George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/manunmasked01leig 
 
THt * 
 
 - MAN UNMASKED 
 
 OR, THt 
 
 WORLD UNDECEIVED, 
 
 'sJy * N <=*K. t'. v 
 
 THE AUTHOR OP A LAf E PAMPHLET* 
 
 INTIUI6, 
 
 “ EXTRACTS PROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 “ HIGH COURT OF VICE-ADMIRALTY 
 " IN CHARLESTOWN, SOUTH-CAROLINA, ” &c* 
 
 WITH 
 
 SUITABLE REMARKS 
 
 ON THAT MASTERLY PERFORMANCE. 
 
 By EGERTON LEIGH. 
 
 sr 
 
 inpandvm caput ! . 
 
 • ' - - - H1C vir ! Hie EST ! VIRGIL. 
 
 THE MOTIONS OF HIS SPIRIT ARE DULL AS NIGHT, 
 
 AND HI5 AFFECTIONS DARK AS EREBUS. 
 
 LET. NO SUCH MAN BE TRUSTED. ' 
 
 SHAKESP 1 
 
 O WHAT MEN DARE DO ! WHAT MEN MAY DO ! 
 
 WHAT MEN DAILY DO 1 NOT KNOWING WHAT THEY DO ! 
 
 ‘ . ' SHAKESP. 
 
 o 
 
 V* . • 
 
 ^ Crif ARL'£,S-TO WN: 
 
 Tainted by PETER TIMOTHY, M,dcc,ixix. 
 
 
9 1 5. 1 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 388212 
 
(. 3 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 Man unmalked, & c. 
 
 B*® HE R E is a tide in the affairs of men , 
 aJ* A anc ^ I have frequently obferved, that 
 fome precile period of our lives, is 
 commonly diftinguifhed, with peculiar dif- 
 appointment. This reflection comes home 
 to my prefent lituation ; but, , like -a faithful 
 centinel on a watch-tower, it fe.rves as a 
 fummons to the man, to collect all his feat- 
 tered powers for fejf-p refer vation and de- 
 fence : however, it is by no means a pleaf- 
 ing or convenient circumftance, to meet 
 with interruption in the courfe of a fteady 
 and uniform purfuit, and therefore I may 
 well be allowed to denominate that a difap- 
 pointment, which intrudes upon the bufinels 
 pf life, by preffirig me into a kind of- foreign 
 fervice much againft my will. 
 
 A Z . The 
 
4 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 The author of a late publication, intitled, 
 
 *• extracts from the proceedings of the high 
 “ court of viqe-admiralty in Charles-town, 
 “ South-Carolina, obliges me, by a fort 
 of neceflity which cannot be refilled, to take 
 up the pen in defence of an injured repu- 
 tation. This is a hard and cruel cafe : to be 
 ftigmatized in print, and either to remain 
 filent, in which event the world will take 
 every charge pro confeffo , or (bitter alterna- 
 tive !) to fet myfelf up as a candidate for li- 
 terary fame, perhaps without ability, tafte, 
 or inclination. In the hey-day of the blood, 
 when paflion is apt to get the ftart of judg- 
 ment, when a young man is entering upon 
 the . ftage of life full ftored with claflic lore, 
 to become an author, is then, amongft the 
 clafs of youths, an epidemical ambition : 
 but when that fire and vivacity have fuffered 
 fome allay, by a clofe and unwearied atten- 
 tion to the ftudy and practice of the law; 
 when public employments have for many 
 years engaged no fcanty portion of rfegard j 
 it is an arduous talk indeed, to break loofe 
 from fuch fetters, to difengage the mind 
 from operations which time has made in 
 fome degree mechanical, and to proceed in 
 a new and oppofite direction. The reader 
 muA therefore expedt very little ornament 
 of ftile, he mull be fatisfied with a plain 
 and manly vindication ; inftead of fallies of 
 y?it and flowers of rhetoric, he mull content 
 
 himfelf 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &». 5 
 
 himfelf with a fober narrative ; and if a 
 gleam of fancy chances to break forth, let 
 him rather impute it to the anguifh of 
 my wounds, than to brilliancy of parts : 
 but in return for this conceflion, it is hoped 
 he will read my paper with fome good na- 
 ture, and make allowances for numberlefs 
 - defers, as J am no prefumptuous volunteer 
 on this occafion a requeft perhaps the more 
 juft and reafonable, as every man knows, 
 that' the extended fituation of my affairs, 
 both in a public and private view, will not 
 allow me fufficient leifure for an elegant or 
 elaborate performance, were my abilities 
 even equal to the importance of the talk. -7* 
 One circumftance at leaft affords me a ray 
 of comfort, on this trying occafion, that as 
 my adverfary’s imagination is dull and lan-* 
 guid, fo is his Ikill as weak, as the caufe he 
 is engaged in. — How much do I deplore the 
 ralhnefs of the man ! who, like an inconfi- 
 derate and wicked fuicide, ftabs his own 
 reputation, by an inftrument which provi- 
 dence never meant him to make ufe of, but 
 in the fober and innocent routine of com- 
 mercial duties. 
 
 In the courfe of thefe obfervations, it fhall 
 be my endeavour to avoid all grofs and im- 
 pertinent detraction ; and whatever cenfure 
 or feverity may fall upon the author of the,, 
 extracts, muft be imputed, partly to his 
 fluctuating conduCt, and partly to his nota- 
 
6 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 ble performance, which affords me an am- 
 ple and fpacious field to fport and range in. 
 I fhall ftudioufly obferve the ftridteft laws 
 of friendfhip : not one allufion fhall tend to 
 violate that law ; neither is it my intention 
 to point out private foibles or defeCts ; my 
 aim being folely directed againft the errors 
 and affectations of the man in public life, 
 in which view he is equally fubjeCl to ob- 
 fhrvation with myfelf, and if fuch reflections 
 did not become abfolutely neceflary, in de- 
 fence of my own character, I would by no 
 means make them, for the talk is truly 
 painful to me : it is my with to treat him 
 as he merits, and to repay him with pure 
 and unadulterated coin. 
 
 _ It is not an eafy matter to account pre- 
 cifely for his conduCt, or to aflign a good 
 and fubftantial reafon wherefore, towards the 
 evening of his days, he fnould offer himfelf 
 to the world, as a candidate for literary 
 fame; though I jfhrewdly fufpeCt, that a 
 certain pride of difpofition, a full-blown 
 opinion of himfelf, and a perfuafion that he 
 is equal to any undertaking, have lured him, 
 as the bait decoys fifh, into an element de- 
 ftructive ana repugnant to his nature. 
 
 Whatever may have been the motive to 
 the performance, is an enquiry which will 
 naturally be made in the courfe of thefe re- 
 flections, and therefore I fhall, in this place, 
 employ a f?w moments to confider the folly 
 
 of 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &'c. f 
 
 of thofe men, who unwarily buoy themfelves 
 up with flattering ideas of their own parts 
 and tinderftanding, of their ability to under- 
 take, and their capacity to perform, things - 
 far beyond their reach. 
 
 I have known a man of plodding parts 
 and tolerable fenfe, with a fufficient ftore of 
 commercial knowledge, improved by expe- 
 rience in an extenflve plan of trade, well 
 nigh ruined, through a miftake of his natu- 
 ral and acquired endowments. The perfon I 
 allude to, was many years ago a fober arbi- 
 trator amongfl merchants, in little differen- 
 ces of accounts and reckonings he was well 
 enough fkilled in the rate of exchange of 
 different countries, and in the price of 
 commodities ; the law of bills of exchange 
 and infurances were like wife fubjedts which 
 naturally fell within his province j and in 
 fhort, he figured as a man well verfed in the 
 traffic of the world. In this career of policy 
 he was equal and confiftent with himfelf : 
 but the unhappy fituation of his country, at 
 a critical conjundture, unluckily induced 
 him to affume the military garb : the prin- 
 ciple was good enough, if it had been well 
 bottomed : but the mifehief was, that he 
 
 believed himfelf to be a foldier, without the 
 education or fpirit of a foldier : in this one 
 fatal circumftance, he beheld himfelf wret- 
 ched to a degree. Had he reflected for a 
 moment, J:hat a red or a blue coat, mujt aches, 
 
 fuitable 
 
8 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c* 
 
 fuitable attire, and warlike badges, are poor 
 emblems of the god of war, without the 
 aethereal fpirit of a god, X am certain that 
 he would have continued at the counter, 
 reckoning, with poring attention, the in- 
 tricate concerns of pounds, (hillings, and 
 pencei 
 
 What followed this change of fituation ? 
 This miftaken and deluded man foon found, 
 to his mortification, that military attire, his 
 fword, his buckler, and his gun, were made 
 for u(c, as well as (hew ; and when the day 
 of trial came, when ornaments were badges 
 of utility, and the man who wore them, 
 fhould have (ignalized his courage, by his 
 ardour, in his country’s caufe, he found 
 himfelf a mere marker and Jhipper of Rice , 
 a weigher, a broker, a merchant , or prudent 
 conjignee : not but there are, and, in the af- 
 fair alluded to, were, men of high and fu- 
 perior merit, whom we may except, from 
 this general imputation. And there is a 
 man, who proves in his own life, the letter 
 of this doctrine ; and if his foul can with- 
 draw itfelf for a moment, and reflect on pad 
 events, from a Retrofpedl of a different Cafe,. 
 than what has lately engaged his whole atten- 
 tion, he mud fink into delpair, that he is 
 now labouring to regain that Popularity * 
 which fome years fince he loft, at a time 
 too, when he ought to have fecured it as a 
 rock of defence, and by a valiant ufe of thofe 
 
 weapons., 
 
'THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 9 
 
 Weapons, by which he had it in his power 
 effectually to fecure it. I lhall not examine 
 what was the particular amount of his lofs, 
 in point of reputation, but leave it to the 
 World to difcover, if they can* what advan- 
 ces he then made in his new purfuit after 
 glory and renown : one lofs however, all 
 men remember, as a proverb uttered by their 
 fathers, that he funk into the merchant, 
 unbeloved by the People , and neglected by 
 his friends. 
 
 There is little reafoii to expeft, that a 
 better fate will attend the man who adven- 
 tures, at a late time of life too, into re- 
 fearches which puzzle and perplex the moft 
 eminent profeffors of the law. A merchant 
 transformed into a foldier, makes 'the fame 
 ridiculous figure in the ftudy of jurifpru- 
 dence. Such a change may be compared to 
 fome of thofe wild and imaginary metamor- 
 phofes which Ovid, in his poetical flights, 
 entertains us with ,* and if the Extradt- Au- 
 thor has an Englifh tranflation of the works 
 of that fanciful poet in his defk, he may 
 probably meet with fome Monjler like him- 
 felf : for we may allure ourfelves, that every 
 departure, from the regular fyftem to which 
 we are bred, every deviation from that track 
 'which nature of our parents chofe for us/ 
 and long practice and experience have re- 
 conciled us to, will only involve us in a la- 
 ^ byrmfh> 
 
lo THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 byrinth, where, like filly fools, vfre mufl 
 perifli in a perplexity of inextricable mazes* 
 without the aid of any clue to bring us out 
 again. So eafy is the tranfition into the road' 
 of error ! and fo arduous the talk to efcape 
 from its alluring toils ! 
 
 But to proceed on the learned work wrote 
 and diftributed by Colonel Henry Laurens. 
 
 i X 
 
 It is, in truth, a modern rarity, a farrago 
 of extracts, fome fadts, fome untruths, fuf- 
 picions, refledtions and conjedtures, bundled 
 together in a confuted and motley heap* 
 calculated to inflame the minds of the peo- 
 dle, to cafi: urideferved odium and contempt 
 on courts of admiralty in general, and on 
 my condudt in particular ; in open violation 
 .of the law divine and human, and in diredt 
 oppofition to the didtates of natural affedtion. 
 The author’s defign is not more low than it 
 is ungenerous, difingenuous and bafe : it is, 
 to feparate and divide a houfe againft itfelf ; 
 to create family difquiet ; and to ruin, if 
 pofiible, that man, who has, at all times, 
 endeavoured to convince hirmof his friend- 
 fbip and regard. The manner in which the 
 poifon is conveyed, • may quiet and lull men’s 
 fenfes for a time, and the author may enjoy 
 a fleeting and temporary glory ; but happily" 
 this approbation muff, by great and candid 
 minds, be fpeedjily withdrawn, when fome 
 
 dextrous 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. ij 
 
 dextrous enquirer touches the performance, 
 as Ithuriel did the toad in Milton, when 
 inflantly the fallacy s unmajked y and the de- 
 ceiver appears in his natural foape and co- 
 louring. 
 
 Some may be led to afk, for what reafon, 
 I vouchfafe to give the man ananfwer j fince 
 the attack is in defiance of law and the moll 
 obvious principles of our blefled conflitu- 
 tion ? the objection has its weight. My 
 firft opinion was, to treat it with contempt : 
 but as flander, circulated with a diligence 
 hardly to be parallelled, may wound my re- 
 putation in diftant parts, and even here raife 
 lufpicions, of a pharadter which- has hereto- 
 fore weathered the moll adtive ftorms, it 
 ma y be proper to condefoend, in fome de- 
 gree, to the common reafoning and appre- 
 henfions of mankind, and the rather, as I 
 no longer fill that ftation, to which the at- 
 tack more immediately refers.. > 
 
 The meanefl: capacity may eafily perceive, 
 that it is altogether out of rule, for a judge 
 ' difcufs at large the grounds and principles 
 of his judgments, or to fobmit to an appeal / 
 to the people on the merit of cafes which 
 have undergone a judicial determination; 
 the objedljon is flat, it is unanswerable, it 
 is conclufive. My readers therefore, can on- 
 ly expedl me to touch upon fuch principal 
 parts of the remarks, as tend to vilify my 
 feputafion and good name. To argue law 
 
 with 
 
12 THE MAN UNMASKED, &p. 
 
 • • '» * ' * 
 
 with Mr. Laurens, would be like a phyfi- 
 cian difputing with a qu. ck, or like a man 
 of the noble art of defence letting himfelf 
 up againft an ignorant pretender, who, be- 
 ing deftitute of Ikill, may, like a madman 
 in good luck, avoid the regular and more 
 accurate displays of fcience ; and what has 
 the man of fcience to gain by fuch a con- 
 flict ? a victory confi rs no honour, when 
 Ifrength or luperior knowledge contend a-r 
 gainlt impotence and weakneis. 
 
 The King, as the fountain of juftice, di- 
 ftributes the fame through various channels, 
 for the benefit of his faithful fubjeCts ; and 
 if, through the weaknefs, incapacity, or 
 corruption of his judges, the dreams are in- 
 terrupted in their courle, they have, in num- 
 berlefs cafes, other tribunals to refort to* 
 gnd therefore every fentence fubjeCf to a re- 
 view is, in eftimation of law, of full force 
 and validity, ’till the fame is annulled or re- 
 verfed by the next fuperior judge. Both con- 
 tending parties feldom go fatisfied out of any 
 pourt, and confequently each difappointed 
 perfon, has only to determine with himfelf, 
 whether he \yill fit down with the fentence 
 of his judge. Nothing can bp morp idle and 
 abfurd, than for a party in a caufe, to fly in 
 the face of that judge,, whom he has fo late- 
 ly and fo humbly implored for relief ; to 
 defert his conftitutional remedy, and to fet 
 himfelf tip as, a Lord Paramount to arraign 
 
1 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. i 3 
 
 juftice, load him with reproaches, vilify his 
 name, and blaft, in the moft odious terms, 
 his reputation v integrity and honour ; to try 
 him too by his own unlettered judgment, 
 without colour of law, againft law, in defi- 
 ance of the King’s authority, in exclufion of 
 a fuperior jurifdidtion clothed by the law 
 of the land, with full and ample powers to 
 reform his errors and to adminifter relief j 
 are a<fts of the moft confummate impudence 
 and folly : they are bold attempts againft: 
 the laws and conftitution of our country; 
 they are bafe affronts to Majefly itfelf, from 
 whom both juftice and honour flow in libe- 
 ral and abundant ft: dams ; and they are grofs 
 and daring infults on fociety, as they natu- 
 rally tend to loofen the band of civil union 
 and connexion. Eftablifh it once as a prin- 
 ciple, that the man who lofes his caufe, or 
 is (as he may think) only partially relieved, 
 may caft upon his judge in the firft inftance 
 what obloquy he pleafes, and it is then e- 
 qually juft, regular and lawful, to libel eve- 
 ry judge through every ftage ; and the der- 
 nier refort (hall,* in the end, enjoy all thofe 
 . accumulated cenfures, which malice and re- 
 venge had before divided amongft the fub- 
 prdinate judges of the caufe. 
 
 In vain would the legiflature enadt laws, 
 if the judges were controuled, by the people, 
 in their conftrudtion of them. Perhaps fome 
 may be apt to fay, fhall judges have an un-? 
 > limitecl 
 
J4 the MAN UNMASKED, &e, 
 
 limited power to do as they fee fit ? (hall 
 every order of men be accountable, and thefe 
 remain undifturbed in the enjoyment of their 
 feats ? By no means. Bring that man to 
 juftice, who tampers with her facred laws ; 
 proceed againft him with unrelenting vigour 
 and the moft adtive perfeverance ; let him 
 fbffier by law, for his abufe of law : but 
 
 then, let the attack be directed againft the 
 errors of his will, the falfe bias of his mind, 
 the corrupt practices ^of his heart, and din 
 ftinguifh between thofe poflible injuries 
 which may arife from the fallibility of hu- 
 man judgment, and thofe which refill t from 
 artifice, combination, and defign. 
 
 Many eminent and illuftrious perfons, have 
 lived to hear a reverfal of their own decrees ; 
 and that man’s judgment may well be que- 
 ftioned, who vainly prefumes or arrogantly 
 confides in it. ' - 
 
 If a difappointed party artfully reprefents 
 his cafe, and forms a libel on his judge’s 
 charadter or conduct, the honour of that sta- 
 tion muft fink, in proportion as fuch attempts 
 meet with countenance and regard ; and 
 though a judge may purfue his legal remedy, 
 it is but a poor confolation, fince the multi- 
 plication of fuits muft fubjedt him to fo 
 many reiterated attacks, to the difquiet of 
 himfelf, and tthe community wherein he 
 lives : but a legal defence is not adequate to 
 the neceflity of the prefent cafe ; if the par- 
 
 ' • ty 
 
ITHE MAN UNMASKED, &c. ig 
 
 ty was puniftied in the due cpurfe and order 
 of law, ftill a poifon has been fpread, which? 
 that remedy cannot reach. 
 
 The law of God forbids calumniation,- 
 and the Roman law ranked the offence of 
 flander under the head of capital crimes., 
 And Cicero, in one of his orations, gives a 
 hint about printing the letter K on the fore- 
 head of a man, whereby they expreffed Ca- 
 lumniator, a word which the Romans fpelt 
 with a K t which letter was burnt with an 
 iron into the foreheads of thofe who were 
 convicted of calumny, which brand in^apa-* 
 citated any perfon from ever acting as a pro- 
 fecutor in a court of juftice. 
 
 Our own law is likewife fevere to perfons 
 who fo offend : and if the flander is direct- 
 ed againft the facred character of a man in 
 judgment, acting under the fandtion of an oath, 
 and reprefenting, in a certain degree, even 
 the deity himfelf, in one branch of his great 
 office, the judgments have been exemplary 
 and woefully fevere. In this place I cannot 
 forbear to give my readers a cafe [See Ap- 
 pendix No. i.] * reported in our books, as it 
 bears fo fbrong a refemblance, to the cir- 
 cumftances which particularly diflinguifh 
 the book of extracts and remarks. 
 
 ■ ' ' •; ' The 
 
 * ’The reader is defired to turn to the Ap- 
 pendix in courfe , as he comes to the re- 
 ferences, before be. proceeds in the argu- 
 ment which is grounded thereon . 
 
t6 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 The fimilitude is ftriking. For it appears/ 
 that Wrennum traduced Lord Chancellor Ba- 
 con (our author’s great favourite,- and to' 
 whom he is indebted for one of his- title- 
 page quotations) calling his lordffiip’s decree 
 unjujl ; that he made a book of all the pro- 
 ceedings in the caufe $ and that he railed a- 
 gainft the judge , and his fentence , through 
 his whole book y with the moft defperate bold- 
 nefs and defpiteful and virulent words that 
 were poffible.- The party was puniffied ac- 
 cording to his demerit : and this do&rine 
 was eftabliffied, that under colour even of a 
 complaint formally exhibited to the proper 
 tribunal for fedrefs, it is not lawful to rail 
 upon the judge or his fentence, and to make 
 himfelf a judge in his own caufe, by prejud- 
 ging it before the rehearing : and it was al- 
 fo refolved, that the jujlice of the decree was 
 not to he quefioned in this cafe, for that 
 was not the point then exdminable . 
 
 No court of juftice will take cognizance 
 of any matter per faltiim. And therefore, in 
 
 the cafe of -j~ Magoons and Premdnee againft 
 Dumarefque , depending in the royal court 
 of Jerfey, on a feizure of a fhip and goods, 
 on account of an unlawful importation 
 there, the court, without making any deter- 
 mination, referred the difficulty to his Ma- 
 jefty in council, praying that he would de- 
 termine the cafe : but the lords of council 
 
 were 
 
 f Lord Raymond, 1448, 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. if 
 
 were of opinion, that the court of Jerfey 
 could not tranfmit the caufe to his Majefty 
 for difficulty, but ought to have determined 
 the right of feizure one way or other, and 
 the royal court of Jerfey was accordingly di- 
 rected to proceed to give judgment in the 
 Caufe. 
 
 It appears then, that a fuperior couft will 
 decline to receive a cafe undetermined upon* 
 though the judge impliedly lignified, that 
 the difficulty was too great for his fkill and 
 knowledge, and when, after fuch a declara- 
 tion, the lords of council could entertain 
 very fiender hopes that the judgment would 
 be accurate ; yet, to preferve the order of 
 the law, and to avoid giving offence to fet- 
 tled and effablilhed principles, they required 
 feme judgment to be 'given, that his Majeffy 
 might be in due time conftitutiohally pof- 
 feffed of the caufe, upon a regular tranl'mif- 
 fion of the proceedings by way of appeal. 
 
 In what light then raid Mr. Laurens’s 
 conduCt appear, as revealed by his late pu- 
 blication ? Out of the fix feveral informa- 
 tions which he has taken fo much pains to 
 celebrate, he was only interefted in the three 
 following, the TVamba r w, i brought rn-I/land 
 Packet, and the Ship Ann.- The two laff 
 Veff Is were reftored. The former only was 
 condemned ; and from this fentence he pre- 
 ferred an appeal to the high court of admi- 
 ralty of England, and every neceffary order 
 
 C was 
 
1 8 THE MAN UNMASKED, &e, 
 
 was made by the court to enable him to 
 profecute the fame with, due effedt. It ap- 
 pears [See App. No. 2] that he ufed no di- 
 ligence, gave no pofitive directions to the 
 regifter of the court to furnifh him with co- 
 pies of the proceedings, until the 9th day 
 of July lad ; a lapfe of ten months from the 
 14 th of September 1767, the day on which 
 He interpofed "his faid appeal. It is true, 
 that he applied' for a further time, when the 
 fhip Ann was the fubjedt of difpute : but 
 manifest negledt appearing to the court, on 
 the appellant’s part, and a fhameful defec- 
 tion of his fuit, the judge, for that reafon, 
 and another equally drong in point of law, 
 rejected the prayer of his petition.; but re- 
 medied the fame only, after mature delibera- 
 tion at his own chambers, to fave the party 
 the coft of another court, and indeed every 
 other charge attending his application. It 
 is therefore amazing, that he fhould fo bold- 
 ly afifert, page 5, that the judge “ never 
 ■ gave any [See App. No. 3.] anfwer' to his 
 faid petition. 
 
 From this fhort, but true (late of a few 
 fadts, this gentleman’s condudt mud appear, 
 to every impartial man, wild, inconfident, 
 irregular and drange. He fil'd prefers an 
 appeal to the proper jurifdidtion ; he aban- 
 dons the fame, ’till it is too late to obtain 
 a writ of inhibition from the court ad quern ; 
 he renews his original conceit, and applies 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 19 
 
 for further time to the court a quo , upon a 
 reafon fufficient of itfelf to work a difap- 
 pointment, bis own default ; and failing ia 
 his application, he takes up the pen, and 
 .draws a formal and folemn appeal to all 
 mankind. Will the boldefl friend of liber- 
 ty contend for the juftice of fuch a proce- 
 dure ? Will he not rather inveigh againft 
 it, as a defperate attempt to undermine the 
 principles of our happy conftitution j as the 
 ready and effectual means to introduce dif- 
 order and confufion in the Hate ; and as a 
 meafure big with alarming danger ? We live 
 in happy times furely, when a party may, 
 with impunity, fly in the face of a law ma- 
 xim, judge in his own cafe ; and, becaufe 
 he perfuades himfelf, that his judge is de- 
 lignedly or wilfully miftaken, may {till foar 
 above all law, and, in defiance thereof^ ufurp 
 the feat of judgment, and inflid his own 
 punifliment upon the man cloathed with au- 
 thority of law, and whofe judgment was di- 
 reded and governed by an oath , moft folemn 
 in its nature. ' - 
 
 Having, I think, fufficiently expofed the 
 author upon general principles, for fo daring 
 and prefumptuous an attack, and fo flagrant 
 a violation of law : I fhall proceed now, to 
 fhew the tendency of his work in another 
 point of view j a work which will ferve, 
 perhaps, as the only true ftandard by which 
 the charader of the author, as a man, may 
 
 be 
 
20 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 • 
 
 tje indifputably fixed. We fee fo many 
 perfons in common life halting , wavering 
 and vibrating between different opinions, 
 with a mixture of fo much goodnejs and fo 
 much bafenefsy and in general with fuch a 
 compound of oppofite, qualities , hunvurs and 
 • inclinations , that we are, all our lives long, 
 at a lofs to determine, with precifion, what 
 is fuch a man’s predominant and ruling prin- 
 ciple of adtion : fometimes indeed it hap- 
 pens, that fuch impoftors are detedted, thanks 
 to the good providence of God \ for the pu- 
 blic always benefit by the difcovery of 
 Q heats. 
 
 Mr. Laurens has published his book a- 
 gainft the advice of his friends in general, 
 and his own lawyers have told him that it 
 is a libel : no man who reads it can fay the 
 contrary. If it is a libel, it is againfl: law : 
 for, as my lord Coke obferves, * ‘ ‘ in a 
 “ fettled ftate of government, the party 
 
 grieved ought to complain, for every in- 
 t( jury done him, in an ordinary courfe of 
 “ law, and not by any means to revenge 
 <c himfelf, either by the odious courfe of 
 “ libelling or otherwife. ” To fhew that 
 libelling has no warrant in facred writ, would 
 be an idle and a fruitlefs labour, every man, 
 it is hoped, being pofTefTed of that evidence 
 which liipports the propofition. 
 
 -The publication then was promoted fole- 
 
 l yl 
 
 * 5 Coke, 125.’ . 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, -&c. 21 
 
 ]y, by, the religious Mr. Laurens, in defiance 
 of. all law, divine and human ; in oppofitioi* 
 to the advice of friends, and againll the con- 
 viction of his own h„e~art, being told, by 
 men of the profefiion, that his book is a 
 libel i circumitances which mult heighten 
 the offence, and render the man as odious as 
 his work .' — The reader will no doubt be fur- 
 prized, when he is informed, that the pub- 
 lilher or compiler of the book under con^ 
 fideration is, my wife's own uncle ; and that 
 a moll intimate friendship has fubfilted for 
 twelve years pall, which nothing has mate- 
 rially interrupted, but thefe affairs, which 
 lately depended in judgment . before me, as 
 judge of his Majelty’s court of vice-admi r 
 ralty. 
 
 I have now refided in this province more 
 than fifteen years, and my reputation has 
 hitherto Supported itfelf againlt every attack; 
 and I may fafely aver, that it Hands upon a 
 foundation which can never be removed, 
 pnlefs indirect methods Shall be taken to affeCfc 
 it. The Remarker s dirt fcatters as it flies, 
 and the only man who bears its imprefiion, 
 is the man who throws it. However, it is 
 certainly a matter of no fmall concern, that 
 a relation, one whom I ever thought my 
 friend, Ihould endeavour to plunder me of 
 my good name (a jewel of inellimable price) 
 a jewel which I may have Starved myfelf to 
 purchafe, as an excellent writer obferves; 
 
 and 
 
22 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 i 
 
 and to rob me, at the fame time, of my hap- 
 pinefs and peace of mind ; neither is it a thing 
 of light or trivial moment, that a man, yiel- 
 ding to his paffions, fad\\x\\\i$implacably purfue 
 every method in his power, to ruin, if poffible, 
 a numerous family of innocent dependants j 
 to bring a fair character into unmerited re- 
 proach j and to load me with infamy and 
 difgrace. If the attempt proceeds from a 
 principle of virtue, ’tis furely of the brutal 
 kind : it is not that virtue which our reli- 
 gion teaches ; it is not the virtue which 
 human nature dictates : it is rather the evil 
 workings of a cruel and malignant heart. 
 
 I may venture to affirm, that focicty re- 
 ceives a wound by this dangerous example. 
 The ties of kindred are broken and disjoined ; 
 a wall of partition is eredted, to divide the 
 members of one and the fame houfe ; and a 
 foundation is laid perhaps for future feuds 
 and family commotions. In my own time, 
 I will ufe my beft endeavours, that no fuch 
 evils' ffiall fubfift. 
 
 Let us now examine, how far this ftep is 
 agreeable to the outward profeffions of the 
 man, as a member of the Chriftian church. 
 His grand aim, for many years, feems to 
 have been directed to a pious ^and religious 
 end; his formal cajl, plain attire , demure af- 
 pedl and clouded brow , have ever denoted his 
 feverity of manners, with fometimes_an up- 
 lifting, and now and then a downcaft eye (as 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 23 
 
 the utterance of the prieft, or fame ftrong 
 words, feeming to captivate his heart, have 
 excited his pliant opticks ) thefe have long 
 been the outward and vifible figns of what 
 he, no doubt, is pleafed to ftile hi9 inward 
 and fpiritual grace : then again, his repeated 
 adts of charity and good-will •, his baikets of 
 bread diftributed to the needy, and a Jly dol- 
 lar dropt into a poor man’s hand, with an 
 emphatic look , that thole who are on the 
 way-fide might know the fecret of the mat- 
 ter : then his table, full and amply fpread 
 to every Skipper in the trade ; and his wor- 
 thy /elf, after an early whirl at the dawn of 
 day, fitting at home in all the pomp of ora-- 
 cular importance, ready to advife raw begin- 
 ners in the myjleries of trade : alfo his ealy 
 freedom of accefs, together with his gene- 
 rous offers of relief and afliftance, like old 
 Mirabel in the play, who fays, he ever likes 
 to be generous to thofe who do not Jland in 
 need: and in fhort, his prefling readinefs to 
 be a firft-rate man in fubfcriptions of a pub- 
 lic nature : all- thefe, and a thoufand fucE 
 like excellencies, have long diftinguilhedi 
 him as an objedt of attention. When the- 
 world hear all thefe winning fories in his fa- 
 vour, and read his prefent Work, they mult 
 neceflarily be ftruck with aftonifhment, and 
 wonder that he Ihould publifb a flat and o- 
 pen contradidtion to the tenets , practice, and 
 maxims of his life fome no doubt will fay, 
 ' ' that 
 
 i 
 
£4 THE MAN UN MASKED/ &c; 
 
 that the judge muft be the man he fo zea- 
 loufly labours to reprefent him ; that the va- 
 luable author rifing above natural affection, 
 and the ordinary attainments of . other men, 
 choofes to facrifice every thing to his high- 
 Jeafoned and quick-relijhcd love of juftice; 
 and in confequencc of thefe. conclufions, the 
 poor judge receives no quarter, and deferves 
 no mercy. PraSlice fpeaks one language, 
 his book another. I muft therefore fix fome 
 ftandard, by which the world may be the 
 better enabled to reconcile the one to the 
 other. 
 
 When I read any ftory, whether in facred 
 or profane hiftory, whereby I am led to 
 wonder that man can be fo brutal, and a<ft 
 fo 'contrary, to the end and defign of his for- 
 mation, I inftantly conclude, that thefe 
 friendly inftindts and propenfities of our na- 
 ture have been borne down by irregular paf- 
 fions, or wordly and finifter attachments ; 
 and, in order to form a right judgment of 
 the character, I proceed to fift out the firft 
 ruling principle of the man, and tnen, ac- 
 cording to Mr. Sterne’s arithmetic , I cany in 
 my eye his leading paftion, wnich I feparate 
 from the other parts of his charadtei, and 
 then obferve how far his other qualities, 
 good and bad, are brougnt to ferve and fup- 
 port that } for it is certainly a rnoft fallacious 
 way cf judging of complex and doubtful cha- 
 racters, to fum up all together, and deduct. 
 
. THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. i 5 
 
 we do in vulgar arithmetic, the lefler from 
 the greater, and fo give credit for the balance. 
 
 Scripture feldom dwells long upon the 
 characters of bad men* I muft therefore be 
 indebted to an hiftorian, for fome particu- 
 lars in the life of Herod, which are alfo well 
 ftated by the facetious Mr. Sterne. The firft 
 pafiion of Herod was, an immoderate third: 
 for , as well as jealoify of power, every adtion 
 of his life was devoted to that end : he had 
 the face of religion , becaufe he built temples 
 in Judea 5 but it never funk into his heart, 
 becaufe his motive was, to gain a name of 
 popularity in the court of Auguftus : he was 
 jealous and fufpicious of all mankind ; fhew 
 me an ambitious or revengeful man that is 
 not fo, for as fuch a man’s hand, like IJh± 
 mael’s, is againft every man, fo he concludes 
 that every man’s hand in courfe is againft 
 his : he was cruel, for he put the whole fa 
 nadrim to the fword, fparing neither age, or 
 w r ifdom, or merit : he cut off his two fons± 
 by a public execution ; and all this not ber- 
 caufe he was cruel, but, that hi's jealoufy 
 dreaded a rivahhip which might check his 
 power. Now, this very bad man, we can 
 fcarce fuppofe to have been poffeffed of any 
 virtues-. Mark the myftery ; the fame thing 
 happens every day, in a lefs and more con- 
 tracted fphere : he was courteous and plead- 
 ing to a degree, in his addrefs ; he was po- 
 pular too, and a prince of a man 'in his ex- 
 
 D pences : 
 
26 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c% 
 
 pences : he knew, the world, and how to gain*' 
 the applaufe of it ; and, in t uth, he fo ma- 
 naged matters, by thefe laft mentioned gra- 
 ces , that he flood his ground maugr } all the 
 oppofition which his vices made him fubjeCt 
 to : his addrejsy magnificence and Jhew of 
 generojity , abfolutely gained him the affection 
 of the Roman fenate, as well as of Auguflus y 
 and that too in fpite of all his vices. From 
 this fhort view of his hiftory, we may all? 
 derive a plain and inftruCtive lefion, that it 
 is not the. parade of a few feemingly glittering 
 ' 'dirtuesy which fix the real character of any 
 man, when the fame being duly analized, it 
 manifeflly appears, that they are merely fub- 
 fervient to the gratification of a ruling paf- 
 
 fa n ' 
 
 I feldom 'judge living characters, but for 
 my own government in life, and therefore I 
 might leave mankind to form what opinions 
 they pleafe concerning the predominant af- 
 fections of our compiler and remarker ; but 
 as he has fpared no pains to blacken my cha- 
 racter, in the moft tender point of view, he 
 has no reafon to expeCt any favour at my 
 hands. He thirfts then, in my poor opi- 
 nion, after the phantom 'Popularity , and fo 
 he gains it, ’tis no matter by what means t 
 he thinks, perhaps, that having once enjoy- 
 ed it for a time, he has a natural claim to 
 it again, and the rather, as the public favour 
 has, for fome years pafl, taken a little ex- 
 
 curjion 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 27 
 
 curfon out of town. When his merit can 
 claim it, as a right, I will be one of the firft 
 to hand the Idol to him ; but, according to 
 his prefent temper and complexion, I can on 
 no fcore ferve him as a Jacob’ s ladder , to 
 raife him to the point of his ambition. In 
 my apprehenfion, he is doomed to rife no 
 more ; and without infpiration, I will be 
 bold to foretell r that as his pafjions have out- 
 run his policy , fo both together will keep 
 him in eclipfe. The fruitful brat, the image 
 of its father, is now in the world ; let us 
 therefore keep a fteady eye to the principles 
 already laid down, and lee whether we can 
 .explore the reafons of this late ftrange and 
 offenfive publication. Every man who reads 
 |iis book, muft perceive the motive. It .is 
 an attempt of the author, under the fpeciou? 
 {hew of an exalted kind of virtue, which re- 
 gards no law, no friendlhip, no alliances, 
 no ties of blood, to gain a popu'ar name i to 
 effed which, like Herod, who facrificed, in 
 fad; and deed, his two fons, the Bethlemi- 
 tifh children, and the ^ Jewiih fanadrim, fo 
 he, on his part, with a brutal fury , facrifi- 
 ces, in print, the fame of a man in the me- 
 ridian of his days, on whofe integrity, affi- 
 duity and ability depend, the fubfiftance of 
 his own affectionate niece , her feven bloomr 
 ing, yea promifing children, a virtuous Af- 
 ter, and a moll valuable mother, whofe 
 
 grey 
 
28 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c ? 
 
 grey hairs he has taken' uncommons pains 
 to bring down with for row to the grave. 
 
 The author muft have reafoned in his 
 mind, I fhould fuppofe, in the following 
 manner : <f T have long been overlooked 
 
 “ the f miles of the people are beflowed elfe- 
 “ where : how fhall I re gam them ? A glo- 
 “ rions occafon prefents it f elf to me. ‘The 
 “ times are much diftraBed in his Majejiys 
 ■* American dominions \ -the laws of revenue 
 “ and trade dif quiet my fellow -fubjeBs •, courts 
 <c of admiralty become obnoxious to the people ; 
 “ I myfelf have felt fome evil from them ; and 
 ■ e therefore , I may well enough pretend to take 
 “ offence at fome decrees ; the furmife will 
 t( gain credit , from the circumfance- of my 
 u alliance with the judge : not a man can 
 “ fuppofe , that I would exp of e him for a trifle : 
 then the difintereftea call which a procee.- 
 ff ding like this will have , muft gain 7ne much 
 ' ce applaufe befdes t all the men in trade will, 
 t( of courfe, be attached to me : and , in my 
 11 own way, to take fo capital a lead, muft 
 iC multiply my friends through America inge- 
 ** neral, and the whole circle of our mere an - 
 te tile connexions. Tranjporting thought ! I- 
 magination, with expanded wings, Jeems to 
 give me pof'efjion of the jewel, 'before my 
 “ time ! I muft, I will, fiand forth as a mighty. 
 tf champion in the caufe. ” 
 
 The reader may naturally exprefs ibme 
 furpriz:e. It becomes me therefore, to give 
 
 him 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 99 
 
 .him all the fatisfaCtion in my power, by af r 
 furing him, that the late publication is 3. 
 piece of abfolute Hypocri/y, as acutely copr 
 pealed, and artfully contrived, as the world 
 has Aeen for many a day. 
 
 If Mr. Laurens entertained fo deep a fenfe 
 as he exp redes in his book, of the judge’s 
 ill-demeanour towards him, wherefore dfd 
 he continue his accuftomed friendfbip, and 
 ponverfe with him in all the freedom of epi-r 
 ftolary wilting ? Every one of the informa- 
 tions, except that in the cafe of the Jhip Ann, 
 were out of court, as being finally determine 
 ed upon by the judge, on or before the firffc 
 day of September 1767 : let my readers ac- 
 count, if they can, for thefe letters [See App* 
 No. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ip, 11, 12.] whofe 
 dates are continued up to the /event eenth day 
 of April, /event een hundred and fxty-eight : 
 They furnifh their own comment, and that 
 too in fuch legible and plain characters, that 
 to enlarge on them, would be to fufpeCt the 
 difeernment of my readers , It may not be amifs, 
 however, barely to remark, that moil of the 
 following particulars are, beyond a doubt, 
 eftablifhed by the letters : that fubfequent .to 
 the determination of the feveralinformations 
 (the fhip Ann excepted) I have received fees 
 in my profeflion, from, and through the re- 
 commendation of, this feemingly enraged, and 
 as he labours to make the world believe, 
 much injured perfon ; that he has frequently 
 , afforded 
 
30 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c\ 
 
 me his advice, in my private concerns ; heard 
 patiently my complaints on particular fub- 
 jedts ; been ready to ftand up in the com- 
 mons houfe of aftembly as a- champion in my 
 caufe, in cafe of any attack from that quar- 
 ter : and, to clofe this little detail of his my ? ■ 
 Jierious condutt , one of his letters makes ho* 
 nourable mention of me, in a certain particu- 
 lar, in my late admiralty ftation. After futh 
 a ftrange and complex conduct, we are not 
 to wonder that Mr. Laurens, in the 7th page 
 of his motley performance, modejlly declares , 
 that no man prefumes to impute to the judge 
 either ficklenefs or duplicity ; for my part, I 
 entertain fuch favourable thoughts of man- 
 kind in general, and in particular of thofe 
 perfons who are acquainted with us both, 
 that I am perfuaded, no temptation will in- 
 duce them to rob him of his natural claim, 
 and almoft exclujive right to both. 
 
 The fenfe of an injury is commonly keen- 
 eft when the wound is firft received ; and 
 confequently, if our remarker had been led 
 to move, in this cafe, upon & public principle 
 (as no doubt he earnestly wifhes to dupe the 
 world into a full belief of) he fhould have 
 been conliftent, by withdrawing his friend- 
 ship and regard, when the caufe of his com- 
 plaint arofe j but to continue both , with fa 
 much warmth of fentiment and expreflion,for 
 eight or nine long months, proves, to a de- 
 monftration, one or other of thefe things, 
 
 either 
 
tPHiE MAN UNMASKED, See. 3 i 
 
 cither a flacknefs of -zeal, if he had then con- 
 ceived fuch ill impreflions of the judge, ac- 
 companied with a thorough-paced Hypocrify f 
 ©r, that he felt no early f erf e of injury, and 
 therefore, , to gratify his private fpleen y he 
 now attempts to arraign the juftice of his 
 judge* in contradiction to himfelf. A can- 
 did reader will rather take offence, than fuf- 
 fer himfelf to be captivated; with fuch daring 
 language, as the publifher of extracts ufes in 
 his introduction, when fpeaking of “ fhips 
 « and cargoes being boldly feizcd, and vitn* 
 lently profecuted, and either condemned as 
 ct forfeited, or partially and incompleatly re- 
 ‘Cftored, without even the fnallefl legal pre- 
 “ fence forfeizure. ” This gentleman’s pre+ 
 fumption gets the ftart of his underflanding ; 
 and he cannot be ignorant, that fuch infinu- 
 ations, from a party in a caufe, can. have no 
 weight againft the folemn judgments of a 
 .court. Men of fenfe will fee r with half an 
 eye, that affertions like thefe, are the eflfu- 
 iions of difappointment, the mere overflow- 
 ings of an inflamed hearty and the raptures 
 of malice and ill-will. 
 
 The fame little volunteer and drawcanflr in 
 the arts of fcandal, fubmits his “ remarks, 
 “ reafonings and concluflons to thofe, who 
 f< from an extenfive knowledge of trade 
 and commerce, free from the defpotifm of 
 “ petty office , or the bias of plurality of places , 
 (C are capable of truly judging whereon the 
 
 “ wealth' 
 
32 TriE MAN UNMASKED, &c. - 
 
 «. wealth and power of Great-Britain and hef 
 •« colonies depend. ” I do not riiean to fet 
 forth the importance of my employments, 
 with an oftentatious yiew blit it is proper,' 
 that every part of this writer’s ignorancd , 
 fhould be laid open to the world. It is not 
 fufficient to attack the judge,- but he muft 
 Endeavour to leflen and degrade the dignity 
 and honour of the King’s employments, and 
 by an unpardonable fneer too, as if Majefty 
 was to be controuled in the meafure of be- 
 llowing his royal favours'; 
 
 The fubjedl has an undoubted right of ac- 
 tion, againfl the man who (hall decry thd 
 charters or titles of his inheritance : but i€ 
 is a light matter, with this refpedtable au- 
 thor, to trample under foot fome of the ffirfl 
 offices of government, thereby infulting the 
 King who bellows them, and the laws which 
 give them a confiitutional fandli'on and fup- 
 port. 
 
 In every country, fhe King’s attorney-ge- 
 neral is confidered as an officer of confiderable 
 weight. His phrafes therefore, of petty of- 
 fice t are grofsly mifapplied ; and part of .the 
 term returns upon the author, as a privilege 
 peculiarly annexed to his own dear perfion. 
 
 In the 2d and 28th pages of Mr. Laurens’s 
 libel (for when we fpeak of the admiralty, the 
 term is perfectly familiar) he mentions the 
 holding of ten courts , and two guineas per 
 court 'being paid to the judge thereof. In 
 
 order 
 
 1 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED; &c; 33 
 
 order to remove the lead; .fufpicion of my a- 
 varice or rapacioufnefs, I beg leave to refer 
 myfeif to the following papers [See App . 
 No.. 9, 10, 13, 14.] from a view whereof it 
 will manifeilly appear, that no mercenary 
 motives have at any time influenced my con- 
 dud:, at lead in that particular department. 
 Thefe papers fhew the judge’s attention to 
 difpatch, and they likewise e^ablifh this ptai/i 
 fail , that no fees have been charged contrary 
 to cuftom, and that the j udge, inflead of en- 
 crealing, had in truth in fome inflances re-* 
 duced them; . . 
 
 • , The purelS/lv. Laurens, page 4th, alludes tS 
 thetwodromios,but artfully drops the judge’s 
 allufion ; who particularly obferved, on that 
 occafion, that, as both cafes were nearly at 
 ifliie at the fame time, he fhould confider 
 and decree on both together : for Ke could 
 never intimate, that the fame- fate would 
 happen to both : and if any loofe expref- 
 
 fions gave room for any other concluflon, he 
 can with the utmoft truth declare, it was fo- 
 reign to his. meanings and he mull: either 
 have exprefled himfelf incorredly, or been 
 .grofsly mifunderflood by thofe who heard 
 him. However, as it is no uncommon 
 thing for our author to throw d uble , the 
 fancy of twins was a circumflance worthy 
 obfervation ; and I agree with C trijiram, that 
 a man ought to enjoy his hobby-horfe; and 
 if he fleers clear of me, he may ride poft on 
 
34 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 it if he pleafes, I (hall give him no kind of 
 interruption. 
 
 I have ihortly hinted at the pretence which 
 Mr. Laurens fets us, page 5th, concerning 
 his appeal ; and that having made an appli- 
 cation for further time, the judge omitted to 
 give any anfwer thereto, and having fur ren- 
 dered his commiffion, that he is now no 
 longer judge of the admiralty- court. 
 
 That my readers may be undeceived on 
 thefe points, I beg leave again to refer them 
 to the following papers [See App. No. 2, 3.] 
 by which is appears, that Mr. Laurens ne- 
 ver ferioufly intended to profecute his faid 
 appeal j and that the judge did pofitively an- 
 fwer his faid petition on the 4th day of Au- 
 guft laft i a fad which the records of the 
 court can eftablifh with legal certainty. 
 
 When men are determined to tranfgrefs 
 all bounds of decency and true decorum, it 
 is no great matter of furprize, that our au- 
 thor, overleaping all limits , fhould worm 
 himfelf into any corner, for the fake of ga- 
 thering dirt. And though Mr. Moore is 
 faid to have reported what is dated in page 
 6th, I can by no means fuppoie, that it was 
 owing to that heroic attack which our muf- 
 cular and fanguine remarker made upon the 
 nofe of the colleAor : a great difparity of 
 years, and bodily infirmity, compared with 
 the compad texture, of our author, fhould 
 have made him defn\ from fo rafh and 
 
 un- 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 35 
 
 ungenerous an a£t; befides, he was retur- 
 ning from court, where he attended to hear 
 the decilion of the judge, and no indigna- 
 tion at his condudt could juftify fo unmanly 
 an attack. The law annexes a privilege to 
 certain perfons, who are free, in common 
 cafes at lead:, from arred or imprifonment 
 eundo et redeundo, and in judice they ought 
 to be protected from infult and abufe : but 
 this champion Ihould, at any rate, have with- 
 held his refen tment a few moments, becaufe 
 the collector's place of refidence was conti- 
 guous to a fpot better fuited for hojiile pur - 
 pofes, as being lefs expofed to the interrup- 
 tion of padengers. In every fenfe, the deed 
 was Jhameful to the lad degree, efpecially, 
 when we reflect that it was performed in the 
 prefence of a hundred people, mod of whom 
 perhaps were much inflamed at the collector’s 
 condudt and proceedings. 
 
 The fadt was, from the bed information 
 I have ever been able to collect, as follows ; 
 that, upon the rifirig of the court, fome little 
 altercation pafled between Mr. Moore and 
 Mr, Laurens, which occafioned a gathering 
 of the people, when the latter gentleman 
 put his left arm acrofs the poor collector , in 
 which pofition-he walked along with him 
 for feveral paces, declaring, that no _ perfon 
 fhould hurt a hair of his head ; and under this 
 appearance of protection he might be faid to 
 have betrayed him with a kifs, for he infant - 
 
36 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 ly uttered “ by your leave , ” in the phrafe 
 and manner of a London porter, and then 
 with his right hand pulled the gentleman by 
 th£ nofe i a gentleman, with all his fault's* 
 greatly his fuperior, and one whofe ffation, 
 as well as years, would, with a valiant man , 
 have fecured him both protection and fup- 
 port. The age of fixty exempts every one 
 from bearing a part in the toils and hazards 
 of war, and alfofrom many civil duties, and it 
 is hard, that a private difference flic uld de- 
 mand that exertion , which the public does not. 
 exaCt in behalf of the community itfelf. Ob- 
 ferve how well this bufinefs was managed : 
 one man’s left arm acrofs another man’s left 
 fhoulder, is indeed like killing two birds 
 with one Jlone, for fuch an attitude forms a 
 kind of fence or inclofure round the perfon, 
 whofe right hand hanging by, and being de- 
 prived of any play or aCtion by its contigui- 
 ty with the other’s flde, and the lev t hand, 
 when acrofs being admirably adapted, by its 
 motion, for various little ufeful operations, 
 and the fingers fupplying the place of little 
 bandages to the left arm of the perfon under 
 this curious convoy , brings this aged and de- 
 luded man into the belt lituatibn that was 
 poflible to devife for the fukfequent aCt : now 
 firm two fuch images in your mind, and 
 then, reader, prepare yourfelf for the onjet , 
 but you muff look as intently as you would 
 to difcover the flight Oj hand of a well bred 
 '' conjurer i 
 
' THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 37 
 
 conjurer , up Jho ts the right hand of the map 
 whole kit is acrofs the other’s lhoulder, and 
 feizes the noje of the coiledlor, in that farci- 
 cal polition, which he had been for loti,e 
 little time before preparing to encounter , by 
 fettling certain preliminary points, which he 
 the better effected by wheedling, and as it 
 were fafcm ting him by his charms, and of- 
 fers of protection agamit the rage and fury of 
 'the people. This isfuch a mailer- llroke of 
 political deceit, as merits a place in Mu hi artel 
 himfelf. 
 
 How much reafon has the province then 
 to lament, that this man’s courage was exer- 
 ted only when it was not wanted ; and how 
 contemptible mull he fink in the eyes of the 
 world, when they reflect, that his fpirit was 
 alone rouzed, when the occalion required 
 neither prowefs , Jlrength , or condudl ,• and 
 when even a victory, upon a fair plan, mull, 
 inllead of bellowing laurels, have branded 
 the vidtor with dijgrace. 
 
 However, let the intelligence have fprung 
 from what fource it may, the charge againll 
 the judge was not more cruel than unjull : 
 for, the moment that the report reached my 
 ears, I wrote a letter [See App. No. 15.]. to 
 the collector. Hating therein the plain mat-: 
 ter of fa£t ; who was pleafed to f nd his feri 
 to me, with his compliments, acknowledg- 
 ing the receipt of my letter, with aflurances 
 Jikewife, that he would certainly return an 
 
 anfwer 
 
38 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 anfwer thereto before his departure from the 
 province (which- happened one or two days 
 after to the beft of my remembrance) a pro- 
 mife, however, which he failed to perform, 
 as I fufpedt for fome cnnbiguous reafon ; as he 
 could not but know, that I repeatedly decli- 
 ned any converfation with him, either in 
 public or private, during the whole courfe of 
 thefe difputes j and I was innocently forced, 
 by his unexpedted vilit to me,, into that dif- 
 courfe, which gives our remarker a Jhadow 
 of pretence for his ungenerous fur mife. Now, 
 let any one for a moment place himfelf in 
 the ftation I was in, -and fuppofe, as the fadt 
 was, that a gentleman of the colledtor’s years 
 and rank in life, prefling me with lamenta- 
 tions that he had no lawyers to aflifl: him, 
 and without a rude, rigid, and even cynical 
 behaviour in my own houfe, and under the 
 real hardlhips to which he was in that ref- 
 pedt expofed, that could, with any decency, 
 fay lefs, or condudt himfelf with more fui ta- 
 ble caution or refer ve. It is well known to 
 Mr. Moore, that I have more than once in- 
 timated to him, that it was painful to me, 
 to hear any thing mentioned which related, 
 in the remotefl; fenfe, to any matter depend- 
 ing before me in judgment : but the event 
 of the fuit clears up every poflible fufpicion, 
 becaufe, the man that could fo bafely profti- 
 tute his office by giving advice in one Jlatio?i , 
 would have made no fcruple about the con- 
 demnation 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, fee. 39 
 
 demnation of the veflel in another ; an ad- 
 vice therefore to feize, and a decree of refti- 
 tution afterwards , in flat contradiction there- 
 to , leave no room for the moll awakened 
 jealoufy to harbour one difhonourable thought. 
 
 The collector and his conduct being, on 
 the firji of September , f even teen hundred and 
 fixty-feveni the principal fubjeCts of the judge’s 
 animadverfion, it is a notorious faCt,' that I 
 fpoke with a bold and unreferved freedom ; 
 and that my obfervations were fo pointed 
 and fevere, on divers collateral parts [See 
 App. No. 1 6, 17.] of that officer’s beha- 
 viour, that he changed colour, and many 
 perfons apprehended he would faint : in that 
 agitation of his mind and fpirits, he firft re~ 
 ported , “ that the Broughton-Ifland Packet 
 “ had been feized in confequence of advice 
 “ from the judge, aCting as attorney-gene- 
 ** ral, ” which was a barefaced falfhoood ; 
 the faCl being precifely as flated in my letter : 
 when he cooled, and called to mind the cir- 
 cumftances therein mentioned, he found 
 himfelf embarafled, and unable to acquit 
 himfelf with honour ; which accounts, in 
 fome meafure, for his total filence, and his 
 breach of promife, in omitting to return a 
 proper anfwer to my letter. 
 
 The probability that I gave fuch advice, 
 and fo far forgot my ffcation and the honour 
 of it, is contradicted by the judge’s conduCt 
 in open court : for, if he had done fo bad an 
 
 aCl, 
 
40 THE MAN UNMASKED, &cV 
 
 a£t, 'prudence would have dictated to hirri 
 Jmooth and oily words, fuch' as our extratt- 
 author fometimes ufes, when he means •very 
 little by them. 
 
 It appears, by, the Libeller’s ftate of mat- 
 ters, page, 8th, that the judge difcouraging, 
 on' his part, every hidden artifice, ftratagem 
 or contrivance (if any fuch were meditated 
 by the parties in the ftiit) and influenced by 
 the ftri&eft principles of juftice, made an 
 effectual and peremptory order for depofiting 
 the ftatute whereon, the information was 
 grounded, fuch as fuited the neceflity of the 
 claimant’s cafe, and was agreeable to the 
 dictates of natural juftice : and though this 
 doughty , and, in law-matters I may at leaft 
 fafely add, unlettered remarker , is perplexed 
 how to account for a difference of fentiment 
 in the judge, between the two cafes of the. 
 Wambaw and Broughton-Ifland Packet, and 
 I, on my p 5 .rt, am restrained from difcufiing 
 the particular reafons and grounds of the |wo 
 decrees ; yet I can with truth affure him 
 that, upon a review of the whole matter, I 
 am ftill of opinion, that there is a legal and 
 very reconcileable diftindtion between the 
 two cafes. And it is tKe moft notable logic 
 in the world, that becaufe he is in a ftrange 
 element, clearly out of his depth, perplexed 
 id an 'enquiry foreign to the whole ftudy and 
 labour of his life, and therefore unable to 
 trace, with any degree of accuracy, the out- 
 lines 
 
THE MAN UNMASKE^ Acc. 4,! 
 
 lines of the judge’s fentences, ox0ecifely to 
 diicern the hinge and ground-work thereof^ 
 that the judge mu/i confequently be partial* 
 ignorant , and inconjijlent with himfelf : and 
 it is ftili more ftrange, when it is confidered 
 that although the judge condefcended to give 
 fome reafons (a point which I fhall touch in 
 the fequel of this performance) yet thcfe 
 .very decrees contain expreffions, that th£ 
 judge had, for fuch, among other reafons, e- 
 qually Jlrong and cogent , decreed, as the Sen- 
 tences declare } and therefore, without the 
 gift of infpiratioh, he muff be at a lofs, to 
 determine the entire plan and fcope of his 
 reafonings in thofe cafes, or what reafons of 
 law- and juftice in particular had the afcen- 
 dant in the judge’s mind. 
 
 On the head of partiality, I can with 
 truth declare, that I could never charge my- 
 felf therewith in any of my public ftaticns> 
 except in the cafe of our remarker , who was 
 during the late Cherokee war, appointed 
 lieutenant-colonel of the South- Carolina re- 
 
 giment, at my inftance, and on my recom- 
 mendation, as <fne of his Majefty’s council, 
 though his own partner, then a member of 
 the board (who fpoke prophetically j ftrenu- 
 bully oppofed me. This partiality of mine 
 (though it was never meant to offend any 
 other man) I now mofl heartily- repent, and 
 for a better and more fubjlanlial reafon thari 
 ^ f hat dtifes from the colonel’s iqjamous ’Tequi- 
 
 f tan 
 
42 THE' MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 ta/. In this inftance, I muft own (as things 
 have turned out ) that my uriderftanding muft 
 have judged according to the inclination of 
 my will, and not according to the reality of 
 oppofed merit and the truth of things ; but 
 time, which often itan&ifies many adts feem- 
 ingly pernicious, as often difgraces other 
 meafures, where original appearances give 
 them an air of redtitude and juftice. 
 
 It is amazing, that a man who profeffes 
 any fort of candour , Should feize upon a few 
 loofe words, as ftated in page 6, which may 
 drop from a judge’s mouth, and which he 
 may perhaps, in fome degree, fee oceafion 
 to recall afterwards, according to the diffe- 
 rent complexion which a caufe may have at 
 different ftages of the fuit and therefore 
 our law reporters always diftinguifh between 
 the mere didtiim or obiter faying of the 
 judge, which often drops unguardedly > and 
 his judgment or fentence, which is the fe- 
 date conclufion of his mind, upon full deli- 
 beration of tlje matter : and confequently, 
 it is, in every fenfe, cruel and fevere, to op-i- 
 pofe the one to the other, for the fake of gi- 
 ving an appearance of abfurdity or contradic- 
 tion in the judge’s condudt. 
 
 Before I proceed further on the remarks, 
 I think it my duty to difclofe every part of 
 my tranfattions with a gentleman whofe 
 name has been fo often mentioned ; $npl the 
 rather, as a perfon of reputation , ivofth and 
 
 * honour 
 
. THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 43 
 
 honour informed me, fome time fince, that 
 Mr. Laurens had (in his bafe and dirty jki an- 
 ner, and like a mole) which works under 
 ground) infinuated, that I had received a 
 fifty pounds currency bill from the collector. 
 This fly reporter once alked me the queftiorl 
 himfelf, and in his own garden I told him, 
 that he had given me a general retainer . 
 When I received this piece o& information, 
 I was much aftonifhed ; and that I might 
 afford him the belt and earlieft fatisfa&ion in 
 the matter, we inftantly referred ourfelves to 
 my cafh book, wherein was the following 
 entry, “ 1767, 29 tb May, to general retainer 
 “from Daniel Moore , EJq\ collector, £. 50 ; ” 
 and upon the 1 9 th June following there is 
 alfo this entry, tf retainer from Henry Lau- 
 
 “ rent, E/q; vs. , £. 20. The plain 
 
 falil ftands thus ; fhortly after the collector's 
 arrival in this province in Mlrch 1767, fome 
 difference arofe between him and the mer- 
 chants of this town, in relation to cuftom- 
 houfe concerns, whereupon that officer ap- 
 plied tQ me , with a view of retaining me on 
 his behalf. As nearly as I can now recoiled: 
 thefe were my words, previous to my accep- 
 tance of the fee : tc Sir , I mufi inf orm you , 
 “ that I cannot a 5 l for you in any admiralty-. 
 “ cafe ; and if any criminal profecution jhould 
 (< be commenced , my office of at t or ney^ general 
 “ will require me to fupport the fame : the 
 
 collector with fome little warmth anfwered, 
 
 “can 
 
44 THE MAN UNMASKED* 6cc. 
 
 can youfuppofe , S/r, that I mean to retain 
 “you in cafes <w herein you cannot in the duty of 
 “ yourjiation jerve me ? ” I then replied, w it 
 ** i s proper to Jlate the exceptions \ and if any 
 (i fuit Jhdll be commenced dgainf you, in any 
 ** other courts, I have no objection to accept 
 “ your retainer ; ” he accordingly gave me 
 fifty pounds. Thefe fads I am ready to at- 
 teft on oath, W neceflary ; and the conver- 
 sation wks in fubftance as above is ftated, 
 and I believe nearly in the very words. 
 
 The cafe of the Schooner Active, was ar- 
 gued, and decreed upon^ the month follow- 
 ing; and it is remarkable, that this very 
 firft caufe, which the judge determined after 
 receipt of this alarming fifty pounds, went 
 againft the officers of the cuftoms, and in 
 favour of the owner, and has ever fince been 
 e.fteemed a leading cafe refpeCting the coaf- 
 ing trade. 
 
 Mr. Moore was, in September, acquitted 
 from the penalties of the ftatute whereon the 
 information was grounded ; and I may fafe- 
 ly add, that upon the circumftances of that 
 cafe, and the evidence which was produced 
 on the occafion, no found lawyer will take 
 upon him to fay, , that the judgment is erro- 
 neous; and if he meant a bribe by his retainer, 
 it was money very ill laid out, for he recei-r 
 ved a woeful correction that day, in open 
 couft, at the judge's hand, as appears, in 
 part, by the appendix. No. 16, 17. 
 
 It 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 45 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that if the Schoo- 
 ner ACtive was in profpeCt when the retainer 
 was given, or if it was poffible to fuppofe, 
 that ther collector fod any i?tdire£f meaning 
 by it, that he p refitted very little, as the 
 judge determined the caufe in favour of the 
 owner. And it is alfo a fortunate circum- 
 ftance, that the affair of this fchooner, and 
 the feizures of the Wambaw and Broughton- 
 Ifland Packet, happened fome time after, 
 arid could not pofnbly be in contemplation 
 when the collector gave this general retainer. 
 
 It is well known, that every judge of the 
 admiralty in this province, and I believe in 
 mod others, has taken fees in his priofeffion 
 in the other courts ; and any reflections of 
 this fort, difgrace the man only whofe wic- 
 ked and detejiable difpofition prevails on him 
 to make them. However, if Mr. Laurens 
 is fond of throwing dirt, I will help him to 
 a faCt, which poflibly he fnay turn to his 
 own account, that his own retainer againft 
 
 Mr. — — — , was given to me by him on 
 
 the very day whereon I reftored that veffel 
 to the owner, and previous to my pronoun- 
 cing that decree. He beft knows his own 
 intentions in the application. However, I 
 can, with great fincerity and truth, affure 
 the world, that as I received the collector’s 
 retainer with great innocence, fo I alfo re- 
 ceived that of Mr. Laurens’s with the fame 
 honeil fimplicity of heart. If it (hall be 
 
 faid, 
 
46 T HE MAN U N M ASKED, &c. 
 
 faid, that the collector was a kind of party 
 in the fuit againjft the Active, though the 
 information was carried on in the name of 
 Captain Hawker, I believe it may, with e- 
 qiial truth, be faid Jikewife, that Mr. Lau- 
 rens was a party, by affording fame aid to 
 the owner, in conjunction with other mer- 
 chants, in order to enable him to fet up his 
 claim, and to contefl the merits of the fei- 
 zure. 
 
 I hope no perfon will be ftartleid at the a* 
 mount of the fee, as I have never received 
 Jefs upon a general retainer in the courfe of 
 my practice, and parties have often, of their 
 own mere motion, given more ; though I 
 never, took a fee dictated by myfelf, or which 
 did not flow at once from the warmth and 
 generality of the client. , 
 
 One other argument muft (I fhould hope) 
 remove every kind of doubt and fufpicion in 
 this cafe. If Mr. Laurens came to the know- 
 ledge of this retainer from the collefdor , he 
 muft either have mentioned it in that view, 
 or charged himfelf with a crime nearly equal 
 to that of taking the bribe itfelf ; a piece of 
 folly which it is not poffible to fufpeCt in a 
 perfon who feemed hackneyed in the ways 0/ 
 the world: and if he learned it from any 
 other quarter, it was, becaufe I never made 
 a Jecret of the matter. In one event, the 
 intelligence was a point of indifference, 
 which the fublijher has unfairly tortured to 
 
 his 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 47 
 
 own bad purpofe ; and in the other, it indis- 
 putably proves too much. 
 
 I flatter myfelf that no cafe was ever fub- 
 mitted to the public eye, attended with more 
 favourable circumllances in behalf of the 
 accufed perfon, or with fuch peculiar aggra- 
 vation on the part of the accufer. My pu- 
 blic flations have required me to adl in fome 
 meafure in conformity to them ; my large fa- 
 mily has alfo helped to allay that fptrit which 
 has heretofore perhaps been more ready to exp- 
 ert its fire, than to evidence the philofophy or 
 prudence of the man : the day has been, when 
 a different defence than what arifes from the 
 prefs, would probably have fettled the dif- 
 pute, without trouble to the world j though 
 I muft confefs, that one other difficulty ftarts 
 up againffc meafures of an hoftile nature with 
 my prefent foe : when firft I fet out in life* 
 it was. my wifh, as well as refolution (if po£- 
 Able) ever to avoid ferious quarrels and dis- 
 putes ; ’till now, 1 have fleered tolerably 
 clear: I likewife then determined with my- 
 felf, that if I fhould chance, through the 
 delufion of prejudice, or a filly compliance with 
 the fafions of the world, to engage in 
 hateful a defence, it fhould be only with a 
 man of genuine and unsuspected cou - 
 rage : the very idea o {valour in a foe, in- 
 fpires one with fome portion of that glorious 
 * virtue ; and with the brave y a man may en- 
 gage with fome fecurity to himfelf > for great 
 
 minds 
 
48 THE MAN UNMASKED; 
 
 xxlinds know how to prize magnanimity of 
 Joul, and if one falls, the other , with a kin- 
 dred affettion, inStantly takes him in hft 
 arms, tries his beft to heal his wounds, to 
 reconcile the breach before the parting mo- 
 ment, and to conduct him to si, place of fafe- 
 ty and repoie; Though I, on no fcore, take 
 upon me to defend or countenance private 
 combat in certain Situations, I am nevertheless 
 ready to exert myfelf in a public caufe : I 
 profefs to be an enthujiajl on that bottom : 
 and (allowing. Somewhat for the feelings of 
 human nature; which muit give a momen- 
 tary pang) ^rdan with pleafure quit every 
 .temporal concern', together with the ties and 
 alliances of bipod, to defend my King, his 
 laws, rights j|b v d dominions; and the liberties 
 of my felldw-fubjeds according to law, 
 whenever a^day of danger Shall require every 
 man’s arm$o exert its energy and Strength $ 
 and if this province, where 1 have long liv- 
 ed, Should fall into diftrefs, either through 
 a foreign, an Indian , or,domeitic /jr, and it 
 Should be my fate to fight by the fide of Mr. 
 Laurens, we will be emulous of fame toge- 
 ther ; we will fpur each other on to deeds 
 worthy the Sons of Britain ; we will forget 
 our preient Strife ; and if I yield whilst my 
 Strength remains, let him put me to the 
 fword ; and if he draws his own character 
 into , fufpicion on fuch a fatal day, I will Stay 
 my fury againSt the enemy of our peace, ’till I 
 ; ‘ provide 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED; &c; 4$ 
 
 provide his friends with an excufe - to bury 
 
 his dif grace. - - 
 
 I come now to the 9th page, where he ad~ 
 dr.efles himfelf to the public, new judges of bis 
 own creation , whom he compliments with 
 a liberty of trying a judge duly appointed 
 by the King, and known in the conftitu- 
 tion, and after eftablilhing this new tribu- 
 nal, ftiles them candidy at the expence of a 
 cruel infinuation to my prejudice, arid then 
 pertty, prefuming to make them cyphers only , 
 like an Eaftern monarch, who keeps a pa- 
 rade of > mutes to gaze with admiration at 
 his own importance* he arbitrarily deter- 
 mines, that he is put upon a worfe footing* 
 as to taxed cojls , than a. Smuggler could have 
 been reduced to. 
 
 The fmuggler whom he alludes to, enhan- 
 ced no charges by contefting the merits" of 
 his cafe, biit prudently fubmitted to thejufc 
 tice of the court • and therefore, as being no 
 party, but fuffering judgment to go, ^ as it 
 were, by default, the cofts muft neceflarily 
 be paid out of the fubjedt condemned, for 
 nothing but the profecji-tdr and the fubjedt 
 Of profecution were fnen before the court. 
 The more I confider the conduct and rea- 
 foning of this gentleman, the more. he grows 
 a fubjedtof abhorrence and contempt. The 
 fame page muft convince my readers of his 
 ivant of candour , and his abfolute indifference 
 kbout inveftigatiilg any matter, which muft 
 
 Q eventually 
 
5<3 THE MAfr UNMASKED, kc. 
 
 eventually operate againfl his own paflion# 
 and illiberal furmifes, If the love of truth 
 had been a favourite object, he would furely 
 have referred himfelf to the records of the 
 court, which are in law the indubitable me- 
 morials of every tranfa&ion, and in that pu- 
 blic repofitory he would foon have difcover- 
 ed, wherefore it was, that the' feamen be- 
 longing to the Dorcas were indulged with 
 payment of their wages. The proceedings 
 Ihew, that they preferred a regular claim ; 
 that they were fhipped in this town upon a 
 lav/ful voyage, as they apprehended > and 
 that the prosecutor absolutely conjcnted to the 
 payment of their wages : the decree in that 
 
 cafe, after the recital part,, which compre- 
 hends likewife ' their claim, as exhibited _ in 
 court, runs in the words following, to wit, 
 tx dbhich claim was accept ed y and the prayer 
 ** thereof affented to by the faid George Ron - 
 « pell \ ” and the entry in the minutes of 
 court, on the exhibition of the feamen s 
 claim, is as follows, “ alfo moved, that the 
 prayer of the faid claim might be granted', 
 u and Mr. Rutledge , proBor for the ^ profecu- 
 tor, affenting thereto, ordered and granted 
 tx accordingly. 
 
 Whatever indulgence therefore was given,, 
 proceeded from the lenity and temperance 
 of the profecutor, who, in this particular, 
 feems to have felt for the poor mariners, a~ 
 gamflt whom nothing appeared in judgment. 
 
the MAN UNMASKED, &c. S 1 
 
 ihew that they were parties, in any criminal 
 view, to the offence committed againfl the 
 a<5ts of trade : the judge then is totally out 
 of the queftion, confenj'us tollit errorem ; for 
 the a<5t of the party extended the relief, and 
 it is a circumftance much in the profecutor’s 
 favour, and proves, that he pofleffes what 
 fome people hand in need of, bowels cf ten- 
 der mercy and compafr.n . 
 
 There is a fatality which ever attends the 
 machinations of the wicked. Think as we 
 may, fays our celebrated hero, /peaking a- 
 gain of the Wambaw and Brough ton-Ifland 
 Packet, we fhall find by and by thofe very 
 decifions arraigned by the profecutor him- 
 felf ; in/upport of which affertion, he fhort- 
 ly after introduces Mr. Rouped’ s ex parte 
 affidavit. Now can any man, in his mod 
 fanguine moments, ?/ifh for a better juftifi- 
 cation, than what arifes from this fingle 
 - fadt, coupled with our author’s invedtive.s on 
 the very fame fubjedt : when a judge capti- 
 vates the foul of one party, and becomes his 
 little god of adoration, we may be induced to 
 /peculate, and fufpicious men, perhaps, may 
 prefume to infinuate, that he is warped by 
 fome partial confederations,. or influenced by 
 prejudice or paflion : but, when he becomes 
 the fubjedt of abufe, and both fides pro- 
 nounce anathema’s againfl: him > when on 
 the one hand, the party relieved grows in- 
 cenfed, that the judge did not give him 
 
 more 5 
 
£2 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 mare ; and the 'cujlom-houfe officer grumbles, 
 that he gave him quite fo much ; every man, 
 in fuch a cafe, will naturally fay, the circum- 
 ftance of the judge’s fituation is ludicrous 
 and odd, but will fcarce be perihaded to ai- 
 fent, to any proportion, which infers an 
 idea of a falle bias in the judge ; twiff an 1 
 turn the argument as you pleafe, and \v< 1 
 
 it about into as many folds and rmfd c •:.» 
 the fnake enclofes itfelf in, and the coricJu- 
 fion muft be the farhe; the entw'jt trigs vud 
 unfold, and there will be no pther eiieijiial 
 difference, than what a circumftantial or ex* 
 ternal face, gives to the thing itfelf. 
 
 The fame page, affords us a note of gl ca- 
 rious rapture, at the bottom. *,* Impartial 
 honeji Britons, reveal if you can , ” lays our 
 author : but as I have already fufficientiy 
 
 ’ anfwered the matter of this ravtuvous appeal, 
 I fha.ll only touch upon xhetoncot it. Our 
 author never goes in a Jlraight line ; if he 
 did, he would, fooner or later, come to the 
 end of it; on the other hand, he takes fa 
 many irregular fweeps , forms fo many an- 
 gles, cuts in and Jlarts out , that his' journey 
 is never accomplilhed, or if it be, the fruits 
 of it are a poor recompence for all his toil. 
 This elevated ftrain of harmony might have 
 fluted the gentleman well enough three years 
 ago, when his political maxims were diffe- 
 rently directed ; but fince that period, he has 
 found, I fuppofe, a more eafy path to the 
 
 people’s 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 53 
 
 people’s affections, and therefore I fhould 
 _ not wonder at a Jiile fo ill fuited to his new 
 plan of policy, if I did not know, that ab»- 
 furdity, duplicity and con tradition are fo 
 intimately blended in the frame of our re- 
 marker’s conftitution. Thole gentlemen who 
 lilten to his converfation, can belt inform 
 the world, what degree of affection thefe 
 honejl “ impartial Britons ” lhare : I lhall 
 
 therefore only offer his own words to him, 
 as containing two virtues in Britons, which 
 I think, it full time, that he Ihould cultivate 
 himfelf : now, whether he means honejl as 
 properly defcriptive of the term impartial \ 
 or vice verfa, or, that all Britons are both 
 honejl and impartial (in which phrafe I . hope 
 that I alfo am comprehended) mull be left 
 to the judges of polite addrcfs : and though 
 
 our author may think himfelf entitled to the 
 character of honejl , in -the affairs of meum 
 and tuum, yet I have a doubt, how far any 
 man can be properly termed an hoiiejl man y 
 merely becaufe he will not pick a pocket , 
 when he makes no fcruple to rob another of 
 his reputation and good name : it is there- 
 
 fore no unreafonable wifh, that he would 
 learn to be impartial hojiejl ; an attainment 
 very fuitable to one, who prefumes to judge 
 freely the a&ions or conduct of his -neigh- 
 bour. And he mull excufe me, if I give 
 my own private fentiments, concerning this 
 appeal of our author’s to my countrymen, 
 
 th^| 
 
.54 THE MAN UNMASKEt), &c. - 
 
 that it is by no means fincere ; and that he 
 this moment as averfe to the name (with- 
 out a true principle of public J'pirit at the bot- 
 tom) as his own innate worth falls fhort of 
 their diftinguifhing and glorious virtues. ' 
 
 I pafs on to the 12th page, where the 
 judge is again brought upon the carpet, and. 
 fneered at, by our author, for expreflions of a 
 mediatorial cajl. The court was crouded on 
 all thefe fubjedts, and numbers mult recoi- 
 led:, that the judge difrelifhed the difputes 
 in general ; that he recommended harmony 
 and good-will, in which he had nothing 
 more in view, than the peace and happinefs 
 of all parties, in their different ranks and fi- 
 tuations : had fuch early recommendations 
 
 taken place, Mr. Laurens might have been 
 faved both trouble and expence ; our own 
 private friendfhip had, in that event, conti- 
 nued firm ; and the peace of a numerous fa- 
 mily been uninterrupted and fecure ; and I 
 fhould likewife have been freed from that 
 grofs and injurious furmife which he cruelly 
 propagates in the fame page, that the col- 
 lector efcaped the penalties and difabihties , 
 •which, in confequence of the fuit againfl 
 him, mujl have been infiBed^ on him , but for 
 a mere quibble, in the judge. The merchants 
 of Charles-Town preferred an appeal, which 
 $hey have omitted to profecute : the judg- 
 
 ment then ftands unimpeached, except by 
 our author : and it is to the laft degree un- 
 candid, 
 
the man tjn mask. Ed, &c. $$ 
 
 candid, to depart from the conftitutional 
 mode of relief, and to take the rod of cor- 
 rection into a man’s own hand, But what 
 mull the world think of the candid, the 
 plaufible, the fmiling , the frnooth Mr. Lau- 
 rans, who {hewed me a letter from a eor- 
 refpondent of his in England (fome months 
 after all my decrees, except that in the cafe 
 of the {hip Ann) wherein he informs him, 
 that there was no doubt but the judge’s fen- 
 tenbe, in Mr. Moore’s cafe, would be affu- 
 redly confirmed, or to that effeCt. 
 
 Events have anfwered, in fome meafure, 
 to this prediction ; for, as neither the body' 
 ©f merchants, nor the nominal profecutors 
 in that fait, can be fufpeCted to want finance , 
 yet the appeal has been deferted from a con-; 
 viCtion, now to be fuppofed, of the re&i- 
 tude’of the judge’s fentence. By what iu- 
 ' thority then, does our author prefume, tor 
 refolve the fentence of a judge, after a 
 month’s deliberation, into a mere quibble ? 
 or, how can he play double , and fb boldly 
 affert, that the collector efcaped the penal-- 
 ties of the aCt by fuch unworthy means, 
 when he is or was poffeffed Qf a letter, cf 
 the tenor already mentioned, fpeakitlg a lan- 
 guage fo oppofite to our idea of a quibble t 
 Paffion and prejudice will tempt men evert 
 to aCts of the molt precipitate revenge, and 
 daily'experience {hews forth, the mournful 
 effeCls which flow from an ill directed will. 
 
 la 
 
56 THE MAN UNMASKED, kc. 
 
 In the prefent inftance, it is evident, that Mr; 
 Laurens confiders every flart of his imagina- 
 tion, as a charge againftthe man : he nurfes 
 his conceits, ’till they fajle?i upon his under- 
 ftanding and lead him away captive , if not to 
 his deftrudtion, very much to his difgrace : 
 but iuch are the deluf ons which malice, by 
 fome fecret charms, impofes on thofe, whofe 
 hearts arc ready for the fpell, and then every 
 impulfe, power, and energy of the foul, tend 
 to every evil work; The malicious man bears 
 nothing fo refolutely as ill-will, which he 
 takes naturally to, as fome do to gaming, 
 and will rather hate for nothing than ft out,' 
 for he believes the devil (as Butler fays) is 
 pot fo bad as he Jhould be, and therefore en- 
 deavours to make him worfe, by drawing 
 him into his . .own party offenjive and defen- 
 Jive : fuch a man feeks out enemies, to avoid 
 quarrels with himfelf, like a flouriffiing king- 
 dom, that has not a foreign foe to contend 
 with, will fall into a civil and inteftine 
 war. 
 
 I am now fafely arrived at -page 13th, 
 which contains an oath extraordinary , as ti- 
 tled by our whimf cal remarker. Whether 
 he means, that it is an oath extraordinary for 1 
 the deponent to make, as difbelieving what 
 it contains ; or, that it is extra ordinem, that 
 is, out of the accuftomed order; or, that it 
 is ex parte, on one fde of the cafe only,' may 
 be difficult to determine : however, I think 
 
 that 
 
THE MAN UNMASKEb, &c. 5? 
 
 that it means fomething $ and therefore he 
 has diftinguiflied the fame with tWo rows 01 
 little Jlars , which one fet of people may, id 
 their pure fmplicity , fet down merely as em- 
 bellijhmenis > othefs, as fignifyirig a bidden 
 and myjlic fenfe, hieroglyphical offojrie ihrewd 
 whim or wild conceit > and Others, who may 
 be led aftray by the extravagances 6 f Trif- 
 iram Shandy , will naturally fuppdfe, that it 
 is a modefl way of faying an imtoodejl thing : 
 be thefe conjectures right or wrong, thus 
 much I will venture to infer, that he means 
 fome Jly Compliment t6 himfelf ; arid as rib 
 pride is equal to that which is fpiritual , we 
 may reafonably conclude, aS they do not# 
 like the three ftafs at the end 6f Cdfars com- 
 mentaries, denote defunl reliqtia, arid by the 
 number of them carinot pofiibly figure ouf 
 any determinate phrafe. Or word of fancy, 
 wit of humour, that he therefore m.earis to 
 denote the heavens above , to whofe God the 
 deponent is about fo ferioufly to appeal fbr 
 the truth of his faid oath. This mart, like 
 
 the Jews of old, is deep read in the cere- 
 monials of religion# and well veffed in ri- 
 tual and unfubjlaritial fefvice ; evfcry thing he 
 does, mull be feaforied With a fprig of piety, 
 is the many formal attendants at £ fiuneraj 
 Will, one arid all, call their rofeniarp after 
 the body. Without any other real motive than 
 What cuftdm and faihiori preferibe on the oc* 
 Cafibri; But to the Oath ttfelf,- 
 
 " ' 4 < 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &cr. 
 
 v - 1 no iooner heard that fiich an oath was 
 made, than X took the rieceflary fteps to ob- 
 tain a fight thereof, and to queflion the par- 
 ty, as Well as magijlrdti, thereon, and the 
 letters [See aipp. No. 18, 19, 20, 21] in the 
 Sppendix will fufficiently explain every doubt 
 which can poflibly arife. It is true that, 
 previous to my obtaining that fatisfaftion 
 which Mr. Roupeirs letter afforded me, I 
 believe X might be haftily led, in private, to 
 utter fome words of warmth and indigna- 
 tion and my memory fails me greatly, if 
 Mr. Laurens did not come to that knowledge 
 from myfelf, in private friendfhip, the laws 
 whereof have been, like the laws of his God 
 and his country, by his late publication, 
 trioft {hamefally abuled : but let this faxft be 
 as it may, thofe unbecoming expreflions 
 Which he puts into the judge’s mouth, page 
 1 6th, mull have been, if at all, uttered pre- 
 vious to the letters referred to on this head : 
 and it is an eafy matter, for the world to 
 difHnguiih, between the irregular and r*Jh 
 jallies of fudden heat or pafiion, and the de- 
 liberate and evil workings of a malignant 
 heart ; the former ftate of mind being, in 
 the leaft favourable and worft fenfe, impu- 
 table to the judge, on that occafion (patience 
 and forbearance having 'withheld him firoir^ 
 any real adt of injury or refentmenf) ; an<f 
 the latter ftate this arrogant libeller has. fixe<| 
 j«pon himfelf, by a conduct which oppofes 
 ^ *' every 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 every found principle of that gofpel, which 
 he pretends to cultivate and adopt. , 
 
 Mr. Laurens’s genius exerts itfelf moft in 
 the 17th page ; and he plays fo many pretty! 
 tunes, upon the bench, the judge, the oath,. 
 Mr. Leigh, bksdijlinff charters, and' about- 
 the a&ion againft Mr. Rouped, and in giving; 
 a little detail of that affair, that I fhall think 
 it no loft labour to follow him |n the way; 
 which he has fet roe. 
 
 The mereilul Mr. Laurens brought an ac- 
 tion againft Mr. Roupell, on account of his 
 feizing the Brough ton-Ifland Packet. Upon 
 the commencement thereof, the defendant 
 applied to me for afliftance and advice; 
 which I declined to afford him, unlefs the. 
 fevera}. gentlemen of the prpfeifion, after ap- 
 plication to them, (hould decline to take his 
 cafe in hand ; whereupon Mr. Roupell reti- 
 red, made his application as I recommended 
 to him, and how far he fucceeded appears! 
 By his letter [See App. No. 2.2.] to roe, in 
 ah official way, as attorney-general ; and X 
 rauft own, that I confidered myfejf obliged 
 to him for trying any experiment elfewhere, 
 as I could not byt confider his claim upon 
 -me, in the Ration of attorney-general, as. 
 natural, and if not ftri&ly a matter of right, 
 it was certainly near a-kin to it. XJpon the 
 receipt of this letter, it was impolfible, in 
 any view of the cafe, to decline the bufiueft, 
 and circumftanced as that pficer was, it he r 
 ' ' * “ v ' came 
 
60 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 Came a duty of unquejlionable obligation : I 
 
 therefore undertook his defence, but with 
 all that cautious and difinterejled regard, which 
 a good man will ever lludy to obferve, ra- 
 ther than fhipwreck a reputation, which 
 had coft him much time and labour to ac- 
 quire, and which it is, in all fituatiqns', tru- 
 Ij honourable and becoming to maintain. I 
 rfefufed a fee from Mr. Roupell, though he 
 was polite enough tp offer me one, and con- 
 sidering myfelf merely as a minifler of the 
 crown, called forth by npceffity, I accor- 
 dingly confined myfelf to that character } 
 for it was the officer, not the man in his per- 
 sonal and individual capacity, for whom I 
 was to labour a defence. ; In order to avoid 
 every fufpicion of receiving any recompence, 
 I determined to fit down with the lofs of 
 fuch fees as accrued to the judges and offi- 
 cers of the court on the defendant’s part, 
 which I have paid out of my own pocket, 
 left a fufpicious world fhould cruelly insinu- 
 ate, that under a charge of thofe fees I had 
 comprehencled fuch as were likewife due to 
 myfelf. No intimacy ever fubfiflcd between 
 Mr. Roupell and the late judge, and of 
 courfe there could be no renewal of that 
 which never had exiftence. When Mr. Rou- 
 pell made that conceflion which was due on 
 dccafion of the oath, the injury was, in 
 fome refpedt, repaired ; and I had not the 
 fame reafon, : as in the prefent cafe, to puf- 
 
 fue 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 6% 
 
 fi*e him a public way, the author of the, of- 
 fence not only being more temperate in his 
 conduct than the outrageous Mr.' Laurens, 
 but even difpjofed to make any further atpne- 
 ment in his power. . 
 
 The lenity and moderation of our provin- 
 cial laws empower the judges to aflign coun- 
 fel to the bafeft criminal, on his petition, 
 though in law the court are ever confidered 
 in that light themfelves ; and in civil cafes, 
 it is no unufual thing foi; courts of juftice 
 to interpofe, and direct one or two counfel 
 to return their fees, and engage for the party 
 who is deprived of aftiftance by his adverfa? 
 ry’s means. 
 
 Is it fit or reafonable, that a man totally 
 unfkilled in the fcience of the law, who can 
 neither ftate or mature his cafe, according to 
 the form and order of legal procedure, and 
 much lef§ argue the merits thereof, ihould 
 be forced to a trial in that deftitute condf 
 tion ? Gan any man of humanity contend, 
 that his adversary, in a free country like 
 ours, where the trial of right is fo conlpi- 
 cuoufly candid, fhall (by reafon of any po- 
 pular cry againft his caufe) be deprived of 
 every poflible means of making a fuitable 
 defence? A defpotic prince, whofe will is 
 law, may proceed without form, that being 
 pnly a circumftance, where the juftice of a 
 cafe is not the obje<5t of enquiry ; but in a 
 ponftftution like ours, dignified by the moft 
 
 . liberal 
 
6 % THE- MAN UNMASKED, fee. 
 
 liberal indulgences in favour of the. fubjedt,. 
 let the man fink into contempt, whofe hard- 
 nefs of heart can ftcel him againfl the feel- 
 ings of humanity. - 
 
 Our law, is a law otperfeft charity, which 
 fuppofes that every man is innocent, ’till he 
 is legally convicted. Upon this principle 
 therefore it is, that the judges exercife a large 
 diferetion, with refpedttothe bailing of thofe 
 who fiand charged with criminal offences ; 
 and furely the perfonal rights of men are of 
 fome importance likewife : none will con- 
 tend, I hope, that they fhould be tom from 
 the roots j or that one party in a caule fhall 
 diih out his cafe with the eloquence of every 
 man at the bar, and the other be dragged to 
 the forum, helplefs and forlorn as the infant 
 in its mother’s arms, who, though it may 
 offend its parent, by its tears, is unable to 
 Utter the occafion of its woe. 
 
 The 43d claufe of the Jury Adi of this 
 province, pafled the 20th of Auguft 173 1, 
 recites, ’«* that many innocent perfons under 
 criminal profecutions may fuffer r for want of 
 .. knowledge in the laws how to make a juft de- 
 fence i ” therefore it enadls, “ that all per- 
 fons that fhall he accufed andindjMedfor high 
 treafon , petit treafan % murder* f&ny or other 
 Capital offence whatfoever , fhall have a copy of 
 their indidlment , and make their full defence by . 
 gounfel : and in cafe , any perfons fo indicted fhall 
 defire counfel \ the court fhall, and is, thereby 
 
 "authorized 
 
tMM Mm ' ttNMASkEi>, &c.' 
 
 authorised and required, immediately upon theii. 
 requejl, to ajfigrl to fucb perjbns fuch and fi 
 Many coutfel not exceeding two, as they Jhali 
 defire, to whom fucb couttfel Jhall have free ac* 
 defs at all teafonable times, either before or a f* 
 ter the ] aid truth arty law Or ufage to the con* 
 tr'dry no twit branding. ” This indulgence 
 tod gr'eatr, to be extended, in civil cafes, to 
 thole who are the objects of our remarker’s 
 refen tmentjhis appetite being whetted for re- 
 venge (for be thinks, with Zanga, that revenge 
 is fweet) \ he lofes fight of mercy, and every 
 principle of law and juftice ; he is old enough 
 to know, that our law approves the belt 
 trim, as well as the bell evidence upon that 
 trial, and delights in equal and impartial 
 juftice. When a caufe has palled certain 
 ftages, and is brought to the jury for trial 
 of the merits, the pleadings are opened td 
 them by counfel on that fide which holds the 
 affirmative of the queftion in iflue, as alia 
 the nature of the cafe, and the evidence tci 
 be produced ; and when their evidence if 
 gone through, the advocate on the othef 1 
 fide opens the adverfecafe, and fupports it 
 by evidence ; and then the party which be- 
 gan is heard in reply : this is the mode ob- 
 ferved on every trial by jury ; 4 but out lovej? 
 of truth (if We may take his own wdrtl fof 
 it) is for introducing^* new prattice, 'by 
 dopting one part of this order of legal proce- 
 dure, and leavilfg'out the other*- tfiarrs, he 
 
 •'C' \ WOuld 
 
64 THE MAN UNMASKED, fcc 7 
 
 would have hunted the defendant down witft 
 his own counfel, and enjoyed a fecret fatis- 
 fadtion in his diftrefs, and alfo have laughed, 
 no doubt, at his impotence, weaknefs and 
 inability to maintain the flruggle with them. 
 This conclufion is juft, and fair, becaufe 
 there was no man to defend Mr. koupell, 
 but the attorney-general himfelf : if there- 
 fore he would blame or ridicule thit officer, 
 for defending from the bench (as he impro- 
 perly terms it) he in efredt declares, by fuch 
 cenfure, that the defendant fhbuld have been 
 left deflitute of counfel : But if, on the other 
 hand, he fhould now contend, that he did 
 hot mean to deprive his adverfary of coun- 
 fel, he is then riecefTarily drove to this di- 
 lemma, namely, to acquit rtie of all impu- 
 tation, who only became engaged for the 
 defendant ex neceffitate rei y and alfo to ac- 
 knowledge, that he has, in this inftancc at 
 leaf!, made “ much ado about nothing. ” Thu$ 
 have I plainly fiated, how I came to he en- 
 gaged on behalf of the defendant ; in which 
 caufe, as in every other wherein I appear a$ 
 counfel, 1 always keep in remembrance (and 
 in fome degree I hope adopt in pradtice) the 
 advice of that valuable man hi fop Sanderforij 
 to the pleader, in his afiize fermon at Lin- 
 coln, being the third fermon ad ?nagifratum y 
 page 164, “ not to count it y as Protagoras 
 did , the glory of my profejjion , by fubtilty of 
 \ wit and volubility of tongue y to make the voorfe 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED* &c. 65 
 
 taufe the better , but , like a good many to ufe 
 the power of my tongue to Jhame wit and im- 
 pudence and protedt innocency, to crufh op- 
 preflors and fucqour the afflidted, to advance 
 juflice and equity, and to help him to right 
 that fuffers wrong. By this time, I hope, 
 that all thofe fneers, which are fo lavifhly 
 bellowed on this part of the judge’s con- 
 duct, will no longer influence the mind of 
 a candid reader. 
 
 I come now to confider wha£ has provo- 
 ked our author to adt fo ftrange a part. E- 
 very circumllance convinces me, that re- 
 venge is the Jlimulating caufe. But it may be 
 alked, how comes it, that a paflion fo hate- 
 ful in its nature, fo repugnant to thofe gene- 
 ral laws of fociability and affedtion which are 
 by the all- wife God interwoven in our 
 frames how ‘comes it, that fo evil a paflion 
 can arife in the bread of Mr. Laurens, a- 
 gainfl: his once affedlionate friend ? The 
 ieafon partly fprings out of the lajl Ihort de- 
 tail refpedting the adtion in which I appeared 
 on behalf of the defendant; I charge THIS 
 to be a faffy becaufe I can fupport it by in- 
 contefible proof \ by evidence not to be refill- 
 ed. He never meant to publilh any libel ; a 
 fenfe of injury was the remotell fentiment of 
 his heart j and he has declared, that his indig- 
 nation has been raifed principally , if not foie - 
 ly t by the circumllance of my engaging in 
 the eaufe of Mr. Roupell in the court o* 
 
 I commor 
 
66 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 common pleas ; in a caufe too, the defence 
 whereof was ftridtly reconcileable with the 
 fentence of the judge in the admiralty court. 
 How far the ground of his refentment is 
 good, mull be left to the judgment of man- 
 kind. 
 
 If my conduct {hall be thought, in this 
 refpedt, confident, juft and right, every one 
 mull approve my warmth and fteadinefs in 
 fupport of the man whofe caufe I fo efpou- 
 fed ; and perhaps, in the opinion of many, 
 my refolution to do fo at every rifque and 
 hazard, againft the popular voice , without 
 fee or reward, or promije or expectation there- 
 of, in oppoftion to all the men of eminence at 
 the bar,- and at the rifque of lofing both a 
 client and a friend, may be confidered as 
 fome little teftimony of my virtue and prin- 
 ciples as a man. - 
 
 Refentment begot the adtion, no wonder 
 then, that it {hould be transferred to me. 
 My attempt to defend the forlorn and hunted 
 officer, and my certifying probable caufe of 
 feizure in the cafe of the fhip Ann, whereby 
 I fo boldly and intrepidly (and according to 
 his idea, no doubt, prefumptuoujly ) endea- 
 voured to protedt the fame officer from the 
 power of the tormentor , were injuries not to 
 be forgiven. To ravifti from the devouring 
 paw of a wild beaji , a J'weet morfel , when his 
 hunger is keeneft, mud roufe every latent 
 principle of fury , and kindle each ferocious 
 
 inclination . 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 67 
 
 inclination. Our remarker, labouring under 
 fierce and unruly paffions, the word: too, that 
 can difgrace human nature, has now turned 
 his fury upon me, by a libel, which would 
 almoft create a belief, that all the malice in 
 the world was concentered in one man, and 
 blended into one performance. 
 
 I muft own, that I exerted my bed: talents 
 (filch as they were) on behalf of the perfe - 
 cuted officer , and exhauded every argument 
 which a clofe application to his cafe fuggeft- 
 ed .to me ; and my reafoning was not confi- 
 dered by the judges as flimfy> plaujible or cap- 
 tious ; two out of three having directed the 
 jury to. find for the defendant ; and though 
 a verdict was given for the plaintiff, the da- 
 mages fell greatly fhort of the expectations 
 of the party : and therefore, though I failed 
 of fuccefs, there is no room for a bold affier - 
 tion, that I was “ pofed by Jiubborn fatts, or 
 entangled in my own tenets : ” and if it was 
 neceffary to enter upon a difcuffion of my 
 conduct after the trial, on the motion which 
 I made for a new one, it would be found 
 that I had performed my duty with fpirit 
 and attention. One of the plaintiff’s coun- 
 fel hinted at fome part of the judge’s decree; 
 but he, knowing his bufinefs, and difdain- 
 ing to difcufs any point before a court not 
 armed with jurifdiCtion, did peremptorily 
 refufe to give any fatisfaCtion in the cafe ; 
 and the wifdom and juftice of the court gave 
 
 Warrant 
 
68 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 Warrant to a refufal, which tfih law dilated, 
 gnd decency cannot but approve. . 
 
 In the courfe of my arguments upon that 
 trial, many of thern fuited fo exactly the 
 plaintiff’s cafe, that, in David's words , I 
 have reafop to believe, he thought them ve- 
 ry /words. ' My affedtiop for Mr. Laurens, 
 .diminifhed in proportion as his zeal warmed 
 him to adt a vindi&ive or oppreffive part, 
 and notwithftanding the verdicft went in his 
 favour, the cafe was marked with feveral 
 pircumftapces which fpoke for the defendant. 
 From this period, our author’s refentment 
 became kindled againft me, and the ftreams 
 of his anger, finding a fudden and unlooked 
 for re/Jiance , like waters riling above their 
 patural and accuftomed banks, deluged all 
 before it, and ever fince ? his ftreams have 
 been putrid , corrupt , and black , as the wa- 
 ters of Cocytus running through hell. 
 
 After a toilfome journey through a moft 
 rugged and perplexed path, I am at length 
 arrived at the fhip Ann of Briftol. M an y 
 little reflecting hints fcattered about, on im- 
 material points, are unworthy of a ferious 
 anfwer ; I fhall therefore incorporate them 
 with fuch matters as feem to merit more pe- 
 puliar notice. The author, page 26, (peak- 
 ing of Mr. Hatley the deputy collector, gives 
 the reader to underftand, that the judge ^or- 
 dered him into court, and after a feemingly 
 Jevere reprimand, he required a more proper 
 
 anfwer 
 
the MAN UNMASKED, &c. 69 
 
 anfwer to tfye fourth interrogatory} and fo, 
 being thus as it were compelled to fay fome- 
 thing, he w'as again fworn, in open court, when 
 he depofed as is therein dated. Now, from 
 whom did the complaint arife ? F rotn the 
 author s proffer- To what end was it made? 
 For redrefs. How could that be effected 
 without the aid of the judge, whofe bufinefs 
 it was, to fupprefs any anfwer which tended 
 to afFedt the honour of the court ? and how 
 was the party to obtain fatisfadtion, unlefs 
 the witnefs Was compelled to give a precife 
 anfwer to the interrogatory, according to his 
 knowledge } which, by the complaint made 
 againft him, he had waved, upon a pretence 
 of being accountable only to his fuperiors 
 for the pradtice of the colledtor or his deputy, 
 when the very queftion turned upon a point 
 of pradtice in that office, to the cuftom 
 whereof I could not well fuppofe he was a 
 ftranger ? . 
 
 As Mr. Hatley was the fubjedt of the 
 judge’s reprehenfion, he would with to refer 
 the reprimand to him, for an accurate expla- 
 nation, as he certainly is the bed: evidence 
 which fuch a cafe can poffibly admit } for 
 no one can guefs fo fhrewdly at his feelings 
 on the occafion, as the perfon who is the 
 fubjedt of it : but, if I may be allowed tq 
 
 give my private fentiments, he was infinite- 
 ly embarafled and diftreffed ; and as a man, 
 I am not affiamed to fay, that I fincerely felt 
 
70 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 for his fituation, though it was not in my 
 power, as & judge, to adminifter relief. E- 
 very perfon who attended the court may be 
 appealed to likewifc, and I am perfeftly wil- 
 ling to fubmit this point in particular, and 
 indeed all others, to their own conclufions. 
 It is not my defign, to enter into the defence 
 of other men’s reputations : he who fuffers 
 an attack, is the proper perfon to refill the 
 outrage. However, I think it my duty, in 
 point of humanity, to declare, that the judge 
 did charitably forbear to make odious com- 
 panions, or to ftigmatize the reputation of 
 a young man, when he had no motive to 
 commit an aft fo heinous as our extraft-au- 
 thor infinuates to mankind, 
 v The fevere animadverfion of the judge, for 
 an appearance of contempt to the court, be- 
 fore a numerous and crouded audience, was 
 alarming, and if he (remembering his Ma- 
 jefty’s coronation oath) mixed mercy in judg- 
 ment, Mr. Hatley was not the only inftance 
 wherein it was extended : for, if rigour had 
 been the plan of conduft, the Writer whom 
 I now vouchfafe to anfwer, muft, in all pro- 
 bability, have fupplicated the judge of the 
 admiralty court, fof relief, for liberty , for 
 the benefit of the pure air which Anfonbo- 
 rough affords : his impertinence , by letters, 
 
 before probable caufe was certified in the cale 
 of the fhip Ann (letters wrote with a mani- 
 fold view to deter him from his duty) muft 
 ' have 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 71 
 
 have feeured him a lodging in the common 
 goal of Charles -Town : their ftile and lan- 
 
 guage, in my poor opinion, refledfc difhonour 
 on the writer , therefore I forbear to make 
 them public 3 the author is expofed enough 
 already : if he is follicitous to become more 
 fo, let him fend them to the printer, and, like 
 one of Shakefpear’s Jilly conftables, befeech 
 the town clerk to fet him down an afs. 
 
 The notes which the judge wrote in an- 
 fwer, are in the appendix [See No. 23, 25, 
 26.] His moderation and tendernefs will 
 appear thereby, it is hoped, in no unfavour- 
 able light 3 the peace of our houfe will prove 
 to have been an objedt of his ferious atten- 
 tion and regard 3 and if vanity had any influ- 
 ence, I fhould certainly bring the letters to 
 public view, beeaufe the moderation which 
 I barely hint at, muft, on fuch a compari- 
 fon, rather create aftoniihmcnt, as it riles 
 fuperior to that fpirit, which too often go- 
 verns the ferverje and untoward affedtions of 
 mankind. I lhall pafs over the author’s re- 
 flections in the 28 th page, as I am under no 
 apprehenfions, that they will have any undue 
 influence on the reader’s mind : a moment’s 
 paufe, will enable him to recall, to his memo- 
 ry, arguments and obfervations fufficient, 
 to refute fuch malignant and inveterate remarks. 
 
 As Mr. Laurens proceeds, his rancour 
 feems' to grow, his malice heightens, and his 
 bitternefs if pofiible enercafes 3 for the whole- 
 
7> The man un mas k. ed, & c . 
 
 his fixteenth remark, in page 29, is not more 
 cruel, than it is deftitute of truth for its 
 fupport. The regifter of the court muft re- 
 collect that, upon the publication of the evi- 
 dence, the judge obferved, that the witnef- 
 ies affigned no v reafons whefeon they groun- 
 ded their belief, in relation to the officer’s 
 motive for feizing the (hip Ann, and there- 
 fore directed that, in future examinations,* 
 he fhould take fpecial care, that the depo- 
 nents difclofe the grounds and reafons on 
 which they found their belief. Perhaps the 
 odium caft on the profec ution, out of doors, 
 and, the feveral witneflhs (except one, who 
 made a kind of half proof) barely declaring 
 their belief that the profecution was com- 
 menced through malice or refentment, un- 
 accompanied with any reafons whereon the 
 court might be able to judge'whether fuch a 
 belief was well warranted or not, may ac- 
 count for the judge’s conduCt refpeCting the 
 oath of calumny ; but every man .muft fee* 
 that, after publication of the evidence, and 
 the caufe at hearing, no impartial judge, 
 without a formal and regular application, 
 and under certain terms, could by any means 
 enter into an enquiry, upon what grounds 
 the deponents founded their belief, neither 
 would it have been juft and honourable, for 
 him to fifh for explanatory proofs. Had the 
 judge taken upon him to interrupt the caufe 
 (fuppof ng what is not the. faCt, that he had a 
 
 power 
 
THE Man UNMASKED, £c. 7J 5 
 
 power of fcnafeif . fo tb do) by an adjourn--, 
 ment, had al’fo diredted the officer to re-exa-, 
 mine thofc wifnefies or others, and on fucii 
 a pretente had protracted the fuit, bur cha- 
 ritable author would have quickly explained 
 fuph proceedings^ by the fihii whichf in his 
 ^th page, he makes payable for each court,' 
 to the judge alone : he would have been the 
 jirjl man to arraign him as a partial j udge, ; 
 as one deviling every method of delay ; and 
 the world might have been induced to credit 
 fuch a charge, if lie had, on that occafion, 
 overlooked the conflifutronal practice of the. 
 Court, which afnied him with a power, of 
 adminiftering ah oath tp the perfpn who, 
 mud of, ah others be the mbit .intimately 
 acquainted with his. own thoughts/ motives 
 and principles of' conduct. In this dilem- 
 ma, the judge had no other means of expif-, 
 eating the truth/ and of fixing or removing 
 luch heavy imputations' as were call upon^ 
 the caufe. If any inconvenience therefore 
 axole to the claimant, becaufe he did not 
 hunt after hew evidence, the remarker fhould 
 fix the blame in fome other quarter. Why, 
 did he negleit to examine Mr. Logan and 
 Mr. William Savage in .the fir ft inftance, 
 whorfi he mentions in page 29? or/ \vhy 
 did he omit, by his proitor, in due form, to 
 apply to the court , to have the cuftbm-hbjufe, 
 books produced, to invalidate any part of. 
 the evidence ? an application which #'ould 
 j * K . probably 
 
74 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 probably have met with favour and regard* 
 And how came it, that the claimant omitted 
 to eftablifh, in due time, his chain of proofs ? 
 Vigilant'ibus ej} non dormientibus fubjerviunt 
 ■leges f Now mark the candour and goodneft 
 of this man : a principal' point in the caufe 
 was neglected; the perfons to prove it, whot 
 are refidents in town, were never called upon, 
 or even their names mentioned upon the 
 claimant’s lift of witneffes, which it is ufual 
 for parties to file with the regifter ; or any- 
 one ftep taken to prove what the profecu- 
 tor’s motives were for feizing the faid fhip ; 
 neither was any motion made for production 
 of cuftom-houfe books, or for admiffion of 
 further proof, as the tranfaCtions of the court 
 do manifeflly fhew. Publication then being 
 paffed, and the caufe at hearing, the judge, 
 by law, was obliged to proceed upon fuch 
 evidence as the parties laid before him : he, 
 without regard to either party, being deli- 
 rous to fix a point, which (circumftanced 
 as things were) meritted fome notice, pur- 
 fued the legal courfe (though a power, he 
 mull: own, which fhould be exercifed only 
 on fuch a prefting occafion) and the party 
 purged away' the imputation: Therefore 
 
 our notable reafoner concludes, that his ho- 
 nour 'had predejUnated the fate of the Jioip, as 
 he was pleafed to pafs over the whole in jilence* 
 Can it be faid with juftice, that the judge 
 pafled oyer the affair in filence, when he 
 
 purfueef 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 75 
 
 purfued the courfe of law, to difeover that, 
 which the claimant, through ignorance, ne- 
 glect or defign, had omitted on his part ? 
 or, can it with truth be infilled on, that he 
 a< 5 ted arbitrarily or unduly, when he purfued 
 the legal and conftitutional courfe, in order 
 to remove or fix an imputation, which, in 
 this flage of the profecution, had drawn the 
 fame into feme fufpicion, accompanied with 
 a general outcry from almofl every quarter ? 
 Thofe who attended the court mull have ob- 
 ferved, that the judge laboured to do impar- 
 tial juftice; and it is the confcioufncfs of his 
 integrity, and the confidence which that 
 gives, that now fupports him againll the un- 
 merited flander of a projlituted pen : he was 
 too upright, to predeflinate the fate of any 
 matter which came before him in judgment y 
 and the horror of the furmife, inftead of 
 wounding the man, raifes in him tears of 
 companion for the defperate and deluded 
 ftate of our author’s mind, 
 
 Mr. Laurens, after paying a compliment, 
 page 30,’ to his friend Mr. Manigault (to 
 whofe goodnefs he daily offers up the morn- 
 ing facrifice of hat and hand) adds, whofe 
 •veracity was never fufpedted by any man but 
 a judge oj the admiralty ; and then, by a note, 
 alludes to feme expreflions of the judge, in 
 the cafe of Manigault and Neufville againfl 
 Daniel Moore. By his own account of the 
 matter, nothing like a doubt appears touch- 
 
76 TELE MAN UNMASKiD, $cc., 
 
 iqg that gentleman’s vefacity : I never que- 
 fhoned it ; fuch a thing vvas foreign to the 
 
 ag. ... _ 
 
 purpofe : our author therefore, to rivet him- 
 felf, if poflible, more clofely iri his affe&ions, 
 tortures the e^preflions, tq anfwer a pitiful 
 end of his owh j pqrceiving, no doubt, that 
 a publication of extracts* fur nifhed ‘him with 
 f opportunity of making fome ho- 
 
 nourable mention of his name. ‘ The late 
 judge fincerely believes, ‘that Mr. Manlgauljt 
 never harboured fuch a thought ; 4nd for bid 
 °wn part, he frankly declares, that he, oh 
 no fcore, ' meant to queftion his honour or 
 veracity ; and he entertains fo good an opi- 
 nion or our author’s' friend, that he is con- 
 fident, he will 4o no a£t to fully the luftre 
 of his reputation ; though it is poflible, that 
 his patronage of a man fo ill-difpofed, as Mri 
 Jfaurins proves himfelf to be, by hiswretchecj 
 publication, may fijently and in^enfibly dra\y 
 it into question, amongft ftrangers atleaft.. ’ 
 The fame expreflions, Which our author 
 eonftrues as a reflection, on the character of 
 Mr. Mariigault, alluded at the fame time to 
 Mr. Neufville, for both were profecqtors, 
 arid equally engaged iri the 'fame purfuftl 
 People abroad will he apt to fav, that the 
 judge’s words, according to this gentleman’s 
 Cohftru^lqrij ' muft furely have 3 applied " fd 
 |iim, as he neither touches his ’name' 6r re- 
 putation T fo total a ‘filence, fo unpardonable 
 
 ap indifference, may give occafion to fome, 
 
 m < f-.n . , ■ ■■ t6 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, See, 
 
 id doubt bis veracity and worth ; and there- 
 fore I think it a piece of common jufticc 
 and candour, in me, to affure the world, 
 that I never meant any perfonal offence to 
 the profecators, and that I : believe Mr. Neuf- 
 ville like wife to be a man of unblemifhed 
 reputation. 
 
 Our little dabler in law has now conduc- 
 ted me to his comment oh the oath of ca- 
 lumny, which, he informs his reader, the 
 judge demanded ex officio from the profecu- 
 tor in the caufe. It is matter of doubt to 
 me, whether his own lawyers helped him 
 to thefe two Latin words : I have a'fhrewd 
 
 fufpicion, that he came to them as fools do, 
 now and then ? to handfome fortunes, with- 
 out merit i and like fuch Jimpletons , who are 
 ever ignorant how they lhall difpofe of their 
 adventitious goods , or convert them to a 
 manly and honourable ufe, he, on his part^ 
 is at the Tame Straight and difficu’ty with 
 himfelC in what manner to apply the pbrafe 
 which his friend bellowed upon him ; for 
 he, very jnjudicioufly, confounds the oath 
 which the judge adminiftered in a civil fuit ? 
 with an oath ex officio , which Lord Bacon, 
 alludes to on a different occalion. Though 
 the benignity of our law will not fuffer any 
 man to accufe himfelf criminally , thefamelaw 
 will neverthelefs permit him to difclaim a 
 particular demand, or renounce an origin^ 
 right, and our author’s quotation from Puf- 
 
 fendorfh 
 
7* THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 fendorff, tends only to difcover his ignorance 
 and folly ; for, in the prefent cafe, wherein 
 this oath was adminiftered, capital punifh- 
 tnent was out of the queftion, and the only 
 inconvenience to the party was the cofts of 
 fuit, and the circumftance of being expofed 
 to an action if probable caufe had not been 
 certified ; and fuch poflible Ioffes or hard*- 
 (hips as thefe, are by no means the grievous 
 inconveniences which that celebrated cafuift 
 lpeaks of. Our author's paflfage from Plato 
 (.which by the way he picked up out of Puf- 
 fendorff) “ admits of an oath, only in fuch 
 cafes , inhere, according to the judgment of men , 
 no advantage can be got by forfwearing : but, 
 •where any profit may be reaped from the perju ~ 
 ry y there he orders, that the procefs fijall be 
 tnanaged without oaths. ” If our remarker 
 means to ftrengthen his cafe, by the aid of 
 this Heathen moralift, he will find himfelf 
 miftaken ; for he muff firft fhew, that the 
 admiralty court and its practice are founded 
 upon his principles and policy ; and unlefs 
 he is able to evince, that his laws have been 
 incorporated into our own, they can no more 
 /apply to the prefent queftion, than any of 
 the flavifh and burthenfome obfervances 
 mentioned in the Jewilh ritual. I remem* 
 her, that Plato, in h\s politicks, in order to 
 banifti out of his republic all property, or-^ 
 dains a community,, not only of goods, but 
 alfo of wives and children : but our author 
 
 will 
 
 
If HE MAN ITOMASfcED, &c. 7$ 
 
 will fcarce argue from hence, that becaufc 
 this ancient fage ordained fb defective a 
 rule, that the people of this generation 
 are to adopt the fame, as a principle of 
 government to them. If Mr. Blackftone, 
 in his lectures on the common law of 
 England, had drawn his conclufions from 
 the Roman and imperial conftitutions, his 
 lyltem muft have been a confufed affem- 
 blage of incoherent feraps. All courts judge 
 according to the principles and maxims of 
 that law, which arc the foundation of their 
 practice and proceedings; and it would be 
 as abfurd, for an admiralty court to adopt 
 the maxims of the common law, as for a 
 court of common law or equity to admit the 
 laws of the Medes and Perfians within the 
 pale of their refoeCtive jurifdidtions. 
 
 I admire both the virtue and philofophy 
 of Plato, in many refpedts ; though it muft 
 be owned, that his works contain many ex- 
 travagant and wild conceits : fome whereof, 
 perhaps our remarker would relifh welhe- 
 nough, for his own particular convenience, 
 as, for inftance, that “ women fooidd be de~ 
 ftined to the fame employments as the men, ” 
 a provifion tins', which would divide the cares 
 of life more equally, and afford a larger fhare 
 of comfort to the male ; thofe who are fond 
 of making their wives drudges , will fall into 
 Plato’s fcheme without difpute : for my part, 
 the //ȣ of their duty, as laid down by our 
 
 own 
 
*0 THE MASKS Dr &c.' ' 
 
 ewri nation, is, in my opinion, hiore recon- 
 cileable to'fneir nature, fetter fritted! to their 
 capacities an& powers, arid more honourable 
 to the meni whofe ffody if' fhould be, to 
 fcften the women’s cares 1 ,’ though they fhould' 
 thereof encreafe' their own. 
 
 Concerning this oath of'caluhiny, Mr. 
 l*aurens proceeds to give one of the very 
 reafons the judge went upon j for, as lie ob- 
 ferves from PuffendorfF, in forhe cafes, when 
 other proofs are not fufticient/ the j udge may 
 put the party to his oath; though he do riot' 
 defire it. Giviiiaris' can make no doubt- in fo’ 
 fflain a cafe: and that he alfo may fee the 
 judge’s conduit in a clearer light, he begs leave 
 to transcribe a paflage of two out of a book of 
 authority, in the original language in Which 
 they were wrote, ‘ in order that his fon' (by 
 giving it ail Englifh drefs) may return the 
 obligation which he lies under to his father, 
 who made ufe of him to retail out, or rather' 
 drop, his dirty poifon through the town, like 
 the printer’s mercury, who circulates the 
 weekly paper of occurrences. 
 
 • “ Eft autem alind jur amentum calumnies fpe- 
 ciale alio nomine maliticz non conimitiendce dic- 
 tum, quod quo ties judici cequum dftfum fuerit , 
 litigatoribus etiam inlAtis miniftrari pojftt id - 
 que liie contejlaia , r oel jur anient o calummce ge- 
 tter ali prceftito, r oel non prreftito. ” The fame 
 author, fpeaking pf the general oath of ca- 
 ICtfnny, fubjoins, { ‘£>uid jur amentum hujus - 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED* he* 8t 
 
 modi niji femel in caufa prafiari debet atqiie e* 
 tiam plerumqUe fiatim jfift litem contefiatam 
 fieri folety fi tamen tune omittatur potefi pofied 
 in quaeunque parte judici exigi. ” 
 
 Both Confet and Domatt, and eVefy civil 
 law writer of any repute fpeafe the fame 
 language* If my reader is unfkiiled in the 
 Latin tongue, he may be allured that the 
 bath (fuch a one at lead: as the judge direc- 
 ted in Mr. Roupell’s cafe) may be admini- 
 ftered at the inftance of the judge/, whether 
 the parties in the fuit require it or not, and 
 if he pleafes with or without their confent, 
 and in any part of the proceedings* 
 
 It is a nice queftion, whether an oath rhay 
 be required of a perfon, when we have rea- 
 fon to believe that he will fwear falfely : - 
 but, fays Barbeyrac, in his notes on PufFen^* 
 dorff, “ W efpeak not here of a judge ; for the 
 laws, in certain cafes , order him to adminifien. 
 cm oath, and he rnufi conform himfelf to them , 
 without troubling himfelf about the manned 
 how they , who take the oath, can do it” Now 
 granting, for argument fake, that the judge 
 had entertained tome flight fufpician in hi? 
 own mind* that Mr. Roupeli would raflily 
 take the oath' (a fufpicion which, I freely 
 oWn* never intruded itfelf into my thoughts) 
 yet it was impoflible to determine, that he 
 would do fi, and therefore it flood wholly 
 dubious and indifferent, and confequently 
 the perion muft, in fuch a cafe, be left tot 
 
 L 
 
8 i THE MAN UNMASKED, &<T. 
 
 ad fuo jure , and at his own peril, as he wilt 
 anfwer at a future day before the God of 
 truth. 
 
 Mr. Noodt has fhewed, in his probabilia 
 juris, lib. 3, chapter 6, and in his commen- 
 tary, page 287, 288, that hiopia probationum„ 
 that is, want of proofs , is, when there are 
 fiicb proofs, that the judges know not how' 
 to determine fome particular point of con- 
 - troverfy and difpute j in this Hate of things,:* 
 he' puts the party to his oath, in order to call 
 the balance, and to determine his judgments 
 which hangs fufpended, as it were, in dif- 
 ficulty, perplexity and doubt. This was the 
 very ftate of the queftion refpeding the pro-r 
 feeutor’s motive for the feizure ; the witnef- 
 fes faid enough to create fufpieion,- though 
 not to fix an abj'olute belief and - therefore>it 
 became neceffary, to refort to the man him- 
 felf, from whom there was no reafon to ex- 
 ped an evafive, much lefs a falfe and dif- 
 honourable anfwer. 
 
 The author, page 32, complains of the 
 hurdfhip of requiring fuch an oath, where 
 the profecutor could plead his commiffon and 
 an aft of parliament •, and, page 2d of his re- 
 trofpefthe ref eft ions, he thinks it cruel, where '■ 
 an officer makes a feizure, and deems that a 
 J'lifficient- jufiification of his conduft. He con- 
 tends alfo, that it is ffill more cruel and un- 
 juft, after' fuch officer had declare^ openly 
 iiis*- motives for making the ieizure, when- 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 83 
 
 the judge had no fufpicion of his chara&er, 
 but demands it, for fome fpecial reafns in his 
 pwn mind. 
 
 This jewel of a man (in Foote’s humou- 
 rous ftile) confiders the meafure as moft or 
 fuperlatively cruel, where the officer may 
 plead his commiflion and orders ; and. he con- 
 tends, that a judge may be fufpedted of finij- 
 fter views, when he exadts fuch an oath from 
 an officer, “ who hath other proofs fujficient 
 to juftify the firft att of feizure ^ ’ 
 
 I have purpofely thrown all his reafoning 
 together, on the oath of calumny, that I 
 may in one view give a full anfwer to the 
 whole. 
 
 It appears to me, that Mr. Laurens, who 
 is attached to no man or party long together, 
 weary of abufing Mr. Roupell, is now be- 
 come a {launch advocate in his favour : he 
 does not fee, that his changing fides will tend 
 to confute himfelf : he is not aware, that 
 
 this appearance of fympathy for the officer, 
 will infallibly involve him in a palpable ab- 
 furdity : neither does he clearly perceive that, 
 when he pretends to compaffionate the man, 
 he entangles himfelf beyond recovery. Now 
 it is not pity that creates thefe fcruples in 
 our author’s mind ; for, if he had a milkinefs 
 of nature , he would not have taken fo much 
 pains to defame his reputation : his paffions 
 then being, in this inftance, bent againft the 
 judge , it was necefiary for him to place the 
 
 ' officer 
 
84 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 officer in fuch a light, that a ffiade of a dar~ 
 }ter caji might fall upon the judge, and con- 
 sequently his readers muft be thereby led to 
 join more heartily againft the one, in pro- 
 portion as he could paint, Jlrong and Jlri- 
 king colours, the diftrefsful fituation of the 
 other. Let us examine the Jirength, fubliml- 
 ty and conjijiency of his reaioning, the fub- 
 ftance whereof is, that if an officer thinks, 
 that his authority- to feize is a j unification, 
 especially when he makes a public declara- 
 tion of his motives, and pleads his commif- 
 fion and orders, the oath ought not to be 
 exacted : in this view of things, a judge is 
 a bhnk, a cypher, and the courfe.and order 
 of the civil law is at once abolished ; but a 
 man of difeernment, however, will pay very 
 little attention to the fayings of the parties j 
 and where an a£t of parliament and an offi- 
 cer s inftrudtions authorize a feizure, and the 
 prpofs convince the judge, that the property 
 in queftion muft be finally condemned, the 
 cafe of malice or an evil motive in the officer, 
 cannot there eventually deprive the perfons 
 interested of the effedl of their feizure : but 
 where a judge, frpm the general complexion 
 of a cafe, from the pleadings and exhibits in 
 the caufe, fees clearly , that in ftridt j uftice 
 the feizure muft be reftored to the claimant $ 
 where the profecution is cried down, and a 
 popular clamour is raifed againft it, as being 
 promoted upon an evil principle of malice 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, 6cc. 85 
 
 and refentmcnt ; where the witneffes alfo 
 raife fcruples, without eftabljjhing the fadt 
 whereon fuch doubts arife ; it may be proper, 
 for thefe, and many other reafons, to inve- 
 ftigate the motives, in order that the judge 
 may determine whether he will proceed fur- 
 ther in the caufe or not, and what propor- 
 tion of cofts the officer ffiall pay : when he 
 exercifes his diferetion with prudence, and 
 with a ftridt eye to complete juftice, when 
 it is known that fuch an oath may be requi- 
 red, the power of adminiftering it may check 
 frivolous profecutions, and reftrain officers 
 from uling their commiffions as rods to 
 fcourge, when they are given them only up- 
 on a general and public plan of commercial 
 policy i and cafes may be fo circumftanced, 
 that he may properly and confidently call in 
 the conftitutional practice of his court, as a 
 court of civil law ; and, furely, it cannot be 
 contended, that any thing lefs than an adtof 
 parliament, can controul, alter, abridge or 
 annul the effential, inherent and ancient 
 pradtice of a court of juftice. 
 
 Our author is neither fatisfied with or 
 without reafons. His book tends to abufe 
 the judge for giving reafons, and he fneers 
 at him in the affair of the oath, for retain- 
 ing “ his fpectal reafons in his own mind , ” I 
 never- met with a man fo difficult to pleafe. 
 How it came into his head, that a judge 
 flight be fufpedted of fnifer views , for ex- 
 
 adting 
 
S6 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 afting fuch an oath, from an officer who 
 hath other proofs fujficient to jujiify the firft 
 °f fizurei exceeds my comprehenfion ; 
 for, by his own ftate of the cafe, he is an- 
 gty that the oath was required ; and the par- 
 ty who took it, rather teemed to decline it, 
 by retreating to his commiffion and inftruc r 
 tions : what fnifter views then could adtuate 
 or influence v the judge, when the propofition 
 was reliihed -by neither of the parties ? but, 
 as if our author laboured to entangle himfelf 
 in new difficulties, he feems to admit, that 
 this officer had proof enough , without this ha- 
 ted oath, to juftify his feizure ; a conceffion 
 which T had little reafon to expedt, but 
 which, however, is equally confident with 
 many other parts of his condudt and perform 
 mance. 
 
 Mr. Laurens, page 33, raifes anew batr 
 tery, by flating the grievous inconveniences 
 to which the poor officer was expofed ; and 
 he very ingenioufly, as alfo charitably fup- 
 pofes, that as he muft certainly have per- 
 ceived the dangers which he fets in full ar-» 
 ray, he therefore took the judge's hint. This 
 is one of the moft whimfical receipts for an 
 aSi of perjury I . ever met with, and our au- 
 thor has the foie merit of claiming to him- 
 felf th t difcovery thereof 
 
 The oath was required by. the judge, to 
 be taken or refufed : the party had it in his 
 option, to adt agreeable to the didtates of his 
 
 confcience ; 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED; See. Zj 
 
 <5onfcience ; and no perfon, much lefs one: 
 in a judicial ftation, fhould fuppofe, that a 
 party whofe character flood clear before the 
 court, would be hardy enough to trifle with 
 a facred teft. If an imaginary fear*, that a 
 man will flatly perjure himfdf, to avoid* fuch- 
 evils as Mr. Laurens, ftates, is a good objec- 
 tion, the fame will hold almoft equally 
 ftrong in every cafe, and confequently it 
 ftrikes at the whole fyftem of legal admini- 
 stration : but, independent of ftich reafons 
 in fupport of the argument, nothing is more- 
 clear, than the judge’s right, as grounded 
 upon the civil law ; a right which has been 
 exercifed, in certain cafes and emergencies,- 
 from the days of Juftinian to the prefent 
 time : the whole practice of the court of ad- 
 miralty* and great part of our proceedings in 
 our courts of equity, are framed upon, or 
 owe their rife to, the practice of the forunr 
 Romanian: trace it, from one ftage to ano- 
 ther, and it will be found conformable, in 
 many particulars, to the old imperial confu- 
 tations ; claimants anfwer upon oath, as' 
 defendants do in chancery, notwithfland- 
 ing they are immediately interefted in the 
 fubjed: in difpute; and though the common 
 law does not allow, that a man fhall be a 
 witnefs in his own caufe, yet thofe courts 
 who chiefly govern themfelves by the- rules 
 of the common law, proceed according to 
 the maxims and principles of that law and 
 
 therefore 
 
te THE MAN UNMASKED, ke< 
 
 therefore, in the cafe of * Williams againft 
 Lady Bridget OJborne , there being, on a 
 queftion of marriage, a variety of evidence on 
 both fides, the judge required the oath of 
 the party , which the civilians term the fup-> 
 pletory oath , that he was really married, as 
 he fuppofes in his libel and articles : the par- 
 ty being admitted to his oath* the lady ap- 
 pealed to the delegates, and the foie queftion 
 there was, whether the judge ought to have 
 admitted Mr. Williams to his fuppletory oath } 
 the court held, that this oath is* in arbiirio 
 judicis , and the caufe being of ecclefiaftical 
 cognizance, the civil, and not the common 
 law, is to be the meafure of their proceed* 
 mgs, and therefore, the oath being agreeable , 
 to the civil law, the court of delegates held* 
 that the judge, under the circumftances at-* 
 tending the cafe, had done right in admit- 
 ting Mr. Williams to his fuppletory oath * 
 Upon the whole then of this cafe, fo far as 
 it relates to the oath of calumny , the enraged 
 author has prefumed to arraign the juftice of 
 his judge, in a point of which he is totally 
 ignorant j and has alfo taken upon him to 
 draw conclufions, which his own fertile 
 imagination has alone fupplied him with j 
 and to forge the moft unnatural conjectures 
 which the wit and artifice of man could 
 'poffibly invent. 
 
 Before I difmifs this fubjedt, it may not 
 
 be 
 
 Strange- So, 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 fee altogether foreign, to offer a conjecture 
 concerning the difrelifh which our author 
 {hews, to this oath of calumny \ for in this* 
 as well as in many other instances alluded 
 to, he feems to have his face Jhiebded by a majk: 
 it is therefore my determined refolution to 
 fhew his naked countenance as often as I can. 
 
 I conclude then y that he is grievoufly of- 
 fended, that the reproach which was fo in- 
 duftrioufly propagated, in relation to the 
 fuit, as being carried on through malice 
 and refentment, could be no longer legally 
 queflioned j fuch an imputation being pur- 
 ged away, by the oath of the profecutor 
 himfelf. 
 
 Our fhort- lighted rematker feems to per- 
 fuade himfelf, that the certificate of probable 
 caufe was owing wholly to the profecutor’S 
 compliance with the requifition of the judge. 
 He is miftaken : and if he was at liberty to 
 aflign his fpecial reafons , or to canvafs the 
 grounds and principles of his feveral decrees; 
 he is well convinced, that his honour, ju~ 
 flice and integrity Would Ihine forth, to the 
 confufion of the man who has dared fo 
 lhamefully to doubt them : however, I have 
 not omitted to enter upon all collateral 
 points, and to obferve on fuch remarks as 
 reflect any difgrace, or tend to draw flay 
 character into fufpicion or contempt i and 
 forry I am, to be deprived of a legal chctncti 
 ©f being jullified, upon the true merits of 
 
 M . 
 
9 o THE MAN UNMASKED, &e, 
 
 each profecution,. before a court whofe know- 
 ledge would enable it to fcrutinize with the 
 moft fcrupulous exa&nefs ; whofe juftice, as 
 , well as power, would at the fame time be 
 exerted to the affirmance, alteration, or re- 
 verfal of the fentences ; and whole benigni- 
 ty, and condefcention to human fallibility, 
 would point out the diftinttion between an 
 error of the judgment, and an error of the 
 will. 
 
 ' The remarker, in page 35, intimates, 
 that from the judge’s own reafonings, inno- 
 cent owners have been enfnared, by 'villain - 
 ous ojjicersy and fo proceeds to mate feme 
 charitable inferences, agreeable to his 'wonted 
 manner . I can with truth freely declare 
 (and I fay it without vanity) that I never 
 fuffered myfelf, ia my- judicial character, to 
 be fo far tranfported,. as to fpeak in a ftile 
 fo ill fuited.to the' judge’s flalion ; and ha- 
 ving for feme years paft cultivated a lit- 
 tle acquaintance with the pureft writers, I 
 am confident,, that ffich unbecoming phra- 
 fes never dropt from the judge’s mouth. 
 
 . The author is difpleafed at the amount of 
 cofts : but the judge is free from, any charge 
 on that account : his frequent recommenda- 
 tions to the pro&ors, to proceed in a fum- 
 mary icay, and with the utmoft expedition, 
 and to avoid multiplying, if poffible, the 
 number of courts, beyond the fliated courfe 
 and practice of the court [See Npp. No. 9, 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 91 
 
 jo, 13, 14.] muft certainly clear him from 
 an odium fo urideferved, fo bafe, and fo in- 
 jurious, and at the fame time, he hopes, fo 
 evidently contradicted by his daily conduit 
 in private life. 
 
 If Mr. Laurens’s property was unduly fel- 
 led, the fame has been legally reftored, by 
 the moft condefcending attention to every 
 circumftance of equity ; and that too with 
 Jinglenefs of heart , without one falfe bias, and 
 free from the fear, favour or influence of any 
 perfon upon earth : and though the fubjeCt 
 
 has not been reftored to .him with -that libe- 
 rality which he feems to have expected; 
 and the judge has relcued the officer from 
 the dejiroying gripe and iron hand, of our re- 
 marker’s juftice ; no man can be forry, that 
 his forefight and penetration have ftept in 
 between vengeance - and the party, who gives 
 himfelf one moment to refleCt, what (lender 
 hopes of mercy and compaffion the - man 
 would have received, if our author had- been 
 left to adminifter relief. 
 
 Page 36 contains very little worthy of re- 
 mark, unlefs it Be, that the ftatute 3 8 Edw , 
 3. eh. 8. was not noticed by the judge, and 
 perhaps for the belt reafon in the world, to 
 wit, that it had no relation to the cafe.. The 
 judge’s expreffions, alluded' to in page 36, 
 concerning the conduCt of fome officers, had 
 relation to other perfons, the profecutor not 
 being comprehended by any means in that 
 
 particular 
 
92 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c; 
 
 particular obfervation, or the objeCt of the 
 judge s cenfure ; and therefore we are fup-' 
 plied with a reafon, why he fhould be excufed 
 from any inconvenience, on the fcore of a 
 mere fufpiciOn arifing from the conduct of 
 fome other persons. 
 
 I beg the reader's attention to page 36, 
 which relates to a profecution in which Mr, 
 Uaurens had no intdreft or concern, wherein 
 it will demonftrably appear,, that this man’s 
 aim is, to defame and leffen the judge’s cha- 
 racter, at the rifque pf his own honour and 
 feputation as a man. The decree recites, 
 that f* there is not the leaf Jhadovp of pre- 
 tence, that the J aid veJJ'el has , at any time , 
 been employed in any illicit trade whatfoerer f 
 and the laft remark but one in this page, 
 where the author argues the cafe in a fuper- 
 fcial way, fays, in this cafe , where there 
 was neither Jhadow nor pretence for making a 
 Seizure : " 'Obfejrve how the terms are con- 
 verted from the judge’s declaration, , that 
 “ there was no Jhadow or pretence that 
 the vejfel in quefion had been employed in an 
 illicit trafle , ” to this favourite purpofe, that 
 f e there was no pretence for making a feizure f 
 which fubtle alteration works a moft dange- 
 rous effect ; for, though the veffel might be 
 free from fuch a charge, and for that and 
 other reafons reftitution be decreed (all which 
 is pepfeCtly confiftent ; yet the cafe is widely 
 ql|efed, when the judge (by our author's 
 
 changing 
 
, the MAN UNMASKED, &c. ,93. 
 
 changing the phrafe) is made, by an artful 
 trick, to fay , that “ there is neither Jhadow 
 nor pretence for making a Jeizure becaufe it 
 is impofiible for any man to read thefe latter 
 words, without an aftonifhment that proba- 
 ble caufe Ihould. be certified, in the very -face 
 too of a declaration that there was no pre- 
 tence for the feizure ; and but for this Fallacy, 
 the whole is perfectly confiftent, becaufe a 
 veflel may not have been ever employed in 
 an illicit trade, which circumftance (added 
 to the innocence of her prefent voyage) ar- * 
 gued in favour of the owners, and therefore 
 reftitution was decreed; but on the other 
 hand, if the judge is made to fay, 'that 
 f* there is no pretence for the feizure , ” no 
 man can poflibly concur with the - certificate 
 of probable caufe, the contradiction is fo grofs, 
 and the declaration, and the fubfequent aCt, 
 fo oppofite and repugnant to each other.^ 
 However, Mr. Laurens is guilty of another^ 
 impofition, in every fenie equally unfair, un- 
 pardonable, and unjuft: he puts into the 
 
 judge’s mouth the following words, “ And 
 there is not (adds his honour) the leaf Jha- 
 dow or pretence , that the faid veffel has, at 
 any time been employed in any illicit trade 
 whatfoever , whereby his Majefys revenue can 
 be dimimjhed, &c. contrary to any of the wife 
 provifions of any of the revenue laws , or laws 
 of the cujloms ; therefore I do 'think, there 
 - was a probable caufe of feizure , and do order 
 
94 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 the claimant to pay all the taxed, cojls of fait:” 
 By this artful arrangement of the words, thofe 
 who read the book, mull defpife the judge , 
 and his reafonings y and all hi$ judgments and' 
 decrees. Reader, flop one moment, and take 
 breath. Refer to the 5th line of page 38, 
 ’till you come to the word “ therefore , " 
 which brings you to the decretal term of re- 
 Ritution, then you will perceive, that the 
 judge begins a new and independant fentence, 
 in the words following, to wit, “ And as I 
 think there was probable caufe of feizure , &c. 
 I do order , that the claimant do pay , &c. ” 
 This artful tranfpofition of the judge’s words, 
 or change in the genuine arrangement of 
 them j this grofs fubflitution of words of 
 one import, for words of a different import ; 
 is one of the rriofl fcandalous attempts which 
 ever difgraced any man, fince the confufion 
 of languages, or the formation of letters. 
 
 A robber picks my pocket, perhaps he 
 wants what I poffefs, and which I do not 
 Rand in need of ; the injury ceafes with the 
 lofs of a fpecific fum ; there the evil flops : 
 But the fuggejlio faff, and the fupprejjio veri, 
 may work an injury to the reputation of an 
 honeft man, which the future life of fuch a 
 mifcreant may never be able to atone for. 
 
 “ Good name in man or woman 
 
 “ Is the immediate jewel of their fouls. 
 
 “ Who fteals my purfe, fteals trafh : ’tis fomething; nothing: 
 “ ’Twas mine : ’tis his ; and has been Have to thoufands. 
 
 “ But he that FILCHES from me my good name, 
 
 “ Robs me of that, which.not ■enriches him, 
 i‘ And makes me poor indeed. 
 
 Oh 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &e. 9; 
 
 • • 
 
 Oh fhameful ! and abfurd I that our au- 
 thor fhould talk of logical inferences, groun- 
 ded upon fuch abufed premifes ; and dare to~ 
 proftitute the name of logic, who is ignorant 
 of its meaning, beyond the fhort terms of 
 explanation, which his Dyche or Bailey may 
 give him, in their mere catalogue of words. 
 
 He informs his readers, in the fame page* 
 that the circumjlances of the fchooner Active, 
 which the judge feems to mention as motives 
 for ordering restitution of the veffel and 
 Cargo, were exactly the fame, as the circum- 
 fances of hundreds of Jmall vejfels in Caroli- 
 na for fourfcore years before that experiment 
 was tried upon the Adtive. It is a pity, that 
 he fet up as a candidate for fame out of his 
 own element : it is a pity, that he did not di- 
 ftinguifh to his readers, that the Statutes 
 whereon this profecution was grounded, were 
 enadted in the reign of his prefent Majefly :• 
 and therefore the precedent of eighty years r 
 muft yield to thofe alterations which the 
 legislature from time to time fees fit to 
 make on paft experience : arguments there- 
 fore of a pradtice before the interpofition of 
 a law to regulate fuch practice, are not more 
 defpicable. than they are unapplicable to the 
 point in queftion ; “ for, where there is no 
 law, there can be no tranfgrejjion, ” I fhall 
 clofe what I have to fay on this fubjedt,with 
 a fingle obfervation, namely, that the veffel 
 was within the words of the adt of parlia- 
 ment; 
 
96 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 ment* that a literal and flavifh expofitor 
 might, and probablywOuld, have condem- 
 ned fuch veffel : and it is aitonifhing to the 
 lall degree, that he finds fault with a decree , 
 which feveral lawyers here, fome months 
 after, confirmed by their written opinions, 
 which the author , in conjunction with other 
 merchants in this town, obtained, as I be- 
 lieve, and which were printed under an ex- 
 tract from the very decree, in a book, inti- 
 tled, u A reprefentation of the conduct of Da-* 
 ttiel Moore , ff\'> collector: ” which extract 
 and opinions are therein referred to, in order 
 to manifeft the undue conduCt of the officer 
 on that particular occafion ; however, it is 
 convenient at this time, for Mr. Laurens to 
 caft dirty and he is ever fteady to perform art 
 office (the only point of confiftency in his 
 oonduCt) which the honour of other men 
 reftrains them from accepting. 
 
 Page 39 again hints at the term mercan- 
 tile patriots , in order, I fuppofe, to rivet an 
 idea in the minds of the merchants, that 
 the judge made ufe of that phrafe in a kind 
 officer or derifcn ; but he allures them, that 
 he uttered it in no fuch ftile. And though Mr. 
 Laurens boldly afierts, that the fimple fac- 
 - tor denies what gave rife to the judge’s ob- 
 fervation, he apprehends, that in this, as in 
 many other infancesy he prefumes too much ; 
 becaufe I -can with truth - aver, that the 
 judge’s words, on that occafion, were war- 
 ranted 
 
TfiE'MAN UNMASKED, See. §f 
 
 fan ted by the information which the f after 
 Very innocently gave him of his own accord; 
 
 Our author’s recapitulation contains fcarce 
 anything worthy of an anfwer } moft part 
 thereof having been already fully handled in 
 the preceding ftieets. One obfervation how- 
 ever occurs* upon the following lines of out 
 inimitable critic : u Nevertheless, ” fays he* 
 fpeaking of the fcooner Active, page 42, 
 *' his honour thought there was a probable caufe 
 for the feizure , and the innocent owners werei 
 by that unlucky thought, loaded with a vajt ex- 
 fence without remedy. ’* Strange ! that any 
 man will attempt to.reafon on fubjedts with- 
 out learning or ability : for it is plain, to 
 the moft common and unbiased underftand- 
 ing, that this feizure was a fubjedt within 
 the letter of the ftatute ; and confequeritly. 
 the probable caufe depended upon the adt of 
 parliament, and can, on no feore, be refol- 
 ded into any unlucky thought, arifing from the 
 mere apprehenfion of the judge himfelf, in- 
 dependant of the ftatute whereon the profe- 
 eution of the fchooner Adtive was particu- 
 larly grounded. 
 
 When a weary traveller has, with rttanly 
 fortitude and patience, pafled over bleak 
 mountains, and penetrated through roads 
 almoft inacceflible by human flcill j when he 
 has toiled' through many a dark and drearf 
 path , under all the difficulties which mart 
 can labour, without aid, or fuccour, com- 
 ' „ N pa-ny,* 
 
9 8 THE MAN UNMASKED; A* 
 
 pany, or refrdhment ; and at length fpietf 
 out ihc end ofl his defined journey ; what 
 extatic raptures muft fill the bofom of this 
 weary pilgrim ! paft toils and dangers lofe 
 their' horror or* refledion, and we {pring for-: 
 ward, with invigorated force and flrength, 
 to the laid ftage of our painjul travel. Thefe 
 are my feelings, after a tedious journey thro* 
 forty- two pages of a dull, conjufed, deceitful',, 
 wild and incoherent book : the defarts of Ara- 
 bia faintly figure out the difordered variety 
 which crouds this author’s work : it is a 
 performance in a date of nature; the. foil 
 produces nothing grateful to the fenfe ; not 
 a rofe fpreads its fweet perfume ; thorns only 
 and briars grow with infolent luxuriance ; 
 but painful as the drudgery is, I chearfully 
 proceed, not doubting. but my pen will foon 
 diffolve the charms of our aufere magician , 
 and conduct me from thefe troublefome re- 
 fearches, to a fweet acquaintance with the 
 mufes and the graces . 
 
 Our author’s refle&ions* arifing from a 
 retrofpcB of a late cafe , bring up the rear of 
 his mighty forces-; fhreds and odd ends of fen- 
 tences- tacked together* like a. Harlequins 
 coat , and fet out with a {hew of pomp, in 
 the manner of the poor apothecary’s {hop in. 
 Romeo and Juliet, ' 
 
 — . About bis Shelves 
 
 A vbeggnrly account of empty boxes, 
 
 . “ Green earthen pots, bladders ,and mu'fty feeds* 
 
 “ Remnants M’ packthread, and old- eakes of rotes,. 
 
 W esc thinly festtorrd, to make up a-. 'hew. 
 
 Such 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 99 
 
 Such materials, in the literary way, deck out 
 the wide-extended plan of our author’s i a - 
 hours. Seven long months from the promul- 
 gation of this decree, has the amiable Mr. 
 Laurens been weighed down with this afto- 
 nifhing brat ! ’tis a world of pity, that he 
 could not contain this child of his imagination 
 a few weeks longer , that, being properly ri- 
 pened and matured, it might have grown 
 to perfett Jlature cruel cafe ! that the firfi 
 offspring of his brain , fhould come into this 
 ** breathing world before its time , fcarce half 
 made up, with numberlefs infirmities about it. ** 
 Pity'that, when it was quietly feated upon 
 our author’s pineal gland, it did not Iceep its 
 ftation : and more pity ftill, that this unripe 
 fruit has fo early dropt, thereby difcovering, 
 not only the imbe.cillity and weaknefs of its 
 natural parent, but alfo its own monfirous 
 and abhorred deformity. 
 
 It is impoffible to anfwer a catalogue of 
 little fayings, grounded upon the fubjedt 
 which has gone before and been fully re- 
 plied to ; as well might our remarker have 
 • put together a number of fmart proverbs, -a 
 few riddles , or fuch like Jlowers of the w;z- 
 nor poets, and fo left it to every reader, ac- 
 cording to the bent of his fancy, to make 
 the application. However, as one reflection 
 refpedts a judge of the admiralty, who fits 
 independent of the office of attorney-genera!, 
 X beg leave to refer my readers to [See App. 
 
100 THE MAN UNMASKED, 
 
 ^ - 0 * •* 
 
 No. 23] a letter which I wrote to thp lieu* 
 tenant governor fo long ago as the ’17th day 
 of July 1767, by which it clearly appears, 
 that the judge, willing to retire from his feat, 
 tgok the proper ileps for that purpofe, and 
 actually wrote to his friend in England, in- 
 clofing, at the fame time, two certificates' 
 which he obtained from his excellency the 
 governor and his honour the lieutenant go- 
 vernor [See App. No. 24, 25.] in order to 
 pave the way for a refignation of the place, 
 when 4 favourable moment fhould prefent 
 kfelf for that purpofe : . and every one knows, 
 that a refignation here , muft have given great 
 offence to administration at home, who had . 
 lately Supported me againft a complaint of 
 the commons houfe of affembly, on account 
 of a fuppofed incompatibility between the two 
 offices of attorney-general and judge of the 
 admiralty ; and the reafon which one of his 
 Majefty’s minifters gave to one of my friends 
 for that’ Support, was, that “ Mr. Leigh 
 had faithfully . abied up to the duty of his fa-:, 
 tion, as an officer of the crown , ” and there- 
 fore any determination on that point was then 
 poftponed to a future day. 
 
 J The affembly confined their complaint 
 folely, to the inconvenience which, they ap- 
 prehended, might arife from the union of 
 both thole offices in one perfon : they did 
 not attempt to infinuate the leaf!; circum* 
 nance to my diferedit : and whoever gives 
 * •:" V- - ' ^ him feff 
 
TOE MAN UNMASKED, -&c. ioi 
 
 hynifelf leifure to r&fledt, will call to mind^ 
 
 ' that this affair happened ' at a time, "v^hen 
 the paflions of men were much heated in tStf 
 and every, other province on the continent : 
 and therefore it cannot be fuppofed, that the 
 affembly would aim at the ojjice, and. differ 
 the man tp efqape animadv-ei-fion, had his 
 public conduct made him liable to cenfure, 
 A complaint againft him for partiality or in- 
 juft ice, muff have given additional weight" 
 to the application for disuniting thefe em- 
 ployments : let it be confidered alfo, that' 
 
 it was not a time, for them to be influenced' 
 by a falfe tenderncfs or compaffion : thisl 
 
 conclufion therefore may be fairly drawn/ 
 that my ehara&er, as a public officer, was" 
 free from fpot or blemifh. I know that" my 
 politicks were diftiked, but that circuniftance 
 is no impeachment of my honour'. The a- 
 bove certificates point out likewife pretty 
 clearly, that I was not altogether the igno-^ 
 x rant or partial judge, which the author's li- 
 bel gives the world to underftand : aud it is 
 _ no unfavourable circumftance, that, after 
 having prefided upwards of feven years in 
 the court of vice-admiralty, and determined 
 divers cafes of great value as well as intrica- 
 cy and- doubt, that not a lingle party has 
 profecuted one appeal ; and in every inftance 
 , where an appeal, during that Ipace of time," 
 has been exhibited in thefirfl: fally of difap- 
 pointment, the tame has either been for- 
 
 mally 
 
102 THE MAN UNMASKED, &e* 
 
 mally withdrawn, or abfolutely deferted. 
 Add to thefe obfervations, that I am nearly 
 arrived at the viginti annorum lucubrationes, 
 which Fortejcue fpeaks of, and that I have 
 been near fixteen years in confiderable prac- 
 tice at the bar, there can remain, it is hoped, 
 very little doubt, but my ability was equal 
 to the cafes which have induced our mer 
 chant -lawyer to turn judge : but thefe points 
 are humbly fubmitted to the reader’s own re- 
 flections. One obfervation of our, author’s, 
 in the laft page but two, exceeds the truth ; 
 for the judge charged no 1 officer exprefsly, as 
 being guilty of the crime he inlinuates ; he 
 took offence indeed, at Mr. Hatley’s anfwer 
 to one of the interrogatories, and deemed 
 the fame a manifefl contempt, and obliged 
 him to purge it by 'a fuitable fubmiffion. 
 
 The condolatory addrefs, which Mr. Lau- 
 rens fuppofes to be uttered by the judge to 
 the dangling officer, muft be confidered as 
 the laft effort of the man before his diffolu- 
 tion : but as it is one thing to rail, another 
 to accufe; as we muft be tried by proofs, 
 not JiStionsov the airy phantoms of the brain ; 
 it is fufficient merely to obferve in general, 
 that our author’s book , is a mafter-piece of 
 dijingenuity , mingled with invetfive, invidi- 
 oufly contrived, to amufe , alar?n , and to de- 
 ceive. 
 
 On the 17th of September laft ( the judge 
 furrendered his commiftion, agreeable to a 
 
 notification 
 
THE- MAN UNMASRED-, &c. 103 
 
 notification from government previous there- 
 to, that' his Majefty’s fervice might fuffer by 
 the, union of the two employments, of judge 
 of the admiralty and attorney- general, in one 
 perfon ; an intimation long wifhed for by 
 that gentleman, and moft cordially received : 
 the phrafe therefore of Jurrender , page. 5th, 
 (uits the cafe, and is a word as agreeable as 
 the term rejignation, which Mr. Laurens in 
 a kind of fneer fupplies, by fubftituting the 
 former in its room. Government thought 
 fit to difunite thefe two employments, and 
 were pleafed to leave the choice of rejigiui~ 
 tion to myfelf. 
 
 In this place it may not be improper to 
 obferve, that Mr. Laurens’s firft quotation, 
 in his title-page, contains, in italicks, the 
 words volunteer judges, alluding, I fuppofe, 
 to thofe who offer themfelves For fuch em- 
 ployments when vacancies arife. Allow the 
 faft, and I fee no imputation which juftly 
 flows from it : and if it is confidered, that 
 
 our prefent lieutenant governor, who was in 
 the adminiftration at the time of Mr. Rat- 
 tray’s death, cordially appointed me j that 
 he is a gentleman of worth and abilities, and 
 vvould never fuffer any private attachment to 
 interfere with the duty of his ftation ; his 
 appointment, I hope, will afford the world 
 no juft caufe of disfatisfa&ion or complaint ; 
 the preemption being, that he truly thought 
 the perfon, at the time, equal to the truft : 
 
 for 
 
«o 4 THEBAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 for my own part, I confider his nomination! 
 of me to that poft, as a mark of honour, in- 
 dependant of the office, as being conferred 
 by a man of probity and parts } for thofe two 
 circumftances ever give to the perfon ap- 
 pointed a durable Jiamp of merit and regard , 
 which, in this indance, I truft, neither our 
 author’s extracts, nor his future labours, will 
 be able Jinally to wound. 
 r There remains Only one point more to be 
 difcuffied> as arifing from Mr. Laurens’s re- 
 marks. Whatever objection he has taken 
 to Mr. Roupell’s ex parte oath, the fame 
 being altogether extra-judicial, the judge of 
 tlie admiralty, as fuch, had no concern 
 therewith ; and confequently,' whether he 
 fpoke-truth, Was not a queftion examinable 
 by the judge (no caufe being then in court) 
 wherefore it can be no matter of furprize, 
 that he met with no judicial reprehenlion. 
 As to Mr. Hatley, many circumftances con- 
 curred, to induce an opinion that he meant 
 ilo ill : he unluckily was taken by furprize 
 in open court, when the evidence was pub* 
 Iifhed, and was' quellioned with much fever 
 rity, concerning an appearance of contempt,- 
 which his arifwer to one of the interrogator 
 ri.es difclofed : as a young and inexperienced 
 _man, the judge, though offended, fympa-* 
 thized with him for his alarming fttuation,- 
 and he was required to anfwer the interroga-i 
 tor y de novo et injlantvr. The event of the 
 - 4 fu-it 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED; &C; xo$ 
 
 fuit did not reft upon his evidence alone, and 
 the court, being convinced that he had no 
 intereft in the fuhjed: in difpute, and could 
 have no inducement to commit a barefaced 
 perjury, did, in tender compaflion to his 
 years, forbear to exercife their full rigour 
 againft him j and the rather, as inattention* 
 more than defign, had led him into an em^ 
 barrafsment, which an inquifitor might have 
 availed himfelf of, to gratify an arbitrary 
 pajjion of refentment* However it was tho’t 
 a point of fome concern, to ftigmatize a raW 
 young man unufed to forms of court, to ruin 
 his future reputation and fuccefs, and to blafb 
 every fucceeding year of his life* by a public 
 adt of cenfure ; fuch a proceeding feemed to 
 me to favour of cruelty , rigour , and oppref- 
 fion : if therefore any part of his conduit me- 
 rited feverer treatment, the judge erred from 
 a principle of humanity, tendernefs and com- 
 paffion ; which, in fome natures, take fo 
 predominant a lead, that thefe virtues may 
 perhaps fometimes, by their excefs, degene- 
 rate into faults, and involve the perfon in 
 abfurdity and error, .for in benevolent nature^ 
 the impuife to pity is often fo hidden; that; 
 like an inftrument of muiic which vibrates! 
 to the touch, it works an immediate and in-' 
 ftaneous effedb Ifhe world will not howe- 
 ver bear Hard in fuch a cafe : niercy is . a glo- 
 rious part of the divine nature; and otr rnoffc 
 cofredt condudf will have occafiori for all tHe 
 
 O di/penfatioflr# 
 
1-66 Tt-IE MAN UNMASKED, &c, 
 
 dfipenfations of that heavenly attribute : let 
 any man figure to himfelf ai^ auftere and ri- 
 gid judge, exerpftng defpotic rule like an 
 Eaftern prince ; fancy that, under the colour 
 of ftridt juftice, he feels for no man’s fuffer- 
 ingS, nor allows for human weaknefs ; the 
 picture is horrid , and to defpife it we only 
 want to fee it. 
 
 It. is plain, that Mr. Laurens is for crying 
 aloud and' fparing not j he is for wielding 
 and exercifing the two-edged fword which 
 does double execution. If his fcheme of 
 juftice gives him any pretence to fuperior 
 notice, it is much to be feared that the 
 world will be deceived ; for, if he is an an- 
 gel, he is One of thofe who deftroy without 
 mercy at noon-day. 
 
 Let the world traduce me for my lenity, 
 tendernefs and forbearance, and my heart 
 will reconcile the cenfure, by the overflow- 
 ing and abundant comforts which pour their 
 aid into my fou), when I refledt, that the 
 God whom we ferve is merciful and gracious, 
 long- f offering and of great kindnefs. 
 
 As to the ftile and manner of our author, 
 it is, if poflible, more injurious than his 
 bold aflertions : for, by the aid of Italicks 
 By an artful and fcarce perceivable alteration 
 in the arrangement of my words ; by tortu- 
 • ring particular expreftions ; and feparating 
 ' ffen.tences, which, being taken together as 
 parts dependant Upon and connected with 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &g, 107 
 
 other, make the whole perfectly confident ; 
 by the artifice of fneers interfperfed here and 
 there; by wire- drawing certain words, fup- 
 plying conjectures where faSls fail. him, mul- , 
 tiplying infinuations without end, and inr-' 
 troducing fcraps of fentences which bear no 
 other relation to the fubjeCt than as being 
 incorporated with it ; by arts like thefe, has 
 Mr. Laurens (with an induftry peculiar to 
 himfelf) fo difguifed the truth, that it re- 
 quires fome little attention to difcover the 
 deceit. 
 
 The manifefi: tendency of the work is, to 
 expofe the judge, atanyrifque; and thede- 
 fign has gained fo great an afcendant over 
 our author’s mind, that his book fails to fup- 
 ply us with one fingle benevolent conftruCtion 
 or charitable allowance. He looks only at 
 the dark fide of everything; and fits his 
 imagination for the reception of monftrous 
 and unnaturul ideas, to his dilhonour as a 
 Chrijlian and a man. If we are determined 
 to view every matter through , a falfe and de- 
 ceitful mirror, to deform the fair afpeCt of 
 truth, and give to falfhood the femblance of 
 it; the reputation and character of any man 
 (be his life ever lo exemplary) mult Hand 
 upon a perilous foundation : the mofit facred 
 institutions may be reprefented as idle and 
 abfurd, and there have not been wanting 
 
 men who have dared to ridicule holy writ it - 
 ; not a text has efcaped torture , and the 
 " rooft; 
 
ig8 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 important truths of our holy religion have 
 been made, by the fubtle artifices of men, to 
 fpeak in a Jirange tongue. Such writers are 
 the fcourges of mankind; they create un- 
 reafonable jealoufies, teach men to fufpeB, 
 hill they learn to hate each other, rail'e un- 
 „ neceffary fears and fcruples in the mind, 
 found the moft dangerous alarm, and by de- 
 ftroying, as it were, ^the original principle 
 of focial and benevolent affedtions, lead us 
 unwarily into a ftate of warfare with each 
 other : they flacken the powers of the foul, 
 and, by their baneful influence, difunite 
 mankind, ’till, by infenfible degrees, the due 
 tone thereof is altered, and each man finds 
 h'imfelf a brute in human fioape. 
 
 ' In this ftate, we may perceive that the 
 different orders of men are confounded toge- 
 ther : each perfon derides the other, accor- 
 ding to the various turn of their thoughts, 
 in all the wantoiinefs of a diftempered fancy ; 
 drunkards laugh at fober men , and fober men 
 at drunkards ;~ phyficiaris, lawyers, priefts 
 and free-thinkers, are the ftanding fubjedts 
 of ridicule to one another; the wife and the 
 fbolifh, the virtuous and the bafe, all give 
 4nd return th t jejl ; and, in ftiort, every man 
 fs more or lefs governed by prejudice or paf- 
 jfjon : every thing is fubjedt to difguife ; the 
 fenfigns of ftate, the judge in his purple robe, 
 the bifhop in his lawn fleeves, a general at 
 £he head of his troops ; all the virtues and 
 
 £ra Q&t 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. log- 
 
 graces which can captivate the heart or adorn 
 the man, may be rendered ridiculous and ab- 
 furd y for only difguife any one of thefe per- 
 fons or qualities, by concealing, varying, or 
 adding a circujnftance that may ftj-ike the 
 fancy , and they inftantly affume new Jhapes , 
 new names and natures. 
 
 Thus the virtues (as Dr. Brown fays) 
 when feen in a diredt light, attradf our ad- 
 miration by their beauty ; but, when beheld 
 through the oblique mediums of ridicule, 
 ftart up in the forms of ideots, hags and 
 monfters : thus it happened to the divine 
 Socrates, who was ridiculed by the poet A- 
 rijtophanesy and by the wickednefs of his art 
 rendered an objedt of contempt : but the 
 truth was , that this Socrates defcribed by the 
 poet, was fo difguifed by fidtion, that it was 
 only the fame name given to a different cha- 
 radter ; he was not the divine moralifl and 
 father of antient wifdom. 
 
 The reader will pleafe to recolledt, that 
 he was, in the former part of this perfor- 
 mance, referred to certain letters \See App. 
 No. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.] from Mr. 
 Laurens, which he wrote in all the genuine 
 ftile of friendfhip, many months after the de- 
 termination of all the profecutions (except 
 that of the fhip Ann;) and the condudt of 
 the gentleman will, it is hoped, appear 
 equally abfurd and myjleriousy in the prefent 
 
 inftance. 
 
mo THE MAN UNMASKED, &e. 
 
 inftance,. from the papers which are now 
 referred to in order to fupport the charge. 
 
 The judge pronounced his decree on th§ 
 9th day of July la.ft> when he took occasion 
 to enter very largely into the merits of this , 
 as he had all along done in the former ca** 
 fes i and a few reafon's, feledted from his ge- 
 neral arguments, he fet down in the decree 
 at large ; the judge obferved, in open court, 
 that appeals having been lately preferred in 
 fome former cafes (a freedom which he thinks 
 favours of an affront, when the appellant ne- 
 glects to profecute the fame) he therefore, 
 being defirous to convince the world, that it 
 is ever his Ready aim to adt the upright part, 
 and profeffing himfelf to be an enemy to au- / 
 thoriiative decijions, which, by the way, a 
 crafty and defigning judge will beft approve, 
 .con defended to give the grounds and rea- 
 ligns of his judgments. Whether this can- 
 dour of the judge has been properly requited , 
 muff be fubmitted to thofe, who will take a 
 moment’s trouble to reafon in their own 
 minds upon a plain and fimple fa<ft, unen- 
 cumbered with doubts, and from which as 
 clear a propofition arifes, and as evident a 
 folution, as can be found in any of the books 
 of Euclid, to wit, the judge, without the 
 leaft referve, difclofed his- whole reafoning 
 upon the cafe of the (hip Ann, in the pre- 
 fence and hearing of five hundred perfons : 
 few judges leave themfielves fo open to the 
 
 cavfs 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, See. m 
 
 cavils of mankind therefore it muft be do- 
 ing violence to common fenfe and underfian- 
 ding, to fupppfe, that he had any thing in 
 view but to do impartial juftice. 
 
 The profecutor exhibited an appeal from 
 the laid fentence on the nth of July, and 
 prayed, that a further day might be afligned 
 him, to procure fufficient and fetisfadtory fe** 
 curity to profecute the feme, and the court 
 afligned the 21ft of July for that purp'ofe : 
 but no fecurity being then offered, the appeal 
 was not admitted by the court. 
 
 It is now time to conduct the reader to a 
 mod: curious 'petitionary letter [See App. No.. 
 27.] from the writer of the extracts, which 
 the judge received on the 15th of July, fix 
 days before the time fixed for Mr. Roupell 
 to ftipulate as is above ftated. Thejudge’:s 
 anfwer is likewife added. [See App. No. 27.} 
 
 Can any mm perfuade himfelf, that Mr. 
 Laurens was offended with the judge for his 
 decree, which he had pronounced only four 
 days before ? or, can they reconcile refent- 
 ment, to the humble and fupplicating ftile of 
 his petitionary note ? is it not more natural^ 
 to conclude, that he meant only to vindicate 
 his own character, and for that purpofe, to 
 publifh a fuitable detail of the cafe, in order 
 to remove any fufpicion which might be in- 
 duftrioufly whifpered to his prejudice, where- 
 by his reputation, as a merchant, might be 
 drawn into qusftion ? If the gentleman edn- 
 
 tends 1 
 
412 THE MAN UNMASKED, && 
 
 tends, that his refentment was in a boiling 
 Jlate againfl the judge, he proves himfelf to 
 be a notable adept in the myfleries of dif- 
 guife. How formal his addrefs ; how guar- 
 ded his expreffions ; how cautious he is to 
 feve himfelf from even a fufpicion of contempt 
 of that honourable court l and with what a- 
 mazing deference he hands , to this partial 
 judge, the name of Henry Laurens / Now, 
 if any one can in charity fuppofe, that he 
 really intended to publifh fuch a work as the 
 world is now poffeffed of# they . make the 
 tnatter voorfe ; for then, this gentle note was 
 modeflly intended as a Jly perfuafve argu- 
 ment, to induce me to give a fandtion to a 
 propofed work, having the femblance of what 
 was not amifsi under a difguifed intention of 
 doing what really ibas amifs ; but obferve the 
 impudence of this hypocriJ'y t and the author 
 muff be an obje<5l of our utmofl deteflation. 
 He prefents himfelf on paper, in a fmilirtg 
 and complacent flile; and as a refpeSlful pe- 
 titioner; implores his honour the judge,- that 
 he will give him authority to publifh a fcan± 
 dalous libel againfl his own decijions. . There is 
 not a foolijh confab ley or a licentious leader 
 bf a. mob, in the works of Shakefpeare,- or 
 an illiterate buffoon on the records of drama- 
 tic compofition, who furnifh fuch a bare- 
 faced and infolent requefl. This is a ma- 
 fer-f roke in the conduct of our author ; 
 
 • which puts me in mind of our inimitable 
 
 poet 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 113 
 
 poet juft mentioned, who gives a fine picture 
 of a faint -like hypocrite. 
 
 ** But then I figh, and with a piete of feriptuW 
 44 Ttll them, that God bids us do good for evil « 
 
 ** And thus I clothe my naked villainy 
 * With old add ends ftoln forth of holy writ, 
 
 *♦ And feem a Saint, when moft I nlay the Devil. < 
 
 The judge’s note is, I nope, decent aria 
 proper on the occafion, and ftahds in need 
 Of no comment to explain it : but that my 
 teaders may be entire mafters of the whimfi- 
 cal humour of our author, I can by no means 
 forbear to give them ah extract [See App. 
 No. 28.] from his reply thereto. The rules 
 of decency forbid me to publilh the whole, 
 and the rather, as it contains matter foreign 
 
 to this point : however, it is neceffary to ob-* 
 ferve, that the other parts of the letter ar t 
 grofs and virulent to the laft degree. 
 
 The world, with all its follies, can fcarce 
 
 equal this ; and it is hardly credible, that a 
 man fhould, intone view, reprefent a judge 
 as partial > and in another fitiiation with to> 
 have him for his counfel ; abufe him, and fay 
 he did not mean it ; libel him , and afk his af- 
 
 fcnt to the publication of it j if we did not 
 call to mind Solomon's fool , who, in a frolic- 
 fome and filly mood, caft fire-brands and ar- 
 rows arid death , and cried u it is in fiport." 
 
 The judge however voiichfafed an anfwcr 
 to this extraordinary epiftle [See App'. No. 
 29.] wherein it appears, that he adhered to' 
 his firft note (far as he never writes without 
 deliberation , there was no room for d change 
 
 P 6* 
 
*14 THE MAN UNMASKED, jfcc. 
 
 offentiments) and difcovered a tehderneft 
 for Mr. Laurens, which it had been well if 
 he had confulted in favour of his friend * 
 and he likewife fcorns what he, page 3 of 
 his reflections, calls coaxing* by declaring in 
 exprefs terms, that he had nothing to fear 
 -from any publication, but every thing to hope, 
 and therefore left him to his own guidance 
 and direction. This temperate anfwer ten-> 
 ded only to enflame our author, and produ- 
 ced fo aftohilhing a letter, that the judge 
 father cohlidered him as mad, than wicked 
 through the perverlity of his will ; and on 
 'that Jcore, in the moft calm and cool terms, 
 .returned him. an anfwer [See App. No. 30/}; 
 wherein he trulls that he has preferved his 
 honour as a judge, his moderation as a man; • 
 and his forbearance as a friend to one whom 
 he was allied to hy marriage with his niece, 
 and with whom a clofe intercouHe of friend- 
 ship had for many years been kept alive. 
 
 This ftrange correspondence was clofed 
 before 'the meeting of the court of admiral- 
 ty, on the 2 1 ft of July agreeable to an ad- 
 journment, for the purpofe of taking Mr. 
 Roupell’s ftipulation to profecute the faid 
 appeal. Perhaps there are few judges whole 
 temper and diferetion would have influenced 
 them to act fo tenderly, after the many re- 
 peated infuits which he received at the hands 
 ©f Mr. Laurens, and that ‘ too previous to 
 the certificate of probable canje,' which' was 
 
 completed 
 
the MAN UNMASKED, &c. n j 
 
 v ' * * * * 1 A 
 
 completed. on the 21ft day of July only, and 
 was fubfequent to the date of our author’s 
 letters, though he exp refled indeed, at the 
 time of pronouncing the decree, that he 
 fhould certify probable caufe. 
 
 Such letters favour ftrongly, of an attempt 
 to deter the judge from his proper duty : 
 and the author might havefmarted for them 
 ill the hands of a lefs temperate man. 
 
 That people in general entertained no 
 fuch unfavourable impreflions, either of the 
 judge’s conduit orjuftice, one of our moft 
 popular printers, in his account of the de- 
 cree, fubjoins thefe words, “ every court 
 “ held upon this caufe of great expectation was 
 <e remarkably crouded , and the equitable decree 
 “ of the judge feems to have given general fa- 
 “ tisfaCtion. ” I do not, by any means, con- 
 tend, that the ideas of all men are centered 
 in thofe of the printers ; but it is not too 
 much, to fuppofe, that the general opinion, 
 fo far as he was able to colleit, fpoke the 
 language, of his paper : fuch flagrant inju- 
 stice as the author infinuates, maft have af- 
 fected every hearer; for, though all were 
 not lawyers, yet moft men of tolerable fenfe 
 have the general rudiments of juftice feated 
 in their hearts, fuffiiient to point nut to 
 them any glaring aits of injury or oppref- 
 fion : but, to' confirm the printer’s opinion, 
 fames Parfons, Efq ; one of ‘Mr. Laurens’s 
 counfel, having fome occafion to call upon 
 
 “ * ' the 
 
fie- THE MAN UNMASKEP, &c. 
 
 the jndge, about an hour after he pronoun- 
 ced his decree, took; the opportunity, in very 
 warm terms, to compliment him thereon, by 
 affuring him, that both Mr. Pinckney and 
 hfmfelf had converfed together on the fub- 
 je<ft, and they agreed ‘with the judge, in hi$ 
 conftru<ftioq of the ffatute on which the in- 
 formation was grounded (though in their 
 arguments they contended for a different one) 
 and he alfo intimated to him, that he belie- 
 ved it was a very juft and equitable decree, 
 and that no perfons, unlefs the parties them- 
 ielves, would be disfatisfied therewith. The 
 judge, no doubt, received this account with 
 pleafure and fatisfadlion ; and nothing fur- 
 prized him fo much, as to hear afterwards, 
 that Mr. Laurens had conceived a different 
 opinion; many people likewife expreffed 
 the fame aftonifhment, and were at a lofs 
 to account for the caufe of our author’s dif- 
 content. 
 
 That people were, In general, impreffed 
 with very favourable notions of the equity 
 and juftice of the judge’s decree, appears 
 ftill further, by a republication of the decre- 
 tal part (as taken from Mr. Timothy’s ga- 
 zette, which likewife contained Mr, Laurens’s 
 ftate of the cafe) in a Bofton paper of the 
 15th of Auguft laft, wherein fome perfon, 
 under the name of Publicola, makes honou- 
 rable mention of the judge and his decree; 
 [See App. No. 30.] but to whom he is in- 
 debted 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 deb ted on the occafion he is altogether a 
 Granger, having fcarce any acquaintance in 
 that quarter. Now, were we on the regu- 
 lar trial of a reputation, fuch loofe fcattered 
 evidence would not avail : but if we confi- 
 der the nature of the prefent attack, that it 
 is made by Mr. Laurens (a part owner of 
 the veffel) ; that he is a merchant, and there- 
 fore to be fuppofed little /killed in the deep 
 fcience of the law ; that his direct aim is 
 nothing lefs than the ruin of a whole family, 
 upon his own apprehenfons of .law and juftice, 
 upon furmtfes only , and the moft foreign and 
 uhjujl conjectures-, and no man furely will' 
 admit Mr. Laurens to give evidence, without' 
 receiving the unbiaffed teftimony of an in- 
 different perfon in favour of the judge’s fen- 
 tence : as both are equal in point of confe- 
 quence, fo the declaration of the one, may 
 properly be oppofed to that of the other. 
 
 In the prefent cafe, and alfo in' that of 
 Mr. Moore, the judge of the admiralty tho’t 
 it prudent to lodge a true copy of both de- 
 crees in a friend’s hand in London, as he 
 had reafon to fufpedt the parties would mif- 
 reprefent the cafes, either through ignorance 
 or defign ; and he has in his poffeffion, let- 
 ters acknowledging the receipt of thofe de- 
 crees, which fpeak of them, from the mouths 
 of certain perfons of the firft rank, in high 
 terms of honour and refpeft, and nothing 
 but the want of their permiflion withholds 
 
. THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 jq4ge from publifliing their names as well as 
 their words. 
 
 _ The book of extracts and remarks, whicli 
 deals forth half-truths diminilhed or exag- 
 gerate^, is ^.performance without exception 
 grounded upon an open principle of malice ; 
 and every one who reads it muft naturally 
 fuppofe, that the author had exhaufted his 
 ffcore of fcurrilous inventive, that the meafure 
 of his wrath had been abundantly fupplied, 
 jnay, that it hadbeen preffed down and running 
 over, and therefore we could not reafonably 
 expedt to fee any thing more from the pen 
 of this plodding author ; the gentleman how- 
 ever, encouraged perhaps - by fome fhort- 
 fighted correfpondent, that his fcraps might 
 bring about fome regulation in the proceed- 
 ings of American courts of vice-admiral ty, 
 became inflamed with the idea, fo enraptu- 
 red with the thought, and fo tranfported, 
 that he ihould be the happy inftrument of 
 working fo great a . reformation, that he fent 
 a moft extraordinary paragraph [SeeApp. No. 
 32.] to Mr. Crouch, which was inferted in 
 his paper No. 169, dated the 28th of Fe-' 
 bruary laft, about five days after the publi- 
 cation of hh Jbameful book. The author, 
 makes tile merchants of Briftol fpeak a lan-^ 
 guage, concerning the proceedings and fen- 
 tences of one of the King’s judges, as would 
 fix both odium and difgrace on any private 
 
 oerfon. A -little objcure went in South- Caro- 
 * ~ . 1 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. n? 
 
 lina, tranfriHts an ex parte detail, of what 
 he does not underhand, to fome merchants 
 in the city of Briftol ; and they, according to 
 his account, relying folely on his relation of 
 the matter, without enquiring further, with- 
 out any opportunity afforded the judge to be 
 heard upon the fubjeft, become inftantly in- 
 spired with a fenfe of his bafenel's and inju- 
 stice, -and thereupon determine, to purfue 
 fuch meafures, to make a full reprefen tation 
 of the whole of that iniquitous affair, as will 
 probably bring about fome regulations in 
 thefe courts. No man, in his proper fenfes, 
 can entertain fuch difhonourable thoughts of 
 fo refpeftable a body ; fuch expreffions can 
 only be applied when faCts are proved : God 
 forbid, that a judge, or any other man, fhould 
 be tried by the proudeft corporation in the 
 kingdom. I refpedt all bodies and focieties 
 of men, and I honour every perfon when he 
 fupports the duty and character of his ha- 
 tion : but if an aggregate body of men de- 
 part from ttae eternal laws of juftice, I am 
 bold to deny their authority, and to queftion 
 their proceedings ; I 
 felf within the law 
 handing upon that ground, with a good con- 
 fcience and a hrong conviction of the inte- 
 grity of my heart, I challenge the whole 
 World to begin their attack with all the fury 
 in their power, for, when a fine fenfe of ho- 
 nour, and an inward confcioufnefs of virtue, 
 
 \ fuch 
 
 inftantly entrench my- 
 3 of my country, and 
 
tio THE MAN UNMASKED, ka " 
 
 fuch as ought ever to diftinguilh the judge's 
 ftation ; when juftice, truth and equity have 
 Heeled the mind on every fide , we are invul- 
 nerable on every fide : I am not to be moved 
 x>r alarmed by numbers, or the pageantry of 
 Hate : if the merchants of Briftol have gone i 
 fo far as our author reprefents, they have not, 
 in my poor opinion, a£ted a wife or becom- 
 ing part ; and I {hall be induced to agree in 
 fentiments with my lord Bolingbroke, ih one 
 „ of his letters to dean Swift, that “ all cor- 
 porations of men are perpetually doing injufitce 
 to individuals. I have often reflected (conti* 
 
 - hues his lordlhip) from what caufe it arifes 1 
 know nol , ihat the majority of a fociety are 
 honefi merit and would aBfeparately with fome 
 humanity and according to the rules of mo- 
 rality, yet conjundlively they are hard hearted 
 
 ■ in jhort , there is no corporation to he ex - 
 ceptedont of this general rule , but the two hou <•> 
 fes of parliament , and all ajfemblies of divines 
 
 wherefoever difperfed through the Chrijhan 
 world., ” Notwithflanding the^greaf autho- 
 rity iA fupport of fu-ch a fentiment, 1 cannot 
 perfuade' myfelf of the truth thereof, in the 
 generality of his lordtfiip’s words, and 
 
 ■ therefore it is firmly my opinion, that as 
 the man would fhip wreck the judge’s repu- 
 tation, fo to gratify his darling pafiiori, 
 he would put any words whatever into the 
 mouths of the Briftol merchants, who cer- 
 tainly will (inthisjigewlien the love of dc- 
 
 \ -* ' ceivirig 
 
THE MAN DNMASKED, B&t iii 
 
 ceivirig a man’s felf is fo favourite a paffionj 
 fend their friend Mr. Laurens the freedom 
 of that city, 1ft a gold box , with an elegant 
 Ertglilh irifeription fuited to the fubjedL 
 Whether our author has dieted properly, fd 
 as to entitle him, at fome future day, to any 
 rank in the city* is rather foreign to my pFe-; 
 fent enquiry : I fhall therefore add a word- 
 
 or two. Upon the bale tendency of the pa- 
 ragraph itfelf ; as alfo eonfider the author's 
 patriotifm by his work j with a few obfbrva- 
 tions upon the term “ liberty of the prefs . " 
 Anger and refentmeftt, malice and revenge 
 have clearly taken the dominion of our au- 
 thor’s foul) and his conduit has difeovered 
 a weak and impotent mind, toffed to and 
 fro by every fpirt or gale of the paffions, 
 without the leaft aid of reafori to controuli 
 regulate or dire 51 them.- In order to com- 
 pafs the favourite point Which he has in view, 
 (the ruin of my reputation, peace aftd happi-' 
 nets) he hangs me up, as it were in chains , 
 as a fpedtacle to all mankind ; he endeavours 
 to perfuade the world to combine and con*- 1 
 federate again ft me j he publifhes my dif- 
 grace, Upon his own tefiinonyi circulates it 
 through the ehannelof a news-paper, thefe- ~ 
 by outl awe ring me as it were* without trial j 
 without procefs of IdWi againft magna cbdt*- 
 td and every valuable right which the tiiedri* 
 ejl fuhjeit in his Majefty’S dominions glories 
 and delights in, This is the tendency Of his 
 
if 2, .THE MAN UNMASKED-, kc. - 
 
 b^ok; and the above fcrap of intelligence rsh 
 the confirmation of it. When we feel a 
 ftpne, we conceive an idea of bardnefs , when 
 ice of coldnefs , when fire "of heat ; but the 
 n\an who fludi'es himfelf, regulates his mind, 
 a^ts the phijofqphcr by acquainting himfelf 
 with himfelf, looks down -with a noble, con- 
 tempt upon the common accidents of life, 
 and the perfections of wicked men, and 
 feels thole imprefiions only, which not the 
 qualities, oi xktfe things, but of his own heart 
 communicate to him. The bulk of mankind 
 would yield perhaps to the attack of calum- 
 niating tongues ; but wdien the records of the 
 foul, thofe eternal monunients of truth, 
 make a fair report, the ignominy which flan- 
 der -would caff: Upon fuch a man, fo inward- 
 ly fortified, and fo glorioufiy fupported, re- 
 mains with the perfon who pcrfecutes unjujlly> 
 not with him who fuffers a wrongful perjecu- 
 .tion- A : . fuch injuries flrengthen a wife man’s 
 jnind', he grows majeftic and intrepid in mif- 
 fortunes, and if by cruel combinations, or 
 the tyranny of power, lie falls from afi exal- 
 ted ftation, he becomes, like the temples of 
 the Gods, venerable even in his ruin. 
 
 „ l have been told, that feme men have 
 ltfokecbupon our Author’s pamphlet with an 
 eye -of favour, as attributing the defign to a 
 worthy motive ; and a few perfons have been- 
 idle enough to believe, that Mr. Laurens 
 was induced to take up the pen upon a pub- 
 
<FI5E MAN tJNMASKED* -See, 
 
 lie' principle; in ofderto get rid fif rpoffibldj 
 of a court, whofe jiirifdidtion is faid to b4 
 extended beyond its proper limits : if theft 
 were his views, the means are ill adapted to 
 the end ; for it is onO thing, to arraign the 
 juftice of the judge, and another, to attacli 
 the conftitution of his court. The latter 
 point ftands independant of the former* - and 
 it was by.no means neceffary, to pillage the 
 judge of his reputati&n, in order to eftablifli 
 any pofition which refpecSted the jurifdidtion 
 of the admiralty court; When feiziires ate 
 made, and profecutions commenced by the 
 proper officers, the judge is prefumed to be 
 totally indifferent to the parties in difpute*; 
 charity fuppofes like wife, that he is influ- 
 enced' only by an awful fen-fe of his duty, 
 fince his juftice is fecured, as it were, by 
 the folemn obligation of an oath : and tho’ 
 
 a particular jurifdiction may not be relifhed 
 univerfally by the fubjedt, it by no means 
 follows, that the perfjn who prefides there- 
 in, is loft to all. fen fe of honour, fidelity and 
 duty : th & p erf onal attack therefore proves de- 
 naonftrably, that the author’s motives do 
 not fpring from a genuine and uncorrupied 
 fountain ; that it is not patriotifm, but pri- 
 vate pique, 7nalice and revenge, which have 
 prompted the meafure : for, grant that ever^ 
 one of his remarks on the feveral decrees are 
 unanfwerable,what does the fadt truly prove.? 
 the wjujlice oj the- judge y but it can never o- 
 / perate 
 
\n TOT MAN UNMASKED, 
 
 pcj-ate as an argument, that the court itfelf 
 Ihould be aboliftiqd; as well may we con* 
 tend, that the conviction of a Lord Bacon 
 and Lord Macclesfield , for corruption, or malr 
 adminiftratien in the high court of chancery 
 (where the chancellor is a foie judge) (hould 
 influence the legiflature to take away the 
 power of the court itfelf, as to fay, that the 
 error or injustice of a judge of the admiral* 
 ty is a reafon for aboliihing his inferior ju* 
 rifdiCtion, The abufe- of power, is no a> gu* 
 ment for withdrawing it altogether ? in this 
 (late of imperfeCfion, every inflitution will 
 peceflarily partake of the general inflfmity 
 "which marks all the works and moil perfea 
 operations of frail men. If the conduct of a 
 judge renders him obnoxious, try him, and 
 follicit his removal; withdraw the power 
 which he poflefles, and prevent him from 
 all further aCts of tyranny, injuftice or Qp~ 
 preflion. When the Qorinthiaris. hehaved 
 themfelves unfeemly, upon a facred occa» 
 {ion, their conduct was. duly reprehended, 
 and their evil practices were held in ahhor? 
 rence and contempt : no human {kill or por 
 licy can do more, either in reafon or juftice ; 
 evils demand remedies, hut the exjftence of 
 them in a {late of fociety, is no argument, 
 that mankind (hould refolve. themfelves into 
 a fiats of nature, 
 
 * From this view of the cafe, it follows, as 
 U concejfum* that the reafons which muft in-? 
 
 duce 
 
the MAN UNMASKED, &c. 125 
 
 duce our fuperiors to abolifh any particular 
 inftitution, or order, cannot poffibly be of a 
 perfonal nature, but muft immediately relate 
 to the thing itfelf, and be independant of the 
 minifters or officers who execute the duties 
 or fun&ions of their Rations, The laws 
 therefore which give the j urifdi&ion, and the 
 policy and principles which prevail and go- 
 vern the practice and proceedings, ought to 
 have been the foie obje&s of our author’s at- 
 tack : had he purfued this method, confined 
 himfelf to the conftitution of the court, en- 
 larged upon the rights of his fellow- fubjedts, 
 pointed out defeats, propofed remedies and v 
 amendments, treated the fubje& upon a large 
 and comprehenfivc plan, deduced his argu- 
 ments from the origin and foundation of our 
 Jaws, (hewed wherein our fuperiors had de- 
 parted from firft principles, difeufied the evil ' 
 tendency thereof, and afierted with manly 
 freedom the peculiar immunities, rights and 
 privileges of Britifh and American fubjedts, 
 the work might have been ufeful, as well as 
 entertaining y and J think no perfon of com-* 
 fnon charity and good nature, much left any 
 true friend to our happy conftitution," would 
 have dared to queftion the motives of the 
 tnan ; fuefi labours muft furely have been 
 feafoned with a fpirit of patriotifm and pu- 
 blic virtue ; the manifeft defign of the work 
 muft have explained the writer’s motives ; 
 hut when, we read a book fluffed, with held and 
 
 dejtyerate 
 
326 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 defy er ate inventive-, when we find; upon a 
 perufalof It, .that the grand aim is, to prove 
 the judge a villain, and two officers of, the 
 .cuftoms perjured ; when to compafs thefe 
 finds, the author exercifes every art of difin-r 
 genuity, by looking on the dark fide of even- 
 ly ■ thing, drawing the mod; unnatural conr 
 clufions from fictitious premifes, tranfpofing 
 .words and uttering downright falffioods; 
 when the fentences of the man are traduced 
 jand blackened, and the court itfelf is only 
 mentioned by the bye y and ufed as a majk to 
 /difguife the manifeft wickednefs of the wrir 
 .ter’s heart ; every man makes himfelf an ac- 
 jceffary to the facts, by giving countenance to 
 the author of them. Let us try fuch cafes by 
 tall the circumftances and concomitants which 
 attend them ; let us feparate ideas, and fuffer 
 tione to put a falfe glofs on others; and then 
 it is impoffible that we can remain long in 
 fufpehce, what the true principles of his 
 conduct are. The fubjedt is wholly perfonal, 
 it is altogether treated in that light ; revenge 
 is .the burthen of the fong. How then can 
 any fet of men perfuade themfelves, that pu- 
 blic virtue is rhanifeffed by the gratification 
 of private cenfure l how comes it, that more 
 than three parts out of ;four of the human 
 fpecies, take delight in being duped and 
 laughed at by the other ? Let j\lr; Laurens 
 confult the movements of his foul, examine 
 lenogfly tile Jfate of his own heart, commune 
 
 with 
 
i THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. ; i If 
 
 wfth himfelf in fecret, and be fill ; and if I 
 h?fve a fingle grain of judgment, he will ei- 
 ther pafs fentence upon himfelf, or tremble 
 with horror, that he cannot deceive the fear - 
 cher '-of hearts , and that a day will come, when^ 
 hy'pocrify rnuft drop its fpecious difguifes , and 
 truth will aflert his abfolute controul. Can 
 any one, who is at all acquainted with the ver- - 
 futility and ficklenefs of our author’s conduct, 
 or has. traced him through all his 'windings , 
 
 - Jlopes, and intricate meanders , fuppofe that he 
 is adding the part of a patriot, when he be- 
 gan the very work which is meant to efta- 
 blifh that charadter, under the mold inveterate 
 fit of paffi.on, anger and nefentment ? Is it- 
 poffible for thofe perfons, who have known : 
 him from a boy, and whofe temper, they can- 
 not but recoiled!, has ever been violent , fm~ : 
 placable , vindictive, objlinate and perverfe , to be 
 led away by a few captivating w r ords, and be „ 
 fo, ready to yield up their underftanding, judg- 
 ement and experience, to an artful conjecture ' 
 or fnrtnifel ' Such men there are and ever 
 will be (though I trull they are few in num- 
 ber) w'hofe partiality to their friend, too of-* 
 ten prevails on them to aft, as they frequent-'; 
 ly do in their own private concerns, by a- 
 voiding an examination of all accounts , left 
 the flated balance fhould hurry on their bank- 
 ruptcy , ruin and difgrace. 
 
 The late judge of the admiralty, or his 
 fentences, are cn no fcore fubjedts which 
 , 4 '' can 
 
i THE MAN UNMASKED, k<£. 
 
 can pofTibly engage the attention ofmankincL 
 Of what moment is our prefent difpute to 
 the neighbouring provinces ? hoW are they 
 interefled in Or affected by it ? what can Mr. 
 Laurfens mean by his cruel aftd intemperate 
 condii£t ? He courts popularity, art idol which 
 hfts beericareffed by more fcotfndrels than men 
 of honour fitice the floods and which they 
 have too often engaged to be of their party $ 
 merely to veil their truth deje£ls f varnijh over 
 their own foibles i and deprefs that merit which 
 they cannot eqtidL If the difference then, is 
 partial, perfbnal, and local, wherein does 
 - the author's public fpirit in the prefent cafe 
 confiff f From all circumftances, I am welt 
 convinced, that he flattered himfelf with an 
 cafy and a glorioits triumph 5 he had fome 
 teafbn to hope, that the judge would treat 
 his performance With contempt, and with- 
 hold an anfwer to his libel y hopes which, I 
 doubt not, fitggefted to his mind: fuch amu- 
 fing fentiments, as, I think if probable, he 
 uttered in the terms which i have already 
 put into his mouth, by a foliloquy,- tolera-* 
 bly adapted to the reafoning and genius of 
 ■ the mam 
 
 This wretched author has difee vered, by 
 his conduct, a certain degree of vanity, which 
 is equalled only by his invincible impertinence i 
 Upon the publication of the extracts, he fenf 
 them, as prefents , to many refpedtable perfons 
 in England and America, by which fatal 
 
 ftep 
 
f HE MAN UNMASKED, & c> . i S ijf 
 
 flep he has effectually publiihed this doubt 
 to all mankind, whether his brutality , igno- 
 rance or folly are moft eminently glaring .* 
 Many cities are faid to have contended for 1 
 the birth-place of Homer* and more, I am 
 Confident would difpute the prefent queftion 
 if he was a man hf eminence or weighty tho’ 
 I have reafon to believe* that the controver- 
 fy will end in one general conclufion, againft 
 the author’s principles and virtues, as a fub - 
 Jett, a citizen y a Chrijliany and a man: 
 
 ' It is amazing to me, that, his courage did 
 not fail him in fo gfeat an enterprize. Mr* 
 ‘Laurens muft know, that neither his educa * 
 tion, or firjl plan of trade , which I do not 
 mean to fneer at becaufe it was mechanical , 
 give him very (lender ptetenfions to fet up 
 ats a dilator or rej or ?ner j efpecially, when 
 we call to mind,- that there are many able 
 ‘men upon this continent, whofe pens havd 
 done them credit, arid therefore the colonies 
 are not deftitute of advocates to afiert their 
 : rights* with more ability atnd force, than oiir 
 extract author gives us reafon to expert, from 
 the fpec'irfien ulhered into the world by 
 vid Bruce, ' the printer. 
 
 It is but of late* t % ,at I have fufpeCted oiir 
 ‘ author of vanity and felf-intoxication ; and as 
 few people have met with more fenfible mor- 
 tifications than himfelfy my attention has 
 been very much engaged* to determine the 
 true eaul'e and motive of his being fo Well 
 
 _ 1 R fatisfied 
 
x 3 o THE MAN UNMASKED* &c. 
 
 Satisfied with his own fender portion of ptrJ« 
 feftion. After fome farther ftudy and exami- 
 nation, I have obferved, that almoft every 
 man in town accofts him in terms of the 
 moft cordial falutation \ the fame people per- 
 haps neither regard or refped: him : but it 
 " may be faid, how can this conduit be recon- 
 ciled to their fenie or underftanding, or even 
 to the forms of their addrefs ? in this dilemr 
 ma, I inftantly applied myfelf to find out 
 their principle of aition : they meet him, 
 ’tis true, with pleafant countenances, be- 
 caufe they fear him y they know that he ne- 
 ver wages a difpute, but the ruin of his an- 
 tagbnift is the motto of his banner ; and I 
 -will take upon me to fay, that few mpn 
 Jpeak to him with freedom out of love and 
 ejleem* but becaufe they are fearful to offend. 
 If it be a man’s favourite paffion to wage e- 
 ternal war, and with the fame degree of bit- 
 terfiefs, whether the caufe of a difpute is a 
 cargo of rice Or a barrel of pitch* and that 
 hofilities muft at all events be carried on with.' 
 -the fame vehemence, whether the fubjeib 
 be f feat her or a jewels every man, who ten- 
 ders his own peace and happinefs, will na- 
 turally facrifice many little points to a per- 
 -fon of that froward difpoftion, nay, they will- 
 cvenftbmit to and patnper his humours, ’till- 
 the man himfelf is inwardly perfuaded, that' 
 fiach conceffions are the tributes of veneration 
 2SPi&efteem*> 
 
THE MAN. UNMASKED, ,&c. 13 j 
 
 Grant that the late judge has been mifta- 
 ken in his law, in fome part or other of his 
 federal decifions (though he is not confcious 
 of it) the conceffion only proves the fallibi- 
 lity of human judgment y for, as Sir Edward . 
 .Coke, in his argument iri Wraynham’s cafe, 
 obferves, “ if a man according to fncerity give 
 Judgment , though he differ from another judge, 
 this is no injujlice. The famous Dyer gave 
 judgment in the common pleas, and this was re- 
 verfed in the king' s- bench, yet he difeharged his 
 /confcience, and although it was afterwards re- 
 verfed, yet it yeas no injujlice . The King hath 
 the pleas of the crown , an 4 upon every judg- 
 ment one of the parties is angry and difp leafed, 
 but thjs mufi not produce a new hearing, for 
 that will hinder all other bufneffes. 
 
 I come now Jto fay a word on the Liberty of 
 the Prefs. No man can deny that every fab- 
 led! in a free ftate, has, a^d Qught to have, a 
 ' right to examine,, with a true fpirit of free- 
 dom (but not to ufe the lame as a cloak of 
 malicioufnefs ) all public meafures, for the fake 
 of giving due information to their fellow fub- 
 jedts, in points wherein their rights and li- 
 berties may be violated : but if there is a cafe 
 which can pofllbly be confidered as excepted 
 from this general right, it ought to be that 
 of fabordinate judges ; for, as the parties 
 may appeal from their fentences, the injury, 
 if any will be redreffed in due time ; but, if 
 hi? is flowed to publifa his comments on the 
 
 tr&ifadtiou$ 
 
132 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 tranfadtions of a court of juftice, the judge’s 
 office will foon become a burthenfome em- 
 ployment, and fuch a fpecies of liberty of the 
 prefs will effectually deftroy that conftitu- 
 tion which it was intended to preferve. jLz- 
 hertas non ejl licentia y fays Tacitus, that great 
 friend and patron of liberty : vague and cruel 
 reproaches, charges and criminations, tend 
 only to provoke and inflame, againft the ve- 
 ry intent of printing, which is, or ought on- 
 ly to be, rightly to inform , as well as to re- 
 form. How then can any advocate of true 
 freedom, take pleafure in reading a news- 
 paper which contains fo bafe a paragraph as 
 that which has lately undergone our contem- 
 plation ? Is it fit or reafonable, that men of 
 warm and turbulent paffions fhall vent their' 
 anger and refentment againft others, in a 
 paper calculated for the innocent amufement 
 of mankind ? Shal} it be laid, that a court 
 of j uftice ought to be expofed to attacks of 
 fuch a nature, and through fuch a channel ? 
 Does obloquy like this, promote the caufe of 
 truth ? Js tfie decus et tutamen of govern- 
 ment to he affailed by petulance, or expofed 
 to the cafual and accidental prudence of a 
 printer, yvho is in hafte to give his readers a 
 yveek’s cojuplement of pews ? Shall fuch a 
 perfon, in defiance of all law, pafs unnoti- 
 ced, and, inftead pf meeting with negledl, 
 be countenanced, fupported and protected ? 
 §hajl fuch a prefs be the vehicle for private 
 
 Hander £ 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &e. i 33 
 
 {lander ? Can any fet of men agree, that one 
 man {hall have it in his power to infult the 
 chafteft virtue, defame the higheft ftations* 
 refleft perhaps the moft undeferved odium 
 upon the faireft reputations ? Shall no pub- 
 lic fervices, no character in life, no public 
 or private virtues, be fecure from fuch at- 
 tacks ? Is the commerce between man and 
 man to meet with interruption of this kind ; 
 are the tranfadtions of life to be retailed out . 
 in fuch a way j {hall a news-writer be invef- 
 ted with a power of declaring a judicial Sen- 
 tence iniquitous, unjuji ? Where is our li- 
 berty, when {hipped on fuch a bottom ? If 
 this be the freedom of an Englifhman, I am 
 itill a Granger to that conftitution which we 
 daily boaft of. With what face can we con- 
 tend for the glorious trial by jury, when 
 each marl empannels lhmfelf, to try, by his 
 own unenlightened reafon, the virtue, and 
 the juftice, which is furely the pride, of a 
 righteous judge ? I am no ftranger to the 
 people in this province j my belt and moil 
 ferviceable years have been fpent here f and I 
 can truly fay, that I have not ferved my King 
 more faithfully, than I have done my beffc 
 endeavours to promote the welfare of the 
 place, according to the extent of my capa- 
 city and power. Many of my actions, like 
 many a book, have been read in a fenfe ra- 
 ther oppofite to the text ; and I am well 
 convinced, that time will efface undue im- 
 
 prefhons. 
 
$34 THE MAN UNMASKED, &e. 
 
 and convince thofe who are in doubt, that 
 ray ccmdudt has been upright, and my at r 
 tachment to the province zealous and. fincere. 
 I<et every man, without prejudice, calmly 
 refledt on this divine precept of the Saviour 
 of the world, “ all things whatfoever ye would 
 that men Jhould do to you, do ye even fo to them , 
 for^ this is the law and the prophets." Let the 
 reader place himfelf in the ftation of the 
 judge, and fancy that his reputation is in 
 like manner affaulted and traduced j and in 
 that ftate let him withrhold (if he can) his 
 compaflion for the man, who is the unhappy 
 pbjedl of undeferved cenfure and reproach. 
 Finally, as to the author and the two prin- 
 ters : the one has convinced the world, that 
 nature fometimes adts againft general laws, 
 hence many monfters fpring up, to the con- 
 fulion of mankind j the others , have put it 
 out of doubt, that reputation, with them, 
 is not .equal to the wages which are given 
 $o[deftroy it. 
 
 I come now to condudt our author int® 
 his feat, where he commonly makes his ap- 
 pearance every funday morning, in order t® 
 fhew, how far his book correfponds with that 
 part of our church fervice called the Litany, 
 jhat divine and comprehenfive prayer for all 
 the fons and daughters of men. Thefolem- 
 nity of his approach, cannot but convince, 
 ^11 ftrangers in particular, that he is under 
 a pipus and reverential awe ; his ferious and 
 l \ ; feemingly 
 
*HE MAN UNMASKIirf, &c. 135 
 
 feeriiingly devout attention, fpeak greatly in 
 his favour ; and you may almoft fancy, that 
 you fee him grow into an inward and fpiri* 
 tual life, when he prays to be “ delivered 
 from pride, vain glory and hypocrify y — front 
 envy, hatred and malice, and all imcharita- 
 blencfs j—from all J edit ion , privy confpiracy > 
 — from hardnefs of heart, and contempt of 
 God's word and commandment .*” But, when 
 he implores the God of mercy to “ blefs and 
 keep the magiftrates, and to blefs and keep all 
 His people , and to bring into the way of truth 
 all fuch as have erred and are deceived ; ” 
 when lie befeeches the throne of grace “ to 
 have mercy upon all men, ” and that God 
 will be pleafed 11 to forgive our enemies, 
 perfecutors and flanderers, and to turn their 
 hearts, * how tranfcendently moved is this 
 pious faint ! every feature pays its adoration, 
 and all the man is fwallowed up in fublime 
 and heavenly contemplation ! Ldt no perfon 
 miftake my meaning ; all thefe appearances 
 are. graceful- in all men, when they lhadow 
 forth the fubftance : it is only the affedta- 
 tion of being what in fadt we are not , which' 
 hibjedts us to cenfure or reproach. Now F 
 fhall confine myfelf to our author’s own evi- 
 dence ofhimfelf, without beating the bu(h and 
 feeking out a new road, either for calumny 
 or ridicule. It has been this man’s conftant 
 aim to feem religious ; and nothing has mate- 
 rially thwarted his yiews, in fetting up for 
 
 thi# 
 
1 g 6 THE MAN UNMASKEft, &c. 
 
 this character, ’till the late publication of 
 his extracts and remarks j but nemo fifiarii 
 perftoham diu fuftinere pot eft > fooner or later, 
 the majk will fall from every man who wears 
 it; and this fatal ifep has given a defperate 
 ftab to all his pretenfions i outward geftures 
 and ftrong profeffions, are of no avail, of 
 themfelves ; for, if we have the form of god- 
 linefs, and deny the power of it in practice, 
 we deceive the world, and affront the God 
 of truth : the ieftimonium rei denotes the 
 man , as the tree is-difliriguifhed by it's fruti ; 
 a firm perfuafion in matters of a religious 
 ^concern, unlefs it be accompanied with a 
 fuitable practice, is like the image prefented 
 to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream, “ whofe 
 head was of fine gold, but the legs and feet 
 *were iroh and claft '* h : 
 
 Try the author's book by riis profefiionS, 
 bis prayers, , his aufterities, his forms and 
 gefiures ; do they correfpond ? or rather, 
 does not. the one demonflrably prove, that 
 . he want's, what the other is meant to denote 
 he is poflefied of ? Try the book by th'e 
 word of God ; difcoyer, if you can, whether 
 fucb a publication is reconcileable with any 
 precept or dodfrine of our holy religion. 
 Try it by the law of man ; examine whether 
 our confutation gives any countenance to 
 . Works of fuch a nature, quality or tendency. 
 ~ And laftly, try it by the law of nature ; arid 
 - unlefs you adopt that dangerous principle of 
 < 41 Hobbes’s 
 
THE 'MAN UNMASKED, &c. t 37 
 
 Hobbes’s politicks, that men are naturally 
 in a Hate of warfare with one another, it is 
 imfpfflb'le to colled: a fingle argument from 
 this law, to favour the author’s work. By 
 nature, alK men are akin and friends to each 
 bther : God has implanted in. us focial and 
 benevolent affedtions, and unlefs we fliflc 
 the growth and perfection of them, by rank 
 and deffrudtive weeds, which chbak thefe 
 feeds of grace and goodnefs, we are neceffa- 
 rily drawn to feel, in a certain proportion, 
 for out fellow Creatures ; for whatever may 
 be the faults or offences of individuals, they, 
 as men, partake of the Common nature, 
 and though they may become obnoxious to 
 Cenfure, they do not ceafe to be men : from 
 this kindly principle of relation, which is* 
 founded in human nature*- arifes a precept of 
 univerfal ufe, that human adtjpns ought to 
 be uniform and confident with themfelves 
 through the whole Courfe of every man’s life, 
 for no man can adt agreeably to right rea- 
 f&n, who, as Horace expreffes it,* 
 
 JEJhiat et vita difconvenit ordine toto , 
 fluctuates and difagrees with himfelf through % 
 the whole courfe of life. 
 
 ■Try the book by any law human or di- 
 vine, or by reafon only, and the author muff 
 be found guilty: of the molt daring viola- 
 tions. Brute animals adt, for the molt part/ 
 benevolently with their kind, and they ge- 
 nerally abftain from- hurting one another/ a 
 
 S position 
 
i j8 THE MAN UNMASKED, See. 
 
 petition this, ks well as that of our having 
 friendly inftinCts, which are both admirably 
 ftrpported by Juvenal , in his 1 5th fatire# 
 
 “ Compaflion proper to mankind appears, 
 
 «* Which nature witnefs’d, when fee lent us tears, 
 
 “ Of tended fentiments, we only give 
 
 Thofe proofs : to weep is cur prerogative ; 
 
 “ To ihew by pitying looks, and melting eyes, 
 
 “ How with a fullering friend we fytnpathize ! 
 
 “ Nay, tears will ev’n from a wrong’d orphan Hide, 
 
 “ When his falfe guardian at the bar is try’d. 
 
 “ Who can all fenfe of other’s ills efcape, 
 
 " Is but a brute at beil in human feape. 
 
 “ This natural piety did firft refine 
 “ Our wit, and rais’d our thoughts to things divine : 
 
 " This proves our fpirit of the God’s defcent, 
 
 “ While that of beads is prone and downward bent. 
 
 “ To them but earth-born life they did difpenfe, 
 
 “ To us, for mutual aid, caleflial fenft. 
 
 *• From draggling mountaineers, for public good, 
 
 “ To rank in tribes, and quit the favage wood ; 
 
 “ Houfes to build, and them contiguous make. 
 
 “ For chearful neighbourhood and fafety’s fake; 
 
 In war, a common ftandard to ereft, 
 
 “A nuourded friend in battle to protedl ; 
 
 “ The fummons take of the fame trumpet’s call 
 To fally from one poft, or man one public wall. 
 
 “ But ferpents now more amity maintain ! 
 
 “ From fpotted Ikins the leopard does refrain : 
 
 ** No weaker lion’s by a ftrnnger flain, 
 
 “ Tyger with tyger, bear with bear you’ll find 
 In leagues offenlive and defenfive join’d. ” 
 
 Upon the whole of the matter, all the 
 world muft be convinced, I apprehend, that 
 the conduct of Mr. Laurens has been cruel 
 and oppreffive to the lall degree. Grant, 
 for argument fake, that the judge has meted 
 out hard meafure to him; allow for a mo- 
 ment* that the force of his objections remains 
 
 unanfwered,. 
 
‘ THE MAN UNMASKED, &cc. 139 
 
 uhanfwered, and the conduCb of the man, 
 is ftill open to the moll fevere and afflicting 
 cenfure : but, if any of his reflections or re- 
 marks are cleared up to the readers fatisfac- 
 tion ; if it fflall appear to him, that the judge 
 could never mean to injure his friend, his. _ 
 relation, for a fet of men whom he barely 
 knew, and that too at the rifque of his own 
 reputation, and his foul’s comfort , without 
 profit, without promoting one. Angle intereft, 
 or procuring to himfelf the leaft pof- 
 fible advantage ; if he fflall be thought to 
 have maintained a good character in iife,and 
 (allowing for the common infirmities and 
 frailties of human nature) no doubt fflall re- 
 main with the reader, that, by his own 
 flrength and application, under the blefflng 
 of God on his belt endeavours, he has gained 
 fome little reputation in the world ; if he 
 has, in fome refpeCt, anfwered the end of 
 his creation ; if he has not lived merely con- 
 fumere fruges ; if he has not wholly clofetted 
 hfmfelf ; furely, the heart of man will 
 be moved, in fiich a cafe. Let the reader, 
 without regard to the perfons in difpute, 
 make the cafe his own ; let him refleCt, that 
 fcandal upon the parent, is an injury that 
 poflibly may defeendupon the child; fome- 
 times it happens, that their own fair un- 
 fpotted reputation is the only legacy they 
 may have to give them ; how cruel then mult 
 that man be, who makes no confcience of 
 
 depriving 
 
f'4° THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 depriving them of this little but valuable pa r 
 tximofiy, and of all that patronage, protec- 
 tion, countenance and fupport, Which, now 
 and then, is (hewn to a man’s children, 
 when the little hiftcry of their parent’s life 
 can be rehearfed with advantage, by fome 
 humane recorder of a good man’s name ? 
 St. James tells us, that the flanderous tongue 
 is Jet on fire of hell the devil hath his name 
 from calumny, and it is his nature too ; the 
 fcripture likewife informs us, he hath the 
 malice and impudence to accufe good men 
 before God, as he did job, charging him 
 with hypocrify to God himlelf, who knows 
 the hearts of all the children of men . 
 
 Whatever feVerity has dropt from my pen, 
 has been fhamefully extorted from me. Far 
 be it from the difpolition of my heart, to 
 fpeak or write unkindly, of any man who 
 breathes the breath of life ; but, - as archbi- 
 Ihop Tillotfon properly diftinguifhes, it is 
 lawful to publilh the faults of others in- our 
 own neceflary defence and vindication. This 
 laft cafe excepted, the advice of the fon of 
 Syrach is noble and worthy imitation, “ Talk 
 not of other men's lives: 'if thou haft heard a 
 word, let it die with thee ; and be bold, it will 
 not bzirfi thee. ” 
 
 It is very obfervable, that Mr.- Laurens, 
 in the courfe of his book, does not difcloie 
 one favourable fentiment : on the contrary, 
 He proceeds upon the molt avowed principle 
 
 ' . 4 • : of 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 14? 
 
 of malice, and {hews, that he is carried away 
 captive, by irregular and unruly paffions r 
 however, as I do not profefs to be one of 
 his difciples, or a friend to many of his doc- 
 trines, I will, for charity’s fake, endeavour 
 to find out (if poflible) fome excufe for the 
 extraordinary conduit of this unhappy man.’ 
 Natural philofophers know very well, that 
 the afeblions depend greatly upon the imagi- 
 nation ; that the motion of the blood and 
 heart, which is neceflary to life, is promo- 
 ted by love, defre, hope and joy , efpecially 
 when converfant about a great good, whence 
 the arteries and veins are filled with more 
 flowing juices, brifker fpirits are produced, 
 and the whole circulation is performed with 
 greater eafe : in this fliate, the kind ajfedlions 
 bear the rule : but on the contrary, in envy , 
 hatred, fear and grief, the motion of the 
 blood is retarded, and the heart is clogged, fo 
 that it contrails arid expells the blood with 
 difficulty, whence the animal ceconomy, 
 particularly in the funitions of the brain and 
 nerves, becomes very much difordered. Thefe 
 points, I muff; own, properly belong to the 
 ions of Galen and Hippocrates ; but as eve- 
 ry one’s bodily frame is of fome moment to 
 him, and a man ought to be more or lefs 
 acquainted with that piece of workmanfhip 
 which is left to his own peculiar care 
 and conduil, I do now and then dip a 
 little into phyfical writers, if it be only to 
 
 convince 
 
i 4 2 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 convince my judgment that we are fearfully 
 and 'wonderfully made ; and not long fince I 
 cafually fell upon a mod extraordinary cafe, 
 in Hervey’s anatomical exercitation concern- 
 ing the circulation of the blood, which per- 
 haps may apply to our author’s cafe, and 
 'work fome apology for his furprizing con- 
 duct. “ I knew (fays he) a high fpirited 
 man, who , through anger and indignation con- 
 ceived for an injury , joined with an affront , 
 received at the hands of a powerful perfon, 
 fo kindled with rage , that , envy and hatred 
 continually encreaftng , for want of revenge, 
 and the 'ftrong pafjion which rankled in 
 his mind being difclofed to no one , he fell at 
 length into a ft range kind of diftemper , and 
 was univerfally afflidted with a great oppref- 
 lion and pain, both of his heart and bread:, 
 fo that, after receiving no rel ief from the ad- 
 vice of the moft fkilful, he fell, after fome years, 
 into a fcorbutic habit of body , which threw him 
 into a confumption, of which he died. He had 
 fome. eafe, only and as long as the whole re- 
 gion of his bread was comp reded. His ju- 
 gular veins were fwelled as thick as a man’s 
 thumb, with a pulfe high .and drong, as if 
 each of them were itfelf the aorta, or great def- 
 cending artery , and appeared like two oblong 
 aneurifms : when I had difteBed the body, I 
 found the heart and aorta fo dift ended and duf- 
 fed with blood, that the ftze of the heart and 
 cavities of the ventricles were as great as thofe 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 143 
 
 of an ox. ” From this cafe, I think we may 
 well conclude, that fuch paffions obftruft 
 the motion of the blood in the fmall bran- 
 ches of the arteries which are difpcrfed thro' 
 the brain, and that great injury arifes thence 
 to the heart , and confequently to the whole 
 animal , with dire fymptoms of diftempers 
 to the great danger of life itfelf. This dread- 
 ful cafe admonifhes every man, to preferve, 
 if poflible, a benevolent , kind and affeffionate 
 dilpofition towards all men, fince fierce ha~ 
 tred ajpPfnft one man engendered fuch deadly 
 mifchiefs to him who cherilhed a paflion fo 
 evil and pernicious in its nature and effects. 
 
 I leave the reader, however, to make his 
 own application, as it is unfair for an author 
 to exhauft a fubjeft, which may chearfully 
 employ a few leifure moments to thofe who 
 may think it matter of amufement. . 
 
 A few words more, and I confign the 
 man to the vileft curfe upon earth, ** his own 
 unruly will. ” He toifes himfelf about, like 
 a boy’s boat unlkilfully trimmcdy piloted and 
 rigged ; he is wife to-day, and otherwife to- 
 morrow ; a merchant one year, then a colonel, 
 and foon after repents of both. The good- 
 nefs of his heart perfuades him one moment 
 that a certain branch of his profefiion is o- 
 dious, nay, repugnant to all found doBrine . 
 He reads the 'Revelations, which fpeak of 
 divers articles of merchandize, and finding 
 that Jlaves and the fouls of men are alfo in 
 
 ' the 
 
144: THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 the enumerated lift, fwears .that' St. J.ohfr 
 meant, in his vijion , the pernicious practice 
 of the African trade ; he therefore withdrew 
 himfclf from the horrid and barbarous con- 
 nection, retaining however, to himfelf, a 
 few of thofe jewels which he had heretofore 
 amafied, fome of the wages of this abomina- 
 ble trade , foi; an old ballad relates, , that 
 “ gold in handling will flick to the fingers like 
 meaL” 'He then retires from the world ; 
 dabbles however a. little with its? concerns ; 
 lets up as a Palladio upon a plan of architec- 
 ture, and makes a bold pufti to be the firft 
 man in a new ftreet, by commanding the 
 waves to q.mit their aniient bed, and make 
 room for two tenements of folly to ftare him 
 in the face,- when he takes an idle gaze 
 from his parlour window.- : 
 
 The fame ftrange Angularity, by all ac- 
 counts, ever governed the man in his cool 
 moments ; and he fupplies us with evidence 
 enough of what rules him in the rage and’ 
 tempeft of his blood. : with all this queernefs 
 he ever carries about with him a litle mantle 
 of religion ; it ferves to colour and difguife, 
 and delude poor fouls into an opinion of his 
 inward frace. I have been told (though I 
 by no means afferi the thing as faCt) that he 
 whimfically became a pluralifi fome years 
 ago, by ferving the province' in the tWo-fold 
 capacity of a colonel and chaplain to the re- 
 giment, that he now and then preached be- 
 fore 
 
tfltE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 14] 
 
 foire he , marched, and marched when he had 
 breached: whether thefe initio offices were 
 
 ftridtly compatible or not, or whether the 
 inotiorts of the fpirit in the colonel^ were con- 
 sidered as orthodox and regular by the men', 
 or quickened their bodily operations, are re - 
 fearches rather too deep for me to fathom ) 
 however, it is no unnatural conjedhife, that 
 the fpirit of the gofpel refitting, in principle 
 at leaft, the fpirit of the fervice, and the co-* 
 lonel dividing his ftrength, and contempla- 
 ting the cur am ariimaium , full as much as th£ 
 coronam bellicam , he proceeded on his way 
 with a flow and folemn pace, no doubt per- 
 Fuading himfelf* that he and his party trod 
 bn holy ground ; however they, with the other 
 troops in the fame expedition* rather out- 
 fpeeded the pious colonel in the march* fo that 
 he probably adopted the words of fofhua “ as 
 for me and riiy houfei vie will ferve the Lord. ” 
 I with, with all my heart, that the colo- 
 nel had lived a century ago, for his own fake : 
 he is well fitted for fiich times, and Crom- 
 well, who knew the human heart and could 
 be all things to all men, would by no means 
 have overlooked a charadter fo fuited to his 
 purpofe; he might have been a fecond gene- 
 ral Harrifon, who was alfo a military faint, 
 that ufed to advife the protedtor to run (fide 
 fomeiimes from his company , and get a word 
 with the Lord. 
 
 T Having 
 
i 4 6 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 Having for the prefent, I think, 
 ciently enlarged upon this complex chara&er 
 of a man upon his own evidence , in which 
 idea I comprehend not only the pamphlet, 
 but alfo his public ftation in life, fo far as 
 either afford room for obfervation ; it may 
 not be amifs to take notice, that the man 
 whofe conduct as an officer is attacked, is no 
 more a public flation than that of the mer- 
 chant i the lawyer , or the tradefman , and 
 confequently, each lies open to the moft free 
 examination, and the rather, when the at- 
 tack is made upon that officer without mer- 
 cy, without charity, I had almoft faid with- 
 out one principle of honour to fupport it. 
 However, I have not, in any one inftance, 
 to my knowledge, violated the facred laws 
 of friendfhip; nothing has dropped from 
 my pen which Mr. Laurens has at any time 
 difclofed to me : and I cannot charge myfelf 
 with a fingle departure from the rules which 
 the fecrecy of friendfhip requires, unlefs the 
 letters which the author wrote to me give 
 room* for an exception ; however, let every 
 one confider, that fuch letters, from the 
 moment they are difpatched to the party, 
 cancel all private laws of friendfhip and re- 
 gard, and inftantly become the property of 
 the man to whom they are addreffed ; let it 
 be confidered like wife, that no parts of them 
 hut fuch as concern myfelf are made public, 
 and that they are only produced in my own 
 
 neceffary 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 147 - 
 
 neceffary vindication, and to eftablilh the in- 
 confiftency of the writer’s conduct, who de- 
 parts, in them, from his own tenets, to gra- 
 tify a malignant and evil difpofitionj and I 
 think the world will admit, that it is, in . 
 every fenfe, a juft and allowable freedom, 
 refulting from the abfolute urgency and un- 
 controulable neceffity of my particular cafe. 
 
 There remains only one or two points 
 more for the reader’s conlideration. 
 
 On the 28th day of July laft, Mr. Lau- 
 rens endeavoured to renew the correfpon- 
 dence mentioned in the 114th page of thefe 
 (heets, by a long letter which he wrote to 
 me, containing many impudent reflections. 
 He gave me to underftand, that he had prc-, 
 pared fome copies of the proceedings of the 
 court of admiralty, which he propofed to 
 tranfmit to his correfpondents in England 
 and America ; and he therein expreffes him- 
 felf as follows : “ You know my warmth of 
 expreflion—you know the foundation of my com- 
 plaints . — you know my inability to exprefs my- 
 felf however good my caufe may be , like a fcho- 
 lar and a man of letters ; but I am fure y Sir , 
 you know alfo , that I fcorn to tell a lie, and 
 that I am incapable \ of taking bafe and cun- 
 ning advantages of any m 4 h > therefore t fvcb 
 as my writings and fuch as my fentiments are , 
 if any proper method can be devifed for that 
 • x purpofe , 
 
14^8 THE ]MAN UNM^SiCEp, &c, 
 
 purpofe, you may have a full knowledge of them , 
 and I may thence perhaps receive new light, and 
 may , in m, any rejpedls, dij cover my own mis- 
 takes ; at leafy I fall ward off the imputation 
 of wounding either , through wantonnejs or from 
 blind prejudices , the char aider's of good men.” 
 
 This letter was a. mere copy of his coun- 
 tenance, and a palpable piece of hypocrify 
 and deceit., calculated to give him Some pre- 
 tence to candour , though, he was certain I 
 had put it out of mv power to devii'e any 
 method, for the purpofe of coming to the 
 knowledge of his writings ; not only by a 
 paper which ,;I Sent him Seven days before, 
 expreffing, f‘ that Iff ould not give mjfetj the. 
 trouble to anjwer arty more notes ; ” but . alfo, 
 by omitting to giye him an apfwer to his 
 letter of the 21ft of July 5 and he .could not 
 hut know likewiSe, that, under this few- of 
 candour , he was putting a bafe infult upon, 
 me, becaufeit was impoflible for me at that 
 time, as a judge, to undertake a tafk fo de- 
 bating and humildating, as that of fubmit- 
 ting to be trjed at the bar of our author’s 
 jufiice , upon/ points too, which/ related to 
 himfelf as a party , and which had undergone 
 a folerrm determination in open court : . I 
 therefore think myfelf well warranted to 
 lay, that he was not influenced by candour 
 hut by a perverfe and wicked principle, which 
 urged him on to torment , mortify , chagrine 
 
xm 149, 
 
 *nd -vex m<s.; His views however were djf- 
 appointed, apd he might clearly perceive, that 
 I. then held him (as I now do). in the utmoft. 
 abhorrence , deteftation, contempt, 
 
 - 1 have made it very plain, in the eburfe of; 
 thefe fheets, that Mr. Laurens, has .exceeded 
 the trufh , in the very face of his .own letter,; 
 wherein he has the aflurapce to acquaint me 
 that I know he fcorns to tell a lie it is alio as 
 manifeft and clear, that he can take bafe and? 
 cunning advantages, though, in the fajine Jes- 
 ter, he is pleafed to infinuate, that he is in- 
 capable of doing lb ; and it contains only one 
 apparent fadfc, “ that I know the warmth of 
 his exprejfion, and his inability to exprefs h'imr 
 felf, however good his caufe may be, like afeho- 
 lar and a man of letters ; and if he had alfo 
 added like a gentleman , he would pot, in' that 
 infance , haye departed from the truth . 
 
 I will never quit him, ’till it is either in 
 my power to convince. Or banhh him the 
 world. In his prefent difpofition, he is nei- 
 ther fit for life or death', not for the former, 
 becaufe he wants that charity and milkinefs 
 of heart which is abfolutely neceffary to pro- 
 mote the ends of true fociety ; 'nor for the 
 latter, in the view of wife and gopd men, 
 who feek a place of happinefs, the enjoy- 
 ments whereof cannot poflibly be reliihed by 
 a man of his turbulent and outrageous "ha- 
 
150 THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 One other inftance of our author’s effron- 
 tery, audacity and mean boldnefs , remains yet 
 to be examined. Upon the 20th of Febru- 
 ary laft, about nine o’clock at night, when a 
 man is fuppofed to have retired from the fa- 
 tigues of the day, and to enjoy a few 
 moments of repofe with his family and 
 friends, he fent his young man, with his 
 book of extracts, and a piece of the worm- 
 eaten plank of the fhip Ann, as a prefent to 
 me : I received them, and the melfenger 
 
 withdrew. Upon examination of the plank , 
 I found that the worms had made an infinite 
 number of little cells or cavities f and as the 
 author is filent, in his book, on thefe cir- 
 eumftances, I concluded, that he fent it to 
 me as an emblem of his own hollow, perfo- 
 rated heart, and therefore, it is my full de- 
 termination, to enclofe it in brafs, whereon 
 I fhall caufe to be engraved a fuitable in* 
 fcription, which (hall exprefs in few words, 
 that it is a figure of the man who fent it as 
 a prefent, and I fhall then lodge it in my ca- 
 binet of curiofities, to be occafionally viewed 
 and admired by fijch friends as may at any 
 time defire to fee it. 
 
 For feven months paft, has this wicked 
 brute tortured his invention, to contrive every 
 method to give me pain and anguifh, by read- 
 ing his manufcript to all flrangers, friends 
 and acquaintance ; by making it the princi- 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. j 5 t 
 
 pal fubjedt of convcrfation at his table 3 by 
 tranfmitting copies to many of his corref- 
 pondents 3 by writing abufive and fcurrilouS 
 letters to me, full of the moft bitter and a - 
 crimonious reproaches, charges and infolent 
 criminations 3 by cruel and unjuft refledtions 
 on a dear deceafed relative 3 by publithing his 
 book of extradts 3 by fending them to every 
 part of America, the Weft-Indies and Great 
 Britain 3 by furniffiing the principal minifters 
 and officers of the crown with copies, both at 
 home and in the provinces, thereby attempting 
 to poifon their minds, and to reduce me to 
 the moft abjedt ftate of ruin, ignominy and 
 difgrace 3 by a bate paragraph in the public 
 papers, which he inferted five days only af- 
 ter the publication of his pamphlet 3 by 
 the mode of lending the fame to me 3 and in 
 thort, by every fubtle, vindidtive and diabo-? 
 lical art and ftratagem which he has been 
 able to devife for fo many months together. 
 Nothing but the inward fenfe of my integri- 
 ty, has fupported me under this dreadful 
 ftate of calamitous diftrefs : a weak mind 
 muft have funk under this diverfity of perfe- 
 ction 3 and I am certain, that every hu- 
 mane heart will entertain a little notion at 
 leaft, of thofe feelings which muft have ta- 
 ken fome pofleffion of a man fo circumjian - 
 ced, fo cruelly perfecuted , tormented and tra~ 
 duced. _ Let my readers refledl for a moment, 
 what muft have been his conflicts in fuch a 
 
fji THE MAN UNMASKED, &c. 
 
 cafe, and they will find, that I have exer- 
 cifed foriie few Chriftian graces, and fub- 
 fhitted, ^with patient refignatiori, to as great 
 k trial as can poflibly fall to the lot of man. 
 
 1 am truly a much injured £erjfon, and I 
 hope the world will do me judice. And my 
 fellow fubje&s in this province in particular : 
 I hopei they will enable me to giiefs at lead: at 
 their fentiments j whereby I may enjoy fuch 
 bleflings as providence lias bedewed upon 
 tne# with the fame fullnefs which I have 
 heretofore experienced. I could fay more, 
 hut the fubjedt overcomes me, I mud there- 
 fore haden to concede. 
 
 . h'fy reputation and honour, in my public 
 ftations, having been thus infarnoufly drawn 
 Into fufpicion, I think it my duty to declare 
 thus publickly, „and with the fame.fincerity 
 as if I was fworn upon the Holy Evangelids# 
 'that, in every cafe, without exception# 
 Which ever came before me, during my ad- 
 mmidration of j-udice in the court of vice-' 
 admiralty of this province, it has been my 
 condant endeavour to judge# if pofhble, a 
 righteous judgment. No man ever fat upon 
 a bench with a heart better difpefed to ad- 
 vance the caufe of truth ; and it is not in my 
 power to charge myfelf, with the lead incli- 
 nation or bias to one fide of a quedion more 
 than another. In fhort, my confcience is 
 
 clear 
 
THE MAN UNMASKED, kc. 153 
 
 -Cleat as the limpid dream, and there I feel 
 a fuppart, a balm and comfort, which heais 
 .fevery wound, and gives a peace to the mind 
 which palfeth underftanding. I fefel the in- 
 jury done me, with fo exquifite a fenfe, that 
 I would riot, for all the treafures , pomp and 
 -glitter of this world, be the author of fitch a 
 work, againft fo innocent a man. I forgive 
 him: but I tremble; in the foftnefs of my 
 heart, for thofe flings of bitter grief and in- 
 ward remorfe, which, at fome future day, 
 mbft wound his peace of mind j when the 
 Concerns of this world lejjin to his view i 
 when nature’s lamp fhall be nigh exhauded i 
 when the knees begin to tremble, fight grows 
 dim, and the grinders ceafe their labour, then 
 perhaps the foul, warmed With a pure affec- 
 tion, and draggling to efcape from its pri- 
 fon-houfe the body, may didtate to, and per- 
 haps ftrerigthen, the many in his Iaffc mo- 
 ments, to cry out, Reflitution to him whom I 
 have injured ! My prayer from this day forth 
 fhall ever be, that God will be pleafed to 
 enable me, in the hour of death, to confirm 
 the truth of the above declaration with my 
 lad words; 
 
 “ , . — — '■* ■■ ■ ■ if one jot beyond 
 
 “ The bounds of honour, or in aft or will 
 « That way inclining, hard’ned be the hearts 
 “ Of all, that riad me, and my near’ft of kin 
 ** Cry, fie, upon my grave ! 
 
 And now I fubmit; with due refpedi, this 
 U extraordinary- 
 
r 5 4 THE MAN UNMASKED, &C. . 
 
 extraordinary cafe, to the candour of the 
 world ; and, finally, I take my leave of 
 Mr. Laurens, whom I fincerely pity, ~wifh- 
 ing him a more compofed, truly religious 
 and fettled Jlate^of mind , and that he may 
 deliberate with caution, reftedt with candour, 
 and regulate his future condudt by thofe ma- 
 xims which in theory he profejfes to approve, 
 but which he has not hitherto adopted by his 
 _ pradlice . 
 
 EGERTON LEIGH. 
 
 Charles-Town, 
 
 30th March, 1769. 
 

POLITICAL TRANSACTIONS 
 
 PROVINCE of SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 [Price One Shilling and Sixpence.} 
 
 
K • ' 3 \ S^/3 3% j 
 
 Considerations 
 
 ON CERTAIN 
 
 POLITICAL TRANSACTIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROVINCE of SOUTH CAROLINA: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A VIEW 
 
 f ’ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Colony legislatures 
 
 (Under the Defcription of That of Carolina in Particular). 
 WITH 
 
 OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 Shewing their Resemblance to the British Model, 
 
 In Vitium Libertas excidit, et Vim 
 
 Dignam Lege regi. Horat. 
 
 r r'*~ < ->x 
 
 — - " 1 - . /. <Jf 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 0 Pnnted for T. Cadell, in the Strand. 
 
 M DCC LXXIV. 
 
CONSIDERATIONS, &fc. 
 
 I T is the Duty' of a Good Citizen and a Loyal 
 Subject, to promote, as far as in him lies, 
 the Public Service ; and one ftep towards it 
 is, candidly to examine thofe Principles and 
 Tenets which divide Men’s Minds, and inflame 
 one part of a Community who glory in adopting, 
 and the reft in oppofing and rejefting them, 
 v. Oppofite Sentiments, long remaining unex.- 
 plain^c, always engender Difputes ; and as it is 
 a nice and delicate concern to difcufs the Caufes 
 of Public Difcontent, the bufinefs often is neg- 
 lected. — Hence it is that prejudices naturally 
 arife ; loofe opinions Ideal into Men’s hearts ; 
 and That is held for Truth which flatters the 
 prelent Humour : belides, there is a Fafhion in 
 the Mode of Thinking , as well • as in the Mode 
 of Drefs. 
 
 The great aim of a Worthy Writer ought to 
 be directed to the fearch of Truth. — He may be 
 permitted to exprefs himfelf with fo much warmth 
 as will convince his Reader that he feels : but 
 intemperance and paflion mock all ferious dif- 
 quifition, and muft be carefully avoided ; for 
 over-heated Zeal never helps a bad Caufe , and feldom 
 ferves a good one. 
 
 Under this kind of influence and perfuafion- 
 I take up the pen; but with that modeft fear, that 
 trembling awe, and miftrujbful apprehenfion, 
 which almoft fhake my refolution. I therefore 
 
 B humbly 
 
[ 2 J. 
 
 humbly befpeak the candid attention of my Rea- 
 ders, and thofe liberal allowances which the Gene- 
 rous Public are ever ready to make, when modeft- 
 ly implored, and not arrogantly or felf-fufficiently 
 demanded. • 
 
 - The beft proof of my own candour is to avow 
 my connexion with the Crown; that I am a down- 
 right Placeman ; have been fo for nearly twenty 
 years ; and that I owe more to -the Royal Favor, 
 than . any merit. I poffefs can juftly claim. And 
 now, methinks, I may fairly be allowed to fay, 
 according -to the Maxim of the Times, that I 
 have given a moil Difguftful Figure cf myfelf — ■ 
 a monftrous Portrait ! — the painting whereof is 
 coarfe, the colour's glaring, and the whole Piece 
 obnoxious to the fight. I fear the number of my 
 Readers will be greatly leffened. — Not a Perfont 
 out of Place will, probably, perufe me; and- 
 the Patriots will, one and all, avoid me : for, ac- 
 cording to modern Acceptation, a Man in Place 
 is a perfedt Bofil'ijk to a Patriot out of Place ; it 
 being now very manifeft to all Mankind, that this 
 lingle circumftance alone, the being in or out' of 
 Place , defines arid gives the difference, between a 
 Popular Member of the Community, and a Cour- 
 tier at St. James’s. No matter — The Ill-favoured 
 Figure is. before the Public Eye; and they are wel- 
 come to ufe it with ail the Gothic Freedom of 
 their Anceflors, and’ to cenfUre or approve. 
 
 It is not my intention to enquire into the 
 
 - Policy of impoiing Stamp-duties on the Subjedts 
 in America ; . neither do I prefume to determine 
 any thing refpecting an Adt fo extremely offenfive 
 to the Colonies in general; but I beg to offer a 
 fmall conjecture, That the Repeal thereof will 
 prove to be an Epoch in the Annals of Britifh Story; 
 for, fince that Memorable Period, the Public 
 Affairs .of thefe Countries have been in a ftate 
 
 - • of 
 
' t 3 ] , 
 
 of almoft ruinous Diftraftion ; and what was pro- 
 bably meant -to infpire Gratitude and Love, has 
 rather kindled Rancour and Difguft. — The af- 
 feftion of the Parent State feems % to be confider- 
 ed as the e hefts of aged fondnefs and impotent 
 attachment.:" and forry I am to fay, that Con- 
 ceffioiis have daily produced Ufurpation and Re- 
 liftance •, one claim has been .followed by ano- 
 ther, which, generating more, have multiplied 
 like the encreafing power of numbers, in a courfe, 
 as it were, of Geometrical ProgreJJion. 
 
 By flow, and almoft imperceptible degrees, 
 Jealoufies and Diftrufts have faftened upon Men’s 
 Underftandings i and the Tone and Temper of 
 the People’s Minds have undergone fome Fatal 
 Changes. Man is not born for a feries of indul- 
 gence — and Human Nature teaches us, that we 
 cannot bear a conftant Tide of flattering Succefs, 
 without becoming Infolently Saucy, and Arro- 
 gantly V ain. It is as neceflary that fome Line 
 fhould limit and afcertain the exaft Boundaries 
 of our Political Syftem, as that Landmarks 
 fhould be made to" determine the .extent and figure 
 of our Lands. Dormant Rights likewife,. and 
 fuppofed Titles, are eternal fources of Confufion ! 
 And fuch is the ftrange Contradiftion of our Na- 
 ture, that we mever complacently yield a clear 
 Right with fo g5od a grace, as when -it is power- 
 fully demanded. Thus we may be juftly ftiled, 
 “ Children of a larger Growth for Children lofe 
 their temper when too much humoured and ca- 
 refied. 
 
 It is not my defign at prefent to carry my Ob- 
 fervations beyond the Boundary Line of the Pro- 
 vince s of South Carcliha ; though I muft take 
 notice by the way, that when American Diiputes 
 ran very high, fome years ago •, and all the Men 
 of Genius in our Sifter Colonies ftraingd every 
 
 B -2 , nerve 
 
[ 4 1 
 
 nerve, and fummoned every power, to fupport the 
 favorite Do&rine of the Times, we flood gazing 
 with a filent Admiration ; and, like the ftupid 
 Devotees of old at the Myftic Oracles of Del- 
 phos and Apollo, waited for a Breath of In- 
 spiration from the Renowned Town of Boflon ! 
 In fhort, we had juft fo much Underftanding as 
 enabled us to Copy, with tolerable accuracy, 
 thofe LefTons of Political fkill, which were kindly 
 wafted to us from the Land of Vifion (as a decent 
 Writer prettily enough fliles the Province of New- 
 England). This, however, was our Ultima Lhulc 
 forborne time.-^The power of Mimickry baffled 
 all the powers of Genius, and our Ambition was 
 well fatisfied •, partly under the perfuafion of be-r 
 ing good Scholars, and partly under the flatter- 
 ing hope, that we might in due feafon become 
 Mailers of the Art, Practice ever gives confi- 
 dence — and as aChild, by frequent e flays to walk, 
 is encouraged to lay afide his go-cart , and quarrel 
 with his leading-firings , fo we, in like manner, be- 
 gan to take Courage, to feel our own Strength, 
 and to find our own Feet. There is fomething 
 very foaring in the Human Mind •, and an Iuea 
 of Originality is flattering fo a great degree, 
 Hence it is, that I date thofe Memorable Exer- 
 tions, which never once entered into the Heads 
 of our Northern Luton : and what adds to their 
 Value and Importance is, that the Adis, which I 
 propofe to celebrate, retain, in every fenfe of the 
 word, their Originality to this day ; not one Copy 
 .having been made by a Angle Colony on this 
 Wide-Extended Continent. 
 
 The firfl Fancy which cafe forth its irradiating 
 beams upon the Minds of our Aflembly, figna- 
 lized the Annals of the Year 1766. — It was then 
 etifeovered, that the “ American Stamp -Adi was not 
 tranfmitfed to the Governor by the Secretaries of 
 
 “ State^ 
 
t 5 7 
 
 tc or Z,on£r 0/ 7 VW<? ; ” and although the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, who ' was then in Admi- 
 niftration, had been furnifhed by the Attorney- 
 General with the Act printed by His Majeftv’s 
 Printer, yet it was not deemed by the.Aflem- 
 bly to be fuch a Notification thereof, as to oblige 
 a Governor to enforce the Execution of it. ° 
 
 It is difficult to fay, to whom they were in- 
 debted for this Wonderful Difcovery: whether to 
 Lawyers or Laymen, is very immaterial, inas- 
 much as nothing of the kind was ever hinted by 
 any other Provincial Senate. Perhaps our Neigh- 
 bours recollected what my Lord Coke fays, that 
 * “ before Printing, and till the Reign of Hen- 
 “ ry the Seventh, Statutes were Engroffed in 
 “ Parchment, and by the King’s Writ proclaimed 
 “ by the Sheriff of every County,” and therefore, 
 they might poffibly conclude, that this practice 
 was not only out of ufe, but fince the Art of 
 Printing was an unneceffary caution. Be this as 
 it may, it is fufficient to obferve, that the Honor 
 of this State Juggle belongs to us alone. 
 
 I mention this by the bye, as being an Effort 
 of our own ; and yet not lb much for the Credit 
 which it gives, as to convince Mankind, what 
 aft om ffiing advances we have made, from the 
 firft moment we abandoned our Political Teach- 
 ers, and ftood like Men upon our own proper 
 legs. — Befides, there is both InftruCtion and De- 
 light, in tracing the difplays of Human Under- 
 ftanding, from the early budding forth, to a more 
 wI anCed fta § e culture and improvement. 
 When we proceed ftep by ftep, tracing, as it were, 
 the feveral gradations,^ marking the ftealing pro- 
 s' 1 ' 6 s of Man s inventive fkill, and keep a fteady 
 e^e on the feveral Operations, we naturally ac- 
 
 z Inft. 52 6, 644, 67a. 
 
 quire 
 
[ « i 
 
 iquire a tegular Syftem of Refle&ior.; and we find 
 our Judgement ripened, in proportion to th<? 
 attention we have given, and the admiration we 
 have paid. 
 
 The Reader will perceive, that the firft com- 
 mencement of Carolina Politics on Our own pro- 
 per bottom (after mqft Servile Imitations about 
 the fame period), is dated upon the Introduction 
 of the Stamp- Ad into the Britifh Colonies : and, 
 having Paid as much as the Importance of our 
 firft JValk in the wide field of Political Science, 
 merits at my hands, I proceed to ftate and’ con T 
 fider' a Second Effort of the AfTembly, which, for 
 its v.afi P.each 3 profound Depth , and uncommon Boldr 
 nefs , challenges the find Rank in the Annals of 
 Modern Story. , 
 
 That the mind may be duly prepared to re- 
 ceive a .becoming imprefiion of this matter, it 
 is proper to premife, by way of excufe for that 
 jtapfe of time between the frjl Stroke and the 
 fecond, that our advances, though (lew, and 
 after a long paufe, are neverthelefs extremely 
 regular and fure : and though we cannot boalt 
 any great rapidity of Genius, it is evident that 
 we fufficienfly atone for the defect by the fohdity , 
 the comprehenjiyenefs , the novelty of the Plan, and 
 the immenfity of its Gbjed. — For my own part, 
 I always prefer a fuper Itrudure upon an old and 
 fettled foundation — I hate all hidden and fialhy 
 operations-, they have nothing either permanent 
 or fecure about them : then, again, they fupply 
 little for the mind to dwell upon ; for travel- 
 ling like a ray of light, they both dazzle and 
 confound; .whereas the fcber 3 the cool , the long 
 digefied Plan commonly bids fair to fecure both 
 Approbation and Applaufe. Let us now bring 
 this Rufinefs to a proper Tefic ; try it by its own 
 injtrinfic worth-, examine its tendency ; view the 
 
 '■ meafurq 
 
[• ?'} 
 
 ifieafure through the pureft fpeculum ; and, pro- 
 vided the Enquiry is conducted with fingienefs of 
 heart, and with an eye to Truth, we dial! 
 neither repine at the labour, or retire from the, 
 contemplation of the fubjeft with difguft. 
 
 On the eighth day of December, 1769, a. full 
 Houfe of Alfembiy palled an Order in the' words 
 following 
 
 “ Ordered, That the Public Treafurer do 
 “ advance the Sum of 10,5001. Currency (equal 
 “ to 1500I. Sterling),, outvof any Money in the 
 “ Treafury, to be paid into the hands of certain 
 “ Members therein mentioned, who are to remit 
 “ the fame to Great Britain, for the Support of 
 “ the Juft and Conftitutional Rights and Liber- 
 “ ties of the People of ..Great Britain and Ame- 
 “ rica, 
 
 “ Resolved, That this Houfe will make Pro- 
 “ vifion to reimburfe the Public Treafurer the faid 
 “ Sum. 
 
 “ By Order of the Houfe. ” 
 
 This Sum was remitted by Bills of Exchange, 
 drawn by fome Merchants there, in favor of the 
 late Public Treafurer of the Province, on cer- 
 tain Gentlemen in London and Briftol. 
 
 This being the plain and fimple ftate of the 
 Cafe, it is but juft that the AfTembly’s induce- 
 ments for adopting this meafure Ihould accom- 
 pany the fad. After a repofe of about three 
 Years, from the date of the laft Tranfaftion, the 
 Alfembiy had been, no .doubt, ruminatino- upon 
 the fituation of Public Affairs, both at hoine and 
 abroad: and as Men of liberal fentiments difdain 
 to confine their Benefactions to the Members of 
 their own foil and climate ; and, like Citizens 
 of the World, taicing a wife and extended range 
 and wifely contemplating the rife and fall of Em- 
 pires, and, probably, refecting that the Confti- 
 
 tution 
 
tution of Great Britain was apparently going to 
 decay, and that only one faint dawn of hope re- 
 mained from mClab of Patriots, who had then lately 
 formed themfelves into a Society for Supporting 
 <fhc Bill of Rights : I fay, from fome of thefe 
 confiderations they voted the Sum ftated in the 
 Order. It appears, likewife, very clear to me % 
 that, they were convinced 44 how nearly the Ame- 
 « ricans muft be affefted by any attacks upon 
 44 the Conftitutional Rights and Liberties of their 
 “ Fellow-Subjefts refiaing in Great Britain ; and 
 *« that they, perceiving the Oppreffions they and 
 “ the' Colonies actually fuffered proceeded from 
 44 the fame caufe •, and alfo feelingly fympathiz- 
 44 in® - with thofe noble Spirits , who had flood, and 
 44 we're then {landing, as it were, in the Breach, 
 44 fronting the whole coliefted Fury of .Minifterial 
 44 Vengeance ; therefore they gave this free and 
 44 liberal aid, that the fame might be applied 
 in Defence of the Conftitutional Rights of all 
 “ tk*Subjetf:s of tjie Britilh Empire and par- 
 44 ticularly for Supporting fuch of their Fellow- 
 44 Subiefts, who, by averting the juft Rights of 
 44 the People, become obnoxious to Adminiftra- 
 44 tion, and fiiffer from the Hand of Power. 
 
 44 I am alfo perfuaded, that this Aftiftance was 
 44 given upon an idea, that thofe noble Purpofes 
 44 could not be carried into execution in any 
 44 meafure fo effectually as by placing the Mo- 
 44 ney in the Hands of the Gentlemen Supporters 
 44 of The Bill of Rights , that truly Patriotic Body 
 44 of Men-, fo that Peace, and Happinefs, and Con- 
 44 ftitutional Security, might thereby be exten- 
 44 ftvely and freely enjoyed .by every Subject 
 44 throughout the Britilh Empire. 
 
 * The Committee's Letter to the Agent. 
 
 T\a 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 Ko Man can deny that thefe were the often- 
 Able reafons for this extraordinary Gift ; and as 
 all our prefent Diftradions fpring from this Angle 
 fource ; and as the tendency or the meafure 
 makes this fubjed a point of fome concern; I 
 fliall take the liberty to examine it with all that 
 fpirit of Freedom, which it feems to have been 
 the ambition of thewAfiembly, in other cafes, tp 
 cultivate and improve. I fly to the great Bul- 
 wark of our Liberties — the Prefs — and as it is 
 the peculiar privilege of z free-born Subjed of ' 
 Great Britain to conflder the legality, juftice, 
 and propriety of Public Meafures, no Man, with 
 any face of reafon, can blame my condud in this 
 refped. I purpofely avoid every perfonal reflec- 
 tion ; neither is it my defign to caft a flur on a 
 Angle Individual, or to point at the charaders, 
 principles, or tenets of Private Perfons. — It is 
 the ad of the whole Body which alone engages 
 my attention ; and, therefore, if any word or 
 phrafe can be tortured to import private reflec- 
 tions, let them call to mind, that I profefs to treat 
 of Meafures , not of Men. 
 
 I believe it will be readily allowed, by every 
 Perfon of common Underftanding, that the. Purity 
 of an Intention is not of itfelf alone _a fubftan- 
 tial reafon for a meafure grounded thereon ; and 
 it is a point alike obvious and admiffible, that 
 whatever Ads, for the advancement of the Pub- 
 lic Good, are.propofed to be adopted by a Le- 
 giflative Body, muft have their foundation in the 
 Conftitution, . or ought to be rejeded : becaufe, 
 under imaginary notions of doing : good upon falfe 
 principles, they may be infenflbly led to commit 
 great evil : it is, therefore, incumbent upon all 
 Bodies Politic , to examine with the utmoft nicety 
 and preciflon, the true bottom and foundation of 
 every propofltion, left they fheuid be unwarily 
 
 C betrayed 
 
I lo ] 
 
 ■betrayed to wound that Conftitution, which it is 
 their Duty to fupport. Legiflators muft never 
 do any thing, merely becaufe they dare ; for 
 this is a. bafe and ignoble maxim : — they muft al- 
 ways Virtuoufly Dare to do what is Rights that 
 they may be cautioufly fearful of doing what 
 is Wrong. 
 
 The Money being thus voted and remitted,, 
 was actually paid to the Illuftrious Supporters of 
 the Bill of Rights , or to the Secretary of that 
 Society for their ufe, according to the intention 
 of the gift : how the fame has been applied is a 
 kind of fecret, which will probably remain fo ; 
 and it is very foreign to my prefent purpofe, to 
 pafs even a conjecture on this head. 
 
 About the month of March, 1770, the Lower 
 Houfe fent to His Majefty’s Council (being the 
 Upper Houfe of Aftembly) the Annual Tax- 
 Bill, to defray the Charges of the Government 
 from the firft day of January to the thirty-firft day 
 of December, 1769, both days inclufive, and for 
 other Services therein mentioned; andonthe fecond 
 reading thereof, and alfo of the Schedule there- 
 to annexed, the Council difcovered the following 
 Charge: viz. “ To Jacob Motte, Efq. ad- 
 vanced by him to certain Members of the 
 Houfe, by a Refolution of the Houfe of the 
 “ eighth of December laft, 10,-500 1.” and the 
 Council, by a meftage to the Lower Houfe, dated 
 the fifth day of April, 1770, declared. That the 
 Grant of the Sum beforernentioned did not ap- 
 peal, in any fenfe, honourable, fit, or decent : not 
 hit or Honourable, as they. conceived the Affem- 
 bly s JurifdiCtion was merely local, and for Pro- 
 vincial Purpcies ; and not Decent, as the Grant 
 by the Tax -Bill was exprefsly declared to be for 
 His Majefty, and >et contained a provifton high-- 
 y a Trontive to His Majefty’s Government, which 
 
 they 
 
I 11 ] 
 
 they declared to have ever been, in their opinion^ 
 Gracious, Mild and Good, to all His faithful 
 People. The MelTage was temperate; and cal- 
 culated to perfuade the Lower Houfe to remove 
 that obftacle which prevented them from giving 
 their concurrence to the Bill. 
 
 The AlTembly fent an Anfwer two days after, 
 returning the Council’s Meffage for their Calm 
 Re-con fideration; which was immediately followed 
 by another from the Upper Houfe, exprelfing that 
 the Aflemblv’s Proceedings were neither Parlia- 
 mentary or proper ; and that they were determin- 
 ed to adhere to their former fentiments. About 
 this time a Prorogation rook place ; and thus 
 ended the Bufinefs of this Sefiion. 
 
 The Legifiature again fat in Auguft following, 
 when the Honourable William Bull, Efq. Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, communicated a Copy of His 
 Majefty’s additional Inftruction to the Governor, 
 which had then lately come to his Honour’s hands, 
 bearing date the fourteenth day of April, 1770. 
 
 This Inftrtnftion recites, “ That the Lower 
 “ Houfe of AlTembly in South Carolina had lately 
 tc affumed to themfelves a power of ordering, with- 
 “ out the concurrence of the Governor and Coun- 
 “ cil, the Public Treafurer of the faid Province 
 w to ilTue and advance, out of the Public Trea- 
 “ fury, fuch Sums of Money, and for fuch Ser* 
 “ vices, as they had thought fit. — It next ftates the 
 “ Cafe before rehearfed, which was the very occa- 
 “ fion of this new Inftruftion ; and after deeming 
 “ it juft to put a ftop to fuch dangerous and un- 
 “ warrantable Practices, and' for guarding againft 
 “ fuch unconftitutional Application of the King’s 
 “ Treafure, Chearfully Granted to Plis Majelty, 
 “ for the public Ufes of the Province, and for 
 (c Support of the Government thereof. His Ma- 
 !“ jelly is pleafed to direft the Governor, on Pain 
 C 2 “of 
 
t 12 1 
 
 *< of Removal, not to give his Affent to any Bill 
 « that fhall be paffed by the Lower Houfe. of 
 « Aflembly, by which any Sum of Money fhall 
 “ be appropriated to, or Provifion made for, de- 
 « fraying any Expence incurred for Services or 
 ‘ Purpofes not immediately arifing within, or in- 
 « cident to, the faid Province, unlefs upon the 
 King’s Special Requifition •, nor to any Bill for 
 Granting any Sum to His Majefty, &c. in 
 « which Bill it fhall not be Provided, in expreis 
 “ Words, that the Money fo to be Granted, or 
 « any Part thereof, fhall not be Iffued or Applied 
 <c to any other Services than thofe to which it 
 « is by the faid Bill appropriated, unlefs by Aft 
 “ or Ordinance of the General AfTembly of the 
 “ faid Province. 
 
 “ The Proclamation next forbids the Gover- 
 nor to give his Affent to any Bill paffed by the 
 « Lower Houfe, by which any Sum fhall be 
 « Granted to His Majefcy, &c. generally, and 
 “ without Appropriation, unlefs there be aClaufe 
 « inferted, Providing, that the faid Money fo to 
 - “ be Granted fhall remain in the Treafury, fub- 
 “ jed to fuch Appropriation as fhall thereafter 
 “ be made by Ad: or Ordinance as aforefaid. 
 
 “ It contains alfo a Provifion, that in all fu- 
 “ ture Bills for Raffing and Granting Public 
 “ Monies, a Claufe be added, lubjeding the 
 “ Public Treafurer, &c. in cafe he fhall Iflue or 
 “ Pay any fuch Money otherwife than by ex- 
 <( prefs Order contained in fome Ad or Ordi- 
 “ nance of the General Affembly, to a Penalty 
 <e in Treble the Sum fo Iffued contrary thereto, 
 €t and declaring them to be ipfo faffo incapable 
 of holding his faid Office, Or any other, Civil 
 or Military, within the faid Province. ” 
 
 On the thirtieth day of Auguft, 1770, the 
 Commqns Houfe of Affembly made another ex- 
 periment. 
 
t *3 1 
 
 periment, by fending a like Tax-I^ill and Sche- 
 dule, containing the fame obnoxious Item as the 
 former, which the Upper Houfe rejected on the 
 firft reading ; a thing feldom done, and perr 
 haps only allowable in certain cafes : however, 
 this Seffion ended like the preceding one, by a 
 Prorogation to the 1 6th of January 1771. 
 
 On the 15th of February following the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor communicated to the Coun- 
 cil the following paragraph of a Letter which he 
 received the fame day from the Right Honour- 
 able the Earl of Hilfborough : “ I muft not 
 “ omit to acquaint you, that the becoming man- 
 “ ner in which the Council have exerted thcm- 
 “ felves in fupport of his Majefty’s Meafures, has 
 “ not efcaped the King’s Obfervation ; and I am 
 “ commanded to fignify to you his Majefty’s 
 “ Pleafure, that you fhould exprefs to them 
 “ his Majefty’s Approbation of their Conduct;’* 
 which his Honour the Lieutenant Governor did 
 accordingly. 
 
 It would be tedious and unprofitable to fet 
 down the many Meetings of Afiembly ftnee this 
 period, or to mark the feveral Prorogations and 
 Difiolutions which have taken place from time 
 to time; it being fufficient for the prefent purpofe 
 to obferve, that the feveral Tax-Bills fm'ce Auguft. 
 1770 have been reje&ed by the Upper Houfe 
 upon the fame principle that influenced them to 
 rejeft the former Bills •, and the fame obftruftion 
 to public bufinefs ftill remains ; the fame, firmnefs 
 in the Council in oppoftng what the Afiembly 
 infill upon as a Right, tho’ difallowed by the 
 King’s lnftrinftion ; and the fame obftinacy in 
 the Commons Houfe to maintain the Right con- 
 tended for : every feafon has produced warm 
 refolutions and meffages in a ftile of contempt 
 and intemperate refentment. 
 
 I cannot 
 
t i4 ) ■ ;, 
 
 I cahnot omit taking notice in this "place,' 
 that in Oflober 1771 another Tax-Bill was 
 brought to the Upper Houfe, and in Novem- 
 ber following was returned to the Lower Houfe, 
 with a mefiage grounded on the .original objec- 
 tion ; and as they in the courfe of this Sellion 
 proceeded fo far as to commit the prefent 
 Public Treafurers for a non-compliance on their 
 part with a new order of the Houfe for pay- 
 ment of money for a public ufe upon their 
 cwn Authority alone , and in the face of the 
 King’s InftruCtion providing againft any fuch 
 attempts, the Houfe was immediately diffolved. 
 In April 1772, when Lord Charles Montague 
 was in the Adminiftration of Public Bufinefs, he 
 took occafion in his Speech at the opening of 
 that Seflion, to acquaint the Commons Houfe 
 of Afiembly, that his IVlajefty “ had lately again 
 “ fignified to him, that it was his pleafure, That 
 cc he (hould adhere with firmnefs to the direc- 
 “ tions contained in his additional inftruCtion 
 “ of the 14th of April 1770 ; and that it was 
 “ his firm refolution to adhere to the Confti- 
 * tution.” 
 
 The Provincial Agent has been inftruCted to 
 apply to the Crown, requefting his Majefty 
 to reconfider the faid Inftru&ion and alfo to 
 withdraw the fame. A Petition was accordingly 
 prefented for that purpofe but the Inftrudtion 
 has neither been vacated or withdrawn : the 
 Reader will therefore clearly perceive that a fo- 
 lemn confirmation of the Royal Order in his 
 Majefty ’s Privy Council places the difpute at 
 fo great a diftance, that there is not the leaft 
 fhadow of expectation that the Crown will re- 
 voke an ACt framed upon mature deliberation. 
 Befides, after the moft gracious condefcenfion on 
 .the King’s part to the ardent, wifhes of the Com- 
 mons 
 
[ 15 7 
 
 frions Houfe of Afiembly, the faid IhftruCKorf 
 having been ratified and confirmed on a revi- 
 fion of the merits, it is the moft unpardonable 
 prefumption to look for further conceflions 
 from the Crown. 
 
 It is not foreign to the point to obferve, 
 that the King’s Minifters have been, from time 
 to time, furnifhed with every plaufible argu- 
 ment in favour of the Vote and Refolution, and 
 with every precedent from their Journals, that 
 by any conftruCtion can be confidered as a plea 
 for fuch a practice ; and therefore the cafe has 
 been in as fair a train as poffible, and mull: be 
 prefumed to have undergone the ftriCteft fcru- 
 tiny and enquiry. But notwithstanding all thefe 
 advantages on the fide of the Commons Houfe, 
 and that nothing urged by them has ever been 
 oppofed or contradicted by any other body of 
 men before the Privy Council, the fame obftacle 
 ftands in the way ; and not a fingle public debt 
 has been provided for fince the commencement 
 of this difpute on the fatal 8th of December 
 1769. And that we may form fome idea how the 
 Royal Mind ftands affeCted in relation to this fub- 
 ieCt, fo late as the month of June 1773, I give 
 you the following ExtraCt from my Lord Dart- 
 mouth’s Letter to his Honor the Lieutenant 
 Governor, relative to the Council’s having in 
 March laft rejected the Tax- Bill, which lie 
 communicated to the Council the 6th day of 
 Auguft laft, viz. His Lordlhip acquaints him, 
 “That the faid proceeding of the Council was 
 “ confidered by the King as a frelh mark of 
 “ their zeal and duty ; and his Lordlhip was 
 “ further commanded to defire, that his Ho- 
 “ nor would not fail to figmfy to the Council 
 “ his Majefty’s Approbation of their ConduCt 
 which his Honor then did with great pleafure. 
 
 Thus 
 
r 16 i 
 
 Thus have I moft difpafiio’nately and candidly 
 Rated every material circumftance attending this 
 important fubjeCt, nearly in the words ufed by 
 the feveral parties in the courfe of the trans- 
 action ; and, as far as I can judge, in no fhape 
 contradictory to their genuine fenfe and mean- 
 ing. I am not confcious that any thing is omit- 
 ted which can give light or information in the 
 cafe j and tho’ I have been neceffarily obliged to 
 trefpafs upon my Reader’s Patience in order to 
 colleCt the fubftance of every Legiflative ACt, 
 and bring it into a clear point, of view, fo far 
 as relates to the Vote and Order of die 
 Commons PMufe of Aflembly, yet I truft that 
 the matter in difpute will be now more clearly 
 underftood. v 
 
 The true points of debate, then, may be com- 
 prehended in a few plain pofitions, arifing from 
 the above detail of faCts, viz. That the Commons 
 Houfe of Aflembly ftgnalized themfelves in fa- 
 vour of a Club called the Supporters of the Bill 
 ■ of Rights , held at the London Tavern, by vot- 
 ing in December 1 769 1500I. Sterling for their 
 ufe, and ordering the Public Treafurer to pay 
 the fame out of any monies in the Treafury. 
 
 That this Order was made by their own Sole 
 Authority , independent of, and without the pri- 
 vity 'or confent of the other two branches of 
 the Legiflature. 
 
 That when the firft Annual Tax-Bill was 
 fent to the Upper Houfe in the month of 
 March 1770, with a Schedule annexed contain- 
 ing the following charge, viz. “ To Jacob 
 “ Motte, Efq. advanced by him to the perfons 
 “ named by a Refolution of the Houfe 10,500!. 
 “ (being of the value of 1500I Sterling}” the 
 Council rejected the faid Bill, and feverai fub- 
 
 fequent 
 
t *; I 
 
 Sequent ones have fxnce met with the like fat# 
 for the very fame reafon. 
 
 That the conduct of his Majefty’s Council has 
 not only been twice highly approved by the King 
 himfelf, but the ’dilpute has been taken up 
 by the Crown ; and by an additional Inftruftion 
 to the Governor, fuch Orders have been, declared 
 to be unconftitutional j and the like praftice 
 has been thereby fully provided againft in future. 
 
 That the Affembly, tenacious of their -Rights 
 as conceived by them, and obftinate in adhering 
 to the meafure which had given fo juft caufe of 
 offence, have repeatedly perfifted in the juftice 
 and propriety of the original Vote and Order, 
 notwithftanding his Majefty’s royal interpofttion 
 in the cafe. 
 
 Thus ftands this important Conteft between 
 the Crown and the People’s Reprefentatives of 
 his Majefty’s Colony of South Carolina. 
 
 Let us now proceed to confider the Act of the 
 Commons Houle with a bold and manly freedom , 
 and in all the different views in which it can be 
 placed. 
 
 Firft, then, the meafure was originally bad, 
 in every fenfe of the word. For granting the 
 power, for argument fake, to be in the Affem- 
 bly to pals fuch a Vote and Order, independently 
 of the other two Branches of the Legiflature 
 ftill the exercife of fuch a power, in the cafe 
 ftated by the Order, was idly and unnecejfarily 
 wanton ; the appropriation of the fum for the pur- 
 pofes mentioned, arbitrary and unjujl • the objedts 
 of their benevolence, laughable , ridiculous , and 
 abfurd j and the pretended caufe of the Grant, a 
 grofS' and -palpable affront to his Majefty, as alio 
 to- his Government. 
 
 That the A£t was both idle and wanton, may 
 appear from a confideration of the Roval pro 
 
 D dileiftibn 
 
t I* ] 
 
 dile&lon in favor of this Colony on numberlefit 
 occafions. The King’s Minifters have ever been 
 open to accefs, and almoft every propofition from, 
 the Agent has been attended with remarkable 
 fuccefs : in war, we have been peculiarly pro- 
 tected by an early appointment of Convoys ; and 
 Government has afforded its beft aid to procure 
 liberal Bounties on the various produces of the 
 country : in Ihort, the Colony of South Carolina 
 may be confidered as one of the moft favour- 
 ed foils in his Majefty’s American Dominions. 
 That the meafure was arbitrary and' unjuft, I 
 appeal to any man of common lenfe and under- 
 ftanding. The Delegates of the People may raife 
 money-, it is, perhaps, their immediate province 
 to originate Supply Bills, and to lay Duties, 
 Taxes, and Impofitions upon the People, with 
 the concurrence of the other Branches of the 
 State : but under pretext of thefe Conftitutional 
 and inherent Powers, they ought not to extend 
 thefe Rights beyond the original views and in- 
 tention of thofe from whom they derive their 
 whouKuthoritv. There is a line of JurifdiCtion for 
 everywder of men in a civilized date, beyond 
 which they cannot pafs ; and fit it is that Public 
 Bodies fhould have boundaries, reflraints, and 
 limitations, fince they are equally liable with 
 Individuals to be milled by palfion, fancy, or 
 caprice. . 
 
 With what colour of juflice could the Afiem- 
 bly tax their Conftituents, and apply their money 
 for purpofes altogether foreign, under pretence 
 cf a power to raife money upon the People, for 
 fervices or purpofes immediately arifing withiri 
 or incident to the Provinces ? Their Authority 
 is local \ and as their Laws are only made for 
 their own internal Government, and extend not 
 beyond the Jurifdidtion to which they refer, fo 
 
 in 
 
it 19 1 
 
 in like manner muft every Legiflative Adt be^r A 
 local reference, and every Grant or Appropriation 
 of Money muft, generally fpeaking, be made for 
 real and fubftantial fervices performed to the Pro- 
 vince. They have no more right to raife money 
 upon conftruftive ideas of benefit and fervice, 
 than the Judges have to declare conjlruftive 
 Treafons : No ; the Law has defined and clearly 
 pointed out the crime of Treafon, and the £on- 
 ftitution has as precifely afcertained the power ojf 
 the Commons to give and grant. 
 
 It may be faid, that the Affembly have many 
 times voted fums, by way of Relief to theif 
 Sifter Colonies labouring under any general Ca- 
 lamity ; and hence it may be inferred, that they 
 have aright to difpofe of the People’s' Mjpney* 
 and apply it to other ufes than for their own im- 
 mediate lervice. I readily allow the firft part 
 of the pofition, but I deny that fo general a 
 conclufion can be fairly drawn from it. The 
 mifery and fufferings of our fellow-creatures de- 
 mand our aid ; Humanity dictates the leflijn j 
 Nature pleads for it ; and Gratitude re qra fes it ; 
 and therefore this cafe is neceffarily excelled out 
 of the general maxim : befides, what one Co- 
 lony gives to another is in fofne refpedt a kind 
 of loan ; inafmuch as the like return is made 
 to our benevolence when Diftrefs vifits our own 
 borders. Neither this cafe, nor a Grant of Mo- 
 neys upon a Royal Requisition, can afford the 
 leaft pretence for a Vote, grounded upon merely 
 an ideal benefit, fuch as the Order ftates. 
 
 It is true, that the Commons are to judge and 
 determine in what cafes they will or ought to 
 give and grant ; but furely it is implied, that 
 they fhall not arbitrarily and injurioufiy appro- 
 priate the Public Treafure, and thereby abufe 
 the confidence- repofed in them by the People, 
 
 D 2 Surely 
 
t 20 ] 
 
 Surely it will not be contended, that they have 
 a right to impoverifh the Memb»ers of the State, 
 when the necefiities of Government require no 
 fuch exertions. Admit, for a moment, that the 
 Aflembly are pofiefled of a power to apply the 
 Money of their Conftituents to any purpofes ge- 
 nerally, and we muft alfo admit, that they may 
 do fo to any Amount and Extent whatever •, and 
 then, I think, the Reprefented are in a Hate of 
 abfolute Vaffalage and ruinous Dependence. 
 
 Is it not an' Arbitrary Aft to tax the Eftates 
 of the Subjects in this Colony to fupport a pri- 
 vate Club , a Tavern Club , a fabliaus Club , upon 
 any fpecious pretence or colourable excufe ? — 
 Is it juft, fit, of reafonable, that Burthens fhould 
 be laid upon the People, to ferve a job or gratify 
 a whim ? — Can Men fuffer themfelves to be fo de- 
 luded, and amufed, to their lofs as well as fhame ? 
 — Are chains more tolerable, becaufe impofed by 
 our own confent ? — Can Men tamely Surrender 
 their Reafon, and the power .of Judging for them- 
 felves, by a Angle abl of Delegation? — Was it 
 their fenfe and meaning, to fumifh their Confti- 
 tuents with rods for their own backs ; and are 
 thofe whom they chofe to reprefent and to protect 
 them, to be their Executioners ? — Is the Colony 
 arrived to full maturity y 1 — -Has it no wants of any 
 kind ? — Does it ftand in need of no Supplies for 
 Beneficial Eftablifhments ; for the Encreafe and 
 Advancement of the Products of the Soil ; the 
 Extenfion of its Commerce, and the Promotion 
 of ufeful Knowledge ? Are the feveral Counties 
 fo well fupplied with Churches, Chapels, and Spi- 
 ritual Teachers and with Schools f6r the Inftruc- 
 tion of Youth ; or. Are thePublic Roads, Bridges, 
 Caufeways, andFortifications,in fuch perfect ftate 
 and condition y and are the circumftances of the 
 .Colony in general fo extremely eafy, that the 
 
 Treafury 
 
C 3 
 
 Treafury meet only to receive , and not to pay? 
 If thefe things are fo, we may overlook, for once 
 at leafl, the idle prodigality complained of : but if 
 thefe queftions cannot be favourably anfwered. 
 Every Man in the Community is injured to a, 
 certain degree* and every Sum diverted from their 
 Service, is an Aft of real Tyranny' and Infolent 
 Oppreffion. 
 
 For my own part, I muft candidly confefs, that 
 3 never reflefted in ' my mind upon this fubjeft, 
 but I found two very different paffions excited in 
 my breaft, mirth and refentment. The comical 
 part of the flory is. That a Co lleft ive Body of 
 Men, in their grave and fenatorial ft at ions ^ Ihould 
 perfuade themfelves, that Magna Charta , the 
 ■Habeas Corpus Aft , and the Bill of Rights, flood in 
 need of a little propping from a Club of Men 
 whofe ftandard was fet up at the London Tavern. 
 That the. King, Lords, and Commons of England 
 were either remifs in their Duty to the State, or 
 indifferent about it *, that all the Virtue and Pub- 
 lic Spirit in the Nation had fqueezed itfelf into the 
 London Tavern ; and that nothing could fave 
 Britain and America, but a little ablution at that 
 facred fpring * are fuch abfurd and laughable cir- 
 cumflances, that no Age or Nation can furnifh a 
 Precedent fo fuperlatively ridiculous and weak ! 
 Enjoy the laugh for a moment — fupprefs your 
 anger, and image to yourfelves a fet of fedate fen- 
 fible Politicians, with big wigs and grave faces, 
 unanimoufly palling fuch a Vote, and fuch an 
 Order, by the plenitude of their own power. 
 
 View the cafe in a ferious light, and it is im- 
 poflible to fit Calm and unmoved at the relation. 
 What could influence Men to flep forth, and, by 
 an unconflitutional ^nd unwarrantable flretch of 
 Power, to mifapply the Public Money, and at 
 
 the 
 
! * 1 
 
 the fame time offer fo grofs an infult to His Ma- . 
 jefty’s Government both at home and abroad ? 
 
 The Houfe of Commons have never gone far- 
 ther than palling a Vote of Credit upon a requi- 
 fition from the King *, and That for Public and 
 Beneficial Purpofes, and on Great and Emergent 
 Occalions : but this Order can never be confider- 
 ed in the nature of a Vote of Credit ; for it is 
 literally iffuing Money out of the Treasury, the 
 application whereof has either been directed by 
 Taw, or the fame is part of certain Surpluses 
 arifing from different Funds, which though raifed, 
 exceeds the Necefiity for which the fame was 
 granted, and therefore remains in the hands of 
 the Treafurer, to be accounted for as the refpec- 
 tive Laws limit and appoint. It is therefore ex- 
 tremely evident, that fuch Surplus Money is a 
 Idnd oi facrum depojiium in the Treafurer’s hands, 
 which only the United Branches of the Legiflature 
 can appropriate or iffue. What is once granted 
 to His Majefty, cannot be diverted from the ufes 
 to which it is meant to be applied,— No one in his 
 fenfes can contend that it may : and it is equally 
 abfurd for one Branch of the Legiflature to touch 
 Surplus Money ; not only becaufe the fame has 
 been actually granted, and to the perfection of 
 which Grant the Three feveral Branches .of the 
 Legiflature had unitedly concurred, and, there- 
 fore, the like Powers only can direCt a different 
 appointment refpeCting the fame; but alfo becaufe 
 a' Grant, till vacated by as; folemn an ACt, mull 
 Hand good, and will continue to bind the Money,- 
 fo as to prevent any appropriation whatfoever, 
 till a Law dire&s it. And it is a joke to fay, that 
 Surplus Money may be borrowed in this loofe 
 way, upon an idea, that what is not wanted re- 
 vefts, as it were, (by a kind of ingenious fiCtion) 
 in the People, or in their Reprefentatives in their 
 
 behalf. 
 
[ *3 ] 
 
 behalf. For, How can this fiftion operate as a 
 fort of virtual Repeal of the Law which granted 
 the Sum ? or. At what moment of time, and by 
 what kind of fecret Magic, was the fame effefted ? 
 —For, being once verted in the King, by Law^ 
 how can any part thereof become diverted by a 
 mere partial Order of only the Lower, and molt 
 fubordinate, Houfe of Legiflature ? Weak men 
 will difpute any point, however idle and abfurd y 
 wife men will both reafon and difpute ; and fools 
 will difpute, and refufe to be convinced. That 
 His Majefty’s Council have fomethrng to do in 
 the Money-concerns of the Colony, appears by 
 an Aft of Affembly, parted the twentieth of Sep- 
 tember, 1721, entitled, « An Aft for Appointing 
 “ a Public Treafurer, and other Public Officers-,’* 
 by which they are made liable to be called to ac- 
 count by each, and either, Houfe of Affembly, 
 and their bonds put in fuit • by the direction of 
 either Houfe, &c. 
 
 Now, to fliew that the Ordering Surplus Mo- 
 nies to be paid upon a direction of the Commons 
 Houfe alone, cannot be altogether proper, I muft 
 take notice, that divers Laws make provifion in 
 fuch cafes ; and particularly the General Duty Aft 
 parted the fourteenth of June, 1751, refpeftin^ 
 the Duties impofed thereby, viz. That “ what> 
 <c ever Surplus fhall be remaining "of the faid 
 “ Duties, after paying the feveral Demands and 
 
 Outgoings by this Aft direfted, every fuch 
 ft Surplus fhall be carefully retained by the faid 
 “ Public Treafurer, until appropriated bv the 
 “ General Affembly. ” * 
 
 . Similar Provifions are made by divers Other 
 Afts •, which demonftrably prove, that Surplus 
 and unapplied Monies in the Treafury canhot be 
 drawn thereout by a Vote and Order of the Com- 
 mons Houfe alone, ' 
 
 A 
 
£ *4 3 
 
 A little reflection muft convince every Man, 
 *hat the Power contended for by the Commons 
 Houfe is of fo dangerous a nature in itfelf, as 
 affords a ftrong argument againft the exiftence of 
 fuch Power ; for if the Lower Houfe may fo 
 Vote and Order Monies out of the Treafury, 
 which are granted fo His Majefty, and that by 
 their own Authority, may not the fame Power be 
 aflumed by a Governor, or the Council, or both 
 unitedly, to anfwer a Job, or to accompliflh a fa- 
 vourite Plan, independent of the People’s Reprer 
 fentatives ? — and the rather, when it is confider.- 
 ed that, by the King’s Twenty-fecond Inftruc-. 
 tion, as entered in the Council Journals, the Go- 
 vernor “ is directed not to fuffer any Public. 
 « Money whatfoever to be iflued and difpofed 
 « of, otherwife than by Warrant under his Hand, 
 « by, and with, the .advice and confent of the 
 “ Council.” 
 
 If the matter is taken up on ideas of common 
 fenfe, it is doing no violence to our underftand- 
 ings to fuppofe, that a Governor may ifiue Mo- 
 nies by his own Order, as reprefenting His Ma- 
 jefty, to whom the fame were granted ; but that 
 the Commons, who have granted the Money, 
 Ihail ftill retain a power over it, repofiefs them- 
 lelves of it, arid apply it at their pleafure, for a 
 good reafon or a bad one, or for no reafon at all, 
 furpafies all human comprehenfion. 
 
 Happy, however, is our cafe, that the prefent 
 fubjeCt does not reft upon Opinion merely, but 
 js determinable by the Principles of that Confti- 
 tution, which ought to be the pride and glory of 
 ^11 the Subjects of His Majefty’s Dominions. 
 The true excellence * of the Englifh Government 
 jtonfifts in this, “ that all the parts of it form a 
 
 * i Blackft. 154. 
 
 “ mutual 
 
£ *5 J 
 
 mutual check upon each other.— In the Le- 
 
 giflature, the People are a check upon the 
 4 ‘ Nobility, and the Nobility a check upon the 
 **• People, by the mutual privilege' of rejecting 
 **. what the other has refolved while the King is 
 * a check upon both •, which prefer.ves the ex- 
 “ ecutive power from encroachments. ” 
 
 In this view it is, that His Majefty has inter- 
 pofed His Royal Authority, by an Additional In- 
 Jlrudlion to His Governor, grounded upon an ac- 
 tual, dangerous, and unconftituticnal Encroach- 
 ment of the Commons Houfe of Aflembly, in 
 the manner ftated in thefe fheets. — This has been 
 done by way of check ; and in order to prevent a 
 p rad: ice fo unwarrantable, and that the wound 
 thereby given to the Conftitution may be healed, 
 the Inftrucfcion muft be viewed in the light of a 
 timely CorreSion by the Executive Power, and as , 
 a call and admonition to aThird Branch of the Le- 
 giflature to return to Brit principles, from 
 which they had fo improperly departed •, and is 
 alfo intended to prevent in future, what feems, 
 to the Royal Judgement, art. undue Encroach- 
 ment : it is, therefore, injurious to confider this 
 Adt of Government merely as a Di-redtion to the 
 Commons Houle of this Colony, how, and in 
 what manner, they Ihali frame and originate a Mo- 
 ney Bill i becaufe the King only tells them of 
 them departure from the Conftitution ; points out 
 the proper practice, as grounded thereon ; and, * 
 by thus interpofing, and prohibiting His Repre- ' 
 fentative from giving His Alien t improperly, and 
 upon unfit occafions, as alfo to remedy the evil 
 complained of with fo much juftice. His Majefty 
 has done no more than exercifed that Adi of Sove- 
 reignty given Him by the Conftitution, for the 
 purpofe oi maintaining the Juft Balance of the 
 £,tate-, 
 
 E 
 
 The 
 
• L ] 
 
 . The diftin&ion is extremely obvious, between 
 an Inftrudion given as a rule of conduft to the 
 feveral Branches of the Legiflature, upon a point of 
 departure from acknowledged principles, and an 
 Inftrudion which contains new-fangled ideas, not 
 warranted by, or known to, the Conftitution. — 
 The one is only a Remembrancer, as it were, re- 
 minding them what the Conftitution is, and giv- 
 ing them a rule for adhering to it ; which is the 
 regular check lodged in the King’s hands to pre- 
 sent Encroachment ; whereas th<? other would be 
 irregular, and favour of the nature of a trefpafs : 
 and a novel Invention , from whatever quarter, is an 
 innovation upon the Other Branches of theLegifla- 
 ture.; Keeping thefe obferyations in view, every 
 popular argument againft the King’s Inftrudions, 
 as beirig only a rule to His Governor , and that’the 
 People are not to be Injlrufted, muft fall to the 
 ground, as inconclufive and foreign to the 
 point. 
 
 I know that many People, finding no warrant 
 for the practice contended for by the Aflembly, 
 either in the Proceedings of Parliament, or in the 
 Conftitution of our Country, have immediate re - 
 courfe to the ufage of the Province for a feries of 
 years, without controul or interruption ^ and to 
 thofe who Ikim over a difpute, without weighing 
 the force of the feveral arguments, this affertion 
 may be confidered as a good plea in favour of the 
 practice and therefore I think it my duty to 
 offer a few words on the only feafible pretence 
 which the advocates for it can fet up. 
 
 It is yery true, that, for feveral years antece- 
 dent to the year 1737, the Commons Houfe have 
 prdered Monies to be advanced by the Treafur- 
 er, without the concurrence of the Council and 
 alfent of the Governor ; but from that period, 
 no fuch mode prevailed, till the year 1751, or 
 
 ffi f ' 1752 J 
 
[ 27 j . • 
 
 15752 i and fince that time many Orders occur, 
 fome fent for concurrence, and many not. This 
 difference of proceeding points out a diftin&ion ; 
 for where they have ordered Monies arifing from 
 appropriated Funds which have not been wanted, 
 the Council’s concurrence and the Governor’s 
 affent have been applied ’for : but where the Or- 
 ders have been general, they have, gone upon a 
 ihrt^ of idea, That there were Surplufages and 
 Balances fufficient to fatisfy the Order without' 
 any intermediate Inconvenience, till the fame 
 could be replaced by a Public Tax-Bill ; and I 
 cannot in any other way account for the courfe 
 of practice which has at different times pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 In order to combat thefe Fads, let us previ- 
 oufly reflect what flow advances Infant Societies of 
 Men make towards Regularity or Perfection ; that 
 in the firft outfet they are occupied in providing 
 for their neceffary wants, and fecuring their pro- 
 tedion-, the niceties and punctilios of Public 
 Bufinefs never enter their heads, till they have 
 brought their Colony to fuch an outward flate 
 that they feel fome Self-conceit has crept into their 
 hearts y then it is that Men begin to give the polifh 
 to their Ads, and to be emulous of Fame : the 
 Precedents, therefore, of new Communities are 
 of very little weight ; and whatever rank they 
 bear, the influence they ought to have muft be 
 proportioned to the prevailing Uniformity of 
 Piadice, which is the true badge of their Impor- 
 tance ; for when there is any long Interruption 
 to, or Difcontinuance of, a Pradice, the fluctu- 
 ation creates Embarraffments, and puzzles the 
 Underflanding, without leading the Mind to any 
 determinate conclufion on the point. 
 
 But granting for once, that a particular mode 
 has been adopted for a feries of years without 
 
 E .2 . interruption 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 interruption or controul* Time gives no fandiort 
 to Ads illegal in themfelves and when Inconve- 
 niencies arife, and the Blot is hit, the Merit of the 
 Pradice is then called in queftion, and it is tried 
 apd muft be determined by the Laws and Conftitu- 
 tionof ourCountry. In like manner PublicRights, 
 of what nature foever they are, (tho’ dormant for 
 a time) can never be extinguished, except by the 
 Power that firft created them-, and the continu- 
 ance of a pradice on no better foundation than 
 Indulgence , confers no permanent and durable tide , 
 mere permiffion. being a tenure at will : the 
 Man is in pofledlon one month, and the Lord 
 of the foil may ejed him the next. 
 
 The inftances wherein the. pretended pradice 
 has prevailed may be fafely admitted, to Shew the 
 impropriety of the like pradice in the prefent 
 cafe •, for every one will readily allow, that al- 
 t-ho’ it may be pardonable for Public Bodies to 
 relax Somewhat in favour of the State, yet 
 it by no -means' follows, that they may do 
 fo or! occafions unworthy of Indulgence. The 
 .inftances which the Affembly can cite for grant- 
 ing Orders by their foie Authority , refer to Pay- 
 ments to their Governor for Indian Ufes, Local 
 Services, Salaries of Clergy advanced on parti- 
 cular occafions, Furniture for the State Houfe, 
 Books for the Affembly, for the Silk Manufac- 
 tory, and the like. And fhall fuch Precedents 
 be urged in defence of Orders made in like form 
 on behalf of Clubs , and idle fantafik Meafures ? 
 for conceits of flimfy Politicians, and to indulge 
 a Spirit of Fadion and Difotder in the Metropo- 
 lis of our Sovereign’s Kingdom ? Can we with 
 any face, plead Precedents of honourable ten- 
 dency to Support the moft wanton ads of paffion 
 and intemperance ? Is it poffible for men to be 
 ft) blinded by prejudice and paffion* that Prece- 
 dents 
 
[ 2 9 ] 
 
 dents for doing real and fubftantial Good fliall be 
 urged in argument to promote the caufe of Evil? 
 Alas ! Reafon has but little influence in the fa- 
 vourite fchemes of State Intrigues f All the ' 
 kind and benevolent affections are at reft '; the 
 fouls of men are perturbed ! Diforder and Dif- 
 tr add ion take the lead ! and every faculty is 
 awakened to breed confuflon and diftruft ! Ir 
 is amazing to refieCt what baneful effects are 
 wrought by Political Manoeuvres ! the Social and 
 Benevolent Spirits retire ; and men for the molt 
 part lofe their Humanity together with their 
 Senfe and Underftanding. Oh Politics! how ye 
 deform the Human Soul 1 blunt Natural Af- 
 fection ! fow the foul Seeds of Hatred and Ill- 
 will ! confound the Laws of Right and Wrong, 
 making our Journey through Life a painful 
 Pilgrimage indeed ! 
 
 _ It is a matter of doubt with me, whether the 
 folly of the Vote, or the folly of perfifting in 
 it after conviction of its impropriety, is the 
 greateft. There is fomething very lingular in 
 the whole of this affair ; for I have been told, 
 that thofe who adopted the meafure, and decline 
 the defence of it •, who frankly own, in their pri- 
 vate fixations, that nothing of" the like land 
 will be done in future ; who very unrefervedly 
 admit it was an hafty bufinefs, and that they 
 heartily repent it * are of fentiments exprefsly op- 
 pose to thefe declarations, in their Public Sta- 
 tion ; and with the utmofl: vehemence declare, 
 that they never will give up the point, or pafs a 
 Tax- ACt whijft the Royal InftruCtion Hands as an 
 obftacje in fhe way. If the meafure cannot be 
 juftified upon the Principles of the Conftitution, 
 common Prudence directs us quietly to relinquish 
 what v/e cannot hold ; and it is’no difgrace for 
 Public Bodies of Men to retraCt any Tenet, 
 
 efpecially 
 
' [ 3 ° 1 
 
 * * * ' # 
 efpfecially when it is either dangerous or impro- 
 per to maintain it. The difpute lies between 
 the King and the Delegates of the People ; and 
 tfitt queftion now is fimply this : Whether the 
 Kifeg is to recall or vacate his Inftrudion •, or the 
 PWple fubmit to a check for an unconftitutional 
 Application of the Public Treafure ? Juftice 
 as well as Prudence require us to yield the point. 
 On firm ground we may fafely tread ; but to 
 perfift in oppofition to a timely and regular in- 
 terfofition, is to me an obftinacy highly culpa- 
 ble, and altogether unbecoming. Perhaps to 
 hio-h Spirits, concefilons of any kind are mortal 
 ftings; but if there mult be a degree of conde- 
 l<;enfion in fome quarter, before tranquility can 
 be reftored to an afflided Province, furely it is 
 . yioft reafonable to exped, that Duty to the King 
 fiiould influence the People to make the firft 
 advances ^ and the rather, as an oppofition in the 
 prefent cafe will inevitably affed the raoft effen- 
 tial Interefts of the Colony, by retarding its 
 Growth, weakening its Credit, and encreafing 
 its Diftradions.- No part of the King’s Domi- 
 
 nions can be injured by this, local difference, nor 
 is the great Machine of Government in the leaft 
 affeded by it • the punifhment is as local as the 
 difpute itfelf j the People of the Colony alone 
 fuffer in the caufe, which no wife man can 
 think a good one. 
 
 It is rather an odd circumftance, that we have 
 no certain information what became of the 1500I. 
 after it was paid into the hands of the Patriotic 
 Club. That it was fpent remains no doubt ; but 
 How, is the great myfterious Queftion. Whe- 
 ther it was applied to pay the 'Tavern Score , 
 or to fatisfy the hungry Creditors of fome half- 
 fiarved Patriot , are problems to puzzle the wife 
 heads of thofe who gave it s but to me 'nothin g 
 
[ 3 1 ] 
 
 is more flrange and unaccountable than . the 
 great referve which all Parties have maintained re- 
 fpedting this unprecedented Benevolence. I have 
 not been able to learn what the venerable Sup- 
 porters ferioufly thought in relation to this 
 .Gift. That they laughed at it, and enjoyed the 
 joke, I can readily fuppofe : that they pafijfd a 
 fneer upon it, and pronounced it an idle Affair,-, 
 that they ridiculed, the Credulity of the Donors,-, 
 and admired their Faith, I can eafily believe-, 
 but it is not poffible to carry our conjectures 
 any farther. 
 
 Some inquifitive folks have been very reftlefs 
 to know what fort of grateful acknowledgments 
 the Club have paid to the Houfe of Afiembly 
 for this generous Donation ; but it is as curious 
 to reflect, that the Silence is equally as fullen on 
 one fide of the water, as it is on the other, f can- 
 not learn from authority, that even, the poor 
 unavailing Tribute of Thanks has been returned 
 for all this Legijlative Kindnefs. There is a. great 
 fhamefacednefs on both lides, in the courfe of this 
 i ranfadtion. The Club either knew not howto 
 exprefs their fenfe of the •'Favour ; or their fim 
 cerity, as men, would not allow them to pay a 
 facrifice which (tho* gainers by the Grant) their 
 Hearts mull difapprove ; and 1 am firmly per- 
 fuaded in my own mind, they were afraid to 
 expofe themfelves by returning thanks : and 
 the Houfe, I - have reafon to believe, are bet- 
 ter pleafed without them. Thus it is when 
 
 Public or Private Bodies of Men play a loofe 
 Game; both Tides are always fhy, and the only 
 way to avoid a total rupture is to preferve, if pof- 
 fible, the lame kind of happy diftance that has 
 been between the Houfe and the Club; there be, 
 ing no real Danger, except when jarring Bodies 
 jneet in con tad. • 
 
 ■§ ' The 
 
I 3 2 1 
 
 . The money has been voted and fpent, and 
 the Society which received it is now no more ! 
 The Great Charter ,. the Bill of Rights , the Habeas 
 Corpus API, the Conjiitution it f elf. , are left to the 
 wide World to fight their own Battles, and main- 
 tain their own Ground! The Supporters have given 
 way, and their ftrength is as exhaufted as their 
 Purfe ! Their Friends the Houfe have nothing 
 more to give •, and ’tis thought they have long . 
 repented what is given ! What a melancholy 
 Hate of things is this! But how blefied a con- 
 dition, compared to the miferable and for-r 
 lorn fituation of a Colony which now feels the 
 evil effects of ill- directed Zeal ! 
 
 I come now to confider a new ftroke of Pro- 
 vincial Politics, and the laft-diftinguifhing Effort 
 of the Colony of South Carolina, in the great 
 attempt of eftablifhing a Charader of Origi- 
 nality ; an idea fo very flattering to the Human 
 Mind ! 
 
 The Legiflature flood prorogued to the Month 
 of Ayguft 1773,;' and the old obftacle ftill being 
 in the way, and the Lieutenant Governor feeing 
 little prolpect of doing bufinefs, opened the Sef- 
 fion by a Meffage to each Houle* to fave a piece 
 of idle pageantry, and the formality of a public 
 Speech. • 
 
 A few days palled, and one or two Bills were 
 fent by the Lower to the Upper Houfe, which 
 were ordered to lie upon the table for the moft 
 
 cogent and prudential reafons. The Upper 
 
 Houfe ? anxious for the Public Credit, and de- 
 ploring the miferable ftate of the Colony Affairs* 
 ‘owing to the above unhappy difpute, judged it 
 highly expedient to enquire into the true ftate 
 of the Public T reafury, in order to guard againft 
 Accidents, and to provide in due time for the 
 Public; Safety, One of the Treafurers being ex- 
 amined 
 
I 31 1 ' 
 
 Airiined, gave fuck a melancholy detail, that th# 
 .Upper Houfe addreffed the Governor upon the 
 fubje£t, for the purpofe of calling in 50,000!, 
 -Currency, in order to. keep the Treafury in a 
 proper courfe of circulation. ' As this Enquiry 
 -difcovered theweaknefs of our State, the Commons 
 Houfe entered into fome violent Refolutions ; 
 and by a meffage to. the Governor on the fubjeft 
 of the Council’s Addrefs, attempted to charge 
 .them with having given an improper ftate of 
 -the Treafury Accounts : but the Upper'Houfe 
 .not choofing to fubmit to the imputation of 
 having deceived the Public, profecuted the En- 
 quiry, ftill further, and demonftrated the Truths 
 contained in their Addrefs, which the Affembly 
 -have not fince attempted to difapprove. In. the 
 •courfe of this Seffion, a Proteft of an extraordi- 
 nary nature was entered in the Upper Houfe 
 Journals by Two Members which having a ma- 
 nifeft tendency to reflea upon the Proceedings of 
 the Houfe, and the fame being printed by one 
 Thomas Powel in the South Carolina Gazette, 
 without any leave or permifllon from the Houfe, 
 this matter was taken up as a grofs Contempt, 
 and Breach of Privilege * and the Printer being 
 lent for and acknowledging the fad, and declin- 
 ing -to give proper fatisfaftion to the Houfe, he 
 -was thereupon committed by virtue of a Warrant 
 cinder the^ Hand of the Prefident, Sir Egerton 
 Leigh, Baronet, the 31ft of Auguft 1773 - which 
 Warrant was by the exprefs Order of the Houfe. 
 
 ‘ — ° n the 3d of September *he faid Thomas 
 Powel was difeharged from his confinement, upon 
 .a return of the Caufe of Commitment by the 
 .Sheriff on the back of an Habeas Corpus, iffued 
 fey the Honourable Rawlins Lowndes, Speaker, 
 A n d George Gabriel Powel, Efq. another Mem- 
 ber of Aflembiy, purfuant to an Ad .of Affembly 
 
 F paffed 
 
' | l 34 J 
 
 palled tljfc nth of December 1712, empowering 
 Two Justices (Quorum Unus) to put in force the 
 Habeas Corpus Aft to all Intents, Conftruftions, 
 and Purpofes, as fully as the fame can be put in 
 executionfin his Majefty’s Kingdom of England. 
 The Jum^es judicially declared the Council to be 
 no Upper Houfe of AJfembly , and, therefore held the 
 Commitment illegal, and of courfe difcharged 
 him. The Council applied to the Alfembly for 
 redrefs againft their Members ; but they, inltead 
 of complying with the requeft, entered into 
 feveral J^Mpinted Refolutions, avowed the fame 
 Doftrine which the Juftices had broached, 
 approved their Decifion, returned the Thanks of 
 the Houle to them for the fame, and agreed to 
 addrefs the Governor to fufpend thofe Members 
 who had voted the Commitment ; and alfo to 
 addrefs His^Majefty for their Removal : and on 
 the 13th of September they addreffed the Go- 
 vernor ^cordingly, who very properly judged 
 the fubject. too important to be determined by 
 him •, anffthe rather, as the affair is to be laid 
 before JK King. The Council, finding fuch 
 new Dq^Kies adopted by the Lower Houfe, and 
 percei^MLthat the Constitution was, in effeft, 
 fi-ibyern^oy thefe proceedings, loll no time in 
 Hating rarefe Grievances in a fuitable Addrefs to 
 His Majefty : they likewife addreffed his Honour 
 the Lieutenant Governor the fame day, and 
 requeftedftim to tranfinit the Addrefs, and other 
 papers referred to, to the Secretary of State for 
 the American Department, in order to be laid 
 before His Majelty. The Lieutenant Governor, 
 by his anfwer, undertook to tranfmit them ac- 
 cording totheir requeft ; and this Selficn being 
 a moil noify and dijiurbed one , and every popular 
 fubject bejMp brought to a happy conclufion, 
 though .-^p^hat interrupted by the Lieutenant 
 
 Governor 
 
 1/ 
 
E 35 ] 
 
 governor declining to Sufpend, agreeab® to the 
 modeft expedations of the Lower Houfie, they 
 defired leave ?to adjourn till January next, to 
 which time they Hand adjourned accordingly. 
 
 Having given a Narrative of the Proceedings 
 of this extraordinary Sefiion,- I ftiallfy>w ex- 
 amine the pretenfions of the Council to take 
 upon them the Powers of an Upper Houfe in 
 the Legiflature of this Country, and make fome 
 general Obfervations on the Conftitution of the 
 Colony, as formed on the Britifh Model. 
 
 Upon the abfolute Surrender of tla^oil by 
 the Lords Proprietors to his late Majelty^ in the 
 year 1729, for the Connderations agreed on, and 
 confirmed by Ad of Parliament, the Colony of 
 South Carolina veiled in His Majefty ; and con- 
 sequently he had a full right to give a Conftitu- 
 tion, and to form fuch Eftablilhments as were 
 agreeable to the Laws and Pradice of his own 
 Kingdom; He was pleafed therefore igco ap- 
 point a Governor by Commiftion under the 
 Great Seal of England, by which hi^ Powers 
 were precifely afcertained, and wherj*tfie was 
 authorifed to call Afiemblies compo^^Jof the 
 Freeholders of the Colony, &c. • arMfe very 
 laft Commiftion,- which was to Lm^bCharles 
 Montague fo lately as 1766, containSfhe fol- 
 lowing claufe, viz. 
 
 4 t ^ iat f 0ll » &G with the confent of 
 
 our faid Council and Aflembly, or^&ie major 
 “ part of them refpetthely, fhall have full Power 
 Authority to make, conftitute, and or- 
 dain Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances, for the 
 Public Peace, Welfare, and Good Govern- 
 “ ment of the faid Province, and the People 
 thereof, and fuch others as lhall refort there- 
 “ to i and for the Benefit of Us ; > our Heirs 
 and Succeftors ; which faid Law\ Statutes, 
 F 2 'm “ and 
 
[ *S J 
 
 “ and Ordinances, are not to be repugnant, bnf 7 ; 
 « as near as may be, agreeable to the Laws and- 
 “ Statutes of this our Kingdom of Great 
 “ Britain;’* 
 
 The King’s Pleafure is alfo more largely and 
 fpeeially fct forth in a Body of Indruftrons, con- 
 taining every neceffary Power and Rule of Di-* 
 region for the better Government of his Colony ; 
 and the Names of all the Council- are p£rti^ 
 cularly fpecified in the faid Indruftions. 
 
 The Members of the Council are feverally 
 appointed by the King’s Mandamus , or Letter to. 
 his Governor^ directing him to fwear in, and 
 admit fuch a one to be of His Majedy’s Coun- 
 cil of the faid Province j and by virtue there;- 
 of, they are merely Counfellors of State, to 
 whom the Governor for the time being applies 
 for advice in cafes of weight and moment.. 
 
 This Council of State, confiding of Twelv© 
 Perfons, are named in the King’s Indruftions to 
 his Governor, as expreffed in the Claufe above- 
 mentioned 2nd this additional plan of Duty 
 pointed out by His Majefty, is furely no more 
 inconfident or incompatible, than- the power, given 
 to the Governor and Council by Aft of Affembly 
 to be a Court of Chancery can be fo deemed. 
 One l'ett of men may have various Jurifdiftions ; 
 and the circumdance of the fame People aft in g 
 in feparate and didinft fituations may be as eafily 
 reconciled, as that a Pried fhall be at one time 
 in the Dejk, and at another in the Pulpit : the na- 
 ture of the Offices differ in the Mode of perfor- 
 mance, but the End is jud the fame^ 
 
 The Claufe above-mentioned almod in poli- 
 tive words declares Three didinft and feparate 
 Branches of the Legiflature : “ That you, (mean- 
 ing the Governor) with the coni'ent of our 
 “ faid Council and Affembly, : or the major part 
 ... ■ of 
 
t 37 1 
 
 * Of them refpeRively , (hall have power and aiirV 
 thority to make, ordain Laws, &c. ” which 
 terms as individually diftinguifh, and mark out 
 Three independent anddiftinft States, as language 
 can exprefs. — Befides, thefe different Powers are 
 derived to them by diftind Inftruments r thofe of 
 a Privy Council by Mandamus ; and thofe of a- 
 Legiflatuie,. by the King s Commiflion and In- 
 ftrudions to His Governor.. I never was able to 
 comprehend, how the Commons Houfe of Ai'~ 
 fembly prefumed to liken themfelves to the 
 Houfe of Commons of Great Britain, and then 
 drop all fight of that Model from which the 
 ether. Branches of our Subordinate Legiflature are 
 manifeftly taken ; for it is by virtue of the Go- 
 vernor’s Commiflion that the Freeholders of the 
 People are called in Aflembly, and by the Kirin’s 
 writ, figned by the Governor and the Members 
 of His Majefty’s Council; and therefore all thofe 
 eminent Rights they fo much value themfelves> 
 upon, were, in faff, originally conveyed to them- 
 through the very fame medium as thofe of the 
 Council in Aflembly, which are now fixed and 
 eftablifhed by Laws fuited to- our local circum- 
 ftances, and which were' framed under the Kino-V 
 Royal Prerogative and Licence. Our Conftitu- 
 tion is derivative , and entirely flows from -the 
 Crown, is wholly ex gratia^ and, therefore, fub- 
 jedt to fuch modifications upon Conftitutionai 
 Principles, as His Majefty fhall, from time to 
 time,, in His' Royal Wifdom, fee proper and ex- 
 pedient ; provided, alfo, that they are not repuo-- 
 nant to any fubfifting Laws. r 
 
 _^The Rights and Privileges of the Commons 
 Houfe are neither created nor reQognized by any 
 Statute of Great Britain ; they arife, as it were. 
 
 by the CrOWn ’ their Legiflature owes 
 
 its eftabufliment to the King ; and every claim 
 
 they 
 
 r 
 
I 38 ] 
 
 tj*ey fet up, fprings to them from the fame me- 
 dium through which the Council derive theirs; 
 This being the true Hate of a plain faCt, it fol- 
 lows as a confequence,- that when the Crown 
 gave permiffion to call an Affembly, they furely 
 might appoint a Council,* and lawfully inveft 
 them with the powers expreffed in His Majefty J s 
 Commiffion and InftruCtions ; and the rather, 
 when we call to mind that the People of this 
 Country made humble fuit to His Majefty King 
 George the Firft, in the year 1721, to take them 
 under Plis Royal Protection and Government, by 
 renouncing their Charter Rights under the Pro- 
 prietary Conftitution $ and this change being ef- 
 fected at their own rnftarice, and afterwards by a 
 clear purchafe on the part of the Crown for a 
 valuable confideration, and by an abfolute fur- 
 render by the Lords Proprietors,, in 1729, the 
 , Power who embraced them in order to protect 
 them, could alone give, motion and activity to 
 them, as a Colony,- or diftant Member of the Pa- 
 rent State. 
 
 When the Crown had thus taken the Govern- 
 ment of this Colony upon them, and had ap- 
 pointed Francis Nicholfon, Efq. Provifional Go- 
 vernor thereof, the Affembly paired an Aft of 
 Recognition, on the 18th of Auguft, 1721, which 
 recites, that “ whereas His Moft Sacred Majefty 
 “ had been graciouily pleafed, at the humble de- 
 “ fire and requeft of His faithful Subjects of 
 “ this Province, to take the fame under His Ma- 
 “ jefty’s moft gracious and immediate Govern- 
 “ ment and protection ^ and had alfo been pleaf- 
 “ ed to fcommiffionate, under the Great Seal of 
 “.Great Britain, Francis Nicholfon, Efq. Go- 
 “ vernor, &c. over the fame, with full Powers to 
 “ call a General AJfembly , &c. and that they with 
 “ one voice and heart did acknowledge His Ma> 
 
 “jefty’s 
 
I 39 5 
 
 ■ ct jefty’s mofl lawful and undoubted Right to the 
 faid Province-, therefore, in gratitude, they 
 prayed, that it might be enaded by His Ma- 
 4 .‘ jefty, by, and with, the cohfent of the Gover- 
 “ nor. Council, and Aflembly, that they do re- 
 “ cognize His faid Majeily to be of right, and, 
 “ by the Laws of Great Britain, is Sovereign 
 “ Lord and King, &c. &c.” 
 
 This Ad of Recognition exprefsly fliews, that 
 the Powers to Call a General s 1 [fcmbly , originated 
 with the King himfelf. With what facc\ then, 
 can Gentlemen deny thofe Rights to His Majef- 
 ty*s Council (who bear a fliare in the Legiflature 
 of the Country under the fame Authority by 
 which they themfelves are allowed to fit), fo ef- 
 fentially neceflary to fupport their proper dignity 
 and confequence as Legislators ? 
 
 By the eleventh fedion of ' a Provincial Ad, 
 paffed in 1721, it is enaded, “ That the Mem- 
 “ bers of Affembly chofen by that Ad, fhall 
 “ have as much Power and Privilege, to all 
 “ Intents and Purpofes, as any Members of Af- 
 “ fembly, theretofore had, provided the fame are 
 “ Kich as are according to His Majefty’s Thirty - 
 ct fifth Inflnibiion.” Can any thing more decifive- 
 ly point out the fenle of that Dependence upon 
 the Crown, which the People at that time of day 
 entertained, than this extraordinary Provifion 
 which virtually declares the Power of the Crown 
 to bind us by Inftrudions ? — And the Ad in a 
 manner incorporates the fame, by excepting thofe 
 
 5 * T-rn Privile § e which thi s Imtrudion fo flat- 
 ly difallows • and in points, too, of the mod de- 
 licate nature, and which remain undecided upon 
 to this day, between the Lords and Commons of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 The Thirty-fifth Inftrudion to Governor Ni- 
 cholfon, which I believe is continued to the pre- 
 
 icnt 
 
_ / { 4® ] 
 
 lent day, runs in the following words : And 
 
 “ whereas the Members of feveral Affemblies in 
 “ the Plantations, have frequently; aflumed to 
 * e themfelves Privileges no ways belonging to 
 “ them ; efpecially of being protected from Suits 
 at Law, during the term they remain of the 
 Affembly, to the great prejudice of the Cre- 
 “ ditors, and the obftrudlion of Juftice *, — and 
 “ fome of the Afiemblies have prefumed to ad- 
 “ journ themfelves at pleafure, without leave from 
 “ our Goyernor firft obtained ; .and others have 
 ce taken upon them the foie framing of Money - 
 ■“ Bills, refufing to let tl>e Council alter or a- 
 •“ mend the. fame 4 all which pradlices are very 
 “ detrimental to our Prerogative : If, upon your 
 ee calling an, AITembly in South Carolina, you 
 “ find them infill upon any of the abovefaid Pri- 
 “ vileges, you are to fignify to them, that it is 
 •* c our exprefs Will and Pleafure, that you do 
 “ not allow any Protection to any Member of 
 “ the Council or AITembly, further than in their 
 “ perfons i and That only during the Sitting of 
 “ the AITembly •, and that you are not to allow 
 <e them to adjourn themfelves otherwife than de 
 <c die in diem , except for Sundays and, Holidays, 
 “ without leave from you, or the Commander in 
 “ Chief for the time, being firft obtained. — It 
 is alfo our further Pleafure, that the Council 
 “ have the like power of framing Money-Bills 
 ■“ as the AITembly ; and you are exprefsly enjoin- 
 “ ed not to allow the faid AITembly, or any of 
 cc the Members thereof, any Power or Privilege 
 “ whatfoover, which is not allowed by Us to the 
 >“ Houle of Commons, or the Members thereof, 
 in Great Britain. ” 
 
 The Privileges exorefied in this Inftruflion 
 were enjoyed by the Council, without Interrup- 
 tion, till j 735, when tire AITembly claimed a 
 
 foie 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 foie arid ex'clufive Right of framing Money-Bills, 
 and which they have, at different periods fines 
 that time, continued to affert and maintain. 
 
 ThisInRruCtion relates entirely toLeo-jflativeBu- 
 finefs, and the Privileges of the Members of Af- 
 bly, and forbids the Governor to allow protection 
 to any Member of the Council or Affembly, further 
 than in their Perfons, &c. Now, as mere Coun- 
 sellors protection is out of the cafe, neither has 
 the framing of Money Bills any thing to do 
 with their Ration, as Members of the Privy 
 Council-, from whence it is evident beyond a 
 doubt, that the Council form one Branch of the 
 Legiflature of this Country, and muft be viewed 
 as a feparate and diftinCt Body both from the 
 Governor and Affembly, becaufe the Council 
 have a concurrent power with the Affembly to 
 frame Money Bills, &c. which fhews.a dijlinftnefs 
 of Legiflative Jurifdiftion ; and the Governor 
 (till Affent is' nec'effary) has no part allotted him 
 to aCt, except that he is to keep the Members 
 within due bounds of Privilege under the terms 
 of his InRruCtion. 
 
 Privilege is a term inapplicable to the Council 
 fitting as a Privy Council for in that character 
 they poffefs not a Tingle privilege by their Con- 
 flitution, and^ very few by the Laws of the Pro- 
 vince and all the privileges of His MajeRy’s 
 Privy Council at home, confift in that fecurity 
 which certain Laws give them againft attempts 
 and confpiracies to deftroy their lives. The term 
 Privilege, therefore, in this InftruCtion, points 
 direCtly to the Members of Council exercifincr 
 Legiflative Duties ; in which Ration alone, th? 
 Council apprehend they are entitled to any pri- 
 vilege or perfonal protection, 
 
 G . 
 
 That; • 
 
t 42- ] 
 
 . That no man m^y entertain a conceit, that irr 
 reciting and difcufling this ’Thirty-fifth InJlru£lion r 1 
 thereby mean to fet up the King’s Inftrudtions 
 generally to His Governors in America, as Laws 
 and Conftitutions by which the Colonifts are or 
 ought to be governed ; I flhall' plainly tell my 
 Reader all I wilh to infer, viz. That the King 
 when he gave Power to call an Affembly, at the 
 fame time, and by the fame public Jnftruments, 
 eftablilhed in His Council; a Right of Legiflation, 
 as a diftinft Body from the Commons Houfe : 
 That the whole fcope of the King’s Commiflion 
 and Inftrudtions manifeftly lhews,. that the Af- 
 fembly derive their powers' from the fame foun- 
 tain that the- Council do j that our Government 
 is clearly derivative • and. that, without the King’s 
 Grace, we had been- deftitute of any Conllitution 
 whatfoever : That our Provincial Legiflature, by 
 the firft Ele6tion-A£t, palled in 1721, after His 
 Majefty had taken this Colony under his own im- 
 mediate protection, -plainly lhews, that, they en- 
 tertained this fenfc of the matter, by declaring 
 that the Members lhalf have as much privilege as 
 heretofore, provided the fame are fuch as are ac- 
 cording to His Majefty’s Thirty-fifth Inftrudtion. 
 What isc this exception, or laving,, but a clear 
 acknowledgement that the King, by His Inftruc- 
 tion, might diredl in the way ftated, that the. 
 power ©^.modifying the Government of His. Co- 
 lony was in His hands 2 * And I appeal to the 
 uniform practice, from 172 1 to 17 35, as an irre- 
 fragable argument in fupport of the Council’s 
 Legifiative Rights, when they, were allowed to 
 frame, alter, and amend Money Bills, by virtue 
 of this Inftruttion. 
 
t 43 } 
 
 It is a rule in conftruing a Statute % to pay 
 -great regard to the,conftruftion which the Sages 
 of Law, who Jiv;ed about the time, or foon after, 
 it was made, did put upon it ; becaufe they were 
 beft able to judge of the intention of the Makers 
 ■thereof : for it is a maxim, that Contemporanea ex- 
 po fitio eft fortiftima in Lege. Now I produce the 
 King’s Commiffion and Inftruftion, upon the efta- 
 blifhment of this Colony as a Royal Govem- 
 ment, to prove His Power over it in the inftan- 
 ces mentioned ; and agreeable to the above max- 
 im, I give you not merely judicial decifions, but 
 ,the judgment of the Legislators themfelves who 
 lived at that time, implored the protection of 
 that Power which ..they afterwards exprefsly ac- 
 ■knowledged, who adopted the Inftruftion which 
 io limited and reftrained them, and fo mightily 
 enlarged and extended the powers of the Council, 
 .and who fubmitted to tfiefe Royal Regulations 
 by conforming their practice wholly to them. 
 
 That the Council have a Legiflative Right, as 
 a Second Branch, appears., not only from conftant 
 -experience, but alfo from the ftile and expreflion 
 of our Laws. 
 
 .= In 1722 was pa fled an Aft with -the following 
 title : “ An Eftimate -j- of the Charges of the 
 “ Government, that is and will be due on the 
 “ twenty-fifth of March next, 1723, to be pro- 
 M vided for by the General Aflembly, and agreed 
 “ to by the Committee of Both Houfes ap^teinted 
 “ for that purpofe.” - 
 
 An Aft of Aflembly pafled > the fifth of Fe- 
 bruary, 1736-7, for laying an Embargo otJShips 
 orVeflels-, and the Preamble opens in tie fol- 
 lowing words : “ Whereas the Legiftative Powers 
 •** of this Province have xeceived Advice, that a 
 
 * 2 Inft. ii, 156, 1 Si. ^-Tjott’s Carolilfe Laws, 
 
 f. 4 °S* 
 
 G i ff dangerous 
 
arefc authorized an 
 ftitute, and ordaii 
 welfare, and good 
 
 The Governor 1 
 him to obTerve, th 
 ftile of Enacting t 
 County, and AJfembly. 
 a direction given, 
 which fo clearly e: 
 whofe refpeftive o 
 declared necelfary f( 
 Governor is likewii 
 all Laws, with the 
 times, when the fz 
 Council, and receiv 
 to exprefs the Jn 
 lowed the phrafe, 
 more clear and pc 
 words denote Three 
 and That too as pre 
 Law ? Is it not e 
 
every ac t mult pais tne Aliemo 
 Council, and have the Governor’s 
 perfection of it ? The-fe different fl 
 point at the Model from which our Su 
 gifiatureis taken-, and the features b( 
 refemblance to the Conflitution of 
 Country, as thofe of an Infant can 
 the ftronger lines of an aged Parent 
 tude may be traced in both cafes, with on 
 circumftantial Differences-, fuch as muft 
 diftinguifh Infancy from Age, Mati 
 Childhood, Strength from Weaknefse 
 By an A6t of Affembly paifed in the 
 for afcertaining Public Officers Fees, th 
 Clerk of the Council are alfo enumei 
 in a feparate Divifion next immediately 
 is this Title : 
 
 “ The Clerk of the Council in Affembly 
 Amongft the feveral allowances are, for - a 
 “ rant of Contempt, Ten Shillings; and a R 
 “ ment therefrom, Five Shillings.” 
 
 ByanotherFee-LawpaiTedthe 7th of Maf 
 the like provifions are made for the fame O: 
 with an Increafe of Ten shillings on a Wi 
 
t 46 3 
 
 rtfheir Addrefs to the Governor, take notice of his 
 Affedlion "and Regard for the Welfare of the 
 Province lately expreffed in his Excellency’s 
 Speech to both Hou/es. 
 
 i muft here defire my Reader to go back fome 
 pages, and take another view of the King’s addi- 
 tional Inftrudlion to his Governor, and he will there 
 find that His Majefty, throughout the fame, deno- - 
 jninafes the People’s Reprelentatives by the ftile 
 of the Lower Houfe which, vi termini , implies an 
 Upper Houfe or Superior Bpdy, to which that 
 Title muft bear immediate reference and re- 
 .fpeift. Upon the whole, I think thefe Conclu- 
 lions may be fairly drawn from the feveral Fadts 
 aboye-ftated : That it was His Majefty’s Intention 
 to affimilate the Conftitution of this Colony to 
 that of Great Britain, fo far as the local cincum- 
 ftances and fituations of things could poffibly ad- 
 mit: That it was his Royal W ill to eftablilh Three 
 diftindt States, in the Perfons of a Governor, a 
 Council, and Afiembfy: That divers Adis of the 
 Colony Legiflature maintain the fame Diftinc- 
 tion: ThatUniform Experience hath preferved the 
 like Idea and that the Legiflative Powers of the 
 Council have been virtually, and almoft expreff- 
 ly, recognized and declared by pofitive Laws, 
 and by the Language and Stile of Public Papers, - 
 as appears by the Journals of Affembly. 
 
 It may be proper further to obferve, that Bills 
 have originated , in the Council, as well as in the 
 Affembly •, though it muft be owned, the prac- 
 tice has not been frequent : however, the Affem- 
 bly, after a fecond reading of a Bill, always fend it 
 to the Council by two of their own Members; and 
 when twice read, and perhaps altered and amendr 
 ed, the Council return it by the Mailer in Chan- 
 cery. When it has undergone a third reading, 
 and been paffed by the Affembly, it is in like 
 *. manner 
 
I 47 I 
 
 Mariner brought up again to his IVIajefty's CouY^ 
 cil, who, upon the third reading, either pafs or 
 reject the lame ; and if paffed, it is carried back 
 to the Commons Houfe, who dired the fame to 
 be ingroffed : and at the end of the Seffion the 
 Three States, viz.. Governor, Council,, and Af- 
 fembly, meet in the Council Chamber, when the 
 Speaker of the AlTembly reads the Title of the 
 Ad, and then prefents it for the Governor’s 
 Aflent : this being given, the- Speaker figns it,, 
 as aifo the Governor, who likewife feals it. 
 
 Thus it manifeftly appears, that there are Two 
 feparate Bodies of Men, who, in a Parliamen- 
 tary way, mature the feveral Laws which con- 
 cern the welfare of the Province ; and though, 
 perhaps, the mode of doing bufinefs may differ 
 in certain circumftantial points from the pradice 
 of both Houfes of Parliament, yet true it is 
 that, in fubftance, the Proceedings are the fame ’ 
 and as all Bills, for the moll part, take their 
 rife in the Lower Houfe, the Council, by the 
 Pradice which prevails, have a negative in 
 every cafe, upon the feveral Ads of the Houfe 
 of Reprefentatives ; as they would have upon 
 thofe of the Council, which might originate with 
 tnem j and as the Governor, in his Executive 
 Situation, has both upon Council and Affembly. 
 
 This is a Pidure not unlikfe to the Britifh 
 Plan of Government ; and the Refemblance is lb 
 ftriking, that men have been led to compare it 
 to that ^ great Model of Perrediom— not urged 
 thereto Dy arrogant Prefumption, but excited by 
 the Love and Veneration which they bear to the 
 moft glorious Conftitution in the World ; from 
 an honell pride to claim alliance to it \ from 
 a firm perfuafion of the Bleffings flowing from 
 it ■, from a p leafing refledion, thatvwe are the o-e- 
 nume Sons and Daughters of Britain, Defen- 
 dants 
 
[ 1 
 
 slants from the Loins, and kindred Members of tfx* 
 fame State •, from a full conviction, that our own 
 Happinefs will be beft fecured by adopting the 
 fame Maxims, and embracing the fame Laws. 
 Hence it is, that a Governor is faid to reprefent 
 the King ; the Council, the Houfe of Lords ; and 
 the People’s Reprefentatives, the Houfe of Com- 
 mons of Great Britain. And where is the Arro- 
 gance of this innocent and natural Allufion ? 
 Every Man of Senfe mull: know, that the Powers 
 and Extent of. Jurifdidtion belonging to the King, 
 Lords, and Commons, are fo immenfely great, 
 and fo inexpreffibly tranfeendent, that none of 
 the works of Men can be properly compared 
 to this ftupendous Machine, fo knit and fo con- 
 nected as to animate and fuftain a Syftem of its 
 own. 
 
 No man of common underftanding can draw 
 the comparifon, without perceiving moft fenfibly 
 the immenfe differences and diftindtions that arife 
 upon the comparifon ; but when we confider 
 ourfelves as Members of one great Empire, and 
 that our Colonies have a Legiflature of their own 
 to regulate their interior Polity, we are ftruck 
 with Admiration of the Britifh Plan in this little 
 epitome thereof exhibited in ours. _ We view a 
 Governor, and find, upon examination, that his 
 Power flews from the King ; that he reprefents 
 Him, and exercifes certain Adis of inferior Re- 
 gality, and is pofTeffed of the whole Executive 
 Power of Government in our contracted fphere. 
 We proceed, and find that a Council named by 
 the King, aclLegiflatively, as a Second or Middle 
 Branch, between the Sovereign and People ; and 
 we inflantly figure to our minds a Houfe of 
 Lords. We behold a 'Houfe of Reprefentatives 
 chofen by the People, engaged in framing Laws, 
 laying Taxes, and regulating the Affairs of thi» 
 
 Community, 
 
[ 49 1 
 
 Community with the concurrence arid conferil 
 
 of the other two Branches ; and we as readily 
 
 form an idea of the Houfe of Commons. The 
 Outlines of Government agree in both CaleS ; and 
 I defy ,any Man to fay. They are riot fubftan- 
 tially the fame, fo far as local circumftarices will 
 admit, and a narrow circle of Duty will allow ; 
 and laving alfo, certain eminent Diftindtions 
 
 which can only belong to the Sovereign State. 
 
 Judge Blackstone*, fpeaking of the Colo- 
 nies, thus exprefles himfelf : “ The Form of 
 
 “ Government in moll of them is* borrowed from 
 “ that of England j they have a Governor nam- 
 “ ed by the King, or, in fome Proprietary Co- 
 “ lonies, by the Proprietor, who is his Reprefen- 
 <c tative, or Deputy. They have Courts of Juf- 
 “ tice of their own, from whofe Decifions an 
 “ Appeal lies to the King in Council, here in 
 “ England. Their General Aflembly, which 
 “ are their Houfe of Commons, together with 
 “ their Council of State , being their Upper Houfe y 
 “ with the concurrence of the King, or his Re- 
 “ prefentative the Governor, make Laws fuited 
 “ to their own Emergencies.” 
 
 Having, I hope, fatisfadtorily proved, that the 
 Council of this Colony are a Second or Middle 
 Branch of our Provincial Legiflature, and in fadt 
 an Upper Hoiife of Aflembly, I propofe to anfwer 
 the feveral Popular Arguments fuggefted by a 
 Spirit of Fadtion in fome, and by Ignorance in 
 others. 
 
 It is afierted, that the Council cannot be an 
 Upper Houfe of Legiflature, in nature of a Houfe 
 of Lords, becaufe they are appointed by the 
 King, may be fufpended by the Governor, and 
 are removeable at the King’s pleafure j becaufe 
 
 * u Blackftone, 108. 
 
 H 
 
 they 
 
• . £ 5P J 
 
 ^hey are not endued 'with the fame Rights and 
 ■Privileges as the Houfe of Lords ; and becaufe 
 they are not a permanent Body,, and Indepen- 
 dent of the' Crown. I do not recoiled! that any 
 thing more has evei 1 been urged againft the pre- 
 .tenfions of the Council, but what falls under 
 one or other of the points above faggefted. 
 
 I conceive that the Council being appointed by 
 the King, is* an objedtion both idle and abfurd ; 
 becaufe the Hereditary Counfellors of the King- 
 dom, the Houfe of Lords, (which the pride of 
 pur Plebeians vull not allow this Body to compare 
 themfeives to,, even diftantly y rejlriffivtly, or meta- 
 phorically) are raifed to thofe dignities by the 
 immediate grace and favour of the Crown. It 
 is the King who places Coronets on the Heads of 
 his Subjedts,-and at a rifle whether they will fit the 
 Heads propofed to wear them ; all Honour flows 
 from . thence ; and if the appointment of the King 
 ’lefiens the confequence of One of his humble 
 Council of South Carolina, it mud operate equal- 
 ly again!! Coronets and Mitres. But it is faid, 
 that the Council may be fufpended, and removed 
 at pleafure.. This fituation, I muft own, is preca- 
 rious, and liable to great objedtion : however, 
 when we reflect that it is merely honorary, at- 
 tended with no profit, but much trouble, and 
 more vexation •, when we confider, that fcarce an 
 inftance can be found of any wanton or arbitra- 
 ry exclufion, by the King’s Governors, of a 
 Member from his Seat in Council, and that the 
 difficulty for the Crown to fupply thefe Vacancies, 
 .under the various difeouragements which attend 
 .the fituation, is extremely great j we fhajl have 
 reafon to conclude, that the Appointment is not 
 altogether as Dependant, as fuits fome Men to 
 reprefent. But granting it were as contended for, 
 the power of the Councilor remains the fame ; 
 
C s* f ■ 
 
 Ms Tenure is precarious, and ©n that fcore his 
 Virtue may be put to a feverpr trial ; but ltill he 
 has a clear Conftitutiori to govern and diredfc 
 him 5 and the Argument is no ftronger againft 
 the Provincial Council, than againft Provincial 
 Judges : till very lately, the Judges of England 
 weep in little better condition themfelves and 
 yet their Judicial Power was never queftioned, 
 or their Authority disputed. 
 
 A man may have as good an eftate for years, 
 during the term, as another who boafts. a Fee 
 Simple ; and though the Council have no ftated 
 and determined duration, ftill I do infift, that 
 the Power veiled in them is juft the fame *, it 
 may be exercifed with as much independance, as 
 by a Peer of the Realm ; and though in a more, 
 precarious way, and with greater peril to the 
 Party, yet the objedtion ftands good only againft 
 the Tenure , not againft the extent of Power or 
 JurifdicHon, 
 
 For my own part, I have ever been indifferent 
 about the Stile and Title of the Council in their 
 Legiflative Rank, and have always thought it a 
 matter of fmall moment, whether they were 
 called. His Majefty’s Council, The Council, The 
 Board, or The Upper Houfe. Names may be pro- 
 per in fome cafes to fignify Things j but Name? 
 can never confer Rights, or give a line of Jurif- 
 didtion j and therefore I have been fatisfied with 
 contemplating, that this Body enjoy Subftantial 
 Rights, and by their Negative and Controuling 
 Power, in all Legiflative Adts, are to be looked 
 upon as maintaining a due Balance in the Confti- 
 tution of our Minor State : it is therefore weak, 
 nay, childifh, to contend, that they are merely 
 a Privy Council, when the whole Courfe and 
 Order of the Legiflative Proceedings diftinguifh 
 them as one Superior Branch, - -- 
 
 H 2 Many 
 
[ 5 ?. ] 
 
 Many people argue, that although Bills arc 
 fent to the Council, and Public Bufinefs is tranf- 
 adted with them in a Parliamentary way, that 
 ftill they are only a Council: they admit, indeed, 
 their power to do certain Mechanical Adis, and 
 to give their Concurrence or Diffent j but they 
 flatly difallow them to be an Upper Houfe, or 
 that they are entitled to any of thofe Parliamen- 
 tary Rights, Privileges, or Diftindtions, which of 
 peceffity pertain to the feveral Branches of the 
 State : they will gracioufly allow them all the 
 drudgery and toil of a Houfe, with a large portion 
 of feurrility, invedtive, and abufe ; biit -they 
 cannot condpfcend to admit, that they enjoy any 
 badges or enfigns of Authority, or that they 
 poffefs, of right, a co-ercive power to punifh in 
 any cafe whatever. 
 
 The Council, confidered merely as fuch, mull 
 corfent as well as advife ; and confequently their 
 judgments are to be informed of every fadt ne- 
 ceflary for them to know, previous to their giv- 
 ing fuch confent, No.w, if it is acknowledged, 
 that Parliamentary pradtice is the moft eligible 
 mode of doing bufinefs, what reafon can in 
 juftice be affigned, why they fhould not be allowed 
 to hold aLegiflative confequence in fadt, as well 
 for their fecurity, as for maintenance of their 
 dignity •, fince they formally carry about them 
 every appearance of a Legiflature, by concur-, 
 ring in or rejecting, by altering or amending Bills, 
 and by ftridtly purfuing the feveral modes of 
 Parliamentary procedure ? It feerns pretty clear ' 
 to me, that under thefe circumftances, it is more 
 for the honour and credit of the Colony, to view 
 the Council as an Upper Houfe, in imitation of 
 a Conftitution which every one alfedts to admire • 
 and nothing can be more abfurd or unjufl than 
 to fuppofe, that His Majefty ever meant to im- 
 . . TDofe 
 
£ 5 3 }• 
 
 ^ofe burthens upon' Perfons, without intending 
 at the fame time to give them all necelfary. 
 powers for their protection and fupport. And 
 can any thing be more unreafonable than to com. 
 tend, that the IVIembers of Afiembly, fitting on 
 Legifiative bufinefs at the Weft End of a Public 
 Building, have, and enjoy, the Privileges ofMem- 
 beis of the Plouie of Commons ; and that the 
 Council deliberating on the fame ' Bufinefs at 
 the Eaft End of the fame Houfe, in the fame 
 way, and to the fame general end, and in every 
 ftage of which Bufinefs they have an equal 
 Concurrence, and ultimately an abfolute Nega- 
 tive on every Aft of the Commons Houfe •, and 
 yet they ftiall have no Privileges or Power of an 
 Upper Houfe, or Second Branch of the Lpo-if. 
 lature, but are to lie open and expofed to every 
 fpecies of infult, without the leaft lhadow of 
 power to punifti or correft ? The inequality 
 under fuch a fituation is fo glaring, that the due 
 equilibrium would be loft, and all Power would 
 center in the Houfe of Reprefen tatives. 
 
 In the courfe of my obfervatipns, I have been 
 obliged to mention certain Jnftruftions from the 
 |Cing to His Governor, as proofs of His Royal 
 Intention, that the Conftitqtion of the Colony 
 Ihould be affimilated to that of the Mother^ 
 Country • and it is my wifti that I may be under- 
 ftood to mean that, in general, Inftrufti’ons are 
 xnere Direftions for the Governor’s Conduft *. but 
 fometimes they are in addition to the Commiffion, 
 and contain a more full explanation of the King’s 
 Pleafure, refpefting the powers given in, and by, 
 the faid Commiflion, under the Great Seal ; and 
 thereioie fucn Inftruftions may well be arc-ued 
 from, proyided they are framed upon the prim 
 ciples of the Englifh Conftitution And this' na- 
 turally leads me to view the. prefent fubjeft in 
 
 another 
 
[ 54 3 
 
 another light, arid I think it muft add ‘greatly to 
 strengthen the foregoing reafoning. 
 
 ‘ I lay it down as an undeniable propofition, That 
 rhe King can give no other Conftitution to His 
 American Colonies, than one refembling that of 
 England •, no other plan of Civil Government can 
 be inftituted by virtue of any power under the 
 Great Seal of that Kingdom : for when the S±ib- 
 jedts of the Parent-State repaired to the Weftern 
 World, they did not renounce their Connexion 
 with it. — The Colonies are not fo be confidered 
 as conquered Countries, being parts and parcels 
 of the Britifh Empire, and fettled by Britilh Sub- 
 jects ; and they <ire the King’s Plantations, but 
 not His Conquefts, By the nd and 2 3d Car. II. 
 c. 2 6, they ard through the whole Aft called the 
 King’s Englifh Plantations : and ip the tenth 
 paragraph ’tis faid, “ lnafmuch as the Planta- 
 
 tions are Inhabited with His Subjects of Eng- 
 « land.”— -And fo in 15 Car. II. c. 7. / 5. and 
 12 -Car. II. c. 34. they are called Colonies and 
 plantations of this Kingdom of England. 
 
 No Man v/ill be fo hardy as to declare, that 
 when, the Subjects repaired to Aroenca, they 
 therefore quitted the Laws and Conftitution of 
 their Country : — they could not relinquifh their 
 Natural Allegiance •, and it" was not in their pow- 
 er to do the other.— This is a Dominion belong- 
 ing, not only to the Crown, but to the Realm 
 oi England, though not within the Territorial 
 p.ealm° Vaughan , 350, fays, that they follow 
 England, and are a part of it. 
 
 That Allegiance continues, let the Subject go 
 to the remoteft Region of the King’s Dominions;, 
 every one muft readily admit •, for which reaion, 
 the Laws muft govern and proteft him f : unum 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 trahit alterum . Befides, the Great Sdai extendi 
 to America, and a Writ of Error lies to allfub- 
 ordinate Dominions, of which the Plantations 
 are held to be a part. Now to fhew that this in- 
 timate Connexion, this continuing and fubfiiting 
 Dependance, were clearly underftood about the 
 time of the firft Settlements in this Quarter of the 
 World, I cannot omit taking notice, that in 
 the Reign of Charles II. one of the Articles of 
 Impeachment againft Lord Chancellor Clarendon 
 was, “ that he had introduced an Arbitrary Goverri- 
 1C went into his Majefty's Plantations.” 
 
 From thefe general Obfervations it feems very 
 evident to me, that the Civil Eftablifhments of 
 this Colony, being made by the King Jure Corona, 
 muft be looked on as Authorities refpe6tively 
 bearing the Image of the like Powers in the 
 Mother Country, and operating in all refpe&s as 
 . fuch, as nearly as the local Condition of a fub- 
 ordinate and ' dependant Colony can enable them 
 to do. 
 
 The Refemblance is ftill more ftriking when 
 we take a View of the different Departments. 
 We have Courts of Common Pleas and King’s 
 Bench, of Oyer and Terminer, of Chancery ; as 
 alfo a Court of Admiralty, and Ordinary for 
 . Probate of Wills and granting Adminiftrations. 
 .We have Circuit Courts, Sheriffs, Coroners, 
 Conftables, and Jnftices of Peace ; and thefe fe- 
 veral Jurifdidtions fubfift.by the fame Authority, 
 and for the fame great ends, as the like Courts 
 in England. Our Laws are principally thofe of 
 England, in all the great Branches of Liberty, 
 Property, and Perfonal Security; and the Mode 
 of Practice is the Mode obferved in England in 
 all fubftantial Points. Our Legiflature confifts of 
 the Governor, who reprefents the King; and he 
 is Bead of the Community, Our Council, con- . 
 
 \ filling 
 
*]f C 5^ ] 
 
 fitting of Twelve Members (for want of a Nobi- 
 lity) form an Upper Houfe; and the Lower 
 Houfe, which anfwers to the Houfe of Commons, 
 
 compofed of the Reprefentatives of the People. 
 Thefe Three Bodies do the moll important Adis 
 of Legiflation : they raife Money, impofe Duties, 
 agd pafs Laws, extending to the Lives, Liberty, 
 and Property of the Subject •, and many perfons 
 have fuffered death by Laws of our Provincial 
 Legiflature, before the Royal Afifent has been 
 obtained. 
 
 By an Adi of the Afiembly, patted the 12th 
 of December, 1712, entitled, “ An Act to put in 
 “ force in the Province of South Carolina, the 
 “ feveral Statutes of the Kingdom of England, 
 tc or SouthBritain, therein particularly mentioned; 
 “ the Ads enumerated are not only declared 
 “ to be in as full force, as if they had been 
 “ fpecially enadled, and made for the faid Pro- 
 * c vince,” or by any Afiembly thereof, but alfo 
 the Statutes referred to, or explaining fuch enu- 
 merated Statutes, and all the Statutes relating to 
 the Allegiance, or declaring the Rights and Li- 
 berties of the Subjects, are made of the fame 
 Force. 
 
 The feveral Civil Officers are likewife declar- 
 ed to have the fame Power and Authority of the 
 like Officers in England. The Common Law it- 
 felf is alfo made of force ; and it is ordained, 
 that the Courts of Record fhall have the power 
 of the King’s and Queen’s Court, mentioned in 
 any of the faid recited Adis. 
 
 This Civil Order of Government is furely a 
 true Copy of our Mother-State, fo far as the 
 fame can fuit our dependant Situation ; and what 
 cruel Hand will attempt to fpoil a fingle Feature 
 of the Pidture ? 
 
 Upon . 
 
[ 57 ] 
 
 Upon a critical Survey, and nice Comparifon, 
 it muft be owned, that the Piece, though it has 
 •merit, is not perfect : but the fame objection will 
 lie, with very great force, againft the Original it- 
 felf ; for, though much has been done to give 
 •ftrength and liability to the Conftitution, much is 
 ftill wanting to fecure it. Every man knows the 
 Faults of the one •, and therefore I fhall briefly hint 
 at the Imperfections of the other — with this humble 
 requeft, That an Argument on the fcore of a De- 
 fect, may have no other byafs than to fhew, that 
 the Copy wants fome correction and amendment, 
 t — The grand Flaw in our Civil Eftablifhtnent is, 
 the Want of that Independance, fo neceflary to 
 preferve the true Political Balance ; but when we 
 regret this Want, let us patiently refleCt, whether 
 fuch a State of Independence can properly fubfift, 
 or, in the nature of things, fuit our particular con- 
 dition. The Governor holds the firft Rank in our 
 Legiflafcure •, and though he reprefents the King, 
 it will be found impoffible that he can poflefs fo 
 large an Independance ; for he is but a Delegate , 
 is only cloathed with certain limited Portions of 
 the Royal Prerogative. His Confent to Laws is 
 rather provifional, than final ; and, even 'in hisLe- 
 giflative Station, he is controuled by Inftructions •, 
 and, therefore, is a two-fold Character, as Judge 
 and Minijler. 
 
 The uncertain Tenure by which the Council 
 hold their places, points out, likewife, the fame 
 want of Independance ; but is it a found Argu- 
 ment to fay, that becaufc thefe two Bodies differ 
 fo widely, on comparifon, from the King and 
 Houfe of Lords, that, therefore, they are no 
 Branches of our Provincial Legiflature ? This, 
 indeed, is not afferted in relation to the Governor j 
 but it would hold equally ftrong againft him, as 
 .againft the Body to whom it is oppofed ; and coo- 
 J fequently', 
 
[ 58 ] . , 
 
 fequently, by proving too much, it adually proves 
 nothing to the purpofe. The queftion, properly 
 put, is not,' Whether each Body has as much 
 Power as the like Bodies poflefs ih the King- 
 dom of England, for this is neither pofliblc, or 
 neceflfary to our dependant State-, but the true 
 queftion is, Whether they do not refpedively ad 
 in points of Legiflation ; and Independently too^ 
 of each other ■, and without one controulino-^ or 
 unduly influencing the other ? And I will be°bold 
 to fay, They do j for they fit apart and the Ads 
 of the Council are not conftdered as the Ads of 
 Individuals, but of the Body at large. 'The In- 
 dependence, therefore, is decently enough main- 
 tained in a Conftitutional View, between the fe- 
 deral Powers- ading feparately within the Jurii- 
 didion of the Colony ; and the dependance is, 
 ftridly fpeaking, only as finally refting upon the 
 King himfelf- or, in other words, both Governor 
 and Council hold their places at the Will of the 
 Crown, and yet, ading diftindly in the Colony, 
 are independent of each other. I lay very little 
 ftrefs upon the circumftance of a Governor hav- 
 ing it in his power toSufpend-, becaufe this is, in 
 fome degree, provided againft by his Inftrudions . 
 and arbitrary removals fo feldom occur, that 
 they can fcarce be fuppofed to influence the 
 prefent fubjed of difpute. 
 
 It is by no means neceflary, that ourLegiflature 
 fnould enjoy the fame Extenfive Rights, and Ho- 
 norable Diftindions, as the Legiflature of Great 
 Britain ; becaufe we are fubordinate to, and de- 
 pendant upon, the Sovereign State. We move in 
 a narrow Circle, and have little more to do than 
 to take care of our Eftates, preferve a decent Po - 1 
 lice, repair Churches, clear Cuts, make Drains, 
 mend Roads, and Bridges, and Ourfelves, which 
 much require it t and to thank God for his Boun- 
 
t 59. 1 
 
 ty, and the King for his Proteftion. And if tie 
 will but modeftly fee what a contracted Scheme 
 this is, compared to* the immenfe objects of a 
 great Commercial Kingdom, having Territories 
 in every Quarter of the Globe, we fhall be better 
 fatisfied with our Condition, and find lefs fault 
 with the feveral Orders of our little State, the jm-' 
 portance whereof is proportioned very properly 
 to the finall -and circumfcribed circle, within 
 which we have any part to act. 
 
 -By this time 1 hope my Reader is convinced* 
 that our Colony Conftitution is borrowed from 
 the Englifh Model ; and as all the parts bear fa 
 near a refemblance • as the King could give no 
 Civil Government incompatible with, or repucr- 
 nant to. His own ; and as Reafon points out, that 
 the refpeftive Branches of our Subordinate States 
 are intended to aft in imitation of thofe from 
 whom the whole plan is apparently derived •, that 
 therefore no exception will be taken to deprive 
 one Body of Men of thofe Rights, which they 
 ought to hold under the fame Authority by which 
 all the other Members of our Civil State hold 
 and enjoy theirs. * 
 
 Upon the whole of this enquiry* I think. it 
 mult appear, that His Majefty ? s Council are ar 
 Middle Branch, or rather an Upper Houle of Le- 
 giflature of the Colony of South Carolina. 
 
 When I ferioufly refleft, that the nearer we 
 can refemble Ourfelves to the Mother-Country, 
 the more Honor will redound ; and when I calf 
 to mind, that it ought to be our Glory and Am- 
 bition to preferve a good Underftanding in that 
 Quarter ■, I am amazed, beyond meafure, to find 
 fuch a fpirit of Contradiction, and fueh untoward 
 Sentiments prevail. 
 
 _ J cannot now entertain a doubt, that the Coun- 
 cil are an Upper Houfc * I am well convinced they 
 I 2 , ftami. 
 
E 60 J 
 
 ftand in that relation; and 1 muft fay, that tha 
 daring denial of this Power is a bold ftep to- 
 wards a Diffolution of our Civil Government. 
 It muft be confeffed, that the Houfe of Affembly 
 have preffed fo forely for many years upon this 
 Second Branch, that it has made many refpeflable 
 Perfons Jby of accepting what was formerly 
 efteemed a Seat of Honor and Diftintfdon. When 
 the General Opinion proclaims, that a Place in. 
 Council is a kind of alienation from the concerns 
 and intereft of the People ; that the Members are 
 faid to poffefs Rights which every Perfon in the 
 Community is called upon to queftion when they 
 are repreiented as arrogating to themfelves, pow- 
 ers which never were intended to be bellowed 
 upon them, and there is no Tribunal on the 
 Spot to decide the difference when the part 
 allotted them to aft is made a mockery, and the 
 Populace are encouraged to believe, that the 
 Council are mere Tools and Engines to the Crown, 
 from whom they pretend to derive Powers , 
 which are wantonly ftiled Ufurpations ; what 
 fecurity can fucli a Branch of the Legillature 
 have, when they are neither formidable by 
 Numbers, nor important in the courfe of Ju- 
 rifdiflion ? . ; 
 
 . The Affembly have now declared to the People, 
 that there is no Upper Houfe, and that a Com- 
 mitment for Contempt by the Council in that 
 character is Illegal, Unconftitutional, and Op- 
 preffive and fo I muft allow it to be, if they 
 are not a Second Branch of the Colony Legilla- 
 ture. - This is a melancholy Judgment, big with 
 danger, and fubverfive of all Civil Order : The 
 bands of our Society are now loofened, the plan 
 of his Majefty’s Government totally difordered, 
 and the Commons are the vortex which fwallows 
 all the pcwer. . 
 
 Wc 
 
[ 6i J 
 
 We are furely goirtg back to the unhappy a~rs£ 
 of 1648. Hiftory informs us of the Evils of 
 thole days ; and we may guefs what ill effefts will 
 flow, if iuch doftrines are revived; efpecially if 
 there is no Middle State to reftrain the exorbi- 
 tancies of Democradcal Oppreflions. Methinks 
 I fee the beautiful copy of our Englifh Conftitu- 
 tion much altered and defaced ; yea, the vitals of 
 our Civil State have received a mortal wound : 
 but my bands are not embrued in this cruel 
 murder; and though I behold ftrong men, like 
 Sampfon *, taking hold of the middle pillars, over- 
 fetting by one bold effort the fabric they lupport, 
 I will fooner be buried in its ruins, than be a for- 
 rowful fpeftator of a Factious- Triumph. 
 
 If the Council are no Upper Houfe, though 
 they do the bufinefs of one, and have no autho- 
 rity to Commit in any cafe; if they are deftitute 
 of every Parliamentary Right and Proteftion, E 
 fee nothing to oppofe the Sons of Violence and 
 Diforder from intruding into the Council-chamber, 
 overawing their proceedings, obftrufting the 
 Members in their Legislative deliberations, and 
 committing every aft off difrefpeft and infolence 
 and under all thefe pungent aggravations, his 
 Majefty’s Honourable Council mull: either fubmit 
 to the affront, or exert a power which two Juifices 
 will under colour of Law evade, and for which 
 the Aflembly will beflow their highefl commen- 
 dations. What Man of Spirit and Reputation 
 will condefcend to this inhuman treatment ? The 
 Subjeft who owes a duty to the King, likewife 
 owes a duty, to himfelf ; and if he neglects to 
 fupport his own honour and dignity, it is much 
 to be feared he will add little to his'ftation. 
 
% 
 
 t 62 1 
 
 Men who ferioufly contemplate this important 
 fubjeot, and who have no private intereft to ferve* 
 or favourite patTion to indulge, who fearch for 
 Truth as a Pearl of great price, and wifh the pro- 
 fperity of every Member of the Empire, muft 
 iilently bemoan the unhappy and deranged hate of 
 Public Affairs in one of the moft flourilhing Co- 
 lonies of North America, 
 
 I have briefly fketched out the wide difference 
 between the Houle of Lords and the Council of 
 our Province, and I have alio hinted that our 
 dependant filiation makes it neither fuitable nor ( 
 proper that,our Privileges fhould approach a literal 
 oompafifon with thofe of the Parent-State •, but 
 fu’ely fo much power and weight muft veil in this 
 Middle Branch, as will anlwer the ends and 
 pur'pofes-of their original inftitution. Every one 
 admits, that their content is abfolutely neceffary to 
 the enacting Laws and Statutes ; and it is this con- 
 sent which gives them a Legiflative Capacity, and 
 entitles them to fuch rights and privileges of Pai- 
 liament as are immediately effential to their exift-*- 
 ence as one diftind Member of the State. . The 
 power of Commitment for Breach of Privilege 
 and Contempt, is that kind of authority which is 
 neceffary to their exiftence as a Body •, for without 
 it, every thing they do is a mockery and farce, 
 -and they are a mere Pub to the Whale, to fport and 
 play with. Judges, Juftices, and Courts of Juftice, 
 enjoy, and daily exercife this power •, and if de- 
 prived of ic, they could not fubfift a moment, or 
 anfwer the end of their appointments. And if 
 Magiflrates, when perfons are brought before th£m 
 by Habeas Corpus, take upon them to difeharge 
 Prifone'rs committed for Contempts, becaufe no 
 Act of Parliament is produced to warrant the 
 Commitments, I am inclined to believe, that the 
 Court which Committed would devife fome plan 
 
'[ M .1 
 
 of puniftiment for fuch an infolent offence. Per- 
 haps fome ignorantly fuppofe, that this power of 
 Commitment, the Privileges of Parliament, and 
 the Right which Courts fometimes pradife of giv- 
 ing Protedions in certain cafes, all fpring as con- 
 ceffions from the Crown : but this is not the fad j 
 for the Prerogative has no fuch powers to mve. 
 Perhaps others believe, that they are derived from 
 fome old Statute, deep buried in the Rolls of Par- 
 liament. This neither is the cafe. No; thefe 
 powers arife by the neceflary operation, of Law, 
 as incident to the refpedive Courts and Offices 
 which exercife the fame ; they are entwined, as it 
 were, in the Conftitution itfelf, and are as much 
 a part of the Law of the Land, as Magna Charta, 
 or any other venerable Statute. The King cannot 
 make Law, or create Privilege ; but it is the Con- 
 ftitution itfelf which conveys. peculiar and acknow- 
 ledged Rights, and Privileges, and Protedions, to 
 the Parliament, to certain Officers of Trull, and 
 to the Courts and Minifters of Jullice. Their 
 origin, perhaps, cannot be traced to the fpring- 
 head, any more than many principles .of Law ; 
 but immemorial, uiage, general conlent, and ur- 
 gent neceffity, have given them as deep and good 
 a root, as written Laws or Statutes., poffibly could 
 
 The Ninth Article of Rights infifted upon at 
 the time of the Revolution, is, " That the Free - 1 
 dom of Speech, and Debates or Proceedings 
 in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or 
 queftioned in any Court out of Parliament.’* 
 Now, comparing our Legiflature, for the purpo- 
 ses of our own interior Polity, to the great Ori- 
 ginal from which the fame is evidently copied, it 
 feems unjuft to the laft degree, that the Proceedings 
 of a Provincial Council fhould be impeached and 
 queftioned, nay over-ruled by Inferior Magistrates ; 
 
 and 
 
r h 3 
 
 and that perfons fliould be abfolutely fet at liberty, 
 Committed by them adding legiflatively ; and that 
 the Affembly fhall alfo be permitted to interfere, 
 cenfure the Middle State of the Colony, and give 
 marks of applaufe to their own Members who 
 prelumed to decide lo nice a queftion. And this 
 is the more extraordinary, when it is confidered, 
 that the Adi of Settlement at the Revolution, gives 
 no new and unknown Rights, but merely declares 
 fuch as the People thdn claimed to be their indu- 
 bitable Rights and Liberties ; and like-wife when 
 we farther refledl, that our Patriots are always hap- 
 py to point at periods which have been lo condu- 
 cive to the eftablifhment of Public Freedom. 
 
 No man can give a good reai'on, why the Af- 
 iembly fhould have fuch Rights, and deny them 
 to the Council; for they can only claim them as 
 bearing a relation to that Body which enjoy them 
 in England, and the Council can only do the 
 fame ; and it cannot admit of doubt, that the 
 power is as neceflary andefiential to the one Branch, 
 as it is to the other. Perhaps it may be faid, 
 that the Council are few in number, and that the 
 power may be abufed. To this 1 can only anfwer. 
 That Popular Alfemblies are moll likely to be hur* 
 ried into a6ts of precipitation, as well as violence-, 
 and that the objection to Power, merely becaufe 
 the fame may be abufed, is weak to a degree : 
 and when I allure my Reader, that the Power of 
 Committing has never been exercifed by the Coun- 
 cil more than twice from the firlt Settlement of 
 the Colony, no great llrefs can be laid upon the 
 danger of intruding the Upper Houle with fuck 
 a Power. But to fhew my candour, I mull frank- 
 ly own, that this argument is as ftrong to prove 
 the People very good, as to prove the Council eij- 
 ther temperate or wile. 
 
 Th* 
 
[ ^5 ] 
 
 . The whole fcope of the argument againft the. 
 , Council’s power as an Upper Houfe is, .That they 
 are not as Independant as the People wifh, and of 
 courie do not poflefs that- degree of Freedom, 
 which befits the Legi dative Body of a Free Coun- 
 try ; that is, the Council are not the Hereditary 
 Counfellors of the King, nor do they poflefs many 
 of the high privileges which pertain to that illu- 
 ftrious body. They are no Court of Judicature, 
 nor do they try their own Members on life and 
 death; they derive nothing from prefcription or 
 time immemorial; and their tenure is at the plea- 
 fure of the King, or at the will of a Governor. 
 And becaufe thefe things are fo, fhall this Branch 
 have no privilege whatever ? Becaufe they are not 
 wholly Independant, are they on that fcore to be 
 Dependant altogether ? Is there no intermediate 
 flate between the moft extenfive and the mod li- 
 mited authority ? And becaufe the Council are 
 not a Houfe of Lords, are they deftitute of all Le- 
 giflative Rights ? This kind of reafoning is pre- 
 fumptuous to a great degree; becaufe, granting 
 we poflefled thofe ample powers, they muft be 
 ufelefs burthens. We have neither Finances to 
 maintain the dignity, or Objedts to deferve the 
 fplendor ; our State is narrow, and our wants are 
 few ; we have no prolpedt beyond the limits of 
 the Colony, and therefore the Nobility would be 
 idU affediation , fooliJJj pageantry and infenfible pa- 
 rade. But thefe circumftances by no means ex- 
 clude fuch incidental and concomitant powers as 
 are neceflary to fupport a certain degree of dig- 
 nity and weight fuited to our cafe, and requifice 
 for t.he maintainance of due order and diftindtion. 
 When time fhall ripen, and make us Independant, 
 we may afpire to Dukedoms , and pant for Dord- 
 Jhips j but at prefent, we may content ourfelves 
 
 K with 
 
E w ? 
 
 With the power we which is nearly eqttaf' 
 
 to the power we really 
 
 I take it for granted, that I have faid fuffkien? 
 to convince my Readers, that the Council are an 
 Upper Houfe, and have a right to Commit for a 
 Breach of Privilege and Contempt ; 1 (hall there- 
 fore only cite a few Cafes to convince them, that 
 a Man cannot be legally difcharged by any Power 
 whatever from a Warrant of Commitment by a 
 Legiflative Body, ’ during the fitting of both 
 Houfes. 
 
 In theCafe of one Sheridan, who, in 16 80, was 
 m.cuitody by Order of the Houfe of Commons-, 
 and who applied for a Habeas Corpus, which was 
 denied, the matter was agitated in the Houfe*, 
 and one of the foundeft Lawyers in thofe days. 
 Sir William Jones, in exprefs terms declared, that 
 the Habeas Corpus Aft doth not extend to Com- 
 mitment by- either Houfe of Parliament ; that it 
 relates merely to Cafes bailable * that Commit- 
 ments by the Houfe are in the nature of Judg- 
 ments ; and that no Commitment on a Judgment 
 is a bailable Cafe. This happened about two 
 years after the Habeas Corpus Aft pafled, which 
 makes it.a ftrong argument in point. 
 
 The celebrated Cafe of the Aylelbury Men has 
 fettled this matter beyond a doubt ; and the only 
 Cafe which has occurred fince that Determination, 
 is that of the Honourable Alexander Murray, 
 about twenty-two years ago who being Com- 
 mitted by Order of the Houfe of Commons, and 
 a Habeas Corpus being iflued, the caufe returned 
 By the Goaler was only an Order of the Houfe of 
 Commons, without any crime jilledged j and the 
 Judges declared they could not “ Queftion the 
 “ Authority of that Houfe, or Demand thecaufe 
 “ of their Commitrfient,. or Judge the fame *,’* 
 and they remanded the Prifoner : this great point 
 
t «7 } - 
 
 is therefore dearly fettled, and ffcze? is become the 
 Eftablifhed Law of the Land. 
 
 Some people objed, that the Council are a 
 mixed Body, and that it is improper to veft the 
 fame perfons ading as Advifers to the Governor 
 with the LegiQative Powers of an Upper Houfe ; 
 ■but I fee no great weight in this Objedion ; as 
 there is, in fad, no connexion between the re- 
 fpedive Duties, they being altogether diftind, and 
 fddom bearing the leaft relation to each other: 
 however, granting that a Cafe may arife in the 
 Legiflature which had been in fome degree under 
 the confideration of the Council of State* it can- 
 not be fuppofed that the Members of the Council 
 will counterad Legijlaiively , what they had before 
 done or advifed as a Board of Privy Council, be- 
 caufe thefe different fituations .create no feparate 
 interefts, neither do they fubjed th- Members to 
 any invincible necejfity of ading in a manner eontra- 
 didory or repugnant to themlelves. 
 
 This Body, by their very conftitution, are in- 
 tended to maintain a kind of Balance between the 
 Crown and the People •, for “ the two Houfes * 
 “ naturally drawing in two diredions of oppofit® 
 “ interefts, and the Prerogative in another, ftill 
 different' from them both, they mutually keep 
 each other from exceeding their proper limits.’* 
 The Council are a fort of Barrier to withftand the 
 Encroachments of the Lower Houfe ; and by the 
 experience of a Century at leaft, the Inftitution 
 has been found to anfwcr extremely well the pur- 
 pofes of our Subordinate Jurifdidion. The great 
 miftake in which men find .tnemfelves involved 
 upon the fubjed, is wholly owing to an Original 
 Error. We are apt to argue from the fituatio'n 
 pf a great and mighty Kingdom, without perceiv- 
 
 * i. Blackft. 155. 
 
 K z ing. 
 
f 68 3 
 
 ing, that political fitnefs and expediency, fucH a$ 
 are fuired to the Rank, the Wants, or Neceflities 
 of an Empire, cannot be applied to our limited 
 condition. The fitnefs muft undergo various changes 
 and modifications; and though we may retain 
 certain features fufficient to prelerve a kind of re- 
 femblance, and mark our Filiation, it is impoftible 
 v/e can literally copy the whole piece. 
 
 The Eftablifhment of Provincial Councils in 
 their prefentiorm, has till lately given fatisfacftiou 
 both to the Crown and People, and the ap- 
 portion which has been ftirred for feveral years 
 paft, is owing to feme Alterations which* 
 Time has produced *, the moft material of 
 which is the encreafe of the People’s Reprefenta- 
 tives in General Afiembly, whereby the due equi- 
 poife is in a great meafure loft, and the weight of 
 power centers with the People. Like caufes will in 
 all Countries produce like effects ; and whenever 
 that nice aequilibrium which the different Branches 
 of the Conftitution are intended to preferve, is 
 loft, by an accefiion of too much power to either 
 Branch, the one will of courfe fwallow up the 
 other. Thus it happened, the laft Century *, when the 
 Commons had refolved upon the Downfall of Mo- 
 narchy, they like wife voted the Houfe - of Lords to 
 be ufelefs and dangerous. 
 
 The Colony fuffers in no refpedl by the twofold 
 character of a Council •, but if a Privy Council 
 were to be formed promifeuoufly from the Mem- 
 bers of both Houles, this would weaken the weight 
 of the Crown,' and add greatly to the fcale of the 
 People, which ftands in need of no addition. But, 
 in my apprehenfton, it feems ablolutely neceffary 
 that the Numbers of the Council fliould be en- 
 creafed ; and for this plain "and obvious reafon, 
 Bec^ufe a body of Twenty-four Counfellors, for 
 inftance, appointed by the King from the Firll 
 
 , Rank 
 
[ e 9 ] 
 
 Ilank of the People, moft diftinguifhed for their 
 Wealth, • Merit, and Ability, would be a means 
 of diffufing a confiderable Influence through every 
 Order of Perfons in the Community, which mult 
 - exte fld very far and wide, by means of their 
 particular connections ; whereas' a Council of 
 Twelve, feveral of whom are always abfent, can 
 have little weight, nor can their voices be heard 
 amidft the clamour of prevailing Numbers. 
 
 I think this Body, aCting Legiflatively, ought 
 to be made independent, by holding that Ration 
 during the term of their Natural Lives, and de- 
 terminable only on that event, or on their intire 
 departure from the Province. But the fame Perfon 
 might neverthelefs, for proper caufe, be difplaced 
 from his Seat in Council ; which regulation would, 
 in a great meafure, operate as a Check to an arbi- 
 trary Governor, who would be cautious how he 
 railed a powerful Enemy in the Upper Houle by 
 a rafh Removal ; at the fame time that the power 
 of Removal would keep the Member within pro- 
 per bounds. The Life-Tenure of his Legiflative 
 Capacity would likewife fufliciently fecure that In- 
 dependency which is fo neceflary to this Ration, and 
 fo agreeable to the Conftitution of the Parent- 
 State. I know fome folks will raife both fcruples 
 and fears ; but for my own part, I think' without 
 much reafon : for if we attend to the workings of 
 human nature, wefhall find, that a certain degree 
 
 Attachment commonly ' arifes to the Fountain 
 from whence an Independent Honor flows. Op- 
 polition feldom fettles upon the perfons wl^o 
 are railed to Dignity by favor of the Crown, it 
 having fo much the appearance of Ingratitude, one 
 of the molt deteRed vices ; and it ever ads a 'faint 
 and languid part, till a Defcent or two are pafl, 
 and the Author of the Elevation is extinCt. From 
 this reafoning it feems tolerably clear to me, that 
 
 thf 
 
t 7® J 
 
 tJie Legiflator being for life, and deriving bis 
 confequence from the Crown, will rather incline 
 to that fcale \ and it is not probable that his oppo- 
 sition could in any inftance be rancorous or factious, 
 jnafmuch as, though his Life-Eftate is fecure, he 
 would not wtfh unneceffarily to excite the refent- 
 enent of the Crown, or exclude his Defendants 
 of Connexions, perhaps, from fucceeding after- 
 wards to fuch a Poft of Honour and DiftinXion in 
 their Native Country : in fhort, this idea feems to 
 admit fuch a qualified, Dependency , as will attach the 
 Perion to the fide of the Crown in that propor- 
 tion which the Conftitution itfelf allows, and yet 
 lb much veal Independency , as will make him fuper 
 jior to aXs of Meannefs, Servility, and Oppreffion, 
 Whether thefefentiments are well founded, or not, 
 
 1 fubmit to the impartial judgment of my Reader ; 
 what I principally mean to infer is* that theHap- 
 pinels of thefe Colonies much depends upon a due 
 blending or mixture of Power and Dependence, and 
 in preierving a proper Subordination of Rank and 
 Civil Difcipline. • 
 
 Some few diftinXions it might be proper to an- 
 pexf to this fituation, as an inducement to Men of 
 Family and Fortune to accept the truft ; for, in 
 its prefent impotent ftate, it, is a real burden ; and 
 as being overborne by the force of Numbers in 
 'the Lower Houfe, is rendered obnoxious to the 
 People, and opprefiive to the Party. 
 
 Thefe hints I venture to throw out as a kind of 
 temporary or provifional expedients, fuch as may 
 fuit our prefent ftate ^ and. condition, and in con- 
 formity, in ' fome degree, to the original plan 
 iketched out on the Firft Settlement of our Ame- 
 rican Colonies, What may be fit and proper far 
 each Province upon a change of the Syftem alto- 
 gether, and upon a more enlarged and cornpre- 
 frenftve plan, l do not prefume at prefent to lug- 
 
[ 71 ] , • 
 
 geft ; the fubje&s of this Pamphlet beihg princr* 
 pally confined to one particular Colony ; and 
 
 ' therefore an entire new fcheme, or plan, upon 
 untried ideas, is rather foreign to my prefent pur- 
 pofe. When the Colonies have made furtherad- 
 vances in Population, Trade, and Science, fome 
 other mode of Government may, at a future day, 
 become necefiary for the fafety and fecurity of the 
 American Dependencies, and for the permanent 
 eftablilhmentof Britifh Rule and Sovereignty^over 
 thefe diftant and remote Members of the Empire: 
 at prefent, the old Original Draught will probably 
 anfwer every purpofe, with the aid of a few occa- 
 sional improvements, fuch as time, and a change of 
 ciroumftances, naturally fuggeft, without doing 
 the leaft degree of violence to the prefent Syftem. 
 In every human work, we find fo much work of 
 the Moment prevail when it was firft fabricated, 
 that a few years often convince the Original Pro- 
 jectors, how Ihort-fighted and imperfeCt their ideas 
 were, how unequal to anfwer any material vicilfi- 
 tudes, or to fuftain the weight which it was intend- 
 ed to bear. Daily experience muft convince every 
 thoughtful man, that the ’political , as well as the 
 corporeal Syftem ftands in conftant need -of cor- 
 rection; that the motions of the one are frequently 
 
 - affected by foreign and acciderital caufes, as 
 well as the other; that a due and orderly circula- 
 tion may be wanting in both'; that grofs humours 
 oftentimes arife, and threaten danger, unlefs 
 fpeedily removed and wifely managed ; that as exr 
 crefcences do many times deform and affiiCt the 
 natural body, fo, in like manner, uncommon tu- 
 mours invade the Body-Politic, and render it dif- 
 eafed and infirm; therefore Art muft fupplythe 
 want of fore fight, and fuch phyfical Ikill muft 
 be exercifed, to remove maladies, and reftore 
 
 - to foundnefs, as the prevailing fymptoms may re- 
 
 quire. 
 
[ 7 *' 1 
 
 quire. Idle Quackery muft be totally avoided ; fof 
 no Cure lefs than radical , can be of material mo- 
 ment, whether the machine be human or political. 
 
 I cannot clofe this fubject without exprefling 
 my fincere concern, that fuch unhappy difputes di- 
 vide mens minds, and diftradt the Public Coun- 
 cils of this Country *, and I have prefumed to offer 
 thefe confiderations to the world, that the fubjedt 
 may be fully underftopd, and that the Colony as 
 well as others may judge of it with the greater 
 eafe and certainty, by feeing every fadt fairly ftated 
 and candidly difcuffed. But I muft again repeat,- 
 that Twelve Members of the Council bear no kind 
 op proportion to the numbers of the Lozver IBouje^ 
 which confift of Forty-eight Members : and what 
 
 ftill adds to the defedt is, that as feveral of the 
 Council are frequently and neceffarily abfent on 
 their own private concerns, and it often happens, 
 that others are either abfent from the Province, or, 
 through ficknels, are unable to attend, the Coun- 
 cil feldom confift of more than jive perfons •, and 
 commonly only three affemble to dilpatch the 
 moft weighty concerns. This circumftance leflens 
 the real and conftitutional dignity which this Body 
 are intended to maintain, and the People cannot 
 be taught to reverence or refpedt an inftitution, 
 the Bufmefs whereof is tranfadled, like a Court of 
 Quarter Seffions, by three Juftices of Peace ! 
 Hence it is, that the Middle Branch is in a manner 
 overwhelmed by the force of numbers in the 
 Lower Houfe, and that they fall into Derifiop 
 and Contempt for the want of Numbers in their 
 own. I therefore moft ardently wiih to fee this 
 remedied, by fuch an addition to the number 
 of his Majefty’s Council, as that Twelve Members 
 at leaft may always be'affembled on the Bufinefs 
 of the State ; then, and not till then, will this 
 middie Branch be able to maintain a proper 
 
 Balance, 
 
r 73 i 
 
 Balance to fupport their own Conftitutional 
 importance, and to withftand the overbearing at- 
 tempts, and the haughty encroachments of the 
 Lower Houfe, 
 
 I fincercly wifti the lafting happinefs of the Co- 
 lony, of South Carolina ; and I am firmly perfuad- 
 ed, that nothing is fo likely to promote it, as a 
 timely and lpeedy interpofition on the part of the 
 Crown, and a aecifive fettlement of thefe uneafy 
 contentions upon the found principles of the Eng- 
 lilh Conftltution. 
 
 Although it is not the immediate defign of the 
 prefent Publication to confider American Affairs 
 at large, it may poffibly be expe&ed, that fome~ 
 thing fhould be laid concerning the general rela- 
 tion which the Colonifts bear to the Mother-' 
 Country .• and that having traced the Conftltution 
 of the Colonies, and obferved upon its refem- 
 blance to the Britifh Model, it may not be alto- 
 gether foreign to offer a few thoughts on their 
 Common Rights, as the remote Children of Great 
 Great Britain. 
 
 So much has been faid on the right of Taxa- 
 tion, and like wife on the idea of Virtual Reprefen- 
 tation , that I forbear to offer one fentiment about 
 them ; and the rather, as I am inwardly perfuad- 
 ed, that the grand fecurity of the Colonifts againft 
 unreafonable Burthens, Taxes, or Impofitions 
 of any kind by the Mother-Country, ("granting 
 the Right to do fo to be unqueftionabiy clear) 
 confifts ’in this: That the Interefts of both Coun- 
 tries are fo blended together, and fo entirely, in- 
 termixed, that it is not pofiible for the Parent- 
 State to opprefs her Colonies, without fenfibly 
 feeling at the fame time, and alfo partaking of \ 
 proportionable fhare of the evils anting from any 
 falfe meafure whatfoever. Colonization cannot 
 thrive under hardlhips and difeouragements ; and 
 
 L when 
 
[ 74 3 
 
 when the Colonies begin to languifli, Britain may 
 begin to tremble. America therefore h^s, ferioufly 
 fpeaking, nothing to fear •, for Inteteft alone, 
 without the principle of love fpringing from 
 fuch a near and dear alliance, will always bring 
 matters right, and prevail againft bad policy and 
 evil machinations. 
 
 The following ideas form a part of my Ame- 
 rican Creed : The happinefs and profperity of 
 Great Britain and her Colonies depend folely , under 
 God, on a firm and indijjoluble Union ; and there- 
 fore every man who v/ifhes well to his Country, 
 ought t6 lay afide all narrow and contracted no- 
 tions, and fhou Id exert his utmoft abilities to re- 
 move idle Prejudices, ill-grounded Jealoufies, 
 Vulgar Errors, and mifconceived ideas ; and by 
 reforting to the Principles of our Conftitution 
 to rectify Political Miftakes, he will thereby pro- 
 mote the Public Good, and enforce a uniting^ con- 
 ciliating , and ftrengthening Syjletn. 
 
 The King’s regal power is as extenfive as his 
 Territory ; and as there rpuft be in every State 
 one fupreme Legijlalive Jurifdidtion, fo the fame, 
 in like manner, has a right to an occafional exer- 
 cife thereof, over the moft diftant and remote 
 Branches of the Empire. And this one over-rul- 
 ing Power is implied in the nature of things ; for 
 there cannot exift, at one and the fame time, in 
 the fame Empire Two fupreme JurifdiCtions*, be- 
 caufe Equals can on no fcore controul Equals , and 
 Two fupreme Directions imply two diltinCt and 
 feparate States : I therefore hold, that in our Go- 
 vernment this One Supreme Legijlature is the Bri- 
 tijh Parliament , which clearly pofleffes fummum 
 imperium -, whilft our Colonies, at the fame time, 
 pofTefs certain Subordinate Powers of Legiflation, 
 as efiential to their Political Exiftence. 
 
 The 
 
[ 75 ] 
 
 The Colonies are not Conquefts, but Englifh 
 Plantations ; they are the Genuine and Legiti- 
 mate Offspring of Great Britain, and are, beyond 
 all doubt, well entitled to jus 'publicum , and jits 
 privatum. That they are part and parcel of the 
 King’s Dominion, and were intended to be united 
 thereto as intimately as.poflible, appears from the 
 fpirit and fenfe of all the Charters, from the ex- 
 prefs words of the feveral A£ts of Navigation, and 
 from all the Statutes wherein any mention is made 
 of America, from the firft foundation and fettle- 
 ment of the Colonies to" the prefent day ; it is 
 therefore idle to queftion this fuperintending and 
 over-ruling power of the Britifh Parliament, or its 
 right to extend to thefe remote Countries, as par- 
 cels cf one great State, to which they are united. 
 “ Truth, as Dr. Cud worth fays, is the moft 
 “ unbending and uncompliable, the moft necef- 
 “ fary, firm, immutable, and adamantine thing 
 “ in the world.” 
 
 That the Union between the two Countries 
 may be the more compleat, I earneftly wifh the 
 Colonifts to fee their happinefs in that very 'De- 
 pen dome e on the Mother-Country, which is their 
 beft fecurity, both againft Foreign and Domeftic 
 Foes •, at the fame time I as fincerely wifh, that 
 the Britifh Rule over thefe diftant and valuable 
 Territories, may always be mild,. temperate, and 
 juft, and that fo much of the Englifh Conftitution 
 as can confiftently be interwoven into Ehefe Subor- 
 dinate Jurifdiftions, may be from time to time 
 added, to complete the Image of that model, 
 which it is intended to reprefent. 
 
 There is not a maxim of Religion, Morals, or 
 Politics, more evident to me than this : That 
 America is a Hen that lays her Golden Eggs for 
 Britain •, that fhe muft be cherifhed and fupported 
 as part of the great Family of Britain •, then will 
 
 L 2 her 
 
f 7* I 
 
 i v 
 
 Her Trade encreafe y and in return flie muft prow 
 mote and augment her Commercial conne&iotv 
 with the Mother-Country, and “ f cling to her 
 like as the vine curls her tendrils ,. which implies 
 “ fubjcBion." 
 
 It is certainly proper that' the Coloniffo, in 
 ton fide ration of protection, fhoul’d, on their parts, 
 maintain a becoming reverence and efteem for the 
 Supreme Power of that Empire, of which they 
 are Members. Their Allegiance, Honour, Gra- 
 titude, Faith, and every thing elfe are pledged in 
 confidence to the Parent-State y it is their Duty to 
 give ftrength to the Commonwealth, and to ufe 
 their Liberty, not as a Cloak for Licentioufnefs, 
 but for the maintainance of Civil Order. The^r 
 fiiould always remember that Liberty is beft fup- 
 ported by a fettled plan of Government, and that 
 contumelious treatment of the Mother-Country is 
 at all times a bad lefibn to the Members of their 
 own Subordinate State : In fhort, they fiiould lay 
 afide Jealoufies, and nourilh a fpirit of Truft and 
 Confidence •, always keeping in remembrance 
 what a celebrated Writer hath long fince faid, 
 “ § This is not the Liberty which we can hope, 
 “ that no grievance ever fiiould arife in the Com- 
 monwealth : That, let no man in this world 
 “ expedt ; but when Complaints are freely heard, 
 
 “ deeply confidered, and fpeedily reformed, then 
 “ is the-utmoft bound of Civil. Libeity attained, 
 that wife men look for.” 
 
 t it 
 
 § Ibid. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT, 
 
 f Miltop. 
 
r n 1 
 
 postscript. 
 
 S INCE the foregoing Sheets were finally 
 compleated, Mr. Thomas Powel the Printer, 
 (whofe Name has been already mentioned, page 
 33, and who had been fo fortunately relieved 
 from his Confinement by Two Magiftrates under 
 the Habeas Corpus A£t, as before related) at- 
 tempted by his Attorney, on Tuefday the 18th 
 of September laft, (being the Return-day for the 
 Procefs of the Court of Common Pleas in the 
 Colony of South Carolina) to file a Bill againft 
 Sir Egerton Leigh, Prefident of the Council, (he 
 being likewife one of the Lawyers of that Court) 
 to anfwer to the Complaint of the faid T. Powel, 
 for Affiult and falfe Imprifonmeht of his Perfon, 
 to his Damage 1900 1 . currency 5 and that Gen- 
 tleman being prefent when a Motion was made 
 for Leave to file the fame, he took occafion to 
 inform the Court, that the Afiault and Imprifon- 
 ment Hated in the Bill, relate to a Warrant of 
 Commitment figned by him at the laft fitting of 
 the Legiflature of this Colony, and by the exprefs 
 Order of the Upper Houfe of AJfemMy , for a Breach 
 of Privilege and Contempt committed by the faid 
 T. Powel ; and therefore he fubmitted it to the 
 Court, whether it was proper to admit fueh a 
 Bill to be filed ; and he likewife reminded their 
 Honours the Judges of the .ytb Article contained 
 in the Att of Settlement , 1 William and Mary, 
 Self. 2. c. 2. of Force in that Colony, “ That 
 “ the Freedom of Speech, and Debates or Pro - 
 “ ceedings in Parliament , ought not to be im- 
 “ peached or quefiioned in any Court or place out 
 ‘‘ of Parliament.” 1 
 
 -The 
 
78 POSTSCR IP T. 
 
 The Chief Juftice declared the Cafe to be a 
 point of the utmoft moment ; and as the Bench 
 was thin (only one Affiftant Judge being prefent), 
 the motion for filing the Bill was poftponed, and 
 the Attorney accordingly withdrew it for the 
 prefent. ; 
 
 On the 12th of Qdtober (being the firft day 
 qf Term) the Bill was filed; and on a four-day 
 Rule being ferved on the Defendant, he made an 
 Affidavit, ftating. That the caufe of a&ion related 
 folely to matters tranfacled in the Upper Houfe of 
 Jlffembiy , and therefore not cognizable by the 
 Court. On this Affidavit, a Rule was made on the 
 Plaintiff, to (hew caufe why all Proceedings in this- 
 Adlion fhould not be llayed ; which being Argued 
 on the 1 6th of Odtober before all the Judges, 
 they were pleafed to order the Rule to be made 
 Abfolute. 
 
 The Chief Juftice entered very copioufly into 
 the fubjedt, paffed fome applicable ftridtures, 
 and in exprels and diredt terms declared the 
 Council to be an Upper Houfe of Jjfembly ; in which 
 his Brethren unanimoufly concurred. Thus was 
 .defeated, one of the boldeft attempts againft the 
 Conftitution of this Country, that Fadtiom and 
 DemoCratical Infolence could poffibly devife ; and 
 by the virtue and firmnefs of the fuperior Judges, 
 the Wound which the King’s Government had 
 fuffered has been in part healed, and the Autho- 
 rity of the Middle Branch of the Provincial Le- 
 gislature is npw legally and ^ judicially eftablifned. 
 
 Few cafes ever happened before of fo uncom- 
 mon a nature, in any part of his Majefty’s Do- 
 minions ; and I think the World itfelf, and every 
 Civilized State in it, may be challenged to produce 
 an inftance, where any Public Departments have 
 been more cruelly infulted. — Let every private 
 tnan judge for himfelf. His Majefty’s Honour- 
 able 
 
POSTSCRIPT. y 9 
 
 able Council, being the Upper Houfe of Legifla- 
 ture of South Carolina, are firft attacked by a 
 publication of their Proceedings without leave 
 of the Houfe •, and. when the Printer was inter- 
 rogated, he acknowledged the fadt, and refufed to 
 give any fatisfadtion which the Honour even of 
 Private Gentlemen could allow them to accept; 
 and fuch as he offered, manifefted the moft daring 
 Difrefpedt. The Houfe was obliged to CommicHim 
 for a Breach of Privilege and Contempt ; the effect of 
 which Commitment was afterwards eluded by Two 
 Juftices of the Peace, and Members of the Lower . 
 Houfe, who judicially pronounced the Council 
 to be no Upper Houfe of jlffembly , and thereupon 
 difcharged him. — The Council applied to the Af- 
 fembly for redrefs and in lieu thereof, violent 
 Refolutions were made, declaring the Commit- 
 ment unprecedented , unconflitutional , and opprejfive , 
 and a dangerous violation of the Liberty of the 
 Subjedt. The Thanks of the Houfe were next 
 given to the Two Juftices for their able , upright , 
 and impartial decifion upon the Return of the 
 Habeas Corpus ; their reafonS given for the 
 difcharge of the faid T. Powel were declared to 
 be extremely fatisfadlory to that Houfe ; and this 
 approved Judgment was printed £t their defire. 
 
 The Affembly, to add further to the Infult, 
 addr^ffed the Governor to Sufpend thofe Members 
 who voted the Commitrtient, and his Majefty is 
 likewife applied to for their Removal. 
 
 The Printer being at large, perfifted in pub- 
 - lifhing the Proceedings of the Upper Houfe ; 
 and to aggravate the cafe, notes were added* giving 
 the diredt Lie to the Council, and ftating an un- 
 fair apology for the Printer’s Condudt when call- 
 ed before them : and tp fum up all, the fame 
 paper acquaints the Public, that “ thus was de- 
 “ feated the moft violent attempt that ever had 
 H been made in this Province upon the Liberty 
 
 tc 
 
So 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 ** of the Subject probably intended to con- 
 
 **' troul the Liberty .of the Prefs.” In confe- 
 quence of thefe inflamed tranfa&ions, the Coun- 
 cil found themfelves divefted of all power, re- 
 duced to the molt abjeft (late of contempt, their 
 Legiflative Authority virtually abolilhed, and the 
 very- perfons to whom the King himfelf had en- 
 trusted fo large a fhare in the Adminiftration of 
 Public Affairs, fhamefuliy made the fport and 
 derifion of every Order of Men in the Commu- 
 nity. 
 
 The Upper Houfe, clearly perceiving that frefh 
 Commitments would only produce. new lnfults, 
 as the fame or other Juftices might be found to 
 difcharge the Prffoners upon the like pretences, 
 patiently fubriitted to this cruel Perfecution ; 
 and nothing but, the molt Loyal Affe&ion for the 
 King, a dutiful regard to the Subjedts of the 
 Province, and the molt fincere attention to his 
 Majefty’s Service, could poffibly have prevailed 
 upon the Council to have held their Seats a mo- 
 ment longer •, but thefe difinterefted motives, and 
 a full confidence that his Majefty will in due 
 time redrefs thefe Grievances, powerfully ope- 
 rated upon their minds, and influenced their 
 condudt.' 
 
 It is remarkable, that notwithftanding the Two 
 juftices (both Members of Aflembly) pronoun- 
 ced fo pleafing a Decifion, which had the honor 
 to be approved by the Commons Houle, was 
 celebrated, and in fa£t warmly adopted by them, 
 and admired as the Apple of their Eye ; out of Six 
 .eminent Gentlemen of the Bar, all Members of 
 the Houfe, not one appeared , to promote or to 
 aid poor Pozvei’s Suit. 1 he Affembly gave their 
 Countenance by JVords , 'Thanks, and Refolutions j 
 but here they flopped, and the' Lawyers feeming* 
 ly avoided a Piece of Bpfinefs, which perhaps they 
 
 appre- 
 
8i 
 
 POST S.CRIP T. 
 
 apprehended might be attended with fome Rifque 
 and Danger-, for many will help the Cry , who 
 dare not join the Chace. it is likewiie very 
 ftrange, that other eminent Gentlemen, not 
 Members of the Houfe, fliould appear fo. Ihy in 
 a cafe of this pretended moment and importance ; 
 and that, the condudt of a fuit upon the moil fa- 
 vourite Idea of the People’s Reprefentatives, 
 fhcald be entrufted to the care of a fingle perfon ; 
 and the rather, as in Popular Cafes tlie Bar have 
 been known to rife like an armed Man, forming 
 a firm Phalanx to refill the force of one Crown- 
 Officer in the Law-Department. 
 
 The Two Juftices have boldly determined that 
 the Council are no Upper Houfe -, and the fuperior 
 Judges have judicially refolved that they are-, it 
 mult therefore follow of courfe, that the former 
 nave done wrong in difcharging a Prifoner com- 
 mitted by the Upper Houfe ; and the Affeinbly 
 can fcarce be right in approving an Act in every 
 fenfe illegal ■, for I have a clear pretence and a 
 juft right to call That illegal , which is not confo- 
 nant to the determinations of the King’s fuperior 
 Judges. — The Magiftrates feem to me to be in a 
 very aukward fituation ; for the empty applaufe 
 given them) by one Branch of the Legiflature will 
 not fo bolfter upcthe matter, as either to indemnify 
 them, or to juftify their conduct. 
 
 Sir William Williams *, being profecuted for 
 printing and publilhing a feditious Libel refledl- 
 ing upon the Duke of York, the King’s Brother, 
 called Dangerfield’s Narrative, he pleaded to the 
 jurifdiftion of the King’s Bench, That he being 
 Speaker of the Houfe • of Commons , caufed the fame 
 to be printed by order of the Houfe -, to which the 
 Attorney General Demurred -, and judgment was 
 
 M entered 
 
 Show. 471. Tremaine 48. 
 
8$" p 0 S T S C R 1. P T. 
 
 entered for the King, and Sir William was fined 
 ioxoo 1. fterling •, ar.d on payment of Sooc 1. fa- 
 tisfaftion was entered on record : Every order, 
 therefore, of a Legiflative Body will not always 
 justify indilcriminately the conduft of thofe who 
 pay obedience to it ; and that Body whofe order 
 was infufficient to jujiify when obedience was paid 
 to it, would prove a broken reed to reft upon, 
 when approbation only followed an illegal Act, 
 tunfupported by any order whatfoever. 
 
 I now and then read a little law for my amufe-- 
 ment and infmpction •, and I have a feW books 
 which tell me', that a Man may be guilty of a 
 very high offence, by making ufe of improper 
 pretences to reform Religion, the Laws, dr other 
 Grievances, real or affekied and that one may 
 commit high Contempts and Mifprifions againft 
 the King’s Perlon and Government, by doing any 
 thino- that has an immediate and dire £1 tendency to 
 weaken his Government , or to raife Jealouftes be- 
 tween Him and his People. 
 
 Whether the conduct of thefe Gentlemen ex- 
 pofes them to cenfure of any kind, I muff: fub- 
 mit to thefe Learned in the Laws ; for as 1 know 
 of no Statute which draws a line, or points out 
 precifely the extent of their Judicial Power , per- 
 haps they may be allowed to determine (provided 
 a Cafe leading to it is regularly before them) that 
 an old eftabhffied plan of Government is worn 
 out, decayed, and prejudicial to the State ; that 
 they can give fome found and ufeful hints for the 
 reparation of certain State Edifices, and iubftitute 
 fomething new in the room' oi old departments. 
 Perhaps it may be perfectly agreeable to their 
 magifterial conftitution, to pronounce any branch 
 of Government ufelefs , vmnecejfary , or burthenfomc . , 
 which their own underftanding, and experience 
 tell them to be fo. — The Juftices are on Ground 
 
' - POSTSCRIPT. 83 
 
 too Jlippery for me to trace their footfteps farther ^ 
 I mult therefore retire, and indulge myfelf with 
 a few ferious reflections on the Glorious Syftem 
 of our Englilh Conftitution j and I beg to re- 
 commend a piece of advice well exprefied by a 
 learned author *, “ Let us keep the balance as 
 “ even as we can, by forming every eftate in the 
 <c Conftitution a controul upon the reft ; but it 
 fi is. extravagant to think of leaving the leaft 
 “ jlrength or temptation to individuals to controul 
 “ Government itfelf 
 
 * Law of Forfeitures, p. 126. 
 
 F INI S . 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 In P- 33, 1 . 16, of fome Copies, for difapprove, read difprove. 
 
1 
 
 Date Due 
 
 SEP 8 * 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 FEB 9 V*. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Form 335— 40M— 6-39— S 
 
975.7 
 
 D0062 
 
 773Q 
 
 L528M 
 
 388:312