green, flowery, and watered with innumerable rivulets; whose gentle murmurs formed an agreeable concert with the sweet notes of songsters which fluttered upon their verdant banks.—The inhabitants of this delightful place were divided into a number of different societies; each governed by its own particular monarch.—As I was walking among them, observing their manners and customs, which I found were quite different, notwithstanding their near connection; between some only a slight barrier; others had even but small rivulets to fix their boundaries. I was much surprised to see them constantly wrangling and engaged in quarrels; sometimes for the least trifle; such as the
ducks
of one district swimming in a
pool
belonging to another: or perhaps to satisfy the foolish caprice of some of the
great men
—for in each society was a great number who were called
Satellites
of their respective crowns; who, as other secondary planets derive their lustre from some primary planet, so they received their authority from the crown, and dispensed it to the people without the least diminution. I was equally surprised at the
andacity
of the one, and the
passive
obedience of the other. But my wonder somewhat abated when I saw their different manner of handling a controversy: the multitude wholly unacquainted with the wiles of logic, had nothing to support their cause but a parcel of phrases and words now entirely obsolete; such as
reason, humanity,
and
justice,
with a long list of antiquated etceteras: whereas, on the other side, the
monarchs
and their
jack
lls
had a notable way of arguing, namely, by
torture, whips, racks, gibbets, gallies, dung
and many other syllogisms of the same kind. This manner of
persuasion,
or rather
compulsion,
may properly be called the
logic of tyrants.
Pain they maintained was much better for clearing the understanding than reason; the latter actuating but slowly, whilst the other was almost instantaneous. Having walked a little further, I gained a small spot entirely surrounded by water: here, thought I,
Peace
must have her residence; no longer shall my ears be grated with the horrid din of war; my eyes shall not here behold the tears of the widow, with her children clung round her, bewailing the loss of a fond husband and tender father, torn by force from their arms.— But guess my astonishment, at finding them the most litigious and quarrelsome party I had yet met with: and though they boasted of being free, were so
only
in idea! I wondered much how they were so easily duped, seeing no force used, not so much as a threat: they were even said to have the reins of Government in their own hands, and allowed to drive at pleasure. But their Monarch took a safer way of arguing them out of their liberties, though not less sure than that practised in the other societies through which I passed—I mean convincing by ready money; or, as some call it,
bribing a man to an opinion.
Experience has proved this to be the most effectual method.
Arguments from the mint
will persuade much sooner than those drawn from
reason
and
philosophy.
Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understanding. It satisfies every doubt in an instant; silences the clamorous; stops the mouth of the orator; brings over the most inflexible statesman; and, in short, is capable of arguing men out of all their liberties.
Wishing to see one of these
supernatural beings
called
monarchs,
I advanced towards a palace which stood at a little distance. At the gate was placed a number of guards, cloathed with all the tawdry pomp of power, in order to strike with awe the beholders. They permitted me to pass into a large hall, the walls thereof were gilded all for show. At the upper end of the hall was a throne supported by magical contrivance upon a few
gothic pillars.
On one pillar I observed the word
superstition,
on another
divine right.
These two were in many places nearly mouldered to pieces; so that the throne actually tottered, and must have fallen, had it not been supported by a third pillar of that fascinating metal called
gold;
whose lustre dazzled the eyes of most of the beholders, to such a degree, that they were unable to observe either the inscriptions or defects of the other two. The throne was covered with a canopy, which glittered with all the riches which pomp could invent. Under it sat DESPOTISM, arrayed in all the gorgeous trappings of
arrogance
and
power. Folly
hovered around his crown; ambition sat like a spread eagle on the top of his scepter; and vanity supported the skirt of his train. At the foot of the throne sat
Flattery,
giving her colours and complexions to every thing around: beside her sat
Error,
deluding the multitude, and striving to conceal whatever defects might appear. Many other
phantoms
stalked round the hall; amongst whom was
Honour
with nothing on but an old
coat,
the atchievment of some of his ancestors: there was also
Ostentation
holding up his head, and strutting about on tiptoe. Near the prince's right hand stood
Self-conceit,
frowning on those who did not bow before him.
After gratifying my curiosity, and turning to leave the place, I perceived a bustle at the door, and was not a ittle startled at seeing
Broken Credit, Shame, Poverty, Ruin, Scorn,
and many others of their acquaintance force their way into the hall, notwithstanding the resistance of the guards. Wondering what would be the consequence, I saw one who was an entire stranger here, a grave, decent old man, called PLAIN DEALING, get up and harangue the multitude, in the following terms:
"Citizens.
"We are oppressed, because we have no share in our government. Let us cease to petition for our rights; let us blush to bend the knee, and supplicate like beggars, for what nature bequeathed to us at our birth. Let us speak in a tone that virtuous governors will hear, and tyrannical ones tremble at. They tell us we have liberty: yes, two or three hundred citizens have the liberty of lording it over all the others; of making and repealing laws at pleasure; of engrossing dignities, ranks and honours; of investing themselves with the principal employments of the state, and disposing of the public revenue.
"Can liberty be applied to a people who have no part in the government of themselves, or their representatives? We are no farther free than as we have a share in the administration, and are a branch of the national council. How intolerable to have insult added to slavery! to be even challenged to prove our wrongs! alas! a task but too easy. Are not many of our fellow-citizens shamefully excluded from all political trusts, by acts which reward falsehood and punish honesty; which usurp the dominion of that God whom they pretend to revere? Are we not loaded with
taxes
which wring from the poor peasant great part of his hard-earned pittance, to support foolish and profligate wars, entered into with all the madness of political
quixotsm;
and which threaten our posterity with calamities unparalelled in any age?—Is there not an increasing corruption in the administration of government? is not the representative house of the people become a chamber only for registering ministerial edicts? has there not been every attempt made to silence that guardian of our liberty—the press; without which, governors and their minions, might with impunity trample on formalities, the pretended bulwark of our freedom? is not the equipoise in our legislature the mere cant of visionary theorists? In short, is it not a government of conspiracy—a conspiracy only to be removed by the force of popular opinion? Are these imaginary ills? Do they seem chimerical, on account of that security into which people seem to be lulled— some by interest, others by sear?
"They pretend we have a constitution, but nobody knows the mechanism of it. The laws resemble a chaos, jumbled into as many large volumes as would take a man during his life to read. Except a few capital crimes, as murder and theft, we are not sensible when we trespass, until the lawyers (those
bloodsuckers
of society) apprize us of it by process; our sentence follows hard on the commission of it, so that we are often punished for pretended crimes, without ever knowing we were doing the least wrong. There is no criterion whereby we can distinguish
laws
from
dictates; that criterion being an expression of the general will,
IS WANTING. I would admonish our governors to reform, before that fatal moment arri
es, which is fast approaching, when they shall be obliged to supplicate
that
people whom they
now
oppress and despise. I shudder at the thought of that dreadful period, when virtue and necessity shall compell us to insist upon that freedom we now design to sue for.
Despotic government
has now lived its time. The
Sun of Liberty
is arisen; already the clouds that have long held the moral and political world in darkness begin to disperse, and Reason, like a flood of light, begins to burst upon mankind."
The multitude at these words gave three huzzas, which awoke me out of my reverie.
I am, &c.
EXAMPLES OF SAFE PRINTING.
TO prevent misrepresentation in these prosecuting times, it seems necessary to publish every thing relating to Tyranny and Oppression, though only among brutes, in the most guarded manner.
The following are meant as Specimens:—
That tyger, or that other salvage wight
Is so exceeding furious and fell,
As WRONG,
[Not meaning our most gracious Sovereign Lord
the King, or the Government of this country]
when it hath arm'd himself with might;
Not fit' mong men that do with reason mell,
But 'mong wild beasts and salvage woods to dwell;
Where still the stronger
[Not meaning the Great Men of this country]
doth the weak devour,
And they that most in boldness doe excell,
Are draded most, and feared by their powre.
SPENCER.
Let us thus, O ye Britons, shew what we do
not
mean, that the Attorney General may not, in his Indictments, do it for us.
THE LION AND THE OTHER BEASTS.
From
Aesop's Fables.
THE Lion
[not meaning our Sovereign Lord the King]
and several other beasts,
[not meaning the continental Kings and Powers]
entered into an alliance offensive and defensive, and were to live very socially together in the forest
[not meaning in Europe].
One day having made a sort of an excursion,
[not meaning in France]
by way of hunting, they took a very fine, large, fat deer,
[not meaning Dunkirk, Toulon, or any other place taken from the French]
which was divided into four parts; there happening to be then present, his majesty the Lion,
[not meaning as said before, our Sovereign Lord the King]
and only three others. After the division was made, and the parts were set out, his majesty
[not meaning
King of England]
advancing forward some steps, and pointing to one of the shares, was pleased to declare himself after the manner following: "This I seize and take possession of is my right, which devolves to me, as I am descended by a true, lineal, hereditary, succession from the Royal Family of Lion
[not meaning in the
st to vilify our Sovereign Lord the King, or the divine indefeasibl
right s
here
it try succession:]
That (pointing to the second) I claim by, I think, no unreasonable demand, considering that all the engagements you have with the enemy turn chiefly upon my cour
g
and conduct
[not meaning to reflect on the military conduct or courage of our Sovereign Lord the King];
and you very well know that wars are too expensive to be carried on without proper supplies
[not meaning among other wars to reflect on the war now carrying on against France.]
Then (nodding his head towards the third) that I shall take by virtue of my prerogative,
[not meaning to reflect on the King's prerogatives]
to which, I make no question, but so dutiful and loyal a people
[not meaning to reflect on the runners or people of Bow-street, and other police offices, or the people of a press-gang]
will pay all the deference and regard that I can desire. Now, as for the remaining part, the necessity of our present affairs
[not meaning to reflect on the state of the British finances]
is so very urgent, our stock so low, and our credit
[not meaning to reflect on the numerous bankruptcies of late in this country]
so impaired and weakened, that I must insist upon your granting that without any hesitation or demur; and hereof fail not at your peril
[not meaning to insinuate that our Sovereign Lord the King would take all to himself, and leave nothing to others].
CHARACTER OF AN EVIL MAGISTRATE,
From
ALGERNON SIDNEY,
Esq.
WHEN a Magistrate fancies he is not made for the people, but the people for him; that he does not govern for them, but for himself; that the people live only to encrease his glory, or to furnish matter for his pleasure; he does not enquire what he may
do for
them, but what he may
draw from
them: by this means he sets up an interest of profit, pleasure, or pomp in himself, repugnant to the good of the public, for which he is made to be what he is. These contrary ends certainly divide the nation into parties; and while every one endeavours to advance that to which he is addicted, occasions of hatred, for injuries every day do
e, or thought to be
received, must necessarily arise. This creaces a most s
er
e and irreconcilable enmity: because the occasions are frequent, important, and universal, and the causes thought to be most just. The people think it to be the greatest of all crimes to convert that power to their h
t, which was instituted for their good; and that the injustice is aggravated by perjury and ingratitude, which comprehend all manner of ill; and the Magistrate gives the name of sedition and rebellion to whatsoever they do for the preservation of themselves and their rights. When men's spirits are thus prepared, a small matter sets them on fire; but if no acc
nt happens to bl
them into a flame, the course of justice is certainly interrupted, the public
its are neglected; and when any occasion, whether foreign or domestic, arises in which the Magistrate stands in need of the people's assistance, they whose affections are alienated; not only shew an
to serve him with their persons and estates, but fear that by delivering him from his distress they strong then their enemy, and enable him to oppress them; and he fancying his will to be unjustly opposed, or his due more unjustly denied, is filled with a dislike of what he sees, and a fear of worse for the future. Whilst he endeavours to ease himself of the one, and to provide against the other, he usually encreases the evils of both; and jealousies are on both sides multiplied. Every man knows that the governed are in a great measure under the power of the governor; but as no man or number of men is willingly subject to those that seek their ruin, such as fall into so great a misfortune, continue no longer under it, than force, fear, or necessity may be able to oblige them. But such a necessity can hardly be longer upon a great people, than till the evil be fully discovered and comprehended, and their virtue, strength, and power be united to expell it: The ill Magistrate looks upon all things that may conduce to that end, as so many preparatives to his ruin; and by the help of those who are of his party, will endeavour to prevent that union, and diminish that strength, virtue, power, and courage, which he knows to be bent against him. And as truth, faithful dealing, and integrity of manners are bands of union, and helps to good, he will always, by tricks, artifices, cavils, and all means possible, endeavour to establish falshood and dishonesty; whilst other emissaries and instruments of iniquity, by corrupting the youth, and such as can be brought to le
dness and debauchery, bring the people to such a pass, that they may neither care nor dare to vindicate their rights; and that those who would do it may so far suspect each other, as not to confer upon, much less to join in, any action tending to the public deliverance.
This distinguishes the good from the bad Magistrate, the faithful from the unfaithful; and those that adhere to either, living in the same principle, must wa
in the same ways. They who uphold the rightful power of a just Magistracy, encourage virtue and justice, and teach men what they ought to do, suffer, or expect from others; they fix them upon principles of honesty, and generally advance every thing that tend
to the encrease of the valour, strength, greatness, and happiness of the nation, creating a good anion among them, and bringing every man to an enact understanding of his own and the public rights. On the other side, he that would introduce an ill Magistrate, make one evil who was good, or preserve him in the administration of injustice when he is corrupted, must always open the way for him by vitiating the people, corrupting their manners, destroying the validity of oaths, teaching such evasions, equivocations, and fraud, as are inconsistant with the thoughts that become men of virtue and courage; and overthrowing the confidence they ought to have in each other, make it impossible for them to unite amongst themselves. The like arts must be used with the Magistrate: He cannot be for their turns, till he is persuaded to believe he has no dependence upon, and owes no duty to the people; that he is of himself, and not by their institution: that no man ought to enquire into, nor be judge of his actions; that all obedience is due to him, whether he be good or bad, wise or foolish, a father or an enemy to his country. This being calculated for his personal interest, he must pursue the same designs, or his kingdom is divided within itself, and cannot subsist. By this means, those who flatter his hum
ur, court to be accounted his friends, and the only men that are thought worthy of great trusts; while such as are of another mind are exposed to all p
r
e
tion. These are always such as excell in virtue, wisdom, and greatness of spirit: They have eyes, and they will always see the way they go; and h
a
ing fools no be guided by implicit faith, will distinguish between good and evil, and chase that which is best: they will judge of men by their actions, and by them discovering whose servant every man is, know whether he is to be obeyed or nor. Those who are ignorant of all good, careless, or enemies to it, take a more compendious way: their slavish, vicious, and base natures inclining them to seek only private and present advantage, they easily slide into a blind dependence upon one who has wealth and power; and desiring only to know his will, care not what injustice they do if they may be rewarded. They worship what they find in the temple, though it be the vilest of idols; and always like that best which is worst, because it agrees with their inclinations and principles. When a party comes to be erected upon such a foundation, debauchery, lewdness, and dishonesty are the true badges of it; such as wear them are cherished; but the principal marks of favour are reserved for them who are the most industrious in mischief, either by seducing the people with the allurements of sensual pleasures, or corrupting their understandings with false and slavish doctrines.
On the
INJUSTICE
of a
NATION
conceiting itself the only
avourite People of Heaven.
From a Pamphlet entitled
The Sins of the Nation.
Being a
FAST-DAY SERMON.
THERE is a notion which has a direct tendency to, make as unjust, because it tends to make us think God is so: I mean the idea which most nations have entertained, that they are the peculiar favourites of Heaven.
e nourish our pride by fondly fancying that we are the only nation for whom the providence of God exerts itself; th
only nation whose form of worship is agreeable to him; the only nation whom he has endowed with a competent share of wisdom to frame wise laws and rational governments. Each nation is to itself the fleece of Gideon, and drinks exclusively the dew of science; but as God is no respecter of persons, so neither is he of nations; he has not, like earthly monarchs, his favourites.—There is a great deal even in our thanksgivings, which is exceptionable on this account;
God, we thank thee, that we are not like other nations;
—yet we surely load, ourselves with every degree of guilt; but then we like to consider
ourselves
as a child that is chidden, and others as outcasts.
When the workings of these bad passions are swelled to their height by mutual animosity and opposition,
war
ensues. War is a state in which all our feelings and our duties suffer a total and strange inversion; a state, in which
"Lise dies, Death lives, and Nature breeds
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things."
A state, in which it becomes our business to hurt and annoy our neighbour, by every possible means; instead of cultivating, to destroy; instead of building, to pull down; instead of peopling, to depopulate; a state, in which we drink the tears, and feed upon the misery of our fellow-creatures; such a state, therefore, requires the extremest necessity to justify it; it ought not to be the common and usual state of society. As both parties cannot be in the right, there is always an equal chance, at least, to either of them of being in the wrong; but as both parties may be to blame, and most commonly are, the chance is very great indeed against its being entered into from any adequate cause; yet war may be said to be, with regard to nations,
the sin which most easily besets them.
We, my friends in common with other nations, have much guilt to repent of from this cause, and it ought to make a large part of our humiliation on this day. When we carry our eyes back through the long records of our history, we see wars of plunder, wars, of conquest, wars of religion, wars of pride, wars of succession, wars of idle speculation, wars of unjust interference and hardly among them a war of necessary defence in any of our essential or very important interests. Of late years indeed we have known none of the calamities of war in our own country but the wasteful expence of it; and sitting aloof from those circumstances of personal provocation, which in some measure might excuse its fury, we have calmly voted slaughter and merchandized destruction—so much blood and tears for so many rupees, or dollars, or ingots. Our wars have been wars of cool calculating interest, as free from hatred as love of mankind; the passions which stir the blood have had no share in them. We devote a certain number of men to perish on land and sea, and h
rest of us sleep sound, and protected in our usual occupations talk of the events of war as what diversifies, the slat uniformity of life.
In this guilty business there is a circumstance which greatly aggravates its guilt and that is the impiety of calling upon the Divine Being to assist us in it. Almost all nations have been in the habit of mixing with their bad passions a shew of religion, and of prefacing these their murders with prayers, and the solemnities of worship. When they send out their armies to desolate a country, and destroy the fair face of nature, they have the presumption to hope that the sovereign of the universe will condescend to be their auxiliary, and to enter into their petry and despicable contest. Their prayer, if put into plain language, would run thus:
God of love, Father of all the families of the earth, we are going to tear in places our brethren of mankind, but our strength is not equal to our fury, we beseech thee to assist us in the work of slaughter. Go out, we pray thee, with our fleets and armies; we call them Christians, and we have interwoven in our banners, and the decorations of our arms, the symbols of a suffering religion, that we may fight under the Cross upon which our Saviour died. Whatever mischief we do, we shall do it in thy name; we
, therefore, thou will protect us in it. Thou who
st
of
n
led all the dwellers upon the earth, we trust thou with view us alone with partial favour, and
at to bring misery upon every other g
a
ter of the globe.
—Now if we really expect such prayers to be a
s
ered, we are the weakes
, if not, we a
e the most hypo
ti
of beings.
THE POOR WE
P UNHEEDED.
From
the Citizen of the World,
by Dr. Goldsmith,
WHO are those who make the streets their couch, and find a short repose from wretchedness at the doors of the opulent? These are strangers, wanderers, and orphans, whose circumstances are too humble to expect redress, and whose distresses are too great even for pity. Their wretchedness excites rather horror than pity. Some are without the covering even of rags, and others emaciated with disease; the world has disclaimed them; society turns its back upon their distress, and has given them up to nakedness and hunger. These poor shivering females have once seen happier days, and been flattered into beauty. They have been prostituted to THE GAY LUXURIOUS VILLAIN, and are now turned out to meet the severity of winter. Perhaps, now lying at the doors of their betrayers, they sue to wretches whose hearts are insensible, or debauchee; who may curse, but will not relieve them.
Why, why was I born a man, and yet see the sufferings of wretches I cannot relieve! Poor houseless creatures! the world will give you reproaches, but will not give you relief. The slightest misfortunes of the great, the most imaginary uneasiness of the rich, are aggravated with all the power of eloquence, and held up to engage our attention and sympathetic sorrow. The poor weep unheeded, persecuted by every subordinate species of tyranny; and
every law which gives others security becomes an enemy to them.
ON THE FOLLY OF KINGS.
From
Fast-Day Sermons,
by the Rev. J. Murray, Author of
Sermons to Asses.
Printed in
1781.
Woe to thee, O Land! when thy King is a child, and thy Princes eat in the morning!
ECCLE. X. ver. 16.
IT is a vulgar proverb, that some people are twice children; this is sometimes the lot of kings, and was the case of the son of Solomon, the son of David. This Prince was forty and one years old when he came to the kingdom, and was a child of a pretty competent age; but notwithstanding his number of years, his folly shewed him to be but a child. It will be necessary to illustrate this Prince's childhood in a few particulars.
First, He obstinately refused to redress the grievances of his people, and threatened to encrease them. Though money was plenty in the days of Solomon, the people were poor; gold and silver were plenty in Jerusalem, and near the king's court, but it does not seem to have circulated as far as Shechem, and the extremities of Palastine. The real wealth of nations does not consist in a large quantity of specie, but in a proper balance of the value of money with the price of useful commodities. Solomon was rich, but his subjects were poor and oppressed. The misfortune of Solomon's government, for all the wisdom that he had, was, that he brought more luxuries into the nation than commodities profitable for the service of the people. He was also very extravagant in his houshold expences, and the charges of his government.
"His provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pasture, and an hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowls. He had also forty thousand stalls for horses, for chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."
This was a monstrous peace establishment. What a dreadful expence must this have been to the nation!
Under all this shew of wealth and splendor in the king, the people were poor, and greatly oppressed. They therefore came to the new king, to ask a redress of their grievances, and to have their burdens made lighter. But he answered them roughly, and would not listen to their humble petition.
They spake unto him, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee.
There was nothing unreasonable in all this; it was a very modest request, and none, except a
child
or a
fool,
would have refused it. Solomon seems to have had some suspicion of his son before he died; for he says,
he hated all his labour, because he was to leave it to the man that should come after him, and he knew not whether he would be a wise man or a fool.
What his father was afraid of he now shewed publicly, in refusing the request of his people, who promised willingly to serve him, provided he would enable them to do it when it was in his power. Could any thing be more childish than to continue an expensive government, and an enormous civil list, when all ranks of persons were groaning under burdens, and complaining of oppression? The complaints of the people are not to be trifled with; for if princes will not relieve them, they will themselves, and the Almighty will help them to do it. It was a most childish action in that weak Prince to refuse such a reasonable petition, which was altogether for his own interest to grant; for the people promised to serve him if he would ease them a little; so he might have saved all by a little condescension, which he lost through wilfulness and obstinacy. What can princes imagine the people are made of, when they treat them so ridiculously? they must surely think that they are not creatures of like passions with themselves, otherwise they would soon conclude, that they would not suffer the treatment which they often give them.
Secondly, This Prince refused the advice of his father's aged and wise counsellors.
They spake unto him saying, if thou wilt be a servant to this people, and will serve them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
They deserved every one a pension for this advice; but such words of wisdom seldom meet with acceptance or preferment from childish princes. Those old sages knew the office and duty of a king. It is only that of a
public servant
to the community, by fulfilling of which, they secure the love and obedience of their subjects for ever, which is the best security. This wise counsel did not suit the humour of this
foolish
and
childish
Prince. The word
servant
sounded harsh in his despotic ears—A king to be a servant! how uncourtly the thought! how unroyal the idea! those counsellors could not expect to continue long in his Majesty's service; they were far too honest and free in their advice, to suit the cabinet of a
childish
and
obstinate
sovereign. They, however, discharged their duty, and gave the best proofs of their regard and love to their Prince and their Country. Those old men knew the state of the nation, and were well persuaded that the people would not long suffer the oppressions they were groaning under; they understood that many things had been now warped into government that were contrary to the constitution of the Kingdom. The law said,
that the King should not multiply horses, nor make the people return to Egypt for that purpose, neither was he to multiply to himself silver and gola.
Solomon had transgressed in all these respects, and more than all, he had been guilty of idolatry, and had not walked in the statutes of God, like David his Father. These were all flagrant breaches of the constitution, which the old men knew were unwarrantable, and that the Lord would not suffer to pass unpunished if they were persisted in. They also knew that the people's claims were just and reasonable, and ought to have been complied with, and for these reasons gave him wholesome counsel, which a wise prince would have received with thankfulness, and rewarded with honor. But this childish Prince was fonder of the gewgaws of majesty and state, than the dignity of real government; and chose rather to imitate the
sins
and
follies
of his Father's reign, than covet his wisdom, wherein he was worthy of imitation.
Nothing could be more foolish and weak, than to violate the fundamental laws of government. It was a fundamental law of the land, that the king should not have his heart lifted up above his brethren; for if this should happen, he nor his children were to prolong their days in the kingdom. Yet this he regarded nothing, but for the sake of unjust dominion, lost the ten parts out of twelve of his whole dominions.
Thirdly, It was childish, to turn away men of age and experience, and to chuse young counsellors who knew but little, and were on that account more ready to be rash and headstrong. He however advised with the young men that had grown up with himself, who gave him counsel according to his own inclination. Perhaps some of them had been his
tutors,
and had taught him those principles of government, which they wished to see put in practice now when he was come to the throne. Their principles are manifest from the advice which they gave their sovereign.
And they said unto him, thus shalt thou speak unto this people that speak unto thee saying, thy Father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us: thus shalt thou say unto them, my little finger shall be heavier than my Father's loins, and now whereas my Father did lade you with a beavy yoke, I will add is your yoke, my Father did chastize you with whips, but I will chastize you with scorpions,
This speech, like many other speeches that are made for king's, this childish Prince was so foolish as to deliver to the people, which made them change their petition into a remonstrance, which he did not soon forget.
The people answered the King and said, what portion have we in David? Neither have we
h
ritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel! n
w see to thine own house David.
It is the greatest folly in the world for kings to drive their subjects to despair; there is none can tell what a people with do when once they are awakened. All families are alike to them when their own natural rights and privileges are come in competition.
Whatever reasons Rehoboam might give for preferring these rash counsellors instead of the old sages who gave salutary advice, they certainly had their foundation in weakness and childishness. He might probably alledge that he had a right to chuse his own servants and prefer his particular friends; this is a common argument with sovereigns when they are challenged on this head. But they ought to consider, that the government of a nation is very different from the government of a houshold, or the management of domestic affairs. Though a king has a right to chuse his own servants, yet those servants have no right to ruin a whole nation to please one man. A prince may appoint whom he pleases to manage the affairs of his own house, without consulting the nation concerning his conduct; but what relates to the public is quite different; the sovereign and all his servants are accountable to the community for the management of public affairs; for there can be no authority with uncontrollable power to ruin mankind, lodged in any department of society.
THE ANT IN OFFICE.
By GAY,
to a Friend.
YOU tell me, that you apprehend
My verse may touchy folks offend.
In prudence too you think my rhymes
Should never squint at courtiers' crimes;
For though nor this, nor that is meant,
Can we another's thoughts prevent?
You ask me, if I ever knew
Court chaplains thus the lawn pursue.
I meddle not with gown or lawn;
Poets, I grant, to rise must fawn.
They know great ears are over-nice,
And never shock their patron's vice.
But I this hackney path despise;
'Tis my ambition not to rise.
If I must prostitute the muse,
The base conditions I refuse.
I neither flatter nor defame,
Yet own I won'd bring guilt to shame.
If I corruption's hand expose,
I make corrupted men my foes,
What then? I hate the paultry tribe.
Be virtue mine—be their's the bribe.
I no man's property invade;
Corruption's yet no lawful trade.
Nor would it mighty ills produce,
Could I shame brib'ry out of use;
I know 'twould cramp most politicians,
Were they ty'd down to these conditions.
'Twould stint their pow'r, their riches bound,
And make their parts seem less profound.
Were they deny'd their proper tools,
How could they lead their knaves and fools?
Were this the case, let's take a view,
What dreadful mischiefs would ensue:
Though it might aggrandize the state,
Could private luxury dine on plate?
Kings might indeed their friends reward,
But ministers find less regard.
Informers, sycophants, and spies,
Would not augment the year's supplies,
Perhaps too, take away this prop,
An annual job or two might drop.
Besides, if pensions were deny'd,
Could avarice support its pride?
It might even ministers confound,
And yet the state be safe and sound.
I care not though 'tis understood
I only mean my country's good:
And (let who will my freedom blame),
I wish all courtiers did the same.
Nay, though some folks the less might get,
I wish the nation out of debt.
I put no private man's ambition
With public good in competition:
Rather than have our law defac'd,
I'd vote a minister disgrac'd.
I strike at vice, be't where it will;
And what if great folks take it ill?
I hope corruption, bribery, pension,
One may with detestation mention:
Think you the law (let who will take it)
Can
scandalum magnatum
make it?
I vent no slander, owe no grudge,
Nor of another's conscience judge:
At him or him I take no aim,
Yet dare against all vice declaim.
Shall I not censure breach of trust,
Because knaves know themselves unjust
That steward, whose account is clear,
Demands his honour may appear;
His actions never shun the light,
He is, and wou'd be prov'd upright.
But then you think my Fable bears
Allusion too, to state affairs.
I grant it does: and who's so great,
That has the privilege to cheat;
If, then, in any future reign
(For ministers may thirst for gain)
Corrupted hands defraud the nation;
I bar no reader's application.
An Ant there was, whose forward prate
Controul'd all matters in debate;
Whether he knew the thing or no,
His tongue eternally would go.
For he had impudence at will,
And boasted universal skill.
Ambition was his point in view;
Thus, by degrees, to pow'r he grew,
Behold him now his drift attain;
He's made chief treas'rer of the grain.
But as their ancient laws are just,
And punish breach of public trust,
Tis ordered (lest wrong application
Should starve that wise industrious nation),
That all accounts be stated clear,
Their stock, and what defray'd the year;
That auditors should these inspect,
And public rapine thus be check'd.
For this the solemn day was set,
The auditors in council met.
The gran'ry-keeper must explain,
And balance his account of grain.
He brought (since he could not refuse 'em)
Some scraps of paper to amuse 'em,
An honest Pismire, warm with zeal,
In justice to the public weal,
Thus spoke:—The nation's hoard is low,
From whence does this profusion flow?
I know our annual fund's amount.
Why such expence; and where's th' account?
With wonted arrogance and pride,
The Ant in office thus reply'd:
Consider, sirs, were secrets told,
How could the best-schem'd projects hold?
Should we state-mysteries disclose,
'Twould lay us open to our soes.
My duty, and my well-known zeal,
Bid me our present schemes conceal.
But, on my honour, all th' expence
(Though vast), was for the swarm's defence,
They pass'd the account as fair and just,
And voted him implicit trust.
Next year again the gran'ry drain'd,
He thus his innocence maintain'd.
Think how our present matters stand,
What dangers threat from ev'ry hand;
What hosts of turkeys stroll for food,
No farmer's wife but hath her brood.
Consider, when invasion's near,
Intelligence must cost us dear;
And in this ticklish situation,
A secret told betrays the nation.
But, on my honour, all th' expence
(Though vast), was for the swarm's defence,
Again, without examination,
'They thank'd his sage administration.
The year revolves. The treasure spent,
Again in secret service went.
His honour too again was pledg'd,
To satisfy the charge alledg'd.
When thus with panic shame possess'd,
An auditor his friends address'd.
What are we? Ministerial tools.
We little knaves are greater fools.
At last this secret is explor'd;
'Tis our corruption, thins the hoard.
For ev'ry grain we touch'd, at least
A thousand his own heaps increas'd.
Then, for his kin, and fav' rite spies,
An hundred hardly could suffice.
Thus for a paltry sneaking bribe,
We cheat ourselves and all the tribe;
For all the magazine contains,
Grows from our aunual toil and pains,
They vote th' account shall be inspected;
The cunning plund'rer is detected;
The fraud is sentenc'd; and his hoard,
As due to public use, restor'd.
A LESSON FOR THE SHEEPISH MULTITUDE.
Being QUERIES of Importance.
From a Pamphlet, entitled
"The Poor Man's Advocate,"
published at Neweastle, by
T. SPENCE,
in the Year
1779.
WHETHER it would not be very pleasant to see one horse claiming all the pasture as his, and ordering all the rest to depart the same, unless they fulfilled certain conditions which he chused to impose? and whether to see those poor beasts gathering the herbage with unceasing anxiety and diligence eating only the worst, but sacredly refraining from the hest and bringing it in large bundles with all humility and dissidence to the
gentle-horse,
who receives it with the highest air of superiority and unthankfulness; and who, though they bring him more than he can destroy, yet is so far from mitigating their tasks, that he takes frequent occasions to encrease them: I say, whether to see all this would not be to see too favourable a picture of landlord and tenant?
Whether if every pasture of the earth were thus claimed and monopolized by some or other
gentlehorse
as they are by some or other
gentle
-man, it would not be a most miserable thing to be a
landless
horse?
Whether if one of those unfortunate
landless
horses should offer to convince his fellow-sufferers, that it was the most despicable silliness, to drudge thus continually for permission to live on the earth which they had as good a right to as their oppressors, and should advise them to throw off such ignominious servitude; and that, if their assuming lords would not give up all thoughts of superiority and tyranny over their fellow-creatures, that they should have their brains kicked out. I fay, whether this poor beast could be blamed for so doing, or justly branded with improper selfishness, levelling, turbulency, sedition, or other hard names?
Whether there would not be more reason for suspecting such as took part with the
gentle
horses of selfishness, as none certainly would, but from hopes of sharing in the plunder, or of becoming
gentry
sometime or other themselves, and exempted from the labour of cutting their own grass, whereas the poor levelling horse could expect nothing from his impartial scheme but his bare natural due, which it is the highest honour to claim, and prevent all encroachments upon?
Whether those brutes who would not join sincerely with this honest horse for the recovery of their rights, for themselves and posterity, from any cause, but especially from being bribed or hired by their oppressors, ought not to be deemed unworthy of every privilege of nature, and spurned from the face of the earth?
Whether one man has a natural right to rule over, or demand rent of another man, more than one horse has a right to rule over, or demand rent of another horse?
Whether man is not rightful lord of the whole world, namely, of lands, animals, plants, minerals, &c.?
Whether to attempt to deprive any man of this his birth-right, is not attempting to make him less than man?
Whether fathers have a right to waste or alienate that, which their posterity can not be men without? and, whether if they did, their sons have not a right to claim and re-posses, themselves of the
ame?
Whether buying and felling land is not as illegal and unjust, according to the law of nature as buying and selling stolen goods?
Whether in Spensonia, where the land is entirely public property, a person with much money would have more reason to complain, that he could not purchase land with his money, than one that has little?
Whether if a person grows rich in money, which he has a right to do by his industry, trading, or other lawful means, he ought therefore to complain that he cannot reduce his fellow-creatures to a state of dependence upon him, by purchasing their land?
Whether the public, and the hirer of a poor labouring man, are not said to be clear with him upon paying him his wages? and whether the public ought not to be accounted as clear with a rich man upon paying him his due in money, though they suffer him not to purchase their land?
Whether it is not enough that he be allowed to trade, lend, spend, or lay up, give away, or do what he will with his riches, buying land, or men's persons excepted?
Whether if trafficking in land be pleaded as a great and laudable incitement to industry, trafficking in the persons of men may not as justly be pleaded for the same reason?
Whether those who live by their rents, may not be said to live on the parish more properly than most of the poor people who are said to do so? because those locusts get what they get from the public for nothing; whereas, the most of the poor have, by their for
er labour, laid up an ample stock in the hands of the public, to subsist on in their old age, and under infirmities?
Whether the poor ought not to be allowed one person or book to plead their interest, when the rich have so many of both to plead theirs?
Whether if the right honourable the gentlemen will not accept of our lands and labours without our reason too, they do not deserve to want all?
Whether if they thought it for their interest that we should not fee, we ought therefore to put out our eyes to oblige them?
Whether the
landed
men do not take upon themselves the sole lordship of this world, even to the power of killing a hare, and treat the rest of men as a species of the brute creation, made for their service and convenience? and whether when these creatures are not spoiled by thinking on things too high and, as they say, out of their sphere, they are not the most tractable and useful animals to their masters that can be?
Whether truth ought to be discouraged or hid through fear of danger? and, if so, whether the most important truths have not enemies, who, to have them smothered would pronounce them dangerous?
Whether we would not laugh at any profession, trade, or interest, that should call those principles dangerous, by which it could be proved, that they defrauded and robbed the public of millions annually, and were combined together for that purpose? and, whether we have not as good reason to laugh at the profession of gentlemen, when they call levelling principles dangerous?
Whether though the members of the body for their own benefit must maintain the belly, they may not lawfully destroy all the worms therein?
HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF REPUBLICS.
From
The P
d
n Letters.
By Lord Lyttleton.
ONE of the thing which must exercised my curiosity after my arrival in Europe, was the History and Origin of Republics. Thou knowest that generally the
As;iatics
have not so much as the least idea of this sort of government, and that their imagination never extended so far as to comprehend, there could possibly be any other sort than the despotic throughout the world.
The first governments were monarchical: it was only by chance, and length of time, that republics were formed.
Greece
having been swallowed up by a deluge, new inhabitants came to people it: she had almost all her Colonies from Egypt, and the nearest
Asiatic
countries: and those countries being governed by
ngs the people that came out of them were governed in the like mannerr But the tyranny of those princes growing too heavy, the people shook osl the yoke, and from the broken remains of so many kingdoms arose those republics which made
Greece
so very flourishing, the only polite country amidst Barbarians.
The love of liberty, and aversion to kings, preserved
Greece
a long time in a state of independence, and very far extended the republican government. The cities of Greece found allies in
Asia Minor;
they sent thither colonies as free as themselves, which were so many ramparts against the attempts of the kings of
P
.
This was not all:
Greece
peopled
Italy; Italy, Spain,
and perhaps
Gaul.
It is notorious that the great
H
peria,
so famous among the antients, was at the beginning
Greece,
which was looked upon by its neighbours as the seat of felicity: the
Greeks
not finding at home that happy country, went and looked for it in
Italy:
those of
Italy,
in
Spain;
those of
Spain
in
Boetica
or
Portugal:
so that all these regions went by this name among the ancients. These
Greek
Colonies carried along with them a spirit of liberty, which they had assumed from that kindly climate. And accordingly we seldom or never, in those remote times, meet with monarchies in
Italy, Spain,
or either of the
Gauls.
We shall see by and by, that the people of the
North
and of
Germany,
were no less free than the others; and if there are appearances of any thing like royalty among them, it is because their leaders of armies, or heads of republics, were mistaken for kings.
All this happened in
Europe:
as for
Asia
and
Africa,
they were ever oppressed with despotism: excepting some towns of
Asia Minor
already taken notice of; and the republic of Carthage in Africa.
The world was divided between two powerful republics,
Rome
and
Carthage:
nothing is so well known as the beginning of the Roman republic, and nothing so little known as the origin of that of
Carthage:
we are utterly ignorant of the succession of the
African
Princes, after
Dido,
nor do we know by what means they came to lose their power. The prodigious increase of the
Roman
republic would have been a great blessing to mankind, had there not been that unreasonable difference between the citizens of
Rome,
and the conquered nations; had they given to the governors of provinces, a more limited authority; had they paid due regard to those divine laws, made to restrain their tyranny; and had they not, in order to silence those laws, employed the very treasures which their rapine and injustice, had accumulated together.
Liberty seems to be calculated to the genius of the nations of
Europe,
and slavery adapted to tha of the
Asiatics.
In vain did the
Romans
offer tht invaluable treasure to the
Cappadocians;
that worthless nation refused it, and courted servitude with the same ardour as other nations pursued liberty.
Ca
sar
crushed the
Roman
republic, and brought it under arbitrary power.
Europe
groaned a long time beneath the military and violent government; and the
Roman
mildness was changed into a hard-hearted oppression.
Mean while, infinite numbers of unknown nations, swarmed from out the
North:
spread themselves like torrents through all the
Roman
provinces; and finding it as easy a thing to make conquests, as to increase their piracies, they dismembered those provinces, and made kingdoms of them. These people were free; and they so confined the authority of their kings, that they were properly speaking no more than chieftains, or generals. Thus, those kingdoms, though founded in force, felt not the yoke of a conqueror. When the nations of
Asia,
namely the
Turks
and the
Tartars,
made any conquests, they being accustomed to the will and pleasure of one single person, thought of nothing more than bringing him new subjects, and by the force of arms establish his violent authority; but the
Nothern
nations being free in their own country, when they had seized the
Roman
provinces, took care not to bestow on their chief, too large a power. Nay some of them, the
Vandals,
for instance, in
Africa.
the Goths in Spain, deposed their kings whenever they were dissatisfied with them: and the others too abridged the authority of the prince a thousand ways: a great number of lords took share of it with him; a war was never entered into without their consent; the plunder was divided between the general and the soldiers; no taxation in favour of the prince; the laws were made in assemblies of the whole nation, such was the fundamental principle of all those states that were formed out of the wrecks of the
Roman
empire.
EDMUND BURKE's
Address to the
Swinish Multitude.
"Here is the constitution, which we have made for you and for your posterity for ever. We buckle it on your back, for you are beasts of burden, you must not dare to touch it,"
Burke.
YE Swinish Multitude who prate,
What know ye 'bout the matter?
Misterious are the ways of state,
Of which you should not chatter.
Our church and state, like man and wife,
Together kindly cuddle:
Together share the sweets of life,
Together feast and fuddle.
CHORUS,
Then hence ye Swine nor make a rout,
Forbearance but relaxes;
We'll clap the muzzle on your snout,
Go work, and pay your taxes.
Ye apron men to labour bred,
How dare ye thus to quarrel;
We'll take your children's beer and bread,
And you shan't smell the barrel.
'Tis ours to take your needful scot,
When e'er we lack assistance;
Passive obedience is your lot,
And humble non-resistance.
Then hence ye Swine, &c.
How dare you rail at noble lords,
Remember Richmond's power:
To bind you neck and heels in cords,
Bastile you in the Tower.
Stormount and we shall break your hearts
With writs and declarations;
And Fox no longer takes your parts,
Or vindicates the nations.
Then hence ye Swine, &c.
No reformation you shall have,
We tell it to your faces;
Make every mother's son a slave,
And yet we'll keep our places,
In vain you swear at Billy Pitt,
At George in vain you grumble;
We'll take two thirds of all you get,
To keep you poor and humble,
Then hence ye Swine, &c.
Equality, that crime abhor'd,
Of this you dare to prattle:
Of different clay, is made my lord,
He shepherd, you the cattle.
So hence ye herds, and graze below,
Where'er he bids be jogging,
First lick the dust from off his toe,
Or patient bear his flogging.
Then hence ye Swine, &e.
Now when we see you mend your lives,
And live in humble quarters:
We'll let you kiss in peace your wives,
Nor tax for new born daughters.
Let us at will reap all you've sown,
Nor deal in turn vexation;
John Bull should bear, and never frown,
Beneath immence taxation.
Then hence ye Swine, &c.
Remember all I say, for shame,
I say ye Swine remember;
Or else we'll play you such a game.
We did in last November.
Our proclamations sent about,
'Tis Billy Pitt shall plan 'um,
Of plots that never yet came out,
Except of Richmond's cranium.
Then hence ye Swine, &c.
My mandate should you now neglect,
Ye multitude of grunters;
We'll tax ye still, without respect,
To feed us fortune hunters.
Chains, gibbets, axes, soon shall rise,
And batter in terrorum
And you ye Swine, shall greet our eyes,
By dangling high before them.
Then hence ye Swine, nor make a rout,
Forbearance but relaxes:
We'll clap the muzzle on your snout,
Go work and pay your taxes.
SINGULAR CONSTITUTION OF BASIL,
A small
Republic,
on the
Banks
of the
Rhine.
FROM GARDNER'S VIEWS ON THE RIVER RHINE.
THE Basilians think their form of government, the most perfect in the world: And if the satisfaction and happiness of the people, the equal distribution of justice, and the preservation of decency and good order in the community, are proofs of its excellence, they have great reason to be fond of their constitution. The privileges it confers on the lower orders of the people, must for ever secure their allegiance and attachment to it, for the meanest citizen is eligible, and has an equal chance with the greatest and most opulent, to ob
in a seat in the sovereign councils of the republic.
Indeed their method of chufing the members of their legislature, is not in speculation very favourable to the promotion of good government; for the members are not chosen for their virtues, their talents, their influence, or their birth; the appointment of them is left wholly to the caprice of fortune, who fills offices, and makes counsellors of state in the republic of Basil, in the same manner, and with as little respect to persons, as she distri
es prizes in the English Lottery. This fanciful
thod of conducting elections. and bestowing of
, may sometimes have a ludicrous or inconvement effect; but as such accidental events, neither
the dignity of their legislature, impede the
tion, or weaken the efficacy of the laws; the
vention of them is not worth a thought. It eight not perhaps be without its benefits, if the
ne practice was introduced into some countries where matters of this sort stand in great need of
lation: for it is beyond dispute, a most effec
al remedy against that corruption, which defects the noblest efforts of patriotism and reduces the best modelled constitutions to a level with the worst.
On the
ational
Sin
of Involving succeeding generations in Debt.
From a pamphlet, entitled "Sins of the Nation."
EXTRAVAGANCE is a sin, to which the nations as well as private persons are
y prone, and the consequences to both, are exactly similar. If a private man lives beyond his income, the consequence will be lo
s of independence disgrace
l perplexity, and in the end, certoir ruin. The
tastrophies of states, are flower m
ipening, but, like causes, must in the end produce like effects. If you are acquainted with any individual, who, from inattention to his affairs, misplaced confidence foolish law-suits, anticipation of his rents and profession in his family expences, has involved himself in debts, that eat away his income, what would you say to such a one? Would you not tell him, contract your expences; look yourself into your affairs, insist upon exact accounts from your steward and bailiffs, keep no servants for mere show and parade; mind only your own affairs, and keep at peace with your neighbours; set religiously apart an annual sum, for discharging the mortgages on your estate. If this be good advice for one man, it is good advise for
nine-million
of men. If this individual should persist in his course of unthrifty prosussion, saying to himself, the ruin will not come in my time; the misery will not fall upon me; let posterity take care of itself! would you not pronounce him at once very weak, and very selfesh? my friends, a
nation
that should pursue the same conduct, would be equally reprehensible.
TRIBUTE TO LIBERTY.
By
W. D. Grant.
Tune
Lullaby.
Generous PATRIOTS, nobly daring,
Regal Ruffians
rage defy,
Ev'ry toll and peril sharing,
In pursuit of LIBERTY.
Liberty! Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!
In pursuit of liberty!
In their train see TRUTH appearing,
JUSTICE and EQUALITY:
Reason's rays supremely cheering,
True-born
Sons of Liberty!
Liberty! Liberty!
&c.
Nature Virtue
bids us cherish,
Those who wish ALL mankind free;
Then l
t ev'ry tyrant perish,
Ev'ry foe to liberty.
Liberty! Liberty!
&c.
THE BLESSINGS OF MEDIOCRITY.
From
Swift's
Sermons.
IF riches were so great a blessing as they are commonly thought, they would at least have this advantage, to give their owners cheerful hearts and countenances; they would often s
ir them up to express their thankfulness to God, and discover their satisfaction to the world. But in fact, the contrary to all this is true. For where are there more cloudy brows, more melancholy hearts, or more ingratitude to their great benefactor, than among those who abound in wealth? And indeed it is natural that it should be so, because those men, who covet things that are hard to be got, must be hard to please; whereas a small thing maketh a poor man happy; and great losses cannot befal him.
It is likewise worth considering, how few among the rich have procured their wealth by just measures: how many owe their fortunes to the sins of their parents, how many more to their own? If men's titles were to be tried before a true court of conscience, where false swearing, and a thousand vile artifices, (that are well known, and can hardly be avoided in human courts of justice) would avail nothing; how many would be ejected with infamy and disgrace? how many grow considerable by breach of trust, by bribery and corruption? How many have sold their religion, with the rights and liberties of themselves and others, for power and employments?
And it is a mistake to think, that the most hardened sinner, who oweth his possession or titles to any such wicked arts of thieving, can have true peace of mind, under the reproaches of a guilty conscience, and amidst the cries of ruined widows and orphans.
I know not one real advantage that the rich have over the poor, except the power of doing good to others: But this is an advantage which God hath not given wicked men the grace to make use of. The wealth acquired by evil means, was never employed to good ends: for that would be to divide the kingdom of
Satan
against itself. Whatever hath been gained by fraud, avarice, oppression, and the like, must be preserved and increased by the same methods.
I shall add but one thing more upon this head which I hope will convince you, that God (whose thoughts are not as our thoughts) never intended riches or power to be necessary for the happiness of mankind in this life; because it is certain, that there is not one single good quality of the mind absolutely necessary to obtain them, where men are resolved to be rich at any rate; neither honour, justice, temperance, wisdom, religion, truth, or learning: for a slight acquaintance of the world will inform us, that there have been many instances of men in all ages, who have arrived at great possessions, and great dignities, by cunning, fraud or flattery, without any of these, or any other virrues that can be named. Now if riches and greatness were such blessings, that good men without them could have their share of happiness in this life; how cometh it to pass, that God should suffer them to be often dealt to the worst and most profligate of mankind? that they should be generally procured by the most abominable means, and applied to the basest and most wicked uses? This ought not to be conceived of a just, a mercisul, a wise, and almighty being. We must therefore conclude that wealth and power are in their own nature, at best, but things indifferent, and that a good man may be equally happy without them, provided that he hath a sufficiency of the common blessings of human life, to answer all the reasonable and virtuous demands of nature, which his industry will provide, and sobriety will prevent his wanting. Agur's prayer, with the reasons of his wish, are full to this purpose.
Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? Or, lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
ON SACRILEGE.
From Cato's Letters.
SACRILEGE we are told by some, signifies the robbing or stealing from God any thing which is peculiarly his. Now nothing can be stolen from God, nor can any thing be concealed from him. Every thing being his, it is as much his in the hands of one man as in the hands of another; for, let who will have the use of it, the property cannot be altered: God who has all things, can never be put out of possession of any thing, and as nothing can be taken from him, so neither can anything be given to him, because all the world and every thing in it is aheady his: and it is absurd to imagine that any form of words, or change of place or position, can enlarge or lessen his property in any thing. All that we have, we have from him: and to return him his own gifts back again, which we want and he does not, is no compliment, nor any part of religion or reason: It is shewing ourselves wiser than he, in setting apart for his use those things which he has graciously created and set apart for ours. Can we feed him? or can we cloath, adorn or enrich him? Can we build him a city to dwell in, or furnish him with guards for the security of his person?
Sacrilege therefore is either the robbing of men, or no robbery at all. And this crime is greater or less, according to the measure or mischief done. To rob a poor man of his loaf, is a greater crime, in
foro conscientiae,
than to rob a rich man of an Ox: To rob a man of a small part of a thing that is necessary to him, is a greater crime, than the robbing him of a great superfluity; and if I rob a man of a thing that will do him hurt, I hope I do him less an injury, than if I robbed him of a thing which does him good. But if I take a thing which no man has a right to, I myself have a right to it, by possessing it.
To apply all this to the business of Sacrilege; if a man take away any of the books, vestments, or utensils, made use of in devotion, he only robs the congregation, who must buy more; and many being more able than one to bear the loss, the offence, as to its effects, is less than if he robbed but one man. But if he take away from a Heathen Temple, plate, or hidden treasure, laid up there, but not used, he indeed does an action that he has no right to do, but an action that however does good to the world, by turning into use, that which was of none, or of bad use.
Dead treasure, first drawn from the people in superstitious offerings, and then laid up in a Heathen Temple, and kept and used for impious and idolatrous ends, but never to return again into the world, for the necessary purposes of life and commerce, is the plunder of mankind; and the worst of all plunders, because it never circulates; and people are greatly the worse for it, in respect both of soul and body, but never can be the better, it is first taking from them and afterwards denying them the great and chief means of life and convenience. He therefore, whoever he be, that takes it from thence, let him take it in what manner he will, does a better and more public thing, than he who keeps it there.
No man can be robbed of a thing in which he has no property. Of this sort was Apollo's wealth; and nobody was robbed in taking it away. So that whoever takes away golden images, or other dead wealth the means and objects of false adoration, is guilty of no other crime, than that of disturbing erroneous consciences: Nor need such consciences be much disturbed, since the crime being committed without their consent, they have no share in it. And therefore if such idolatrous images, and such superstitious, useless, and pe
nic ous riches be taken away by a lawful authority, or in a lawful war. it is no crime at all. So that in every sense
Byennus
committed a greater crime in plundering one village, than he could have committed had he plundered, as he intended, the Temple of
Delphos.
THE PROGRESS OF TAXATION.
From the Morning Chronicle.
WHEN the common people of any state can supply the exorbitant demands of their Prince no longer, the estates of the Nobility will be the next resource, and like the mastiff dog in the beehive, when he has sucked up all the honey, he will swallow the comb; and then the greater part of Europe will be in the condition of Turkey, —most of its Princes will be sole proprietors of the land, as they now make themselves of its produce, which is very near the same thing. When the tenants exhausted by taxes, are unable to pay rent, the land yielding no profit, is as bad as none, and in some instances worse than none, as we are particularly told by the noble author of the account of Denmark, where some landlords have begged of the King, upon their knees, to ease them of their land, by taking it from them for good and all, for it was taxed more than it was worth.
A LETTER AGAINST BRIBERY, AND ARBITRARY GOVERNMENT.
From Algernon Sidney to his Friends, in answer to theirs, persuading his return to England.
SIR,
I AM sorry I cannot in all things conform myself to the advices of my friends; if theirs had any joint concernment with mine, I would willingly submit my interest to theirs, but when I alone am interested, and they only advise to come over as soon as the act of indemnity is passed, because they think it is best for me, I cannot wholly lay aside my own judgment and choice. I confess we are naturally inclined to delight in our own country, and I have a particular love to mine; I hope I have given some testimony of it; I think that being exiled from it is a great evil, and would redeem myself from it with the loss of a great deal of my blood: but when that country of mine, which used to be esteemed a paradise, is now like to be made a stage of injury, the liberty which we hoped to establish. oppressed, all manner of profaneness, looseness, luxury and lewdness set up in its height; instead of the piety, virtue, sobriety, and modesty, which we hoped God, by our hands would have introduced, the best of our nation made a prey to the worst, the parliament, court, and army corrupted, the people enslaved, and all things vendible, and no man safe, but by such evil and infamous means as flattery and bribery: what joy can I have in my own country in this condition? Is it a pleasure to see all that I love in the world sold and destroyed? Shall I renounce all my old principles, learn the vile court arts, and make my peace by bribing some of them? Shall their corruption and vice be my safety? Ah! no, better is a life among strangers, than in my country upon such conditions. Whilst I live, I will endeavour to preserve my liberty, or at least not consent to the destroying of it, I hope I shall die in the same principle in which I have lived, and will live no longer than they can preserve me. I have in my life been guilty of many follies, but as I think of no meanness, I will not blot and de file that which is past, by endeavouring to provide for the future. I have ever had in my mind, that when God should cast me into such a condition, as that I cannot save my life, but by doing an indecent thing, he shews me the time is come wherein I should resign it. And when I cannot live in my own country, but by such moans as are worse than dying in it, I think he shews me, I ought to keep myself out of it. Let them please themselves with making the king glorious, who think a
whole
people may justly be sacrificed for the interest and pleasure of
one
man and a
few
of his followers: let them rejoice in their subtility, who by betraying the former powers have gained the favour of this, not only preserved but advanced themselves in these dangerous changes. Nevertheless (perhaps) they may find the king's glory is their shame, his plenty the people's misery: and that the gaining of an office, or a little money is a
poor
reward for destroying a nation! (which if it were preserved in liberty and virtue, would truly be the most glorious in the world) and that others may find they have with much pains purchased their own shame and misery, a dear price paid for that which is not worth keeping, nor the life that is accompanied with it; the honour of English Parliaments have ever been in making the nation glorious and happy, not in selling and destroying the interest of it, to satisfy the lusts of one man.
Miserable Nation,
that from so great a height of glory is fallen into the most despicable condition in the world, of having all its good depending upon the breath and will of the vilest persons in it!
cheated
and
fold
by them they trust,
infamous traffick,
equal almost in guilt to that of Judas. In all preceding ages Parliaments have been the pillars of our liberty, the sure defenders of the oppressed: They who formerly could bridle kings, and keep the balance equal between them and the people, are now become the instruments of all our oppressions, and a sword in his hand to destroy us: They themselves, led by a few interested persons, who are willing to buy offices, for themselves by the misery of the whole nation, and the blood of the most worthy and eminent persons in it. Detestable bribes, worse than the oaths now in fashion in his mercenary court! I mean to owe neither my life nor liberty to any such means, when the innocence of my actions will not protect me, I will stay away till the storm be overpassed. In short, where
Vane, Lambert
and
Haslerigg
cannot live in safety, I cannot live at all. If I had been in England, I should have expected a lodging with them; or though they may be the first, as being more eminent than I, I must expect to follow their example in suffering, as I have been their companion in acting. I am most in a maze at the mistaken informations that were sent to me by my friends; full of expectations of favours, and employments. Who can think that they who imprison them would employ me, or suffer me to live when they are put to death! If I might live and be employed, can it be expected that I should serve a government that seeks such detestable ways of establishing itsolf? Ah! no, I have not learned to make my own peace, by
persecuting
and
betraying
my brethren, more innocent and more worthy than myself: I must live by
just means,
and serve to
just ends,
or
not at all,
after such a manifestation of the ways by which it is intended the king shall govern, I should have renounced any place of favour into which the kindness and industry of my friends might have advanced me, when I found those that were better than I, were only fit to be destroyed. I had formerly some jealousies, the fraudulent proclamation for indemnity encreased the imprisoning of those three men, and turning out of all the officers of the army, contrary to promise, confirmed me in my resolutions not to return.
To conclude, the tide is not to be diverted, nor the oppressed delivered; but God in his time, will have mercy on his People; he will save and defend them, and avenge the blood of those who shall now perish, upon the heads of those, who in their pride, think nothing is able to oppose them. Happy are those whom God shall make instruments of his justice in so blessed a work. If I can live to see that day, I shall be ripe for the grave, and able to say with joy, Lord! now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, &c. (So Sir Arthur Haslerigg on Oliver's death.) Farewel, my thoughts as to king and state, depending upon their actions. No man shall be a more faithful servant to him than I, if he make the good and prosperity of his people his glory, none more his enemy if he doth the contrary. To my particular friends I shall be constant on all occasions, and to you,
A most affectionate Servant,
A. SIDNEY.
AN OLD BRITISH SONG, WHEN THE ROMANS RULED THE LAND.
LONG may great Caesar live,
To him your treasure give,
Gen'rous and free!
His feelings are so tough,
You ne'er can give enough;
Why keep ye back the stuff?
Rebels ye be.
See, on the gold so fair,
His graceful picture there,
Which as you view,
Worship—and let it be
Sent to his Treasury;
Send it to him, that he
May worship too!
You have a house and bed,
And you are clothed and fed,
Temp'rate and bare;
Still let it be your aim,
Pride and excess to tame,
For your kind masters claim
All you can spare.
Great Caesar let us own
Each on his marrow bone,
Britons so true
He shall ride over us?
Happy and glorious,
For ne'er victorious
Rebels ye knew.
Cheer up each mournful face,
See what a hopeful race,
Now all alive!
O how it swells the song!
Princes so young so strong,
Might draw a dray along,
Ready to drive.
Long live our NOBLE King,
To him your treasure bring,
Gen'rous and free!
Let it our hearts elate,
Still to support the great—
Proud of our low estate
Still let us be!
A
VINDICATION OF
BRUTUS,
For having killed
CAESAR.
[From CATO'S Letters.]
CAESAR had usurped the
Roman
world, and was cantoning it out to his creatures as became a tyrant, and paying his personal favourites with the public bounty. As the worst tyrants must have some friend; and as the best men do them the most credit, and bring them the most support
if such can be got:
Caesar
had sense enough to know, that he could never buy
Brutus
too dear, and so paid him great court. But
Brutus
saw the tyrant's design, and his own shame; and every civility was a fresh provocation. It was as if a thief breaking into a house to rob a lady of her jewels, spoke thus to her son:
Sir, pray permit me, or assist me to cut your mother's throat, and seize her treasure and I will generously reward you with your life, and lend you one or two of her diamonds to sparkle in as long as I think fit.
Could such a villainous civility as this engage the son, especially a virtuous son, to any thing but revenge? And would not the only way that he could take it, be the best way?
Caesar
took from
Brutus
his liberty, and his legal title to his life and his estate, and gave him in lieu of it a precarious one during his own arbitrary will and pleasure. Upon the same terms he gave him some mercenary employments, as hire for that great man's assistance to support his tyranny. Could the great and free soul of
Brutus
brook this? Could
Brutus
be the instrument or confederate of lawless just?
Brutus
receive wages from an oppressor! That great, virtuous, and popular
Brutus:
who, if the common wealth had subsisted, might from his reputation, birth, abilities, and his excellent worth, have challenged the most honourable and advantageous offices in it, without owing thanks to
Caesar.
So that the injuries done by
Caesar
to
Brutus
were great, heinous, and many: and the favours none. All the mercy shewn by
Caesar
was art and affectation, and pure self-love. He had found in the
Roman
people so universal a detestation of the bloody measures of
Marius, Cinna,
and
Sylla.
He saw the whole empire so reduced and enervated by repeated proscriptions and massacres, that he thought
t his interest to establish his new-erected dominion by different measures; and to reconcile. by a false and hypocritical shew of clemency, the minds of men, yet bleeding with the late and former wounds, to his usurpation, that
Caesar,
the usurping and destructive
Caesar,
who had slaughtered millions. and wantonly made havock of human race, had any other sort of mercy, than the mercy of policy and deceit, will not be pretended by any man, that knows his and the
Roman
story.
Brutus
therefore being the most reverenced and popular man in
Rome,
it became the crast of the tyrant to make
Brutus
his friend; it was adding a sort of sanctity to a wicked cause. Whereas the death of
Brutus
by
Caesar
would have made
Caesar
odious and dreadful even amongst his own followers.
But it is said, that
Brutus
submitted to
Caesar,
and was bound by his own act. Here the allegation is true, but the consequence false. Did not
Brutus
submit to
Caesar,
as innocent men are often forced to submit to the gallies, the wheel, and the gibbet? He submitted as a man robbed and bound, submits to a house-breaker, who with a pistol at his heart, forces from him a discovery of his treasure, and a promise not to prosecute him. Such engagements are not only void in themselves, but aggravate the injuries, by the law of nature and reason, as well as by the positive institutions of every country, all promises, bonds, or oaths, extorted by duress, that is, by unlawful imprisonments or menaces, are not obligatory. It is, on the contrary, a crime to fulfil them; because an acquiescence in the impositions of lawless villains, is abetting lawless villains.
Besides it was not in the power of
Brutus
to alter his allegiance, which he had already engaged to the Commonwealth, which had done nothing to forfeit the same. For how lawful soever it be for subjects to transfer their obedience to a conqueror in foreign war, when the former civil power can no longer protect them; or to a new magistrate made by consent, when the old had forfeited or resigned: It is ridiculous to suppose, that they can transfer it to a domestic traitor and robbet; who is under the same ties and allegiance with themselves, and by all acts of violence, treason, and usurpation, extorts a submission from his oppressed masters and fellow subjects. At least such allegiance can never be re-engaged, whilst any means
nature are left to rid the world of such a mon
ter.
It is a poor charge against
Brutus
that
Caesar
in
ended him for his heir and successor.
Brutus
scorn
d to succeed a tyrant. And what more glorious for
Brutus,
than thus to own that the dangerous and bewitching prospect of the greatest power that ever mortal man possessed, could not shake the firm and virtuous heart of
Brutus,
nor corrupt his integrity? To own that no personal considerations, not even the highest upon earth, could reconcile him to a tyrant; and that he preferred the liberty of the world to the empire of the world!
The above charges therefore against
Brutus,
can hardly come from any but those, who, like the profane and slavish
Esau,
would sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, would sacrifice their duty to their interest; and, unconcerned what becomes of the rest of mankind, would promote tyranny, if they might but shine in its trappings. But an honest mind, a mind great and virtuous, scorns and hates all ambition, but that of doing good to men, and to
all
men; it despises momentary riches, and ill-gotten power; it enjoys no vicious and
hard-hearted
pleasures, arising from the miseries of others. But it wishes and endeavours to procure impartial, diffusive, and universal happiness to the
whole
earth.
This is the character of a great and good mind; and this was the great and sublime soul of the immortal
Brutus.
EXCELLENT BRUTUS! OF ALL HUMAN RACE,
The best!
Cowley,
A memorable Letter from Brutus to Cicero.
I HAVE seen by the favour of
Atticus,
that part which concerns me, in your letter to
Octavius.
The affection which you there express for my person, and the pains which you take for my safety, are great; but they give me no new joy. Your kind offices are become as habitual for me to receive, as for you to bestow; and by your daily discourse and actions in my behalf, I have daily instances of your generous regard for myself and my reputation.
However, all this hinders not but that the abovementioned article of your letters to
Octavius,
pierced me with as sensible a grief as my soul is capable of feeling. In thanking him for his services to the republic, you have chosen a stile which shews such lowness and submission, as do but too clearly declare that you have still a master; and that the old tyranny, which we thought destroyed, is revived in a new tyrant. What shall I say to you upon this sad head? I am covered with confusion for your shameful condition, but you have brought it upon yourself; and I cannot help shewing you to yourself in this wretched circumstance.
You have petitioned
Octavius
to have mercy upon me, and to save my life—In this you intend my good, but sought my misery, and a lot worse than death, by saving me from it; since there is no kind of death but is more eligible to me, than a life so saved. Be so good to recollect a little the terms of your letter; and having weighed them as you ought, can you deny that they are conceived in the low stile of an humble petition from a slave to his haughty lord, from a subject to a king? You tell
Octavius
that you have a request to make him, and hope that he will please to grant it; namely to save those citizens who are esteemed by men of condition, and beloved by the people of Rome. This is your honourable request; but what if he should not grant it, but refuse to save us? Can we be saved by no other expedient; Certainly, destruction itself is preferable to life by his favour.
I am not, however, so desponding, as to imagine that heaven is so offended with the
Roman
people, or so bent upon their ruin, that you should thus chuse in your prayers; to apply rather to
Octavius,
than to the immortal Gods, for the preservation, I do not say of the deliverers of the whole earth, but even for the preservation of the meanest
Roman
citizen. This is a high tone to talk in, but I have pleasure in it: It becomes me to shew that
I scorn to pray to those whom I scorn to fear.
Has then
Octavius
power to save us? and while you thus own him to be a tyrant, can you yet own yourself his friend? And while you are mine, can you desire to see me in
Rome
and at the mercy of an usurper? And yet that this would be my case, you avow by imploring from a giddy boy, my permission to return, you have been rendering him a world of thanks, and making him many compliments; pray how came they to be due to him, if he yet want to be petitioned for our lives, and if our liberties depend upon his sufferance? Are we bound to think it a condescension in
Octavius,
that he chuses that these our petitions should rather be made to him than to
Anthony?
And are not such low supplications the proper addresses to a tyrant? And yet shall we, who boldly destroyed one, be ever brought basely to supplicate another? And can we who are the deliverers of the Commonwealth, descend to ask what no man ought to have it in his power to give?
Consider the mournful effects of that dread and despondency of yours, in our public struggle, in which, however, you have too many to keep you in countenance.
The Commonwealth has been los
, because it was given for lost.
Hence Caesar was first inspired with the lust of dominion; hence
Mark Anthony,
not terrified by the doom of the tyrant, pants and hurries on to succeed him in his tyranny: and hence this
Octavius,
this green usurper, is started into such a pitch of power, that the chiefs of the commonwealth, and the saviours of their country, must depend for their breath upon his pleasure. Yes, we must owe our lives to the mercy of a minor, softened by the prayers of aged senators.
Alas, we are no longer
Romans!
If we were, the virtuous spirit of liberty would have been an ealy over-match for the traiterous attempts of the worst of all men grasping after tyranny; nor would even
Mark Anthony,
the rash and enterprising
Mark Anthony,
have been so fond of
Caesar
's power, as frightened by
Caesar
's sate.
Remember the important character which you sustain. the great post which you have filled. You me a
e
or of
Rome,
you have been consul of
Rome;
you have defeated conspiraces, you have destroved conspirators. Is not
Rome
still as dear to you as she was? Or▪ is your courage and vigilance less? And is not the occasion greater? Or, could you suppress great traitors, and yet tolerate greater? Recollect what you ought to do, by what you have done. Whence proceeded your enmity to
Anthony?
Was it not that he had an enmity to liberty, had seized violently on the public, assumed the disposal of life and death into his own hands, and set up for the sole sovereign of all men? Were not these the reasons of your enmity and of your advice to combat violence by violence, to kill him rather than sub
t to him? All this was well, but why must resistance be dropped, when there is a fresh call for resistance? Has your courage sailed you; or, was it not permitted to
Anthony
to enslave us, but another may? As if the nature of servitude were changed by changing names and persons. No, we do not dispute about the qualifications of a master; we will have
no
master.
It is certain, that we might, under
Anthony,
have had large shares with him in the administration of despotic power; we might have divided its dignities, and shone in its trappings. He would have received us graciously, and met us half way.
He knew that either our concurrence or acquiescence would have confirmed him monarch of
Rome;
and at what price would he not have purchased either? But all his arts, all his temptations, all his offers were rejected, liberty was our purpose, virtue our rule: Our views were honest and universal; our country and the cause of mankind.
With
Octavius
himself there is still a way open for an accommodation, if we chose it. As eager as the name of
Caesar
has made that raw stickler for empire, to destroy those who destroyed
Caesar;
yet, doubtless, he would give us good articles, to gain our consent to that power to which he aspires, and to which I fear, he will atrive; alas! what is there to hinder him? While we only attend to the love of life, and the impulses of ambition, while we can purchase posts and dignities with the price of liberty, and think danger more dreadful than slavery; what remains to save us?
What was the end of our killing the tyrant, but to be free from tyranny?—A ridiculous motive, and an empty exploit, if our slavery survive him! Oh, who is it that makes liberty his care? Liberty, which ought to be the care of all men, as it is the benefit and blessing of all! For myself rather than give it up, I will stand single in its defence, I cannot lose, but with my life, my resolution to maintain in freedom my country which I have set free: I have destroyed a veteran tyrant; and shall I suffer in a raw youth, his heir, a power to controul the senate, supersede the laws, and put chains on
Rome?
A power which no personal favours nor even the ties of blood could ever sanctify to me; a power, which I could not bear in
Caesar;
nor if my father had usurped it, could I have borne him.
Your petition to
Octavius
is a confession that we cannot enjoy the liberty of Rome without his leave; and can you dream that other citizens are free, where we could not live free? Besides, having made your request, how is it to be fulfilled? You beg him to give us our lives; and what if he do? Are we therefore safe because we live? Is there any safety without liberty; or rather, can we poorly live having lost it, and with it our honour and glory? is there any security in living at
Rome
when
Rome
is no longer free? That city, great as it is having no security of her own, can give me none—No, I will owe mine to my resolution and my sword; I cannot enjoy life at the mercy of another;
Caesar
's death alone ascertained my liberty to me, which before was precarious: I smote him to be safe. This is a Roman spirit, and whithersoever I carry it, every place will be
Rome
to me, who am
Roman
enough to prefer every evil to chains and infamy, which to a Roman are the highest of all evils. I thought that we had been released from these mighty evils, by the death of him who brought them upon us; but it seems that we are not; else why a servile petition to a youth, big with the name and the ambition of
Caesar,
for mercy to those patriots, who generously revenged their country upon that tyrant, and cleared the world of his tyranny? It was not thus in the Commonwealths of
Greece
where the children of tyrants suffered equally with their fathers, the punishment of tyranny.
Can I then have any appetite to see
Rome
or, can
Rome
be said to be
Rome?
We have slain our tyrant, we have restored our ancient liberty: But they are favours thrown away; she is made free in spite of herself; and though she has seen a great and terrible tyrant bereft of his grandeur and his life, by a few of her citizens; yet basely desponding of her own strength, she impotently dreads the name of a dead tyrant, revived in the person of a stripling.
No more of your petitions to your young
Caesar
on my behalf; nor, if you are wise, on your own. You have not many years to live; do not be shewing that you over-rate the short remains of an honourable life, by making preposterous and dishonourable court to a boy. Take care that by this conduct you do not eclipse the lustre of all your glorious actions against
Mark Anthony:
Do not turn your glory into reproach, by giving the malicious a handle to say, that self-love was the sole motive of your bitterness to him; and that, had you not dreaded him, you would not have opposed him: And yet will they not say this, if they see that having declared war against
Anthony,
you notwithstanding have life and liberty at the mercy of
Octavius,
and tolerate in him all the power which the other claimed? They will say that you are not against having a master, only you would not have Anthony for a master.
I will approve of your praises given to
Octavius
for his behaviour thus far; it is indeed praise worthy; provided his only intention has been to pull down the tyranny of
Anthony,
without establishing a tyranny of his own. But if you are of opinion that
Octavius
is in such a situation of power, that it is necessary to approach him with humble supplications to save our lives and that it is convenient he should be trusted with this power; I can only say, that you lift the reward of his merits, far above his merits: I thought that all his services were services done to the republic, but you have conferred upon him that absolute and imperial power which he pretended to recover to the republic.
If, in your judgment,
Octavius
has earned such laurels and recompences for making war again
Anthony
's tyranny, which was only the effects and remains of
Caesar
's tyranny; to what distinctions, to what rewards would you entitle those who exterminated, with
Caesar,
the tyranny of
Caesar,
for which they felt the blessings and bounty of the
Roman
people? Has this never entered into your thoughts? Behold here, how effectually the terror of evils to come, extinguishes in the minds all impressions of benefits received!
Caesar
is dead, and will never return to shackle or frighten the City of
Rome;
so he is no more thought of, nor are they who delivered that City from him. But
Anthony
is still alive, and still in arms, and still terrifies; and so
Octavius
is adored, who beat
Anthony.
Hence it is that
Octavius
is become of such potent consequence, that from his mouth the
Roman
people must expect our doom, the doom of their deliverers! And hence it is too that we (those deliverers) are of such humble consequence, that he must be supplicated to give us our lives!
I, as said, have a soul, and I have a sword; and am an enemy to such abject supplications; so great an enemy, that I detest those that use them, and am an avowed foe to him that expects them. I shall at least be far away from the odious company of slaves; and wherever I find liberty, there I will find
Rome.
And for you that stay behind, who not satiated with many years, and many honours, can behold liberty extinct, and virtue with us, in exile, and yet are not sick of a wretched and precarious life; I heartily pity you. For myself, whose soul has never ebbed from its constant principles, I shall ever be happy in the consciousness of my virtue; owing nothing to my country, towards which I have faithfully discharged my duty, I shall possess my mind in peace, and find the reward of well-doing in the satisfaction of having done it. What greater pleasure does the world afford, than to despise the slippery uncertainties of life, and to value that only which is valuable, private virtue, and public liberty; that liberty which is the blessing, and ought to be the birth-right of all mankind?
But still, I will never sink with those who are already falling; I will never yield with those who have a mind to submit: I am resolved to be always firm and independent; I will try all expedients; I will exert my utmost prowess, to banish servitude and set my country entirely free. If fortune favours me as she ought, the blessing and joy will be every man's; but if she fail me, and my best endeavours be thrown away, yet still I will rejoice single; and so far be too hard for fortune. What, in short, can my life be better laid out in, than in continual schemes, and repeated efforts, for the common liberty of my country?
As to your part in this crisis, my dear
Cicero,
it is my strongest advice and request to you, not to desert yourself; do not distrust your ability, and your ability will not disappoint you; believe you can remedy our heavy evils, and you will remedy them. Our miseries want no increase; prevent, therefore, by your vigilance, any new accession. Formerly in quality of consul, you defeated, with great boldness and warmth for liberty, a formidable conspiracy against
Rome,
and saved the commonwealth; and what you did then against
Cataline,
you do still against
Anthony.
These actions of yours have raised your reputation high, and spread it far; but it will be all tarnished or lost, if you do not continue to shew an equal firmness upon as great an occasion; let this render all the parts of your life equal, and secure immortality to that glory of yours, which ought to be immortal.
From those, who, like you, have performed great actions, as great or greater are expected; by shewing that they can serve the public, they make themselves its debtors; and it is apt to exact strict payment, and to use them severely, if they do not pay. But from those who have performed no such actions, we expect none. This is the difference betwixt the lot of unknown talents, and of those which have been tried; and the condition of the latter is no doubt the harder. Hence it is, that though in making head against
Anthony,
you have merited and received great and just praises, yet you have gained no new admiration: By so doing you only continued, like a worthy consular, the known character of a great and able consul. But if now at last you begin to truckle to one as bad as he; if you abate ever so little in that vigour of mind, and that steady courage, by which you expelled him from the senate, and drove him out of
Rome;
you will never reap another harvest of glory, whatever you may deserve; and even your past laurels will wither, and your past renown be forgot.
There is nothing great or noble in events, which are the fruit of passion or chance. True fame refults only from the steady perseverance of reason in the paths and pursuits of virtue. The care, therefore, of the commonwealth, and the defence of her liberties, belong to you above all men, because you have done more than all men for liberty, and the commonwealth. Your great abilities, your known zeal, your famous actions, with the united call and expectation of all men, are your motives in this great affair; would you have greater?
You are not therefore to supplicate
Octavius
for our safety; do a braver thing, owe it to your own magnanimity. Rouse the
Roman
genius within you; and consider that this great and free city, which you more than once saved, will always be great and fice, provided her people do not want worthy chiefs to resist usurpation, and exterminate traitors.
A SONG.
Tune—"RULE BRITANNIA."
When BRITAIN first impelled by pride,
Usurp'd dominion o'er the main,
Blest peace, she vainly threw aside,
And gave her sons the galling chain.
View Britannia, Britannia view the waves,
On which thy darling sons are slaves.
The nations now more blest than thee,
Shall see their haughty despots fall,
What time thy hapless fate shall be,
The scorn and pity of them all.
View, &c.
Thy haughty—ne'er shall bend,
The glorious cause of FREEDOM down,
His rage shall fan her sacred flame,
And work thy woes and her renown▪
View, &c.
Thee best becomes the contrite strain,
For cities drench'd with human gore,
For crimes which tinge the orient main,
And banish peace from AFRIC'S shore,
View, &c.
The muses still with freedom found,
Shall from thy venal court repair,
To sing on GALLIA'S fre'er ground,
Or breathe Columbia's purer air.
View, &c.
R. H.
New-York,
Dec. 3. 1793.
Nor let
half Patriots
(those,
Who
from every blast of power which blows,
Who with tame cowardice familiar grown,
Would hear my thoughts, but fear to speak their own,
Who, lest bold truths, to do sage prudence spite,
Should burst the portals of their lips by night,
Tremble to trust themselves one hour asleep.)
Condemn our course, and hold our caution cheap.
When brave occasion bids, for some
great end,
When honour calls the poet as a friend,
Then shall they find, that even on danger's brink,
He dares to speak, what they scarce dare to think.
CHURCHILL.
THE MARINE REPUBLIC.
A Certain man having many sons all bred to a seafaring life, was desirous that they should live together in a just, brotherly, and social manner; and that though he wished to encourage individual industry, and improvement in abilities, by providing that every one should reap the fruits of the same, yet was he determined to form their plan of union in such a manner that none, not even their children, should be so depressed as to be excluded from the common benefits of their birth-right and of an equal token of the impartial regard of their common parent. Wherefore one day having called his sons together, he addressed them to this effect.
My dear boys, my behaviour and conduct towards you, has always been such as to convince you, I was strictly, just, and impartial. You were all equally my delight and care in your infancy, you have been equally provided with the means of education, and with every comfort and convenience. I have shewn no partiality to any, as being older or younger, I have been in all respects your common parent, and I wish you and your children to live together as my common children for ever, for I extend my parental regard to your offspring through every generation—Behold, then, this gallant ship, equipt and provided with every thing necessary for sea, her rigging and tackle all of the best materials, and admirably adapted to the ocean you have to occupy; amply provided with stores and provisions for a long voyage, and waiting only for intelligent and skilful agents to conduct her whithersoever they will. You my dear boys, are such agents, sufficiently qualified for the adventurous task.
Accept, then my sons of this my precious gift, but remember, I do not give it to one, or two, or a select few, but to you all, and as many of your posterity as shall sail therein, as a
COMMON PROPERTY
You shall be all
EQUAL OWNERS,
and shall share the profits of every voyage equally among you.
You shall chuse from among yourselves, one fit to be captain, another to be mate, another carpenter, &c.—These officers shall continue in office while you please, and and when you please you shall change them for others, that your affairs may be conducted in the best manner possible. At the end of the voyage, or at other stated times agreed upon, you shall settle your accounts; and after paying the captain, the mate, and every other officer and man his wages, according to station and agreement, and all bills for upholding wear and tear, provisions, &c. then the remainder, which is the neat profit of the voyage, and which would been mine had I retained the property of the ship in my own hands, is now
your
common property, and must be shared equally among you all, without respect to any office any any one may have held. For as I make you all equal owners, so shall you be equal sharers in the profits of each voyage. You are all equal to me, and you shall be all equal in this respect to each other. Let not the captain, who receives the wages of a captain, or any other officer, who receives the wages of his station, murmer that his brethren before the mast, and who receive only the wages of common men, should receive share and share alike with himself of the profits. No my dear children, let no such unjust and unbrotherly grudging ever he found among you.
Again my sons, as I have been just and impartial to you, be ye the same to
your
children. And when they shall multiply so that you cannot all sail together in the same vessel, provide another ship out of your common profits, for such of yourselves and your sons as shall chuse to sail together, which shall be their common property in the same manner as this ship is yours. This do, and live like men and brethren through all generations. And as a swarm of bees, when grown too numerous for one hive, send off colonies to people new ones, so when the
e
s of your ships become too numerous, let new ships be built, and manned on the same equitable plan that I have done, and my blessing go with you.
These injunctions were received by the young men with inexpressible joy. And having wrote them, they were called the constitution of their MARINE REPUBLIC, and swore to maintain them inviolate to the end of time. They then chose a captain, and other officers, and proceeded on a trading voyage, and being prosperous they shared very considerable dividends both at the end of this, and many future voyages.
In process of time, however, it so happened that these marine republicans were dissatisfied with the government of the country, in which they resided. Wherefore taking all their families and all their effects on board, they set sail for America, where they expected to see government administered more agreeably to their notions of equality and equity. But a violent storm arising, they were driven far out of their course, and at last arrived at an uninhabited island of a luxurious soil, and an agreeable climate. Here they gladly landed after much danger, and their ship being so damaged as to be no more fit for sea, they determined to settle on the island. The ship was now broke up, and houses built with the materials, and preparations were made to cultivate the soil, as they must now think of living by gardening and agriculture. But they foresaw that if they did not apply the Marine Constitution, given them by their father, to their landed property, they would soon experience inexpressible inconveniences. They therefore declared the property of the island to be the property of them all collectively in the same manner as the ship had been, and that they ought to share the profits thereof in the same way. The island they named Spensonia, after the name of the ship which their father had given them. They next chose officers to mark out such portions of land, as every person or family desired to occupy, for which they were to receive for the use of the public, a certain rent according to its value. This rent was applied to public uses, or divided among themselves as they thought proper, But in order to keep up the remembrance of their rights, they decreed that they should never fail to share at rent-time, an equal dividend though ever so small, and though public demands should be ever so urgent.
They now spread considerably over the country, and houses and workshops were built at the public expence. The space inhabited became too extensive for one district, wherefore they divided it into many, and called them parishes. As they had determined, when seamen, that every succeeding ship they should build, and man, should, according to their father's maxim, be the property of the crew, so, in conformity therewith, they decreed, that every district or parish which they should people, should be the property of the inhabitants, and the rents and police of the same at their disposal. Thus they live in union and equality on land, as their father intended they should do on sea, and frame and people new parishes at the public expence, as he designed they should build new ships. A national assembly or congress consisting of delegates from all the parishes, takes care of their national concerns, and defrays the expences of state, and matters of common utility, by a pound rate from each parish, without any other tax.
A LESSON FOR LEGISLATORS AND PEOPLE.
From the Querist, by the Bishop of Cloyne.
WHETHER frugal fashions in the upper rank, and comfortable living in the lower, be not the means to multiply the inhabitants?
Provided the wheels move, whether it is not the same thing, as to the effect of the machine, be this done by the force of wind, or water, or animals?
Whether a single hint be sufficient to overcome a prejudice? and, whether even obvious truths will not sometimes bear repeating?
Whether a country inhabited by a people well fed, clothed, and lodged, would not become every day more populous? and, whether a numerous stock of people, in such circumstances, would not constitute a fluorishing nation; and how far the product of our own country may suffice for the compassing this end?
Whether a people, who had provided themselves with the necessaries of life in good plenty
would not soon extend their industry to new arts, and new branches of commerce?
Whether it be not a sure sign, or effect of a country's thriving, to see it well cultivated and full of inhabitants?
Whether large farms under few hands, or small ones under many, are likely to be made most of?
Whether a woman of fashion ought not to be declared a public enemy?
When the root vieldeth insufficient nourishment, whether men do not top the tree to make the lower branches thrive?
Whether the vanity and luxury of a few, ought to stand in competition with the interest of a nation?
Whether hungry cattle will not leap over bounds?
Whether every enemy to learning is not a Goth? and whether every such Goth among us be not an enemy to the country?
Whether, therefore, it would not be an omen of ill presage, a dreadful phenomenon in the land, if our great men should take it into their heads to deride learning and education?
Whether we may
with better grace sit down and complain, when we have done all in our power to help ourselves?
Whether it be not delightful to complain? and whether there be not many who had rather utter their complaints than re
ress their evils?
Whether as seed equally scattered produceth a good harvest, even so an equal distribution of wealth does not cause a nation to flourish?
Whether it would be a great hardship, if every parish were obliged to find work for the poor?
Whether there can be a worse sign than that people should quit their country for a livelihood? though men often leave their country for health or pleasure, or riches, yet to leave it merely for a livelihood; Whether this be not exceeding bad, and sheweth some peculiar mismanagement?
MANKIND WILL BE MORE KNOWING THAN THEIR GOVERNORS WISH THEM.
From a Fast
Day Sermon, by the Rev. J. Murray, of Newcastle, Author of
Sermons to Asses.
Printed in 1781.
Woe to thee O Land! when thy King is a Child, and thy Princes eat in the Morning!
Ecc. e. x. ver. 16.
WHEN rulers are intoxicated with ideas of power, and have their passions inflamed with dissipation, they are ready to imagine that the whole community are as foolish a themselves; and for that reason endeavour to persuade the people that it is faction to oppose their measures, and treason to maintain their own rights.
Because they will not minister to the gratification of the lusts and appetites of those who want to enslave them, they are called factious and rebellious It is impossible that reason can demand, that government which was instituted for the good of society should be made the greatest evil and the heaviest curse. It could never be the intent of the appointment of government, that rulers should have a right to dispose of more than belonged to the right administration thereof. With regard to ostentations splendor, it adds nothing to the dignity of government as a moral institution; for there is more true dignity in a magistrate executing just laws in the home-spun manufacture of his own country, than in one supporting unrighteous decrees, and arbitrary authority, dressed in ermine, o
trimmed in gold
Mankind are not in general so ignorant, as to suppose that pageantry and superstuity, add dignity to government, and they can perceive either the fool or the villain through all the garnishing and trappings of office. Neither the star nor the garter are so able to dazzle their eyes, as to hinder them from perceiving the black spots that are underneath them, or, of discerning the wolf in sheep's cloathing. Rulers fondly imagine that the people are not qualified to discern the injustice of refusing their reasonable requests, and for that reason sport themselves with their petitions and remonstrances: but in this they display more their own want of judgment than the people do want of sense and understanding.
It is somewhat strange that princes have not learned from experience and observation, that all unnecessary expence and splendour in government, are only prognostications of the downfall of states and forerunners of their ruin. The History of the sour great Monarchies, may serve to instruct all future generations of the folly of pageantry, and the unnecessary expence in the government of nations. Luxury and dissipation has generally produced a define of dominion, and made princes neglect paying a just regard to the complaints and grievances of their subjects; for they have been for the most part, fondest of dominion when they were least fit to govern, and near to their downfall.
It is undoubtedly a woeful thing to a nation, to be obliged to supply the extravagances of men, who instead of ruling it with wisdom and justice, spend the substance thereof in all the vile arts of corruption and licentiousness. And what adds to this woe is, that they charge the people with being licentious, after they have taken all the pains in their power to make them so.
Yet bad as the people in general may be, they would shudder, at the thoughts of many acts of w
kedness that are committed by their superiors. The cha
ge of licentiousness comes with an ill grace from those who are living constantly in the
of both divine and human laws, and lave nothing to save them from punishment, ex
ept the partiality of government, and the indulg
ce of divine mercy.
With regard to the charge of faction and rebell
on which arbitrary rulers bring against the people, it may be returned upon themselves, where these crimes are oftener to be found than among the people. It must proceed from their not knowing what is the nature of rebellion, that they do not take the charge home to themselves:
The prophet Isaiah will help them to understand what is properly rebellion.
Thy princes are rebellious and the companions of thieves, every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards, they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come before them.
A NEW SONG, IN PRAISE OF Our Noble King and Happy Constitution.
Tune—"Malbrouk."
By W. D. Grant.
BRITANNIA now befriend me,
Good Britons all attend me,
Your kind assistance lend me,
Our happiness to sing;
Then quick associate,
That we may contemplate,
Our GLORIOUS REVOLUTION!
Our HAPPY CONSTITUTION!
Our BISHOPS thumping cushion!
And our MOST NOBLE KING!
Most gracious Proclamations,
With Richmond's operations,
And grand Associations,
Portend some happy thing.
With festive joy elate,
Then let's commemorate,
Our Glorious Revolution!
Our Happy Constitution!
Our Bishops thumping cushion!
And out Most Noble King!
Court bribery and pensions,
Which PAINE so rudely mentions,
Are all his own inventions,
We know there's no such thing.
How vain his silly prate!
He tried to make us hate
Our Glorious Revolution!
Our Happy Constitution!
Our Bishops thumping cushion!
And our Most noble King!
Our Commons free election
Must silence each objection;
That summit of perfection,
Defies pale Envy's sting.
Nor fee or place expect,
They love, obey, respect,
Our Glorious Revolution!
Our Happy Constitution!
Our Bishops thumping cushion!
And our Most Noble King!
Our laws—the admiration
Of all the wide creation;
And their just application,
A much more wond'rous thing!
So plain, distinct, and short,
Our lawyers can't distort!
O Glorious Revolution!
O Happy Constitution!
Damnation, Prosecution!
For traitors to our King!
How small is the donation,
For Bishops avocation!
They pray for all the nation,
And Heaven's blessings bring:
Ten Thousand Pounds a year,
Cannot be thought too dear!
O Glorious Revolution!
O Happy Constitution!
Long may they thump the cushion,
And cry "God save the King!"
Disburthen'd of Taxation,
O joyful declaration!
From PITT'S administration,
Do all our Bounties spring!
He's paid the nation's debt,
Which proves he don't forget
Our Glorious Revolution!
Our Happy Constitution!
Our Bishops thumping cushion!
And our Most Noble King!
And now to make conclusion,
To ev'ry Sect's delusion,
And all REFORM—confusion;
May its Promoters swing!
Then fill your glass with me,
And give, with three times three,
Our GLORIOUS REVOLUTION!
Our HAPPY CONSTITUTION!
Our BISHOPS thumping cushion!
And our MOST NOBLE KING!
DUKE OF RICHMOND's LETTER.
Extract of a letter from His Grace the DUKE of RICHMOND, to the Chairman of a Meeting of the County of Sussex, convened at Lewes, January 18, 1783, for the purpose of presenting a petition to the House of Commons, to take into consideration the unequal state of Representation in Parliament.
Whitehall,
January 17, 1783.
SIR,
YOU may casily believe, that being one of those who joined in requesting you to call a county meeting, nothing but illness can prevent me attending it, and it is with infinite regret I submit to the decision of my physicians, who pronounce, that it is not safe for me to leave London.
I trust that my sentiments on the subject of
Parliamentary Reform,
are, in general sufficiently known, and that, without further assurances, I might be
depended upon for giving it every support in my power;
but some circumst
nces make me wish to state them as briefly as possible to the county of Sussex. They are formed on the
experience of twenty-six years,
which, whether in or out of government, has equally convinced me, that the
Restoration of a genuine House of Commons,
by a
renovation
of the
Rights of the People,
is the
only essential remedy
against that
system of corruption
which has brought the nation to disgrace and poverty, and threatens it with the
loss of liberty.
I take the grievance of the present state of election to be its
gross inequality.
All the electors in Great Britain do not amount to
one-sixth
part of the whole people, and a still greater inequality subsists in elections made by that sixth part; for
one-seventh part of them
elect a majority, so that
one-forty-second
part of the nation, dispose of the
property of the whole,
and have their
lives and liberties at conv
ad.
And this forty-second part far from consisting of the most opulent part of the kingdom, is composed of the small boroughs, most of which are become either the private property of individuals, or are notoriously sold to the best bidder: so that counties and great cities are, in fact, as well as the great mass of the people swallowed up by this
system of corruption.
My ideas of reform undoubtedly go to one that shall be
complete and general throughout the kingdom.
I see such fatal consequences arise from the present partial and accidental state of election, that I cannot take upon me to propose any new mode that partakes of the same defects. If we do not differ from the
abettors of corruption
upon the broad principle of equality in election, and the
universal right of the people to be represented,
and are contending only for a degree of partiality, more or less I fear our ground is not found; if we mean only to substitute partiality for partiality, and are struggli
g but for its extent, one man's whim may be as good as another's conceit, and we have nothing certain to direct us: and if inequality is still to subsist, the advocates of the present system will have the sanction of time and the risk of changes, to oppose to us, which will have their weight, when it is but for a change of partiality that we contend.
I have thought that a
Parliamentary Reform
has much more simple and unerring guides to lead us to our end: I mean the
true principles of the Constitution,
and the
Rights of the People.
If these exist, I do not consider myself at liberty to speculate upon system. I have no choice, but to give to every man his own.
How far it is wise for those who entirely agree in principle upon the
Rights of Men,
to endeavour to persuade them that the
recovery of their birth-rights, and most essential interests,
"are not reducible to practice, nor attainable by any regular or constitutional efforts of theirs," is what I must leave others to determine. But the truth of this assertion is what I can never subscribe to. I cannot but think that this nation ever has it in its own power, by
ful and constitutional efforts to do i
s If justice;
and that nothing can rende, attemp
s for this purpose impracticable, but either a
general ind
lence
an
i
di
erence to all that requires exertion
though for the
est purposes,
or prejudice to favourite systems, as shall divide the people,
To guard again
such an imputation falling on me, I most readily agree to an address in the most general terms, not pointing to any specific mode of reform in the petition, or by instructions to our members, or by resolutions, but submitting the remedy, as in my opinion it ought to be
in the first instance, to Parliament itself; which I conceive to be as equal to such a consideration as any Provincial Committee.
Should Mr. WYVIL'S first or second plan be proposed in Parliament, or any thing like it, although I shall lament that we, s
r a moment, quit our advantageous ground of the
Constitution,
and the
Rights of Men,
yet I shall certainly give every support in my power to this or any other amendment, and it certainly will be a considerable improvement, that instead of a forty-second, it should be a thirty-sixth or thi
t
eth part that shall decide the concerns of the whole people. It will be something material they will have gained, and may become a step to the more easy attainment of their privileges.
I must sincerely hope that that plan may be found attainable, but I never can consent to tell the people, and I hope to God they never will believe, that the recovery of any right, which Nature and the Constitution have given them, is impracticable. On the contrary convinced myself, I wish them ever to believe, that whenever they please to claim, they
will
and
m
st
have the
full extent of their rights.
I have thought: e
ess
y to say thus much on
impression. I cannot think indifferent the public should entertain.
The measure, for which you are assembled, meets with my hearty concurrence, and I shall be happy if these my sentiments, which I beg you would communicate to the meeting of the county of Sussex
should meet with their approbation.
It is with the highest esteem and regard, that I have the honour to be SIR,
Your most obedient, and humble servant, RICHMOND, &c.
To
W
m. Franckland,
Esq. "High Sheriff of the county of Sussex."
The time is now come for men to be provided with principles of practical utility.
[From a Pamphlet, entitled Sins of the Nation.]
THE course of events in this country has now for a number of generations for a long reach as it were of the stream of time run smooth, and our political duties have been proportionably easy; but it may not always be so. A sudden bend may change the direction of the current, and open scenes less calm. It becomes every man, therefore to examine his principles, whether they are of that firmness and texture, as suits the occasion, he may have for them. If we want a light gondola to float upon a summer lake, we look at the form and gilding; but if a vessel to steer through storms, we examine the strength of the timbers, and the soundness of the bottom. We want principles not to figure in a Book of Ethies, or to delight us with "grand and swelling sentiments:" but principles by which we may act▪ and by which we may suffer. Principles of ben volence, to dispose us to real sacrifices; political principles, of practical utility: principles of religion, to comfort and support us under all the trying vicissitudes we see around us, and which we have no security, that we shall be long exempt from. How many are there now suffering under such overwhelming distresses, as a short time ago, we should have thought it was hardly within the verge of possibility that they should experience! Above all let us keep our hearts pure, and our hand clean. Whatever part we take in public affairs, much will undoubtedly happen which we could by no means foresee, and much which we shall not be able to justify; the only way therefore by which we can avoid deep remorse, is to act with simplicity and singleness of intention, and not to suffer ourselves to be warped, though by ever so little, from the path which honour and conscience approve.
OF THE HERIDITARY NOBILITY.
By the Author of a Plea for a Commonwealth
THE third and last sort of men that seem by their interest prompted to an enmity to, and opposition of an equal Commonwealth, is the heriditary Nobility, whose apprehensions being swelled and elated with the greatness of their titles, and cherishing a fond opinion of the gallantry of their blood, think it below them to stand on an equal level with the rest of their breth
en: I confess were there on the face of the earth (according to the fictions of the poets) a race of heroes that were of the kindred of
Jupiter,
and could deduce their pedigrees from the Gods, whose natures had escaped the general po
tion, or been less tainted with human infirmities than other mortals, whose bodies had been framed by
Titan,
of better clay, and a more refined mould than the rest of the rude moss of mankind▪ and whose parts and intellects (as its said of
a
) were higher by the head and shoulders than the rest of the people, whereby it might be envidenced nature had designed them unto rule and empire; there were then some plea, some ground, for that distinction the tyranny of custom hath introduced among the children of men.
But if these pyramids of greatness were at first erected by the hands of monarchy, only for the better support and on ament of the thrones of princes, and are, (if well understood) no other than golden trophies made of the spoils and ruins of the people's liberties, that not only in fair characters preserve the memories of their oppressors, but also upb
d them with their former (if not present, se
vi
de and slavery: I cannot but think it might
con
uce to the security of the peace and
ty of the nation▪ to have them removed out of the people's eves, that they may neither longer continue the objects of their envy who hate them, or by d
z
ling with their gawdy splendor, the weak eves of food a
rers▪ revive and awaken the memories and desires of what they sometime were the appurtenances and appendix: or if they are
s by some pretended, the very pillars and buttresses of
, the ba
warks and citadels of pri
and ty
ny▪ and
t notwithstanding the s
rd of r
al po
er be taken down
This F
k
in the time of the Commonwealth.
, the pence and
o
rty of the
tion seems not sufficiently
or to
e
ine
a full and perfect conq
oppres
n, while any of the for
es
which it hath formerly been ingarrison
o
not
is
antled; it were better that these should
b
te something of their height and grandeur, that seems to over-top and threaten ruin to the public liberty, than that the nation should be put in danger of relapsing into slavery, or to have their controversy so lately decided by the umpire of heaven again disputed in fields of blood.
Or if these swelling tumours and unhandsome wens of greatness do ill become the face of a commonwealth, and spoil the symmetry and beauty of its proportions; were it not better they should be pared off, than our state rendered of a monstrous and prodigious shape? If after all our expence of blood and treasure for purchase of our liberty, our title and pretensions to a free state may justly be called in question, so long as we remain pupils and under wardship to our hereditary lords and antient guardians, is it not time we were emancipated? or if that may not in truth be admitted for an equal commonwealth, in which there is any other path known to the temple of honour, than what passes through that of virtue? Is it not prudence to hedge up all those bye-ways of birth and fortunes? Were it not better the system of our polity and government should be plainly penned without the flourishes and ornaments of such capitals, which being admitted, may either seem superfluous, or through misconstruction endanger marring the sense, or rendering the nature of our constitution dubious and ambiguous, than by a contrary practice minister occasion of entangling men's judgments with such scruples, knots and difficulties, that the best state critics being unable to untie, nothing but the sharpest sword can out ins
nder; I would not willingly be understood to plead against all distinction of ranks and degrees amongst men, in which consists the harmony, grace and beauty of the world, and which cannot be proscribed or abolished, without confounding the oeconomy and order of all societies, without unlinking the chain of nature, without cancelling and reversing the law of the universe, and unrolling the world into its first chaos of confusion; nor should I speak a syllable against honours being hereditary, could the valour, religion, and prudence of ancestors be as easily entailed on a line or family, as their honours and riches, could but their gallantry be made hereditary as well as their fortunes? Could they transmit their virtues as well as names unto their posterity, I should willingly become the advocate of such a nobility, and suffer my ears to be bored to the posts of their doors; and rather acknowledge them our perpetual masters and dictators, than hazard the choice of worse, upon the doubtful election of the people, with whom the best men are not always in greatest reputation.
But since no choice can be more perilous and unsafe, than the casual lot of nature, I had rather stand to any election, than mere chance; by reason we have oftener known fools the sons of wise men by nature, than of the peoples choice or adoption. Honour is the crown and reward of virtue; is it not then unseemly they should wear the badge and livery, that were never admitted within the utmost court of her temple, that are the very slaves and vassals of vice and wickedness? I cannot but pay a greater tribute of respect and honour in my thoughts, to the worth of such as have raised themselves to a high degree and pitch of eminence, by the wings of their own merits, than to such as are only borne up by those the credit and reputation of their ancestors hath bequeathed unto them; wherefore that honour may be a spur to valour, and the reward of virtue, let it not be prostrated to every rich and sordid miser, who by abandoning all virtue, hospitality and humanity, hath with much oppression and grinding the face of the poor, scraped much wealth together; but rather on such as by their valour and prudence, have brought most credit and reputation to the commonwealth: wherefore if the parliament please out of such to create knights, or make the chiefest ministers of state lords by office, or during life, I should account it no solecism in a commonwealth, but an ornament thereto.
Now the reason I look upon the divine, the lawyer, and hereditary nobility, as such irreconcileable antagonists to a free state, is not grounded singly on the real prejudice they either have, or are like to receive therefrom; but rather, on what their fears and jealousies are apt to suggest upon their apprehensions, being conscious that their private interests stand in opposition to that of the public; which could they be content to let go, and wave the advantages an injurious prescription hath given them over their brethren, their concerns would be equally interwoven and wound up with others in that of a commonwealth; and might find it alike propitious to themselves with any other of like parts and ingenuity: but such is the evil nature of man, that to have done an injury, is a sufficient ground for future enmity, and rather to prosecute, than any way compensate those that are indebted for a former discourtesy: therefore the best and the soonest way to be reconciled to such, is quickly to requite their injury; for measuring others thirst of revenge, by the standard of their own malice, they can never believe any one is friends with them, so long as he is in arrears to them for an ill turn: so that their fear of revenge breeds distance, and that encreases alienation and disaffection, which brings forth farther hostility, with encrease of injuries. In analogy to which doctrine, the best way to give the antagonists of the commonwealth ease, and its self security, is, by causing their fears to fall upon them, and thereby deliver them from further pain, and the public from its jealousies and future danger; for it can never be expected, they should espouse the interest of the public, before they have buried that of their private; that they should embark themselves in the same bottom with that of the commonwealth, so long as they have so many of their own to look after; till these are shipwrecked, they will not be much concerned in the safety and prosperity of the commonwealth.
We shall never be so well united in our affections and designs for public good, as when we are become all of one piece, and to have but one common interest: for it is nothing but the diversity of interests that breaks us in pieces, and crumbles us into so many different factions and designs; which as it was good policy in our monarchs, so but bad prudence in a commonwealth: the interest of a prince being to break the strength of his people, that one faction being balanced by another, he may with more ease and facility render himself master of all; according to the advice of the old maxim,
Divide and Rule.
But the strength and glory of a commonwealth is its union. And indeed it had otherwise been impossible, that ever princes should have been able to have tied up the hands of nations, and bound the strength of
Sampson
in cords, and bands of withies, had not their policy like that of the
Philistines
first shorn their locks, and deprived them of their strength, had they not first according to the fable of the faggot, loosed their bond of union, by starting many interests, and kindling divers animosities among them, they had never fastened the cords of slavery and bondage on them. The
Philistines
had never sported themselves with
Sampson,
or
Ulisses
with
Polyphemas,
had they not first put out their eyes. Nor had
Princes
ever put a hook into the nostrils of the Leviathan, or played with the mighty Whale, had they not made use of a like stratagem.
Men complain much, and seem to have a great sense of the many factions and divisions in religion, as they are pleased to term them; but how inconsiderable are these to the grand national or civil factions. I confess those of religion may sometime be made use of to palliate, but there are other factions, that are the bitter root of all our breaches and divisions: were there not one interest of the nobility, another of the commonalty; one of the clergy, another of the laity; one of the lawyer, another of the countryman; one of the soldier, another of the citizen; one of the elder, another of the younger brethren, we might soon see an end of the other.
These are the interests that clash so much one against another, and make such tumults in the world; and were these once cancelled and forgotten, the other of Presbyterian and independent, Quaker and Anabaptist, &c. would soon vanish, or at least, make little noise or disturbance in the world. How happy might all men be, did it please God they might recover the sight of their common interest, and their strength which consists in union. How easily might all the nations of the earth shake off the iron yokes the tyranny of princes hath put upon them by this means? and with how great facility might this be done! with how little prejudice and det
ent to any man's particular, might all be made happy, if laying aside all animosities and jealousies, men would but lend an ear to reason, rather than passion. But to proceed, since it hath pleased God once more to put a price into our hands, and cause another opportunity of recovering our native rights and liberties to dawn upon us, I desire we may not be as fools, not knowing how to use it; but that all ways that are safe and honourable may be taken for the securing and improvement of it; and therefore that the builders of our state may be furnished with a spirit of wisdom from above, that they may become
the repairers of our breaches,
and,
the restorers of paths to dwell in;
that they may not deceive themselves, or the nation, by thinking to patch up a sorry half-potched commonwealth, upon the old, crazy, and rotten foundations of monarchy as heretofore; having had experience, that it will not, it cannot stand. They that are best read in politics, and have been most conversant in the histories of antiquity, know, that as a commonwealth is the best and most absolate form of government: so it is a nice and tick
sh thing, and hath been difficult to fix in nations under less disadvantage than we, who have been so long used to a contrary way of government; which I speak not to discourage, but rather awaken the endeavours and resolutions of our senators; to watch and secure our liberties. The ancient commonwealths have been necessitated to make use sometimes of violent physic, to purge and evacuate the rank humours of the body politic, and such as I would not have prescribed a christian state, supposing there may be found out such as are more
e and gentle. It was the unhappiness of the Grecian and Roman republic, to be often guilty of the gre
test ingratitude towards them that best deserved of them; and not unoften to stain their hands with their bloods, whose former merits seemed to challenge a crown, rather than a cross from them. How often hath
Greece,
for the security of her liberty, sacrificed that life, by which she hath formerly been preserved from ruin and destruction? Who hath not heard of the unhappy tragedy of that valiant captain, that more than once preserved the capitol, and snatched
Rome,
as a prey, out of the very tecth of the
Gauls,
its barbarous, and at last fatal enemies? And how often hath
Greece
rewarded her captains victories with banishment, instead of triumphs? and that upon the single account of some small suggestion of jealousy, or weak argument of too great magnificence or popularity; so jealous were those republics of their liberty, that the general of an army durst not make use of a little plate in his house, lest it should cause envy, or render him suspected of too much grandeur and ambition, and that he endeavoured to supplant the commonwealth, and render himself their lord and master. Others have been constrained to level their palaces with the ground, lest the sumptuousness and magnificence of their structure, should become the object of the people's envy and hatred. When these things come into my mind, I cannot but wonder any should think it so easy and facile a thing to erect a commonwealth, as that it may be done with a wet finger, and requires no more then inserting,
the keepers of the liberties,
instead of the name
king,
and that then the work is finished, without any farther trouble or alteration, as may seem to be of opinion. I confess, had we not at so dear a rate bought experience to inform us of the contrary, this mistake might have past for venial, but that makes it an unpardonable error.
A NEW SONG.
Tune,
"God save the King."
GOD save—"THE RIGHTS OF MAN!"
Give him a heart to scan
Blessings so dear!
Let them be spread around,
Wherever Man is found,
And with the welcome sound,
Ravish his ear!
See from the Universe,
Darkness and Clouds disperse;
Mankind awake!
Reason and Truth appear,
Freedom advances near,
Monarchs with terror hear,
See how they quake!
Sore have we felt the stroke;
Long have bore the yoke,
Sluggish and tame;
But now the Lion roars,
And a loud note he pours;
Spreading to distant shores,
LIBERTY'S flame!
Let us with FRANCE agree,
And bid THE WORLD BE FREE—
Leading the way.
Let Tyrants all conspire,
Fearless of sword and fire,
FREEDOM shall ne'er retire,
FREEDOM shall sway!
Godlike, and great the strife,
Life will indeed be life,
Should we prevail,
Death, in so just a cause,
Crowns us with loud applause,
And from Tyrannic laws,
Bids us—ALL HAIL!
O'er the Germanic powers,
Big indignation lowers,
Ready to fall!
Let the rude savage host,
In their long numbers boast,
FREEDOM'S almighty trust,
Laughs at them all.
FAME!
Let thy Trumpet sound!
Tell all the World around!
Tell each degree!
Tell Ribbands, Crowns, and Stars,
Kings, Traitors, Troops, and Wars,
Plans, Councils, Plots, and Jars,
FRENCHMEN are FREE!
A few Queries to the Methodists in general;
ESPECIALLY TO THE TEACHERS AMONGST THAT PEOPLE:
As well as to every other consciencious Member of the Church of England.
By THOMAS BENTLY.
QUERY I.
WERE not the Kings of Judea, under the Mosaic dispensation, intitled to as much respect and reverence, as any line of Kings that ever reigned in this or any other country, that we have an account of? and yet did not all the preachers or prophets, from Samuel even to Jeremiah, use the most plain, severe, condemning, and reprobating language to such of them as acted contrary to truth and righteousness, according to the degree of their deviation from the law of God?
QUERY II.
Were not the Priests in Christ's time allowed by the Romans to exercise authority in things belonging to the Temple and the worship of God, as descendants of the ancient Levitical priesthood, so that they were in fact the chief
Jewish
Magistrates then remaining, and yet did not Christ himself use as severe and threatening language to them, as Isarah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, &c. had done to the former Kings and Priests? and surely it is no more a sin at this time to call a King a Robber, or a Fox, or a devouring Lion, than it was in the days of Jeremiah, or Jesus Christ, or the apostle Paul.
QUERY III.
Does not the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament teach us that there is but one way of salvation for all men; that is, the way of truth, righteousness, holiness, self-denial:—in other words, regeneration—the loving God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves—or, doing in all things as we would be done unto? and do they not further assure us that God, is no respector of persons, but will as surely destroy a wicked
King
as a wicked
Beggar?
QUERY IV.
Are not pride, covetuousness, oppression, and pleasure, sins which separate from God, as well as lying, stealing, drunkenness, or whoredom? and will you say, that people who don't like the poor to come near them, either in the church, the house or the street; but chuse to wear jewels and laces and embroidered cloaths, or to use grand and costly furniture and equipages, &c.
are not proud?
— or will you say, that, "laying up gold and silver like dust," or buying one House and Farm after another, while thousands of poor are perishing for want of education, instruction, and the necessaries of life,
is not oppression and covetousness?
—or may a person frequent plays, operas, balls, masquerades, card-tables, horse-races, hunting-matches, and such like vanities, without deserving the character of a
liver in pleasure?
—In Solomon's time the prisons were not crowded with debtors and criminals, and the streets with beggars, and persons destitute of employment, as is now the case in this kingdom.
QUERY V.
If the present Royal Family of England are either proud, or covetous, or oppressors, or followers of pleasure, are not all who pray for them under the character of religious, or gracious, guilty of their blood, as well as mockers of God? and if a person flatter a wicked Governor is he not also an enemy to his country, by encouraging that Ruler to go on in his wickedness, oppression, and bad example? Jer. 23, 14, &c.
QUERY VI.
Will not a Man's telling a wilful lie to gain 10£ as surely condemn him as if he told one to gain 100£? and is it not surely a lie which a church of England Minister tells, when he declares all the children which he baptizes to be then born again, or regenerated by the holy Spirit of God, as when a minister of the church of Rome declares that a piece of bread is changed into the very body of Jesus Christ? and is it not as shameful a deception in a protestant parson to bury a wicked man in sure and certain hope of eternal life, as it is in a popish priest to grant him indulgence or absolution while he is yet living? or has a British reprobate any more right to the communion table, than a
Romish
one?
QUERY VII.
Does not both reason and revelation teach us that in order to lay the axe to the
root
of the tree of wickedness we must begin with kings and princes and bishops and priests? so long as an Eli is priest, or an Ahaz, king, wickedness and destruction covers the land; but let a Samuel take the place of Eli, or Hezekiah of Ahaz, and then righteousness and peace runs down like a river;—why is it then, that you seem blind to the sins of the great?
does not the gospel afford them a possibility of eternal life?
or can
even they
be saved in any other path than that of JUSTICE, MERCY, and HUMILITY?
QUERY VIII.
Does not reason and revelation teach us, that though a degree of affliction or chastisement is sometimes good for us, yet an
excessive
weight of it is apt to drive us to despair, and desperate courses? "My feet, says David, had nearly slipt." We know also how hardly Job was put to it to stand. Augur says, "give me not poverty (want of necessaries) lest I steal." Also Solomon, "oppression maketh (even) a wise man mad." And another, "the rod of the wicked shall not
rest
upon the lot of the righteous, lest (even) the righteous put forth his hand unto iniquity." With other passages of the same import.—Nor I wou'd ask if pride and pleasure and covetuousness does not naturally occasion an advance of rents and taxes, and consequently of all the necessaries of life? and does not that advance first and most heavily fall upon the poor? and are not many poor children thereby deprived of education, and many young men and women prevented from marrying, and many fathers and mothers hindered from attending upon religious meetings and conversations, and driven for bread into bye paths and crooked ways, which they are ashamed of, and would not willingly have trod in? and does not grandeur and luxury and oppression and pleasure rise higher and higher in one part of the community, whilst robbery and whoredom and drunkenness and insolvency increase in the same proportion in the other? and yet you continue to say "our gracious King!"
THE RIGHTS OF SWINE. AN ADDRESS TO THE POOR.
Be careful to withold
Your talons from the wretched and the bold:
Tempt not the
brave
and
needy
to despair,
For though your violence should leave them bare
Of gold and silver,
swords
and
darts
remain,
And will revenge the wrongs which they sustain;
The plundered
still
have arms.
STEP. JUV.
HARD indeed must be the heart which is unaffected with the present distress experienced by the Poor in general in this commercial nation. Thousands of honest and industrious people in Great Britain, are literally starving for want of bread; and the cause invariably assigned is a stagnant commerce. My opinion on this subject will perhaps appear to some a strange phenomena—it is, that a stagnant commerce is not the real cause of the want of the necessaries of life among the laborious poor. And I am confident, that while the "Earth yields her increase," there is a method founded on JUSTICE and REASON, to prevent the poor from wanting bread, be the state of trade whatever it may.
In the first place, then, I will ask, What are the principle sources of human subsistence? Certainly Corn and Grass Corn is moulded into many shapes for the use of man, but chiefly into bread, which is the staff of life; and from grass, we derive our flesh, milk, butter, cheese, &c. besides wool and leather, which, I think, with the addition of coal, and a few other minerals, nearly make up the real necessaries of life.
I ask again, then, who is so infatuated as to say, that the growing of corn or grass, is dependant on, or connected with the prosperity or adversity of trade? Certainly (thank Heaven!) they are not affected by the devouring sword, or ruined commerce (except at the seat of war).—Corn grows not in the loom, nor Grass upon the anvil! Why is it then, that while there is plenty of bread the poor are starving? Is there not as much grain and grass in the land as when the trade flourished? Suppose trade were to rise immediately to an amazing degree, would it make one grain of corn or blade of grass more? Certainly not. Why then, I ask again, are the poor, who are the peculiar care of HIM who delights to do his needy creatures good, not satisfied with the good of the land?
The following reasons are at least satisfactory to myself:—Because, in the time of national prosperity, house and land rent (consequently provisions are always raised by the wealthy and voluptuous, till they are, at least at par with high wages; but, when WAR, or any other cause has ruined, or impeded commerce, and reduced wages,
rents
and
provisions
remain unabated, The poor calico weavers in the vicinity of Manchester, notoriously illustrate this argument, as they are now (they who can get any) working for fifty and sixty per cent. less wages than at this time two years back, and the necessaries of life are rather agumented in their prices than diminished!!!
Hearken, O ye poor of the Land! While great men have an unbounded power to raise
their
rents and
your
provisions—and, at the same time, an uncontrouled power to make
War,
and consequently to dry up, or diminish, the scources of your income, your subsistance will, at the best, be precarious, and your very existence often miserable!—The present want of Bread and Butcher's Meat amongst the Poor, is not owing to the want of Grain of Grass in the world, nor, I presume, in this Land but owing to the price of it being excessively above the price of labour. When, therefore, the price of labour cannot be brought up to the rate of provisions, provisions should be reduced to the rate of labour. Till this is practicable, the poor are miserable!
During the last twenty years, mechanical wages have been varied according to circumstances, several times, and not unusually, in some branches, twenty, thirty, forty, and even fifty per cent.— I mean on the lowering, as well as the rising side of the medium. But, with regard to
land-rent,
its variations have always been progressive: and to find a single instance to the contrary, would be almost, if not altogether, impossible!
It requires but little sagacity to see, that the game laws, riot act, laws against vagrants and felons, &c. &c, are made chiefly for the security of the
rich
against the depredations of the
poor.
But what security have the
poor
against the oppression and extortion of the
rich?
Certainly none at all. As every comfort of life is derived from land, and as the rich are the proprietors thereof, it may in some sense be said, that they hold the issues of life and death; and, whilst they can, uninterruptedly, raise their rents without limitation or restraint, they have an alarming and unbounded power over, not only the happiness, but even the
lives
of the great mass of the people—the
poor.
If then, statesmen have a right to advance their lands in times of prosperity, the
poor
ought to have a parliament of their
own chusing,
invested with power to reduce them in days of adversity. This balance of power between the
rich
and the
poor,
would be productive of a thousand times more consolation to this nation, than the chimerical nonsense of court-jugglers,
"the balance of power in Europe."
Nor can I imagine that any judicious person would call such a power in parliament unjust or irrational, which when exercised, could rum none, but bless millions! if it would be cruel to make a statesman of twenty thousand pounds per annum, live a year or two upon ten thousand pounds; how much more remorseless is it, to make the Spitalfield and Norwich weavers, as well as some hundred thousands more, live upon nothing—or, what is little better upon
charity!!!
Besides, it is a curious truth, that the very superfluities which ruin hundreds of the voluptuous great, would render happy the innumerable unhappy part of mankind.
GREAT GOD! What spectacle so affecting to a reflecting mind as Great Britain in her present state!—On the one hand, we see the impudent nobles advertising their
"grand dinners,"
AN AMERICAN ANECDOTE.
An Indian, who lately came to one of the American settlements to barter away his furs, had beads and other small trinkets delivered to him, wrapt up in pieces of English newspapers. Curious to know what was going on in this country, he asked a trader WHO COULD READ, to explain the contents. The first paragraph was—"Yesterday his majesty, aceompanied by Lord C. and Lord W. and several other noblemen and gentlemen, took the diversion of hunting." The next, "The Windsor hunt was last week most numerously attended;"—this was followed by "The Dutchess of Gordon's SUPERB dinner, attended by all the cabinet ministers, except three, who had unfortunately SPLENDID dinners at their own houses, the same evening; but for these gentlemen, her grace has declared her intention of having a magnificient feast next week." The next paragraph was dated from Yorkshire, and gave a long account of Colonel Thornton's hounds having run a fox more than 50 miles. The reader was going on with the relation of several other dinners for LORDS and COMMONS, when the Indian interrupting him, cried out, "Stop, let me hear no more—I see that in what you call a civilized country, and boast so much about, the whole business of life is the same as with us—HUNTING and FEASTING."
in the very face of the hungry poor, whom they have ruined!! On the other hand, widows, orphans, and others, are weeping, and often dying for want of bread! What can be more odious in the sight of Heaven, than feast and famine in the same nation? Yet this is literally, the case in this kingdom at this moment, and not only in the nation, but in every town, in every street, yea, often under the same roof!
Open your eyes. O ye poor of the land! in vain are your hands and your mouths open!—Do you not see how you are cajoled and degraded, by the paltry subscriptions made for you at different times and in various parts of the nation; which serve only to make your slavery more servile, and base and your misery of longer duration? I revere generous subscribers and collectors, but I scorn the means! Ye poor, take a farther look into your rights, and you will see, that, upon the principles of reason and justice, every peaceable and useful person has a right, yea, a
"divine right"
to be satisfied with the good of the land! † Besides, is it not monstrously provoking to be robbed by wholesale, and relieved by retail! Look again, and you will see that public collections, subscriptions and charities, are nothing more than the appendages of corruption, extortion, and oppression! If the benevolent father of the universe did not send amongst mankind provisions enough, and more than enough and running over, such is the waste of the great and the gluttonous, that many of you poor, would get none at all! Say not, therefore, ye oppressed,
"there is a famine, or scarcety of provisions in this land!"
It would be false. The land contains plenty; and
f provisions were (as they ought to be) reduced to your wages, you would enjoy your unquestionable right; a comfortable sufficiency.
But, besides the destruction of your trade, and the means of subsistence, you have the mortification to see your bread eaten by dragoon and hunting horses, spaniels, &c. and your parental, affectionate, loving, provident and tender guardians, can give you a good reason why—it is their own!
Hearken! O ye poor of the land! Do you fret and whine at oppression—"yes,"—"Then, as ye do, so did your fathers before you"—and, if you
do no more,
your children may whine after you! Awake! Arise! arm yourselves—with truth, justice and reason—lay siege to corruption; and your unity and invincibility shall teach your oppressors terrible things?—Purge the representation of your country—claim, as your inalienable right, universal suffrage, and annual parliaments. And whenever you have the gratification to chuse a representative, let him be from among the lower order of men, and he will know how to sympathize with you, and represent yon in character.—Then, and not till then, shall you experience universal peace and incessant plenty.
A FRIEND TO THE POOR
THE RIGHTS OF MAN, FIRST PUBLISHED IN THD YEAR 1783.
By T. SPENCE.
Tune,
"Chevy-Chase."
ALL you who wonder at the times,
That they so hard do grow,
Come hither, listen unto me,
And you the cause shall know,
O Muses, your assistance lend,
While such things I rehearse,
As neither goose nor eagle's wing,
F'er wrote in prose or verse,
Man nothing less than lord was made,
For nothing less was meant:
That all things else he should subdue,
He to the world was sent.
But not content with this large sway,
Their brethren
Men
subdue;
And all the godlike race is made,
Subservient to a few.
O earth and heaven and all therein,
Your wonder high express,
That rational beings like
dumb brutes,
Ought earthly should depress!
Yet so it is that worse than they,
Nought nat'ral they can claim;
Nor hip, nor haw, nor nut, nor sloe,
Nor ought that you can name.
If grass or nettles they could eat,
The same would be deny'd;
For my lord's land and herbage reach,
Close to the highway side.
'A
Hare
or
partridge
they may dress,
They're nature's common gift;'
My Lords ground fed them, why should he
Of his RIGHTS be bereft?
'To fish then you will them allow;
The river's not my Lord's.'
Do not mistake,
the water's his,
And all that it affords.
To fish or hunt they have no right,
Since they no land c
n claim;
Whatever lives
e't great or small,
The land su
ports the same.
So they must work to other men,
Whether they will o
no;
Fo
dle up and down the world,
No
mile
men must go.
For why, in truth they cannot live,
On air or the highway;
Trespass they must then on the grass,
If suffer'd thus to stray.
And yet no laws are made that so,
The rich them work may give;
But when they've serv'd their turn on them,
They care not how they live.
So worse than horse or oxen thus
Is their unhappy lot;
For horse and oxen they maintain,
Whether they work or not.
Their wages too by law they stint,
As men their labour too,
Should have no right, as best they can,
To sell to that
vile crew.
But not so with their ill got lands,
Do they themselves confine,
As much as they can get's the rule
By which they let the same.
Like tygers lurking for their prey,
So on the watch they keep,
Lest tenants they by any means,
Their labours' fruit should reap.
If only sixpence more they think
The tenant he can pay,
As soon as e'er his lease is out
The same on him they lay.
Like hungry
hawks
the farmers then
Are forc'd with hearts full sore,
The poor at market hard to gripe,
To stop the landlord's roar.
If backward in their rents they run,
Indulgence they find small,
Their lord does like a rav'ning wolf,
On goods and cattle fall.
The landlords what they thus have reav'd,
In other lands do spend!
And while we've landlords things will worse,
But never once will mend.
O! there is a land,
SPENSONIA,
as I hear say,
Where landlords none there be!
O! Heavens! might I that happy land
Before I die but see.
The rents thoughout that happy state,
Each parish deals so fair,
That every housholder therein
Does get an EQUAL SHARE.
Though the inhabitants in every country have an undonbtod
ight to divide the WHOLE of the rents equally among themselves, and suffer the state and all public affairs to be supported by taxes as usual; yet from the numerous evils and restraints attending revenue laws, and the number of collectors, informers, &c. appendant on the same, it is supposed, they would rather prefer, That after the whole amount of the rents are collected in a parish from every person, according to the full value of the premises which they occupy, so much per pound, according to act of parliament, should be set apart for support of the state instead of all taxes; that another sum should next be deducted for support of the parish establishment, instead of tolls, tythes, rates, cesses, &c and that after these important matters were provided for, the remainder should be equally di
ided among all the settled inhabitants, whether poor or rich.
Of equal shares of land or goods,
They never once do dream;
But in each parish,
part the rents:
Which better far they deem.
As all the world belongs to all,
So does a land to those
That dwell therein, the likeness then,
Down to a parish goes,
So by this simple RULE OF RIGHT,
All things in order move,
In church and state 'mongst rich and poor,
All's harmony and love.
For as the poor their nat'ral rights,
And lordships thus enjoy,
The rich unenvy'd live in peace,
None wish them to annoy.
Then lord have mercy on all lands,
This happy change soon bring,
That, brethren-like, men may divide
Their rents, and gladly sing.
So if by sickness or mischance
To poverty some wane,
Their dividend of rents will come
To set them up again.
Ye
priests
and
lawyers,
who men's RIGHTS,
Gloss o'er deceitfully.
Our common claim to rents will stand
'Gainst all your sophistry.
FUNDAMENTAL POLITICAL APHORISMS OR MAXIMS.
[From Harrington's System of Politics.]
WHERE a people cannot live upon their own, the government is either monarchy, or aristocracy; where a people can live upon their own, the government may be democracy.
A man that could live upon his own, may, yet, to spare his own, and live upon another, be a servant: but a people that can live upon their own, cannot spare their own, and live upon another; but (except they be no servants, that is, except they come to a democracy) they must waste their own by maintaining their masters, or by having others to live upon them.
Where a people that can live upon their own, imagine that they can be governed by others, and not lived upon by such governors, it is not the genius of the people, it is the mistake of the people.
Where a people that can live upon their own, will not be governed by others, lest they be lived upon by others, it is not the mistake of the people, it is the genius of the people.
If a man has some estate, he may have some servants or a family, and consequently some government, or something to govern; if he has no estate, he can have no government.
Where the eldest of many brothers has all, or so much that the rest of their livelihood stand in need of him, that brother is as it were prince in that family.
Where of many brothers, the eldest has but an equal share, or not so inequal as to make the rest to stand in need of him for their livelihood, that family is as it were a commonwealth.
The parts of form in government are as the offices in a house; and the orders of a form of government are as the orders of a house or family.
Good orders make evil men good, and bad orders make good men evil.
The interest of arbitrary monarchy is the absoluteness of the monarch; the interest of regulated monarchy is the greatness of the nobility; the interest of democracy is the felicity of the people; for in democracy the government is for the use of the people, and in monarchy, the people are for the use of the government, that is, of one lord or more.
A sole legislator, proceeding according to art or knowledge, produces government in the whole piece at once and in perfection. But a council (proceeding not according to art, or what in a new case is necessary or fit for them, but according to that which they call the genius of the people still hankering after the things they have been used to, or their old customs, how plain soever it may be made in reason that they can no longer fit them) make patching work, and are ages about that which is very seldom or never brought by them to any perfection; but commonly comes by the way to ruin, leaving the noblest attempt under reproach, and the authors of them exposed to the greatest miseries while they live, if not their memories when they are dead and gone to the greatest infamy.
A parliament of physicians would never have found out the circulation of the blood, nor could a parliament of poets have written VLRGIL's
Aeneas;
of this kind therefore in the formation of government is the proceeding of a sole legislator. But if the people without a legislator set upon such a work by a certain instinct that is in them, they never go further than to chuse a council; not considering that the formation of government is as well a work of invention as of judgment; and that a council, though in matters laid before them they may excel in judgment, yet invention is as contrary to the nature of a council, as it is to musicians in consort, who can play and judge of any air that is laid before them, though to invent a part of music they can never well agree.
PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS MAY PLAN MODELS OF GOVERNMENT,
[From Harrington's Oceana.]
ONE that has written considerations upon OCEANA, speaks the prologue in this manner; I beseech you gentlemen, are not we the writers of politics, somewhat a ridiculous sort of people? Is it not a fine piece of folly for private men sitting in their cabinets to rack their braine about models of government? Certainly our labours make a very pleasant recreation for those great personages, who, sitting at the helm of affairs, have by their large experience not only acquired the art of ruling, but have attained also to the comprehension of the nature and foundation of government." In which egregious compliment the considerer has lost his considering cap.
It was in the time of
Alexander,
the greatest prince and commander of his age, that
Aristotle,
with scarce inferior applause and equal same, being a private man, wrote that excellent piece of prudence in his cabinet, which is called his
politics,
going upon far other principles than those of
Alexander's
government, which it has long outlived. The like did
Titus Livius
in the time of
Augustus, Sir Thomas More
in the time of
Henry the Eighth,
and
Machiavel
when Italy was under princes that afforded him not the ear. These works, nevertheless, are all of the most esteemed and applauded in this kind; nor have I found any
an, whose like endeavours have been persecuted hace
Plato
by
Dionysius.
I study not without great examples, nor out of my calling; either arms or this art being the proper trade of a gentleman. A man may be entrusted with a ship, and a good pilot too, yet not understand how to make seacharts. To say that a man may not write of government except he be a magistrate, is as absurd as to say, that a man may not make a sea-chart, unless he be a pilot. It is known that
Christopher Columbus
made a chart in his cabinet, that found out the
Indies.
The magistrate that was good at his steerage never took it ill of him that brought him a chan, seeing whether he would use it or no, was at his own choice; and if flatterers, being the worst sort of crows, did not pick out the eyes of the living, the ship of government at this day throughout christendom had not struck so often as she has done. To treat of affairs, says
Machiavel,
which as to the conduct of them appertain to others, may be thought a great boldness; but if I commit errors in writing, these may be known without danger; whereas if they commit errors in acting, such come not otherwise to be known, than in the ruin of the commonwealth.
THE CAUSES OF ENGLISH MISERY.
[From the Critic Philosopher.]
ENGLAND produces every article necessary for the support of mankind; and might, by proper cultivation extended, produce treble the quantity, The lower class of the people reap very little benefit from profusion, because every device is made use of to enhance the value of the commodities requisite for their subsistence. Methinks, one half of the inhabitants of this kingdom are dying of hunger and concomitant misery, while the other half, from wallowing in abundance, are dying of indigestion. The spirit of gaming has so diffused itself through every rank, that the nobleman risks his thousands on the out of a card, or the turn of a die; the tradesman ventures his hundreds on the rise and fall of stocks; whilst the mechanic and servant lose their guineas on the drawing of a lottery ticket. Hence the pensioned peer, the bankrupt tradesman, and the crowded prisons.
Our trading justices, our pettifoggers, and our affidavit men, are the locusts which consume our property and destroy our peace. We have been king-ridden, and priest-ridden, but what is much worse than either, we are at this enlightened age, as is termed, law-ridden, by a set of as honest fellows as ever graced civil society. They serve us with, nevertheless, notwithstanding, howbeit, said and aforesaid, those and that, demised, set and let, plaintiff and appellant, defendant and respondent, and such other jargon, by way of break fast; next come, by way of dinner, a writ of error, judgment by default, a non-process, a latitat, a habeas, a bail bond, a subpoena, a cognovit, and such other comfortable dishes; and to conclude the day, an elegant supper is prepared of verdicts, non-suits, bills of costs, the hallowed touch of a bum-bailiff, a
spunging-house, or prison; and such is the boasted liberty of England! the land of freedom!
But to be more serious, let me ask the first lawyer in this kingdom, whether he can truly say he perfectly understands our laws, nay, whether he has read them; for I am sure, it would require the space of a whole century, added to an extraordinary memory and sound understanding to read and properly comprehend one half of the law-books which our peers, commons, &c. have caused to be ushered into the world. If the laws are made for the good and observance of the subject, why are they not brought within the compass of common understanding; and given to him to guide his moral conduct? For, how can a man, injustice, be held amenable to laws, fabricated by men, with whom he has no intercourse, and from whom he consequently cannot receive any information? And why ought he to be punished for the violation of a law, with which he was never made previously acquainted? 'Tis true, there are certain plain rules laid down for man's conduct, in his walks through life; and these he may learn by reading his catechism; we will there find that the decalogue comprises the duty we owe to God and ourselves; and I will venture to affirm that a few comments,
if necessary,
on each command, would be quite sufficient for the regulation of the reciprocal duties we are bound to observe in our intercourse with each other. The study of law cannot be deemed a science; as it really should be no more than
equity founded on reason;
and when it deviates from that, it becomes
quibbling chicanery,
All the laws necessary for the regulation of society, may be comprized in a volume of less size than the Critic Philosopher; and this I intend clearly to prove at a future period. But I suppose, as we have too much
law,
and very little
gospel,
because the generality of us love that which is most like ourselves, both clergy and lawyers will unite in reprobating any writer who may
diminish
the emoluments of the
one,
or
invade
the province of the
other.
IN WHAT CASES WAR IS JUSTIFIABLE, &C.
[From the Persian Letters.]
THE magistrate ought to do justice between citizen and citizen: every nation ought to do the same between themselves and another nation. This second distribution of justice requires no maxim but what are used in the first.
Between nation and nation there is seldom any want of a third to be umpire; because the grounds of dispute are almost always clear and easy to be determined. The interests of two nations are generally so far separated, that it requires nothing but to be a true lover of justice to find it out.
It is not the same with regard to the differences that arise between private persons. As they live in society, their interests are so mingled and confounded, and there are so many different sorts of them, that it is necessary for a third person to untangle what the covetousness of the parties strives to tie knots in,
There are but two sorts of justifiable wars: that which we enter into for the repelling an enemy that attacks us; and that which we undertake in defence of an ally that is attacked.
There would be no equity in making war upon a prince's private quarrel; unless the case were of that heinous nature as to deserve the death of the prince or people that committed it. Thus a prince should not make war, for being denied some honour which was
r
ght, or for any disrespect to his ambassa
or th
like trif
es: no more than a private
ough
to kill one that refuses him the wal
the reason is, that as a declaration of was i
an act of justice wherein the punishment
always bear proportion to the fault we
hould con
ider, whether the person we declare war against, is worthy of death. For to make war upon any one is to seek to punish him with death.
The most severe act of justice in the law of nations is war; its end being the destruction of society,
Reprisals are of the second degree. To proportion the penalty to the crime, is a method which no tribunal could ever help observing.
A third act of justice is to deprive a prince of the advantages he reaps from our commerce, still measuring the punishment by the offence.
The fourth act of justice, which ought to be the most frequent, is a renunciation of the alliance of the people against whom we have cause of complaint. This penalty is answerable to that of banishment in common tribunals, which cuts off the criminal from society. So a prince whose alliance we renounce, is thereby cut off from our society, and is no longer one of our members.
There can be no greater affront done to a prince than to renounce his alliance, and no greater honour than to court it. There is nothing among men more glorious nor more useful, than to have others concerned as watchful for their preservation.
But in order to make an alliance binding it must be just: so that an alliance made between two nations to oppress a third, is not lawful, and may honourably and innocently be broke.
Neither does it become the dignity and reputation of a prince to enter into an alliance with a tyrant
. We read that a certain Egyptian monarch sent to reprehend the king of
Samos
for his cruelty and tyranny, calling upon him to amend: and upon his not doing it, he gave him to know that he renounced his friendship and alliance.
The right of conquest is no right at all. A society can never be founded upon any thing but the free consent of all the members: if it is destroyed by conquest, the people are thereby freed from their old engagements: it does not make a new society; and if the conqueror goes about to do it, he acts the tyrant.
As to treaties of peace, they are never lawful when they ordain a cession or reparation more considerable than the damage done: this is mere violence, and may at any time be lawfully set aside; unless in order to recover what we have lost, we are obliged to have recourse to such violent methods as will create mischiefs greater than the advantage sought after.
This my dear
Rhedi,
is what I call the law of nations, which may be called more properly the law of reason.
ON PERVERSION OF TERMS.
[From the Independent Whig.]
IT is a shameful insult upon our understandings that of sanctifying the most wicked purposes and most cruel actions with the most honest and innocent names; and yet nothing is more frequently practised. Thus the worthy name of RULER shall be prostituted and pronounced aloud, to palliate and even to justify the barbarities of a TYRANT; and that peaceable word
obedience
shall be forced to signify an unmanly and unnatural patience of
servitude:
LAWS, which were intended to protect and encourage good men, and to restrain and punish ill ones, are often perverted into deadly instruments in the hands of robbers and usurpers, against the virtuous and the harmless; and the means of preservation are turned into engines of destruction. The
Lord's anointed,
a phrase which at first signified only a man approved and chosen by God himself to be the ruler of his people, has been since wrested to mean an over-grown plunderer, who
chose himself
to be a destroyer of God's people.
EUROPEAN MONARCHIES DESCRIBED AS MONARCHIES OUGHT TO BE.
[From the Persian Letters.]
MOST of the governments in
Europe
are monarchic; or rather called so: for I know not whether there were ever any such in reality: at least it is impossible they should subsist long: it is a state of violence, and always fall into a despotical government, or into a republic: the power can never be equally divided between the prince and the people: the equilibrium is too difficult to preserve: the power must diminish on one side, while it encreases on the other; but the advantage generally happens on the side of the prince, who is at the head of the armies.
And accordingly the power of the
European
kings is very great, and one may venture to say, as great as they please to make it: but they do not stretch it so far as our sultans: first, because they would not shock the manners and religion of their subjects. Secondly, because it is not their interest to carry it so far.
Nothing brings down a prince so near to the condition of his subjects, as exercising an extravagant power over them: nothing exposes them so much to the turns and caprices of fortune.
The custom they use of causing all that offend them to be put to death upon the least signal, overthrows the proportion which ought to be kept between the faults and the punishments, which is in a manner the soul of a state, and the harmony of an empire; and this proportion being scrupulously observed by the christian princes, gives them an infinite advantage above our sultans.
A Persian who, either by imprudence or misfortune, has drawn upon himself the displeasure of his prince, is sure of death: the least fault or the least caprice brings him into this case. But if he had attempted the life of his sovereign; if he had gone about to betray his strong towns to the enemy; he could still but lose his life: therefore he runs no greater risk in this last case than in the first.
So that upon the least displeasure finding death unavoidable, and having nothing worse to fear, he is naturally inclined to disturb the peace of the state and to conspire against his sovereign; this being the only refuge he has left.
It is not so with the great men in Europe, who lose nothing by being disgraced, but the good-will and favour of their prince: they retire from court and think of nothing but enjoying a quiet life, and the advantages of their birth. As they seldom forfeit their lives but for high treason, they are fearful of being drawn into it, considering how much they have to lose, and how little to gain; which is the reason that here we seldom see rebellions, or kings destroyed by violent deaths.
If in the unlimited authority our princes possess, they did not use so many precautions to guard their lives, they would none of them live a day; and if they did not keep in pay an infinite number of troops to tyrannize over the rest of their subjects, their empire would not subsist a month.
Description of a PARISIAN PARLIAMENT in the year 1720, such as Parliaments ought to be.
[From the Persian Letters.]
THE parliament of
Paris
is just now banished to a little town called
Pontoise.
The council have sent to them, to register or approve a declaration which dishonours them; and they have registered it in such a manner as dishonours the council.
Some other parliaments of the kingdom are threatened with the like treatment.
Parliaments are always odious; they never approach kings, but to tell them disagreeable truths; and whilst a crowd of courtiers are continually representing to them a people happy under their government; these come and contradict the flattery, and throw at the foot of the throne the groans and tears committed to their charge.
ERSKINE's DEFENCE OF PAINE.
[
Continued from page
228.
vol. I.
]
SUCH were the words of that great good man, lost with those of many others of his time, and his fame, as far as power could hurt it, put in the shade along with them. The consequences we have all seen and felt; America, from an obedient affectionate colony, became an independent nation; and two millions of people, nursed in the very lap of our monarchy, became the willing subjects of a republican constitution.
Gentlemen, in that great and calamitous conflict Mr. Burke and Mr. Paine fought in the same field of reason together, but with very different successes. Mr. Burke spoke to a parliament in England, such as Sir George Saville describes it, that had no ears but for sounds that flattered its corruptions. Mr. Paine, on the other hand, spoke TO A PEOPLE; reasoned with them, that they were bound by no subjection to any sovereignty, further than their own benefits connected them; and by these powerful arguments prepared the minds of the American people for that GLORIOUS, JUST, and HAPPY revolution.
Gentlemen, I have a right to distinguish it by that appellation, because I aver that at this moment there is as sacred a regard to property; as inviolable a security to all the rights of individuals; lower taxes! fewer grievances; less to deplore, and more to admire, in the constitution of America, than that of any other country under heaven. I wish indeed to except our own, but I cannot even do that till it shall be purged of those abuses, which, though they obscure and deform the surface, have not as yet
(thank God)
destroyed the vital parts.
Why then is Mr. Paine to be calumniated, and reviled, because out of a people consisting of near three millions, he alone did not remain attached in opinion to a monarchy. Remember, that all the blood which was shed in America, and to which he was for years a melancholy and indignant witness, was shed by the authority of the crown of Great Britain, under the influence of its parliament, such as Sir George Saville has described it, and such as Mr. Burke himself will be called upon by and by in more glowing colours to paint it. How then can it be wondered at, that Mr. Paine should return to this country in his heart a republican? Was he not equally republican when he wrote common sense? yet that volume has been sold without restraint or prosecution in every shop in England ever since, and which nevertheless
(I appeal to the book, which I have in court, and which is in every body's hands)
contains every one principle of government, and every abuse in the British constitution, which is to be sound in the Rights of Man. Yet Mr. Burke himself saw no reason to be alarmed at its publication, nor to cry down its contents, even when America, which was swayed by it, was in arms against the crown of Great Britain. You shall hear his opinion of it, in his letter to the sheriffs of Bristol, page 33 and 34.
The Court Gazettee accomplished what the abettors of independence had attempted in vain. When that di
ingenuous compilation, and strange medley of railing and flattery, was adduced, as a proof of the united sentiments of the people of Great Britain, there was a great change throughout all America. The tide of popular affection, which had still set to wards the parent country, began immediately to turn, and to slow with great rapidity in a contrary course. Far from concealing these wild declarations of enmity,
the author of the celebrated pamphlet which prepared the minds of the people for independence,
insists largely on the multitude and the spirit of these addresses; and draws an argument from them, which (if the fact were as he supposes) must be irresistible. For I never knew a writer on the theory of government so partial to authority, as not to allow, that the hostile mind of the rulers to their people, did fully justify a change of government; nor can any reason whatever be given, why one people should voluntarily yield any degree of pre-eminence to another, but on a supposition of great affection and benevolence towards them. Unfortunately for rulers, trusting to other things, took no notice of this great principle of connexion.
But there is a time it seems for all things.
Gentlemen, the consequences of this mighty revolution are too notorious to require illustration. No audience would sit to hear (what every body has seen and felt,) the independence of America notoriously produced, not by remote and circuitous effect, but directly and palpably, the revolutions that now agitate Europe, and which portend such new changes over the face of the earth. Let governors take warning. The revolution in France was the consequence of her incurably corrupt and profligate government. God forbid that I should be thought to lean, by this declaration, upon her unfortunate monarch, bending, perhaps at this moment, under affliction which my heart sinks within me to think of; but, when I speak with detestation of the former politics of the French court, I fasten as little of them upon that fallen and unhappy prince, as I impute to our gracious sovereign the corruptions of our own government. I desire, indeed, in the most disinterested manner, to be understood that I mean to speak of his majesty, not only with that obedience and duty which I owe to him as a subject, but with that justice which I think is due to him from all men who examine his conduct either in public or private life.
Gentlemen, Mr. Paine happened to be in England when the French revolution took place, and notwithstanding what he may be supposed and allowed from his history to have felt upon such a subject, he continued wholly silent and inactive. The people of this country too appeared to be indifferent spectators of the animating scene. They saw, without visible emotion, despotism destroyed, and the king of France, by his own consent, become the first magistrate of a free people. Certainly, at least, it produced none of those effects which are so deprecated by government at present; nor, most probably, ever would, if it had not occurred to the celebrated person, whose name I must so often mention, voluntarily to provoke the subject; a subject which, if dangerous to be discussed, he should not have led to the discussion; for, surely, it is not to be endured, that any private man is to publish a creed for a whole nation: to tell us that we are not to think for ourselves— to impose his own fetters upon the human mind— to dogmatize at discretion—and that no man shall sit down to answer him without being guilty of a libel!!! I assert, that if it be a libel to mistake our constitution—to support it by means that tend to destroy it—and to choose the most dangerous season for the interference, Mr. Burke is that libeller; but not therefore the object of a criminal prosecution: for, whilst I am defending the motives of one man, I have neither right nor disposition to criminate the motives of another. All I contend for, is a fact that cannot be controverted, viz. that this officious interference was the origin of Mr. Paine's book. I put my cause upon its being the origin of it—the avowed origin—as will abundantly appear from the introduction and preface to both parts, and throughout the whole body of the work; nay, from the very work of Mr. Burke himself, to which both of them are answers.
Gentlemen, for the history of that celebrated work, I appeal to itself.
When the French revolution had arrived at some of its early stages, a few, and but a few, persons (not to be named when compared with the nation) took a visible interest in these mighty events; and interest well becoming Englishmen. They saw a pernicious system of government, which had led to cruel desolating wars, and had been for ages the scourge of Great Britain, giving way to a system which seemed to promise harmony and peace amongst the nations. They saw this with virtuous and peaceable satisfaction: And a reverend divine [Dr. Price] eminent for his eloquence, recollecting that the issues of life are in the hands of God, saw no profaneness in mixing the subject with public thanksgiving; reminding the people of this country of their own glorious deliverance in former ages. It happened, also, that a society of gentlemen, France being then a neutral nation, and her own monarch
swearing almost daily upon her altars to maintain the new constitution,
thought they infringed no law by sending a general congratulation. Their numbers, indeed, were very inconsiderable, so much so, that Mr. Burke, with more truth than wisdom, begins his volume with a sarcasm upon their insignificance.
Until very lately he had never heard of such a club. It certainly never occupied a moment of his thoughts; nor, he believed, those of any person out of their own set.
Why then make these proceedings the subject of alarm throughout England?—There had been no prosecution against them, nor any charge founded upon suspicion of disaffection against any of their body. But Mr. Burke thought it was reserved for his eloquence to whip these curs of faction to their kennel. How he has succeeded, I appeal to all that has happened since the introduction of his schism in the British empire, by giving to the king, whose title was questioned by no man, a title which it is his majesty's most solemn interest to disclaim.
After having in his first work, lashed Dr. Price in a strain of eloquent irony for considering the monarchy to be elective, which he could not but know Dr. Price, in the literal sense of election, neither did or could possibly consider it. Mr. Burke published a second treatise, in which, after reprinting many passages from Mr. Paine's former work, he ridicules and denies the supposed right of the people to change their government, in the following words:
"The French revolution,
say they,
" (speaking of the English societies)
was the act of the majority of the people; and if the majority of any other people,
the people of England, for instance,
wish to make the same change, they have the same right; just the same undoubtedly; that is, none at all.
And then, after speaking of the subserviency of will to duty, (in which I agree with him,) he, in a substantive sentence, maintains the same doctrine; thus;
The constitution of a country being once settled upon some compact, tacit or expressed, there is no power existing of force to alter it, without the breach of the covenant, or the consent of all the parties. Such is the nature of a contract.
So that if reason, or even Revelation itself, were now to demonstrate to us, that our constitution was mischievous in its effects; that, to use Mr. Attorney-General's expression, we had been insanes for the many centuries we have supported it; yet that still, if the king had not forfeited his title to the crown, nor the lords their privileges, the universal voice of the whole people of England could not build up a new government upon a legitimate basis.
Gentlemen, not to argue for the present against such a proposition, and supposing it could, beyond all controversy, be maintained; for heaven's sake, let wisdom never utter it! If you seek the stability of the English government, rather put the book of Mr. Paine which calls it bad, into every hand in the kingdom, than doctrines which bid human nature rebel even against that which is the best.— Say to the people of England, look at your constitution, there it lies before you—the work of your pious fathers, handed down as a sacred deposit from generation to generation, the result of wisdom and virtue, and its parts cemented together with kindred blood. There are indeed a few spots upon its surface; but the same principle which reared the structure will brush them all away; you may keep it, or you may destroy it.—To such an address, what would be the answer? A chorus of the nation.—
Yes, we will preserve it.
But say to the same nation, even of the very same constitution, it is yours, such as it is, for better or for worse; it is strapped upon your backs, to carry it as beasts of burthen, and you have no jurisdiction to cast it off. Let this be your position, and you instantly raise up (I appeal to every man's consciousness of his own nature) a spirit of uneasiness and discontent. Yet it is the controversy alone, which this useless and mischievous proposition stirred up, that has pointed most of the passages arraigned before you, which it will be presently my duty to explain.
But let the prudence of the argument be what it may, the argument itself is untenable.
[To be continued.]
AN ELEGY, WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD.
BY GRAY.
THE ARGUMENT.
A Summer's Evening described—its Calmness disturbed by the Beetle, Sheep-bells, and Owl—a Country Churchyard described, with its sleeping Tenants—the Vanity of Ambition, Power and Beauty—the Folly of pompous Epitaphs and Inscriptions—true Merit obscured by Penury—rustic Poverty not to be despised—Love of Life natural to all—what the Poet's Fate may be in some future Period, related by Old Age, with his Epitaph.
TIME—A Summer's Evening.
THE curfew
The evening bell.
tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea;
The plowman homeward plods his wearied way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds;
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower,
The moping owl does to the moon complain,
Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient, solitary reign.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude fore-fathers of the hamlet sleep.
The
reezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
For them no more the blazing heath shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their harrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke,
How jocund did they drive their team a field!
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!
Let not ambition
mock
their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor grandeur hear with a
disdainful
smile,
The short and simple annals of the poor.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike th' inevitable hour:
The paths of glory lead but to the grave,
Nor
you,
YE PROUD, impute to these the fault,
If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn isle and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
Can storied urn or animated bust,
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or flattery sooth the dull cold ear of death?
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid,
Some heart
once
pregnant with celestial fire,
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or wak'd to extacy the living lyre.
But knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll:
Chill penury
repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some VILLAGE-HAMDEN, that with dauntless breast
The
little
tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some
na
te
INGLORIOUS MILTON here may rest,
Some CROMWELL
guiltless
of his country'd blood.
Th' applause of listening senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation's eyes,
Their lot forbade; nor circumscrib'd alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd;
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.
The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of luxury or pride,
With incense kindled at the muse's flame.
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life,
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
Yet even these bones from insult to protect,
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhimes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply;
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.
For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious Being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?
On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries,
Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.
For thee, who mindful of the unhonour'd dead,
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall enquire thy fate.
Haply some hoary headed swain may say,
'Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn,
'Brushing with hasty steps the dew away,
'To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.
'There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
'That wreaths its old fantastic roots so high,
'His listless length at noon-tide would he stretch,
'And pore upon the brook that bubbles by.
'Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
'Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove,
'Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
'Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.
'One morn I miss'd him on the accustom'd hill,
'Along the heath and near his favourite tree;
'Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
'Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he.
'The next with dirges due in sad array,
'Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne,
'Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
'Gray'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.
'There scatter'd oft the earliest of the year,
'By hands unseen are showers of violets found;
'The redbreast loves to build and warble there,
'And little footsteps lightly print the ground.'
THE EPITAPH.
Here rests his head upon the lap of earth,
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown;
Fair science frown'd not on his humble birth,
And melancholy mark'd him for her own.
Large was his bounty and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompence as largely send;
He gave to misery all he had, a tear;
He gain'd from heaven ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.
No farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
The bosom of his Father and his God.
ON THE UTILITY OF POLITICAL SOCIETIES.
[From Cooper's Reply to Burke.]
THIS outcry against the existence and mutual correspondence of political societies, foreign and domestic, is no slight argument of their utility. It amounts to proof that this means of communicating knowledge to the public, is likely to be attended with beneficial effects to the best interests of mankind, or it would not be an object of so much alarm to the pensioned advocates of aristocracy. The people now see the great importance of political enquiries, and extensive influence of the maxims of government; which operate directly or indirectly on every moment of our existence, and every action of our lives. They perceive much to learn, and much to unlearn on the question of civil government; they expect as their right, a free access to all peaceable means of information, and exclaim with reason,
we will be kept in the trammels of implicit belief no longer.
However plain and simple the true principles of government may be, when divested of that garb of complication and mystery in which state-craft has enveloped them, it is certain that they are not yet fully settled among those who profess to write, and reason on the subject. The best political writers of the present day, among the English and French, are not agreed on points of considerable moment; and Mr. Burke himself has taken no small pains to magnify the difficulties attending a branch of knowledge, of which, he dreads while he promotes the public discussion. Difficulties there are; such as ignorance and artifice have created; but if they exist, (of whatever kind they may be) why throw obstacles in the way of enquiry, and deny the means of removing them? At any rate, Mr. Burke, whose time for two years past, has been chiefly occupied in publishing discourses of political mysticisin, ought to be the last to cry out against any source of information on a subject which he has laboured so indefatigably to obscure. —Equally aware, that public ignorance is the interests of courts, and public information the interest of the people, the patriotic societies of France and England, profess the same general principles of equal liberty, and have precisely the same
general
object in view, viz. the improvement and propagation of political knowledge. In France, as is natural, they discuss the temporary occurrences of their own country; we, those of ours; but the same science and the same principles are equally applicable to both. These societies, in each kingdom, entertaining therefore the same general design of extending the bounds of knowledge on the most important of all subjects of enquiry, can it be deemed improper or unbecoming, that they should mutually communicate for a common purpose? Is there any impropriety in the
philosephical
societies of London, Paris, or Stockholm, corresponding for the improvement of chemistry, or experimental philosophy? On the contrary, do they not all court correspondencies, as the most effectual means of diffusing information? Why then should societies instituted for the promotion of
political
knowledge, be debarred from the common means of improvement? If it be a crime to enlighten the people upon the subject of politics, why do not our adversaries say so at once, and take that ground of accusation: if it be no crime, why deny the common methods of communication permitted and adopted in every other branch of human science.
But after all, why this anxiety among the governments of Europe (our own among the rest) to stop the progress of knowledge, and cut off the sources of political information? Why this dread lest the people (the
swinish multitude,
as their friend, Mr. Burke, calls them) should think too much, and reason too much on their own rights, and their own interests; lest the deep veil of mystery, which state-craft has thrown over the science of government, should perchance be withdrawn, and the transactions of court-polities be exposed to public observation? If the foundations of these gaudy superstructures be unsound, this conduct is easily explained: but if governments do actually mean well, if their principles and actions will bear examination, why this general dread of investigation? Why give room to suspect that "Men love darkness rather than light—because their deeds are evil."
An edifying Lesson for the poor SWINISH MULTITUDE.
[
From the Morning Post of January
1, 1794.]
I tell thee,
Mufti,
if the world were wise,
They would not wag one finger in your quarrels;
Your heaven you promise, but our earth you covet;
Ye
phaetons
of mankind, who sire that world,
Which you were sent by preaching but to warm.
DRYDEN.
The author of a pamphlet called, "Peace and Reform," charges our divines, with recommending a conduct equally sanguinary with the French; and infers there from, that French principles of liberty are no more to be condemned on account of the excesses committed by a part of that nation, than the British constitution is to be condemned on account of the excesses recommended from the pulpit. The following is the passage we allude to:
THE fast-day, instead of being passed in conformity with its professed purpose, in humiliation before God, in prayers for the conversion of unbelievers, the reformation of ourselves, and the general peace and happiness of mankind; instead of a day on which every priest made an extraordinary exertion of his powers in imploring the benevolence of the Almighty to enlighten the minds, to soften the hearts, and to spare the blood of his people, it was chiefly celebrated by the most dreadful maledictions. The Supreme Being, who, true religion tells us, enjoins brotherly love, forgiveness, humanity and virtue, was addressed by our Divines as if he had been more merciless and blood-thirsty than any divinity that ever disgraced Paganism; and the temples of the God of Peace were made to resound with imprecations, from which even our ancestors would have recoiled when engaged in the worship of their serocious Odin, whom they revered as
the terrible and severe God; the active roaring Deity; the father of slaughter; the God that carrieth desolation and fire, and nameth those that are to be flain.
See the Edda.
The solemnity of the scene was well calculated for rousing and misleading the passions, and every artifice was employed to excite hatred towards the French, and provoke us to fury. The priesthood, as well as the princes, felt themselves interested in the cause, and their zeal shook the pulpit with exhortations to vengeance. The bishop of Gloucester, before the house of lords, thus spoke of that nation:—
Infatuated and remorseless people! The measure of your iniquities seems a
length to be full; the hour of retribution is coming fast upon you! Drunk with the blood of your fellow-citizens, you have dared to spread your ravages abroad; rousing the surrounding nations, in justice to themselves and the common cause of humanity, to confederate against you, in order to execute the wrath of God on your devoted heads.
His lordship, however, might have been restrained from such rash denunciations of divine judgment, by the awful admonitions of the founder of that religion which he pretended to preach.
And Jesus answering, said, suppose ye these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
And those eighteen on whom the Tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
St. Luke, xiii.
The other Fast Day Sermons were in unison with that of the bishop of Gloucester, with a very few exceptions. The Rev. J. Gardener, at Taunton, said,
Shall we not labour to bring such persons (as the French, and reformers in general) to a proper sense of their duty,
or exterminate them and their opinions?
and the Rev. Mr. Bromley, at Fitzroy Chapel hopes
that the reckoning which God will make will not be long delayed against a nation, (France) which is certainly behind no other whose measure of iniquities has in any records of time
called forth his vengeance to erase it from the earth.
These passages are taken from the sermons published under the names of those divines.
These are the sentiments of our HIGH church pastors: such is the religion, the benevolence, the humanity they teach! To exterminate for opinion! What more did Marat ever desire! To be the instrument of God in executing his vengeance, Mahomet used the same plea for all his murders and rapine! To erase a whole nation from the earth!!! Neither Mahomet, Marat, nor Roberspierre, have equalled this! How limited and insignificant have been their proscriptions compared with those of our own pious pastors, who would
seal on the forehead as the servants of God
Vide Revelations, c. vii. v. 3.
all those who make war against France; who would
send myriads of locusts, with crowns like gold upon their heads, and faces like men, invested with scorpion power, to torment the unsealed
enthusiasts of that distracted nation, and
let loose the angels of the Euphrates to slaughter a third part of mankind.
Vide Revelations, c. ix.
Similar passages from the sermons preached on that christian day would fill a volume. Most of them tend to inflame the people to a war of extermination, and insinuate the destruction of those who desire a parliamentary reform. Surely our divines cannot be so much mistaken as to imagine these harangues gratifying to the head of the church? Their affection towards the crown, indeed, is natural. The bishop of Durham's promotion has taught them the road to preferment; and my lord of Gloucester has been long looking for a translation: but not such as Elijah's: His present ambition looks no higher than Canterbury.
Nor were the sermons publicly preached more inflammatory than the writings anonymously published by our high church men: one of which, in Birmingham, under the fictitious name of Job Nott, thus speaks of those whom it calls
New-fashioned, restless dissenters,
and the members of a society instituted on the principles of Mr. Pitt and the duke of Richmond for procuring a reform of parliament,
Do be off; only think of the New Drop; you may be recorded in the New-gate Calender; transportation may reform you; you deserve to be highly exalted; did you ever see the New Drop!
and concludes with wishing that these dissenters and reformers, whom it deems factious, "tied in their garters may swing." Yet the author of this elegant book calls himself a friend to conciliation and unanimity, a moderate man, a man of peace! He may be so for a Birmingham man; but if such are the friends to peace and moderation in that town, can we wonder at the atrocities, which have taken place there, and still may be repeated, while Job Nott, and such publications are publicly sold with a bookseller's name to them, and are even boasted of by their authors.
ON THE COMMON PEOPLE.
(From Rosseau's Emilius.)
IT is the populace which compose the bulk of mankind: those which are not in this class are so few in number, that they are hardly worth notice. Man is the same creature in every state; therefore that which is the most numerous ought to be most respected. To a man capable of reflection, all civil distinctions are nothing: he observes, the same passions, the same feelings, in the clown and the man of quality; the principal difference between them consists in the language they speak; in a little refinement of expression: but if there be any real distinction, it is certainly to the disadvantage of the least sincere. The common people appear as they really are, and they are not amiable: if those in high-life were equally undisguised, their appearance would make us shudder with horror.
There is, say our philosophers, an equal allotment of happiness and misery to every rank of men; a maxim as dangerous as it is absurd. If all mankind are equally happy, it would be ridiculous to give ourselves any trouble to promote their felicity. Let each remain in his situation: let the slave endure the lash, the lame his infirmity, and let the beggar perish, since they would gain nothing by a change of situation. The same philosophers enumerate the pangs of the rich, and expatiate on the v
mity of their pleasures; was there ever so palpable a sophism! the pangs of a rich man are not essential to riches, but to the abuse of them. If he were even more wretched than the poor, he would deserve no compassion, because he is the creator of his own misery, and happiness was in his power. But the sufferings of the indigent are the natural consequences of his state; he feels the weight of his hard lot; no length of time, no habit can ever render him insensible of fatigue and hunger; neither wisdom nor good humour can annihilate the evils which are inseparable from his situation.—What avails it an Epictetus to forsee that his master is going to break his leg? Doth that prevent the evil! on the contrary, his fore knowledge adds greatly to his misfortune. If the populace were really as wise as we suppose them stupid, how could they act otherwise than they do? Study thi
order of men, and you will find that in another language they will utter as much wit and more good sense than yourself. Learn therefore to respect your species. Remember that the common people compose the most considerable part of mankind and that if all the kings and philosophers were to be taken away, the chasm would be imperceptible and things would go on just as well without them
ON KINGS.
From Godwin's Enquiry concerning Political Justice.
[
Continued from page
220,
Vol.
1.]
IF kings were exhibited simply as they are in themselves to the inspection of mankind, the salutary prejudice, as it has been called, which teaches us to venerate them, would speedily be extinct; it has therefore been found necessary to surround them with luxury and expence. Thus are luxury and expence made the standard of honour, and of consequence the topics of anxiety and envy, However fatal this sentiment may be to the morality and happiness of mankind, it is one of those illusions which monarchical government is eager to cherish. In reality, the first principle of virtuous feeling, as has been elsewhere said, is the love of independence. He that would be just must before all things estimate the objects about him at their true value. But the principle in regal states has been to think your father the wisest of men because he is your father, and your king the foremost of his species because he is a king. The standard of intellectual merit is no longer the man but his title. To be drawn in a coach of state by eight milk-white horses is the highest of all human claims to our veneration. The same principle inevitably runs through every order of the state, and men desire wealth under a monarchical government, for the same reason that under other circumstances they would have desired virtue.
Let us suppose an individual who by severe labour earns a scanty subsistence, to become by accident or curiosity a spectator of the pomp of a royal progress. Is it possible that he should not mentally apostrophise this elevated mortal, and ask, "What has made thee to differ from me?" If no such sentiment pass through his mind, it is a proof that the corrupt institutions of society have already divested him of all sense of justice. The more simple and direct is his character, the more certainly will these sentiments occur. What answer shall we return to his enquiry? That the well being of society requires men to be treated otherwise than according to their intrinsic merit? Whether he be satisfied with this answer or no, will he not aspire to possess that (which in this instance is wealth) to which the policy of mankind has annexed such high distinction? Is it not indispensible, that, before he believes in the rectitude of this institution, his original feelings of right and wrong should be wholly reversed? If it be indispensible, then let the advocate of the monarchical system ingenously declare, that, according to that system, the interest of society in the first instance requires the total subversion of moral truth and justice.
With this view let us again recollect the maxim adopted in monarchical countries, "that the king never dies." Thus with true oriental extravagance we salute this imbecil mortal, "O king, live for ever." Why do we this? Because upon his existence the existence of the state depends. In his name the courts of law are opened. If his political capacity be suspended for a moment, the centre to which all public business is linked, is destroyed. In such countries every thing is uniform: the ceremony is all, and the substance nothing. In the riots in the year 1780, the mace of the house of lords was proposed to be sent into the passages by the terror of its appearance to quiet the confusion; but it was observed that, if the mace should be
doly detained by the rioters, the whole would be thrown into anarchy. Business would be at a stand, their insignia, and with their insignia their legislative and deliberative functions be gone. Who can expect firmness and energy in a country, where every thing is made to depend not upon justice, public interest and reason, but upon a piece of gilded wood? What conscious dignity and virtue can there be among a people, who, if deprived of the imaginary guidance of one vulgar mortal, are taught to believe that their faculties are benumbed, and all their joints unstrung.
The evils that arise out of avarice, an inordinate admiration of wealth, and an intemperate pursuit of it, are so obvious, that they have constituted a perpetual topic of lamentation and complaint. The object in this place is to consider how far they are extended and aggravated by a monarchical government, that is, by a constitution the very essence of which is to accumulate enormous wealth upon a single head, and to render the ostentation of splendor the chosen instrument for securing honour and veneration. The object is to consider in what degree the luxury of courts, the effeminate softness of favourites, the system, never to be separated from the monarchical form, of putting men's approbation and good word at a price, of individuals buying the favour of government, and government buying the favour of individuals, is injurious to the moral improvement of mankind. As long as the unvarying practice of courts is cabal, and as long as the unvarying tendency of cabal is to bear down talents, and discourage virtue, to recommend cunning in the room of sincerity, a servile and supple disposition in preference to firmness and inflexibility, a convenient morality as better than a strict one, and the study of the red book of promotion rather than the study of general welfare, so long will monarchy be the bitterest and most potent of all the adversaries of the true interests of mankind.
(To be continued.)
COMMONWEALTHS capable of raising the greatest Armies in Proportion to Territory.
[From Harrington's Oceana.]
WHERE the arms in bulk are proper, and consisting of citizens, they have other trades, and therefore are no soldiers of fortune; and yet because the commonwealth has arms for her trades (in regard she is
a magistrate given for the good of mankind, and bears not her sword in vain
) they are all educated as well in military as civil discipline, taking their turns in service of either nature according to the occasion, and the orders of the commonwealth, as in
Israel, Athens, Lacedemon,
and
Rome,
which had (if their territories permitted, and sometimes as I may say whether their territories permitted or no, as in
Israel,
) the vastest, the highest tempered, and the best disciplined militia, that is to be found in the whole compass of story. Some armies of
Israel
have consisted of three or four hundred thousand men:
Rome
upon the rumour of a
Gallic
tumult, armed in
Italy
only, without foreign aid, seventy thousand horse and seven hundred thousand foot; things in our days (when the Turk can hardly arm half so many) not to be credited.
Hence that a commonwealth, which had not first broken herself, or been broken by some other commonwealth, should not be found to have been conquered by the arms of any monarch, is not miraculous, but a natural effect of an apparent cause.
PALEMON, OR, THE PRESS-GANG.
'FULL many an hour with tardy flight
Has wa
dered o'er my head,
And many a day hath set in night,
And many a month has fled,
'Since Britain's lov'd, lamented land,
Evanish'd from my view:
Since last I prest my Chloe's hand,
And bade the soft adieu!
'But now upon my raptur'd eye
Extends the long lost isle,
And Chloe's lovely form is nigh,
With fond affection's smile.
'Ah me! what woes were mine to prove,
When far from genial skies,
When absent from the voice of love,
I saw the tempest rise:
'Yet then amid the awful shade
That veil'd the gloomy sky,
What time the dreadful whirl wind play'd,
My Chloe's form was nigh:
''Twas thine in that tremendous hour
To soothe my fears to rest,
'Twas thine the voice of hope to pour
Upon my weary breast;
'What time the lightning's lurid blaze
Illum'd the rolling sea;
I fled to future brighter days
And fix'd my heart on thee;
'Yet now and then a tender sigh
Arose from doubtful fear,
And from my fondly anxious eye
Distill'd the pensive tear.
'But when the stormy scenes subside,
When quiet rul'd the seas,
When the sun trembled on the tide
That murmur'd in the breeze:
'Then in the calm unruffled hour,
From every tumult free,
I own'd affections fondest pow'r,
And dwelt alone on thee;
'And oft when Cynthia from her throne
Amidst the azure plain,
With softest mildest lustre shone
And slept upon the main.
'While memory fill'd my faithful mind
And bade her visions throng.
I heav'd my passion to the wind
In many a pensive song;
'Oft then thy tender form was seen
In fancy's anxious sight,
To smile upon the wave serene,
And chase the gloom of night:
'Thy accents seem'd my ear to meet
And gently die away,
In notes with melody replete,
And soft as Cynthia's ray.
'Thus have I past the lingering hours
While absent from thy smile,
While absent from Britannia's bow'rs,
Upon the deeps to toil;
'But now upon my raptur'd sight
Britannia's hills are seen,
And gentle Chloe with delight
Inspires the future scene.'
Thus pour'd Palemon his soft strain,
As near the rock they steer'd:
Nor ever dreamt of future pain,
Nor future sorrow fear'd;
When sudden to the wand'ring eye
Along the heaving main,
The cutter spread her sails on high,
And march'd the wat'ry plain:
They saw the savage gang appear,
And trembled at the view:
The pensive scene of grief was near,
And pleasure bade adieu!
Confin'd within the tender drear,
He mourn'd the hours along,
And pour'd of frantic woe the tear,
The weeping waves among.
No more he dreams of scenes of joy,
Of prospects now decay'd:
The pleasures that of late were nigh,
In stern affliction fade.
'Adieu!' he said, 'to Chloe's smile—
For Chloe's smile no more
Shall tedious hours or days beguile,
On Britain's long lost shore!
'And can you thus, ye sons of wrong,
The innocent betray:
But, ah! my griefs will not be long,
For life declines away.
'Ah! must the gentle peaceful soul
Be torn from tranquil plains,
To where the warring thunders roll,
Where desolation reigns?
'Let those who love the scenes of death,
In scenes of battle fall:
Nor bear away the peaceful breath,
That wishes well to all.'
He said—and o'er his youthful form
A sickly paleness play'd;
And death—that hover'd in the storm
Now spreads his gloomy shade.
'Adieu ye scenes!' he mournful cry'd—
Where once unknown to care,
With gentle Chloe at my side,
I pass
d the moments fair!
'And thou, for whom I live and breathe,
Adieu my Chloe dear!
Oh! twine for me the willow wreathe,
And shed for me the tear!
'Oft wander to my grave alone,
When Cynthia spreads her ray:
And breathe the tender pensive moan,
And sigh the hours away.
''Till death unite, with friendly hand,
In regions far above;
And join us in the joyful land
Of everlasting love?
He said—and death with pointed dart
Erected high his crest,
And deep he pierc'd the fainting heart,
And freed the tortur'd breast!
Oh shame to Britain! in thy land
shall such a crew remain,
Who lawless in thy regions stand
The "Ministers of pain."
When time has brought the wish'd for day.
And Britain's hills are near;
Ah! is it not—ye tyrants, say,
Ah! is it not severe,
To think that he, who doom'd to roam
For many a month the sea,
At last should be deny'd his home
And dearer friends to see?
And borne relentless from the plain,
From peace and pleasure far,
To meet affliction's dreadful train
Amidst the rage of war!
Oh think! what countless numbers mourn,
And bid their tears to flow,
For friends that never must return
To check the tide of woe!
The streams that in the battle flow,
Lie heavy on your heart;
And S**** shall feel the tenfold blow
When death extends his dart.
For never yet a cruel deed
Unpunish'd past away;
But virtue has a glorious meed
In everlasting day.
N. B. The Work will be continued as before, namely, in Penny Numbers weekly.
The First Vol. may be had bound in different way
End of PART FIRST, Vol. II.
PIGs' MEAT.
PART SECOND.
VOL. II.
ODE TO THE DRUM.
I HATE that drum's discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round;
To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields,
And lures from cities and from fields:
To sell their liberty for charms
Of tawdry lace, and glitt'ring arms;
And when ambition's voice commands,
To march and fight, and fall in foreign lands.
I hate that drum's discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round;
To me it talks of ravag'd plains,
And burning towns, and ruin'd swains,
And mangled limbs, and dying groans,
And widow's tears, and orphan's moans;
And all that misery's hand bestows,
To swell the catalogue of human woes.
THEY err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to over run
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault: What do these worthies?
Why, rob and spoil and burn, slaughter and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighbouring or remote
Made captive, yet deserving freedom, more
Than those their conquerors; who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove,
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy,
Then swell with pride, and must be titled gods,
Great benefactors of mankind, deliverers;
'Till conqu
ror death discovers them scarce men,
Rolling in brutish vices, and deform'd,
Violent or shameful death their due reward.
MILTON.
ONE murder makes a villain,
Millions a hero.—Princes are privileg'd
To kill, and numbers sanctify the crime.
Ah! why will kings forget that they are men?
Why delight in human sacrifice? why burst the ties
Of nature, that should knit their souls together
In one soft bond of amity and love?
Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on
Inhumanly ingenious to find out
New pains for life, new terrors for the grave;
Artificers of death! Still monarchs dream
Of universal empire growing up
From universal ruin.—Blast the design
Great God of Hosts! nor let thy creatures fall
Unpitied victims at ambition's shrine.
BISHOP PORTEUS.
And let all the people say, AMEN.
ON WAR.
[From Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary.]
FAMINE, the plague, and war, are the three most famous ingredients in this lower world. Under famine may be classed all the noxious foods, which want obliges us to have recourse to; thus shortening our life, whilst we hope to support it.
In the plague are included all contagious distempers; and these are not less than two or three thousand. These two gifts we hold from providence; but war, in which all those gifts are concentered, we owe to the fancy of three or four hundred persons scattered over the surface of the globe, under the name of princes and ministers; and on this account it may be, that in several dedications, they are called the living images of the Deity.
The most hardened flatterer will allow, that war is ever attended with plague and famine, especially if he has seen the military hospitals in Germany, or passed through any villages where some notable feat of arms has been performed.
It is unquestionably a very noble art to ravage countries, destroy dwellings, and
communibus annis,
out of a hundred thousand men to cut off forty thousand. This invention was originally cultivated by nations, assembled for their common good; for instance, the diet of the Greeks sent word to the diet of Phrygia and its neigbours, that they were putting to sea in a thousand fishing-boats, in order to do their best to cut them off root and branch.
The Roman people, in a general assembly, resolved that it was their interest to go and fight the Vejentes or the Volscians before harvest; and some years after, all the Romans being angry with all the Carthaginians, fought a long time both by sea and land. It is otherwise in our time.
A genealogist sets forth to a prince that he is descended in a direct line from a count, whose kindred, three or four hundred years ago, had made a family compact with a house, the very memory of which is extinguished. That house had some distant claim to a province, the last proprietor of which died of an apoplexy. The prince and his council instantly resolve, that this province belongs to him by divine right. The province, which is some hundred leagues from him, protests that it does not so much as know him; that it is not disposed to be governed by him; that before prescribing laws to them, their consent, at least, was necessary: these allegations do not so much as reach the prince's ears; it is insisted on that his right is incontestable. He instantly picks up a multitude of men, who have nothing to do, nor nothing to lose; cloaths them with coarse blue cloth, one sou to the ell; puts them on hats bound with coarse white worsted; makes them turn to the right and left; and thus marches away with them to glory.
Other princes on this armament, take part in it to the best of their ability, and soon cover a small extent of country, with more hireling murderers than Gengis-Kan, Tamerlane, and Bajazet had at their heels.
People, at no small distance, on hearing that fighting is going forward, and that if they would make one, there are five or fix sous a day for them, immediately divide into two bands, like reapers, and go and sell their services to the first bidder.
These multitudes furiously butcher one another, not only without having any concern in the quarr
l, but without so much as knowing what it is about.
Sometimes five or fix powers are engaged, three against three, two against four, sometimes even one against five, all equally detesting one another; and friends and foes, by turns, agreeing only in one thing, to do all the mischief possible.
An odd circumstance in this infernal enterprize is, that every chief of these ruffians has his colours consecrated; and solemnly prays to God before he goes to destroy his neighbour. If the slain in a battle do not exceed two or three thousand, the fortunate commander does not think it worth thanking God for; but if, besides killing ten or twelve thousand men, he has been so far favoured by heaven, as totally to destroy some remarkable place, then a verbose hymn is sung in four parts, composed in a language unknown to all the combatants, and besides stuffed with barbarisms
Te Deum.
The same song does for marriages and births, as for massacres; which is scarce pardonable, especially in a nation of all others the most noted for new songs.
All countries pay a certain number of orators to celebrate these sanguinary actions; some in a long black coat, and over it a short docked cloak; others in a gown with a kind of shirt over it; some again over their shirts have two pieces of a motley-coloured stuff hanging down. They are all very long-winded in their harangues, and to illustrate a battle fought in Weteravia, bring up what passed thousands of years ago in Palestine.
At other times these gentry declaim against vice; they prove by syllogisms and antitheses, that ladies, for slightly heightening the hue of their cheeks with a little carmine, will assuredly be the eternal objects of eternal vengeance; that Polyeucte and Athalia
Two French tragedies.
are the devil's works; that he, whose table, on a day of abstinence, is loaded with fish to the amount of two hundred crowns, is infallibly saved; and that a poor man, for eating two penny-worth of mutton, goes to the devil for ever and ever.
Among five or six thousand such declamations, there may be, and that is the most, three or four, written by a Gaul named Massillon, which a gentleman may bear to read; but in not one of all those discourses has the orator the spirit to animadvert on war, that scourge and crime which includes all others. These groveling speakers are continually prating against love, mankind's only solace, and the only way of repairing it: not a word do they say of the detestable endeavours of the mighty for its destruction.
Bourdaloue
A celebrated preacher.
a very bad sermon have you made against impurity, but not one either bad or good on those various kinds of murders, on those robberies, on those violences, that universally rage, by which the world is laid waste! Put together all the vices of all ages and places, and never will they come up to the mischiefs and enormities of only one campaign.
Ye bungling soul-physicians, to bellow for an hour and more against a few flea-bites, and not say a word about that horrid distemper, which tears us to pieces. Burn your books, ye moralizing philosophers! Whilst the humour of a few shall make it an act of loyalty to butcher thousands of our fellow-creatures, the part of mankind decicated to heroism will be the most execrable and destructive monsters in all nature. Of what avail is humanity, benevolence, modesty, temperance, mildness, discretion, and piety; when half a pound of lead discharged at the distance of six hundred paces shatters my body; when I expire at the age of twenty under pains unspeakable, and amidst thousands in the same miserable condition; when my eyes at their last opening see my native town all in a blaze; and the last sounds I hear are the shrieks and groans of women and children expiring among the ruins, and all for the pretended interest of a man who is a stranger to us!
THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
A SONG.—Tune,
"Rule Britannia."
WHEN Britain first at heaven's command,
Arose from out the asure main,
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sung this strain,
Ye Britons hark, if bless'd you'd be,
See that your guardian press be free.
Though tyrants oft the scepter sway'd,
In Britain's Isle, a people free,
In spite of placemen still assay'd,
To keep their thoughts and printing free.
Then Britons join'd their press to free,
Their press secur'd their liberty.
Its dating voice ravish'd each ear,
To distant lands its fame was known,
Reason and truth advancing near,
Soon hurl'd a tyrant
James II,
from his throne.
Then Britons join'd their press to free,
Their press secur'd their liberty.
Though Burke and Reeves each sinew strain,
Their base false doctrines to support,
'Gainst falsehood we'll truth's cause maintain,
Vict'ry awaits the grand effort.
Then zealous be your press to free,
And you'll secure your liberty,
Let's then unite with heart and hand,
Falshood already shrinks with fear,
With truth attack the hireling band,
When reason shines they'll disappear.
Then Britons join your press to free,
And you'll preserve your liberty.
ERSKINE'S Defence of PAINE, and of the LIBERTY of the PRESS.
[
Continued from page
124,
vol. II.
]
HIS majesty undoubtedly was not elected to the throne. No man can be supposed, in the teeth of fact, to have contended it; but did not the people of England elect King William, and break the hereditary succession? and does not his majesty's title grow out of that election? It is one of the charges against the defendant, his having denied the parliament which called the Prince of Orange to the throne to have been a legal convention of the whole people; and is not the very foundation of that charge, that it was such a legal convention, and that it was intended to be so? and if it was so, did not the people then confer the crown upon King William without any regard to hereditary right? Did they not cut off the Prince of Wales, who stood directly in the line of succession, and who had incurred no personal forfeiture? Did they not give their deliverer an estate in the crown totally new and unprecedented in the law or history of the country? And lastly, might they not, by the same authority, have given the royal inheritance to the family of a stranger? Mr. Justice Blackstone, in his Commentaries, in terms, asserts that they might; and ascribes their choice of King William, and the subsequent limitations of the crown, not to the want of jurisdiction, but to their true origin, to prudence and discretion in not disturbing a valuable institution further than public safety and necessity dictated.
The English government stands thenon this public consent, the true root of all governments. And I agree with Mr. Burke, that, while it is well administered, it is not in the power of factions or libels to disturb it: though when ministers are in fault, they are sure to set down all disturbances to these causes. This is most justly and eloquently exemplified in the thoughts on the cause of the present discontents, page 5 and 6.
Ministers contend that no adequate provocation has been given for so spreading a discontent, our affairs having been conducted throughout with remarkable temper and consummate wisdom. The wicked industry of some libellers, joined to the intrigues of a sew disappointed politicians, have, in their opinion, been able to produce this unnatural ferment in the nation.
Nothing, indeed, can be more unnatural than the present convulsions of this country, if the above account be a true one. I confess I shall assent to it with great reluctance, and only on the compulsion of the clearest and firmest proofs; because their account resolves itself into this short but discouraging proposition, 'That we have a very good ministry, but that we are a very bad people;' that we set ourselves to bite the hand that feed us; and, with a malignant insanity, oppose the measures, and ungratefully vilify the persons of those whose sole object is our own peace and prosperity. If a few puny libellers, acting under a knot of factious politicians, without virtue, parts, or character (for such they are constantly represented by these gentlemen,) are sufficient to excite this disturbance, very perverse must be the disposition of that people, amongst whom such a disturbance can be excited by such means.
He says true: never were serious disturbances excited by such means!
But to return to the argument.—Let us now see how the rights of the people stand upon authority, and whether this great source of government is not maintained by persons on whom my friend will find it hard to fasten the character of libellers.
I shall begin with the most modern author on the subject of government—a gentleman, whose work lies spread out before me, as it often does for my delight and instruction in my leisure hours. I have also, by the favour of a friend who sits near me in court, the honour of his personal acquaintance, He is a man, perhaps more than any other, devoted to the real constitution of the country, as will be found throughout his valuable work; and he is a person, besides of great learning, which enable
him to infuse much useful knowledge into my learned friend who introduced me to him. [Mr. Law, king's counsel.] I speak of Mr. Paley, archdeacon of Carlisle, and of his work, entitled, The Principles of Political and Moral Philosophy, in which he investigates the first principles of all governments, a discussion not thought dangerous till lately; and I hope we shall soon get rid of this ridiculous panic.
Mr. Paley professes to think of government what the christian religion was thought of by its first teachers: 'If it be of God it will stand;' and he puts the duties of obedience to them upon free will and moral duty. After dissenting from Mr. Locke as to the origin of governments in compact, he says.
Wherefore, rejecting the intervention of a compact as unfounded in its principle, and dangerous in the application, we assign for the only ground of the subjects obligation, THE WILL OF GOD, AS COLLECTED FROM EXPEDIENCY.
The steps by which the argument proceeds are few and direct. 'It is the will of God that the happiness of human life be promoted;' this is the first step, and the foundation, not only of this, but of every moral conclusion. 'Civil society conduces to that end;' this is the second proposition, 'civil societies cannot be upheld, unless in each, the interest of the whole society be binding upon every part and member of it;' this is the third step, and conducts us to the conclusion, namely, 'That, so long as the interest of the whole society requires it (that is, so long as the established government cannot be resisted or changed without public inconveniency) it is the will of God (which will universally determines our duty) that the established government be obeyed,'
and no longer.
But who shall judge of this? We answer,
Every man for himself.'
In contentions between the sovereign and the subject, the parties acknowledge no common arbitrator; and it would be absurd to commit the decision to those whose conduct has provoked the question, and whose own interest, authority, and fate, are immediately concerned in it. The danger of error and ahuse is no objection to the rule of expediency, because every other rule is liable to the same or greater; and every rule that can be propounded upon the subject (like all rules which appeal to, or bind the conscience) must, in the application depend upon private judgment. It may be observed, however, that it ought equally to be accounted the exercise of a man's private judgment, whether he determines by reasonings and conclusions of his own, or submits to be directed by the advice of others, provided he be free to choose his guide.
He then proceeds in a manner rather inconsistent with the principles entertained by my learned friend in his opening to you:
No usage, law, or authority whatever, is so binding that it need or ought to be continued, when it may be changed with advantage to the community. The family of the prince—the order of succession—the prerogative of the crown —the form and parts of the legislature—together with the respective powers, office, duration, and mutual dependency of the several parts, are all only so many laws, mutable, like other laws, whenever expediency requires, either by the ordinary act of the legislature, or, if the occasion deserve it, BY THE INTERPOSITION OF THE PEOPLE.
No man can say that Mr. Paley intended to diffuse discontent by this declaration. He must therefore be taken to think with me that freedom and affection, and the sense of advantages, are the best and the only supports of government. On the same principle he then goes on to say,
These points are wont to be approached with a kind of awe; they are represented to the mind as principles of the constitution, settled by our ancestors, and being settled, to be no more committed to innovation or debate; as foundations never to be stirred; as the terms and conditions of the social compact, to which every citizen of the state has engaged his fidelity, by virtue of a promise which he cannot now recall. Such reasons have no place in our system.
Such are the sentiments of this excellent author, and there is no part of Mr. Paine's work, from the one end of it to the other, that advances any other proposition.
But the attorney-general will say, these are the grave speculative opinions of a friend to the English government, whereas Mr. Paine is its professed enemy; what then? the principle is, that every man, while he obeys the laws, is to think for himself, and to conduct himself as he thinks. The very ends of society exact this licence, and the policy of the law, in its provisions for its security, has tacitly sanctioned it. The real fact is, that writings against a free and well-proportioned government, need not be guarded against by laws. They cannot often exist, and never with effect. The just and awful principles of society, are rarely brought forward, but when they are insulted or denied, or abused in practice; Mr, Locke's Essay on Government, we owe to Sir Robert Filmer, as we owe Mr. Paine's to Mr. Burke; and indeed, between the arguments of Filmer and Burke, I see no essential difference; since it is not worth disputing, whether a king exists by
divine
right, or indissoluble
human
compact, if he exists whether we will or no; if his existence be without our consent, and to continue without our benefit, it matters not a farthing, whether his title be from God or from man.
[To be continued.]
A MELANCHOLY LESSON FOR ENGLISHMEN.
A Letter from the Author of L'Esprit des Loix to M. Le Chevalier de Bruant.
[From Voltaire's Letters.]
I WAS not at *** when your letter came; you embarrass me greatly; I shall only answer you for the pleasure of entertaining myself with a man who is much better able to resolve the doubts which he proposed, than the person to whom he sent them.
I am not of your opinion with regard to despotism and despotic princes. It appears to me horrible and absurd to the last degree, that a whole people should blindly subject themselves to the caprice of one, even if he were an angel. For my own part, I would not live under him a single day. This angel may become in a moment a monster, thirsting after blood. Despotism is to me the most abominable and disgustful of all bad governments; man is perpetually crushed, debased, and degraded by it. Look into history, ancient and modern, if ever there was one upon earth that was not an insult on mankind, and the disgrace of human nature. Monarchy would doubtless be the best of governments, if it was possible to find such kings as Henry IV, the only one who ever deserved the homage and veneration of his subjects. Kings should always be brought up in the school of affliction, as this great man was; such alone are truly great, and the lovers of mankind. Before we can feel for the misfortunes of others, we must ourselves have been unfortunate. But on the other hand, the hearts of princes, corrupted by prosperity, and the slaves of pride and folly, are inaccessible to pity, and insensible to true glory.
I am not at all surprized, that in monarchies, and especially in our own, there should be so few princes worthy of esteem. Incircled by corrupters, knaves, and hypocrites, they accustom themselves to look upon their fellow-creatures with disdain, and set no value on any but the sycophants, who caress their vices and live in perpetual idleness and inactivity. Such is generally the condition of a monarch; great men are always scarce, and great kings still more so. Add to this, that the splendor of a monarchy is short and transitory. France is already sunk into misery and disgrace; an age more will annihilate her, or she will fall a prey to the first intrepid conqueror.
The English government has nothing to support it but a delusive outside, extremely flattering to the people, who fancy themselves the sole governors. I do not know any country where it is more easy to create such open dissentions as may overthrow the state. A man of sense and generosity may, in ten years time, erect himself into a despotic prince with more safety at London than at Moscow: Remember Crom well. Money alone is sufficient to corrupt the whole parliament.
The great, ever fond of riches and power, and prostrate at the feet of fortune, who always attend the throne, will promote the views of their master; and the great, once gained over, this phantom of liberty, which appears at intervals in the convulsive motions of the commons, which awakens, sha
es itself, and soon vanishes, will be totally annihilated at the first signal given by the Supreme Ruler.
I know indeed of no monarchy that is fixed, constant and perfect; the wisest kings oppress their subjects to arrive at despotism. Adieu, my friend; live in freedom and obscurity. Solitude will procure you the best and truest pleasure, self-content. The foolish and the wicked seen far off, will only excite your compassion; to look nearly upon them, would raise your contempt and indignation.
I write this in haste; we will treat this matter more fully in the free intercourse of guiltless friendship.
ANOTHER LESSON NOT MORE AGREEABLE.
The Speech of Lelop-Aw
[Walpole]
the Minister of the deceased Emperor Regoge
[George I.]
to to his Successor.
[From Swift's Account of Japan.]
SIR, hear not those who would most falsely, impiously, and maliciously insinuate, that your government can be carried on without that wholesome, necessary expedient, of
sharing the public revenue
with your
faithful deserving senators.
This, I know, my enemies are pleased to call
bribery
and
corruption.
Be it so: but I insist, that, without this bribery and corruption, the wheels of government will not turn, or at least will be apt to take s
e
punc; like other wheels, unless they be greased at proper times. If an angel from heaven should descend, to govern
this
empire upon any other scheme than what our enemies call corruption, he m
st return from whence he came, and leave the work undone.
Sir, it is well known we are a trading nation, and consequently cannot thrive in a bargain where nothing is to be gained. The poor electors, who run from their shops, or the plough, for the service of their country, are they not to be considered for their labour and their loyalty? The candidates, who, with the hazard of their persons, the loss of their characters, and the ruin of their fortunes, are preferred to the senate, in a country where they are strangers, before the very lords of the soil; are they not to be rewarded for their zeal to your majesty's service, and qualified to live in your metropolis as becomes the lustre of their stations.
Sir, if I have given great numbers of the most profitable employments among my own relations and nearest allies, it was not out of any partiality, but because I know them best, and can best depend upon them. I have been at the pains to mould and cultivate their opinions. Abler heads might probably have been found, but they would not be equally under my direction. A huntsman, who hath the absolute command of his dogs, will hunt more effectually than with a better pack, to whose manner and cry he is a stranger.
Sir, upon the whole, I will appeal to all those who best knew your royal father, whether that blessed monarch had ever one axious thought for the public, or disappointment, or uneasiness, or want of money for all his occasions, during the time of my administration? And, how happy the people confessed themselves to be under such a king, I leave to their own numerous addresses; which all politicians will allow to be the most infallible proof how any nation stands affected to their sovereign.
This will be the Manner of the King that shall reign over you.
1 Sam. 8.11.
Observations on the Fatherly Conduct of PHARAOH to his People in their unparalleled Distress, and the exemplary faithfulness of JOSEPH to the interest of his King and Master.
GEN. 41. ver. 33. Let Pharaoh
(says Joseph)
look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come,
(which Joseph no doubt advised Pharaoh to pay for)
and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
37. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
(Whatever it might be for his servants it was a lucky famine for Pharaoh, as we shall presently see.)
47. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
48. And he
(Joseph)
gathered up all the food o
the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
49. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering: for it was without number.
(This was all very good supposing that the people were paid for their corn.)
53. And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were ended.
54. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55. And when all the land of Egypt was fam
shed, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph: what he faith to you do.
56. And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians;
(this he had an unquestionable right to do at a reasonable rate, if he bought it)
and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
57. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was sore in all lands.
(The profits of so productive a foreign trade as this, might have amply satisfied the avarice of Pharaoh and Joseph, without entirely ruining and ensta
ng the unfortunate Egyptians; but kings and ministers set no bounds to their rapine, they will take both fl
ece and carcase if the silly sheep their subjects will salm
.)
Chap. 47. ver. 12. And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren, and all his father's hous-hold with bread, according to their families.
(This was well; it was only charity beginning at home as it ought. What minister would not do so?)
13. And there was no bread in all the land:
(except in Pharaoh's granaries,)
for the famine was very sore; so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
(God help them! their succour was now in cruel hands.)
14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt,
(for the good of his master, like a good minister)
and in the land of Canaan,
(for the good of his country like a good politician)
for the corn which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house,
(like a faithful servant.)
15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread; for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
(Poor good-natured people! what a sin it was to use you so cruelly! All the money that they had received from Pharaoh for the corn, in the years of plenty, if we can suppose such tyrants would give any to so tame a people, was now extorted again from them, together with all that they had beside.)
16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle if money fail.
(Detestable, extortioning wretch! Sure this was taking more than a reasonable profit.)
17. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses; and he fed them with bread, for all their cattle, for that year.
(Poor oppressed people! your miseries and your patience have been overlooked for ages. The slight afflictions of the favourits family of Israel have attracted and engrossed all the sympathy from your unspeakable sufferings, and not a sigh for you is left)
18. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my Lord, how that our money is spent; my Lord hath also our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my Lord, but our bodies and our lands.
(If men make themselves sheep they will be devoured by the wolves.)
19. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land?
(Foolish people, why reason so with him, why endeavour to excite his compassion, you were not his brethren,)
buy us and our land for bread,
(Now he will listen to you, yes he will buy you, but as cheap as possible)
and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh,
(then your troubles will be ended)
and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
(Because Pharaoh will now take care of you as he does of your cattle.
20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh;
(Ye modern ministers! who among you with all your buying and selling can compare to Joseph?)
for the Egyptians sold every man his field,
(Poor fellows!)
because the famine prevailed every where; so the land became Pharaoh's.
21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof.
(Lest the sight of the fields and vineyards which once they possessed should create a seditious wish to be reinstated.)
22. Only the land of the priests bought he not:
(Joseph knew better than touch this nest of hornets; there buzzings if roused might have awaked the lion, He was too wise a man to neglect at such a sheering time to take the church into partnership with the state)
for the priests had a portion
(as hush-money)
assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion
(there is no fear of that)
which Pharoah gave them; wherefore they sold not their land.
(for they had no occasion.)
Hold up your heads now, O ye landholders, such are the equitable beginnings of your dominion over your depressed fellow-creatures! Are you not, in a
con
tries, beholden to some time-taking Pharoah, some hunting Nimrod, or conquering Norman, for the share that ye hold of the spoils of mankind?
As to Pharaoh, had he been a father to his people he had not taken such cruel advantage of their unequalled distress, but content with a reasonable profit, would as in duty bound, have preserved them in independence.
With respect to Joseph, honest man, like ministers in our days he was bound in conscience to provide for his own relations in the first place; and if he took for himself and his master both the cat and the skin, that is to say ALL, he did not exceed what our modern Josephs would do if they had Egyptians to deal with. However Joseph, like many of his kidney outwitted himself; for when another king arose who knew not Joseph, his father's house and his own posterity were all used like the enslaved Egyptians, and much worse, and heavily felt the weight of that enormous power which he had set up. Even so may it befall the houses of all oppressors, and from their bondage, may no Moses ever bless them with deliverance.
Reasons which the Poor have to wish for a Reform in Parliament.
[From Cooper's Reply to Burke.]
BY an EFFECTUAL Reform, however, I do not mean the paltry manoeuvre of disfranchising the Boroughs, and adding to the County Members: nor the equally objectionable measure of admitting only taxable householders to vote, altho' formerly I had doubts upon this subject. But it cannot be denied that, by this means, the larger part of the community, the most important part of the community, the most oppressed, the most industrious part of the community, those who having the most reason to complain, complain the least: the cottager, the mechani
, and the day labourer, (or, as that inveterate enemy of human kind, Mr. B
e would call them,
the Swiniss Mu
i
ude
) are placed in perpetual subjection to a corporation—an aristocracy of property, mor
less extended. I do not mean this. It is im
ble to defend the system of disfranchising a f
y citizen, because he is not so rich as his more favoured neighbour. Under any state of society, property always has had, and will have, full as much influence as it ought; and it is gross ignorance in politics, to and so many artificial to the natural inequalities among men. Neither am I prepared to believe that public spirit and independence is exclusively confined to the rich: so far as my experience goes, the direct contrary is the fact; and I almost suspect that
it is as easy for a cable to go thro' the eye of a needle,
as for a man of large property to be a thorough patriot. I am not prepared to believe that public spirit is not among the poor man's virtues, I know and confess the temptations he is sometimes under, to sacrifice his political opinions for his daily bread; but, so far as I have been able to judge, it is not from want of principle that the poor give way, but from want of knowledge; kept as they are, in the most deplorable ignorance of their political rights—encouraged to work hard and to drink hard, but to think little, and to read nothing; no wonder they should barter their birth right for a mess of pottage, when they know too well the value of the one, and know nothing about the other. Supposing, however, that the want of independence may be a crime attached to poverty, is it not evident that the way to create it, if it does not exist, and to confirm it if it does, is to take for granted its existence; Alas; among other robberies committed upon the poor, they are robbed of their good fame, and their honest character, by proud and privileged law givers: "depart, (it is in fact said by the
hall part of a nation to the larger)" depart ye wretches, ye Swinish Multitude, ye Rif-Raf, ye Scum of the earth; ye are guilty of that epitome of all the crimes of the decalogue, ye are convicted of POVERTY! What rights can ye pretend to, who have not a penny in your pockets? Away to your dismal habitations, and your scanty fair; go work and be contented." How
posite are the sentiments of scripture and mo
ern politicians! The Bible (in the text above
uoted) declares that riches are an obstacle in the
ay to the kingdom of heaven; while, among Euopean legislators, poverty and virtue are deemed
ncompatible! Degrade a man in his own opinion,
igmatize him by legal suspicion, take for granted
hat he has no character to lose; and you go the are way to work to make him in reality what you elieve him to be. We have done so by the Jews.
the contrary, let him know that you place con
dence in his integrity; that he
has
a character to
se by improper behaviour, and that you expect
a matter of course that he will act as he ought—
e chances are, that he will feel his own dignity,
nd justify the expectations you entertain of his
ood conduct. Laws make manners. It is a crime,
e, and a foul crime against human nature, systematically to debase in the eye of the public, and their own opinion, so large a portion of mankind
THE POOR unhappily form.
Morcover, those who have little, deserve to have
at little the more carefully protected; the less a
an possesses, the less he can spare from his nar
ow store; and, at any rate, even the poorest are
ossessors of the most invalu
hle species of property, life. liberty, and labour. To infringe upon
ese directly or indirectly, without the consent of
e owner, is neither more nor less than tyranny in the law that enacts it, and slavery in the object who is compelled to submit to it.
Neither can it be truly said, that the poor ma
pays no taxes; for he expends the produce of his labour in the most productive articles of modern taxation, the necessaries of life. The fire with which he warms his frozen limbs, and dresses his scanty morsel—the candle that enables his family to toil at the spinning-wheel, or the loom, during those hours which the middling classes devote
relaxation from business, and the great to the zenith of their pleasurable career—the small-beer tha
washes down his homely repast—every morsel o
his food, every article of his apparel, and eve
the scanty furniture of his cottage, are all affected by the extravagance and mismanagement of tho
who govern. The more taxes are required, t
more hours he must labour to supply his wants, and the more distant his prospect of obtaining the comforts and conveniences of existence.
How little the interests of the poor are taken ca
of, and how necessary it is that the voice of th
poor man should be heard with attention and re
pect in the house of commons, the numerous incl
sure bills are pregnant instances, where, as in t
fable of Nathan the prophet, the poor man's lan
is seized, to encrease the numerous herds of
richer and more powerful neighbours. Whereas instead of dividing the commons and wastes amo
the rich, natural justice and good policy wou
teach us to distribute them among the poor.
There is a very important Book too little noticed, an Essay the Right to Property in Land, by Dr. Ogilvie, 8vo.
B
we take good care to fulfil, with the most scrupulous orthodoxy, that text of scripture,
Ur
every one that hath, shall be given, and he sh
See Spence also on the same subject.
have abundance; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away, even that which he hath.
A still more flagrant instance of cruelty and injustice toward the poor, is the practice of
impressing.
The labour of the poor man constitutes the whole of his wealth, and his domestic connections almost the whole of his happiness. But on a sudden, under the dubious authority of a press-warrant, he is cut off from his peaceful habitation and domestic society, and forcibly dragged on board the floating prison of a tender: he is compelled to labour in the dreadful service of murdering his fellow-creatures at the command of his superiors, and paid such scanty wages, not as he can earn or deserves, but as the niggardly system of government finance thinks fit to allow. His family, mean while, who look up to him for comfort and subsistence, ignorant of his misfortune, are anxiously expecting his wonted return; perhaps their homely repast for the night depended on his earnings for the day: but his usual hour of return to his family is gone by; each passing footstep, each noise of distant similarity, is eagerly listened to in vain: Hope still draws out the lengthened evening, till a sleepless night of lamentation and despair succeeds the dreary melancholy hours of successive disappointment and fruitless expectation. The next, or succeeding day, brings the mournful tidings of his destiny; and leaves the widowed wife (perhaps the pregnant mother) to eke out a comfortless existence, unde: the accumulated pressure of want, and labour, an sorrow, and disease.
Innumerable are the cases of this nature, that must of necessity attend the practice of impressing for soldiers and mariners. But the miseries of the lower classes of society are borne in torpid silence, and patient resignation, The feeble voice of suffering poverty can seldom extend beyond the humble limits of her own habitation; still less can it penetrate the joyous mansions of the great, or intrude on the pompous occupations of the statesman:—otherwise, it might truly suggest, that even if WARS
be
necessary, this tyrannical system of violence and robbery is not so. It is the offspring of state-parsimony alone. Why not add a fourth▪ or a half, to the common wages, to induce volunteers? Why not double the pay?—Why not?—Because the over-grown fortunes of the rich land-holders, the monopolizers of wastes and commons, would experience an almost imperceptible diminution. While, by the good old fashion of dragging away the poor, by means of a press-gang, no taxes are laid upon the wealthy; and a due portion of the Swinish multitude, the scum of the earth, are periodically swept away as food for powder.
Such are some among the numerous hardships of which the British poor have too much reason to complain. Indigence, one would think, is of itself a sufficient evil to an inhabitant of society, without being held out as a reproach, or converted into a crime. Why then should slavery be added to poverty, and the rights of man be emerged in the misfortunes of the citizen? A citizen, indeed, is an improper appellation; the poor man is not a citizen: for being denied,
even by the spirit of the constitution,
the privilege of representation, he is subjected to the will of those who make, and the power of those who execute the laws; and he is at best but an inhabitant of his native land, for the benefit of his richer neighbour.
Hence I cannot help regarding any scheme of reform as insignificant, to say no worse of it, which shall not include in the scheme itself (without trusting to distant promises and fair professions) some effectual means of raising and meliorating the condition of what are called the lower classes of the people.
Patriots
(as Dr. Johnson very shrewdly and sarcastically remarked)
are fond of levelling down to themselves, but they seldom propose to level up to themselves.
It is fit that this reproach should be done away from the advocates of a good cause. It is the people, the lower classes of society, that constitute the bulk of mankind, that form the great mass of capability, and present to the politician the most important object of national improvement. For my own part, I care little in comparison for a reform that shall serve merely to diminish the taxes paid by the rich, or gratify the wishes of senatorial orators or would-be statesmen, whether in or out of parliament. Away with such half-measured reformers—men of rank and respectability, as they sometimes call themselves; who desire no farther reform than to extend the aristocratic monopoly of power to that circle in which themselves are included; who make the people the stalking-horse to their designs, and the step-ladder to the official situations which they aspire to obtain; who have temperance and moderation in their mouths, and pride and ambition in their hearts; and who raise the hue and cry of violence, innovation, and republicanism, against every man who looks beyond the petty interests of a party, or includes in his notions of patriotism a desire to promote not the privileges of a corporation, but the rights of man.
Hence, also, it is to me no matter of surprize that the people, the multitude, feel no interest in the repeated outcries for parliamentary reform, when the evils they feel are hardly touched upon, and advantages held out which they have no ambition to enjoy. Who has yet talked of dividing the wastes and the commons—of abolishing tythes—of rewarding population—of comfortably providing for the old age of the labourer, the manus facturer, the artificer—of exonerating the poor from the indirect taxes which they pay without knowing it; as well as from the direct imposition, which ministers secretly lay on—and above all of providing ample means of PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, that the poor man may know what his rights are, and what is the object of government, and what are the duties of the servants of the people. That he may become if he chuses a human creature, and not a machine; and having the capacity of mental improvement given to him by his Maker, that he may me as he ought the talent thus committed to his care. Why should the truth be concealed? There is among us too much inequality of rank—too much inequality of riches—too much inequality of labour. The poor work too much, and know too little: incessant labour stupifies the mental faculties, and produces an inclination to satisfy the cravings of nature beyond the necessities of nature. Hence the amusements of the poor are gross; their hours of relaxation intemperate, and habits of drunkenness and expence are insensibly formed, till the whole man is degraded, and ignorance and poverty linked with him as companions for life. I wish it were not true that these habits are rather encouraged than suppressed, that nine tenths of the nation may be mere machines to execute the labour, of which the other tenth enjoys the profit.
My notions then of an effectual reform in the representation of the people would take in the whole of that aristocratical apostate the Duke of Richmond's idea, in his Letter to Colonel Sharman. I would have the man, whose stake in the community consists of life, and liberty, and labour, with a penny in his pocket, to have an equal voice in the choice of legislators, by whose laws that stake is to be protected, with another man who has life, and liberty, and labour, with a hundred thousand pounds in his pocket. In comparison with the three first articles of the catalogue, which are cotmmon to all men, (and which are the means to ihe acquisition of the rest) the last is of trifling moment; it is the small dust of the balance, an accident of existence; of artificial, and not of natural importance; which when weighed against the solid gifts of nature to her common offspring, will kick the beam.
ON EQUALITY.
[From Cato's Letters.]
AS liberty can never subsist without equality, nor equality be long preserved without an
Agrarian
law, or something like it; so when men's riches are become immeasurably or surprizingly great, a people, who regard their own security, ought to make a strict enquiry how they came by them, and oblige them to take down their own size, for fear of terrifying the community, or mastering it. In every country and under every government, particular men may be too rich.
If the
Romans
had well observed the
Agrarian
law, by which the extent of every citizen's estate was ascertained, some citizens could never have risen so high as they did above others; and consequently, one man could never have been set above all the rest, and have established, as
Caesar
did at last, a tyranny in that great and glorious state. I have always thought that an enquiry into men's fortunes, especially monstrous fortunes raised out of the public, like
Milton
's infernal palace, as it were in an instant, was of more importance to a nation, than some other enquiries which I have heard of.
But, will some say, is it a crime to be rich? Yes, certainly, at the public expence, or to the danger of the public. A man may be too rich for a subject; even the revenues of kings may be too large. It is one of the effects of arbitrary power, that the prince has too much, and the people too little; and such inequality may be the cause too of arbitrary power. It is as astonishing as it is melancholy, to travel through a whole country, as one may through many in
Europe,
gasping under endless imposts, groaning under dragoons and poverty, and all to make a wanton and luxurious court, filled for the most, with the worst and vilest of all men. Good God! What hard-heartedness and barbarity, to starve perhaps half a province, to make a gay garden! And yet sometimes even this gross wickedness is called public spirit, because forsooth a few workmen and labourers are maintained out of the bread and the blood of half a million.
In those countries, were the judgment of the people consulted, things would go better; but they are despised, and esteemed by their governors
happy enough, if they do not eat grass;
and having no representatives, or share in the government, they have no remedy. Such indeed is their misery, that their case would be greatly mended, if they could change conditions with the beasts of the field; for then being destined to be eaten, they would be better fed: such a misfortune is it to them that their governors are not
cannibals!
Oh HAPPY Britain may'st thou continue ever so!
For a conclusion: As the preservation of property is the source of national happiness, whoever violates property, or lessens or endangers it, common sense says, that he is an enemy to his country, and public spirit says, that he should feel its vengeance. As yet in
England,
we can speak such BOLD truths; and we never dread to see the day, when it will be safer for one man to be a traytor, than for another man, or for a whole people, to call him so.
Wherever public spirit is found dangerous, she will soon be found dead.
POPULAR LICENTIOUSNESS, OR ANARCHY BUT OF SHORT DURATION.
[From Dr. Price on Civil Liberty.]
GOVERNMENT is an institution for the benefit of the people governed, which they have power to model as they please; and to say, that they can have too much of this power, is to say, that there ought to be a power in the state superior to that which gives it Being, and from which all jurisdiction in it is derived. Licentiousness, which has been commonly mentioned, as an extreme of liberty, is indeed its opposite. It is government by the will of rapacious individuals in opposition to the will of the community, made known and declared in the laws. A free state, at the same time that it is free itself, makes all its members free by excluding licentiousness, and guarding their persons and property and good name against insult. It is the end of all just government, at the same time that it secures the liberty of the public against
foreign
injury, to secure the liberty of the individual against
private
injury. I do not, therefore, think it strictly just to say, that it belongs to the nature of government to entrench on private liberty. It ought never to do this, except as far as the exercise of private liberty encroaches on the liberties of others. That is; it is licentiousness it restrains, and liberty itself only when used to destroy liberty.
It appears from hence, that licentiousness and despotism are more nearly allied than is commonly imagined. They are both alike inconsistent with liberty, and the true end of government; nor is there any other difference between them, than that the one is the licentiousness of
great
men, and the other the licentiousness of
little
men; or that, by the one, the persons and property of a people are subject to outrage and invasion from a king, or a lawless body of
grandees;
and that, by the other, they are subject to the like outrage from a
lawless mob.
—In avoiding one of these evils, mankind have often run into the other. But all well constituted governments guard equally against both. Indeed of the two, the last is, on several accounts, the least to be dreaded, and has done the least mischief. It may be truly said, that if licentiousness has destroyed its thousands, despotism has destroyed its millions. The former, having little power, and no system to support it, necessarily finds its own remedy; and
a people soon get out of the tumult and anarchy attending it.
But a despotism, wearing the form of government, and being armed with its force, is an evil not to be conquered without dreadful struggles. It goes on from age to age, debasing the human faculties, levelling all distinctions, and preying on the rights and blessings of society.—It deserves to be added, that in a state disturbed by licentiousness, there is an animation which is favourable to the human mind, and which puts it upon exerting its powers. But in
state habituated to a despotism, all is still and torpid. A dark and savage tyranny stifles every effort of genius; and the mind loses all its spirit and dignity.
THE TRIUMPH OF TRUTH AND LIBERTY BY RICHARD LEE, Author of a Volume of Poems lately Published.
ROUSE, indolent mortals! why will ye remain
Thus neuter in LIBRTY's cause?
With one noble effort unrivet the chain,
That binds you to tyranny's laws!
In vain you petition, and urge your complaints,
And mournfully seek for redress,
The heart of oppression
disdains
to relent,
Quite callous to all your distress.
The FATHER OF MERCIES has given to MAN,
This earth, with the light and the air;
Ten thousand kind blessings his liberal hand,
Invites ALL his creatures to share;
But tyrants would gladly monopolize all,
Or SELL US what freely was given,—
Then will ye submit to this basest of thrall,
And
purchase
the free gifts of Heaven?
Let
tyrants
not think the CREATOR looks down,
With total indifference on them;
HE soon will assert the just rights of his throne,
And the glory that's due to his name.
The skies seem to redden with terrible wrath,
And the grave is preparing their beds;
The storm now impending is pregnant with death,
And ready to burst on their heads.
In vain they confederate with Hell and with Rome,
To keep us in ignorance bound:
OMNIPOTENT TRUTH shall their malice o'ercome,
And spread the wide universe round.
Sweet LIBERTY civil and sacred shall fly,
On the wings of the GOSPEL OF PEACE;
Before the bright blaze superstition shall die,
And War and oppression shall cease.
Thou Earth! and ye Heavens! exultingly sing,
For MAN shall be fetter'd no more;
No more be the jest of the
courtier
and
king,
The
slave
and the
scorn
of their pow'r.
All nature look gay, and creation rejoice,
For MAN is now doom'd to be free!
And PROVIDENCE speaks with determined voice,
To confirm the immortal decree.
ERSKINE's DEFENCE OF PAINE, AND THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
(
Conninued from Page
157, vol. 2.)
THAT his [i. e. the kings] title is from man, and from every generation of man, without regard to the determination of former ones, hear from Mr. Locke,
"All men"
say they, (i. e. Filmer and his adherents,)
are born under government, and therefore they cannot be at liberty to begin a new one. Every one is born a subject to his father, or his prince, and is therefore under the perpetual tie of subjection and allegiance."
But it is plain, mankind never owned nor considered any such natural
subjection that they were born in,
to one or to the other, that tied them, without their own consents, to a subjection to them and their heirs.
It is true, that whatever engagements or promises any one has made for himself, he is under the obligation of them, but cannot, by any compact whatsoever, bind his children or posterity; for his son, when a man, being altogether as free as his father,
any act of the father can no more give away the liberty of the son, than it can of any body else.
So much for Mr. Locke's opinion of the Rights of Mankind. Let us now examine his ideas of the supposed danger of trusting them with them.
Perhaps it will be said, that the people being ignorant, and always discontented, to lay the foundation of government in the unsteady opinion and uncertain humour of the people, is to expose it to certain ruin; and no government will be able long to subsist, if the people may set up a new legislature, whenever they take offence at the old one. To this, I answer quite the contrary: People are not so easily got out of their old forms, as some are apt to suggest; they are hardly to be prevailed with to amend the acknowledged faults in the frame they have been accustomed to; and if there be any original defects, or adventitious ones introduced by time, or corruption, it is not an easy thing to be changed, even when all the world sees there is an opportunity for it. This slowness and aversion in the people to quit their old Constitutions, has in the many revolutions which have been seen in this kingdom, in this and former ages, still kept us to, or after some interval of fruitless attempts, still brought us back again to our old legislative of kings, lords, and commons; and whatever provocations have made the crown be taken from some of our princes heads, they never carried the people so far as to place it in another line.
Gentlemen, I wish I had strength to go on with all that is material, but I have read enough, not only to maintain the true principles of government, but to put to shame the narrow system of distrusting the people.
It may be said, that Mr. Locke went great lengths in his positions, to beat down the contrary doctrine of divine right, which was then endangering the new establishment. But that cannot be objected to Mr. David Hume, who maintains the same doctrine; speaking of the Magna Charta in his history, vol. 2. Page 88, he says,
It must be confessed, that the former articles of the great Charter, contain such mitigations and explanations of the feudal law, as are reasonable and equitable; and that the latter involve all the chief outlines of a legal government, and provide for the equal distribution of justice and free enjoyment of property; the great object for which political society was founded by men,
which the people have a perpetual and unalienable right to recall;
and which no time, nor precedent, nor statute, nor positive institution, ought to deter from keeping ever uppermost in their thoughts and attention.
These authorities are sufficient to rest on, yet I cannot omit Mr. Burke himself, who is, if possible, still more distinct on the subject, speaking not of the ancient people of England, but of colonies planted almost within our memories, he says,
If there he one fact in the world perfectly clear, it is this; that the disposition of the people of America, is wholly averse to any other than a free government, and this is indication enough to any honest statesman, how he ought to adapt whatever power he finds in his hands to their case. If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, THAT IT IS WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK SO; AND THAT THEY, AND NOT I, ARE THE NATURAL, LAWFUL AND COMPETENT JUDGES OF THIS MATTER. If they practically allow me a greater degree of authority over them than is consistent with any correct ideas of perfect freedom, I ought to thank them for so great a trust, and not to endeavour to prove from thence, that they have reasoned amiss, and that having gone so far, by analogy, they must hereafter have no enjoyment but by my pleasure.
Gentlemen, I am sorry to feel my time considerably consumed, before I am arrived at what I conceive to be the material subject of your consideration. For all that I have been stating now, is only to shew, that there is not that novelty in the opinions of the defendant, that should lead you to think that he does not
bona side
entertain them, much less when connected with the history of his life, which I therefore brought in review before you—But still the great question remains unargued: Had he a right to promulgate these opinions? Gentlemen, if he entertained them, I shall argue that he had—And although my arguments upon the Liberty of the Press, may not to day be honoured with your, or the court's approbation, I shall retire not at all disheartened, consoling myself with the reflection, that a season may arrive for their reception.—The most essential freedoms of mankind have been but slowly and gradually received, and so very late, indeed, do some of them come to maturity, that not withstanding the attorney-general tells you that the very question I am now agitating, is most peculiarly for
your
consideration, AS A JURY, under our ANCIENT constitution, yet I must remind both you and him, that your jurisdiction to consider and deal with it at all in judgment, is but A YEAR OLD.—When before that late period, I ventured to maintain this very RIGHT OF A JURY, over the question of libel under the same
ancient
constitution. (I do not mean before my lord, for the matter was gone to rest in the courts, at least long before he came to sit where he does.) But when before a noble and reverend magistrate of the most exalted understanding, and of the most uncorrupted integrity, to give effect to it, I had occasion to maintain it, he treated me, not with disregard, indeed, for of that his nature was incapable; but he put me aside with indulgence, as you do a child while it is lisping its prattle out of season: and if this had been tried then, instead of now, the defendant must have been instantly convicted on the proof of the publication, whatever
you
might have thought of his case.—Yet, I have lived to see it resolved, by an almost unanimous vote of the whole Parliament of England, that I had all along been in the right. If this be not an awful lesson of caution concerning opinions, where are such lessons to be read!
Gentlemen, I have insisted, at great length, upon the origin of government, being in the consent of the people, and detailed the authorities which you have heard upon the subject, because I consider it to be not only a support, but, indeed, the only foundation of the liberty of the press. If Mr. Burke be right in HIS principles of government, I admit that the press, in my sence of its Freedom, ought not to be free,
nor free in any sense at all;
and that all addresses to the people upon the subject of government, and all speculations of amendment, of what kind or nature soever, are illegal and criminal:—For, if the people have, without possible recall, delegated all their authorities, they have no jurisdiction to act and therefore none to think, upon such subjects, and it is a libel to arraign government or any of its acts, before those that have no jurisdiction to correct them. But on the other hand, as it is a settled rule in the law of England, that the subject may always address a competent jurisdiction on every matter within it, no legal argument can shake the freedom of the press in any sense of it, if I am supporaed in my doctrines concerning the great unalienable rights of the people, to change or reform their government.
Gentlemen, it is because the Liberty of the Press resolves itself into this great issue, that it has been in every time and country, the last liberty which subjects have been able to wrest from power.— Other liberties are held under governments, but the liberty of opinion keeps governments themselves in due subjection to their duties. This has produced the martyrdom of truth in every age, and
the world has only purged itself from ignorance with the innocent blood of those who have enlightened it.
Gentlemen, my strength and time are wasted, and I can only make this melancholy history pass like a shadow before you.
I shall begin with the grand type and example.
(To be continued.)
POPULAR LICENTIOUSNESS OR ANARCHY BUT OF SHORT DURATION.
(From Dr. Price on Civil Liberty.)
GOVERNMENT is an institution for the benefit of the people governed, which they have power to model as they please; and to say, that they can have too much of this power, is to say, that there ought to be a power in the state superior to that which gives it being, and from which all jurisdiction in it is derived.—Licentiousness, which has been commonly mentioned, as an extreme of liberty, is indeed its opposite. It is government by the will of rapacious individuals, in opposition to the will of the community, made known and declared in the laws. A free state, at the same time that it is free itself, makes all its members free by excluding licentiousness, and guarding their persons and property and good name against insult. It is the end of all just government, at the same time that it secures the liberty of the public against
foreign
injury, to secure the liberty of the individual against
private
injury. I do not therefore, think it strictly just to say, that it belongs to the nature of government to entrench on private liberty. It ought never to do this, except as far as the exercise of private liberty encroaches on the liberties of others. That is; it is licentiousness it restrains, and liberty itself only when used to destroy liberty.
It appears from hence, that licentiousness and despotism are more nearly allied than is commonly imagined. They are both alike inconsistent with liberty, and the true end of government; nor is there any other difference between them, than that the one is the Licentiousness of
great
men, and the other the Licentiousness of
little
men; or that, by the one, the persons and property of a people are subject to outrage and invasion from a king, or a lawless body of
grandees;
and that, by the other, they are subject to the like outrage from a
lawless mob.
—In avoiding one of these evils, mankind have often run into the other. But all well constituted governments guard equally against both. Indeed of the two, the last is, on several accounts, the least to be dreaded, and has done the least mischief. It may be truly said, that if licentiousness has destroyed its thousands, despotism has destroyed its millions. The former, having little power, and no system to support it, necessarily finds its own remedy; and
a people soon get out of the tumult and anarchy attending it.
But a despotism, wearing the form of government, and being armed with its force, is an evil not to be conquered without dreadful struggles. It goes on from age to age, debasing the human faculties, levelling all distinctions, and preying on the rights and blessings of Society.—It deserves to be added, that in a state disturbed by licentiousness, there is an animation which is favourable to the human mind, and which puts it upon exerting its powers. But in a state habituated to a despotism, all is still and torpid, a dark and savage tyranny stifles every effort of genius; and the mind loses all its spirit and dignity.
The probable Influence of the French Revolution on the Liberties of Europe.
From a Letter to
Mr. Pitt,
on his Apostacy from the cause of Parliamentary Reform.
NOTHING indeed can be more evident, than that a mighty change in the direction of the public sentiments of Europe, is likely to arise from that revolution, whether it be successful or unsuccessful. If it be successful, the spirit of extreme democracy, is likely to spread over all Europe, and to swallow up in a volcanic eruption, every remnant of monarchy and of nobility in the civilized world. The probability of such effects is so strongly believed by the enemies of that revolution, that it is the ground of their alarm, the subject of their invective, and the pretext of their hostilities. It was to prevent such consequences, that Mr. Burke so benevolently counselled the princes of Europe to undertake that
crusade
in which they are now so piously engaged.
If, on the other hand, the efforts of France be unsuccessful; if her liberties be destroyed, there can be little doubt that such a shock will most powerfully impel the current of opinion to the side of monarchy: a direction in which it will be likely for several ages to continue. The example of the destruction of the great French Republic would diffuse, dismay, and submission among a multitude, who only judge by events; and the bloody scenes which must attend such a destruction, would indeed be sufficient to appal the sternest and most ardent champions of liberty. The spirit of Europe would crouch under the dark shade of despotism, in dead repose and fearful obedience. The royal confederacy which had effected this subversion, would doubtless continue its concert and its efforts. The principle of maintaining the internal independence of nations, being destroyed by the example of France, no barrier would any longer be opposed to the arbitrary will of kings. The internal laws of all the European states would be d
ctated by a council of despots, and thus the influence of moral causes on public opinion, co-operating with the combined strength and policy of princes, "every faint vestage and loose remnant" of free government will be swept from the face of the earth.
FAMILY DISTRESS,
On a second Morning's contest for Freedom after the Murders of the first.
SEE from his seat th' indignant Briton start,
Fire in his eyes, and freedom at his heart;
Resolv'd to brave the dangers of the day,
Tho' hell should yawn, and fiends obstruct his way:
His faithful wife, with sorrow's gloom o'ercast,
And trembling for the future by the past,
Implores his stay by all the tend'rest ties,
And fills the mournful mansion with her cries!
Their numerous offspring catch the mother's fears,
And urge their joint request with pray'rs and tears;
The youngest born, distrest, it knows not why!
While silent anguish swims in either eye,
Sobs on its mother's breast, till tears o'erflow,
And with its screams completes the scene of woe.
Is there in nature ought so dead to sense,
At so much softness, so much innocence!
Distress so urg'd to pierce the hardest heart,
Could stand unmov'd—nor bear a manly part.
His tears the father could no more controul,
But felt their sorrows to his inmost soul,
Silent he paus'd—unwilling to decline;
Yet half relenting of the great design!
When to his soul fair freedom stood confest,
Effac'd the sense of grief, and steel'd his breast.
"Dear to my soul—forbear the ungrateful task,
"Nor press my stay—ye know not what ye ask!
"Oh can a Briton unconcern'd behold,
"His rights invaded, and his country sold!
"See freedom tottering on the brink of fate,
"Her friends imprison'd and her foes elate!
"No—one more glorious struggle will we make—
"And if we fail—we'll perish for her sake.
"And thou, my dearest wife, thy tears restrain,
"To wish my stay, were criminal as vain,
"Women still love the gen'rous and the brave,
"And would'st thou for thy husband clasp a slave?
"A willing slave—and on fair albion's isle!—
"The wilds of Afric know no slave so vile.
"And you, my loves, when some few years shall roll,
"And freedom's joys shall open on the soul:
"You, who hang round me with imploring eyes,
"And vanquish nature with your tears and cries,
"Should we the grand occasion now forego,
"Shall brand the authors of a nation's woe;
"Wretches who leagu'd their country to enslave,
"And me—ev'n me—shall curse when in my grave,
"Curse me for having basely skulk'd away,
"And left your heritage the russian's prey!
"Oh at that dreadful thought, from ev'ry part,
"The tide tumultuous rushes on my heart!
"All coward fears henceforward I dismiss,
"Ev'n death is lovely in a cause like this!
"Freedom alone to life can relish give,
"And ceasing to be free—I'll cease to live."
ON THE ABUSE OF POWER AND PUBLIC PROPERTY.
[From Dodsley's Poems.]
Them morn and evening joy eternal greets,
And for them thousands and ten thousands moil,
Gathering from land, and ocean honied sweets,
For them, who in soft indolence the while
And slumb'ring peace enjoy the luscious spoil;
And as they view around the careful bees,
Forespent with labour and incessant toil,
With the sweet contrast learn themselves to please,
And heighten by compare the luxury of ease.
Ungenerous man, quoth then the fairy knight,
That can rejoice to see another's woe!
And thou unworthy of that glory bright,
Wherewith the Gods have deck'd thy princely brow,
That doth on sloth and gluttony bestow,
The hard-earn'd fruits of industry and pain,
And to the dogs the labourer's morsel throw,
Unmindful of the hand that sow'd the grain,
The poor earth-trodden root of all thy greatness vain.
Oh foul abuse of sacred majesty,
That boasteth her fair self from Heav'n ysprong!
Where are the marks of thy divinity?
Truth, mercy, justice steady, bold and strong,
To aid the meek, and curb oppressive wrong?
Where is the care and love of public good,
That to the people's father doth belong?
Where the vice-gerent of that bounteous God,
Who bids dispense to all, what he for all bestow'd?
ON KINGS.
From
Godwin's
Enquiry concerning Political justice
Continued
from Page 139, vol. 2. OF LIMITED MONARCHY.
I PROCEED to consider monarchy, not as it exists in countries where it is unlimited and despotic, but, as in certain instances it has appeared, a branch merely of the general constitution.
Here it is only necessary to recollect the objections which applied to it in its unqualified state, in order to perceive that they bear upon it with the same explicitness, if not with great force, under every possible modification. Still the government is founded in falsehood, affirming that a certain individual is eminently qualified for an important situation, whose qualifications are perhaps scarcely superior to those of the meanest member of the community. Still the government is founded in injustice, because it raises one man for a permanent duration over the heads of the
est of the community, not for any moral recommendation he possesses, but arbitrarily and by accident. Still it reads a constant and powerful lesson of immorality, to the people at large, or exhibiting pomp and splendour, and magnificence, instead of virtue, as the index to general veneration and esteem. The individual is, not less than in the most absolute monarchy, unfited by his education to become either respectable or useful. He is unjustly and cruelly placed in a situation that engenders ignorance, weakness and presumption, after having been stripped in his infancy, of all the energies that should defend him against the inro
ds of these adversaries. Finally, his existence implies that of a train of courtiers and a series of intrigue, of servility, secret influence, capricious partialities and pecuniary corruption. So true is the observation of Montesquieu, that "we must not expect under a monarchy to find the people virtuous."
But if we consider the question more narrowly, we shall perhaps find, that unlimited monarchy has other absurdities and vices which are peculiarly its own. In an absolute sovereignty, the king may if he psease be his own minister, but in a limited one a ministry and a cabinet are essential parts of the constitution. In an absolute sovereignty, princes are acknowledged to be responsible only to God; but in a limited one there is a responsibility of a very different nature. In a limited monarchy there are checks, one branch of the government counteracting the excesses of another, and a check without responsibility, is the most flagrant of all contradictions.
It was a confused feeling of these truths, that introdueed into limited monarchies, the principle "that the king can do no wrong
This, it must be confessed, is a maxim of the English law; but, whatever meaning it may have, the examples of Edward II. Richard II. Charles I. and James II. sufficiently prove that the kings of England are neither incapable of doing wrong nor exempt from being punished for it. Note added by one of the Swinish Multitude.
". Observe the peculiar consistency of this proceeding. Consider what a specimen it affords us of plain dealing, frankness and unalterable sincerity. An individual is first appointed, and endowed with the most momentous prerogatives, and then it is pretended that, not he, but other men are answerable for the abuse of these prerogatives. This pretence may appear tolerable to men bred among the fictions of law, but justice, truth and virtue revolt from it with indignation.
Having first invented this fiction, it becomes the business of such constitutions as nearly as possible to realise it. A ministry must be regularly formed; they must concert together; and the measures they execute must originate in their own discretion. The king must be reduced as nearly as possible to a cypher, So far as he fails to be completely so, the constitution must be imperfect.
What sort of a figure is it that this miserable wretch exhibits in the face of the world? Every thing is with great parade transacted in his name. He assumes all the inflated and oriental style which has been already described, and which indeed was upon that occasion transcribed from the practice of a limited monarchy. We find him like Pharaoh's frogs "in our houses and upon our beds, in our ovens, and our kneading troughs."
Now observe the man himself to whom all this importance is annexed. To be idle is the abstract of all his duties. He is paid an immense revenue only to dance and to eat, to wear a scarlet robe and a crown. He may not choose any one of his measures. He must listen with docility to the consultations of his ministers, and sanction with a ready assent whatever they determine. He must not hear any other advisers for they are his known and constitutional counsellors. He must not express to any man his opinion, for that would be a sinister and unconstitutional interference. To be absolutely perfect he must have no opinion, but be the vacant and colouriess mirror, by which theirs is reflected. He speaks, for they have taught him what he should say; he affixes his signature, for they inform him that it is necessary and proper.
A limited monarchy in the articles I have described, might be executed with great facility and applause, if a king were what such a constitution endeavours to render him, a mere puppet, regulated by pullies and wires
Such a monarch has been projected; and as the scheme may possibly please the pigs, is will follow this extract.
. But it is perhaps the most egregious and palpable of all political mistakes to imagine that we can reduce a human being to this state of neutrality and torpor. He will not exert any useful and true activity, but he will be far from passive. The more he is excluded from that energy, that characterises wisdom and virtue, the more depraved and unreasonable will he be in this caprices. Is any promotion vacant, and do we expect that he will never think of bestowing it on a favourite, or of proving by an occasional election of his own, that he really exists? This promotion may happen to be of the utmost importance to the public welfare; or, if not; every promotion unmeritedly given is pernicious to national virtue, and an upright minister will refuse to assent to it. A king does not fail to hear his power and prerogatives extolled, and he will no doubt at some time wish to essay their reality in an unprovoked war against a foreign nation or against his own citizens.
Such then is the genuine and uncontrovertible scene of a mixed monarchy. An individual placed at the summit of the edifice, the centre and the fountain of honour, and who is neutral, or must seem neutral in the current transactions of his government. This is the first lesson of honour, virtue and truth, which mixed monarchy reads to its subjects. Next to the king come his administration and the tribe of courtiers; men driven by a fatal necessity, to be corrupt, intriguing and venal; sciected for their trust by the most ignorant and ill-informed of their countrymen; made solely accountable for measures of which they cannot solely be the authors; threatened, if dishonest, with the vengeance of an injured people; and, if honest, with the surer vengeance of their sovereign
s displeasure. The rest of the nation, the subjects at large.
Was ever a name so fraught with degradation and meanness as this of subjects? I am, it seem, by the very place of my birth, become a subject. Of what, or whom? Can an honest man consider himself as the subject of any thing but the laws of justice? Can he acknowledge a superior, or hold himself bound to submit his judgment to the will of another, not less liable than himself to prejudice and error? Such is the idol that monarchy worships in lieu of the divinity of truth and the sacred obligation of public good. It is of little consequence whether we vow fidelity to the king and the nation, or to the nation and the king, so long as the king intrudes himself to tarnish and undermine the true simplicity, the altar of virtue.
Are mere names beneath our notice, and will they produce no sinister influence upon the mind? May we bend the knee before the shrine of vanity and folly without injury? Far otherwise. Mind had its beginning in sensation, and it depends upon words and symbols for the progress of its associations. The true good man must not only have a heart
esolved, but a front erect. We cannot practise objection, hypocrisy and meanness, without becoming degraded in other men's eyes and in our own. We cannot "bow the head in the temple of Rimmon," without in some degree apostatising from the divinity of truth. He that calls a king a man, will perpetually hear from his own mouth the lesson that he is unfit for the trust reposed in him he that calls him by any sublimer appellation, is hastening fast into the most palpable and dangerous errors.
But perhaps "mankind are so weak and imbecile, that it is in vain to expect from the change of their institutions the improvement of their character." Who made them weak and imbecile? Previously to human institutions they had certainly none of this defect. Man considered in himself is merely a being capable of impression, a recipient of perceptions. What is there in this abstract character that precludes him from advancement? We have a faint discovery in individuals at present of what our nature is capable: why should individuals be fit for so much, and the species for nothing? Is there any thing in the structure of the globe that forbids us to be virtuous? If not, if nearly all our impressions of right and wrong flow from our intercourse with each other, why may not that intercourse be susceptible of modification and amendment? It is the most cowardly of all systems that would represent the discovery of truth as useless, and teach us that, when discovered, it is our wisdom to leave the mass of our species in error.
There is not in reality the smallest room for scepticism respecting the omnipotence of truth. Truth is the pebble in the lake; and however slowly in the present case the circles succeed each other, they will infallibly go on till they overspread the surface. No order of mankind will for ever remain ignorant of the principles of justice, equality and public good. No sooner will they understand them, than they will perceive the coincidence of virtue and public good with private interest: nor will any erroneous establishment beable effectually to support itself against general opinion. In this contest sophistry will vanish, and mischierous institutions sink quietly into neglect. Truth will bring down all her forces, mankind will be her army, and oppression, injustice, monarchy and vice will tumble into a common ruin.
Let us beware by an unjustifiable perversion of terms of confounding the common understanding of mankind. A king is the well known and standing appellation for an office, which, if there be any truth in the arguments of the preceding chapters, has been the bane and the grave of human virtue. Why endeavour to purify and exorcise what is entitled only to execration? why not suffer the term to be as well understood and as cordially detested as the once honourable appellation of tyrant, afterwards was among the Greeks? Why not suffer it to rest a perpetual monument of the folly, the cowardice and misery of our species?
A RECEIPT TO MAKE A KING.
From
Common sense; or, the Englishman's journal,
for
May, 28, 1737.
(Supposed to be written by the late Henry Fielding Esq.)
IF I were a Corsican, I should certainly be a rebel; that is, I should hazard my life and estate to recover my liberty; but if after all I must submit to be a slave, I would be a slave to Baron Nieuhoff
Theodore Baron Nieuhoff, elected King of Corfica.
, or even to a Russian Bojar, rather than to my old task masters of Genoa.
The Corfican chiefs, if they would be advised by me, should form the plan of their future government, even while their affairs are low, and the event uncertain, lest, hereafter, they suffer greater evils than ever yet they have felt, by intestine divisions; and are prompted by a spirit of jealousy or ambition to destroy one another, when they have no other enemies to conquer. Were I to preside in their council, and the direction of this important affair were to be left to my judgment, I would not make choice of any form of government which is now administered in the world: neither would I borrow my system from Plato's republic, or Sir Thomas More's Utopia, which sound well in theory, but can never be reduced to practice. In short, I would preserve the rank and dignity of my country, by restoring the ancient form of government, which was
kingly
or
monarchial.
A king I would have, and a king with a crown on his head, and a scepter in his hand; to whom should be given the title of royal or imperial majesty. But my king should not be a tyrant. He should be even incapable of committing any acts of violence, or oppression. He should be entirely free from pride, avarice, and ambition. He should neither injure himself, or his subjects, through the heat and intemperance of youth, or the folly and dotage of old age. Love which has made one king a fool, and another mad, should never perplex his head, or hurt his constitution. His manners should be without blemish; and his greatest enemies (if undeservedly he must have enemies) should not be able to impute to him any impurity of mind, any unfriendly disposition, or unevenness of temper. In a word, I would have such a king as Jupiter first gave to the frogs
See the fable of the frogs who petitioned Jupiter for a king.
; who, by the way possessed his empire by divine right, and therefore his subjects were justly punished by his successor for the insults which they offered to his person and character. However, I would not have a plain unfashionable Log. My prince should be made of the heart of oak, and wrought into the shape and figure of a man by the most skilful artists in Europe.
To speak intelligibly, I would have an image or statue as big as the life, well shaped, and finely painted; with a diadem on his head, a royal mantle on his shoulders, and a scepter in his right hand. He should be placed under a rich canopy, and seated on a magnificent throne. A guard of an hundred halberdeers should be appointed to attend him, not so much for the security of his person, as to serve for pomp and shew at the audience of ambassadors. This guard should be the only standing army in Corsica. For as there could be no use for soldiers, but to defend the country in case of an invasion, so, in that case, every man should be a soldier. There should be an established militia, in which all the male inhabitants, from eighteen to fifty years of age, capable of bearing arms, should be inrolled, as is practised at this day among the Swiss-Cantons. This militia should be provided with good arms, and regularly exercised. The generals, colonels, and regularly exercised. The generals, colonels, and all inferior officers, should be named by the senate, as well as all other officers military and civil; among the rest I include all the great officers of the crown,
&c.
But then it should not be lawful for any officer to excercise the employment conferred on him, till his nomination had been confirmed by the king, who should always be allowed a negative voice.
In like manner, new laws should be of no force till they had received his majesty's approbation, which should always be signified by his silence. But whenever he refused his assent, he must be obliged to pronounce the word VETO three times with an audible voice, so that it might be distinctly heard by all the people.
Having thus secured the liberties of the subject, I think it in the next place incumbent on me, as a Corsican legislator, to maintain the dignity of the crown. I would not indeed ordain it as an article of faith, that the king held the reins of his government by a divine indefeasible right; but yet I would have his person sacred and inviolable. His subjects of all degrees and orders should approach him with the greatest reverence. Those who were it i
troduced to him for a confirmation of their privileges and employments, should be obliged to prostrate themselves, and kiss the hem of his garment. No person should presume to sit, or spit, or cough, or be covered in his presence; unless it might hereafter be thought proper, as a reward for great merit and services to create a class of
grandees.
A Spanish grandee keeps his hat on in the king's presence. He increated by the words, be covered! without further ceremony.
Foreign ministers, who are sent to compliment the king on his accession, must observe the ceremonial established at the court of Turin, when the King of Sardinia was acknowledged in that quality. All proper laws should be devised for his security. And therefore, if any one should be so audacious as to steal away his majesty, or to maim, or disfigure his person, or to rob him of his crown or sceptre, or any part of his robes, the offender should be guilty of treason, and be punished with death.
If any person should propose in writing, or conversation, to abolish the present form of government, by deposing his wooden majesty, and substituting in his stead a monarch of flesh and blood, whether man, woman, or beast, the offender should likewise be guilty of high-treason. Provided always, that the words be express and sufficiently proved, and that no free Corsican be vexed or punished by
innuendos,
and forced constructions; or for any figurative, allegorical, or ambiguous speeches. Provided likewise, that this law shall not extend to restrain the freedom of debate in the senate and council.
But now I desire it may be understood, that in this new scheme of government, which I have invented for the good people of Corsica, I only require the substance of the king's person to be of oak. I do not absolutely insist that he must always retain a human form. Let it be varied according to the exigencies of the state, or the humours of the people.
For the matter, I prefer the oak to all other timber, on account of its duration; and because that tree, considered only as a simple vegetable, bears some analogy to a crown'd head: it having been held sacred in all countries and ages of the world, The ancient Druids paid a greater veneration to the oak, than to the most illustrious of the sons of Adam. And even among us Englishmen, in a very inquisitive and polite age, I mean about the middle of the last century, this tree obtained the title of
royal.
—The Greeks and Romans had so great a reverence for this tree, as to imagine, that every oak was the habitation of a divinity; and there was an oaken grove, within one of the gates of Rome, where all the trees were worshipped as so many nymphs and goddesses.
But the most renowned of all their species were the Epirotick oaks, the illustrious natives of Dodona; who were not only endued with human speech, but were prophets and poets, the most exalted characters of mankind; and by which two of the greatest princes in the world have been so eminently distinguished.
If the compass of my paper would allow it, I would add much more in honour of the oak. But what I have said may suffice, to prevent the ridicule of political writers, and the objections and indignities, which they might otherwise offer to my wooden king.
I am fully persuaded, there is not a monarch now living upon the earth, who would not think himself very happy, and blessed above all his brethren, to be heart of oak; especially if he be turned of fifty. And the blessing would be doubled, if by this change he might be allowed to derive his pedigree from the house of Dodona. In truth, an oak of this family is capable of governing the greatest kingdoms, even the vast empire of China and Japan. How would the people of those countries admire his eminent qualities, and the faculties of his mind! And I am sure they would not presume to find fault with his person and family, who was descended from as ancient a stock, and formed of as good stuff as their gods. However, I ingenuously confess, that the oaks of this race are not for my purpose, and must therefore be excluded from my scheme of government. Prophets of all complections, nations, and religions, whether great or small, whether false or true, when they are once made kings, will claim an absolute independent sovereignty. The history of all ages, and the actions of all the royal prophets, from King David down to King Mahomet, sufficiently verify my assertion. For that reason I recommend the oaks of Dodona to the government of the east, where every king and every vice-king is a tyrant.
As for the monarchs of Corsica, according to my establishment, they must not have the use of speech, and then they will have no use for power. Wherefore I advise those islanders to content themselves with kings that are the growth of their own woods, if they have any woods left. If not, they may import a good stout king of any size, well shaped and polished, and fashionably dressed, from any great city on the continent
The principal manufactories of this sort are thought to be the Hague in Holland, and a little insignificant place in some part of Germany, the name of which I cannot immediately recollect, but believe it begins with an H.
I must submit to the consideration of the senate, whether they will be at the charge of a queen. For as she can contribute nothing to the succession, the expence of the sculpture, her royal vestments, servants and officers will be an unnecessary incumbrance on the civil list; besides I can prove from ancient history, that a wooden queen, hath sometimes done as much mischief as a wooden horse, and overturned mighty kingdoms.
I would certainly provide by the strongest laws, that no priest should have a vote in the senate or council, nor any employment about the person of his Corsican majesty. I should be under dreadful apprehensions, lest those teeming heads exalt my king into a god, and then tax the people to furnish provisions for his table.
Seest thou not how he eateth and drinketh, and thinkest thou not that he is a god?
In which case, the theocracy of the wooden god would prove the worst kind of tyranny. For this little island would soon be devoured to manifest the power of the governor, and support the luxury of his ministers; who are better craftsmen than to be discovered, like those idiot priests of Bel, by a trap door, and a sack of ashes strewed upon the pavement.
Whilst I am writing this, I am informed by the Holland mail, that King Theodore has abdicated the crown of Corsica, and is now imprisoned for debt at Amsterdam
He was long confined on the same account, in the King's Bench prison! and died soon after his discharge, under the insolvent debtors act, having given up his kingdom for the benefit of his creditors.
, Though I am as truly concerned for the misfortune of this enterprising monarch, as any of his loving subjects, yet I must own, it lessens my grief to consider, that this sudden revolution will make way for my proposal, and facilitate the accession of my wooden king. For which reason, I will direct these short hints to be translated into Italian, for the use of the Corsican chiefs, and the people now in arms under their command.
How shall I rejoice to be the instrument of giving them a king, who, to speak without a figure, can do no wrong! a succession of such princes would not be less glorious for themselves, than beneficial to their country. They would be universally esteemed during their reigns, and their memories sweet and precious. Happy had it been for the world, if the long catalogue of Roman emperors (three or four only excepted) had been of the wooden species!
Reason, which is the distinguishing excellence of human nature, can only prove a blessing to those whether princes or private persons, who are men of honour and virtue.
ON KINGS, From a Lampoon entitled the Restoration;
BY WILMOT EARL OF ROCHESTER,
For the printing of which he was banished.
If of all christian blood the guilt,
Cries loud of vengeance unto Heav'n
That sea by treach'rous Lewis spilt,
Can never be by God forgiven:
Worse scourge unto his subjects, Lord!
Than pest'lence, famine, fire, or sword.
The false rapacious wolf of France,
The scourge of Europe, and its curse,
Who at his subjects' cry would dance,
And study how to make them worse.
To say such kings, Lord, rule by thee,
Were most prodigious blasphemy.
Such know no laws but their own lust,
Their subjects substance, and their blood;
They count them tribute
due
and
just,
Still spent and spilt for subjects' good.
If Such kings are by God appointed,
The Devil may be the Lord's anointed.
Such kings, curs'd be their power and name,
Let all the world henceforth abhor 'em,
Monsters which knaves sacred proclaim,
And then like slaves, fall down before 'em.
What can there be in kings divine?
The most are wolves, goats, sheep, or swine.
Then farewell sacred majesty.
Let's pull all brutish tyrants down,
Where men are born, and still live
free.
There
every
head doth wear a crown.
Man
ind like miserable frogs,
Prove wretched,
king'd
by storks and logs.
THE POET INDIGNANT WISHES TO LEAVE HIS DEGENERATE COUNTRY.
[From Dodsley's Poems.]
SINCE worth he cries, in these degenerate days
Wants ev'n the cheap reward of empty praise;
In those curs'd walls, devote to vice and gain,
Since unrewarded science toils in vain;
Since hope but sooths to double my distress,
And every moment leaves my little less;
While yet my steady steps no staff sustains,
And life still vig'
ous revels in my veins;
Grant me kind Heaven, to find some happier place
Where honesty and sense are no disgrace.
Here let those reign, whom pensions can incite
To vote a patriot black, a courtier white;
Explain their country's dear-bought rights away,
And plead for pirates in the face of day;
With slavish tenets taint our poison'd youth,
And lend a lie the confidence of truth.
Let such raise palaces and manors buy,
Collect a tax, or farm a lottery,
With warbling eunuchs fill a licens'd stage,
And lull to servitude a thoughtless age.
Heroes, proceed! what bounds your pride shall hold?
What check restrain your thirst of pow'r and gold?
Behold rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,
Behold our fame, our wealth, our lives your own.
To such, a groaning nation's spoils are giv'n,
When public crimes inflame the wrath of Heav'n,
Has Heaven reserv'd, in pity to the poor,
No pathless waste or undiscover'd shore?
No secret island in the boundless main?
No peaceful desart yet unclaim'd by SPAIN?
Quick, let us rise, the happy seats explore,
And bear oppression's insolence no more.
Your Eyes uplift SPENSONIA's in your view!
No TYRANTS there will rob you of your Due
Lo! Men to free from ev'ry Source of Wrong,
Curs'd LANDLORDS are expell'd nor suffer'd them among.
POOR MAN'S ADVOCATE.
Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die,
With hemp the gallows and the Fleet supply.
Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band,
Whose ways and means support the sinking land;
Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring,
To rig another convoy for the k—g.
[The two last lines would now more fitly run thus]
Lest sails be wanting patriots to convey,
From venal Britain's coasts to barren Botany-Bay.
A single jail, in Alfred's golden reign,
Could half the nation's criminals contain;
Fair justice then, without constraint ador'd,
Held high the steady scale, but deep'd the sword;
No spies were paid, no special juries known,
Blest age! but ah! how different from our own!
THE RIGHTS OF GOD.
An early production of RICHARD LEE,
Author of a Volume of Poems lately Published.
THE
Lord alone shall be exalted.
ISAIA
Man over men, he made not
LORD;
Such title to himself reserving,
Human left from human free.
MILTON.
Sole
KING
of
NATIONS!
rise, assert thy sway,
Thou
jealous
GOD! thy potent arm display,
Tumble the
blood-built
thrones of
despots
down,
Let dust and darkness be the tyrants crown!
May bended knees surround thy awful throne,
And praise and worship flow to
thee alone;
"Most high and mighty"
is the NAME DIVINE,
And
"sacred majesty" alone is thine.
Let impious mortals know that
thou
art GOD,
And they but worms;
mere upstarts from the clod!
May PEACE and FREEDOM visit earth again,
The HATE of
monarchs
but the BLISS of MEN.
EQUAL GOVERNMENTS WILL TEND TO MAKE MEN BETTER.
From Barlow's Advice to the privileged Orders.
AS an apology for the existing despotisms, it is said, That all men are by nature tyrants, and will exercise their tyrannies whenever they find opportunity. Allowing this assertion to be true, it is surely cited by the wrong party. It is an apology for equal, and not for unequal governments: and the weapon belongs to those who contend for the republican principle. If government be founded on the vices of mankind, it
business is to restrain those vices in all, rathe
than to foster them in a few. The disposition to tyrannize is effectually restrained under the exercise of the Equality of Rights; while it is not only rewarded in the few, but invigorated in the many, under all other forms of the social connexion. But it is almost impossible to decide, among moral propensities, which of them belong to Nature, and which are the offspring of Habit; how many of our vices are chargeable on the permanent qualities of man, and how many result from the mutable energies of state:
If it be in the power of a bad government to render men worse than nature has made them, why should we say it is not in the power of a good one to render them better? And if the latter be capable of producing this effect in any perceivable degree, where shall we limit the progress of human wisdom and the force of its institutions, in ameliorating not only the social condition, but the controlling principles of man?
He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear!
REV.
Of kings and courtiers how the herd complain!
Nor blame their own inord'nate love of gain.
None think that while dire Landlords they allow,
To kings and knaves they'll still be doom'd to bow.
None think that each by fav'ring the deceit,
Himself's a foolish party to the cheat.
Few can be Landlords; and these very few,
Must, to succeed, their brethren all undo.
Yet each low wretch for lordship fierce does burn,
And longs to act the tyrant in his turn!
Nor longs alone, but hopes
before he dies,
To have his rents, and live on tears and sighs!
A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF SPENSONIA.
[Continued from page 72, Vol. II.]
THE continent not being far distant from the Island of Spensonia, produced several interviews between the respective inhabitants, and of course frequent traffickings and dealings, which, on the part of the Spensonians, were conducted with the utmost simplicity and good faith. This uprightness gained much on the affections of the Indians, and naturally produced a yet nearer communication. Contrary to expectation, they here saw a people, much superior in the comforts of life, as independent as themselves; and though Christians, without those
odious tyrants
to mankind, LANDLORDS. "How," said an Indian to a Spensonian, "How is it that you have no Landlords? We never heard that men could be civilized, or be Christians, without giving up their common right to the earth, and its natural produce to tyrants, called Landlords. Among such people, according to universal report, the land is claimed by a few individuals, who dispose of it at pleasure, and parcel it out to others for tribute or rent. Many colonies of Christians have established themselves in various parts of America, and carry on here, as in their original country, the iniquitous traffick in the soil. They expel, or exterminate us, the natives, because we will not work, or pay rent to them, for living in our own country; neither have these Europeans the common honesty to share equally, among themselves, their unrighteous plunder; but levy rents of each other here, as they do at home. Yes, their religion it seems will not allow of equality of rights. Their God, they tell us, has ordained that there shall be many
sorts and conditions of men,
and that some few shall have the lordship and disposal of the earth, whilst the far greater part must be reduced to supplicate to become their tributaries and vassals. This has always made us hate your God and your religion. Justice being impartiality, partiality must be injustice; and that God, who is so partial, cannot be just; and not being just, cannot be loved. We cannot love injustice, nor the promoters of injustice. Neither can we, free-born Indians, submit to pay homage or rent to any man for leave to dwell on the earth, though he should say that God would have it so. But you say,
you
are Christians, and that you,
nevertheless.
have
no
Landlords; but have an equitable way of enjoying the common benefits of this island which you inhabit, and yet preserve to each man his independence! — This is very amazing to me!"
The curiosity of this Indian was satisfied; he was made to comprehend the brotherly system, and that the God of the Christians was belied by designing priests, colleagued with overbearing knaves; and that he did not approve, but condemned and punished injustice, usurpation, and oppression.
The enraptured Indian sighed for the domestic happiness of civilized life, combined with his native independence. He was adopted a citizen, and was happy. Other Indians heard, saw, and followed the example. The island now became very populous and highly cultivated, and many villages encreased to large towns, adorned with public edifices, and other marks of opulence and refinement; Trade flourished, ships were built, and commerce extended to distant shores its reciprocal blessings.
In this state of prosperity (says the author of this account) did I find this rising colony, when by accident, some years ago, our ship was driven upon this happy island.
I, like the aforesaid Indian, was astonished when I understood their system of government, and manner of holding landed property. For instead of anarchy, idleness, poverty, and meanness, the natural consequences, as I narrowly thought, of a ridiculous levelling scheme, I saw nothing but order, industry, wealth, and magnificence. So being anxious to know the utmost of this new-fashioned commonwealth, I took occasion to have my doubts resolved by a communicative Spensonian as follows:
Author.
And so none, notwithstanding the splendid appearance the country makes, and the extensive manner in which trade is carried on, have estates, nor can purc
ase any?
Spensonian.
No, nor is it likely ever will; nor does the happiness of human life, or business, require any such refarious traffick.
Auth.
Would it not tend to make the people more industrious if they could lay out their riches in possessions?
Spen.
If they were more industrious in order to buy land, other people, being reduced to be their tenants, would, through poverty and oppression, be dep
ived of the means of industry; and by despair, of the incitement to it. Being possessed of landed property, men would cease to be otherwise industrious, than in watching their tenants, in order to raise their rents, and infringe their liberties. Their posterity also, would become equally useless, except in the same laudable business of oppression. The same pretence, as to objects of industry, might extend to religion, and the persons of men. Why should traffic be denied to monied men in any thing capable of being an object of commerce!! But why despair of industry? You see no want of it among us: No, nor yet among the Jews, though neither they nor we can buy land; but, on the contrary, you see a general industry, not one idle. Riches, unsupported by an estate, would soon take wings, if dot prevented by industry. But in your country, Europe, (for I know your customs, we came originally from England,) what great incitement, pray, can it be to industry, to give the cream of one's endeavours, unthanked to the Landlord? For what Landlord was ever yet thankful for his rents? They think the tenants rather owe thanks to them for permission to live on theit earth forsooth!
Wi' glooman brow the Laird seeks in his rent,
It's not to gie;
His honour maunna want, he poinds your gear;
Syne driven frae house and hald, where will ye steer?
ALLAN RAMSAY.
Curse them: I never can think of them but with detestation. I can compare them and their castles to nothing but the giants and their castles in romances. Those giants were said to be a terror and dest
uction to all the people around, so in reality are the dukes, lords, and barons of the present day. Therefore, the stories of enormous and tyrannical giants, dwelling in strong castles, which have been thought fabulous, may reasonably be looked upon as disgaised truths, and to have been invented as just satires upon great lords. For, if those fabulous monsters were said to eat the people and their children, your real monsters, of Landlords, really eat their meat, and the savour out of every enjoyment; reducing them to such misery, that eating their bodies, as the giants did, would be much more beneficent. They toil them to death in their endless drudgery, harass and butcher them in their villainous wars, and drag them from every social connection. These are the monsters, or giants, that the world want to be rid of. The extirpation of these should employ the philanthropic giant-killers, the deliverers of mankind.
Auth.
But notwithstanding all your heat against those Landlords, those monsters as you call them, I should like to know why you think they will never get crept in among you, as they have in all other civilized nations?
Spen.
Why, you must know, the interest of every individual is so intimately and palpably connected with our present system, that the least innovation would immediately be felt, and, of course, opposed. People are generally very much attached to their landed propenty, and societies in particular, are very tenacious of such, especially when they, as we do, find daily the benefit thereof. Then can we suppose any would be so hardy as attempt to touch a whole nation in so sensible a part?
Auth.
But bribery, my friend, bribery; that is the invincible Leviathan that overturns the rights of mankind. That may get among you, and numbers may be hired to sell the interests of the public, both present and future, for a little present gain, and be ready either to vote or fight against them.
Spen.
Well, I will let you see that though you were to bribe the whole nation you could do nothing by voting, and that you must have a very large majority, before you can have any chance by fighting. You must understand we never vote but by ballot, or in a secret manner, either in parochial or parliamentary business. Now suppose you would bribe the whole of the voters in any affair, and I were one of them, I would reason thus with myself: If I vote as I am brihed to do, I must do wrong to the public, whose interest includes also my own, and perhaps the interest likewise of posterity. If there be but one vote against my briber, he may say it is mine; and if I deny it, so may he that gave this vote, and has as good a chance to be believed, there being no witnesses; whereby I will have the mortification to have wronged my country and conscience, without being able to clear myself in your sight. So, in consequence of this reasoning, I would vote against you; and so would every one else from the same consideration. Let us see how this case will stand then? Why you would chide me privately (for you durst not do it publicly) for not voting for you, though hired. I would say, how do you know that? Because, say you, I have not one vote,
(for remember, if you had but one vote, I would lay claim to it.)
and therefore not yours. What, not one vote! I would exclaim, No, not one; say you. Well then, I would answer, I have the comfort to think I am no worse than others: This will teach you to come hither again to buy votes, Besides, if I had voted for you, others might have claimed, with you, the merit of the d
ed, while I would have had the whole of the guilt; and, at best, an equal share of the suspicion. So there is an end to your hurting us by voting.
Auth.
I am now convinced, that so long as you vote by ballot, or secretly, there does not appear a possibility of hurting you in that quarter. But is it not beneath
reemen to vote thus clandestin
ly, as if afraid to act honestly in the face of the world? Moreover, you lose all the praise of your good deeds, which is a general incitement to worthy actions.
Spen.
In your country they vote in the open manner you commend. What is the consequence? Why the Ministry tells you it is necessary to have a majority on their side for the dispatch of business, which amounts to the same thing as pleading for no parliament at all. A majority therefore is procured, in a very honourable way no doubt. she minority not being bought (for a majority is sufficient) take every opportunity to shew their importance, by opposing all business indiscriminately, whether right or wrong. Indeed they have often but too much reason to oppose, yet let their harangues be ever so violent, they can never make the majority understand in any other way than the Minister would have them; for they are too fast asleep in the lap of corruption, to regard either their arguments or the praises of their country. Thus you see the weak influence of fame, which you build so much on, even among senators; what strength must it then have among the poor freeholders and burghers, after so glorious an example!
This general corruption, and conflict of interests, furnish endless materials for newspapers, pamphlets, and state coblers. Thousan
of abo
tive schemes are daily proposed for redressing grievances and mending the constit
tion; whereas, the shoes were so i
l-made at first are so worn, rotten, and patched already, that they are not worth further trouble or expence, but ought to be thrown to the dunghill; and a new pair should be made neat, tight, and easy, as for the soot of one that loves freedom and lease. Then would your controversies about this, and the other way of cobling, that continually agitate you, be done away; and you would walk along the rugged and dirty path of life easy and dry-shod.
And now you shall witness with your own eyes, that force is likely to succeed as ill against us as secret corruption. Therefore you must go with me to-moorow, a few miles off, it being a general review day, when the inhabitants of several parishes together are to go through their military exercise, under the eye of a general, provided by the state. Every parish, or ward of a parish, exercise themselves at their own convenience; but two or three times a year, several parishes are affembled together, as I said, to accustom themselves to act in large bodies, as you will see to-morrow.
Accordingly next morning we were roused early by the drums all over the country beating to arms. No man lagged behind that was able to march: but my friend, luckily for me, happened to be lame, yet not so as to prevent his hobbling there to be a spectator. I was a stranger, and therefore had nothing to do with them; and so went with my friend also to look on. The morning was exceeding fine, the military ground was spacious, and kept always in pasturage for that purpose. The parishes, in different liveries, came marching in from every direction, with artillery, banners, and music. Those who had good horses, were horsemen; and formed into troops according to the colour of their horses. The very boys too were furn
shed with small arms, and classed according to their sizes. It was delightful to behold so many thousand citizen soldiers in arms only of defence; an army of
men, who their duties know, and know their rights; and, knowing, dare maintain.
In short, they made a gallant appearance, and every one was adorned with what little ornament his rank and uniform admitted of; as medals received for improvements, public services, &c. Every eye sparkled with delight, and every countenance was expressive of happiness, for this is their most agreeable sport Emulative obedience to command, and dexterity of action, was every where conspicuous. What contributed much to this, was, that nothing but eminent merit can advance any to be officers, who must pass through every station to the highest, if their merit can carry them so far. They went through their several manceuvres like veterans, but the boys in particular made a pleasing sight. No play whatever gives them such delight as this military exercise, which they apply to with such diligence, that before they leave school, or are fit for other employments, they are as complete therein as the oldest. For this purpose all due encouragement is given them; a particular instance of which appeared at this time: They made a mock fight with the men and drove them off the ground, which close the review. Every party then with colours flying as they came, marched to their respective homes, to spend the remainder of the day in festivity and joy.
The merry bells now sounded from every steeple. The glad females, after feasting their manly spouses and paramours, prepared for the dance; and thro' the evening, revelled in pleasures known to love and innocence alone. Among other sports, there were shooting matches and cudgel playing, which are favourite diversons, and encouraged, on such days as this, by medals from the parishes. The victors are very proud of these medals, and, as observed before, wear them on extraordinary occasions and field days.
I can never enought admire the beauty of the country. It has more the air of a garden, or rather a paradise than a gencral country scene; and indeed it is only a continuation of gardens and orchards. For besides the infinite number of real gardens, the very fields, meadows and pastures, are plentifully strewed with fruit trees, and the corn is cuitivated in rows. and as carefully as garden herbs. The houses and every thing about them are so amiably neat, and so indicative of domestic happiness, so far distant from the inslated pomp and ghastly solemnity of the palaces of the great, and the confined, miserable depression of the hovels of the wretched, that they seem the habitations of rational be
ngs; of beings worthy the approbation of the Deity, because, though as he designed them they be lords of all his works,
they presume not be Lords of each other.
On expressing my surprize at so much private felicity and public convenience, my friend answered, "The parishes build and repair houses, make roads, plant hedges and trees, and in a word do all the business of a Landlord. And you have seen what sort of Landlords they are. I suppose you do not meet with much to repair or improve, And it is no wonder, for a parish has many heads to contrive what ought to be done. Instead of debating about mending the state, as with you, (for ours needs no mending) we employ our ingenuity nearer home, and the result of our debates are in every parish, how we shall work such a mine, make such a river navigable, drain such a fen, or improve such a waste. These things we are all immediately interested in, and have each a vote in executing; and thus we are not mere spectators in the world, but as all men ought to be, actors, and that only for our own benefit."
The next day following we commenced again our political conversation, as follows:
Spen.
Now our whole country is trained and peopled as you have seen, I therefore suppose you have dropt all hopes of fighting us out of our Liberties, and if there were a possibility of voting them away, we would not nevertheless part with them. Nay, we will not suffer any law in the least impolitic, to give us uneasiness long; for we are too knowing and too powerful to be imposed upon or brow-beat; which makes our Parliament very careful how they make laws.
Auth.
I must indeed own that you have no great reason to be afraid of any encroachment on your constitution, whilst you continue your two guardian angels; I mean
VOTING BY BALLOT,
and
THE UNIVERSAL U
E OF ARMS.
But I beg the same liberty to make objuctions that my countryment will be apt to take when I inform them of your uncommon customs, that I may be the more enabled to answer them, Do not people repine that the place they occupy is not their own: that they must pay rent; that they cannot do with it what they please; and that they cannot enfeoss their posterity with the improv
ments they may make?
Spen.
So you think that the unreasoning desires of wayward individuals should be complied with, to the detriment of a whole people? Private property in land, is either just, according to the law of nature, or it is not. That it is not, is evident from the unnatural and oppressive consequences flowing from it. If all tyranny, and abuses in government, flow only from that monopolizing system, it must, of course, be the fountain head of tyranny; search history, and see, that the government of every country ever was, and is, in the proprietors of land. If then the people wish to have the government in their own hands, they must begin first, by taking the land into their own hands.
Who is the Lord Paramount of the universe? Is he not God? He then, and he alone, or those whom he deputes, must have the rents. Now the
ipture says, that the has given the earth to the children of men; given it to mankind in common Then mankind in their respective districts are his substitutes and representatives, and have a right to receive, and dispose of the revenues arising from the Domains, which he in his providence permits them severally to possess. Some will say, that though God gave the earth to the chidren of men, in common, they may have private possessions. I answer, yes; if they live far, I mean
very far,
asunder. But in no populous country, since the beginning of the world, was private property in land enjoyed, but to the detriment of multitudes of the same community: Suppose a populous country were divided equally among the inhabitants, as was the land of Canaan among the Israelites, how long would their shares continue equal? In a few years some men's families would increase and others decrease, which would scon produce inequality of estates, even though neither the right of primogeniture nor alienation of property were allowed. Those who became heirs to those decreased families, would become richer; and those who had but a small share among many brethren, of their paternal inheritance would become poorer; and even a periodical jubilee would not prevent injustice and inequality. But, by sharing the rents, man's equal rights and dignity is preserved, in every generation, and in every state of population. If God be just he must approve of so just and impartial a system. We presume that he is so, and that he is not displeased at his revenues, being disposed of so much to the happiness of mankind.
We then admit but of ONE LORD, as we do of ONE GOD; and in his name our rents are collected and disposed of as we believe, according to his will and pleasure. We do not murmer, as you suppose, at paying rent: How should we, when we consider for whose use it is? Does not the ren
paid here, serve instead of taxes and rates of ever description and is it not wholly at our own d
sposal? And when the public establishments are provided for, is not the remainder divided equally among us? If when premises become vacant by death, or otherwise, they be let to the best bidder; is not that the fairest way? It shews no partiality and prevents collusion to the prejudice of the public.
And do you think that the people, while a man lives and pays his rent, will be so ungenerous as turn him out of his house or farm? No—To prevent families indeed, from looking on their tenements as hereditary, the public may think it prudent, at the decease of a man, or his widow, to take again their property into their own hands, and dispose of it again to the best bidder. And what just reasons will the sons have to complain? Are they not part of that public, whose interest every man ought to promote and be jealous of for his own sake? But to prevent all colour of injustice, on account of improvements, medals and premiums are always bestowed on those, while they live, who remarkably improve the public property. Your European landlords give no such rewards nor shew such favour, on account of improvements, that you need to surmise so many idle grievances under a system of purity sufficient for the heavens.
I could not, in my heart, teaze my friend any further, with my frivolous objections; for I was fully convinced that, if ever there be a millennium or heaven upon earth, it can only exist under the
benign
SYSTEM of SPENSONIA.
The wise and beneficient regulations and lawseminating from this system of simplicity are beyond conception, beautiful and conducive of public happiness. Many instances might be given, which, other societies, not built on the public good, can never adopt. For example: If any man possess an invention, or secret, in medicine, or other science, or art, of importance to mankind, the state does not first tax the possessor by selling him a patent, and then load his manufactures with stamps and duties, thereby counteracting as much as possible, the kind intentions of the deity, in blessing his creatures with such an invention. No: the parliament is
obleged
to purchase the secret, and publish it. Remember, I say,
obliged;
for as it is only for purposes evidently useful, that their government dare dispose of the public money, at all, so neither dare they be sparing, when public utility demands it. Thus no quacks or imposters, under pretence of secrets, are suffered to impose on mankind, to ruin their healths, or pick their pockets. Neither does any complain, that his inventions, or his labours have been unrewarded, through all the
happy regions of
SPENSONIA.
YE SHEEPISH MULTITUDE! TAKE CARE OF YOUR NOSES!
Though robb'd of Wealth and Freedom both,
Poor Johnny Bull takes sweet repose;
At last he'll surely ope his eyes,
When hireling knaves
cut off his nose!
EXTRACT of a letter from Liverpool, dated April, 15th 1794, and published in the Morning Post of April, 21.
A most atrocious act has been committed here by an
Irishman,
whose conduct, we are sorry to say, has been approved by some monsters in this town to shew their attachment, as they say, to the king and constitution.
Last night this wretch, in company with others, g
ve
the
KING, which he insisted should be drank by the company, one of whom refused, by declaring th
t no boisherous fellow should dictate a toast to him, though he declared that no man had a greater veneration for the sovereign than himself. The Irishman swore, if he did not drink the toast, that he would CUT OFF HIS NOSE. The other refusing, the villain actually carried his threat into execution.
The parties were immediately taken before a magistrate, who dismissed BOTH, with a severe reprimand TO THE MAN who was thus mal-treated FOR NOT DRINKING THE TOAST.
It will be hardly credited, that our
humane
and
worthy
loyalists who so much detest the jacobines for their
sanguinary
conduct, actually made a subscription, for the Irishman, of seven guineas, who s
t off from this town, TO CUT OFF THE NOSES OF THE LONDON REFORMERS!!!
Had such a transaction happened in Paris, and the guilty party suffered to escape with impunity, ho
your St. Stephen's Chapel would echo with the
h
alings
of the pious EDMUND, the lamentations of Mr. WINDHAM, and the piping of that sublime senator, Mr. Powis.
ON THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
[From Dodsley's Poems.]
YET philosophic love of ease
I suffer not to prove disease.
But rise up in the virtuous cause
Of a free press, and equal laws.
The press restrain'd! nefandous thought!
In vain our sires have nobly fought:
While free from force the press remains,
Virtue and freedom cheer our plains,
And learning largesses bestows,
And keeps uncensur'd open house.
We to the nation's public mart
Our works of wit, and schemes of art,
And philosophic goods this way,
Like water-carriage, cheap convey.
This tree which knowledge so affords,
Inquisitors with flaming swords,
From lay-approach with zeal defend,
Lest their own paradise should end.
The press from her fecundous womb
Brought forth the arts of Greece and Rome;
Her offspring skill'd in logic war,
Truth's banner wav'd in open air;
The monster superstition fled,
And hid in shades its gorgon head;
And lawless power, the long-kept field,
By reason quell'd was forc'd to yield.
This nurse of arts, and freedom's fence
To chain, is treason against sense,
And, liberty, thy thousand tongues
None s
ience, who design no wrongs:
For those, who use the gag's restraint,
First rob,
before they stop complaint.
ON THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN HANOVER.
THOUGH we in England do not relish the interference of government in our studies, yet it would be highly indecent in us to trouble our heads with what is a-doing in Scotland, or Hanover. For surely our most gracious sovereign and his patriotic counsellors know better what his subjects in every country ought to read and think than they themselves!
Read then with respectful silence, the august, proceedings of his majesty's government in Hanover respecting the Liberty of the Press.
Jena Journal: Hanover Jan. 18. 1794.
"The destructive poison of impious infidelity, irregulation, and all licentiousness," to use the well-known expressions of the Augsburg
vacariat,
has been of late powerfully spread through our country, probably by means of circulating libraries, book-clubs, reading societies, and clubs for periodical publications.
To remedy this evil, several proposals have been made to the government by patriotic men,
Picha
ly the members of an association lately formed at Hanover under the title of a "MILITARY Association against those who attempt to ENLIGHTEN AND SEDUCE the people of Germany."
Query, Is it likely we shall have any such MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS in England, to prevent us from being ENLIGHTENED AND SEBUCED?
of w
ch the three principal are, first, Booksellers shall be obliged to give a complete account of every book, before they expose it to sale or secondly, The managers of reading societies, shall be made answerable for all books and periodical papers they permit to be circulated: or thirdly, At least a catalogue of the books belonging to reading societies, shall be sent in from time to time.
The last was immediately resolved, and hereupon the following ROYAL ordinance, respecting societies and circulating libraries, as they are called, was dispersed through the whole electorate!!!
"George the Third, by the grace of God, King of Great is
tain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of is runswick Lunenburg, Arch Treasurer, and Elector of the holy Roman empire, &c.
"The continual increase of reading societies and circulating libraries, as they are called, renders it necessary, that such establishments should be subject to a stricter police: We find ourselves on this account moved to establish and ordain as follows:
"All Antiquarians, and others, who keep libraries for reading or letting out books for hire, shall, immediately after publication of this ordinance, deliver to the police office of the place where they reside a complete catalogue of all and every of the books and pamphlets, that they at any time purchase, before they lend them. Whoever refuses this, or lends a book or pamphlet not mentioned in the catalogue, shall pay, for the first offence, a fine of ten rix-dollars, and for the second, a double fine, and be prohibited from lending books any more; half the fine to go to the informer.
"Second. All managers of reading societies shall likewise be obliged to deliver to the police-office, of the place where they reside, without exception, and without plea of a privileged court, immediately after publication of this ordinance, a complete catalogue of the books and pamphlets at present circulating, or which may hereafter circulate in their societies; and they who are guilty of refusal or neglect, shall pay, without exception of persons, a fine of twenty rix-dollars; half to go to the informer.
We accordingly command all our police officers
rictly to execute the above ordinance, to send a copy of the catalogues from time to time delivered to them, to our regency,
also immediately to seize such writings mentioned in the catalogues as are known to be dangerous, or are prohibited:
but in doubtful cases, to apply to our regency for further instructions."
Hanover,
Dec. 19 1794.
By special command of the KING and ELECTOR
Kielmannse
ge, V. Beulwitz, V. Arnswalt, V. St inberg.
C. L. HOPNER.
Strictures o
the Second Part of Paine's Rights of Man, with copious Extracts.
(From the Analytical Review for March, 1792.)
COURTEOUS reader, we announce to thee, the publication of the Second part of the Rights of Man. Wert thou pleased with the first part? Thou wilt be delighted with the second. Didst thou say of the former, such a work deserves no other consutation than that of criminal justice? Thou wilt say of this, the only way to answer it is to hang the author.
For our parts, we wish neither to kindle thy hopes, nor to provoke thy horrors. Lo! we introduce thee to the author, and leave thoe and him to settle the proper mode of confutation. Only keep your tempers. We will sit by; and as reviewers of the controversy, will occasionally break silence. We will also take the liberty of dropping at the close a few remarks, to qualify your tempers, if you should chance to disagree.
Thou wilt perceive, reader, at the outset, that Mr. P: so far from thinking he has received any defeat from the replies made to his former publication, conceives himself to stand on an eminence, asserts a victory, and claims a triumph. p. vii.
'Several other reasons contributed to produce this determination (of deferring the remainder of his work.) I wished to know the manner in which a work, written in a style of thinking and expression different to what had been customary in England, would be received before I proceeded farther. A great field was opening to the view of mankind by means of the French Revolution. Mr. Burke's outrageous opposition thereto brought the controversy into England. He attacked principles which he knew (from information) I would contest with him, because they are principles I believe to be good, and which I have contributed to establish, and conceive myself bound to defend, Had he not urged the controversy, I had most probably been a silent man.
'Another reason was, that Mr. Burke promised in his first publication to renew the subject at another opportunity, and to make a comparison of what he called the English and French Constitutions. I therefore held myself in reserve for him, He has published two works since, without doing this; which he certainly would not have omitted, had the comparison been in his favour.
'In his last work,
"His appeal from the new to the old Whigs,"
he has quoted about ten pages from the
Rights of Man,
and having given himself the trouble of doing this, says,
he shall not attempt in the smallest degree to refute them,
meaning the principles therein contained. I am enough acquainted with Mr. Burke to know, that he would if he could. But instead of contesting them, he immediately after consoles himself with saying, that "he has done his part."—He has not done his part. He has not performed his promise of a comparison of constitutions. He started the controversy, he gave the challenge, and has fled from it; and he is now a
case in point
with his own opinion, that,
"the age of chivalry is gone!"
'The title, as well as the substance of his l
st work, his
"Appeal,"
is his condemnation. Principles must stand on their own merits, and if they are good, they certainly will. To put them under the shelter of other men's authority, as Mr. Burke has done, serves to bring them into suspicion. Mr. Burke is not very fond of dividing
s honours, but in this case he is artfully dividing the disgrace.
'But who are those to whom Mr. Burke has made his appeal? A set of childish thi
kers and half-way politicians born in the last century; men who went no farther with any principle than as it suited their purpose as a party; the nation was always lest out of the question; and this has been the character of every party from that day to this. The nation sees nothing in such works, or such politics worthy its attention. A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation.
'Though I see nothing in Mr. Burke's Appeal worth taking notice of, there is, however, one expression upon which I shall offer a few remarks. After quoting largely from the
Rights of Man,
and declining to contest the principles contained in that work, he says,
this will most probably be done
(if such writings shall be thought to deserve any other refutation than that of criminal justice)
by others, who may think with Mr. Burke, and with the same zeal,
'In the first place, it has not yet been done by any body. Not less I believe, than eight or ten pamphlets intended as answers to the former part of the "Rights of Man" have been published by different persons, and not one of them, to my knowledge, has extended to a second edition, nor are even the titles of them so much as generally remembered. As I am averse to unnecessarily multiplying publications, I have answered none of them. And as I believe that a man may write himself out of reputation when nobody else can do it, I am careful to avoid that rock.
'But as I would decline unnecessary publications on the one hand, so would I avoid every thing that might appear like sullen pride on the other. If Mr, Burke, or any other person on his side the question, will produce an answer to the "Rights of Man," that shall extend to an half, or even to a fourth part of the number of copies to which the Rights of Man extended, I will reply to his work. But untill this be done, I shall so far take the sense of the public for my guide, (and the world knows I am not a flatterer) that what they do not think worth while to read, is not worth mine to answer, I suppose the number of copies to which the first part of the
Rights of Man
extended, taking England, Scotland, and fieland, is not less than between forty and fifty thousand.
Mr. P. taking the common notion of the excellency of the English constitution (Mr. P. will excuse our using that expression) to be fallacious, and aiming to prepare his readers for remarks on its imperfections, proceeds as follows. P. XIV.
'As to the prejudices which men have from education and habit, in favour of any particular form or system of government, those prejudices have yet to stand the test of reason and reflection. In fact, such prejudices are nothing. No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its being right; and when he sees it is not so, the prejudice will be gone. We have but a defective idea of what prejudice is. It might be said, that until men think for themselves the whole is prejudice, and
not opinion;
for that only is opinion which is the result of reason and reflection. I offer this remark, that Mr. Burke may not conside too much in what has been the customary prejudices of the country.
'I do not believe that the people of England have ever been fairly and candidly dealt by. They have been imposed upon by parties, and by men assuming the character of leaders. It is time that the nation should rise above those trifles. It is time to dismiss that inattention which has so long been the encouraging cause of stretching taxation to excess. It is time to dismiss all those songs and toasts which are calculated to enslave, and operate to suffocate reflection. On all such subjects men have but to think, and they will neither act wrong, nor be misled. To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not. If such a case could be proved, it would equally prove, that those who govern are not fit to govern them, for the
are a part of the same national mass.
'But admissing government
o be changed all over Europe; it certainly
be done without convulsion or revenge. It is not worth making changes or revolations, unless it be for so ne great national benefit; and when this shall appear to a nation, the danger will be, as in America and France, to those who oppose.'
Speaking of the expectations to be formed from the prevailing bias towards revolutions in different nations, our author of serves, P. 4.
'As revolutions have begun, (and as the probability is always greater against a thing beginning than of proceeding after it has begun), it is natural to expect that other revolutions will follow. The amazing and still encreasing expences with which old governments are conducted, the numerous wars they engage in or provoke, the embarrassments they throw in the way of universal civilization and commerce, and the oppression and usurpation they act at home have wearied out the patience, and exhausted the property of the world. In such a situation, and with the examples already existing, revolutions are to be looked for. They are become subjects of universal conversation, and may be considered as the
Order of the day.
'If systems of government can be introduced, less expensive, and more productive of general happiness, than those which have existed, all attempts to oppose their progress will in the end be fruitless. Reason, like time, will make its own way, and prejudice will fall in a combat with interest. If universal peace, civilization, and commerce, are ever to be the happy lot of man, it cannot be accomplished but by a revolution in the system of governments. All the monarchical governments are military. War is their trade, plunder and revenue their objects. While such governments continue, peace has not the absolute security of a day. What is the history of all monarchical governments, but a disgustful picture of human wretchedness, and the accidental respite of a few years repose? Wearied with war, and tired with human butchery, they sat down to rest, and called it peace. This certainly is not the condition that Heaven intended for man; and if
this be monarchy,
well might monarchy be reckoned among the sins of the Jews.
'The revolutions which formerly took place in the world, had nothing in them that interested the bulk of mankind. They extended only to a change of persons and measures, but not of principles, and rose or sell among the common transactions of the moment. What we now behold, may not improperly be called a
"counter revolution"
Conquest and tyranny, at some early period, dispossessed man of his rights, and he is now recovering them. And as the tide of all human affairs has its ebb and flow in directions contrary to each other, so also is it in this. Government sounded on a
moral theory, on a system of universal peace, on the indefeasible hereditary Rights of Man,
is now revolving from west to east, by a stronger impulse than the government of the sword revolved from east to west. It interests not particular individuals, but nations, in its progress, and promises a new aera to the human race.'
This work is divided into five chapters, presenting remarks on society and civilization—on the origin of the present old Governments (among the old governments comes poor old England)—on the old and new systems of governments—on constitutions— ways and means of improving the condition of Europe.
With respect to the chapter on civilization, we cannot help expressing our admiration of many remarks, which betray great political capacity, and much originality of thought. Mr. Paine supposes, from the interest men have in society, that the instances in which a formal government has any real benefit are few, and that the more perfect civilization is, the sess occasion there is for government. Our author observes, P. 11.
'If we look back to the riots and tumults, which at various times have happened in England, we shall find, that they did not proceed from the want of a government, but that government was itself the generating cause; instead of consolidating society, it divided it: it deprived it of its natural cohesion, aud engendered discontents and disorders, which otherwise would not have existed. In those associations which men promiscuously form for the purpose of trade, or of any concern, in which government is totally out of the question, and in which they act merely on the principles of society, we see how naturally the various parties unite; and this shews, by comparison, that governments, so far from being always the cause or means of order, are often the destruction of it. The riots of 1780 had no other source than the remains of those prejudices, which the government itself had encouraged. But with respect to England there are also other causes.
'Excess and inequality of taxation, however disguised in the means, never fail to appear in their effects. As a great mass of the community are thrown hereby into poverty and discontent, they are constantly on the brink of commotion; and deprived, as they unfortunately are, of the means of information are easily heated to outrage. Whatever the apparent cause of any riots may be, the real one is always want of happiness. It shews that something is wrong in the system of governmen, that injures the felicity by which society is to be preserved.
In speaking of the origin of the old governments, Mr. P. traces monarchy to a banditti of Ruffians! Do but hear him! p. 15.
'It is impossible that such governments as have hitherto existed in the world, could have commenced by any other means than a total violation of every principle sacred and moral. The obscurity in which the origin of all the present old governments is buried, implies the iniquity and disgrace with which they began. The origin of the present government of America and France will ever be remembered, because it is honourable to record it; but with respect to the rest, even flattery has consigned them to the tomb of time, without an inspiration.
'It could have been no difficult thing in the early and solitary ages of the world, while the chief employment of men was that of attending flocks and herds, for a banditti of ruffians to overrun a country, and lay it under contributions. Their power being thus established, the chief of the band contrived to lose the name of robber in that of monarch; and hence the origin of monarchy and kings.
'The origin of the government of England, so far as relates to what is called its line of monarchy, being one of the latest, is perhaps the best recorded. The hatred which the Norman invasion and tyranny begat, must have been deeply rooted in the nation, to have outlived the contrivance to obliterate it. Though not a courtier will talk of the curfeu bell, not a village in England has forgotten it.'
These remarks, however, though they will apply to most of the monarchies which have been established, will certainly not apply to all,
When treating on the origin of the old and new systems of government, our author makes the following severe reflections on hereditary government, p. 21.
'Government ought to be a thing always in full maturity. It ought to be so constructed as to be superior to all the accidents to which individual man is subject; and therefore, hereditary succession, by being
subject to them all,
is the most irregular and imperfect of all the systems of government.
'We have heard the
Rights of Man
called a
letelling
system; but the only system to which the word
levelling
is truly applicable, is the hereditary monarchical system. It is a system of
mental levelling.
It indiscriminately admits every species of character to the same authority. Vice and virtue. ignorance and wisdom, in short, every quality, good or bad, is put on the same level. Kings succeed each other, not as ra
ionals, but as animals. It signifies not what their mental or moral characters are. Can we then be surprited at the abject state of the human mind in monarchial countries, when the government itself is formed on such an abject levelling system?—It has no fixed character. To day it is one thing; to-morrow it is something else. It changes with the temper of every succeeding individual, and is s
bject to all the varieties of eaeh. It is government through the medium of passions and accident. It appears under all the various characters of childhood, decrepitude, dotage, a thing at nurse, in leading-strings, or in crutches. It reverses the wholesome order of nature. It occasionally puts children over men, and the conceits of non-age over wisdom and experience. In short, we cannot conceive a more ridiculous figure of government, than hereditary succession, in all its cases presents.
'Could it be made a degree in nature, or an adict registered in heaven, and man could know in that virtue and wisdom should invariably appertain to hereditary succession, the objections to it would be removed; but when we see that nature acts as if she disowned and sported with the hereditary system: that the mental characters of successors, in all countries, are below the average of human understanding; that one is a tyrant, another an ideot, a third insane, and some all three together, it is impossible to attach confidence to it, when reason in man has power to act.'
In speaking on the tendency of elective governments, many political writers have spoken of them as the cause of civil wars. Mr. Paine on the other hand contends, that civil wars, which have originated from contested hereditary claims, are more numerous, and have been more dreadful, and of longer continuance, than those which have been occasioned by elective governments. Mr. Paine's views here correspond to the reflections made on the same subject by the illustrious sufferer Algernon Sidney.
One hardly can help smiling at the following remark, p. 36.
'Whether I have too little sense to see, or too much to be imposed upon; whether I have too much or too little pride, or of any thing else, I leave out of the question; but certain it is, that what is called monarchy, always appears to me a filly, contemptible thing. I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be opened, and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.'
Whether the remark be true or false, we do not determine;
fed risum teneatis amici?
If those which follow be all true, however, disposed as we were to smile, we could not avoid being grave. p. 38.
'That monarchy is all a bubble, a mere court artifice to procure money, is evident (at least to me), in every character in which it can be viewed. It would be impossible, on the rational system of representative government, to make out a bill of expences to such an enormous amount as this deception admits. Government is not of itself a very chargeable institution. The whole expence of the federal government of America, founded, as I have already said, on the system of representation, and extending over a country ten times as large as England, is but six hundred thousand dollars, or one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds sterling.
'I presume, that no man in his sober senses, will compare the character of any of the kings of Europe with that of General Washington. Yet, in France, and also in England, the expence of the civil list only, for the support of one man, is eight times greater than the whole expence of the federal government in America. To assign a reason for this, appears almost impossible. The generality of people in America, especially the poor, are more able to pay taxes, than the generality of people either in France or England.
'But the case is, that the representative system diffuses such a body of knowledge throughout a nation, on the subject of government, as to explode ignorance, and preclude imposition. The craft of courts cannot be acted on that ground. There is no place for mystery; no where for it to begin. Those who are not in the representation, know as much of the nature of business as those who are. An affectation of mysterious importance would there be scouted. Nations can have no, secrets; and the secrets of courts, like those of individuals, are always their defects.'
'Our author, after stating the manner in which America proceeded in forming her constitution, still insists on what he had formerly advanced, viz. that England has no constitution. Whether truly or no, we leave others to decide. We will just quote a word or two on this subject.
'In England, (p. 50. 51.) it is not difficult to perceive that every thing has a constitution, except the nation. Every society and association that is established, first agreed upon a number of original articles, digested into form, which are its constitution. It then appointed its officers, whose powers and authorities are deseribed in that constitution, and the government of that society then commenced. Those officers, by whatever name they are called, have no authority to add to, alter, or abridge the original articles. It is only to the constituting power that this right belongs.
'From the want of understanding the difference between a constitution and a government, Dr. Johnson, and all writers of his description, have always bewildered themselves. They could not but perceive, that there must necessarily be a
controuling
power existing somewhere, and they placed this power in the discretion of the persons exercising the government, instead of placing it in a constitution formed by the nation. When it is in a constitution, it has the nation for its support, and the natural and the political countrouling powers are together. The laws which are enacted by governments, countroul men only as individuals, but the nation, through its constitution, countrouls the whole government, and has a natural ability so to do. The final controuling power, therefore, and the original constituting power, are one and the same power.'
Having, as he thinks, demolished the doctrine of an 'English constitution,' he then drops a word or two on precedents, &c.
'In numerous instances, he says (P. 58.) the precedent ought to operate as a warning, and not as an example, and requires to be shunned instead of imitated; but instead of this, precedents are taken in the lump, and put at once for constitution and for law.
'Either the doctrine of precedents is policy to keep a man in a state of ignorance or is it a practical confession that wisdom degenerates in governments, as governments increase in age, and can only hobble along by the stilts and crutches of precedents. How is it that the same persons who would proudly be thought wiser than their predecessors, appear at the same time only as the ghosts of departed wisdom? How strangely is antiquity treated! To answer some purposes it is spoken of as the times of darkness and ignorance, and to answer others, it is put for the light of the world.
'If the doctrine of precedents is to be followed, the expences of government need not continue the same. Why pay men extravagantly, who have but little to do? If every thing that can happen is already in precedent, legislation is at an end, and precedent, like a dictionary, determines every case. Either, therefore, government has arrived at its dotage, and requires to be renovated, or all the occasions for exercising its wisdom have occurred.'
In speaking on the expences of government our author is sometimes very affecting, and sometimes very indignant.
P. 68. 'It is inhuman to talk of a million sterling a year, paid out of the public taxes of any country, for the support of any individual, whilst thousands who are forced to contribute thereto,
pining with want, and struggling with misery. Government does not consist in a contrast between
ons and palaces, between poverty and pomp; it is not instituted to rob the needy of his mite, and increase the wretchedness of the wretched.— But of this part of the subject I shall speak hereafter, and confine myself at present to political observations.
'When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individnal in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms. Give to any man a million a year, and add thereto the power of creating and disposing of places, at the expence of a country, and the liberties of that country are no longer secure. What is called the splendor of a throne is no other than the corruption of the state. It is made up of a band òf parasites, living in luxurious indolence, out of the public taxes.
'When once such a vicious system is established, it becomes the guard and protection of all inferior abuses. The man who is in the receipt of a million a year, is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself. It is always his interest to defend inferior abuses, as so many out-works to protect the citadel; and in this species of political fortification, all the parts have such a common dependence that it is never to be expected they will attack each other
'It is scarcely possible to touch on any subject that will not suggest an allusion to some corruption in governments. The simile of "fortifications," unfortunately involves with it a circumstance, which is directly in point with the matter above alluded to.
'Among the numerous instances of abuse which have been acted or protected by governments, ancient or modern, there is not a greater than that of quartering a man and his heirs upon the public, to be maintained at its expence.
'Humanity dictates a provision for the poor; but by what right, moral or political, does any government assume to say, that the person called the Duke of Richmond, shall he maintained by the public? Yet, if common report is true, not a beggar in London can purchase his wretched pittance of coal, without paying towards the civil list of the Duke of Richmond. Were the whole produce of this imposition but a shilling a year, the iniquitous principle would be still the same; but when it amounts, as it is said to do, to not less than twenty thousand pounds per ann. the enormity is too serious to be permitted to remain.—This is one of the effects of monarchy and aristocracy.
'In stating this case, I am led by no personal dislike. Though I think it mean in any man to live upon the public, the vice originates in the government; and so general is it become, that whether the parties are in the ministry or in the opposition, it makes no difference: they are sure of the guarantee of each other.'
'Monarchy would not have continued so many ages in the world, had it not been for the abuses it protects. It is the master-fraud, which shelters all others. By admitting a participation of the spoil, it makes itself friends; and when it ceases to do this, it will cease to be the idol of courtiers.'
Every hereditary claim Mr. Paine not only treats as a great absurdity, but as a severe cruelty; as proceeding from a system which, while it aggrandizes one branch of a family, impoverishes all the rest, making them either beggars or pensioners. The younger branches of families thus made needy and dependent, too untaught to pursue a line of industry, and too high-spirited to submit to poverty, throw themselves on the mercy of government, and become either tools or knaves.
Whatever sentiments particular readers may form on some part of this work, there are, we apprehend, in the last chapter, remarks entitled to the serious consideration of all parties, respecting the expences of government, the baneful tendency of charters and corporations—the oppressive nature of our taxes on the poor, arising from the very formation of our government, and our boasted system of representation (which many writers, as well as Mr. Paine, ridicule as fallacious and theoretical or despise as necessarily corruptible, and oppressive)— the progress of taxation in England—the necessary expences of government—and the means of disposing of the surplus taxes.
In remarking on what Mr. Burke said relative to the House of Peers, the following fact is produced, which Mr. Paine calls a fact not to be paralleled in the history of taxation.
P. 100. 'Notwithstanding taxes have encreased and multiplied upon every article of common consumption, the land tax, which more particularly affects this 'pillar' has diminished. In 1788, the amount of the land-tax was 1,950,000
l.
which is half a million less than it produced almost an hundred years ago
'See Sir John Sinclair's History of the Revenue.' The land tax in 1646 was 2,473,499l.
, notwithstanding the rentals are in many instances doubled since that period.
'Before the coming of the Hanoverians, the taxes were divided in nearly èqual proportions between the land and articles of consumption, the land bearing rather the largest share; but since that aera, nearly thirteen millions annually of new taxes have been thrown upon consumption. The consequence of which has been a constant encrease in the number and wretchedness of the poor, and in the amount of the poor-rates. Yet here again the burthens does not fall in equal proportions on the aristocracy with the rest of the community. Their residences, whether in town or country, are not mixed with the habitations of the poor. They live apart from distress, and the expence of relieving it. It is in manufacturing towns and labouring villages that those burthens press the heaviest; in many of which it is one class of poor supporting another.
'Several of the most heavy and productive taxes are so contrived, as to give an exemption to this pillar, thus standing in its own defence. The tax upon beer brewed for sale does not affect the aristocracy, who brew their own beer free of this duty. It falls only on those who have not conveniency or ability to brew, and who must purchase it in small quantities. But what will mankind think of the justice of taxation, when they know, that this tax alone, from which the aristocracy are from circumstances exempt, is nearly equal to the whole of the land-tax, being in the year 1788, and it is not less now, than 1, 666, 152
l.
and with its proportion of the taxes on malt and hops, it exceeds it.—That a single article, thus partially consumed, and that chiefly by the working part, should be subject to a tax, equal to that on the whole rental of a nation, is, perhaps, a fact not to be parelleled in the histories of revenues.'
'The taxes levied by William the Conqueror, beginning in the year 1066, were 400,000
l.
—In the year 1466 they had decreased to 100,000. Five hundred years after the conquest (1566) the annual amount of taxes was 500,000
l.
Annual amount of taxes in 1791, 17,000,000
l.
exclusive of the expence of collection, and the drawbacks, which are nearly 2,000,000
l.
more.' The difference between the first 400 years and the last three, continues Mr. P. is so astonishing as to warrant an opinion that the national character of the English has changed. About 9,000,000
l.
of this sum is appropriated to pay the interest of the national debt.
Mr. Paine supposes, from a variety of circumstances taken together, that the annual expenditure might be fixed at 1,500,000
l.
The surplus of more than 6,000,000
l.
out of the present current expences, he supposes, might be disposed of as follows. The poor rates might be abolished, and in lieu of them a remission of taxes might be made to the poor of double the amount of those rates out of the surplus taxes. By which means the poor would be benefited 20,000
l.
and the housekeepers 20,000
l
This remission he supposes to be applied to the education of poor children, and the support of old people past their labour; to the education of children of a class of people, who, though not strictly poor, are incapable of giving their children education: to the relief of workmen (making the demand) on the birth of a child, and of every new married couple claiming in like manner; and 20.000
l.
to defray the funeral expences of persons who, travelling for work, die at a distance from their friends; 20,000
l.
to what he calls 'a world of little cases,' arising particularly in London. To make up the deficiency, necessary to supply the demand of these cases, he proposes to add 20,000
l.
the tax laid on coals in London, 'so iniquitously and wantonly applied to the support of the Duke of Richmond. The sum of 2,000,000
l.
of the current expences, Mr. Paine wonld apply as follows: 117,000
l.
to the relief of disbanded soldiers; additional pay to the remaining soldiers 19,500
l.
To the officers of the disbanded corps 117,000
l.
to the disbanded navy the same sum, amounting to 253,500
l.
the total 507,000
l.
; he also proposes, that as any part of this half million falls in, part of the taxes may be taken off. There now remain at least one million and an half of surplus taxes: he therefore proposes that the tax on houses and windows may be taken off, amounting to 516, 299
l.
6
s.
0
d.
¼, and the surplus of 10,000
l.
of surplus taxes to be kept in reserve for incidental matters.
In this plan of reform Mr. Paine proposes, that the commutation tax may be taken off, and that there be substituted in its room a tax on estates, so regulated as to destroy the unnatural law of primogeniture, so fruitful of corruptions at elections.
Our author also proposes, that the laws regulating workmens wages should be abolished, and the yet remaining sum of surplus taxes (10000
l.
) he proposes to be applied to increase the salary of the inferior revenue officers, and of the inferior clergy.
Though we have already exceeded the bounds of our review, we cannot avoid transcribing the following passages.
p. 162. 'When a nation changes its opinion and habits of thinking, it is no longer to be governed as before: but it would not only be wrong, but bad policy, to attempt by force what ought to be accomplished by reason. Rebellion consists in forcibly opposing the general will of a nation, whether by a party or by a government. The
e ought, therefore, to be in every nation a method of occasionally ascertaining the state of public opinion with respect to government. On this point the old government of France was superior to the present government of England, because, on extraordinary occasions, recourse could be had to what was then called the States General: But in England there are no such occasional bodies; and as to those who are now called Representatives, a great part of them are mere machines of the court, placemen, and dependants.
'I presume, that though all the people of England pay taxes, not an hundreth part of them are electors, and the members of one of the houses of parliament represent nobody but themselves. There is, therefore, no power but the voluntary will of the people that has a right to act in any matter respecting a general reform; and by the same right that two persons can confer on such a subject, a thousand may. The object, in all such preliminary proceedings, is to find out what the general sense of a nation is, and to be governed by it. If it prefer a bad or defective government to a reform, or chuse to pay ten times more taxes than there is occasion for, it has a right so to do; and so long as the majority do not impose conditions on the minority, different from what they impose on themselves, though there may be much error, there is no injustice. Neither will the error continue long. Reason and discussion will soon bring things to rights, however wrong they may begin. By such a progress no tumult is to be apprehended. The poor, in all countries, are naturally both peaceable and grateful in all reforms in which their interest and happiness is included. It is only by neglecting and rejecting them that they become tumultuous.'
Mr. P. seldom touches upon religion. His reason he assigns as follows:
p. 171. 'I have carefully avoided to enlarge upon the subject, because I am inclined to believe, that what is called the present ministry wish to see contentions about religion kept up, to prevent the nation turning its attention to subjects of government. It is, as if they were to say,
'Look that way, or any way, but this.'
ERSKINE's DEFENCE OF PAINE.
AND THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS,
Continued from Page
182, Vol. II.
THE universal God of nature,—the Saviour of mankind,—the fountain of all light, who came to pluck the world from eternal darkness, expired upon a cross, the scoff of infidel scorn; and his blessed apostles followed him in the train of Martyrs. When he came in the flesh, he might have come like the Mahometan prophet, as a powerful sovereign, and propagated that religion with an unconquerable sword, which even now, after the lapse of ages, is but slowly moving, under the influence of reason, over the face of the earth: But such a process would have been inconsistent with his mission, which was to confound the pride, and to establish the universal rights of men; he came therefore in that lowly state which is represented in the gospel, and preached his consolations to the poor.
When the foundation of this religion was discovered to be invulnerable and immortal, we had political power taking the church into partnership; thus began the corruptions both of religion and civil power, and, hand in hand together, what havock have they not made in the world; ruling by ignorance and the persecution of truth; but this very persecution only hastened the revival of letters and liberty, which was to destroy the one, and to raise up the other. Nay, you will find, that in the exact proportion that knowledge and learning have been beat down and fettered, they have destroyed the governments that bound them. The court of Star-chamber, the first restriction of the press in England, was erected, previous to all the great changes in the constitution. From that moment no man could legally write without an imprimatur from the state; but truth and freedom found their way with greater force through secret channels, and the unhappy Charles, unwarned by a free press, was brought to an ignominious death.
When men can freely communicate their thoughts and their sufferings, real or imaginary, their passions spend themselves in air, like gunpowder scattered upon the surface; but pent up by terrors, they work unfeen, like subterraneous fire, burst forth in earthquake, and destroy every thing in their course. Let reason be opposed to reason, and argument to argument, and every good government will be safe.
The usurper, Cromwell, pursued the same system of restraint in support of his government, and the end of it speedily followed.
At the restoration of Charles the Second, the Star-chamber ordinance of 1637, was worked up into an act of Parliament, and was followed up during that reign, and the short one that followed it, by the most sanguinary prosecutions; but what fact in history is more notorious, than that this blind and contemptible policy prepared and hastened on the revolution. At that great aera these cobwebs were all brushed away: The freedom of the press was regenerated, and the country, ruled by its affections, has since enjoyed a century of tranquility and glory.—Thus I have maintained, by English history, that in proportion as the press has been free, English government has been secure.
Gentlemen, I will now support the same important truth by very great authorities. Upon a subject of this kind, resort cannot be had to law-cases. The ancient law of England know nothing of such libels; they began, and should have ended with the Star-chamber. What writings are slanderous of individuals must be looked for where these prosecutions are recorded; but upon general subjects we must go to general writers. If indeed, I were to refer to obscure authors, I might be answered, that my very authorities were libels, instead of justifications or examples; but this cannot be said with effect of great men, whose works are classics in our language, taught in our schools, and printed under the eye of government.
Gentlemen, I shall begin with the poet Milton, a great authority in all learning.—It may be said, indeed, he was a republican, but that would only prove that REPUBLICANISM IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH VIRTUE; it may be said too, that the work which I cite was written against previous licencing, which is not contended for to-day. But in my opinion, if every work is to be adjudged a libel, which is adverse to the wishes of government, or to the opinions of those who may try it, the revival of a licencer would be a security to the public: For, if I present my book to a magistrate appointed by law, if he rejects it, I have only to forbear from the publication, and in the forbearance I am safe; and he too is answerable for the abuse of his authority. But, upon the argument of to-day, a man must print at his peril, without any guide to the principles of judgment, upon which his work may be afterwards prosecuted and condemned. Milton's argument therefore applies, and was meant to apply, to every interruption to writing, which, while they oppress the individual, endanger the state.
"We have them not," says Milton,
that can be heard of, from any ancient state, or polity, or church, nor by any statute left us by our ancestors, elder or later, nor from the modern custom of any reformed city, abroad; but from the most antichristian council, and the most tyrannous inquisition that ever existed. Till then, books were ever as freely admitted into the world as any other birth;
the issue of the brain was no more stifled than the issue of the womb.
To the pure all things are pure; not only meats and drinks, but all kind of knowledge, whether good or evil; the knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will and conscience be not defiled.
Bad books serve in many respects to discover, to confuse, to forewarn, and to illustrate. Whereof what better witness can we expect I should produce, than one of your own, now sitting in Parliament, the chief of learned men reputed in this land,
Mr, Selden;
whose volume of natural and national laws proves, not only by great authorities brought together, but by exquisite reasons and theorems, almost mathematically demonstrative, that all opinions. yea errors, known, read, and collated, are of main service and assistance toward the speedy attainment of what is truest.
Opinions and understanding are not such wares as to be monopolized and traded in by tickets and statutes, and standards. We must not think to make a staple commodity of all the knowledge in the land, to mark and licence it, like our broad-cloth, and our wool-packs.
Nor is it to the common people less than a reproach; for if we be so jealous over them, that we cannot trust them with an English pamphlet, what do we but censure them, for a giddy, vicious, and ungrounded people; in such a sick and weak estate of faith and discretion, as to be able to take nothing down but through the pipe of a licencer. That this is care or love of them we cannot pretend.
Those corruptions which it seeks to prevent, break in faster at doors which cannot be shut.
To prevent men thinking and acting for themselves, by restraints on the press, is like to the exploits of the gallant man, who, thought to pound up the crows by shutting his park gate.
This obstructing violence meets for the most part with an event, utterly opposite to the end which it drives at: instead of suppressing books, it raises them and invests them with a reputation: the punishment of wits enhances their authority, saith the viscount St. Albans; and a forbidden writing is thought to be a certain spark of truth, that flies up in the face of them who seek to tread it out.
He then adverts to his visit to the famous Galileo, whom he found and visited in the inquisition,
for not thinking in astronomy with the Franciscan and Dominican monks.
And what event ought more deeply to interest and affect us. The very laws of nature were to bend under the rod of a licencer; this illustrious astronomer ended his life within the bars of a prison, because, in seeing the phases of Venus through his newly invented telescope, he pronounced, that she shone with borrowed light, and from the sun as the center: that sun which now inhabits it upon the foundation of mathematical truth, which enables us to travel the pathless ocean, and to carry our line and rule amongst other worlds, which but for Galileo we had never known, perhaps even to the recesses of an infinite and immortal God.
Milton then, in the most eloquent address to the parliament, puts the Liberty of the Press on its true and most honourable foundation.
Believe it Lords and Commons, they who counsel ye to such a suppressing of books, do as good as bid you suppress yourselves; and I will soon shew how.
If it be desired to know the immediate cause of all this free writing and free speaking, there cannot be assigned a truer than your own mild, and free, and humane government; it is the liberty, lords and commons, which your own valourous and happy counsels have purchased us; liberty which is the nurse of all great wits: this is that which hath rarified and enlightened our spirits like the influence of Heaven; this is that which hath enfranchised, enlarged and lifted up our apprehensions, degrees above themselves. Ye cannot make us now less able, less knowing, less eagerly pursuing the truth, unless ye first make yourselves, that made us so less the lovers less the founders of our true liberty. We can grow ignorant again, brutish formal and slavish, as ye found us; but ye then must become that which ye cannot be, oppressive, arbitrary and tyrannous, as they were from whom ye freed us. That our hearts are now more capacious, our thoughts now more erected to the search and expectation of greatest and exactest things, is the issue of your own virtue propagated in us. Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
Gentlemen, I will now refer you to another author, whose opinion you may think more in point, as having lived in our own times, and as holding the highest monarchical principles of government. I speak of Mr. Hume, who, nevertheless, considers, that this liberty of the press extends not only to abstract speculation, but to keep the public on their guard against all the acts of their government.
After shewing the advantages of a monarchy to public freedom, provided it is duly controlled and watched by the popular part of the constitution; lie says,
These principles account for the great liberty of the press in these kingdoms, beyond what is indulged in any other government. It is apprehended, that arbitrary power would steal in upon us, were we not careful to prevent its progress, and were there not an easy method of conveying the alarm from one end of the kingdom to the other.
The spirit of the people must frequently be roused, in order to curb the ambition of the court;
and the dread of rousing this spirit must be employed to prevent that ambition. Nothing is so effectual to this purpose, as the liberty of the press, by which all the learning, wit, and genius of the nation, may be employed on the side of freedom; and every one be animated to its defence.
As long, therefore, as the republican part of our government can maintain itself against the monarchical, it will naturally be careful to keep the press open, as of importance to its own preservation.
There is another authority co-temporary with the last, a splendid speaker in the upper House of Parliament, and who held during most of his time high offices under the king; I speak of the Earl of Chesterfield, who thus expressed himself in the House of Lords:—
One of the greatest blessings, my lords, we enjoy, is liberty; but every good in this life has its alloy of evil—licentiousness is the alloy of liberty, it is.
—
Lord Kenyon.
Doctor Johnson claims to pluck that feather from Lord Chesterfield's wing; he speaks, I believe, of the eye of the political body.
Mr. Erskine.
Gentlemen, I have heard it said, that Lord Chesterfield borrowed that which I was just about to state, and which his lordship has anticipated.
Lord Kenyon.
That every speech which did Lord Chesterfield so much honour, is supposed to have been written by Doctor Johnson.
Mr. Erskine.
Gentlemen, I believe it was so, and I am much obliged to his lordship for giving me a far higher authority for my doctrine. For though Lord Chesterfield was a man of great ingenuity and wit, he was undoubtedly far inferior in learning and in monarchical opinion, to the celebrated writer to whom my lord has now delivered the work by his authority. Doctor Johnson then says,
One of the greatest blessings we enjoy, one of the greatest blessings a people, my lords, can enjoy, is liberty; but every good in this life has its alloy of evil: Licentiousness is the alloy of liberty; it is an ebullition, and excrescence; it is a speck upon the eye of the political body, which I can never touch but with a gentle, with trembling hand, left I destroy the body, lest I injure the eye upon which it is apt to appear.
There is such a connection between licentiousness and liberty, that it is not easy to correct the one, without dangerously wounding the other; it is extremely hard to distinguish the true limit between them; like a changeable silk, we can easily see there are two different colours, but we cannot easily discover where the one ends, or where the other begins.
I confess, I cannot help agreeing with this learned author. The da
ger of touching the press is the difficulty of marking its limits. My learned friend, who has just gone out of court, has drawn no line, and unfolded no principle. He has not told us, if this book is condemned, what book may be written. If I may not write against the existence of monarchy, and recommend a republic, may I write against any part of the government? May I say that we should be better without a House of Lords, or a House of Commons, or a Court of Chancery, or any other given part of our establishment? Or if, as has been hinted, a work may become libellous for stating even regal matter with sarcastic phrase, the difficulty becomes the greater, and the liberty of the press more impossible to define.
The same author pursuing the subject, and speaking of the fall of Roman liberty, says,
But this sort of liberty came soon after to be called licentiousness; for we are told that Augustus, after having established his empire, restored order in Rome, by restraining licentiousness. God forbid we should in this country have order restored, or licentiousness restrained, at so dear a rate as the people of Rome paid for it to Augustus.
Let us consider, my lords. that arbitrary power has seldom, or never been introduced into any country at once. It must be introduced by slow degrees, and 2s is were step by step, lest the people should see its approach. The barriers and fences of the people's liberty, must be plucked one by one, and some plausible pretences must be found for removing or hoodwinking, one after another, those centries who are posted by the constitution of a free country, for warning the people of their danger. When these preparatory steps are once made, the people may then, indeed, with regret, see slavery and arbitrary power making long strides over their land; but it will be too late to think of preventing or avoiding the impending ruin.
The stage, my lords, and the press, are two of our out-sentries; if we remove them, if we hoodwink them, if we throw them in fetters, the enemy may surprize us.
Gentlemen, this subject was still more lately put in the justest and most forcible light, by a noble person high in the magistracy; and whose mind is not at all turned to the introduction of disorder by improper popular excesses: I mean Lord Loughborough, chief justice of the court of common pleas. I believe I can answer for the correctness of my note, which I shall follow up with the opinion of another member of the Lord's House of Parliament; the present Earl of Stanhope; or rather, I shall take Lord Stanhope first, as his lordship introduces the subject by adverting to this argument of Lord Loughborough's. "If," says his lordship,
our boasted liberty of the press, were to consist only in the liberty to write in praise of the constitution, this is a liberty enjoyed under many arbitrary governments. I suppose it would not be deemed quite an unpardonable offence, even by the Empress of Russia, if any man were to take into his head to write a panegvric upon the Russian form of government. Such a liberty as that might therefore properly be termed,
the Russian liberty of the press.
But
the English liberty of the press,
is of a very different description; for, by the law of England, it is not prohibited to publish speculative works upon the constitution,
whether they contain praise or censure:
Lord Stanhope's defence of the libel bill.
You see therefore, as far as the general principle goes, I am supported by the opinion of Lord Stanhope, for otherwise the noble lord has written a libel himself, by exciting other people to write
whatever they may think,
be it good or evil, of the constitution of the country. As to the other high authority, Lord Loughborough, I will read what applies to this subject—'Every man' said Lord Loughbourough,
may publish at his discretion his opinions concerning forms and systems of government.
If they be wise and enlightening, the world will gain by them; if they be weak and absurd, they will be laughed at and forgotten, and, if they be
bona side,
they cannot be criminal, however erroneous. On the other hand, the purpose and the direction may give a different turn to writings, whose common construction is harmless, or even meritorious. Suppose men, assembled in disturbance of the peace, to pull down mills or turnpikes, or to do any other mischief, and that a mischievous person should disperse among them, an excitation to the planned mischief known to be both writer and reader,
To your tents, O Israel!
that publication would be criminal. But how criminal? not as a libel, not as an abstract writing, but as an act; and the act being the crime
it must be stated as af act extrinfic on the record:
for, otherwise, a court of error could have no jurisdiction, but over the natural construction of the writing: nor would the defendant have any notice of such matter at the trial, without a charge on the record. To give the jury cognizance of any matter beyond the construction of the writing, the averrment, should be in the case as I have instanced, that certain persons were, as I have described, assembled; and that the publisher, intending to execute these persons so assembled, wrote
so and so.
Here the crime is complete, and consists in an overt-act of wickedness evidenced by a writing.
In answer to all these authorities, the attorney general may say, that, if Mr Paine had written his observations with the views of those high persons and under their circumstances, he would be protected and acquitted: to which I can only answer, that no facts or circumstances attending his work are either charged or proved; that you have no jurisdiction whatever but over the natural construction of the work before you, and that I am therefore brought without a flaw in the deduction to the passages which are the particular subject of complaint.
Gentlemen, I am come now to observe on the passages selected by the information; and with regard to the first I shall dispose of it in a moment.
All
hereditary
government is in its nature tyranny. An hereditable crown, or an hereditable throne, or by what other fanciful name such things may be called, have no other significant explination than that mankind, are hereditable
property.
To inherit a government, is to
inherit the people,
as if they were flocks and herds.
And is it to be endured, says the attorney general, that the people of this country are to be told that they are driven like oxen or sheep? Certainly not. I am of opinion that a more dangerous doctrine cannot be instilled into the people of England. But who instills such a doctrine? I deny it is instilled by Paine. For when he maintains that hereditary monarchy inherits a people like flocks and herds, it is clear from the context
(which is kept out of view,)
that he is combating the proposition in Mr. Burke's book, which asserts, that the hereditary monarchy of England is fastened upon the people of England by indissoluble compact. Mr. Paine, on the contrary, asserts the King of England te be the
magistrate of the people,
existing by their consent, which is utterly incompatable with their being driven like herds His argument, therefore, is this, and it retorts on his adversary: he says, such a king as you represent the King of England to be, inheriting the people by virtue of conquest, or of some compact, which, having once existed, cannot be disolved while the original terms of it are kept,
is an inheritance like flocks and herds.
But I deny that to be the King of England's title, he is
the magistrate of the people,
and that title I respect. It is to your own imaginary King of England therefore, and not to his majesty, that your unsounded innuendos apply. It is the monarchs of Russia and Prussia, and all governments fastened upon unwilling subjects by hereditary indefeasible titles, that are stigmatised by Paine, as inheriting the people like flocks. The sentence, therefore, must either be taken in the pure abstract, and then it is not only merely speculative, but the application of it to our own government fails altogether, or it must be taken connected with the matter which constitutes the application, and then it is Mr. Burke's King of England, and not his majesty whose title is denied.
I pass therefore to the next passage, which appears to be an extraordinary selection. It is taken at a leap from page 21, to page 47, and breaks in at the words, "This convention." The sentence selected stands thus,
This convention met at philadelphia in May 1787, of which General Washington was elected president. He was not at that time connected with any of the state governments, or with congress. He delivered up his commission when the war ended, and since then had lived a private citizen.
The convention went deeply into all the subjects, and having after a variety of debate and investigation, agreed among themselves upon the several parts of a federal constitution, the next question was, the manner of giving it authority and practice.
For this purpose, they did not like a cabal of courtiers, send for a Dutch stadtholder, or a German elector; but they referred the whole matter to the sense and interest of the country.
The sentence, standing thus by itself, may appear to be a mere sarcasm on King William, upon those who effected the revolution; and upon the revolution itself, without any reasoning or deduction: But when the context and sequel are looked at and compared, it will appear to be a serious historical comparison between the revolution effected in England in 1688, and the late one in America when she established her independence; and no man can doubt that his judgment on that comparison was sincere. But where is the libel on the constitution? For whether King William was brought over here by the sincerest and justest motives of the whole people of England, each man acting for himself, or through the motives and agencies imputed by the defendant, it signifies not one farthing at this time of day to the establishment itself. Blackstone warns us not to fix our obedience or affection to the government on the motives of our ancestors, or the rectitude of their reasonings, but to be satisfied that it is established. This is safe reasoning, and for my own part, I shall not be differently affected to the constitution of my country, which my own understanding approved, whether angels or demons had given it birth.
Do any of you love the reformation the less because Henry the Eighth was the author of it? Or because lust and poverty, and not religion, were his motives. He had squandered the treasures of his father, and he preferred Anne Bullen to his queen: these were the causes which produced it. What then! does that affect the purify of our reformed religion, undermine its establishment, or shake the king's title as prince of the country, to the exclusion of those who held by the religion it had abolished? Will the attorney general affirm, that I could be convicted of a libel for a whole volume of asperity against Henry the Eighth,
rely because he effected the reformation; and if not, why against King William, who effected the revolution? Where is the line to be drawn? Is one, two, or three centuries to be statute of limitation. But do not our own historians detail this very cabal of courtiers, from the records of our own country? If you will turn to Hume's history, volume the eighth, page
88, &c. &c. you will find that he states at great length, the whole detail of intrigues which paved the way for the revolution and the interested coalition of parties which gave it effect.
But what of all this, concerning the motives of parties, which is recorded by Hume. The question is,
what is the thing brought about,—Not
HOW it was brought about. If it stand as Blackstone argues it, upon the consent of our ancestors, followed up by our own, no individual can withdraw his obedience. If he dislikes the establishment, let him seek elsewhere for another; I am not contending for uncontroled
conduct,
but for freedom of
opinion.
With regard to what has been stated of the
Edwards,
and
Henries.
and the other princes under which the author can only discover
restrictions on power, but nothing of a constitution:
surely my friend is not in earnest when he selects that as a libel.
Paine insists, that there was no constitution under those princes, and that English liberty was obtained from usurped power by the struggles of the people. SO SAY I. And I think it for the honour and advantage of the country that it should be known. Was there any freedom after the original establishment of the Normans by conquest? Was not the MAGNA CHARTA
rested from John by open force of arms at Runnymead? Was it not again re-enacted whilst menacing arms were in the hands of the people? Were not its stipulations broken through, and two and forty times reenacted by parliament, upon the firm demand of the people in the following reigns? I protest it fills me with astonishment to hear these truths brought in question.
I was formerly called upon under the discipline of a college to maintain them, and was rewarded for being thought to have successfully maintained, that our present constitution was by no means a remnant of Saxon liberty, nor any other institution of liberty, but the pure consequence of the oppression of the Norman tenures, which spreading the spirit of freedom from one end of the kingdom to the other, enabled our brave fathers, inch by inch, not to re-conquer,
but for the first time to obtain
those privileges which are the unalienable inheritance of all mankind.
But why do we speak of the Edwards and Henries, when Hume himself expressly says, notwithstanding all we have heard to-day of the antiquity of our constitution, that our monarchy was nearly absolute till the middle of last century. I have his book in court, and will read it to you. It is his essay on the liberty of the press. Vol. 1. page 15.
All absolute governments, and such in great measure was England, till the middle of the last century,
notwithstanding the numerous panegyrics on
ANCIENT
English liberty,
must very much depend on the administration.
This is Hume's opinion; the conclusion of a grave historian from all that he finds recorded as the materials for history: and shall it be said that Mr. Paine is to be punished for writing to-day what was before written by another, who is now a distinguished classic in the language? All the verdicts in the world will not make that palateable to an impartial public, or to posterity,
The next passage arrained is this: P. 56.
The attention of the government of England, (for I rather chuse to call it by this name, than the English government) appears, since its political connection with Germany, to have been so completely engrossed and absorbed by foreign affairs, and the means of raising taxes, that it seems to exist for no other purposes. Domestic concerns are neglected; and with respect to regular law, there is no such a thing.
That the government of this country is, in consequence of its connection with the continent, and the continental wars which it has occasioned, been continually loaded with grievous taxes, no man can dispute; and I appeal to your justice, whether this subject has not been, for years together, the constant topic of unreproved declamation and grumbling?
As to what he says with regard to there hardly being such a thing as regular law, he speaks in the abstract of the complexity of our system; but does not arraign the administration of justice
in its practice.
But with regard to criticisms and strictures on the general system▪ it has been echoed over and over again, by various authors; and even from the pulpits of our country, that the law of the land is mainly defective, devoid of regularity and precision, and overloaded with a variety of expensive and unnecessary forms. I have a sermon in court written during the American war, by a person of great eloquence and piety, part of which I will read to you on this subject, in which he looks forward to an exemption from the intolerable grievances of our old legal system in the infant establishment of the new world.
It may be in the purposes of providence, on you western shores, to raise the bulwark of a purer reformation than ever Britain patronized; to found a less burthen some, more auspicious, stable, and incorruptible government than ever Britain has enjoyed; and to establish there a system of law more just and simple in its principles, less intricate, dubious and dilatory in its proceedings, more mild and equitable in its sanctions, more easy and more certain in its execution; wherein no man can err through ignorance of what concerns him, or want justice through poverty or weakness, or escape it by legal artifice, or civil privileges, or interposing power; wherein the rule of conduct shall not be hidden or disguised in the language of principles and customs that died with the barbarism which gave them birth; wherein hasty formulas shall not dissipate the reverence that is due to the tribunals and transactions of justice; wherein obsolete prescripts shall not pervert, nor entangle, nor impede the administration of it, nor in any instance expose it to derision or to disregard; wherein misrepresentation shall have no share in desiding upon right and truth; and under which no man shall grow great by the wages of chicanery, or thrive by the quarrels that are ruinous to his employers.
This is ten times stronger than Mr. Paine; but who ever thought of prosecuting Mr. Cappe?
In various other instances you will find defects in our jurisprudence. pointed out and lamented, and not seldom by persons called upon by their situations to deliver the law in the seat of magistracy, therefore, the authors
general
observation does not appear to be that species of attack upon the magistracy of the country as to fall within the description of a libel.
With respect to the two houses of parliament, I believe I shall be able to shew you that the very person who introduced this controversy, and who certainly is considered by those who now administer the government, as a man usefully devoted to maintain the constitution of the country in the present crisis, has himself made remarks upon these assemblies; that upon comparison you will think more severe than those which are the subject of the attorney general's animadversion. The passage in Mr. Paine runs thus.
With respect to the
two houses,
of which the English Parliament is composed, they appear to be effectually influenced into one, and, as a legislature, to have no temper of its own. The minister, who ever he at any time may be, touches it as with an opium wand, and it sleeps obedidence.
But if we look at the distinct abilities of the two houses, the difference will appear so great, as to shew the inconsistency of placing power where there can be no certainty of the judgment to use it. Wretched as the state of representation is in England, it is manhood compared with what is called the House of Lords; and so little is this nick-named house regarded, that the people scarcely enquire at any time what it is doing. It appears also to be most under influence, and the furthest removed from the general interest of the nation.
The conclusion of the sentence, and which was meant by Paine as the evidence of the previous assertion, the attorney general has omitted in the information, and in his speech, it is this:
In the debate on engaging in the Russian and Turkish war, the majority in the House of Peers in favour of it, was upwards of ninety, when in the other house, which is more than double its numbers, the majority was sixty three.
The terms, however, in which Mr. Burke speaks of the House of Lords, are still more expressive.
It is something more than a century ago, since we voted the House of Lords useless. They have now voted themselves so, and the whole hope of reformation
(
speaking of the House of Commons
"is cast upon us." This sentiment, Mr. Burke not only expressed in his place in parliament, where no man can call him to an account; but it has been since, repeatedly printed amongst his other valuable works. And his opinion of BOTH THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, which I am about to read to you, was originally published as a pamphlet, and applied to the settled abuses of these high assemblies. Remember, I do not use them as
argumenta ad hominem,
or
ad invidiam
against the author, for if I did, it could be no defence of Mr. Paine. But I use them as high authority, the work [
Mr. Burke's thoughts on the cause of the present discontent, published in
1775] having been the just foundation of substantial and lasting reputation. Would to God that any part of it were capable of being denied or doubted.
Against the being of parliament, I am satisfied no designs have ever been entertained since the revolution. Every one must perceive that it is strongly the interest of the court to have some second cause interposed between the ministers and the people. The gentlemen of the House of Commons have an interest equally strong, in sustaining the part of that intermediate cause. However they may hire out the
usufruct
of their voices, they never will part with the
fee
and
inheritance.
Accordingly those who have been of the most known devotion to the will and pleasure of a court, have at the same time been most forward in asserting an high authority in the House of Commons.
When they knew who were to use that authority, and how it was to be employed, they thought it never could be carried to far.
It must be always the wish of an unconstitutional statesman, that an House of Commons,
who are entirely dependant upon him, should have every right of the people dependant on their pleasure.
FOR IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE FORMS OF A FREE AND THE ENDS OF AN ARBITRARY GOVERNMENT, WERE THINGS NOT ALTOGETHER INCOMPATABLE.
The power of the crown almost dead and rotten as prerogative, has grown up a new, with much more strength, and far less odium, under the name of
influence.
An influence which operates without noise and violence; which converts the very antagonist into the instrument of power; which contains in itself a perpetual principle of growth and renovation; and which the distresses and the pro
perity of the country equally tend to augment, w
an admirable substitute for a prerogative, that being only the offspring of antiquated prejudices, had moulded in its original stamina irresistable principles of decay and dissolution. The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for a temporary system; but the interest of active men in the state is a foundation perpetual and infallible.
Mr. Burke therefore, in page 66, speaking of the same court party, says:
Parliament was indeed the great object of all these politics, the end at which they aimed, as well as the INSTRUMENT by which they were to operate.
And pursuing the subject in page 70, proceeds as follows:
They who will not confirm their conduct to the public good, and cannot support it by the prerogative of the crown have adopted a new plan. They have totally abandoned the shattered and old-fashioned fortress of prerogative, and made a lodgment in the strong hold of parliament itself. If they have any evil design to which there is no ordinary legal power commensurate, they bring it into parliament.
There the whole is executed from the beginning to the end. And the power of obtaining their object absolute; and the safety in the proceeding perfect; no rules to confine nor after reckonings to terrify,
For parliament cannot with any propriety punish others for things in which they themselves have been ACCOMPLICES.
Thus its controul upon the executory power is lost; because it is made to partake in every considerable act of government,
and imp
achment, that great guardian of the purity of the constitution, is in danger of being lost even to the idea of it.
Until this time, the opinion of the people, through the power of an assembly; still in some sort popular, led to the greatest honours and emoluments in the gift of the crown. Now the principle is reversed; and the favour of the court is the only sure way of obtaining and holding those honours which ought to be IN THE DISPOSAL OF THE PEOPLE.
Mr. Burke, in page 100, observes with great truth, that the mischiefs he complained of, did not at all arise from the monarchy, but from the parliament, and that it was the duty of the people to look to it. He says,
The distempers of monarchy were the great subjects of apprehension and redress, in the
last century; in this,
the distempers of parliament.
Not the distempers of parliament in this year or the last, but in
this century,
i. e. its settled habitual distemper.
It is not in parliament alone that the remedy for parliamentary disorders can be completed; and hardly indeed can it begin there. Until a confidence in government is re-established, the people ought to be
excited
to a more strict and detailed attention to the conduct of their representatives. Standards for judging more systematically upon their conduct, ought to be settled in the meetings of counties and corporations, and frequent and correct lists of the voters in all important questions ought to be procured.
By such means something may be done, since it may appear who those are, that by an indiscriminate support of all administrations, have totally banished all integrity and confidence out of public proceedings; have confounded the best men with the worst; and weakened and dissolved, instead of strengthening and compacting the general frame of government.
I wish it was possible to read the whole of this most important volume—but the consequences of these truths contained in it were all eloquently summed up by the author in his speech upon the reform of the household.
But what I confess was uppermost with me, what I bent the whole course of my mind to, was the reduction of that
corrupt influence
which is itself the perennial spring of all prodigality and disorder; which load us more than millions of debt; which takes away vigour from our arms, wisdom from our councils, and every shadow of authority and credit from the most venerable parts of our constitution.
The same important truths were held out to the whole public, upon a still later occasion, by the person now at the head of his majesty's councils; and so high (as it appears) in the confidence of the nation.
He,
not in the abstract like the author before you, but upon the spur of the occasion, and in the teeth of what had been just declared in the House of Commons, came to, and acted upon resolutions which are contained in this book.
(Mr. Erskine took up a book.)
Resolutions pointed to the purification of a parliament, dangerously corrupted into the very state described by Mr. Paine. Remember here too, that I impute no censure to Mr, Pitt. It was the most brilliant passage in his life, and I should have thought his life a better one, if he had continued uniform in the support of opinions, which it is said he has not changed, and which certainly have had nothing to change them. But at all events, I have a right to make use of the authority of his splended talents and situation, not merely to protect the defendant, but the public, and to resist the precedent, that one man may do in England with approbation and glory, what shall conduct another man to a pillory or a prison.
It was the abuses pointed out by the man before you, that led that right honourable gentleman to associate with many others of high rank, under the banners of the Duke of Richmond, whose name stands at the head of the list, and to pass various public resolutions, concerning the absolute necessity of purifying the House of Commons; and we collect the plan from a preamble entered in the book.
Whereas the life, liberty and property of every man is or may be affected by the law of the land in which he lives, and every man is bound to pay obedience to the same.
And whereas, by the constitution of this kingdom, the right of making laws is vested in three estates, of king, lords, and commons, in parliament assembled, and the consent of all the three said estates, comprehending the whole community, is necessary to make laws to bind the whole community. And whereas the House of Commons represents all the commons of the realm, and the consent of the House of Commons binds the consent of all the commons of the realm, and in all cases on which the legislature is competent to decide.
And whereas no man is, or can be actually represented who hath not a vote in the election of his representative.
And whereas it is the right of every commone of this realm (infants, persons of insane mind, and criminals incapacitated by law, only excepted) to have a vote in the election of the representative, who is to give his consent to the making of laws by which he is to be bound.
And whereas the number of persons who are sufl
red to vote for electing the members of the House of Commons, do not at this time amount to one
x
h part of the whole commons of this real
whereby far the greater part of the said commons are
eprived of their right to elect their representatives; and the consent of the majority of the whole community to the passing of laws, is given by persons whom they have not delegated for such purposes; and the majority of the said community, and to which the said majority have not in fact consented by themselves or by their representatives.
And whereas the state of election of members of the House of Commons, hath in process of time so grossly deviated from its simple and natural principle of representation and equality, and that in several places, the members are returned by the property of one man; that the smallest boroughs send as many members as the largest counties, and that a majority of the representatives of the whole nation are chosen by a number of votes not exceeding twelve thousand.
These with many others, were published, not as abstract, speculative writings, but within a few days after the House of Commons had declared that no such rights existed, and that no alteration was necessary in the representation. It was then that they met at the thatched-house, and published their opinions and resolutions to the country at large.—Were any of them prosecuted for these proceedings? Certainly not, (for they were legal proceedings.) But I desire you as men of honour and truth, to compare all this with Mr. Paine's expression of minister's touching parliament with his opiate wand, and let equal justice be done—that is all I ask—LET ALL BE PUNISHED, OR NONE—do not let Mr. Paine be held out to the contempt of the public, upon the score of his observations on parliament, while others are enjoying all the sweets which attend a supposed attachment to their country, who have said the same things, and reduced their opinions to practice.
But now every man is to be cried down for such opinions. I observed that my learned friend significantly raised his voice in naming Mr. Horne Tooke, as if to connect him with Paine, or Paine with him. This is exactly the same course of justice; for after all he said nothing of Mr. Tooke. What could he have said, but that he was a subscriber with the great names, I have read in these proceedings which they have thought fit to desert.
Gentlemen, let others hold their opinions and change them at their pleasure; I shall ever maintain it to be the dearest privilege of the people of Great Britain to watch over every thing that affects their good government, either in the system, or in the practice; and that for this purpose the press must be free. It has always been so, and much evil has been corrected by it.—If government finds itself annoyed by it, let it examine its own conduct, and it will find the cause,—let it amend it, and it will find the remedy.
Gentlemen, I am no friend to sarcasms in the discussion of grave subjects, but you must take writers according to the view of the mind at the moment; Mr. Burke as often as any body indulges it;—hear his reason in his speech on reform, for not taking away the salaries from lords who attend upon the British court. "You would," said he,
have the court deserted by all the nobility of the kingdom.
Sir, the most serious mischiefs would follow from such a desertion. Kings are naturally lovers of low company; they are so elevated above all the rest of mankind, that they must look upon all the irsubjects as on a level; tbey are rather apt to hate than to love their nobility, on account of the occasional resistance to their will, which will be made by their virtue, their petulance, or their pride. It must indeed be admited, that many of the nobility are as perfectly willing to act the part of flatterers, tale-bearers, parasites, pimps, and buffoons, as any of the lowest and vilest of mankind can possibly be. But they are not properly qualified for this object of their ambition. The want of a regular education, and early habits, with some lurking remains of their dignity, will never permit them to become a match for an Italian eunuch, a mountebank, a fidler, a player, or any regular practitioner of that tribe. The Roman Emperors, almost from the beginning, threw themselves into such hands; and the mischief increased every day, till its decline, and its final ruin. It is, therefore, of very great importance (provided the thing is not overdone,) to contrive such an establishent as must, almost whether a prince will or not, bring into daily and hourly offices about his person, a great number of his first nobility; and it is rather an useful prejudice that gives them a pride in such a servitude: though they are not much the better for a court, a court will be much the better for them. I have, therefore, not attempted to reform any of the offices of honour about the king's person.
What is this, but saying that a king is an animal so incurably addicted to low company, as generally to bring on by it the ruin of nations; but nevertheless, he is to be kept as a necessary evil, and his propensities bridled by surrounding him with a parcel of miscreants still worse if possible, but better than those he would choose for himself. This therefore, if taken by itself, would be a most abominable and libellous sarcasm on kings and nobility: but look at the whole speech, and you observe a great system of regulation; and no man, I believe, ever doubted Mr. Burke's attachment to monarchy. To judge, therefore, of any part of a writing, the whole must be read.
With the same view, I mean to read to you, the beginning of Harrington's Oceana: but it is impossible to name this well known author without exposing to just contempt and ridicule, the ignorant or profligate misrepresentations which are vomited forth upon the public, to bear down every man as desperately wicked, who in any age or country has countenanced a republic, for the mean purpose of prejudging this trial.
Is this the way to support the English constitution? Are these the means by which Englishmen are to be taught to cherish it? I say, if the man upon trial were stained with blood instead of ink, if he were covered over with crimes which human nature would start at the naming of, the means employed against him would not be the less disgraceful.
For this notable purpose then, Harrington not above a week ago, was handed out to us as a low, obscure wretch, involved in the murder of the monarch, and the destruction of the monarchy, and as addressing his despicable works at the shrine of an usurper. Yet this very Harrington, this low blackguard, was descended (you may see his pedigree at the Herald's-office for sixpence,) from eight dukes, three marquisses, seventy earls, twenty-seven viscounts, and thirty-six barons, sixteen of whom were knights of the garter; a descent which I think would save a man from disgrace in any of the circles of Germany. But what was he besides?—A BLOOD-STAINED RUFFIAN? Oh; brutal ignorance of the history of the country. He was the most affectionate servant of Charles the First, from whom he never concealed his opinions; for it is observed by Wood, that the king greatly aflected his company; but when they happened to talk of a common-wealth, he would scarce endure it.—'I know not,' says Toland,
which most to commend; the king for trusting an honest man, though a republican; or Harrington for owning his principles while he served a king.
But did his opinions affect his conduct? Let history again answer.—He preserved his fidelity to his unhappy prince to the very last, after all his fawning courtiers had left him to his enraged subjects. He staid with him while a prisoner in the Isle of Wight, came up by stealth to follow the fortunes of his monarch and master; even hid himself in the boot of the coach when he was conveyed to Windsor; and ending as he began, fell into his arms and fainted on the scaffold.
After Charles's death, the Oceana was written, and, as if it were written from justice and aff
ction to his memory: for it breathes the same noble and spirited regard, and asserts that it was not Charles that brought on the destruction of the monarchy, but the feeble and ill-constituted nature of monarchy itself.
But the book was a flattery to Cromwell.—Once more and finally let history decide.
It was seized by the usurper as a libel, and the way it was recovered was remarkable. I mention it to shew that Cromwell was a wise man in himself, and knew on what government must stand for their
rt.
Harrington waited on his daughter to beg for his book
nd on entering her apartment, snatched up her child and r
n away.—On her following him with surprize an terror, he turned to her and said
I know what you feel as a mother, feel then for me; your father has got my child:
meaning the oceana. The Oceana was afterwards restored on her petition; Cromwell answering with the sagacity of a sound politician,
Let him have his book; if my government is made to stand, it has nothing to fear from PAPER SHOT.
—He said true.—No good government will ever be battered with paper shot. Montesquieu says that In a free nation, it matters not whether individuals reason well or ill; it is sufficient that they do reason. Truth arises from the collision, and from hence springs liberty, which is a security from the effect of reasoning.
The attorney general read extracts from Mr. Adams's Answer to this book. Let others do like Mr. Adams: I am not insisiting upon the infallibility of Mr. Paine's doctrines: if they are erroneous, let them be answered, and truth will spring from the collision.
A disposition in a nation to this species of controversy, is no proof of sedition or degeneracy, but quite the reverse, as is mentioned by Milion, [I omitted to cite the passage with the others] who in speaking of this subject, rises into that inexpressible sublime stile of writing, wholly peculiar to himself. He was indeed no plagiary from any thing human: he looked up for light and expression, as he himself wonderfully describes it, by devout prayer to that great being, who is the source of all utterance and knowledge; and who sendeth out his seraphim with the hallowed fire of his altars, to touch and purify the lips of whom he pleases. 'When the chearfulness of the people,' says this mighty poet,
is so sprightly up, as that is has not only wherewith to guard well its own freedom and safety, but to spare, and to bestow upon the solidest and sublimest points of controversy and new inventions, it betokens us not degenerated nor drooping to a fatal decay, but casting off the old and wrinkled skin of corruption to outlive these pangs, and wax young again, entering the glorious ways of truth and prosperous virtue, destined to become great and honourable in these latter ages. Methinks I see in my mind, a noble and puisant nation rousing herself, like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks: methinks I see her as an eagle muing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam; purging and unsealing her long abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance; while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms.
Gentlemen, what Milton only saw in his mighty imagination, I see in fact; what he expected, but what never came to pass, I see now fulfilling: methinks I see this noble and puissant nation, not degenerated and drooping to a fatal decay, but casting off the wrinkled skin of corruption to put on again the vigour of her youth.
And it is, because others, as well as myself see this, that we have ALL THIS UPROAR;—France and its constitution are the mere pretences. It is, because Britons begin to recollect the inheritance of their own constitution, left them by their ancestors: It is, because they are awakened to the corruptions which have fallen upon its most valuable parts, that forsooth THE NATION IS IN DANGER OF BEING DESTROYED BY A SINGLE PAMPHLET.
Gentlemen, I have marked the course of this alarm: It began with the renovation of those exertions for the public, which the authors of the alarm had themselves originated and deserted; and they became louder and louder when they saw these principles avowed and supported by my admirable and excellent friend Mr. Fox; the most eminently honest and enlightened statesman, that history brings us acquainted with: a man whom to name is to honour, but whom in attempting adequately to describe, I must fly to Mr. Burke, my constant refuge when eloquence is necessary: a man, who to relieve the sufferings of the most distant nation,
put to the hazard, his ease, his security, his interest, his power, even his darling popularity, for the benefit of a people whom he had never seen,
How much more than for the inhabitants of his native country; yet this is the man who has been censured and disavowed in the manner we have lately seen.
Gentlemen, I have but a few more words to trouble you with; I take my leave of you with declaring, that all this freedom which I have been endeavouring to assert, is no more than the freedom which belongs to our inbred constitution; I have not asked to acquit Mr. Paine upon any new lights, or upon any principle but the law, which you are sworn to administer: My great object has been to inculcate, that wisdom and policy, which are the parents of the law of Great Britain, forbid this jealous eye over her subjects: and that, on the contrary, they cry aloud in the language of the poet, employed by Lord Chatham on the memorable subject of America, unfortunately without effect:
"Be to their faults a little blind,
"Be to their virtues, very kind;
"Let all their thoughts be unconfin'd,
"And clap your padlock on their mind."
Engage them by their affections, convince their reason, and they will be loyal from the only principle that can make loyalty sincere, vigorous, or rational, a conviction that it is their truest interest, and that their form of government is for their common good. Constraint is the natural parent of resistance, and a pregnant proof, that reason is not on the side of those who use it. You must all remember, gentlemen, Lucian's pleasant story: Jupiter and a countryman were walking together, conversing with great freedom and familiarity upon the subjects of Heaven and earth. The countryman listened with attention and acquiescence, while Jove strove only to convince him; but happening to hint a doubt, Jupiter turned hastily round, and threatened him with his thunder. "Ah! ha!" says the countryman,
now Jupiter, I know that you are wrong; you are always wrong when when you seek to convince by your thunder.
This is the case with me—I can reason with the people of England, but I cannot fight against the thunder of authority.
Gentlemen, this is my defence for free opinions.
(Mr. Attorney General arose immediately to reply to Mr. Erskine, when Mr. Campbell (the foreman of the jury) said,—My lord, I am authorized by the jury here, to inform the attorney general that a reply is not necessary for them, unless the attorney general wishes to make it, or your lordship. —Mr. Attorney General sat down, and the jury gave in their verdict,
GUILTY!!!!!!
A LESSON FOR TYRANTS.
Our emperor is a tyrant, fear'd and hated;
I scarce remember in his reign one day
Pass guiltless o'er his execrable head:
He thinks the sun is lost that sees not blood;
When none is shed we count it holyday.
We, who are most in favour, cannot call
This hour our own.
Dryden.
ORIGIN OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
THE present inhabitants of Swisserland are descended from the ancient Helvetii, who were subdued by Julius Caesar. They continued long under little better than the nominal dominion of the Houses of Burgundy and Austria, till the beginning of the 14th century, when the severity with which they were treated by the Austrian governors, excited a general insurrection, and gave rise to what is now called, from the ancient name of the country, the Helvetic confederacy.
This memorable event
thus related: Albert, Emperor of Germany, having in vain attempted to compel all the Switzers to submit to the yoke of the
ouse of Austria, these people were so cruelly treated, that they entered into a confederacy, in order to support their ancient rights and privileges. Grisler, the governor of Uri, in order to discover the authors of the conspiracy, ordered that his hat should be fixed on the top of a pole in the market place of Altof, the capital of that province; and all those who passed by it were obliged, on pain of death, to pay obeisance to it, as if to the governor himself.
William Tell, a man of influence in his country, disdaining the mark of vissalage and slavery, refused to obey the tyrant's order; upon which the latter caused him to be arrested, and condemned him to shoot an apple from the head of his only son, who was about five years old. Tell answered, that he would rather suffer death himself, than risque the safety of his son. The tyrant declared, that he would hang them both, if he did not instantly obey. Thus compelled, Tell reluctantly took his bow, and from the head of his son, who was tied to a tree, he shot away the apple, to thr admiration of all the spectators. The governo perceiving that he had a second arrow, demanded what he intended to do with it; assuring him at the same time of his full pardon, if he would disclose the truth.—'To pierce thy heart,' replied Tell, 'If I had been so unfortunate as to kill my son.'
Grisler, basely violating his promise, loaded him with chains, and made him embark with him on board a vessel that was to cross Lake Uri, in order to confine him in a dungeon in one of his castles; but a dreadful tempest arising, the governor found that Tell's assistance was necessary to save himself and his crew. He therefore ordered his fetters to be taken off; and Tell, having steered the vessel with safety towards a landing place, with which he was well acquainted. threw himself into the water with his bow, and fled to the mountain. He there waited in a place that Grisler was obliged to pass, and shot him in the heart with his remaining arrow. The brave Switzer then hastened to announce the death of the tyrant, and their consequent deliverance, to the confederates; and putting himself at the head of a multitude of his gallant countrymen, he took all the fortresses, and made the governors prisoners.
Such is the celebrated history of the commencement of Swiss liberty, which some of the greatest painters have selected as a favourite subject. It must not be concealed, however that some historians affect to call in question, the circumstance of the apple; while others, on the contrary, have implicitly received it.
But, not to investigate this subject further, all historians are agreed, that William Tell was one of the most distinguished authors of this glorious revolution; Grisler was unquestionably killed by him with an arrow. He entered into an association with Werner Stouffacher. Walter Furst, and Arnold de Melctal, whose father had been deprived of his sight by the inhuman monster. The plan of this revolution was formed on the 14th of November, 1307. The Emperor Albert, who would have treated these illustrious men as rebels, was prevented by his death. The Archduke Leopold marched into their country with an army of 20,000 men.
With a force, not exceeding 500, the brave Switzers waited for the main body of the Austrian army in the defiles of Morgate. More fortunate than Leonidas and his Lacedemonians, they put the invaders to flight, by rolling down great stones from the tops of the mountains. Other bodies of the Austrian army were defeated at the same time, by a number of Switzers equally small. This victory having been gained in the Canton of Schweitz, the other two Cantons gave this name to the confederacy, into which by degrees other Cantons entered.
Berne, which is to Switzerland what Amsterdam is to Holland, did not accede to this alliance till the year 1352; and it was not till 1513, that the small district of Appenzel united to the other cantons, and completed the number of thirteen. No people ever fought longer, nor better for their liberty. They gained more than 60 combats against the Austrians, and it is believed, will long preserve their independence. A country, which is not too extensive, nor too opulent, and where the laws breathe a spirit of mildness, must necessarily be free.
This revolution in the government, produced another in the aspect of the country. A barren soil, neglected under the dominion of tyrants, became at length the scene of cultivation. Vineyards were planted on rocky mountains, and savage tracts, cleared and tilled by the hands of freemen, became the fertile abode of peace and plenty.
The Thirteen Cantons, as they now stand in point of precedency, are—
1. Zurick
2, Berne
3. Lucerne
4. Ury
5. Schweitz
6. Underwalden
7. Zug
8. Glacis
9. Basil
10. Fribourg
11. Soleure
12. Schassnausen and
13. Appenzel
The contest between the Helvetic states and the House of Austria, lasted for no less a period than three hundred and fifty years! It ended in the acknowledged independence of the former.
The people not turbulent, unless seduced or oppressed: Slow to resist oppressors: Sometimes mild, even in their just vengeance: Brave in defence of their liberties.
(From Gordon's discourse on Tacitus.)
'TIS owing to the arts and industry of Seducers, that the people are sometimes uneasy and discontent under a good government; for under such a government they are naturally inclined to be quiet and submissive, and it must be very ill usage that will tempt them to throw it off, when they are not first notoriously misled. There were insurrections against Gustavus Ericson, so there were against Queen Elizabeth; all animated by the same spirit, superstition managed and inflamed by priests. But when a just administration is once settled, and become familiar to the people, and where no violent innovations are attempted, they will not be apt so disturb it, nor to wish ill to it. They are in truth very slow to resist, and often bear a thousand hardships before they return one. The Romans long suffered the encroachments, insults and tyranny of the last tarquin, before they drove him out, nor would they have done it so soon, but for the rape and tragical fate of Lucretia. The Dutch endured the tyranny of Spain, till that tyranny grew intolerable. When King Philip had wantonly violated his solemn oath, destroyed their ancient liberties and laws, shed their blood, acted like an implacable enemy, and used them like dogs, it was high time to convince him that they were men, and would continue free men in spite of his wicked attempts to enslave them. They did so to some purpose, to their own immortal glory, and establishment in perfect independency, to his infinite loss and lasting shame.
The people of Swisserland groaned long under the heavy yoke of Austria, sustained a course of sufferings and indignities too many and too great for human patience. So insolent and barbarous were their governors, so tame and submissive the governed. At last they roused themselves, or rather their oppressive governors roused them, so as not to be quelled. Yet they carried their vengeance no farther than was barely necessary for their future security. They spilt little or none of the blood of their tyrants and task-masters, the rulers from Austria, who had so freely spilled theirs. They only conducted these lawless spoilers to the borders of the country, and there dismissed them in safety, under an oath never more to return into their territories. What could be more slow to resist, what more meek in their resistance than that brave and abused people? They were indeed so brave and had been so abused, as to resolve never more to submit to the imperial power. Thence forth they asserted their native freedom, and asserted it with amazing valour. With handfuls of men they overthrew mighty hosts, and could never be conquered by all the neighbouring powers. Their exploits against the imperial armies, against those of Lewis the Eleventh, then Dauphin, against Charles the bold, Duke of Burgundy are scarce credible. Three hundred and fifty Swiss routed at one time, eight thousand Austrians, some say sixteen thousand. An hundred and thirteen vanquished, the arch-duke Leopald's army of twenty thousand, and killed a great number; an hundred and sixteen beat another army of near twenty thousand, and slew him.
It was no small provocation, no casual mistakes, or random sallies of passion in their rulers, that drove the Dutch and Swiss to expel theirs. No; the oppression, the acts of violence were general, constant, deliberate and encreasing. For such is the nature of men in power; that they will rather commit two errors than retract one, as Lord Clarendon justly observes. Sometimes they will commit a second, to shew that they are not ashamed of the first, but resolved to defy resentment, to declare their contempt of the people, and how much they are above fear and amendment. Some of them have delighted to heighten cruelty by mirth and derision, like him in Swisserland, who having long insulted and abused the poor people, and still thinking their servitude imperfect, set up his cap in the market place, and obliged all that passed by to pay it reverence; nay to punish one for failing in duty to that cap, he caused him to place an apple upon his son's head, and at such a distance to cleave it with an arrow. Was there not cause, was it not high time to exterminate such instruments of cruelty?
An Epistle from a Swiss Officer, to his Friend at Rome.
(From Dodsley's Poems.)
FROM horrid mountains ever hid in snow,
And barren lands, and dreary plains below;
To you, dear sir, my best regards I send,
The weakest reasoner, as the truest friend.
Your arguments, that vainly strive to please,
Your arts, your country, and your palaces;
What signs of Roman grandeur yet remain—
Much you have said; and much have said in vain.
Fine pageants these for slaves, to please the eye;
And put the neatest dress on misery.
Bred up to slav'ry and dissembled pain,
Unhappy man! you trifle with your chain:
But should your friend with your desires comply,
And sell himself to Rome and slavery;
He could not wear his trammels with that art,
Or hide the noble anquish of his heart:
You'd soon repent the liv'ry that you gave,
For, trust me, I should make an awkward slave.
Falsely you blame our barren rocks and plains,
Happy in freedom and laborious swains;
Our Peasants chearful to the field repair,
And can enjoy the labours of the year;
Whilst yours, beneath some tree with mournful eyes,
Sees for his haughty lord his harvest rise:
Then silent sighs; but stops his slavish breath;
He silent sighs; for should he speak, 'tis death.
Hence from our field, the lazy grain we call,
Too much for want, for luxury too small:
Whilst all compania's rich inviting soil
Scarce knows the plowshare, or the reaper's toil.
In arms we breed our youth. To dart from far,
And aim aright the thunder of the war;
To whirl the faulchion, and direct the blow;
To ward the stroke, or bear upon the foe.
Early in hardships, thro' the woods they fly,
Nor feel the piercing frost, or wintry sky;
Some prowling wolf or foamy boar to meet,
And stretch the panting savage at their feet;
Inur'd by this, they seek a nobler war,
And shew an honest pride in ev'ry scar;
With joy the danger and the blood partake,
Whilst ev'ry wound is for their country's sake,
But, you. soft warriers, forc'd into the field,
Dr faintly strike, or impotently yield;
For well this universal truth you know,
Who fights for tyrants, is his country's foe.
I envy not your arts, the Roman schools,
Improv'd perhaps, but to enslave your souls.
May you to stone. or nerves or beauty give,
And teach the soft'ning marble how to live;
May you the passions in your colours trace,
And work up ev'ry piece with ev'ry grace;
In airs and attitudes be wond'rous wise,
And know the arts to please, or to surprize;
In music's softest sounds consume the day,
Sounds that would melt the warrior's soul away;
Vain efforts these, an honest fame to raise;
Your painters, and your eunuchs, be your praise;
Grant us more real goods, you heav'nly powers!
Virtue, and arms, and liberty be ours.
Weak are your offers to the free and brave:
No bribe can purchase me to be your slave.
Hear me, ye rocks, ye mountains, and ye plains.
The happy bounds of brave Helvetian swains!
In thee, my country, will I fix my seat;
Nor envy the poor wretch, that would be great:
My life and arms I dedicate to thee;—
For, know, it is my int'rest to be free.
BEWARE OF ORATORS!
From Littleton.
WHEN once it becomes a fashion to advance men to dignity and power, not for the good councils that they give, but for an agreeable manner of recommending bad ones; it is impossible that a government so administered can long subsist. Is any thing complained of as amiss?—instead of redress, they give you an oration. Have you composed a good needful law?—in exchange for that you receive an oration. Has your natural reason determined you upon any point?—up gets an orator, and so
confounds
you, that you are no longer able to reason at all. Is any measure to be
obstructed,
or wrong one to be advanced?—there is an orator always ready, and it is most
charmingly
performed, to the delight of all the hearers.
THE AMERICANS HAPPY WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF
Royal Proclamations.
A new Song,
By
W. D. Grant.
TUNE—
"Beneath a Cyphress Grove."
AMERICA, behold! O happy, happy, cl
me;
Her triumphs will be told, until the end of time!
There liberty is law,
And joy o'erspreads each cheek,
No more 'tis
"vive le roi!"
But "
vive la
REPUBLIQUE!
Beneath fair freedom's tree, her sons obtain repose,
Blest fruits of liberty! which
despots
WOULD oppose.
Hereditary fools,
Let
fools
and
rogues
obey;
For none o'er freemen rules,
But LOVE and LIBERTY!
No
titled insolence,
of virtue makes a prey;
No
royal impotence,
usurps the
nation's
sway.
There liberty is law,
And joy o'erspreads each cheek;
No more 'tis
"vive le roi!"
But "
vive la
REPUBLIQUE!"
SONNET TO FREEDOM.
BY RICHARD LEE.
Author of the Poems, entitled
"Flowers from Sharon."
CELESTIAL FREEDOM, hail! whose liberal hand,
The great CREATOR with his bounty fills:
To scatter plenty thro' the favour'd land,
That knows thy worth, and courts thy lovely smiles.
Where thou art absent, haggard mis'ry dwells,
And pining want hangs down her wither'd head;
Industry faints, slow indolence prevails,
And commerce folds her languid hands half dead.
Come then, dear FREEDOM, come, reside with me,
And I shall sing, tho' in a lowly cot;
P
oud
sceptr'd tyrants
will unenvied be,
Whilst I am blest with this superior lot.
Content and cheerful I will pass my days,
And grateful give the GOD OF FREEDOM praise,
CONTENTS
OF VOLUME SECOND.
Alteration a Poem — Page 2
The Right and capacity of the people to judge of Government
Cato's Letters
Page 3
A Dream requiring no Interpretation Page 8
Examples of safe Printing Page 14
On wrong —
Spencer
ibid
Fable of the Lion and the other beasts by way of Anti-indictment
Aesop
ibid.
Character of an evil magistrate
Sidney
Page 16
On National Fasting Page 19
The unpitied state of the poor
Goldsmith
Page 22
On the folly of Kings,
Murray
Page 23
The Ant in office.
Gay
Page 28
Queries for the Sheepish Multitude
Spence
Page 32
History and origin of Republics.
Littleton
Page 36
Burke's Address to the Swinish Multitude a Song Page 39
Singular Constitution of Basil
Gardner
Page 41
On involving Posterity in Debt. Page 42
Tribute to liberty. A Song
Grant
Page 43
The Blessings of Mediocrity.
Swift
Page 44
On Sacrilege.
Cato's Letters
Page 46
The progress of Taxation.
Morning Chronicle
Page 48
On Bribery and Arbitrary Government.
Sidney
Page 49
An old British Song. Page 53
A Vindication of Brutus for having killed Caesar.
Cato's Letters
Page 54
Brut us to Cicero Page 59
View Britannia thy darling Sons are slaves, A Song, Page 67
☞ The Marine Republic.
Spence
Page 68
Important Queries.
Bishop of Cloyne
Page 72
Mankind will be more knowing than their Governors wish.
Murray
Page 74
Song in praise of King and Constitution
Grant
Page 76
Han of Reforming the Parliament.
Duke of Richmond
Page 79
Men ought to be provided with practical Principles. Page 82
Of the Hereditary Nobility Page 83
God save the Rights of Man, a Song. Page 91
Queries to Methodists
Bentley
Page 93
Rights of Swine Page 97
Rights of Man in Verse
Spence
Page 102
Political Maxims.
Harrington
Page 106
Private Individuals may Plan Models of government,
Ditto
Page 108
The Causes of English misery
Sin
lair
Page 110
In what cases War is justifiable.
Littleton
Page 112
On Perversion of Terms
Independant Whig
Page 114
On European Monarchies
Littleton
Page 115
On a Parisian Parliament.
Ditto
Page 117
† Liberty of the Press continued
Erskine
ibid
On the Defection of the Americans
Burke
Page 119
On the Unalterable state of Governments
Ditto
Page 123
Elegy written in a Country Church-Yard.
Gray
Page 124
The Utility of Political Societies
Cooper
Page 129
The abuses of General Fasts. Page 131
On the Common People
Rosseau
Page 135
§ On Kings (continued)
Godwin
Page 137
Commonwealths can raise the greatest armies
Harrington
Page 140
Paleman or the Press-Gang, a Poem. ibid.
Ode to the Drum Page 145
On War
Milton
Page 146
On Ditto.
Bp, Porteus
ibid.
On Ditto.
Voltaire
Page 147
The Liberty of the Press, a Song. Page 151
† Liberty of the Press (continued)
Erskine
Page 154
Political state of England.
de Bru
nt
Page 157
Senators must share with—the public Revenue
Swift
Page 159
The Manner of Kings and Ministers
Moses
Page 161
Reasons which the Poor have to wish for a Parliamentary Reform.
Cooper
Page 165
On Equality
Cato's Letters
Page 173
Triumph of Truth and Liberty
Lee
Page 176
† Liberty of the Press (continued)
Erskine
Page 178
Anarchy but of short Duration
Price
Page 182
The probable influence of the French Revolution on the Liberties of Europe Page 184
Family Distress of a patriot. A Poem. Page 185
On the Abuse of Power and Public property
Dodsley's Poems
Page 187
§ On Kings (finished)
Godwin
Page 188
A Receipt to make a King
Fielding
Page 194
On Kings
Earl of Rochester
Page 201
The Poet indignant wishes to leave his degenerate Country.
Dodsleys Poems
Page 202
The Rights of God
Lee
Page 204
Equal Government will tend to make men better ibid.
☞ Interesting account of Spensonia finished Page 205
People's Noses now in danger.
Morning Post
Page 218
On the Liberty of the Press.
Dodsley's Poems
Page 219
On the Liberty of the Press in HANOVER!!!
Jena Journal
Page 220
Strictures on the Second Part of Paine's Rights of Man.
Analytical Review
Page 223
† Erskine's Defence of Paine (concluded) Page 242
On the Liberty of the Press
Milton
Page 245
On the Liberty of the Press
Hume
Page 248
On the Liberty of the Press
Dr. Johnson
Page 249
On the Russian Liberty of the Press.
Lord Stanhope
Page 251
On the Liberty of the Press
Lord Loughborough
Page 252
Superior excellencies of American Government
Cappe
Page 258
House of Lords useless
Burke
Page 260
Government may be despotic by consent of Parliament
Burke
Page 261
Resolutions passed under the patronage of
Mr. Pitt,
the
Duke of Richmond,
&c. Page 265
Sarcasms on Kings
Burke
Page 267
Vision of a rousing Nation
Milton
Page 271
Origin of the Swiss Republic. Page 275
People not Turbulent
Gordon
Page 278
From a Swiss officer to his Friend at Rome, a Poem. Page 281
Beware of Orators
Littleton
Page 282
The Americans happy, a song.
Grant
Page 283
Sonnet to Freedom.
Lee
Page 284
FINIS.
*⁎* A Publication under the Title of "EYE SALVE, or POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE," entirely similar to PIGS' MEAT; and published likewise in Penny Numbers; will immediately commence by T. Spence. No, 8, Little Turnstile, High-Holborn.