.cfi'xx , , J 4 Vis4* >■* > * f >v • DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %oom Jfo. 0* /ifo. 9*' )**?*• ^j <^, H^.ffUo,^ CO ch"0 "3 U CO ^ to CO < cd JD aj 'A S3 O fet V P* cd OB 1> CD o co CO O o a o CD £ u cq o H3 6 3 'Si u !h "o &0 o P 4-3 . ,4 Q H .bio S CT2 "Si P3 fes 4^> CO K5 T3 cd Q o ^ o CO jzj en 1— 1 P ti .2 H "3 '-P O 1 tS 6 iJ 1 =3 > Plh co 4, 00 s CO P3£ H ,__, CO 00 17.A.A. 5aOS«,V4- TH E PLOT DISCOVERED; O K An ADDRESS ?e THE PEOPLE, AGAINST MINISTERIAL TREASON. By S. T. COLERIDGE. BRISTOL; 1795. lloc placet, O Superi, cum vobis vertere cu*i&a Propofitun. Lucan : Lib. VII. THE PLOT DISCOVERED, WE have entrufted to Parliament the guardianlhip of our liberties, not the power of iurrendering them. Shame tall on the mitred mufti, who aims to perfuade us, that it rs the Almighty's will that the greateft part of mankind mould come into the world with faddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths, and the remaning few ready booted and fpurred for the purpofe of riding them. ;; r | ^HE Mass of the People have nothing -*■ TO DO WITH THE LAWS, BUT TO OBEY them !" Ere yet this foul treafon againft the majefty of man, ere yet this blafphemy againft the goodnefs of God beregiftered among our ftatutes, I enter my proteft ! Ere yet our laws as well as oar religion be muffled up in myfteries, as a Christian I proteft againft this worfe than Pagan darknefs f Ere yet the fword defcends, the two-edged iword that is now waving over the head of Freedom, as a Briton, I proteft againft ilavery! Ere yet it be made legal for Minifters to a& with vigour beyond law, as a child of peace, I proteft: againft civil war \ - A 2 This This is the brief moment, in which Freedom pleads on her knees : we will join her pleadings, ere yet fhe rifes terrible to wrench the fword from the hand of her mercilefs enemy \ We will join the ftill fmall voice of reafon, ere yet it be over- whelmed in the great and flrong wind, in the earthquake, and in the fire ! Thefe deteftable Bills I mall examine in their undiminished propor- tions, as tbey firft dared fhew themfelves to the light, difregarding and defpiftng all fubfequent palliatives and modifications. From their firft ftate it is made evident beyond all power of doubt, what are the wiihes and intentions of the prefent Minifters 5 and their wiihes and intentions having been fo evidenced, if the legifiature authorize, if the people endure one fentence of fuch Bills from fuch manifeft confpirators againft the Constitution, that legifiature will by degrees authorize the whole, and the people endure the whole — yea, that legifiature will be capable of authorifing even worfe, and the people will be unworthy of better. The firit of thefe Bills is an attempt to affafifmate the Liberty of the Preis : the fecond, to fmotber the Liberty of Speech. And firft of the firft, which we flaall examine claufe by clattfe.-— The. outrage offered offered to his Majefty is the pretext — which out- rage is afcribed to " the multitude of feditious pamphlets and fpeeches daily.printed, publiihed^ and difperfed with unremitting induftry and with a tranfcendant boldnefs." At the time that Thomas Paine's books were difperfed "with an un- remitting induftry and a traufcendant boldnefs" unexampled fince that time, was not the fame complaint made in a proclamation from the throne ? The circumftances ftated as caufes in this Bill, the fame circumftances then exifted j but did they appear to produce a (imilar effect ? Were not the higher ciaiTes infatuated, w^ere not the multitude maddened with exceis of Loyalty ? The difper- fion therefore of feditious pamphlets was not the caufe : that was the cauie which gave to (edition the colouring of truth, and made difaffection the di&ate of hunger, the prefent unjuft, unneceifary and calamitous War — a War that brought dearth, and threatens flavery ! It was hunger and the fenfe of infulted wrongs that urged the ignorant mob w 7 ith mifplaced indignation to utter groanings and hiiTes againft the Sovereign j and with regard to the {lone or bullet I can beft exprefs my fenti- ments by adopting the language of the refolutions affixed to the Sheffield addrefs: That I truly A 3 believe, 6 believe, there is only one herd of abandoned mif- creants in his majefty's dominions capable of committing fo wicked and treafonable an attack on the firft magiftrate of the land, thofe purjured confpirators againft the lives and liberties of the people, the difbanded troops of fpies and informers who, fince the late Hate trials, had been out of employment. But whatever the caufes may have been, on account of thefe outrages the minifters " have judged that it is become neceflary to provide a further remedy againft all fuch treafonable and feditious practices and attempts. A man fufpe&ed from confufed evidence of having thrown a ftone at his Majefty has been committed for High Treafon ; and another who only exclaimed, no war! bread! no war! has been committed for a high mifdemeanor : and yet it has been judged neceflary to provide further remedies! O that our beloved Sovereign may never have caufe through the machinations of his quacking miniflers to adapt the old epitaph, I was well, they would make me better, and fo deftroyed me. In all minifterial meaiures there are two reafons, the real, and the oftenfible. The oftenfible reafon of the prefent Bill we have heard ; the real reafon will not elude the featch of common fagacity. The exifling laws of Treafon were too clear, too une- quivocal. Judges indeed (what will not Judges do?) Judges might endeavour to transfer to thefe laws their own flexibility ; Judges might make llrange interpretations. But Engliih Juries could not, would not understand them. Hence inftead of eight hecatombs of condemned traitors behold eight triumphant acquitted felons I Hinc illae lacrymae. The prefent Bills were conceived and laid in the dunghill of defpotifm among the other yet unhatched eggs of the old Serpent. In due time and in fit opportunity they crawled into light. Genius of Britain ! crufh them ! The old Treafon Laws are fupeffeded by the ex- ploded commentaries of obfequious Crown law- yers, the commentary has confpired againft the text: a vile and ufelefs Have has confpired to dethrone its venerable mailer. " If any perfon within the realm or without fhall compafs, imagine, invent, devife, or intend death or deftruftion, or any bodily harm tending to death or deftrudion, maim or wounding, imprifonment or reitraint of the perfon of our fovereign Lord, the King, or if he levy war againft his Majefty, or move or ftir any foreigner or ftranger to invafion — he mall be ad- A 4 judged 8 judged a traitor." We object not. But "whoever by printing, writing, preaching, or malicious and advifed fpeaking, fhall compafs, or imagine, or devife to deprive or depofe the King, or his heirs and fuccefiors from the ftyle, power, and kingly name, of the imperial crown of this realm, he (hall be adjudged a traitor." Here lurks the fhake. To promulge what we believe to be truth is indeed a law beyond law 3 but now if any man mould publifh, nay, if even in a friendly letter or in focial converfation any mould affert a Republic to be the moft perfect form of govern- ment, and endeavour by all argument to prove it fo, he is guilty of High Treafon : for what he declares to be the more perfect, and the moft pro- ductive of happinefs, he recommends ; and to re- commend a Republic is to recommend an abolition of the kingly, name. By the exifting treafon laws a man fo accufed would plead, It is the privilege of an Englishman to entertain what fpeculative opinions he pleafes, provided he ftir up to no pre- fent action. Let my reafonings have been mo- narchical or republican, whilft I act as a rovaliir. I am free from guilt. Soon, I fear, fuch excuife will be of no avail. It will be in vain to aliedge, that fuch opinions were not wiilied to be realized, except 9 except as the refultof progreflive reformation and ameliorated manners ; that the author or fpeaker never dreamed of feeing them realized ; though he mould exprefsly fet forth, that they neither could be, nor would be, nor ought to be, realized in the prefent or the following reign ; ftill he would be guilty of high Treafon : for though he recom- mends not an attempt to depofe his prefent Majefty from the kingly name, yet he evidently recom- mends the denial of it to fome one of his diftant fucceifors. All political controverfy is at an end. Thofb fudden breezes and noify gufts, which purified the atmofphere they difturbed, are hufhed to deathlike filence. The cadaverous tranquillity of defpotifm will fucceed the generous order and graceful indifcretions of freedom — the black movelefs peftilential vapour of flavery will be inhaled at every pore. But, beware, O ye rulers of the earth! For it was ordained at the foundation of the world by the King of kings, that all cor- ruption mould conceal within its bolbm that which will purify 5 and they who sow pestilence MUST REAP WiRLWINDS. But not only are the exertions of living genius to be fmothered by the operation of this execrable claufe ! 10 claufe ! All names of paft ages dear to liberty are equally profcribed ! He who prints and publifhes againft monarchy, as well as he who writes againft it, is a traitor. The future editions will be treafonable. If the leghlature can pafs, if the people can endure fuch a law, it will foon pafs, they will eafily endure a domiciliary inqueft, which will go through our private and our public libraries with the expurgatorial befom ! This has been already done in Hanover ; it was done by order of the government there in the courfe of the la ft year. We hope and ftruggle to believe, that the meafure proceeded entirely from the refident mi- nifters 5 we hope and ftruggle to believe, that the firft magiftrate of a free country, that a monarch whofe forefathers the bold difcuffion of political principles placed and preferved on the throne of Great Britain, could not be the author of an edict which afllimes the infallibility of the Pope, and the power of the inquilition. We hope and ftruggle to believe it, left an unbidden and unwelcome fuf- picion force its way into our bofoms, that they, who ordered fuch a meafure in Hanover, muft wifh it in England. Sages and patriots that being dead do yet fpeak to us, fpirits of Milton, Locke, Sidney, Harrington ! that ftill wander through your native country, giving wifdom and infpiring 11 zeal ! the cauldron of perfecution is bubbling againft you, — the fpells of defpotifm are being muttered ! Bleft fpirits ! affift us, left hell exorcife earth of all that is heavenly ! Our anceftors were wifely cautious in framing the bill of treafon ; they would not admit words as fufficient evidences of inten- tion. How often does the tongue utter what the moment after the heart difapproves ! thefe indifcretions are blameable in the individual, but the frequency of them was honorable to the nation at large, as it demonstrated the unfufpeeling fpirit of a free government, too proud to be jealous ! — Betides, words are eafily miftated without ill-inten- tion \ how eafily then, where Power can pay Perjury ? Hired fwearers were not perhaps fo numerous in former days, as (we may judge by the ftate trials) they are now. But our anceftors however had read, that when the rulers and high- priefts were interefted in making a man appear guilty, even the fpotlefs innocence of the Son of God could not preferve him from falfe witnerTes. But I hear it fuggefted, that the two Acts will not be adminiftered in all their poffible ftretch of implication! Pale-hearted men, who cannot ap- prove, yet who dare not oppofe a moft foul minif- try, 12 try, is it come to this, that Britons fhould depend on clemency not juftice, that Britons mould whine to Minifters to ftand between them and the law ? But if honeffcpfide and burning indignation pre- vent not the queftion in you, experience anfwers — that wherever it (hall luit the purpofes of a cor- rupt and abandoned miniftry, thefe Acts will be adminiftered to the utmoft ftretch of poflible implication. Read the trial of Gerald, and then alk your own hearts, on what evidence a man may not be condemned ? and what are thefe Bills but an edition of Scotch laws with large additions ? Know ye not, there is a numerous peace -eftablifh- ment of King's* tradefmen, of penlioners, of hired fpies, of hungry informers, and of witneffes moft learned in their profeffion, who have graduated in guilt and paffed through all the degrees of ferviceable iniquity from lofs of memory to equivocation, and from equivocation to perjury ? Of thefe myfterious Slave-mafons know ye not who is the grand mafter ? And that from thefe he will find it poffible to pack juries ? And when not packed, are not Juries often ignorant, and fometimes timid ? Do- ye not know, that our nature is liable to corruption ? and that to be delivered from evil we muft not be led into temp- tation ? 13 tation ? Have we not then the authority of Chrift for aflerting that men, who have been made Judges by a minifby and hope to be made Lord Chan- cellors, may and fometimes will be the creatures of that miniftry ? But enough of fo contemptible an argument for Bills fo big with ruin ? I paid it too great reverence, when I honored its nonfenfe with the ceremony of refutation. The next claufe of this Bill is, and be it further enacted, by the authority aforefaid, that if any perfon or perfons within that part of Great Britain called England, mail maliciouily and advifediy, by writing, printing, preaching, fpeaking, expreis or publifh any words, fentences, or other thing or things, to incite or ftir up the people to hatred or diflike of his Majefhy, his heirs or fucceffors, or the eftablimed government and condition of this realm, every fuch perfon fhall be liable to punifh- ment fuch as is inflicted in cafes of high mifde- meanor; and if convicted of a fecond offence, be tranfported for feven years. This claufe is, firft of all, a grofs libel on his Majefty. No Monarch ever yet reigned, and none ever will reign without fome calumny and abufe. This is a debt which he pays to his fituation. But where no occafion for abufe 14 abufe exifts, the offenders will be few and con- temptible j and where the abufe is grofs, our exifting laws have provided fevere penalties. But to declare by authority of parliament that the offenders are fo numerous, and the abufe of fo fpreading and dangerous nature, that the fevere penalties already enacted are inadequate to the pre- venting it, will not thisfuggeft to everyunprejudiced man the dread, that enemies fo numerous could not have arifen without previous oppreffion, and that abufe fo calculated to fpread mult have fome foun- dation in truth ? All cenfure intends to excite Ji/ltke-y to forbid all difcourfes and publications that may tend to produce dijlike of his Majefty, is in other words, to bellow on the firft magiftrate of a free country an impunity from all cenfure. I am aware, it will be objected, that fuch difcourfe or book rauft have uttered or publimed malicioujly* But will the offender himfelf plead guilty to thy malicious intention ? and if he himfelf does not plead guilty, what witneffes can be brought againft. the fecrets of the heart ? The law muft in thefe cafes judge of the intention by the effecl ; and where the effecl; is flrong and clear, a complai- fant Judge will always find himfelf incapable of con- 15 cot ceiving, how it could be produced, if not malicioufly. Dislike! Gracious Heaven f To make foch a law to prevent an idle talker from exciting dislike ! why it is arming a man cap-a- pee with cumbrous fteel, to prevent the contingency of a fcratch ! Is not this a confeffion, that fo bad is the ftate of his body, that a fcratch might eventually terminate in a mortification ! Punifh- ment is unjuft in proportion as the invective is true ; punifhment is unneceffary in proportion as the in- vective is falfe. For it confutes itfelf, and finking againft a rock fliesback,and repeatingthe diminifhed calumny proclaims only its own repulfe. An abufive fellow followed Pericles home with much pane- gyrical reviling. Pericles confeiousofits injuftice, ordered his fervants to light the man back again, as one who had chofen a delicate though unufual way of reminding him of his merits. But Pericles was a republican, and therefore it may be objected, not an appofite precedent j but, my friends ! if Monarchs would behave like republicans, all their fubjects would act as royalifts. Secondly, this claufe is pernicious as tending to fhut out his Majefty from the poffibility of hearing truth ; — which I hold to be High Treafon againft the Sovereign's better part — his intellect. For this law would 15 would prevent all cenfuireof the King's lueafures. But fo unfavourable are the circumftances with which a Monarch is neceffarily furrounded, that advice offered to him by any of his people cannot be fuppofed likely to make any imprefiion, unlefs conveyed in the raofl flartling language. There is a fomewhat in all power which makes it dead except to the ftrongeft ftimulants. But by what means can advice fo couched be wafted to the ear of Royalty ? The man who offers it becomes an accufed felon (for the Secretary of War too fubhme and vigorous for the flow-paced decencies of law holds that felony is a fomething not neceffa- rily determined by the fentence of a Jury, but dependent on his individual opinion) the man who offers it becomes an accufed felon. 1 have read, I think, that in fome eailern courts the Am- baffadors from Europe have their arms pinioned while they fpeak to the Defpot. Our mimfters faithful to Defpotifm, intend to improve on the hint, and no man who fets forth grievances (and who is therefore properly an Ambaffador from the people) mult fpeak to his Majefty, unlefs in hand- cuffs and in fetters. And when the people dare not advife, who will remain ? Wolseys that breathe foui difcurders into the ear of Majefty ; and whole 17 whole flights of Triefts and Biffyops, black men, and black men with white arms, like magpies and crows that pick out the eyes of fheep ! Thirdly, this claufe is a grofs libel on human nature, for it forbids all writings and all fpeeches that exeite hatred or diflike of the Conftitution ; tiow the power of exciting hatred or diflike conflfls in this only, in fhewing or appearing to fhew that any perfon or thing is hoftile to happinefs. To forbid therefore this deraonftration, or this attempt to demonftrate, *hat the Constitution is hoftile to the happinefs of man, argues (fuppofing the minifters a6ted on principle) that they already poflefs a prior demonftration that this Conflitution affords the utmoft poflible quantity of happinefs, the Handing point of eternal and omniprefent good- Now if thefe minifters believe this, namely, that the Con- flitution as it at prefent exifls is the beft poflible, they mufl likewiie believe either that there is no God, or if there be a God, that he is not all-pow- erful or not benevolent. For this faid fummum bonum as it at prefent exifls, doth evidently pre- vent little evil and produce much. An omnipotent Devil in a good humour would grant a much better extreme of poflible good. But if the prefent Con- B ftitution 19 ititution be progrerlive, if its only excellence, if its whole endurablenefs conlift in motion ; if that which it is be ohly good as bein£ the flep afad mode of arriving at fomething better ; if thefe be truths (and Defpotifm fhall dote on the wretch who dares call them falfehoods,) then are bur minifters mbft. Unnaturally dwarfing what they dare not at once deflroy. As ladies of high rahk and feniibility give gin tb young dogs, even lb are they drenching the Conftitution with a poifon, to prevent its further growth and keep ii a fit play- thing for themfelves to dandle. This is the conclu- fitfti of the hew Treafoh Bill. I will only add, that the Word Majefty in its original ftgrtirlcatibn, meant that weight which the will 2n& opinions of the majority imparted. Majfefty meant the unity of the ptople ; the one point in which ten million rays cbncehtfered; The antient Lex Majeftatis, or law Of Trfeafon was intended againft thbffe who injured the Pbcfle 3— and Tiberius was the firtt who transfered this latv from the pebble tb theprbte&ion of tyrants.— fn our laws the King is regarded as the voice and will of the people : which white he remains, it is tohfetjuently trfeafbnable to cbnfpire ^gainttbim. We 10 We proceed to the fecond Bill, for more effectu- ally preventing feditious meetings and affemblies. At my firft glance over it, it recalled to me by force of contra ft the ftern fimplicity and perspicuous briefhefs of the Athenian laws. But our minifieffc meaning generally bears an ihverfe proportion to the multitude of his words. If his declaration confift of fifty lines, it may be eompreffed into ten ; if it extend to five hundred, it may be comprefTed into five. His ftyle is infinitely porous : deprived Of their vacuities the '¥6 tCc/lv^ the uhiverfe of his bills and fpeeches would take up lefs room than a nutfhell. The Bill now pending is indeed as full- foliaged, as the Manchineel tree j (and like th6 manchineel. will poifon thofe who are fools enough to flumber beneath it) but its import is briefly this- — firlt, that the people of England mould poflefs no unreftrainfed right of eohfulting in common on common grievances: and fecondly, that Mr. ThelWall mould no tonger give political lectures. The public amufements at the Theatre are already under minifterial controul. And if the tremendous fublimity of Schiller, if " the Rob- ers" can be legally fupprefled by that thing yclept a Lord Chamberlain, in point of literary exhibition B 2 it 20 it would be unreafonable for Mr. Thelwall to com- plain. But in proportion as he feels himfelf of little confequence he will perceive the iituation of the miniftry is defperate. Nothing could make him of importance but that he fpeaks the feelings of multitudes. The feelings of men are always foun- ded in truth. The modes of exprefiing them may be blended with error, and the feelings themfelves may lead to the moft abhorred excefles. Yet (till they are originally right : they teach man that fomeihing is wanting, fomething which he ought to have. Now if the premier with the influence of the wealthy and the prejudices of the .ignorant on his fide, were evidently draggling to fupply thefe perceived defiderata, could an unfupported malcontent oppofe him ? Alas ! it is the vice of this nation, that if a minifter merely promife to increaie the comforts or enlarge the liberties of the people, he inftantly conjures up fuch a wild and overwhelming popularity, as enables him to exe- cute with impunity the rnoft ruinous fchemes againft both. But William Pitt knows, that Thelwall is the voice of tens of thoufands, and he levels his parliamentary thunder-bolts againfl him with the fame emotion with which Caligula witlied 21 wifhed to fee the whole Roman flate brought together in one neck, that he might have the luxury of beheading it at one moment. But we mall revert to this claufe in due time, and gird ourfelves up to this conlideration of the redactions of the right of petitioning. n Whereas afTemblies of divers perfons collected for thepurpofe or under the pretext of deliberating on public grievances, and of agreeing on petitions, complaints, remonftrances, declarations, or other addreffes, to the King or to both houfes or either houfe of Parliament, have of late been made ufe to ferve the ends of factious and feditious perfons to the great danger of the public peace, &c. " Where ? when ? and by whom have factious and feditious fpeeches been made, and the public peace endangered, by aflembled petitioners ? Unlcfs thefe Queftions are circumftantially anfwered, and the anfwers proved by legal evidence, an aft for re- pealing the Conititution will have pafled on the ftrength of a minifterial afifertion. Where, when, and by whom? Within the laft years in various parts of the kingdom heavy griev- ances have called together crowded meetings, Which of thefe have endangered the public B 3 peace ? 22 peace? As far as my information, as far as the newfpaper accounts may be trufted, the more numerous the afTembly, the more ftri& has been the good order. What were the fa&ious and leditious fpeeches ? Let them be fpecified. Are they fuch as Locke and Lord Somer-s would have difavowed ? Or were they only bold and consti- tutional remonftuances againft dark and minifterial iniquities,? If not fuch, if they are truly factious and feditious (that is, exciting to violence) the exifftng laws are fuffiqent authority for appre- hending the fpeakers; let them be brought forwards and examined j let them and the mini- fters be confronted! Let the Honourable Mr. Dundas be alked, whether or no they are among his old correfpondents ! or if the modefty of this fenator be overpowered, fpare his blpmes, and in treating the Right Honourable Mr. Pitt to re- cover his Memory, put him upon his oath — no I not on his oath — for why fhould God's name be taken in vq'i?i ? but clofely queftion him, whether or no thofe fpeakers are not the " Reporters of Government ? Gentlemen (as a chief Juftice would exprefs himfelf) who have received acknowledge- ments for fecret fervices ? It is highly probable, that this would appear to be the real cafe 5 and if it be only 23 only poifible, while the contrary remain* unproved, facta a Whereas mult be a moft inadequate ground for the prefent Bill. *♦ BE it enacted by the King's moft excellent Majefty, by and with the confent of the lords fpiritual and temporal, and commons, in this prefent' parliament aflembfed, and by the authority of the fame, that from and after the no meeting of any defcription of perfons, exceeding the num- ber of (other perfons than and except any meet- ing of any county, riding, or divifion, called by the Lord Lieutenaat, Cuftos, or more juft ices of the peace of the county, or place where fuch meeting (hall be holden, or any meeting of any corporate body) mail be holden for the purpofe or on the pretext of confioWing or for preparing any petition, complaint, remonftrance, declaration, or other addreffes, to the king, or to both houfes, or to either rioufe of parliament, for alteration of matters eftabliflied in church and ftate, for the purpofe^ or on th« pretext of deliberating upon any grievance in church or ftate, unlefs notice of the intention to hold fuch meeting, and of the time and place, when aad where the fame (hall be propofed to be holdert, and of the purpofe for which the fame mall be propofed to be holden, and of the matter or matters to be propounded and deliberated upon in luch meeting, fhall be given, by public advertisement in days at the leaft before fuch meet- ing fhall be holden, and unlefs the authority to infert fuch. notice (hall be figned by perfons at the leaft, being houfekeepers refident within the county; city, Or place where fuch meeting fhall be propofed to be holden, and unlefs fuch authority fo figned fhall be written at the foot of a true copy of fuch notice, and fhall be delivered to the perfon required to infert the fame in any fuch asafoirefaid; which perfon lhall caufe fuch notice and authority to be carefully. |>refefved, and fhall produce^ the fame whenever theret* required by any one or more juftice or juftice* of the peace, for the county, city, town, or place, where fuch p«rfon fhall. refide, or where fuch fhall be printed j and mall alfo, if required, caufe a true copy of fuch notice,' and au- thority fo figned, to be delivered to any fuch juftice who lhall require the fame." 24 " Other than except any meeting called by the Lord Lieutenant" Sec. Admirable exceptions ! and truly confoling to the fix millions who inhabit " that part of Great Britain called England." The unreftrained Right of pe- titioning againft grievances confined to Lord Lieu- tenants, Sheriffs of Counties, and Bodies Corporate ! to men and to fets of men, againft whom as being themfelves an heavy grievance, we mould do well to petition. And to Juftices of Peace ; men ap- pointed in a moment by Government and difplaced in a moment : whofe office is abfblutely dependent on the will of the Crown, and who are therefore nothing more or lefs than a fcattered Army of King's Guards ! men whofe own privileges are an infult on Liberty, are appointed exclusively the guardians of Britifh Liberty ; — ah no ! not her guar- dians, but her fole Executors ! *' Any fpecial circumftances" All the former particularizing of circumftances, is fuperfeded and rendered unneceflary by the phrafe " any fpecial circumftances"~whkh phrafe gives to any brace of trading Juftices an unlimited and arbitrary power of difperftng the moft nume- rous and refpe&able affembly : and if human jnature and and common fenfe ftruggle againfr obedience, to feize them as felons or {laughter them as rebels. If this claule had paffed, the word " conm'tution" ought to have been erafed. The Bill would have been not only in its conlequences (fuch perhaps it ftilHs) but in its immediate operation, a repeal of the Conflitution. A government indeed we mould have had r there is not a ilave-plantation in the world that has not a government ! but a Confti- tution, if it mean any thing, iignifies certain known Laws, which limit the expectations of the people and the difcretionary- powers of the legiilature. Such is the Bill of Rights ; the mod efTential arti- cle of which would have been annulled : this claule therefore could not have become a law, or have been entitled to moral obedience. It would have been only an Edict, which holding the piflol of military Defpotifm at our hearts, would have cried, " Stand and deliver up your Freedom !" Burleigh, who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, faid truly, England can never be undone but by a Parliament :" for Burleigh faid it before the contract of the Bill of Rights had been entered into by the people and their governors. But now we cannot be legally undone even by a Parliament : for (as Bolingbroke remarks) Parliament cannot annul the Constitution. The 26 The Conftitution is the Law paramount, and pre- vents the fupreme from becoming an arbitrary power. Whenever the Constitution fliall be violated, then the Rigtjt of renftance will com- mence ; a Right reftr.i&ed only by prudence, that is, a knowledge of {he means. Such fentiments if amount to legal Treafon," exclaims our minifter. So laid King James thefecond, and the Pope fwore by his infallibility that King James fpoke truth ! But ouranceftors thought otherwife. They thought that the people alone were the rightful vicegerents of God, and that to the people is delegated the divine attribute of " exalting the humble and de- bating the mighty." So •' the delcendant of a long line of Kings" they fent a begging, and a foreigner brought from a petty fpot in Germany they placed on the throne of Great Britatn and Ireland. May the principles, which gave it to him, preferve it to his descendants ! Amen! Amen! This execrable claufe has been withdrawn. The dark Nimrod has haftily itulked off feared by the drowfy roar pf the flo\v-a wakening Lion : but the Coward's iv'ijli {hall not be forgotten ! Is it pofiible, that this man fhould remain the confidential fervant of a free nation? that a nation (houjkl admit one en- 27 encroachment on Freedom from a wretch who dared menance its total destruction } Js it poffible, that a Matron mould court the company and mffer the lerFer loves of the foul-hearted Libertine, whom fhe had with difficulty repelled from the lait violence ? then were the check, which he has re- ceived, only the lie ! tie ! of a willing Prude, who rejected }ris hafte, but approves his pamon, But there are dreadful encroachments yet un~ repelled. The poifon is difguifed not killed 1. Any man, whom a magisterial neighbour chufes to infult under pretext pf fufpicion, is liable to a domiciliary inqueft. Our houfes are no longer our pgttjes. 2. A juftice of peace* cannot indee-d immediately difperfe an aflembly of petjtipners, but he can prevent them from deliberating : he FW * Is it no grievance (faid Sir J. Hinde Cotton in the de- base on the repeal of trie Septennial a&, A. D. J734) that a lit'le dirty juftjee of the peace, the meaneft and vileft tool a mipifter can make ufe of, a tool who perhaps iubfifts by nis being in the commiffion ; and who may be turned out of that fubfirtence whenever the minifter pleafes ? — is this, 1 fey] no grievance that fiictt a tool fhould have it in his pc/wer, by reading a proclamation, to put perhaps twenty or t^jxty of the beft fobje&s in England' to immediate death, wi'hojut any trial or form of law? See Debates of the Com- mon's, Vol. viii. p. 179. The intention of the Riot A& being to feize and bring to regular trial by jury, (fee the aft) nothing can be more abfurd (befides the cruelty of it) than 28 can flop every fpeech and feize every fpcaker, if h^ chufe to fufpe6t.it or him to be feditious : — and if by the wanton and mooriih exercife of this pri- vilege he can enfnare the aflembly into marks of indignation, then the claufe (withdrawn- only in appearance) commences its bloody work. Of unexampled meafures the caufes ancf effects might be deemed uncertain ; the prophecies of philofophical prefcience too often acquire authority only from their accomplifhment. But thefe Bills though the application of fire-arms ; becaufe (as Burgh moft faga- cioufly remarks) fire-arms do not feize people but murder them ! It is now three or four hundred years (laid a fpeaker in the Houfe of Peers — fee Debatesof the Peers, Vol. v. 172.) fince fire-arms firft came in ufe amongft us ; yet the law has never fuffered them to be made ufe of by the common officers of juftice. Pikes, halberts, battle-axes, and- fuch like, are the only weapons that can be made ufe of according to law, by fuch officers, and the reafon is extremely plain — becaufe, with fuch weapons they can feldom or ever hurt much lefs kill any but fuch as are really oppofing or affaulting them : "whereas if you put fire-arms into their hands, they may as probably hurt or kill the innocent as the guilty. See Burgh's political Difquifitions, Vol. iii. page 230. the laft of the three volumes was publifhed in 1 7 75. The whole work fhould be in the pofTeflion of every lover of freedom ; its remarks on laws and government are as profound as they are pointed, and it is an invaluable treafure to thefe, whofe occupations- allow them but little time for reading, on account of the multitude and pertinence of hiftoric facts collected. He who carefully perufes the *f Political Difquifiuons"willjneet with little new information in later writers. 2Q though mod ftrange, are not new. Lord Grenville profefles to imitate the " precautions of our an- ceftors " and the precedents, which he would purfue, are thofe of Elizabeth and Charles the fecond. To afcertain therefore what effects they 'will produce, and to what purpofes they ivill be employed, we need only revolve the pages of hiftory and difcover what effects they did produce, and to what purpofes they ivere employed. The meafures of Elizabeth were imitated by the firft James, and deemed fafe precedents by the firft Charles 5 who, " wifely % and fpiritedly adopted fuch provifions and paifed fuch laws, as gave a fecurity to the Monarchy, as the ejfeniial part and pillar of the Conftitution." And it is in imitation of thefe illuftrious examples, that he {Lord Gren- ville) as a fervant of the Crown, called on their Lordfhips to purfue fimilar meafures of precaution and fafety !!" Such meafures, good Lord Grenville, produced that civil commotion, 'vulgarly called, the great Rebellion ! The meafures and laws of the fecond Charles followed up by the fecond James, \ From Lord Grenville 's fpeech, Friday, Nov. 6th 1795, quoted on the authority of the Senator, or Clarendon's Par- liamentary Chronicle, page in of the third number, of the prefent feffion. 30 James, produced that other commotion, hmlg&rly 1 * called, a Revolution. Such efftSts did thefe meafures eventually produce : and as to what jpurpofes they were applied, hiftory informs that they were employed to * u Thoughts on the Englim Government," a pamphlet attributed to Mr. Reeves, chief juftice of Newfoundland, and captain commandant of the fpy-gang. I take this opportunity to enter my proteft againft the proFecution. I am afraid, that the pleafure generally felt when the attack againft Mr. Reeves w?,s commenced, arofe from a fomethifcig Hke re-' vengeful hatred towards the man. Moral truth, (by which I mean all that we in our consciences believe to be true,) may be nevertheless criminal and libellous when directed againft private characters ; for the charge will reach the minds of mahy who cannot be competent judges of the truth or falfehood of fa&s to which themfelves were not witneffes againft a man whom they do not know. But no part of this reafoning applies againft political writings. Government concerns all generally and no one in particular : all are equally witneffes ; if the charge be truth, it ought to be received with gratitude ; iffalfe, it is eafily detected ; and the effort being made for common good, the intention fhould be taken for the deed. I wilh it to be understood as my opinion that the oppofition have difgraced themfelves by their alacrity to perfecute. They could have no proof tnat Mr. Reeve's did hot believe what he published ; and if he believed it* and be- lieved it to be for the public good, and yet the oppofition thi.-ik him a fit object of puhHhment, I am afraid, that the difFerente between the ins and the outs is not fo great as we wiffi or imagine. Mr. Pitt who had been advifed of the pamphlet, and (together with Mr. Wyndham) at firft attempted to defend it, has now gone over to the fide of the actufers ; for the acciifers were on the fide of defpotifm, and (bar miniftfers were prompted by infpftation of the evil fpint to adopt one text of fcripture — If fatan caft oot fatan, he is divided againft himfelf, how then fhali his kingdom ftand ? 31 to deftroy firft the liberty of the Prefs. fecondly, the freedom of ipeech : in fhort, to fcare away th'e people from the exercife of all right of political interference. As fufficient evidence of the firft, we refer to the well-known cafe of Page, who in the reten of Elizabeth had his right* hand bar- barbufly cut oft for having written again ft a marriage alliance of the &ueeii with the Dukfe of Anjoii : and as proof of the fecond, We mall quote a pafifag-e from hiftorical efiays oh the Engliih constitution, tiefcribing the conduct, of the pen- fionetl parliament of Charles the Second, from whofe reigh the placemen of George the Third adduce moft appofite precedents: "As the peoplehad in both cafes loft the exercife of their annual power of election, with that they had loft the remedy for all their grievances. And under this mode of things may be obferved all the marks of tyranny that can be found under the defpotie government of one man. The laws were no longer any protection: to the innocent. Judgment and juftice were. directed by court-policy : ieverity and cruelty took the place of mercy and moderation : flitting of nofes, cutting of ears, whipping, pl- lorying, branding, fining, lmfrifoning, hanghig, and beheading, 32 beheading, were the conflant lot of thofe ivhn had virtue enough to [peak, ivrhe or aft i/i defiance of conjlitutional Liberty. And fo far ivas the Houfe of Commons from relieving the people under this dreadful difirefs, that they contributed all in their power to prevent even their cries and prayers from either ap- proaching the throne or themfelves. They paffed a LaiVy by -which no man durjl qjk his neighbour to pin him in a petition for relief to the King or either Houfe of Parliament. It ivas A melancholy confi- deration to fee the people refufedthe benefit of prayers and tears for relief AG ainst their own infamous Deputies. Hift. Efs. Engl. Conft. 120. Bat we will take a nearer view of the iubjeft. Thefe Bills are levelled againft all who excite hatred or contempt of the Conflitution and Govern- ment : that is, all who endeavour to prove the Conflitution and Government defective, corrupt, or fraudulent. (For it has been before obferved, thai all detection of weaknefs, impofture, or abuie, neceflarily tend to excite hatred or contempt.) Now the Conflitution and Government are defect- ive and corrupt, or they are not. If the former, the Bills are iniquitous, fince they would kill offaW. who promulge truths neceffary to the progreifion of 33 of human happinefs : of the latter, (that is, if the Constitution and Government are perfect) the Bills are ftill iniquitous, for they deflroy the fole boun- dary which divides that Government from Defpot- ifm, and change that Conflitution, from whofe prefent perfectnefs they derive their only poflible j unification. In order to prove thefe affertions, we muft briefly examine the Britiili Confiitution, or mode of Government. Governments have affumed many different forms ; but in their effence and properties, all poflible modes of Government are reducible to thefe three : Government by the people, Govern- ment over the people, and Government luith the people. The Government is by the people, when the affairs of the whole are directed by all actually prefent ; as among the American Tribes, and .(per- haps*) in Athens and fome other of the ancient Grecian States, or by all morally prefent, that is, where every man is reprefented, and thereprefen- tatives act according to in ft ructions. Such, I trufl, C will f W: fay ferhaps on account of the large proportion of Slaves in the .ancient fta'e-;, which feems to deflroy their cla.m to the utfes of republic. 34 will be the Government of France. France ! whofe crimes and miferies pofterity will impute to ns. France ! to whom pofterity will impute their virtues and their happinefs. Government over the people is known by the name of Defpotifm, or arbitrary Government : which term does not necefTarily imply that one man poffefles ekclufively the power and direction oftheftate, for this is no where the cafe. The Grand Seignior has his Divan \% nor does even the King of Spain dare act in direct oppofition to the wiihes of the Priefts and Grandees ; who in every country influence the meafures of the Government, and partake in its rapine. Defpotifm is that Govern- ment, in which the people at large have no voice in the legiflature, and poflfefs no other fafe or eftabliihed mode of political interference : in few words, where the majority are always acted upon, never acting. The X I-n 'reality the Government of Turkey is more free in its forms than the Britifh. They have a Conftitution, which determines tbe rights of the fuhjecl: and of the Emperor ; I mean, the Koran : and they have a grand national council, called, the Ulama, compofed of 1 bme taken from the people, $nd of others, the Moulahs, the hereditary Counfellors of the ftate. If the grand Seignior violate the Conftitution, the U lam a have the right of depofing him: and without a decree of the Ulama he cannot be ^epofed. 35 The third mode is Government ivlth the people. This ought to be a progrejfive Government afcend- ing from the ficond mode to the firft : at leaft, it is bad or good according to its diftance from, or proximity to, the firft mode. The ConJKtution and Government of Great Britain is evidently not the firft mode, that is, a Government hy the people. They who contend that it is the fecond mode, will detail from what the people at large are excluded : they, who would prove it to be the third or mixed mode, muft point out to what the people are admitted. And for the honour of our country let thefe have the firft hear- ing. We are aftonimed (thefe would fay) at the audacity as well as the blindnefs of men who dare entertain a doubt on this fubject.. The Englifh Conftitutron is the freeeft under heaven : our Liberty rafrers reftri&ions only to acquire fteadinefs and fecurity. The people by their proxies in the Houfe of Commons, are a check on the nobility, and the nobility a check on the people : while the King is a check on both. The beft difciplined people are fubjecl: to giddy moments, which will be moft effectually refifted by the wifdom of men educated from their infancy for the fenatorial C 2 office j 36 office ; whofe privileges and even prejudices are an antidote againft the epidemic diforders of dis- content, and thirft of innovation. And what is the King, but the majeftic guardian of Freedom, gifted with privileges that will incline, and prerogatives that enable him to prevent the legiflative from affuming the executive power : the union of which is one diitinguifhing feature of tyranny ? fuch is the Conftitution, concerning which it is aiked whether or no it be Defpotifm ! ! ! Their opponents reply, it is very poflible to iketch out an admirable theory of Government, and then call it the Britifh Conftitution. A philofopher, who mould attack the Popifh, or Abymnian Creeds, would not be fatisfied, if in an- iwer to him the defendant mould prove the excel- lence and perfectnefs of the Gofpels. We do not aik what a Britifh Conftitution might be, nor what the Britifh Conftitution has been, we enquire what it now is. We affirm, that a Government, under which the people at large neither directly or indi- rectly exercife any lbvereignity, is a Defpotifm. You have afferted that the people act by their proxies in the Houfe of Commons : and Blackftone (Vol. I. 171.) fays, "In England where the people do 37 do not debate in a collective body but by repre- fentation, the exercife of this fovereignity confifts in the choice of representatives. If then it can be proved, that the people at large " have proxies," or " debate by reprefentation," or have "■ the choice of representatives," the queftion will decide in your favour who affert the Rritifh Conftitution to be the lecond or mixed mode of Government. If thefe points cannot be proved, in favour of us who fufpecl: it to be a Defpotifm. Now we are of opinion, not only that fuch points cannot be made evident, but that the contrary may be demon- ftrated. The people (you fay) exercife a legiflative pow r er by proxies, that is, by the majority in the Houfe of Commons. But in the Houfe of Commons three hundred and fix are nominated or caufed to be returned by one hundred and fixty Peers and Commoners with the Treafury, and three hun- dred and fix are more than a majority: the majority therefore of the Houfe of Commons are the choice, and of cnurfe the proxies of the Treafury, and the one hundred and fixty two. % Of the relt (that is, \ Confult " the ftate of the reprefentatioa of England and "Wa;es, delivered to the Society, the fr.ends of the people, affociated for the purpoie of obtaining a parliamentary re- form. In this difpaffionate report, the nwmts of the one , hundred and fixty two are given, and tht boroughs fpecified ; bath thefe for which they nominate, and thole which they influence, fo as always to fecuie the return. m the* minor number of the Houfe of Commons) fome are ele&ed by corporate bodies, others through the undue practices of returning officers, and. twenty eight have feats in parliament by com- promifes. And after that thefe are fubftracted, with regard: to the yet remaining members, it would be an infult to common fenfe to aflfert, they are ele&ed by the people at large. The voters are fo contemptibly few, that for this reafon only they are almoft or altogether ufelefs : and from non-refi- dence, taking up of freedoms, complicate J rights* &c. &c. their charges for voting are fo enormous, that they become worfe than ufelefs : fincein order to be elected by them many men ruin therofelves. And for what ? from public fpirit ? Credat who likes I am fure " Judaeus Apella 1 ' will not; the cunning Ifaac would tell you that thofe, who buy dear, cannot live by felling cheap. If to all this you add the drunkennefs, perjury, and murder that attend a general election, you muft draw an un- heightened picture which would make every honefl man wifh that the leifer number of the Houfe of Commons were elected as the majority (or actual legiflative power) that is, by the one hundred and. iixty two Peers, Gentlemen, and Treafury. The right of election therefore, as it at prefent exift& in England, 39 England, muft be'coniidered^ot as an exception to Defpotifrn, but as making it more operofe- and exptnfive from the increafed necelfity of corruption. The people at large exercife no fove- reignty either perfonally, or "by representation. Such would be the reply of thofe who might contend that the Government of England is Def- potifm. The Conftitutionalifts, thofe of them, I mean, who condefcend to argue, would be forced to allow the truth of this flatement : but they would attempt to do away the confequences. " If (they would fay) men the moft likely by their qualifications to know and promote the public intereft, be actually returned to Parliament, it fignifies little who return then. We have a Houfe of Commons compofed of 548 members, in which number are to be found the moft confiderable Landholders and Merchants of the kingdom ; the heads of the Army, the Navy, and the Law j the occupiers of great offices in the State -, together with many private individuals eminent by their knowledge, eloquence, or activity. Now if the Country be not fafe in fuch hands, in whofe may it confide its interefts ? if fuch a number of fuch men be liable to the influence of corrupt motives, what aflembly of mea will be fecure from the fame • - . danger ? 40 danger ? the different interejls are actually repre- sented, and of courfe, the people virtually" Paley Mor: and Pol. Philofophy, Vol. II. 220. Such is Mr. Paley's folution. The plaufibility of his reaibnings amafes not Satisfies the opponents. Struck (they fay) with their ingenuity and accute- nefs, we thence infer that firft among the firft, the author himfelf muft have detected their fallacy. Charity with unwilling ear half-liftens to the report, that the reverend Moral ill: * cannot afford to keep a conference. In whofe hands can the public welfare be fafely entrufted, if not to the heads of the Army, the Navy, and the Law ? men receiving much and expecting more, men, who muft have cut and fquared their notions and feelings to the grand fcheme of getting forward hi the ivorldP to anfwer one queftion by another, in whofe hands could it be worfe intrufted ? are not men who are the fcr- vants of Government. out of the houfe, likely to prove its very convenient//7cv?<& within the houfe ? and merchants ! has the Archdeacon never heard of contracts, and how judicioufly they may be dif- tributed ! and " many individuals eminent by their abilities * QojvolvTol crvvs'tOKri' e; h to Ttav 41 abilities and eloquence P that is, in plain language, needy young men of genius aire occasionally picked up by one party or the other, prefented with a title of a place, and then brought forwards as rheto- rical gladiators for the amulement of the good people of England. A prize or two gained at Oxford fometimes proves an excellent advertife- ment to a young man who wants the lucrative office of an accommodating legiflator. With regard to the independent landholders, they are indeed indepen- dent of the people. Their honefty is therefore an accident, and rouft not be admitted into calcula- tion. When it occurs, it may ameliorate our fervice, but (unlefs the mode of reprefentatiou be improved) it cannot make us freemen ; I mean, that although it may occafionally procure good laws, it cannot fecure to us the permanence of them. It is fecurity which diftinguimes liberty from a virtuous Defpotiim : and this fecurity never .exifts unlefs when the legiHative power is in the hands of thofe, whofe worldly feif-interefts mani- feftly preponderate in favour of the incorrupt ufe of it. It has indeed been affirmed, that we are fecure with the wealthy : fince in impoverishing their Country they muft injure themfelves moft of all, and that their wealth lifts them * above the D reach 42 reach of temptation. We might quote in anfwer every page of the hiftory of England for thefe laft hundred years : but fuppoSing the aflertion not to have been confuted by fa6ts, we yet deny the pro- bability of it. For firft, the taxes are not levied in equal proportions, fo that without dire&ly injuring himfelf a legislator may vote away the pittance of the poor : fecondly. where the actual, efficient, independent legislators are fo few, and the revenues of Government fo immenfe, the ad- mini ftration can always put into a great man's pocket incalculably more than they take from his eftate : thirdly, his wealth fo far from lifting him above temptation expofes him to it. A man of large fortune lives in a fplendour and luxury, which long habit makes him consider eSTential to happi- nefs. He has perhaps a number of children, all of whom Share his affection equally. He wifhes that all his children Should continue to live in the ftile in which they have been brought up , but by the law of primogeniture the eldefl only will poSTefs the means of fo doing. Hence, he feeks fortunes for the refl in the enormous patronage of the crown. A man of moderate wealth is not expofed to this temptation. His rank does not make induftry dif- graceful, and by induStry all his children may be 43 be as well off as their father. Befides (though we would not difpeople St. Stephens's by fuel an X exclufion-Bill, as was paffed in the day; of Cromwell) yet while gaming is fo much the: rage, no man can be fafely called wealthy, orfup pofed to be armed againft temptation. Thus the actual pofTeflbrs of power are few, and independent of the people: which is Defpotifm. And the man- ners of the Great are depraved, the fources of corruption incalculable, and confequently the temptations to private and public wickednefo numerous and mighty : all which unite in preclu- ding the probability of its proving a •virtuous Defpotifm. Hitherto nothing has been adduced that truly diftinguifhes our Government from Defpotifm : it feems to be a Government over 9 not hy, or ivith the people. But this conclusion we difavow. The Liberty of the Prefs, (a power refident in the people) gives us an influential fovereignty. By books neceffary information may be difperfed 5 and by information the public will may be formed] and D2 by \ None were eligible to parliament at this time, but peribns fear'ng God : none who denies the fcripture to be the word of God : no habitual /wearer and cur/er : no drunk- ard : no adulterer ; no gamblers : no /ornicators : no Arc. &c. Pari ; Hift : XX. 386. 44 by the right of petitioning that will may be ex- prefTed ; flrft, perhaps, in low and diftant tones fuch as befeem the children of peace j but if cor- ruption deafen power, gradually increasing till they fwell into a deep and awful thunder, the Voice of God, which his vicegerents mull hear, and hearing dare not difobey. This unreftri&ed right of over-awing the. Oligarchy of Parliament by constitutional expreilion of the general will forms our liberty : it is the fole boundary that divides us from Defpotifm. TaAs'jOs^oy S 1 bkeivo, rig Ssksi' itoXsi Xiya; ri rsrwv sctv uraire§ov itoXsi ; Eurip. Supplic. 440. By the almoft winged communication of the Prefs, the whole nation becomes one grand Senate, fervent yet untumultuous. By the right of meeting together to petition (which, Milton fays, is good old englifh for requiring) the determinations of this Senate are embodied into legal form, and conveyed to the executive branch of Government, the Parliament. The prefent Bills annihilate this right. The forms of it indeed will remain \ 45 remain^ (the forms of the Roman republic were preferred under Tiberius and Nero) but the reality will have flown. No political information from the Prefs can previoufly enlighten the people j and if they meet, the deliberation muft be engroffed by the hireling defenders of that fcheme of cruelty and impofture, which the miniftry chufe to call our Conftitution. We can no longer confult in common on common grievances. Our affemblies will refemble a filent and fullen mob of difcon- tented flaves who have furrounded the palace of fome eaftern tyrant. By the operation of Lord Grenville's Bill, the Prefs is made ufelefs. Every town is infulated : the vaft conductors are deflroyed by the which the ele&iic fluid of truth was con- veyed from man to man, and nation to nation. A French Gentleman in the reign of Lewis the four- teenth was comparing the French and Engliih writers with all the boaftfulnefs of national pre- poffeflion. Monfieur (replied an Englifhman better verfed in the principles of freedom than the canons of criticifm) there are but two fubjeets worthy the human intellect — Politics and Religion, our ftate here, and our ftate hereafter : and on neither of ihefe dare you write ! This fpirited reproof may now be retorted on us. By Mr. Pitt's Bill Britons are 46 are allowed to petition — with Juftices of Peace at their elbow ! Juftices of Peace invefted with abfo- lute cenforial power over the individuals, and the chance-right of military domination over the affem- bly. Britifh Libertyleaves her cell by permiffion, and walks abroad to take the air between two jailors; fettered, and handcuffed, and with a gagg in her mouth ! ! ! There are four things, which bsing combined conftitute Defpotifm. 1. The confulion of the ex- ecutive and legiflative branches. 2. The direct or indirect exclufion of all popular interference. 3. A large military force kept feparate from the people. 4. When the punishments of flare-offend- ers are determined and heavy, but what conftitutes ftate-offences left indefinite, that is, dependent on the will of the minifler, or the interpretation of the Judge. Let the prefent Bills pafs, and thefe four things will be all found in the Britifh Govern- ment. 1. By the enormous patronage of the crown and the depravity of manners among the great, by the immenfity of the powers of corruption and the fewnefsofthe perfons to be corrupted, the execu- tive branch is actually the legiflative. 2. The Liberty of the Prefs abolifhed. and the right of free -17 free difcufiion in petitioning affemblies, the people of Britain will porTefs no greater controul over their governors than the inhabitants in Ruflia. 3. A vaft military force is maintained throughout the kingdom for the purpofe of intimidating the difarfected ; and that the foldiers may become in their notions and feelings a body diftinct from citi- zens they are placed in barracks, inftead of the conftitutional mode of fcattering them among their countrymen. (The fum of three hundred thoufand pounds has been expended in building thefebarracks in lefs than two yeais.) 4. The Treafon and Se- dition Bills are fo framed, that they include all men who recommend reform by the only poffible mode of recommendation, the detection of a defe&ivenefs in our Conftitution, and of iniquity and abufe in our Government. The felection of particular perfons forpunifhment depends entirely on the minifter. The Bills are a vaft aviary, and all the honeft are incaged within it. In l660 the people of Denmark made a voluntary furrender of their liberties to the crown : and it is faid, they have found it a wife and beneficial mea- fure. I am not acquainted with the Danifh Con- ftitution prior to this, nor have I feen the form of their 48 their petition ; I will draw out what I fuppofe it might have been j and let me be pardoned, if the actions are too much anglicized. To our fovereign Lord, the King, a Petition from theoppreffed People of Denmark. Sire! WE have been dreaming that we were a free nation : and when the voice of truth has half- awakened us, we have feared her away with the angry impatience of {lumber, and again refigned ourfelves to the pleafing delufion. But, fire ! we are now awake ! we perceive that we are not free, and we are confeious likewife, that from our igno- rance or depravity we are incapable of true freedom. The fole objects of the prefent petition are, that you would make our chains lefs heavy, and prevent our manners from becoming mpre depraved : and in order to this, that you would be- gracioufly pleated to affume to yourfelf the forms of that ab- folute power, the realities of which you have long poffefled. Even in that houfe, which in our old laws is fuppofed to be the organ of the people 3 a large majority of the members hold their feats by their own right, or by the nomination of private patrons. The remainder are elected indeed j but the the electors are fo few, that they muft be con- sidered a burdenfome privileged order, and in no wife the people. Their votes are notorioufly bought j and fo ignorant and corrupt are they, that the right of election is ndt merely ufelefs; it is fatal to our profperity and morals. It is a right given to them to fell their confeiences : a right to bring down the curfe of Heaven upon the nation by the frequency and daringnefs of their perjuries : a right by the contagion of their gluttony, drunk - ennefs, and party-feuds to render us lefs and lefs fafceptible of that liberty, with the forms of which it would mock us. And with regard to the legiflature, we are confeious, fire ! that the plans, which your royal wifdom and the wifdom of your honourable counfellors prepare in your cabinet, are always adopted by the houfe of nobles, and by that body, mifnamed, the houfe of the people. By difmifling them from a participation of the fovereignty, we mould therefore lofe nothing : and we mould gain much. For to them we do owe in great meafure the weight and multitude of our taxes, the frequency of wars, and the decay of virtue and piety among us. For although they conftantly adopt all your royal plans, yet they ex- pect to be rewarded for their promptnefs : in order E to 50 to which an infinity of penlions and places is neceflfary, to the great impoverifiiment of the honeft and the laborious part of your Majefty's fubjects. And we fuipect, fire ! that your fer- vants, to whom is intruftcd the management of this market, feel lefs averfion from the horrors of war from the knowledge, that a war may afford a fpecious pretext for multiplying fuch penfions, and doth receffarily increafe their patronage to an extent which may be truly ftyled enormous. We obferve, fire ! a fecond fource of war in that noify and incefTant abufe of your majefty's meafures ; which it has become a fafhion of ftate for a few men to pour forth in the legiflature, and by which they make known their defires to be ad- mitted to a fhare of your royal bounties. This abufe, fpringing altogether from their angry difappointment, or their eager hopes, or their impatient neceflities, is mixed up with the nobleft fentiments borrowed from the works of the en- lightened and unluxurious ancients, and falfely and dangeroufly applied to thefe times and this nation. For we are convinced, fire ! that our vaft commerce has made general among us that dependence and felf- ifhnefs and unmanly love of fplendour and pleafure, which neceffarily preclude all public fpirit. Free- dom, 51 dom is the Right and natural Consequence of Virtue; but for the vicious to claim it is Sedition. Self-love however prevents men from perceiving or remembering this truth : and the harangues of an ambitious faction daily difperfed through your majefty's realms by means of printed reports fpread far and wide principles of innovation and difcon- tent, which fometimes aifume fo threatening an afpe6t, that the evils of a foreign war are reforted to in order to prevent their diffufion. And from the fame fource it arifes, that Government which ought to employ itfelf for the benefit of the people, is engroned by the anxieties of felf-prefervation , and that legillative power, which might have been fuccefsfully exerted to the cure and prevention of national immorality, is wafted in degrading hoftilities againft libels and treafon. Hence arifes an appearance of a diversity of intereft in the crown and the nation ; and hence too it becomes poffible, that even in your majefty's bofom the feelings of paternal anger may occasionally difplace the emotions of parental love. We therefore your people of Denmark, are willing. O beloved King ! to concenter in you all the forms and powers of national fovereignty. We acknowledge with heart-felt joy, that piety, temperance, and humani- ty are the diftinguiOung marks of your majefty's character j and we believe, that by this folemn and public manifestation of our love and filial con- fidence,we fhall incline you yet more to wlih above all things the virtue and comfort of us, your af- fembled 52 fembled children ; and by removing the obftacles (arifing from the prefent necemty of corruption and terror in order to carry on the bufinefs of Government) we fhall enable you to realize fuch wifhes. Henceforward we expecl, that the trea- fures which are yearly fcrambled for by the fons of clamour, will either remain with the people and increafe their domeftic comforts, or be drawn out for the reward of genius and virtue, and the promotion of arts, fciences, and true religion. Countlefs millions will no longer be expended to ihed blood and bring famine and peftilence. The barracks fo thickly fcattered over your majefty's realms, we have full confidence that you will convert into national fchools : the inftruments of (laughter, will be beat into plough (hares and pruning-hooks : and the immenfe magazines, in which they were piled up, will burft with grain feapt by rejoicing induftry fiom the drained fwamp, and the cultivated wade-lands ! And your petitioners (hall ever pray &c. FINIS. Errata. — Page 14, For impunity read immunity j and for intends read tends, in the fame page. x t:?,?,*, fc&h'-xn