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DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 treasure %oom 
 
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 V N s> 
 
LETTER 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 MERCHANTS 
 
 AND 
 
 TRADESMEN 
 
 O F 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 Particularly to thofe of 
 
 LONDON and BRISTOL; 
 
 UPON 
 
 Their late Glorious Behaviour and Happy Suc- 
 
 cefs, in Oppofing the Extenfion of the Excise- 
 
 Laws : With a few Seasonable Cautions. 
 
 And SOMETHING MORE, which it is 
 hoped will be agreeable to every true Englijhman, 
 
 By EUSTACE BUDGELL, Efqj 
 
 LGNDONy Primed for Samuel Tucket: And Sold by 
 W. Mears, on Ludgate-Hiil \ Mrs. Nutt, Cooke and 
 Charltow^c the Royal-Ex change; Mrs. Dodd, atTemple- 
 Bati and Mr* JqLti»F«, St. James's. MPCCXXXIII. 
 
 C Price Sixpence, ) 
 
( I ) 
 
 
 LETTER 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 Merchants and Tradefmen 
 
 O F 
 
 GREAT. BRITAIN. 
 
 Gentleme n, 
 
 SINCE forae People, while they have been 
 doing their utmofl to Deftroy you, have 
 lately had the Aflurance to write Letters 
 to you'y fince they have dared to grin in your 
 Faces while they were actually endeavouring to 
 cut your Throats $ you will, I humbly truft, have 
 theGoodnefs to pardon this one Addrefs to you, 
 fince though it may want the Charms of Elo- 
 quence, it flows at lead from an honefl Heart, 
 truly warm and zealous in your Service. Suffer 
 me, Gentlemen, to congratulate you upon that 
 glorious and efYeftual Stand which you have 
 lately made in the Defence of Liberty and your 
 B Country, 
 
( ») 
 
 Country. My Pen (fuch a one as it is) has ne- 
 ver yet been pruftituted to Flattery j and I may 
 now tell you, without incurring the leaft Sufpt- 
 cion of (o mean a Vice, that your late Behavi- 
 our was not only a Piece of Juftice to your [elves , 
 it was an Honour to your Country, which 1 hope 
 will ftand Recorded in our Engliftj Hiftories, 
 and be delivered down for the Inftruclion and 
 Imitation of our lateft Pofterity. 
 
 Your cool yet refolute Oppofetion has induced 
 the Parliament to crufh a Bill in which almoft 
 every Claufe was big with Slavery and Oppref- 
 fion. It is true, Gentlemen, you would have 
 fallen the .fir ft Victims to this Bill 5 but what 
 mult every Engliftoman have expected when if 
 our weakhieft Merchants and Tradefmen had 
 refufed to do whatever they were ordered by 
 
 tome future wicked M r, they might have 
 
 been treated as fo many Slaves by an Army of 
 mercilefs and indigent Excifemen. Thefe Fel- 
 lows, who (if this Bill had pa(Ted into a Law) 
 might have entered your Houfes when ever they 
 pleafed, could not have wanted frequent Op- 
 portunities of attempting the Honour of your 
 fPfaej, your Sifters, or Daughters ; of purloin- 
 ing your Goods themfelves, or of giving pro- 
 per Intelligence to Thieves and Houfe-breakers j 
 and might have been employed as fo many con- 
 ftant and ftation'd Spies upon all the Tranfacti- 
 ons in your private Families. 
 
 I hope, Gentlemen, this was not the only* 
 Recompence which fome People defigned to 
 make you, for the Blood of your Relations, the 
 Left of your Effecls^ and all thofe cruel Injuries 
 
 you 
 
(3 ) 
 
 you have fo lately differed at the Hands of the 
 Spaniards. If we may judge by the Spirit you 
 have mown, rather than have lived under fuch 
 OppreJJion, you would either have entirely quit- 
 ted all Commerce, or have tranfported your 
 felves and your Fortunes into Foreign Coun- 
 tries. In this latter Cafe, Great Britain would 
 evidently have loft the very Source of her Wealth, 
 and the moft ufeful Body of Men fhe contains. 
 Some of her Nobility and Gentry may indeed be 
 her Ornaments, but 'tis her Merchants -alone 
 who are her real Support. 
 
 I would not be thought to infinuate by this 
 Difiinclion, that there are not many among you 
 eminent not only for their Skill in 'Trade, but 
 for the Practice of fome of the mod pining Ver- 
 mes in Life. Your Commerce with fo many 
 different Nations does perhaps naturally lead 
 you into an open way of thinking* and a Bene- 
 volence towards Mankind : From whatever Caufe 
 it proceeds, we have frequently fccn fuch In- 
 itances of Good-Nature, Humanity, and Genero- 
 fity among Merchants, as many a worthlefs Crea- 
 ture who has worn a Star and a Ribbon has 
 been incapable of fhowing. 
 
 I muft own I have often wondered, in a Tra- 
 ding Nation, to hear it made any Objection to 
 a Man's receiving the higheft Honours and 
 Preferments the Crown can bellow, that he 
 was bred in a Mercantile Way. 
 
 One of the bed Lord Treafurers we ever had 
 
 fince the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, was Lyonel 
 
 Cranfield Earl of Middle/ex : This Gentleman 
 
 B z fervcd 
 
(4) 
 
 ierved his Apprenticeflnp to a Merchant ; and 
 was bred upon the Exchange > from whence he 
 was taken when the State lay under great Diffi- 
 culties, and placed at the Head of the Trea- 
 fury : He foon made it appear that he was equal 
 to his Pod, he put the Revenue (without in- 
 juring Trade) upon a much better Foot than he 
 found it, and fell at Jaft in a molt Glorious Caufe : 
 Our Hiitories tell us, that he was Difgraced for 
 no other Reafon but becaufe he refuled to fur- 
 nifh a rapaciously? Minifler with thofe pro- 
 digious Sums, of which he would have robbed 
 the Publick ; and had the honefi Boldnefs to aim 
 at convincing the King himfelf, that his Maje- 
 fly would infallibly loie the Hearts of his Peo- 
 pie, if he furTercd them to be thus fleeced to fup- 
 port the Infolence, and gratify the Avarice of 
 one wicked and infatiable Man. Would to 
 God, Gentlemen, for the fake of my Country, 
 that in the Room of fcveral Treafurers whom 
 I could name, an honefi Merchant had been pla- 
 ced at the Head of the Exchequer \ who, inftead 
 of refufing to tell us what was become of all 
 thofe immenfe Sums which have been fquee^cd 
 out of the Purfcs of the People, would have 
 laid before our Parliaments a plain and honefi 
 Account by way of Debtor and Creditor of what 
 Money he had received, and how he had dif- 
 burfed it : I am firmly of Opinion, that had 
 this been our happy Lot, the Nation would 
 not at prefent have groaned under a prodigious 
 Debt, nor the Exchequer fo often have gaped 
 for frefh Supplies. May the heavy Taxes we 
 have paid, and the Miferies we have fuffered, 
 teach us at laft, like prudent Merchants, to in- 
 fpe£t our Accounts thoroughly > and before we 
 
 give 
 
(5) 
 
 give more Money, let jus fee how all the fc vaft 
 Sums we have already raifed have been Jaid out. 
 May the Britifi Nation in general afTume new 
 Hopes, and a new Spirit, from the glorious Ex- 
 ample you have fet before them : May Trade 
 and ufeful Science from henceforth flounfh, and 
 render our Native Ifland at once the Wonder 
 and Envy of Europe : May thefe two lovely 
 Sifters once more recover their faded Charms : 
 May they conifontly fupport and fmile upon 
 each other, but let them both be fure to re- 
 member, that neither of them can poflibly fub- 
 fift, in any Country which is not blefTed with 
 Liberty. I am Confident you have Generofity 
 enough to allow, that though we owe our late 
 Deliverance chiefly to the Wifdom of the Par- 
 liament, and your vigorous Oppofition, yet 
 that fome little Portion of Praife is due to thofe 
 Writers who made the Publick thoroughly fen- 
 fible of thofe miferable Confequences which 
 mufl have attended the Scheme propofed : You 
 had the Happinefs, Gentlemen, to be affiled 
 by feyeral Pens, much abler than mine 3 yet had 
 I remained altogether filent during the late 
 Struggle for our Liberties and Trade, I fhoujd 
 have thought my felf Guilty of fuch a Crime 
 as I could never have anivvered either to God or 
 my Country. I hope, Gentlemen, that when 
 you reflect upon what has lately pafTed, you 
 will from henceforth prize as you ought, 
 what is fo efTentially necelTary \o Freedom, 
 to Trade, and to Learning •, I mean the Li- 
 berty of the Prefs : I believe I may venture 
 to affirm, without pretending to the Gift of 
 Prophecy, that had the Liberty of the Prefs been 
 taken away (which I fear it may be fully pro 7 
 
 ved 
 
ved was more than once attempted) you had at 
 this Day been all Slaves. From henceforth 
 
 may that infamous M r, or more infamous 
 
 J *ge, whofhall aim though never fo oblique- 
 ly to deprive his Country of this invaluable 
 BlefTing, be looked upon with that Contempt 
 and Indignation he truly deferves : In Defiance 
 of all his wicked Attempts, may there never be 
 "wanting a Britifi Pen capable of Painting his 
 Crimes in their proper Colours, and of handing 
 them down to diftant Ages. 
 
 Having congratulated you, Gentlemen, upon 
 your late Succefs, pardon me, if, out of the 
 mofl fincere Refpecl: and Affection for you, 
 I prefume to lay before you my humble O- 
 pinion, upon the Situation you arc in at pre- 
 fent. 
 
 In the firft place, I beg leave, Gentlemen, 
 to obferve to you, that it is a (landing Maxim 
 (tho' perhaps, after all a foolifh one,) among 
 Great Men^ who fet up for Politicians, Never 
 to pardon thofe People whom they have once in- 
 jured. This diabolical Maxim is well enough 
 expreffed in a Couple of Verles, by one of our 
 Countrymen, when he fays, 
 / 
 
 Forgivenefs to the Injured does belong; 
 
 But they ne'er pardon who have done the Wrong. 
 
 If therefore, Gentlemen, there is any Man 
 who defigned to have made you Slaves , and to 
 have treated you as fuch ; if he has given you 
 thofe Tortures, which all brave Men mud: en- 
 dure while they fee their Chains are aclualling 
 
 forging j 
 
(7) 
 
 forging j if he has put you to a vaft Expence$ 
 and obliged you to neglect your private Affairs,. 
 in order to defeat his pernicious Projects j if 
 your honeft Endeavours, blefTed by Providence, 
 have at lad defeated thofe Projects - 9 if you 
 have ruined his Defigns, baulked his Avarice, 
 and difappointed his Ambition -, do not flatter 
 your felves, Gentlemen, that fuch a Man (if 
 luch a one there be) is ever capable of pardon- 
 ing or forgiving you : Such Hopes, fhould you 
 iuffer your felves to be deluded by them, might 
 prove more fatal to you than even the late 
 Scheme, if it had fucceeded. Nothing can 
 poflibly fecure you now againffc the Defigns of 
 fuch a Man, who muft harbour in his Heart 
 the moft implacable Revenge, unlefs you can 
 reduce him to fuch a Condition, that it fhall 
 never more be in his Power to hurt you. 
 What Ufage you are to expect for what you 
 have lately done, does, I think, mod evi- 
 dently appear, from the Manner in which a 
 certain Mercenary, who is known to write the 
 Sentiments of his Patron, has treated the moft 
 Honourable Common-Council of the City of 
 London, in the Daily-Courant of laft Tuefday. 
 Do but hear his own Words, Gentlemen. 
 
 " One would imagine ( fays this Writer ) by lb* 
 " Ufe that has lately been made of the Rabble, and by 
 " their being convened together upon all Occafions, 
 Ci to affifi in the Councils of the Nation, that the 
 " very Riff-raff and Scum of the Streets of Lon- 
 u don <2/W Weftminfter, were one of the conftitu- 
 • c ent Parts of our Government ; and that they had 
 6 a Right to direct the Debates, and controul the 
 Refolutions of Parliament, tfhe Mob % have often 
 
 " indeed, 
 
 *y 
 
( 8) 
 
 u indeed^ taken the Execution of the Civil Ptfwet 
 " into their own Hands -> but I believe) this is 
 " the fir ft Precedent that is to be met with in 
 " Hiftory^ that they ever claimed any Share 
 " in the Legijlature - y and I am at a Lofs to know 
 " in what Capacity it was they acted) unlefs it 
 
 " was as Reprefentatives of the C— — .» C / of 
 
 " the C — y of L -n> and then I muft ingcni- 
 
 " oujly acknowledge their Addrefs and Behaviour, 
 " in that important Trujl) was per feci iy conform- 
 " able to the Will and Inftrutlions of thoje that 
 <c fent them ; and in Juftice, to that illujlrious 
 " Body^ I am obliged to declare, that they have 
 " not, for fome time) acled with more PVifdom 
 <c and Judgment^ than they did at that Junclure y 
 <c nor could they have fent properer Perfons to 
 " reprefent them. 
 
 He goes on, to acquaint us, that cc the C-~~n 
 
 " C / of London not only fent their Repre* 
 
 Cc fentatives (the Mob), but went down themfelves 
 *' to Weitminfter, to prevent the late Scheme from 
 " taking effect" He deicribes their Cavalcade, 
 as he calls it, by acquainting his Readers, 
 that " every Man had a Chew of Tobacco in his 
 " Mouth, fiewing Emblematically the Nature 
 " of the BufinefS) he was going upon, and at the 
 fame time) fignifying that if the Bill Jlwuld 
 44 PafS) it would in all Probability be his Laft. 
 
 Laftly, this Writer is fo Ingenuous as to own^ 
 what is undoubtedly true, namely, that " If 
 44 the late Scheme had fucceeded) the Confeauencc 
 44 would have been, that many who now make 
 46 their BoaftS) that they followed the Sheriffs of 
 44 London, with the City Petition) in their own 
 
 44 Coaches^ 
 
(5> J 
 
 K< Coaches, mltft, hereafter, have been obliged ei : 
 64 ther to walk on Foot, or to go four of them 
 u in a Hack, as the Lawyers do to Wcftminfter- 
 44 Hall in Term-fane-, and inflead of magnify 
 " cent Hcufes and fumptuous Filial in the Coun- 
 " try, would have been contented with Lodgings 
 44 at Ifungton, or an Appartment in Canbury- 
 " Houfe." 
 
 Give me leave, Gentlemen, to fhew you, 
 in the next Place, what a Bill Mr. Osbornj 
 has brought againit you in his lad: Journal. 
 
 n The Rage of Men (fays Mr. Osborne) - 
 * 4 have private Inter efts to carry on againft the 
 44 Good of the Publick, and Paftions to Gratify 
 44 againft Gentlemen in Power, hath alarmed the 
 * c People, and fright ned them out cf their Senfes — - 
 " The high Dignity of the Houfe of Commons 
 44 hath been bajely trampled upon, the Houfe it 
 44 felf befits and the Members infulted. 
 
 Who pays and employs thefe Writers, I am 
 pretty confident, Gentlemen, I need not tel? 
 you. You fee the Account that is given of the 
 fblemn Proceffion, of the Sheriffs, the Common 
 Council, and Principal Merchants of Eng- 
 land to Weflminfter, in order to oppofe the late 
 Bill : A ProceiTion which juftly drew upon 
 them, as they palled along, Millions of Bleffings 
 from their Fellow Subjects. You fee with what 
 you are threatned, and the Crimes with which-,- 
 at a proper Time, you are to be charged, 
 
 Inftead of being angry with the above- men- 
 tioned Writers, it is my humble Opinion, that 
 yoii ought to return thcin your moil fincere 
 G arri 
 
( io ) 
 
 and hearty Thanks. Methinks they fpeak 
 pretty plain Englijh to you *, and your Apprehen- 
 sions mud be much duller than I hope they 
 are, if you do not take the Hint which thefe 
 honed Gentlemen have been fo kind as to give 
 you. 
 
 Some People think there was as much Senfe 
 and Eloquence in the fhort Speech of an old 
 Sivifs Colonel to his Regiment, juft before they 
 were going to Charge, as in all the Harangues 
 of Cafar to his Army. Gentlemen, (fays the 
 Brave old Fellow, pointing to the Enemy with 
 his Sword, and looking back upon his own 
 Men) There are our Enemies, and if we don't 
 cut their Throats, they'll cut ours. 
 
 I would not be thought by this Story, to 
 recommend violent Methods, and much lefs an 
 Affajfination, which has been fo much talked 
 o£ My plain Meaning is, that if you think 
 you have provoked any Man too much to be 
 forgiven, you ought by all legal Methods to put 
 it, if poflible, out of his Power to hurt you : 
 And this is nothing more than what is agree- 
 able to all the Rules of common Prudence 
 and Self- Prefer vat ion. 
 
 Some of you, Gentlemen, have doubtlefs 
 heard of Hannibal : This famous Cathaginiart 
 General gained {q compleat a Victory over the 
 Romans, at a Place called Cannae, that all Hif- 
 torians agree, if he had led his victorious Ar- 
 my directly to Rome, he mud infallibly have 
 taken the City. By neglecting this glorious 
 Opportunity he fuffered his Enemies to recover 
 
 their 
 
( II ) 
 
 their Strength ; he foon after faw thofe Ene- 
 mies deftroy the very City of Carthage, and 
 was himfelf put to Death by thofe Romans , 
 who once lay at his Mercy. His Folly and 
 Negligence on this great Occafion were (o ve- 
 ry remarkable, that mod Hiftorians have men- 
 tioned and applauded what was faid to him by 
 his own Mailer of the Horfe, when he 
 faw him put his Army into Quarters of Re- 
 frefhment, inftead of leading them directly 
 to Rome ; Thou know eft, O Hannibal ! bow 
 to gain a Victory, but not how to improve 
 it. The Story needs not much Application $ 
 I fhall only fay, Remember, Gentlemen, the 
 Fate of Hannibal ! And may your Pofte- 
 rity never have Occafion to make the fame 
 Reflection upon you, which is made, even ac 
 this Day, on that unhappy General j name- 
 ly, that you knew how to gain a Victory, but 
 not to improve , it. In order to make a right 
 Ufe of your late Victory, fufTer me, Gentle- 
 men, above all Things, to recommend to you 
 that glorious and wcll-judg'd Unanimity by 
 which you obtained it. If you remain una- 
 nimous, you will be ftill feconded by your 
 Fellow- Subjects, you are then invincible, and 
 may perhaps even revive our decayed Trade. 
 On the other hand, if the Arts of wicked 
 Men can but divide you into Parties, you are 
 ruined and undone. Above all things, Gen- 
 tlemen, have a Care of the Names of Whig 
 and Tory. Thefe Names were at firfr invented, 
 and are (till kept up, by none but a Pack of Knaves, 
 who would be Tyrants, and hope to raife im- 
 menfe Fortunes out of the Confufions and Cala- 
 mities of their native Country. May toy Name 
 C 2, for 
 
 i 
 
( **)) 
 
 ior ever be forgot, may my Memory perifh, 
 even before my wretched Body, if I muff be 
 diftinguifhed by nothing more than the fcan- 
 dalous Appellation of a IFhig or a Tory ! Be- 
 lieve me, Gentlemen, every true Englijhman 
 means the fame thing: Having converfed with 
 fome of the Wifeit and Greateft Men of all 
 Denominations, I have found in every one of 
 them, the fame Affection for his Native Coun- 
 try, the fame Love of Liberty, and the fame 
 Detefiation and Abhorrence of Slavery: Re- 
 member, that each of you is an Englifmian^ 
 a Name, that was once, at lead:, honoured and 
 re'fpefted throughout all Europe : Act but like 
 Englijhmen, and there is nothing more requi- 
 site in the prefent Situation of Affairs. In or- 
 der to preferve this Unanimity among you, per- 
 mit me at leafl to put you in Mind of an old 
 Fable. 
 
 An ancient Father, finding his Death ap- 
 proaching, called all his Sons about him, and 
 giving each of them a Bundle of Sticks, bid 
 them try if they could break it 5 when all the 
 young Men found this Task above their Strength, 
 the Father drawing out a Jingle Stick from the 
 Bundle, gave each of his Sons one, and bid 
 him break that. The young Men performed 
 {his with Eafe. My Sons (fays their dying Fa- 
 ther) I find I foal I foon expire: I leave you a- 
 /Fori 'd, yet if you keep united to- 
 gether, like thofe Sticks which 1 jufl now gave 
 you in a Bundle, 3 our Enemiss will not be able 
 to hurt yon •, but if you fitffer your fclvcs to be 
 led, you will infallibly be ruined with as 
 1 h Eafe, as each of you -zvas able to break a. 
 
 fingle 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 Jingle Stick : Remember therefore, that you are 
 Brethren : If one of you is unjuftly fet upon, make 
 it your common Caufe, and immediately fly to 
 the Jffiflance of your DiitreiVd Brother. If you 
 can tamely fit Jltll, and fee him ruined, depend 
 upon it, your own Deftruclion is not far off : Hea- 
 ven will, with Juftice, permit you to fink under 
 the like Oppreffions. Whenever a certain felfifii 
 Principle comes to prevail in a Nation, namely, 
 that No Man is bound to take care of more than 
 Number One, meaning his own dear fe If, thac 
 Nation is thoroughly ripe for Slavery and 
 Deftruclion; and a Prtfident made in the Cafe 
 of a Cobler, will at lad reach to a Duke. The 
 French, before the Adminiilration of Cardinal 
 Richelieu, were as Tree and as fond of Liberty^ 
 as a People could well be who lived under king- 
 ly Government. I have met with a Story in 
 one of their Writers, which though I publifhed 
 in a frnall Treatife, about half a Tear fince, 
 will, I flatter my felf, bear being repeated to 
 you. 
 
 Henry the Fourth made a more confiderablc 
 Figure, than any Prince who had fat before hirn 
 upon the Throne of Trance. The many Victo- 
 ries he obtained, julfly entitled him to the Sir- 
 name of Great, which he flill enjoys. He at 
 laft furmounted all thole Difficulties which For- 
 tune feemed to fling in his Way, as io many 
 Trials of his Courage and Dexterity. A long Se- 
 ries of Adverfity gave him that Experience, and 
 thofe dccomplijhments, which Princes feldom 
 learn in any other School. His affability and 
 Wit gained him the Jffeclion and Efleem of all 
 v»is Subjects : His Bounties and Generof.ty to 
 
 Men 
 
( 14) 
 
 Men of Merit were fuch, as truly became a 
 great King. In a Word, he had a thouland 
 amiable Qualities in him ; bur would now and 
 then be hurried away by a fudden Start of Paf- 
 /ton, As he came home one Day from Hunting, 
 and one of his Equerries was pulling ofThis Boots, 
 the young Fellow, either by Chance, or through 
 CarelefThefs, gave his Leg fuch a Wrench, that 
 the King, who was hardly recovered from a 
 Fit of the Gout, could not forbear crying our, 
 and at the fame Time gave the Perfon who oc- 
 cafioned his Anguifh a found Box on the Ear. 
 The young Fellow, who was thus flruck, hap- 
 pened to be a Gentleman by Birth : The Thing 
 was no fooner known, than all the Nobility and 
 Gentlemen in France unanimously deql.ired, That 
 they could not in Honour appear before his Ma- 
 jefty, till he had made rhe Perfon whom he had 
 itruck fome Reparation, and fhewn the World, 
 that it was not his Opinion thnr a French Gen- 
 tleman oughr to be fubjcct to a Blow, even from 
 the Hand of his King, They ftaid from Court 
 fome Days 5 till at lad this generous Prince, 
 who in his Heart could nor be difpleafed at the 
 Spirit the Gentlemen of. his Kingdom ftiewed up- 
 on this Occaiion, was contenr, in a Manner, 
 to ask Pardon of his own Servant for whar he 
 had done ; and by this (ingle Ad of Humanity 
 aud Condefcenfion, gained not onlv the Jfeclion, 
 but even the RefpetJof his Subj<cV, much more 
 than he could poffibly have done by a thoufand 
 Initances of Pride and fyrm 
 
 The Gentlemen of France moft certainly ex- 
 erted the true Spirit of Liberty upon this Oc- 
 cafion J fince this Spirit of Liberty is always 
 
 extreamlv 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 extrcamly jealous of the leait Incroachment that 
 is made upon her. 
 
 The Ufe I would make, Gentlemen, both 
 of the Fable, and of the Story which I have 
 told you, is to incite you, to fhow the fame 
 Zeal and Ardour, fhould there be an Attempt 
 made upon the Liberties and Properties of any 
 other Englifimen, as your Fellow Subjects have 
 lately done in your Caufe. If I may prefume 
 to be a little more particular, I fhould recom- 
 mend it to you, to fhow fuch a Refentment^ 
 as becomes Englifimen, fhould there be the leaii 
 Attempt made upon the Liberty of the Prefs. 
 
 Upon this Occafion, Gentlemen, give me 
 leave to tell you another Fable. 
 
 Once upon a Time, there was a War between 
 the Wolves and the Sheep : After feveral Skir- 
 mifhes they cam? to a Treaty : The Wolves in- 
 fifted upon it, that the Sheep y in order to re- 
 move, as they pretended, all Caufe of Conten- 
 tion between them, fhould deliver up their 
 Dogs. The Sheep made fome Scruple at Hdl, 
 to confent to this Article * at lair, their defire 
 of Peace •, induced them to comply with it: 
 The very next Night, the Wolves broke in 
 upon them, and (as they had now loft thole 
 faithful Guardians , who ufed to alarm them, 
 by Barking, when any Danger was near) tore 
 every one of them to Pieces. 
 
 I am afraid, Gentlemen, you would foon 
 fuffer the fame Fare with theie unhappy Sheep, 
 fhould the Liberty of the Prefs be infringed, or 
 
 taken 
 
( .6) 
 
 taken away. You are moil: of you too much 
 employed in Bufinefs of another Nature, to 
 forefee your felvcs, and much lefs to explain to 
 your Fellow Subjects, all the fatal Conlequences 
 which may happen, fhotild a pernicious Bill 
 pafs into a Law ; but while we are pofle#ed of 
 that great Bulwark of our Liberties, the Libert? 
 of the Prefix it is to be hoped, there will never 
 be wanting Men, whofe Leifure and Capacities 
 will enable them to do this for you > Men, who 
 from a liberal Education, and generous Way of 
 thinking, will defpife all OrFers that can be made 
 them, to give up, or betray the Intereft of 
 their Country. That wife and generous People 
 the ancient Romans, fhewed their Gratitude (af- 
 ter another Manner than the filly Sheep 
 did to their Dogs) to a few defpicable Animal^ 
 who happened to be inftrumental in preferving 
 the Capitol. When Rome was taken by the 
 Gauls, a few of the braveil Romans headed by 
 Manilas, retired into the Capitol : The Gauls 
 beiieged them, and at laft dilcovered a private 
 Way, which led up to the Capitol, and by 
 which, they thought themielvcs very fare of 
 finprifing that Fortrefs: They had got up one 
 Night, unperceived, to the very Walls of the 
 Capitol, which iovnc of them had actually 
 fcaled, when a Flock of Geefe, who were 
 frightned to find themfelves diiturbed at Mid- 
 night , made fuch a Screaming and Cack- 
 ling, that they awoke the Roman Guard, 1 
 who were before fad afleep: By this Means 
 the Capitol was preferved : The Romans, to 
 fhew their Gratitude to their Deliverers, or- 
 dered thefe Geefe, to be looked upon as Sacred 
 for the future: They were maintained at thf? 
 
 Charge 
 
( »7 ) 
 
 Charge of the Publick, and as any of the 
 Flock happened to die, their Places were con- 
 itantly fupplied by others of their own Species. 
 I allow the Minilterial Writers to be as Witty 
 as they pleafe, upon my telling this Story j 
 they have my {rcc Content to compare all I can 
 fay or write, to the Cackling of a Goofe, pro- 
 vided they will but confefs ac the fame time, 
 that by an happy Concurrence of feveral Acci- 
 dents it has been of fome little Service to my 
 poor Country. 
 
 Government, was undoubtedly inftituted for 
 the Benefit of the People: To fupport this 
 Government, it is proper there fhould be a 
 due Subordination kept up among Man- 
 kind. The People, both in Duty and Or*- 
 titude,- are obliged to allow good Governors 
 and Magistrates, an handlbme Maintainance 
 for the Pains they take % their Magi ft rates on 
 the other Hand, are obliged by all the Laws 
 of God and Man, to protect the People com- 
 mited to their Charge, in the quiet Enjoy- 
 ment of their Properties. This is all we expect 
 from them, and thus much iurely we have a 
 Right to expect, for all that Pomp and Mag- 
 nificence, in which they are maintained at the 
 Publick Charge v for all thofe Palaces they builds 
 the Train of Servants they keep, and the vaft 
 Eftates they buy with the Money, railed out of 
 the Pockets of the People. If any Men, who 
 have it in their Power, and ought to fee that 
 the People are duly protected in the Enjoyment 
 of their Properties, and that Juftice be equally 
 adminiftred among them-, I fay, if any fucft 
 Men, inflead of performing their Duty, fliould 
 D make 
 
( >§ ) 
 
 make ufe of that Power they are intruded with 
 by God, their King, and the People, to ob- 
 firucl the Execution of Publick Jujfice, and to 
 make thofe very Laws, which were defigned 
 to preferve us, the Instruments to deirroy us, 
 furely the Guile of iuch Men is as much be- 
 yond that of thofe poor Thieves and unhappy 
 Highwaymen, whom we fee daily dragged to 
 Tyburn, as the Murders lately committed by 
 Sarah Malcolm-, are of a more heinous Nature 
 than the little Slips of thofe Women, who 
 prompted by Nature, or tempted by Necejffity, 
 iurrender themfdves to unlawful Embraces. In 
 order, Gentlemen, to fhow you after what 
 Manner publick Juftice ( for the Sake of which 
 we pay yearly fo many Millions) is adminiftred 
 among us, give me leave to lay before you, a 
 fhort Account of what I have iuffered my felf. 
 
 I was fome time fince, by a Train of wicked 
 Arts, too long to trouble you with, flung in- 
 to a Goal ; tho' I take that Supreme Being, 
 before whom we muft all appear, folemnly to 
 "Witnefs, that 1 did not owe one Farthing of the 
 pretended Debt, for which I was confined. 
 Having had fome Papers of Confcquence ille- 
 gal! v taken from me here in Town, and a molt 
 wicked Attempt having been made to feize o- 
 thers, I (ecured, as 1 thought, part of thefe in 
 a Garret, at my Houfe in Oxfordjbire. Soon 
 after, I fell fo ill under my Confinement, that 
 it was thought, I could never recover. Du* 
 ring my Sicknefs my Houfe in Oxford/hire, 
 which was decently furnifhed, was broke open 
 feveral times in the Nighty and not only all my 
 Papers (fome of which were of great Confe- 
 
 quence 
 
( '<?) 
 
 quence to the Publick, and others to my own 
 Affairs) but even all my Goods were taken 
 from me. My Servant who had the Care of my 
 Houfe, furprifed at laft thofe three Villains 
 who had broke it open, and were actually Rob- 
 bing it ; he found Means likewife to difcover 
 in what Places they had hid the greateft part 
 of my Goods. It having pieafed God to raife 
 me, almofl: miraculoufly, from my Sick Bed, 
 and having made a Shift to recover my Li- 
 berty, I carried this my Servant, to a Juftice 
 of Peace, before whom he made Oath, again ft 
 thofe three Villains, by Name, who had broke 
 open and robbed my Houfe, and likewife made 
 Oath, that part of my Goods, were at that very 
 time, at one of their Houfes, and that part of 
 them were hid in a certain Barn, which flood 
 in a Field by itfelf. 
 
 I do humbly conceive, that in this Cafe I 
 had an undoubted Right, by the Laws of my Coun- 
 try, to Have a Warrant granted me, for appre- 
 hending thefe three Felons, and for fearching 
 thofe Places, in which it was fworn my Goods 
 were concealed. The Juftice, who is an emi- 
 nent Councellor at Law, flatly refilled to grant 
 me his Warrant againft one of the three Fel- 
 lows y he did indeed grant me his Warrant a- 
 gainft the other two, and I hope his Reaibn 
 for fo doing, was not becaufe he very well 
 knew, they were both fled from their Houfs, 
 and got out of my reach. He fcrupled for 
 fome time to grant me a Search Warrant for 
 my Goods , at lall he thought fit to grant me 
 one, but then he drew it up with his vwn Handy 
 and in the following Words. 
 
 D 2. Ox<m 
 
w 
 
 ( » ) 
 
 Oxon fT. To the Conflabk of Cuddefdon, in the 
 faid County and to the Conftable of 
 Denton, in the [aid County of Oxon, 
 and to each of them. 
 
 'Hereas it hath been proved upon Oath y 
 before me, one of his Majeftfs Juftices 
 of the Peace for the faid County, that federal 
 Goods, belonging to Euftace Budgell, Efq-> have 
 been ftolen out of his Houfe in Denton, in the 
 County of Oxon j and that the /aid ftolen Goods 
 are novo in the Houfe of 'John Piers, o/Cuddefdon 
 af ore/aid - y thefe are therefore, in his Maje fly's 
 Name, to require you> to fearch the Houfe and 
 Barn of the faid John Piers, in Cuddefdon afore* 
 [aid, for the faid ftolen Goods-, but you are not 
 to break open any Door, or to do any Thing 
 therein which is illegal. Given under my Hand 
 and Seal, this zyth Day of Auguft, 1731. 
 
 John Wr-t. L. S. 
 
 I believe, I may fafely affirm, that fuch a 
 
 Search IV arrant as this, was never drawn up 
 or heard of before. You ice, Gentlemen, ic 
 appears, upon the vay Face of the Warrant, thac 
 ic had been proved upon Oath, that my Goods 
 had been ftolen, and that the faid ftolen Goods 
 were in the Hate of John Piers. Upon which, 
 Mr. Juicice commands the Conllable, in his 
 Majefty s Name, to fear ch the Houfe and Earn 
 of the faid john Piers, for the faid ftolen Goods ; 
 and yet immediately after, exprefly orders him, 
 not to break open any Door. 
 
 Here 
 
( w ) 
 
 Here are two Orders, which, as I take it, 
 directly contradict each other, and whether 
 the lafl Order was not inferted in the Warrant, 
 on purpole to prevent my recovering my Pa- 
 pers and Goods, I humbly fubmit, Gentlemen^ 
 to your Judgment. I went, however, with 
 this mo ft extraordinary Warrant to Piers's 
 Houfe, who having fled from thence, and 
 leaving two Rooms open, I found and feiz,'d, 
 in thofe Rooms, feveral of my Goods, 
 which his own Wife confelVd, before Wit- 
 nefTes, he had flolen out of my Houfe, when 
 he broke it open. I law in another Room, 
 which was locked, the very Cheft in which, 
 my Papers were put, and a great Part of my 
 Goods in the Barn beforementionedj but could 
 not come at them, becaufe Mr. Conftable was 
 exprefsly forbid by the Juftice's Warrant to 
 break open any Door^ neither could my going 
 back to the Juiiice, and making Oath my felf 
 where I had feen my Goods, prevail upon him 
 to grant me a Search Warrant in the common 
 Form of all other Search Warrants > I believe, 
 J may affirm, this was never refufed before in 
 the like Cafe, to any Englijb Subject what- 
 ever. 
 
 I am informed, that this Gentleman has late- 
 ly received a very particular Mark of Favour^ 
 and is in a fair Way to be made a J — 9^ and to fit 
 upon the Lives the Liberties and Properties of his 
 Fellow Subjects. I cannot help faying, that I 
 hope his chief Vretenfion to the Dignity lately 
 conferred upon him, was not the Drawing up 
 
 thac 
 
( » ) 
 
 that extraordinary Search Warranty which I 
 have laid before you. 
 
 Refolving to omit no legal Methods, to re- 
 cover my Property, I indicted the three Fel- 
 lows for Felony, who had broke open, and 
 robbed my Houfe, at the next Oxford Affizes. 
 I proved, by feveral WitnefTes before the Grand 
 Jury, that all the Goods in the Houfe were 
 my own, that I bought part of them in Lon- 
 don, and part of them in Oxfordflrire , that I 
 was at the Expence of fending down a Ser- 
 vant on purpofe from London, to lodge my 
 Papers where I thought they would be fafe$ 
 that the Houfe was broke open, and robb'd 
 by thofe three Perfons I indicted, that fome of 
 my Goods were feized by the Conftable in one 
 of their Houfes, and that many more were flill 
 in their Pofleffion ; and laftly, that, confeious 
 of their Guilt, they all three fled from Juttice* 
 the very Moment they heard I was in the 
 Country. Notwithstanding all thefe plain 
 Facts, proved by the Oaths of feveral WitnefTes, 
 fuch effectual Methods were taken to fcreen 
 thefe Offenders, and prevent their being brought 
 to a legal Trial; that the Bill againft them, 
 ro the infinite Aftonifhment of all Mankind 
 who heard ir, was returned Ignoramus. 
 
 By thefe unheard of Methods, Gentlemen, I 
 am ruined? I have been told, I was born in a Coun- 
 try, where my Property was fecured by Laws, 
 and that as an Englishman I had a Right to the 
 Protection of thole Laws; yet I fhould be glad 
 to know what more flagrant Degree of Injuitice 
 and Oppreffionl could poffibly have endured, if I 
 
 had 
 
( 23 ) 
 had been born in Denmark or in Turkey ? Let nfe 
 beg you, Gentlemen, but tor one Moment to 
 make my wretched Cale your own. Heaven 
 only knows how loon it may become fo. Sup- 
 pofe your Houfcs were broke open in the 
 Night, your Goods, your Books, your Ac- 
 counts, and Papers of the utmoft Confequence 
 to your private Affairs, all taken from you ; 
 fuppofe you could prove, by the Oaths of fe- 
 veral WitnefTes, who the Villains were that 
 had committed Rich an Action, and even to 
 what Places they had conveyed your Goods j 
 would you not think it a little hard, Gentle- 
 men, to be refufed a common Search JVarrani 
 in order to recover them ? Would you not 
 think this was being Excifed with a \Vitnefs? 
 If you would, let me conjure you as a Fellow 
 Subject, and by all the Ties of Humanity, 
 to lend me that Jjfiftance you Legally may (and 
 what that is, I will fhew you anon) in the I aft 
 the only Application I can make for Jufiice. 
 
 Next to his Property, the Liberty of an Eng~ 
 iifiman, has been always thought the moil 
 precious Thing he could be deprived of. Let 
 me fhew you, Gentlemen, at what rate my 
 Liberty has been valued. I was Arretted fome 
 time fince for a Sum of Monev, upon a Sham 
 Aclion j the Perfon at whofe Suit: I was Ar- 
 retted, would neither tell me then, nor has e- 
 ver told me fince, what Pretence he had to 
 claim one Farthing from mej he has never 
 dared to bring his Aclion to a legal Trial: His 
 Defign, evidently was to have hurried me into 
 a Goal, for want of Bail. After I had given 
 Bail to his Aclion, and the very Bailiff* 
 
 by 
 
(2 4 ) 
 
 by whom I was Arretted, had releafed ar'd 
 left me, this Man, and fome defperate Fellows 
 who came with him into my Houfe, gave me 
 the mod opprobrious Language. It is thought 
 by moll of my Friends that their Defign was to 
 provoke me to Strike, that they might have 
 had a Pretence to fall upon me and Murder me. 
 Being told by a Gentleman who was in my 
 Houfe, that he thought he faw this was their De- 
 fign, I kept my Temper: When they found I 
 would not to be provoked to Strike, they locked 
 up Me, my Footman, my Gardiner, and a Ser- 
 vant-Maid, in a Room of my own Houfe, and 
 kept us all confined together in this Room for 
 above two Hours, while they difperfed them- 
 felves over all my Houfe, and took away what- 
 ever they pleafed. As I was under Confinement, 
 I could not prove who the Perlons were that 
 took away my Goods, but was advifed by my 
 Council to bring an Adlion of falfe Imprifon- 
 Tnent againft the Man who caufed me to be Ar- 
 retted : My Poor Servants who were iliut up 
 with me, and had been thoroughly abufed and 
 frighted , were likewife advifed to bring 
 their feveral Acliens : Our Tryals came on $ 
 I proved all the Particulars abovememioned by 
 feveral WitnefFes - y and could have called a 
 great many more. It was abfolutely impoflible 
 to prevent my having a Verdict. I had one j 
 but what Damages do you think, Gentlemen, I 
 had given me, tor being thus Arrefied on a Sham 
 Aclion, Robbed, Abuted, Infulted, and Impri- 
 foned in my own Houfe ? I never yet met with 
 any Man that guelled within five Hundred 
 Pounds: The Damages given me, Gentlemen, 
 were OneFarthing. It feems therefore, 
 
 than 
 
that One Farthing, is at prefent the 
 Value of the Liberty of an Englifhman : I might 
 add, of an Englijb Gentleman, who has been 
 in feveral confiderable Pofts, and done fome Ser- 
 vices of the utmoft Importance to the Houfe of 
 Hanover. Should my Fate ever carry me again 
 into Foreign Nations, I fancy nobody who heard 
 me tell this Story, would doubt for one Moment 
 how firmly our Liberties are Eftablijhed and Pro- 
 tefledbyLaw,m the happy I (land of Great Britain. 
 Allow me to fay, Gentlemen, that I as little 
 imagined, one Day, my Liberty would have been 
 valued at one Farthing, as any of you can now 
 think that your own Liberties are worth no more, 
 To mortify me thoroughly, as I humbly appre- 
 hend, and to {hew me what Ufage I mud con- 
 ffantly expect, tho' the Damages given me were 
 but one Farthing, two of my Servants had one 
 Shilling given to each of them. Damages, in 
 thefe Caies, have been always proportioned ac- 
 cording to the Quality of the Perfon injured > fo 
 that thefe Verdicts are a fort of an Exprefs De- 
 claration of a Court of J aft ice, that my own 
 Footman was Eight and Forty times a better Man 
 than his Mafter. Two fuch Verdi&s, Gentlemen, 
 I will venture to afliire you, were never given 
 before fince the Eftabliihment of Magna Charta j 
 nor fhould I venture to tell you a Story which 
 appears fo Monflrous and Incredible, if I could 
 not prove what I fay by an hundred Witnejfes, 
 and even by the publick Records of thefe fe- 
 veral Trial?. I was advifed by feveral eminent 
 Council, one of them a Member of the Houfe 
 of Commons, to Move for a new Trial, and 
 that the Shameful Record of my Farthing Da- 
 wages, (which would othcrwife remain a Scan- 
 E dal 
 
( »o 
 
 dal to the Laws of England) might be cancel- 
 led 5 but I thought 1 faw too plainly what 
 Treatment I was to expect from a Court of 
 Juftice, ever to defire to come there again. 
 
 I have laid before you, Gentlemen, a fhorc 
 Account of two Affairs, fo extraordinary in 
 their Kind, that I believe they cannot be match- 
 ed by any Parallel Cafes, that ever happened 
 in Great Britain, or in any other Nation upon 
 Earth, where the People had their Liberties and 
 Properties fecured to them by Law. If you 
 would fee thefe two Cafes more at large, with 
 feveral others of the fame Complexion, I beg 
 leave to refer you to two Pamplets, which I 
 publifhed fome Months (ince, Entitled, Li- 
 berty and Property. Thefe two Pamphlets 
 have run thro' feveral Editions, and 'tis pretty 
 Remarkable, that tho' a certain Set of JVriters 
 have called me again, and again, Villain, Rogue ^ 
 Fool and Madman, and accufed me with grofly 
 injuring their Patron - y they have never yet 
 been able to falhTy one fingle Matter of Fact, 
 which I have ventured to lay before the Pub- 
 lick. I do humbly conceive, that when an 
 Englifo Subject is lb openly and flagrantly de- 
 nied common Juftice, as I have been, when 
 he has applied for Juftice by all the uiuai and 
 legal Methods he poffibly can think of, and 
 is refufed that Remedy and Protection, to which 
 he has an undoubted Right, by the Laws of 
 his Country > I fay, Gentlemen, that in fuch a 
 Cafe, I do humbly conceive, the Subject ag- 
 grieved, has no other Remedy left him upon 
 Earth, but to apply himfelf to the Supream 
 Court of Legiflature, the Britifi Parliament, 
 
 and 
 
( *7 ) 
 
 and to fling himfelf at the Feet, and implore 
 the Protection of ihofe great Conservators 
 of Liberty and Property. This, Gentle- 
 men, was what I had fully determined to do 
 in the laft Seflions of Parliament, immediately 
 after my Bill againit thoie three Rogues who 
 robbed my Houfe was returned Ignoramus. To 
 this End, I talked with feveral Members of the 
 moil Honourable the Houfe of Commons, but 
 found their Seflion was almofl ended, that a 
 good many of their Members were gone into 
 the Country, and chat the remaining Part were 
 taken up with an Affair, truly worthy the At- 
 tention of Patriots j I mean the Affair of the 
 Charitable Corporation. I talked with feveral 
 Members upon the fame Subject, towards the 
 Beginning of this Seffions, but was told by 
 them, that while the Liberties and Properties of 
 a whole Nation were in Danger, while there 
 was an open Attempt making to extend the 
 Excife Laws, it was not a proper Time, to 
 hear the Complaints of a private Man* how- 
 ever juft they might be, I thought what thefe 
 Gentlemen faid, had fo much Reafon in it, 
 that it immediately determined me to poftpone 
 any Application relating to my own Opprefions. 
 I hope, Gentlemen, that if I faw any Neceffity 
 for either the Merchants and Trade of Great 
 Britain, or my felf to be deftroyed, I ihould 
 not hefitate one Moment to make my felf a 
 Willing Sacrifice to prevent the Ruin of my 
 Country •, nor was I able to endure the Thoughr, 
 that any InfpecHon into my Complaints fhould 
 divert the Attention of our Rcprefentativcs 
 from what concerned the Intereft o\ all our 
 Merchants and Tradefmen. Providence, Gen- 
 ii, 2 tlemen 3 
 
( *8 ) 
 
 tlemen, and your own Courage and Refolution, 
 have at laft brought your Affair to an happy 
 lfTue, and I am now fully determencd (tho' I 
 could wifh for many Rcafons it was earlier in 
 the Seffion) to try the only Method I have left 
 to obtain Juilicej namely, to implore it from 
 the Power of a Britijh Parliament : In this my 
 Application, fuffer me, Gentlemen, moil hum- 
 bly to intreat you, as my Fellow Subjecls, (and 
 who had like to have been my Fellow Sufferers) 
 to lend me all the Afliftance you legally can: 
 We fee the juftefi Caufe wants to he properly 
 Solicited. Perhaps your own had lately mif- 
 carried if you had fhewn lefs Diligence or lefs 
 Unanimity than you did. I have been dripped 
 of my Paternal Eflates, and of that Fortune I 
 was born to, by a Train of wicked Arts, too 
 long to trouble you with an Account of. A 
 Man who lofes his Fortune, generally fpeaking, 
 lofes his Friends ; and 1 am too too fenfible 
 that I have Powerful Enemies; yet the only Fa- 
 vour I beg of you is, Gentlemen, that you 
 would defire thofe your Reprefentatives, who 
 fo gloriouily exerted themfelves in your Caufe, 
 to attend at leaft and infpect the Complaints of 
 a moil Unhappy, tho' an Innocent Man : I mod 
 freely confent that it be a Part of your Inflec- 
 tions to them, to punifh me in the fevereft 
 Manner, if it fhall appear that my Complaints 
 are without Foundation: Suffer me to aim at 
 convincing you, that the Requeft which I now 
 make to you is not an unreafonable one : 
 What is my Cafe to Day, may happen, Gen- 
 tlemen, to be your own to Morrow •, and how- 
 ever worthiefs J am, the fame Methods which 
 have been made ufe of to ruin me (if they pafs 
 
 Mcenfured 
 
( *9) 
 
 uncenfured and unexpofed) may one Day be em- 
 ployed to deitroy the beft and moft valuable 
 Men in Great Britain. Be fides this, Gentle- 
 men, the Complaint which I make, is of a much 
 more publick Nature, than perhaps you imagine : 
 I do think, I can put the Parliament into a 
 very ihort Method of getting at the Bottom 
 of a black Affair, and of making fuch a Dif- 
 covery, as would be of infinite Service (at this 
 Juncture efpecially) both to the King and King- 
 dom : Perhaps at laft it may plainly appear, 
 how much Reafon fome Perfons had to dread 
 my obtaining one Jingle Audience, either from the 
 Kingox the Queen. May their Majefties Reign 
 long in the Jffeblions of their Subjects; may their 
 Names be tranfmitted to Pofterity, under the 
 mod glorious of Titles > namely, the Proteclorsof 
 Innocence, the Scourges of Opprejjlon, and the true 
 Parents of their Country j and may that wick- 
 ed Man, who (hall at any time endeavour to fhut 
 their Ears againft the juft Complaints of the 
 Meaneft of their Subjects, or to prevent their 
 knowing fuch 'Truths as it is abfolutely tie- 
 ceffary for their own Intereft they fhould be ac- 
 quainted with, meet at laft with the Fate he 
 deferves. 
 
 The Decrees of Heaven are juft: I have 
 lived to fee that Per/on, who in order to drown 
 my Complaints, employed all his wicked In- 
 ftruments, to reprefent me as a Madman, act 
 after fuch a Manner, that many People at pre- 
 fent, can hardly believe him in his right Senfes; 
 and tho' he has not entirely fucceeded in prov- 
 ing Me a Madman, he has,T fancy, fully con- 
 vinced the wiieft Part of the Nation, that he 
 
 is 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 is but very little better Himfelf. I humbly 
 conceive, Gentlemen, that nothing can be 
 more plain and evident, than that in the two 
 Cafes which I have laid before you, the mod 
 notorious Offenders have been Screened, and 
 the common Courfe of Juftice perverted, by 
 fome powerful Influence. From whence that 
 Influence came, I think, I can plainly make 
 appear, if the Honourable the Houfe of 
 Commons (who, as I take it, are the Grand In- 
 quefl of the Nation) will but vouchfafe to hear 
 me, upon a JJjort Petition which 1 refolve im- 
 mediately to lay before them: And whether 
 that Man (whoever he is) who is capable of 
 Screening Robbers and Houfe- Breakers, is not 
 alfo capable of Screening an JJfaJJin, I muft 
 afterwards fubrait to the Judgment of the Pub- 
 lick. 
 
 The People of England have been mod juftly 
 allarmed, to think an Attempt was making to 
 take from them the molt Valuable of all their 
 Privileges, I mean, their being tried by Juries. I 
 can, Gentlemen, produce the Man, and prove 
 the Facl fully upon him, who has taken a 
 Method, even while wc fancy we are tryed by 
 Juries , to render them of no manner of Ser- 
 vice or \Jfe to the Subjcft. 
 
 I hope thefe are Points, which muft make 
 my Petition confidered, not as a private A f ff 'air , 
 but as a Thing of the utmoft Importance to the 
 whole Britifh Nation : Yet if all thefe, Gen- 
 tlemen, are not fufficient, I have dill fomething 
 to lay before the Houfe, which they will fure- 
 )y think worth their Confideration^ and which 
 
 poffibly 
 
( M ) 
 
 poiTibly you may think, does in a particular 
 Manner, entitle me to your Favour. What I 
 mean is a mod flagrant Attempt, which, I 
 humbly conceive, has been lately made to take 
 away the Liberty of the Press. 
 
 I think my felf obliged by that Duty I owe 
 my Country, to lay a plain and naked State of 
 this Cafe before all my Fellow Subjects. 
 
 Having been ftripped or the Fortune I was 
 born to, by a great Number of Law Suits which 
 have been forced upon me, and carried on at 
 a vaft Expence$ under the Names of feveral 
 Perfons, who are nototioufly known to be 
 Beggars, I refolved to endeavour to get an 
 Honeft Livelihood by employing thofe little natu- 
 ral Talents which Heaven has beftowed upon 
 me, ajid which it has not been in the Power 
 of my moll Cruel and Implacapk Enemy to take 
 from me. I therefore fet on Foot (with the Af- 
 fiftancc of fome Friends) a Weekly Pamphlet, 
 which we publifhed under the Title of The 
 BEE; Or, Univerfal Weekly Pamphlet ; con- 
 taining Something to hit every Man's Tafle and 
 Principles (viz.) An Abridgment of Things Ma- 
 terial, and all the EfTays worth Reading in the 
 Weekly Papers \ the Stronger!: Arguments*?/* each 
 Side of the Queftion, in all Difputes of a Publick 
 Nature, plated in a fair and impartial Light j 
 with feveral Original Compojitions in Proje and 
 Verfe. Our Pamphlet contained likewife, among 
 other Particulars, An Account of the State of 
 Literature Abroad ; to which End weeftabliihed, 
 at a confiderabie Expence,a large Correfpondence 
 in Foreign Parts. The Publick has received 
 
 kindly 
 
( 3* ) 
 
 kindly this honeft Attempt to pleafe and to hh 
 flrucl them. The firft of our Pamphlets was 
 Published on the ioth of February laft, and we 
 have ever fince itri<5tly obferved that Neutrality 
 which we promifed to keep at our flrft fetting 
 out, with Relation to all Party- Matters. Du- 
 ring the late Difputes we never gave our own 
 Opinions in the B E E, either for or againft Ex- 
 cifcs. We inferted the beft Arguments we could 
 pick up on both Sides of the Que It ion ; and 
 tho' I have fome Reafons to think that the 
 Right Honourable Sr. Robert fValpole is not 
 much my Friend, I was fo juft to him as to in- 
 fert all ihefine things which thofe Writers have 
 laid in his Praife, who, fome believe, are well 
 paid out of the Publick Revenue for their Weekly 
 Productions. You may pleafe to remember, 
 Gentlemen, that the Craft/man, while he was 
 Writing in your Defence,cot\c\uded one of his Pa- 
 pers with a Fine Spectator wrote by the late Mr. 
 Addifon, in Praife of 'Trade and our Englifi 
 Merchants. The Weekly Writer, who calls 
 himfelf Osborne, was fo much provoked at this 
 Spectator, that he not only mentioned The 
 Spectators (a Work in which I had fome Share) 
 in a very contemptible Manner, but, without the 
 lead Regard to Truth or Humanity, fell upon the 
 Character of the late Mr. Addifon. As I was 
 once the mod intimate Friend, and am at pre- 
 fent the neareft Male Relation to that Great Man, 
 as I owe him more than my Life, I mean my 
 Education, I mult confefs, Gentlemen, I could 
 not fee his Memory thus vilely traduced, with- 
 out faying fomething in the Defence of a Man, 
 who, all Foreign Nations think, was an Honour 
 to his Country \ but who is now unable to de- 
 fend 
 
(3J) 
 
 fend himfelf. In our B E E therefore, Numb. X. 
 I endeavered to vindicate my poor Deceafed 
 Friend arid Relation, from the falfe and in- 
 famous Reflection which Mr. Osborne had call 
 upon him > and (without entring into the Dif- 
 pute about Excites) I only mentioned Trade 
 and the Britijh Merchant s y with that RefpeR 
 and dffeblion, which is lurely due to them from 
 every true Englijbman. 
 
 In a Day or two after this BEE was pub- 
 lished, the Commiflioners of the Stamp Office 
 fent a MelTenger on purpofe to let my Pub- 
 li/lier know, that they would enter no more of 
 the B £ eV in their Office. My Brother Proprie- 
 tors were fo ftruck with this unexpected Mef- 
 fage, that a Pamphlet, which I have been at fo 
 much Expence to eftabliih, mud have dropped 
 immediately, if I had not made a Shift to de- 
 pofite One Hundred Pounds in their Hands, to 
 indemnify them for publishing one BEE more. 
 I am told the Commiffiorters intend to profe- 
 tute me with the utmoft Severity, for publish- 
 ing the next BEE, without entring it, tho* 
 th^v themfelves refufe to let it be entered, and 
 I am ready to pay the Duty required by the 
 Act of Parliament, and which this Pamphlet, 
 and all other Pamphlets of the fame Kind (of 
 which there are feveral) have hitherto paid. I 
 am unable, God knows, to maintain a Law- 
 Suit againft the Crown; but am refolved, hum- 
 bly to implore the Juftice, the Mercy and 
 Protection of the Houfe of Commons, in this 
 mod extraordinary Cafe. 
 
 The Honourable Houfe of Commons, will, 
 
 I hope, pleafe to determine, whether to put 
 
 down a Pamphlet, that has conftantly paid his 
 
 Majefty Six Shillings a Week ; be the way to 
 
 F encreafe 
 
(34) 
 
 encreafc his Revenue ;, and whether it is for the 
 Publick Good, to turn feveral poor Men a 
 Starving, who, at prefent, maintain themfelves 
 and Families, purely by priming, this very 
 Pamphlcc. 
 
 I have carefully read over the A£b of Parlia- 
 ment made in the tenth Year of the late Queen 
 jinnc^ by which the Daties upon all News- Pa- 
 pers and Pamphlets were granted to the Crown, 
 if I underltand any thing or the Laws of England 
 (and it I do not I have ftudied many Tears to no 
 Purpofc) theCommiffioncrs of the Stamp-Office 
 refufing to enter any Pamphlet in their Office, 
 when a Duty of two Shillings a Sheet is tendered 
 to them for entering inch 'Pamphlet, is aDirecl 
 Breach of ah Act of Parliament, penned in as 
 plain Words as ever any Act was yet penned. 
 The Commiffioners are obliged by an ex prefs 
 Oath faithfully to execute the Truft repofed in 
 rhem by this A6t: It is true they are likewife 
 obliged to obey fuch Orders as they fhall receive 
 from the Commijfi oners of the Treafury for the 
 time being: Whether therefore any particular 
 Order w T as given them by the Lords of t«he 
 Treafury upon thisOccaflon, is in my poor Opi- 
 nion, well worth the Enquiry of the Commons 
 of England^ in Parliament AfTembled -, fince, 
 if the Commiflioners, either by their own Au- 
 thority, or by Venue of an Order from the 
 Treafury, can refufe to enter any Pamphlet, 
 when the Proprietors of fuch Pamphlet offer 
 to pay them the legal Duty> nothing is more 
 Evident than that the Liberty of the Prefs is 
 taken away j and whenever the Liberty of the 
 Prefs is taken away, ' I tremble to think, what 
 will foon become of the Liberties and Properties 
 of the People of England, 
 
 My 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 My Friends are unaninrouily of Opinion, that 
 what drew the Difpleafure of the Commiflioners 
 upon me, was my prefuming to Vindicate the 
 Chancier of Mr. Addifon, when the Great 
 Mr. Osborne thought fit to attack it j and this 
 indeed ieems to be evident, fince the Com- 
 miilioners never refufed to enter this Pamphlet 
 before, nor can we find that they ever did, 
 or do now dare to refufe to enter other Pamph- 
 Jets-of the fame Nature. 
 
 O Addifon! If the Spirits of jud Men made 
 perfect, obferve what is done here below, thou 
 haft feen thy wretched Relation, who was once 
 dear to Thee, unjuftly ftripped of his Fortune, 
 and flung into a Goal", thou haft feen him denied 
 that common Juitice, to which he is intitled by 
 the Laws of his Country, under the Reign of a 
 Prince, for the fake of whofe illuftrious Family, 
 thou well knoweft, he once ventured whatever Men 
 think Valuable in Life -, Under all this Load of 
 Oppreflion, I will fill be true to that Friendship 
 there was once between us. If it is become a 
 Crime in the Eyes of this Nation, to vindicate 
 thy injured Memory, this Nation was unworthy 
 of Thee : Nature has made me incapable of equal" 
 ling thy Divine Genius, yet fhalt thou obferve in 
 me an honed Fortitude j and whether my Soul 
 is defined to be feparated from my Body, by the 
 Hand of an Affaffin, or a publick Executioner, 
 it Jhall meet Thee, filed with ihofe Sentiments 
 which it formerly learnt from Thee. 
 
 Pardon, Gentlemen, this fhortj Soliloquy, 
 which I mud own the Remembrance of my 
 Friend forced from me. You have feen the 
 Memory of this Gentleman mod cruelly Tra- 
 duced, for his during to fpeak handfomely of 
 Trade and Merchants > and perhaps, my being 
 F l fufpccled 
 
( sO 
 
 fufpetted to have drawn my Pen in your Defence, 
 is one of thofe Crimes which arc never to be 
 forgiven me. If thefe Confiderations have any 
 Weight in your generous Breads, let me hum- 
 bly conjure you once more, to favour me with 
 your Intcreft) in that Attempt, which I am re- 
 folved to make, to ferve my Country. 
 
 Some little Hopes I have, from the Juftice 
 and IVifdom of that Parliament, who to their 
 immortal Honour, have fo lately crufhed the 
 Excije Bill \ yet alas ! how weak a Match 
 is Truth for Power ? I know the odds are 
 infinite againft me$ I am fcnfible fome Per- 
 form will omit no Endeavours to have the 
 plained Truths Voted falfe and feandalous^ I 
 know I fhall be purfued by moft Powerful Ene- 
 wies, and fhall not be furprifed to find my felf 
 but faintly afttfted, by thofe who, if they con- 
 fidered their own Circumftances and Intereft^ 
 ought, I am fure, to be my Friends. I forefec 
 that I fhall run more Dangers than I believe 
 any other Perfon can reprefent to me 5 notvvith- 
 (landing all which, I refolve to do T/hat I think 
 is my Duty both to my King and my Country. 
 In a Word, If I furvive this Attempt, Gentle- 
 men, I hope I fhall live to ferve you, with a 
 Zealous Hearty and an Honeft Pen. If I perifh 
 in it, I will dye praying for your Profperity^ 
 flnce I am thorougly convinced that the JVelfart 
 and Happinefs of my Native Country mud: always 
 depend upon a Flour ijbing Trade. I am, with 
 Great Refpeft, 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Tour moft devoted, 
 
 and moft obedient humble Servant, 
 
 *$? E; Bud gel l. 
 
(37) 
 
 April the iltb, I 733- This "Day is publified, 
 
 The Fifth Edition, 
 
 (Revifed, Corrected, and Enlarged, by the Author,) of 
 
 LIBERTY and PROPERTY: 
 
 A Pamphlet highly neceflfary to be read by every 
 Englishman, who has the leaft Regard for thofe 
 two irnalttahle BkJJings. Containing feveral Curious 
 Sforieiy and Matters of Faft ; with Original Letters y and 
 other Papers. And fome Obfervations upon the prefent 
 S'ate of the Nation. The Whole in a Letter to a Mem- 
 ber of the House of Commons. 
 
 By EUSTACE BUDGELL Eft', 
 
 Printed for W. Mears y at the Lamb upon Ludgate-HUL 
 [Price Stitched 3 s. Bound and Lettered z $.] 
 
 'This Day is alfo publiJJxd, 
 The Second Edition 
 Of the SECOND PART of 
 
 LIBERTY and PROPERTY: 
 
 A Pamphlet, highly necefTary to be Read by every 
 Englijhman, who has the leaft Regard for thofe two 
 Invaluable Hlejjings. Containing a Curious Account of fome 
 Things which have happened fince the Publication of the 
 Firjt Part. With an Original Letter from the Author. 
 to the Honourable Mr. Juftice Fortescue, one of his 
 Majefty's Judges in the Court of Common Pleas. And 
 fome Remarks upon Mr, PVal (Ingham's late Proper Reply 
 to the Firft Part of Liberty and Property. 
 The Whole in a fecond Letter to a Member of the Eoufe of 
 Commons. 
 By EUSTACE BUDG£LL% 
 Tu ne cede Mai is, fed contra audentior ito. Virg, 
 Printed for W, Mears at the Lamh upon Ludgan-RilU 
 (Price One Shilling.; 
 
, _„ ( 3« ) 
 
 It his Day is 
 
 The BEE. Numb. X. 
 
 (From Saturday April the 7 th, to Saturday April the 14th.) 
 Containing among other curious Particulars, 
 
 I. Remarks upon a Poem, entitled, A Journey from 
 Patapsko to Annapolis* 
 
 II. The Poem itfelf. 
 
 III. ExtraQ: from a Jefnit's Letter to the Re£tor of his 
 College. 
 
 XV. Account of Mf. H J's unfuccefsful Attempt. 
 
 V. Story of the Grand Vizier and a Greek Merchant. 
 
 VI. Mar-Donald's Prophecy. 
 
 VII. Methods taken by thofe v>h6 oppofe the Excifes. 
 
 VIII. Mr. Osborne's fcandalous Reflection upon the late 
 Mr. Addlfon, occafioncd by his Excellent Spectator in 
 Praife of Trade, and the Engljfi Merchants. 
 
 IX. The Memory of that Great and Wife Man vindicated. 
 
 X. Foreign Affairs and Political Kefie£l:ions. 
 
 XI. Demejtick Occurrences, and the Drone's Collection ', be- 
 ing as ample an Account of all Dome/lick Occurrences 
 as is to be found in any Jmrnal. 
 
 XII. An exaft Lift, for the Ufe of Merchants, of all 
 fuch Veffels as fail from, or come into any of our home 
 Port?. 
 
 XIII- The. State of Literature in Foreign Parts. 
 
 XIV. An Abftra& of the Life of the celebrated Saladine, 
 upon whom King Richard the firft made War in the 
 Holy Land, 
 
 XV. An Epigram on the Merchants being called Sturdy 
 Beggars* 
 
 Note, This is the BEE, upon the Vuhlication of which, 
 the Commiiuoners of the Stamp-Office fent a M-ffage 
 to the Vublifnr, to acquaint him, that thy Would enter 
 no more oj the B e e s in their Office* 
 
 Note, It is neceffary for thofe who would thoroughly under- 
 fiand the Proceeding Pamphlet, to read likeivtfe the three 
 Pamphlets abovmiwUcned* . 
 

 -A*. 
 
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