I 
 
 t 
 
 S c Y 
 
 IYo.\ 
 
 \ 
 
 L L A 
 
 MORE DANGEROUS THAN 
 
 / 
 
 CHARYBDIS. 
 
 BY 
 
 • i ' . 
 
 A FRIEND OF LIBERTY, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF ENGLAND. 
 
 / 
 
 Irtcidit in Scyllam cupiens evitare Charybdim. 
 
 i 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 \ I 
 
 Printed for John Stockdalk, Piccadilly, 
 1794. 
 
 [Price One Shilling and Six-pence.] 
 

 TO THE 
 
 ' i ■ 
 
 PUBLIC. 
 
 < / 
 
 TT appears to the author of the following 
 A fhort treatife, that the frefervation of our 
 conftitution depends chiefly upon the aid given, 
 by good citizens to the executive power, 
 in all cafes where the conftitution is attacked 
 internally, and that jurymen are particularly 
 called upon for that purpofe, in cafes of fedi- 
 tion, becaufe, as the' freedom of Englifhmen 
 only admits of the guilty being tried by his 
 peers, it follows, that if ever the time fhould 
 come when juries, deceived by abftradt rea- 
 fonings, fhall conftder incendiaries and inno- 
 vators as well-meaning reformers, there will 
 then be an end of all free government. 
 
 As the reafoning on this fubjedt is free from 
 all perfonality, as no fadts are alluded to that 
 are not of public notoriety, the name of the 
 author being of no importance in pure argu- 
 ment, or known truths, is fupprefled. Argu- 
 ments are never liftened to with fo unpreju- 
 diced a mind, as when it is unknown from 
 whom they come. 
 
 \ 
 
 April 20th, 1794. 
 
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S C Y L L A 
 
 MORE DANGEROUS THAN 
 
 •■it- 
 
 CHARYBDIS. 
 
 # 
 
 N ATURE has given to all the animal creation 
 in a greater or lefs degree fome phylical 
 means of felf-prefervation, and to every animal 
 without exception, the inftinCtive propenlity to 
 employ thofe means. 
 
 " Some animals have tlrength for their pro- 
 tection, others have fwiftnefs and others addrefs ; 
 fome are protected by the hardnefs of their fkin; 
 numbers by their inlignificance ; and the unerring 
 principle of inftinCt gives to every creature, from 
 the Elephant to the Fly, a delire of preferving 
 itfelf, fo that the means which nature furnilhes 
 of ielf-proteCtion are continually employed by a 
 will completely perfect. 
 
 What we obferve in the thoufands of animals 
 large enough for our organs to examine, might 
 probably be traced with equal fuccefs through 
 thofe myriads of infeCts and animalcules, which 
 
 * compofe 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 compofe the minute inhabitants of God’s erca-* 
 tion. 
 
 But it is not in animals alone that this principle 
 is to be traced, for even in the vegetable world wo 
 may obferve, that fome kind of protection from 
 itrength, flexibility, or fituation, is given to 
 all ; thus the lofty Oak that refills the winds, is 
 not more fecure than the reed which bends and 
 lets the blall pafs over. 
 
 Thus in all natural exiflences the means of pre- 
 ferring the objeCt from natural accidents is pro- 
 vided by the Creator of all. 
 
 When men can take Nature for their origi- 
 nal, they runmo rifk in making a copy, and it 
 requires no great depth of underiianding to fee 
 that the different political combinations formed 
 for the happinefs or conveniency of mankind, ad- 
 mit of, and require an application of the prin- 
 ciple here mentioned. 
 
 Every inftitution of men fhould either be of 
 fuch a nature as to have no enemies, or fome 
 method 6f protection againfc attacks fhould exift 
 with the fyftem itfelf. To apply this general 
 reafoning to the particular point in view, our 
 conllitution ought to provide a method of pro- 
 tecting itfelf againll all attacks, either from ex- 
 ternal or internal enemies ; without which pro- 
 vifion, fhould enemies appear, its deflru&ion is to 
 be apprehended. 
 
 Whatever might be the opinions of thofe 
 patriots, to whole great abilities and extended 
 views we are indebted for fo excellent a confli- 
 tution, it would appear at prefent, that fome of 
 thofe who claim the merit of guarding it are not 
 near fo anxious for its exiftence, as they are for 
 its exiftence in a certain way. They feem to 
 think like' the DoClor in Moliere’s Comedy, that 
 
 a man 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 «& man kill’d is but a man kill’d, but that a man 
 faved contrary to the rules of phytic, is a material 
 injury done to the prolbllion. 
 
 The guardians of our conflitution, unlike the 
 angel who protected the paffage into the terref- 
 trial paradife, whofe flaming fword turned every 
 way, have turned all their efforts one way. To 
 protect the conttiturion againft the Royal preroga- 
 tive. 
 
 Let us inquire, whether this formidable Royal 
 prerogative merits all this attention, and whether 
 there is not a greater danger : and if fo, what that 
 greater danger is ? 
 
 A man awake and in full enjoyment of his 
 natural faculties has his eyes open, but the mo- 
 ment that precious and vulnerable organ is me- 
 naced, he inflindtively fhuts them for protection ; 
 thus does the man become for a time blind, and 
 lofes the enjoyment of one of the mofl ufeful and 
 agreeable of his fenfes, but it is for its preferva- 
 tion ; and if men in fociety do not coniider that a 
 temporary abandonment, or rather diminution of 
 fome of their political rights may in certain cafes 
 be neceffary, they certainly incur a rifk of loling, 
 fooner or later, the whole. 
 
 Men are fo far from being perfedd, that we find 
 them in general either with eafe and indolence 
 fubmitting to arbitrary fway, or elfe too jealous 
 of their liberty ; in which ftate they render them- 
 felves incapable of enjoying that liberty, by being 
 captious and refllefs. 
 
 The Romans feem of all ancient nations heft to 
 have underflood the manner of combining liberty 
 and fecurity. Upon particular emergencies, for 
 the fecurity of the whole, the almofl abfolute 
 power of a dictator was fubmitted to without a 
 murmur by thefe mailers of the world. But the 
 
 dangers 
 
'( 8 ) _ 
 
 dangers of Rome ffrengthened by a perpetual 
 war efrablifhment, furrounded by nations far in- 
 ferior in military genius, in civilization, and 
 from want of union in thofe nations, not ex- 
 pofed to any combined or continued efforts either 
 of retiftance or attack, were far inferior to thofe 
 of Britain, and of a very different nature. 
 
 The dangers of the Roman republic were not 
 of fo fiibtle and fo multiplied a nature as ours, 
 fince the invention of Printing has given to 
 political fociety a new means of multiplying and 
 communicating either knowledge or difcontent, 
 and fince the philofophy applicable only to abftracft 
 reafoning has been cried up by the lovers of anar- 
 chy, as capable of being put in practice, and 
 rendering the human race happy. 
 
 In cafes fimilar to thofe, where the Roman re- 
 public named a Dictator, the Britifh conffitution 
 permits the lutpenfion of the Habeas Corpus a6t, 
 that is, in cafes of imminent and great dan- 
 ger, and fo far may our conffitution be faid to 
 have that power for felf-defence, fo neceffary to 
 every inffitution ; but we have no inferior means 
 of protection in lefs urgent cafes, and it is here 
 that our liberties are endangered. We have not 
 the means of preventing a crifis, which, when' 
 it comes on, brings with it two dangers to our 
 liberties ; firff, that arifing from the crifis itfelf, 
 the extent of which muff always be uncertain ; 
 and fecondly, that arifing from the extraordinary 
 powers then veiled in the crown, which, to men 
 jealous of prerogative, ought to appear no trifling 
 danger. 
 
 , .To avoid the poffibility of fuch emergencies, 
 when the legiflative becomes of neceffity fubfer- 
 vient to the executive power, might it not be 
 great wifdom to confer upon the latter the means 
 
 4 of 
 
1 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 of preventing fhofe emergencies, without extend- 
 ing the prerogative to any dangerous degree ? 
 
 'Let us learn from the conduS and convention 
 of our enemies, for it is not unfrequently the cafe 
 that they know our weak points better than we do 
 ourfelves. 
 
 It could be proved, if nccefrary, that when the 
 democratic principles firft took deep root in 
 France under the conftituent affembly, and when 
 thofe falfe apoftles of liberty determined to de- 
 ftroy all exifting governments, which happened 
 early in 1790, they ftudied the means of attack 
 fuitable to the genius of different people, and 
 different governments. 
 
 Talents were by no means wanting among 
 thofe who headed the French Revolution, and 
 the Englifh government was tolerably well un- 
 derftood by them, becaufe in the frlence of the 
 clofet for many years it had been ftudied by thofe 
 very men who were now preparing to deftroy it 
 for ever. 
 
 The love of Englifhmen for liberty, and their 
 ]ealoufy of the executive government, formed the 
 hopes of our enemies : “ London,” faid they, 
 
 was very nearly reduced to afhes in the year 
 1780, before government could find means to quell 
 a riot of boys and blackguards, and the King of 
 England faw himfelf in danger in his ovvn palace 
 without having the power to call his friends and 
 fervants to his aid, as any country gentleman 
 would have done to protect a neighbouring vil- 
 lage. So far did the jealoufy of the Englifh then 
 carry them, and we may reckon upon the fame dif- 
 pofition. But if thefe open a6ts of pillage and revolt 
 were permitted to pafs unpunifhed till the danger 
 was great and evident to all, how much more eafy 
 is it by feditious writings and difcourfes to create 
 
 R difcon- 
 
difconfent, particularly as every man who pre- 
 tends to be n friend of liberty finds many protec- 
 tors aiul admirers in England, and for profecuting 
 fuch men the court quickly becomes odious, info- 
 much that juries cannot be found to condemn 
 them.” Thus it is, that by the very jealoufy of the 
 people in its favour, we may lay low the fabric of 
 the Englifh liberty. 
 
 Such was the plan laid in the beginning of 
 1790 ; and the deftruclion of this plot, which was 
 brought about by the active meafures of admini- 
 fhation in the beginning of November 1792, was 
 the death blow to that party which had contrived 
 it in France. Whatever ridicule may be attempt- 
 ed to be thrown upon the alarmifts, as the fedi- 
 tious affebt to call them, it was the active and wife 
 meafures of adminiftration, and the declared voice 
 of the country at large, that fayed us then from 
 one of the moll dangerous cqntpiracies that was 
 ever formed againfl the liberties of any nation.* 
 
 To be free is the defire, and may very properly 
 be made the aim of every rational man ; but as 
 perfection in any thing human is not to be attain- 
 ed, the limit, at which to flop becomes a very e£- 
 fential inquiry. 
 
 By experience we have found, beyond a pofii- 
 bility of error, that individual happinefs, which 
 is the end and intention of every focial compact, 
 does not confill in the enjoyment of any one pri- 
 vilege, but of a number combined and blended 
 
 * It was the party of Mirabeau that laid this plan, and his 
 party continued to have the firil importance till Robefpierre 
 got the better in la ft May. The Girondift party, of which 
 Petion, Brilfot, &c. were the chiefs, were the perfons whb con- 
 tinued the fame plan, but not with the fame abilities, after the 
 death of Mirabeau : it was the failure of the plot againfl; Eng- 
 land that brought about the execution of the twenty-one mem- 
 bers laft fummer. 
 
 together : 
 
t II ) 
 
 together! and into this compofition, for the fake 
 of general good, then mutt enter many regula- 
 tions, which, though they tend greatly to our hap- 
 pincfs, are yet k reftraint upon what is frequently 
 called liberty. 
 
 Libels againft the hate, or againft individuals, 
 are the moil: dangerous foes to the public har- 
 mony or private peace, and therefore merit our 
 ftriCt attention. 
 
 That every individual ihould have the right of ap- 
 pealing to the laws of his country whenever there is 
 made any attack upon his character and peace of 
 mind, as he has when his perfon is affailed, is 
 evidently juft, at tiril light ; and that the execu- 
 tive power Ihould have the fame privilege for li- 
 bels againft the ftate, or for any writings or ac- 
 tions directed againft the general peace and tran- 
 quillity of the country, is not lefs clear and evi- 
 dent ; and if the nation, which the executive 
 power reprefents, fubmits her caul'e to be tried by 
 a jury againft an individual aggreffor, certainly it 
 is not the individual who can complain, as to the 
 form of trial, which puts him on a par with his 
 country. 
 
 As to the manner of conducting a trial between 
 the country and an individual, it is the fame as 
 between two private men, and is therefore liable 
 to no objection ; but the difference is, that the 
 nature of a libel againft the flate may differ greatly 
 from that againft an individual, and herein lies 
 the difficulty. 
 
 If defamation and ilander between man and 
 man take fo many different forms, that no writ- 
 ten laws can in all cafes apply to them, with re- 
 gard to government they vary yet infinitely more ; 
 and as the net muff be confiruCted and fpread, 
 prepared according to the nature of the animals 
 
 B 2 that 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 that are to be caught, fo mu ft the law he made 
 , and applied according to the nature of the crimes 
 that are to be punifhed. 
 
 Of cafes that come into criminal courts there 
 are two forts ; thofe where the intention is cer- 
 tainly criminal, and thofe where it is doubtful. 
 Theft, for inftance, is certainly always connected 
 with an intention to fleal, whereas murder is not 
 always committed with a pofitive intention to kill, 
 and therefore, though incomparably a crime of a 
 more ferious nature, may have many' alleviating 
 circumftances. In the former of thefe cafes the 
 jury can only determine the fadt, and their func- 
 tions are then at an end ; but in the latter cafe 
 an indictment for murder may be brought in 
 manflaughter. If then in thefe cafes the rights of 
 jurymen alter, how much more mull: they do fo 
 in cafes fo infinitely varying as thofe of libels, and 
 feditious actions. 
 
 Juries muft in all fuch cafes be made judges of 
 the intention as well as of the fact, otherwife all 
 trials would be fuperfiuous, as none but fools 
 would ever come within the written letter of the 
 law, when there are fo many ways of avoiding it. 
 
 But betides the infinite variety that exifls in 
 feditious matter, we find that what is fedition at 
 one time may not he fo at another, and vice verfa, 
 fo that in many inflances time and circumflances 
 alone can lead a jury to a right determination. 
 
 A blow will kill a man at 70, or an infant, 
 that would lcarcely injure a man in the vi- 
 gour of life, yet that will be no reafon for acquit- 
 ting the murderer of the old man or of the infant, 
 becaufe the perfon who gave the blow muft know 
 that, applied to the infirm or the tender, the blow 
 was capable of prodiicing death. It is not, there- 
 fore, even in material cates, the action alone, but 
 
 the 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 the aBlon combined with its probable conferences 
 that conftitutes the crime. This holds true with 
 double force in cafes where minds are to be a£ted 
 upon, and not matter, becaufe what is not capable 
 of producing any evil effedf upon the mind at one 
 time, may at another produce a very bad one. 
 
 There is likewife the cafe of complicity to come 
 in, which ftill varies the crime of iedition ; for a 
 man who ftands alone as a teacher of fedition in 
 times of tranquillity, is not fo guilty as he who, 
 finding there are numbers at work already, lets 
 about affifl ing them ; who is certainly fo much 
 more culpable, that he is fo much more certain of 
 obtaining his culpable end. 
 
 Without all this be taken into confideratipn, 
 the application of the law to libellous sind feditious 
 acts may be cenlured and condemned, particularly 
 if precedent is to be refolded to, becaufe there cer- 
 tainly do exifi publications, which, were they to 
 make their appearance at this moment, would be 
 punifhable, but which were not fo when they 
 were publifhed. The circumftances differ as much 
 as if a man were to pufh his friend forward when 
 ftanding on the brink of a deep river, or only on 
 the edge of a pond ; the cafes would undoubtedly 
 be very different, though the action in both 
 would be the fame. And it requires not any 
 great flretch of reafon to perceive, that it is not 
 at the moment when the conftitution of England 
 is openly attacked by fo many foreign emiffaries, 
 and when the defire of France to overturn it has 
 been openly avowed, that any attempt fhould be 
 made upon it at home ; thole at lead who make 
 fuch attempts cannot, at this time, expecSt to im- 
 pofe upon the world by concealing their inten- 
 tions. 
 
 Not 
 
( 14 j 
 
 Not onty is it the duty of juries to contider thefe 
 circumftances, but it is the duty of the legiflature 
 to recoiled! upon this occafion a maxim that has 
 hitherto been adhered to, which is to render the 
 law fevere according to the danger and frequency 
 of a crime. Thus, for in fiance, forgery, one of 
 the mofl dangerous crimes in a commercial coun- 
 try, was formerly but a petty offence, and was 
 lately made capital, on account of its frequency 
 and dangerous tendency : for certainly the moral 
 turpitude is the fame that it always was. 
 
 For the fame reafons, then, that the legiflature 
 has wifely thought proper to augment the punifh- 
 ment for forgery, the executive power has put 
 that law rigoroufly in force ; and the fame line of 
 conduct ought to be followed by the legiflative 
 and executive power in refpedt to feditious per- 
 fons, who would diflurb the public peace ; for as 
 without rigour in the one cafe all confidence in 
 commercial affairs would be deflroyed, fo alfo 
 will all moderate and free governments be unable 
 to fublifl, if men are permitted with impunity 
 fo inflame the minds of the people, and diflurb 
 the public peace. 
 
 When neceflity and public -order do' hot re- 
 quire the fevere execution of particular laws, it 
 would fcem, from univerfal precedent, that there 
 is no blame incurred by fullering offenders againfl 
 them to go unpunifhed. Thus, there are many 
 adls of parliament in England that have never 
 been repealed, but that likewife are never put in 
 force : from this it is to be very .fairly inferred, that 
 laws are to be put in execution with feverity or 
 not, according as the flate of fociety requires it. ■ 
 There cannot certainly refl a doubt in the mind 
 of any reafonable man, that as punifhments are 
 dictated by the interefls of fociety, rather than 
 
' ( *5 ) 
 
 by thofe of morality, it is a duty of the legiflative 
 power to increafc the puniffiments, and of the 
 executive power to fee them enforced, fo far as 
 the interefts of the fociety may require : as alfo 
 they ffiould be mitigated upon all occalions, 
 where mercy will not interfere with jutlice 
 and found policy. It is in conformity with this 
 maxim that our Englifh judges and juries, whom 
 it would be difficult to praile more than they de- 
 ferve, recommend mercy in all thofe cafes where 
 it can be done without fetting a bad example; 
 and it is undoubtedly with this view that the con- 
 ftitution has given to the Sovereign the power of 
 granting a free pardon. What a triumph is this 
 for the good wifdom of our anceftors over the 
 wretched philofophy of our bloody-minded co- 
 temporaries in France, who talk perpetually of 
 the fword of the law, but who have blotted out 
 the name of mercy from their vocabulary. 
 
 The feverity, therefore, exercifed upon parti- 
 cular occalions is not always to be conlidered as 
 a fault ; on the contrary, it is the duty of judges 
 to be fevere whenever any certain fpecies of guilt 
 becomes frequent, or dangerous ; and certainly 
 it would be difficult for the King to ufe his pre- 
 rogative of pardoning upon a more improper oc- 
 cafion, or in a manner more dangerous to his 
 people, than in cafes of this nature. i 
 
 Without there is in' the executive power a right 
 lodged of repelling every attack made upon the 
 peace and happinefs of the nation, as well thofe 
 made upon the mind by writings and fpeeches, as 
 by an armed force, fuch an executive power is 
 incomplete, and inadequate to the purpofe in- 
 tended ; to that firlt of all purpofes, jelf-preferva- 
 tion. 
 
 4 
 
 With 
 
{ 
 
 1 6 ) 
 
 With refpect to the manner of attac king the 
 peace and furety of a political body, it is not in 
 that by any means that the crime confifts, nor is 
 it that which renders defence neceffary ; for whe- 
 ther it be a printing r prefs that is employed to 
 fpread fedition, or a Spanilh armada to invade, 
 defence is equally neceffary ; and, in either cafe, 
 it is equally the duty of the King to come forward 
 with all means of protedlion in his power. 
 
 In proportion as the means of attack are multi- 
 plied, the means of defence muft alfo be extended, 
 and the powers given to thofe who are to defend 
 us muft be augmented. Thus, it was with the 
 greateft propriety, and upon the moil juft and 
 wife grounds, that parliament paffed the alien 
 bill, thereby giving a power to fend away allfuch 
 Grangers as might by their actions tend to difturb- 
 the peace of this country, even without being 
 under the neceffity of giving any reafon for fo 
 
 doing. . T t 
 
 A people jealous of liberty ought to divide - 
 
 their attention between the general and entire 
 prcfervation, and that protection which prevents 
 'its diminution.. 
 
 If the only way that our liberties could be un- 
 dermined were by a gradual augmentation of the 
 royal prerogative, then each queftion of preroga- 
 tive would involve the general prefervation of all 
 our liberties; but there are many reafons for 
 thinking, that a diminution of the prerogative 
 would endanger liberty more than any augmen- 
 tation that in common times can ever take 
 
 ^ The hiflory of this country fhews, that from a 
 very early period, our forefathers were very jea- 
 lous of their liberties, and that they underflood 
 
 the 
 
 
 / 
 
( »7 ) 
 
 the foundation of liberty, if they did not com- 
 prehend all their rights. From this it has hap- 
 pened, that, in almofl every contefl with the fo- 
 vereign, liberty has gained ground. If even in 
 times when men ran no fmall perfonal rilk in 
 refilling oppreffion they maintained and extended 
 their rights, to that liberty gained ground, how much 
 more is it to be expected, that lince the Revolu- 
 tion of 1688 has enabled them to do it without 
 
 s 
 
 hazard, they will preferve them. Whatever may 
 be faid to the contrary, it is impoffible to produce 
 a tingle acSt palled lince the Revolution that di- 
 minilhes the rights then eltablilhed ; on the con- 
 trary, although there have been explanatory adls 
 that in fome cafes may feem to be limitations, 
 yet our rights have been augmented, better de- 
 fined, and better fecured. 
 
 No theme is fo familiar, and, however unac- 
 countable it may be, fo agreeable to the human 
 mind, as that of a lamentation for the degene- 
 racy of the times, and the burthen of the fong 
 falls always upon what is molt dear to us.. Since 
 Homer’s time, (and probably in all times) men 
 have had a llrong propenlity to praife and ad- 
 mire former ages, and even the human frame 
 .was fuppofed to have diminilhed both in lize and 
 in force. 
 
 The reforming orators of the prefent day feem 
 to take this great mader for their model, and 
 the decline of liberty is their everlalting theme ; 
 nor, indeed, could they have chofen a better, 
 nor any other fo well calculated for captivating 
 the difeontented and the ignorant. The days of 
 good Queen Befs are highly praifed by many who 
 are undoubtedly entirely ignorant, that England 
 was then neither half fo rich nor half fo free 
 in the prefent times of which they complain ; 
 
 C 1 and 
 
) 
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 and fo ftrong is the propentity to believe our 
 prefent Hate degenerated, that the poem of the 
 Deferted Village has perluaded more people to 
 believe the poverty and depopulation of England, 
 than all the fads to the contrary detailed and ar- 
 ranged by the belt hiftorians and calculators have 
 convinced of its profperity. 
 
 In imitating Homer, the oppofition orators 
 have not forgot to call in fiCtion to their aid, 
 and indeed they have, in this point, almoft gone 
 beyond their matter ; for at a time when liberty 
 is rather bordering upon licence, and when com- 
 merce is in a more flourifhing hate than it ever 
 before was in this or in any country, we are by 
 them told, that liberty is almott fled, and that 
 commerce is fatt following. 
 
 Since then England has always feen the con- 
 tetts for liberty end in favour of the people, what 
 reafon can there be to fear, that at this time of 
 the day we fhall furrender what we have hi- 
 therto always defended with advantage : is there 
 any ground for fuppofing, that at a time when 
 all men are fo tremblingly alive to the preferva- 
 tion of their liberties, we fhall furrender up what 
 we have always hitherto preferved, and which 
 the Crown, ,to whom this fuppofed furrender is to 
 be made, has fo little power of attacking ? 
 
 That it is the wifh of the King’s minifters to 
 preferve a fufficient degree of power to render 
 the executive government practicable, there can 
 be no doubt ; and in doing fo, they do no more 
 than their duty ; but that they fhould aim at 
 more is fcarcely credible, and if they do, they 
 muft inevitably lofe their labour, 
 
 A minifter and a few courtiers may be corrupt, 
 ambitious, or have wrong views, but would fuc.h 
 9 minifter be fecond<?d by a majority in both 
 
 houfes 
 
( *9 ) 
 
 houfes of parliament ? or, could that he fo, what 
 would become of the public voice frorp without, 
 which fupports both houfes, and again!! which 
 we have never yet feen them venture to go oil 
 any important fubjed! ? "W hat can a mini her do 
 without the fupport of the reprefentatives of the 
 people ; and what can the reprefentatives do if 
 they are not fupported by the people themfelves ? 
 Have we not always feen, that the voice not of 
 eledlors only, but of the public at large, has re- 
 gulated mot! meafures of great importance in 
 this country ? 
 
 Firfl let us conlider, -what interef! have mi- 
 ni ftcrs, who do not enjoy their places for life, to 
 extend to any dangerous degree the power of 
 their mailer ; a power which would only ferve 
 to crujfh themfelves when the hour of fuccefs 
 fhould be over ? Could they fucceed in fuch an 
 attempt again!! their own liberties and thofe of 
 their fellow citizens, would it be their interef! to 
 delire it ? certainly it would not. Of what then 
 are we fo much afraid ? certainly of a very im- 
 probable danger, if it can at all deferve the 
 name. 
 
 Let us however fuppofe, that a miniller might 
 be weak enough, and wicked enough, to at- 
 tempt an invalion of our liberties, he could not 
 fucceed by any indirect attack that might efcape 
 obfervation, becaufe, as foon as its operation was 
 felt, he mull be difcovered, and then he would 
 be certain himfelf to fall. Such a falfe hep the 
 conftitution of this country eafily enables us to 
 recover, becaufe any advantage that might be 
 taken unawares, would be of too little impor- 
 tance to fecure impunity to its contriver, or pre- 
 fervation to itfelf : therefore of fuch fccret attacks 
 we need not be in any fear, and asdo open ones, 
 
 C 2 we 
 
( ) 
 
 we lmvc already feen that they are improbable, 
 and almofi, if not wholly impracticable ; impro- 
 bable, as being contrary to the intereft of the 
 nfinifier, with whom they are fuppofed to ori- 
 ginate, and almofi: impolfible, as being totally 
 oppofite to the interefis of thofe perfons whofe 
 aid would be necefTary in the enterprife. 
 
 The origin of thefe exaggerated fears of royal 
 prerogative makes them not, however, unnatu- 
 ral, becaufe it was royal prerogative that conti- 
 nually attacked our liberties before the full 
 eftablifhment of our rights at the Revolution, 
 and became, in other kingdoms, it is the power 
 of the king that puts in danger the liberties of 
 the people. A minifier in France, for example, 
 before the Revolution, could, without either rifk 
 or trouble, or requiring any afliflance, extend 
 the power of the crown, and might, in many 
 cafes, profit by fo doing ; therefore what is un- 
 natural and nearly impolfible here, was very na- 
 tural and pofiible there, as it is in all pure mo- 
 narchies. It is not, therefore, to be wondered, 
 as we fee the dangers of prerogative in other na- 
 tions, that we thould, though without reafon, 
 feel fome fears for ourfelves. 
 
 Although it appears, that we are fufficiently 
 out of danger from royal prerogative not to have 
 any great occafion for fear upon that head, yet 
 ought we never ta be afleep or negligent of dan- 
 ger ; and the part of thofe who watch over our 
 liberties, in oppofition to royal power, is both 
 honourable and ufeful, provided they do not 
 carry their zeal and exertions too far, and thereby 
 bring on a greater danger than that which it is 
 their bufinefs to prevent. 
 
 The danger which people guard againfl 
 the leaft, is often that from which there is the 
 r a moll 
 
 f 
 
, < 2 1 ) , ' 
 moft to be apprehended ; and perhaps, upon a 
 fair investigation, we Shall find this to be the 
 cafe with ourfelves, and that a violent and im- 
 difcriminate opposition to the executive power is 
 more dangerous to our liberties than the royal 
 prerogative itfelf, which, as we have feen, is by 
 iio means very formidable. 
 
 As our liberties depend up6n a nice balance 
 between the legislative and executive powers, 
 that balance once defiroyed the whole is undone; 
 and it matters little which end of the balance 
 kicks the beam. Now, as we have already 
 proved, that there is not much danger from the 
 one fide, let us proceed to prove, that there is very 
 considerable danger from the other. 
 
 We have a very recent example of a mixt go- 
 vernment being overturned in France by the 
 power of the crown being too much diminished. 
 The effects of this were very bad ; firfi, it ren- 
 dered the crown nearly ufelefs, its power being 
 too inconsiderable for carrying on the executive 
 functions. It was therefore found inconvenient, 
 and in order to remove that inconvenience, the 
 legislative aSTembly rendered the crown odious to 
 the people, and then, when it was attacked, it 
 wanted power to preferve itfelf. 
 
 It will always be the cafe with an executive 
 power, that is too feeble to put the laws properly 
 and vigorously in execution, that it will be fet 
 afide, and fome other Substituted that it will not 
 be fo eafy to counteract. Thus the committees 
 of the Affembly, and its commissioners, with ar- 
 bitrary powers, have been Substituted in place of 
 a king in France ; and thus Cromwell in Eng- 
 land performed the functions of a king, but with 
 far more power than had ever been alpired to by 
 his unfortunate mafier, whole blood he had Shed 
 
 under 
 
' ( 12 ) - 
 
 Under pretence of giving to the people that li- 
 berty which he ever after laboured but too fuc- 
 cefsfully to take away. 
 
 In thefe two inftances then we have feen, that 
 the diminifhing and debating the executive power 
 has been attended with the lofs of that portion of 
 liberty which the people before enjoyed. So 
 much then for examples, which, being perfectly 
 in point, render the progrefs of this all air a mat- 
 ter deferving of investigation. 
 
 A powerful oppotition, in the firffc place, by 
 rendering many meafures ineffectual, mull bring 
 on great misfortunes, and thofe, in their turn, 
 mull produce difeontent, which will be directed 
 chiefly againff the executive part of government, 
 as that, according to the nature of things, will 
 bear the blame of ufelefs or ineffectual meafures. 
 
 In the fecond place, oppofition, as it lights un- 
 der the popular banner of liberty and patriotism, 
 has an opportunity of deceiving us and lulling 
 us alleep, whereas every exertion of the crown 
 awakens and puts us on our guard ; and laftly, 
 there is not the fame power of retraCting, in the 
 cafe of the executive power being too much en- 
 feebled, as there is in the other cafe already lup- 
 pofed, of its being incautioully fuffered to be- 
 come too lirong. 
 
 Let us, for example’s fake, fuppofe a cafe, that 
 it is to be earneftly hoped will never be realifed 
 in England, that the King fhould, by the ad- 
 drefs of his minillers, or the corruption of Par- 
 liament, invade the rights of the people for a 
 time ; unlefs he has overturned the condi tution 
 altogether, a new parliament, by refuting to vote 
 the fupplies, may eafily bring every thing back 
 to its prefent date. Suppofe, on the other 
 hand, the parliament has increafed its power by 
 
 diminilh- 
 
( n ) 
 
 diminifhing that of the crown, by what means 1$ 
 the balance to he re-edablilhed ? There do not 
 appear any in the conditution, and there could 
 be none but what might refult from a civil war, if 
 fuch a druggie fhould happen to be favourable. 
 
 But what adds prodigioufly to this danger, is 
 the prefent date of the people’s minds. Unluckily 
 a number of abdraCt quedions have been agitated 
 in a way that tends to midead, and theories that 
 are purely for lpeculation have been laid down 
 as practical guides ; and as the great number, or 
 mats of the people, cannot didinguifh between 
 the practicable and the impracticable, and be- 
 tween the true and falfe theories, but, on the 
 contrary, are attracted by the brilliancy of what 
 appears to be mod perfeCt, it follows, that dis- 
 contents and murmurs mud arife, and that fuch 
 have actually arifen, and, as it was to be expect- 
 ed, were begun by inveCtive againd the executive 
 government ; nor has even our matchlefs condi- 
 tution itfelf efcaped their cenfure. 
 
 A rage for reform and experiment has been in- 
 troduced, but the poffible confequences of re- 
 forms have not been attempted to be calculated 
 by thofe who propofe them, and who, grounding 
 all their arguments upon the imperfections which 
 the prefent date of things may be taxed with, (as 
 may every work of man) dy boldly at once to 
 the rath conclufion, that a reform mud produce 
 good. 
 
 Here it might be an objeCt for a grammarian 
 to enter into the driCt meaning of the word re- 
 form ; whatever its origin may be, its general 
 acceptation in cojnmon affairs being an amend- 
 ment, it naturally carries with it the idea of good 
 effeCts ; but then if it dgnifies a change that pro- 
 duces good effeCts, it is only to be determined 
 
 after 
 
( *4 ) 
 
 after thefe effects are known, whether the men who 
 introduce it can be called reformers or innovators. 
 If a reformer implies one employed in doing away 
 abufes in exigence, that man would ill deferve 
 the name who made things worfe, as a man 
 who, from being a drunkard, left it oft and be- 
 came a thief, could fcarcely be called a reformed 
 man, although he had actually reformed his prac- 
 tice as to drinking. This is of more importance 
 than might be imagined ; for as reform gives the 
 idea of mending or making better, it is very ef- 
 fential that men who only are innovators, fhould 
 not receive the name of reformers, becaufe, by 
 that their efforts are prejudged, and in a manner 
 that is decidedly in their favour. 
 
 To refill this rage for innovation, under the 
 improper name of reform, this rage tor wild 
 theories, we have at leaft one very ftrong argu- 
 ment, which is the unexampled bad luccets of 
 thole who have cultivated the fame things in a 
 neighbouring kingdom. Had h ranee been mo- 
 derately luccefsful , or even had the not been fu- 
 perlatively unfortunate in her attempts to ref orm, 
 England would have been ruined infallibly ; and 
 even now it is but with difficulty that the unex- 
 ampled degree of llavery, of wretchednels, blun- 
 ders, and crimes, before our eyes, can difgult 
 us with the flattering but ridiculous theories, by 
 which we had very m arly been led away. 
 
 It is certainly not any reproach to the multi- 
 tude to fay, that abliract queltions are too fubtle 
 for their difcuffion, becaufe time and leifure are 
 necelfary for fucli purpofes ; and it is a melancholy 
 truth, that argument and inveftigation do in gene- 
 ral divide people in opinion in dead of uniting 
 them, fo that the more they invefligate, the more 
 they difpute, and the more they difpute, the lefs 
 
 capable 
 
( ) 
 
 capable they become of uniting their efforts for 
 the happi riels and welfare of fociety. On the con- 
 trary, difference of opinion renders them weak, 
 and they generally become a prey to the defpo- 
 tifm of the party that happens to be the drongeft. 
 
 It is difficult to forefee what may be the end 
 of lb unprecedented a date of affairs as thofe 
 that we are witnefs to in France, but it is not 
 difficult to forefee, that it will not be favourable 
 to the caufe of liberty ; and there is no danger in 
 faying, that until time clears up the point, we 
 fhould fnfpend all projected innovations ; and 
 that with regard to France one may freely fay, 
 “ I fee the man I ought to fly, but not the man 
 ' “ I ought to follow.” 
 
 The danger to us/then, from royal prerogative 
 being commonly exaggerated, and being ge- 
 nerally inferior to the danger ariiing from a too 
 flrong oppolltion to the executive power, it fol- 
 lows, that they are the trued: patriots who fup- 
 port thofe mealures of adminidration, upon 
 which felf-prefervation , as a nation, depends ; 
 and that no anxiety fhould be entertained by rea- 
 fonable men, on account of that continual cla- 
 mour which certain perfons think proper to keep 
 up, apparently for the purpofe of counteracting 
 all the efforts of executive government. 
 
 Although it mud: be a matter of very difficult, 
 as it certainly is of very important inquiry, to 
 determine how far oppofition to the meafures of 
 government ought to be countenanced, yet it 
 catnnot be very difficult to conceive, that while 
 we are threatened by external or internal enemies, 
 all thofe who love the prefent conditution ought 
 .to join in dxengthening the executive govern- 
 ment, by which it is defended ; and at all events 
 
 D 
 
 we 
 
( y ) 
 
 we may conclude, that a general oppofitipn to 
 every mcafure proposed to fupport us agahfft our 
 enemies, is impolitic and dangerous in the ex- 
 treme, as counteracting the efforts of the nation 
 for its own fafety and exiftence. 
 
 In private affairs we know nur enemies to he 
 . thofe who. are continually and indilcriminately op- 
 poling our defigns, and our friends are thofe 
 who oppofe us in thofe defigns only which feeni 
 to be wrong, but who aid us in thofe that are 
 right. 
 
 We fhould hence be ready to conclude, that 
 the fpirit of a , truly patriotic oppolition would be, 
 to keep a ft Cong watch over the conduct of mi- 
 nisters, but only to oppofe them when the gene- 
 ral interest Should require it. 
 
 Permit us here to examine this point a little 
 more attentively, and we Shall fee, that an i.n- 
 difcrimina'te oppolition to the meafures of go- 
 vernment has occalioned a great part of thofe 
 debts under which we now groan, and the evils 
 of which the members of opposition are fo anxi- 
 ous to difpi'ay in their full magnitude. 
 
 Since the principle of uninterrupted oppolition 
 has been adopted in practice, all our debts have 
 been contracted, for at the Revolution we bad 
 hardly any debt. Was it not an oppolition that 
 deprived Britain of the advantages that would 
 have arifen from the great Duke of Marlborough’s „ 
 victories ? and was it not the half meafures that 
 oppolition has occalioned, that have from that 
 period until the- American war rendered all our 
 wars expen five, tedious, and ufelels ? The Ame- 
 rican war too, which colt 1b much to this coun- 
 try, mult have ended in victory, or have ended 
 fooner, had thofe who oppofed its’ beginning con- 
 tented themielves with lb doing; or, when once 
 
 it 
 
 i 
 
( 
 
 ( 27 ). - 
 
 it had begun if they would not co-operate, had at 
 leall not endeavoured to enfeeble the efforts of 
 the nation. 
 
 We who inhabit this kingdom are not to con- 
 sider ourfelves as requiring to be amufed with 
 debates in parliament, as children with fights 
 and fhows ; the amufement doffs too much : or 
 if t is be the cafe, if we arc reduced to fo hu- 
 miliating a Hate by our capricious curiofity, that 
 depraved tafle ought to b^ fufpended during a 
 war, in which every man who has a bed to lie 
 upon, or a pot to boil, is interested, as well as 
 the rich proprietor; and wherein all fathers, huf- 
 bands, or brothers, whatever be. their rank in 
 life, are fo deeply concerned: a caufe in which 
 the proprietor of land, the merchant, and- the 
 mechanic, and every honed: labourer who can 
 fhew his face in open day, is concerned in com- 
 bating the fhoelefs, fhirtiefs blackguard, who, 
 having neither honefty nor JnduHry, wifhes for 
 commotions in the Hate, that he may appropriate 
 to himfelf the fruits of the industry of other 
 men. 
 
 Either we muH: think, that the King, Lords, 
 and Commons, are not capable of fandtiohing a 
 mealiire, or elfe, when it is once lanciiqned, the 
 execution is not to be counteracted, and our ef- 
 forts rendered ufelefs, by crippling the miniHers 
 in the execution of that will, by which the 
 nation, according to our confutation, thinks and. 
 acts, and it is to be hoped, for our good, long 
 will continue legally to think and act. 
 
 That the principle' of a war is a proper object 
 for opposition to difeufs in the moll free manner, 
 there is no doubt, arid vdien they can negative a 
 declaration of \Var, it may perhaps fometimes be 
 very fortunate for the nation f but if they cannot 
 
 D 2 prevent 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 prevent the war, nothing feems to be fo contrary 
 to common fenfe and good intention, and, it 
 may be added, to the constitution itfelf, as. to 
 oppofe it in its carrying on. A method has been 
 dexterouSly employed hitherto to render an op- 
 position to the execution of a war reconcileable 
 with the constitution : we do not (fay they) oppofe 
 the war, but the means propofed for carrying it on, 
 of which we do not approve ; and thus the quef- 
 tion of war, already decided, is continually at- 
 tacked under the form of a queftion yet to de- 
 cide, fo that the constitution is not violated in 
 the form, but whether it be not often in the prin- 
 ciple, is 'by no means fo clear. 
 
 That every meafure propofed for carrying on 
 a war, which appears of an alarming nature, 
 Should be oppofed, is certain ; that every queftion 
 that is brought before parliament Sh6uld be dif- 
 cuSTed and examined, is not lets certain ; but 
 why queftions Should be Started by way of de- 
 bating only, and thereby making the wheels of 
 the State drag heavily, is another queftion ? 
 
 Adapted to this laft purpofe only Seem to be 
 a great number of the questions agitated this 
 year ; at leaft thofe who are not initiated confi- 
 dentially in the fecrc't, cannot eafily find out 
 any other motive. Firft, becaufe motions have 
 been made, which they who made them well 
 knew could not be carrried ; and Secondly, be- 
 caufe many motions have been made, that have no 
 apparent end but to' embarrafs ministers, by occu- 
 pying their time and attention, or to draw from 
 them declarations or information, that it would 
 be advantageous to our enemies to poSSefs ; but 
 the knowledge of which could here produce no 
 public good : or laltly, which, under the Sacred 
 right of liberty of Speech, would give the ho- 
 nourable 
 
 1 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 nourablc movers and their friends an opportunity 
 of inflaming people’s minds, and rendering the 
 war lets popular. 
 
 A few inftanccs may fcrve to prove this as 
 well as many. The motion in favour of M. 
 de la Fayette fecms to have been only made in 
 order to throw oblique cenfure on the caule and 
 conduct of the allied powers, and of kings in 
 general, and at the fame time to make a parade 
 of the humanity, jultice, and generoflty of the 
 party ; certainly it was not a fit objebt for parlia- 
 mentary interference ; it might, perhaps, be an 
 objedt of humanity, but could not be of juftice, 
 for whatever the merits or demerits of that un- 
 fortunate man may be, he has not been tried by 
 any competent jurifdiclion or court, and they 
 are therefore as totally unknown to the Britlfh 
 parliament as the individual merits or demerits of 
 that immenfe number of Englifli, Germans, and 
 other ftrangers, who are fliut up in prifons in 
 France, by an order at leaft as arbitrary as that 
 under which M. de la Fayette is detained. Of the 
 fame nature feems to be the motion made upon 
 the judgement paffed on thole who have been 
 guilty of feditious' practices in Scotland. All 
 men judged and found guilty by a fair jury, 
 and competent court, hand prccifely in the fame- 
 predicament. A fuperior court (when there is one) 
 can alone change the fentence, and by the con- 
 ftitution of thefe kingdoms, the King alone can 
 mitigate the punifhment But here there is no 
 fuperior court, and the King did not consider as 
 objedts of clemency men who had appeared to a 
 fair jury as having acted againft the conftitution, 
 which it is his Majefty’s peculiar duty to. preferve 
 and protedh Certainly he muft be admitted 
 to have that right as well as thefe honourable 
 
 gen- 
 
( 3 ° ) 
 
 gentlemen who made the motion, and to extend 
 his clemency to men who perfified and gloried in 
 their error, would have been a cafe without ex- 
 ample, as without juft ice or wifdom. 
 
 The queftion of landing foreign troops in this 
 country, was of a different nature, it was a quef- 
 tion that demanded difcufiion and explanation; 
 and certainly no blame but rather praife is due to 
 thofe by whom it was agitated, who thereby 
 cleared up thofe doubts which otherwife might 
 have remained. 
 
 As to the ft ill more recent queftion of the right 
 of the fubjeCt to fubferibe money for public pur- 
 poles, under thc/difpofition of Parliament, it is 
 of all that ever have been agitated the moft, ab- 
 fard. How fl range it is that men who pretend 
 to be Friends to the People, and to love liberty, 
 fhould with to deprive their fellow-citizens of lo 
 patriotic a liberty, as that of voluntarily affifting 
 their country ! deftroy this natural privilege, 
 make it unlawful, and trealbn againft the conlti- 
 tntion to affiji the Executive Government in a mea- 
 lure functioned by Parliament, and (undoubtedly 
 the protection of this country is included in the 
 general queftion of the war) then it ought to be 
 equally againft the law to help a conftable to ap- 
 prehend a thief or a murderer,' or to aid a magis- 
 trate in quelling a riot ; for there is no folid ar- 
 gument in thofe nice di functions of helping with 
 money or with labour, provided the object to 
 which the money is to be applied is known; for 
 money is but the fruit of labour, and the mea- 
 fure of its value, and whether the thing or its price 
 is given there can be no intrinfic difference. Be- 
 tides it bus undoubtedly been cuftomary for corpo- 
 rations, affociations, and even individuals, to offer 
 - bounties for foldiers and fa'ilors, thereby aiding 
 * ' a the 
 
/ 
 
 r ( 3 1 ) 
 
 . tlic. Executive Government with money in a vo- 
 luntary maimer, anci this has never been found to 
 be iniconflitntional till now, that; the Minifter 
 willies to take- an efihptual meafure of. making the 
 heavy burthen of internal defence fall as much as 
 he can. upon the. rich. His great offence then is, 
 that' he fpares the poor what a general tax would 
 levy from. them, by exciting the rich to contribute 
 'voluntarily. This, may .defeat the. views of thole 
 who with to have -the pfeafure of railing again It 
 high taxes, and the burthens on the lower c.lafs ; 
 but it' will fcarcely be conlitlered by any body as 
 being attended with any other danger, and this 
 'is not to great a disadvantage, becaufe.it will keep 
 that money in the pockets of all thofe who difap- 
 prove the plan, which a general tax would have 
 .taken out, ' - . 
 
 Such' fcruples are not only ill-timed, but are in 
 thcmielvcs ridiculous : they feem to fuppofe liberty 
 ' abd the conflitution of England fo exceilively de- 
 licate, as not to permit us,’ for whom they exiif, to 
 protect them by our individual efforts, in a caufe 
 Tancfioned by. our .reprefentatives in Parliament, 
 co n ft i t u ti o n a IJy alfemhled. 
 
 Men who take time to refleH upon the matter, 
 can never be impofed upon by luch unfounded 
 and abfurd fcruples. — Who will be perfuaded that 
 the con ft nation and liberties of England can 
 ever be hurt by the Yeomanry of England, 
 armed to .defend their fire-tides ? Who will be- 
 lieve that the crown wants to extend its power, 
 by putting arms into (lie hands of men who are 
 •fo much interfiled in preferving their liberties, 
 and who perhaps underhand them full as well as 
 thofe who make long fpecches. Such fcruples are 
 •the more extraordinary, as they come from men 
 who have never difguiled their good opinion of 
 
( .V. ) ’ 
 
 the French Revolution, where all means arc 
 ufed without any fcruple, or any check, to obtain 
 by good will, and by force, aid in money, and 
 perfonah aid from every individual in that coun- 
 try. 
 
 It is however much to be lamented, that al- 
 though the good fenfe of mankind fees through 
 the end of fuch’ .attempts, yet- they ftill produce a 
 bad-. effect ; they encourage and augment difeon- 
 tents ambngft thoie who arc fo inclined, and oc- 
 eafion confide rable lots (if time and expence. 
 
 Although there are many more .examples, and 
 recent ones, which it would be very eafy to pro- 
 duce, in order to prove the evil effects of con- 
 tinual and indiferiminate op petition, (at the fame 
 time that we mu ft acknowledge the utility of a 
 party at all times ready to watch over the actions 
 of Minifters) it is fuperfluQus ; as every day fur- 
 nifhes them, and fometimes of late one tingle day 
 furnifhes two or three fuch inftances. 
 
 As our fears respecting the Royal prerogative 
 are occasioned by the fad effects, which an undue 
 oxtenlion of it w'ould ultimately produce, let us 
 fee, on the other hand, what would be the ultimate 
 confequences of a too fuccefsful oppofition, in a 
 cafe like the prefent. 
 
 Let us luppofe, that either a dangerous and open 
 reiiftance to government arifes at home, or that a 
 foreign enemy invades us from without, in either 
 of thefe cafes, which are only likely to take place 
 under a feeble executive power, obftruhted in its 
 operations, and therefore fet at defiance, the op- 
 pofition muft either throw itlelf into the arms ot 
 the executive government, or join the other party; 
 but we were reafoning upon the fuppolitionthat the 
 oppofition was very powerful, then will the execu- 
 tive power either become at once very ftrong, or be 
 
 anni- 
 
(. 33 ) 
 
 annihilated. If it becomes very ftrong, then we 
 fall into the danger that we wanted to avoid ; and 
 if it i? annihilated, another executive power mail 
 in the very inflant rife up. If this executive power- 
 fhould confifl of the Houfe of Commons itl'elf, 
 then the legiflative and executive authority being 
 in the fame hands, there could be no liberty; and 
 if it were put in any other hands, we fhopld be 
 juft where we with not to be, that is, under too 
 ftrong an executive power. 
 
 The legiflative power is fuperior to the execu- 
 tive, and will continue to be fo naturally as long 
 as we can avoid any violent crilis, any dangerous 
 combination of circumftances, that by endanger- 
 ing every thing makes neceflity the fupreme law; 
 for then the executive ufurps the legiflative au- 
 thority for the time, or, which is the lame thing, 
 obliges the legiflature to obey. Let us therefore 
 keep out of the reach of fuch a dangerous crifis; 
 let us aid the executive power in all cafes of fe- 
 dition or invafion before the crifis adlually arrives, 
 and then it is probable it will never comes at 
 all ; for to ufe the proverb, which though vulgar 
 is applicable, “ A Hitch in time laves nine.” 
 
 That this danger is not entirely hypothetical is 
 clear, from the plan which, as we have already ob- 
 lerved, was fet on foot in France, in an early 
 period of the revolution, to overturn the conflitu- 
 tion of this country ; and we mult not be above 
 learning from our enemies, if we mean to do 
 well. Let not then all the odium of punifhing 
 the internal enemies of the country fall upon the 
 executive power j let the public voice fupport the 
 arm of juftice in defeating the views of thofe 
 men who have caft their plans of fortune on the 
 deftrudtion of their country. Let us not refemble 
 the Chinefe, who, when a fire was raging in a 
 
 E town 
 
( M ) 
 
 town that was built of wood, durft not attempt 
 to extinguifh it, until the flow Mandarine, with 
 all his oriental forms, arrived and gave his orders. 
 Perhaps no Englifhman ever read the relation of 
 this fa<5l without a mixture of furprife and con- 
 tempt ; yet fo it is, that our liberties, our confii- 
 tution, which our good fpeech -makers will not 
 fuffer the winds of heaven to blow upon, are in 
 their hands, like the Chinefe houfes : not that a 
 fire has caught, but if a fire did catch, they 
 would defire us to wait for the Mandarine. 
 
 May the man who dares in this country to de- 
 fend arbitrary power, be purfued with dill more 
 rigour, than thofe who have dared to fupport the 
 caufe of anarchy under the fpecious appearance 
 of reform ; and while we are equally convinced of 
 the dangers of both, let us endeavour to difeover 
 ' the juft mean in which liberty and prerogative- 
 are fo combined, as to give us both happinefs and 
 protection. 
 
 The reafonings already employed are applica- 
 ble to all mixt governments, where freedoih is 
 eftablifhed, but the degree of neceffity that there 
 may be for applying them, depends upon and 
 may vary with circumflances. Thus, for example, 
 if the Indian tribes in North Ameriqa were more 
 powerful than they are, the executive govern- 
 ment of the United States would require to be 
 ftrengthened and rendered more energetic; and on 
 the contrary, if there were no Indian tribes, the 
 executive government would only perhaps require 
 power for the internal police of the country. 
 
 The prefent circumflances in which we are 
 placed, feem to require, at leaf!, as much power 
 in the hands of the executive government, as was 
 ever neceffary at any former period- Nor is the dan- 
 ger precifely of the fame nature as it has been. 
 
 With 
 
. ( 35 ) 
 
 With refpeCt to our enemies abroad, we have 
 frequently had fuch as were more formidable, 
 therefore it is not for the purpofe of warlike at- 
 tack, nor even of defence, that we require fuch 
 force for the executive government, but it is 
 againft the mal-contents within, that our confti- 
 tution and liberties require protection, becaufe its , 
 enemies have a lupport from without, that they 
 never had at any former period, and becaufe that 
 doChine of liberty and equality, fo inlidioully 
 mifeonftrued, and which never can exilt but in 
 a limited lenfe, and in the eye of the law, has 
 been preached up in a general one, and extended 
 to rank, fdrtune, and even to perfonal abilities. 
 Is 1 ever before was open prote&ion offered by a 
 nation to the dilcontented and feditious in all 
 other countries, and never had example fhewn 
 the ignorant and the wicked how far a daring 
 rafhnels, and a determination to flop at no crime 
 would lead to fuccefs, in overturning order. Nor 
 ever before had it been attempted to reduce in- 
 furreCtion to method and rule, therefore ne- 
 ver were fedition-preachers before fo dangerous. 
 Other times have fhewn the extreme of vice and 
 of crime in individuals, but it was referved for 
 the Philofophers of the eighteenth century to ex- 
 hibit the extreme of crime in a whole nation. 
 
 If there be any crime which claims pre-eminence 
 in moral turpitude, and in the extent of the evil 
 which it is calculated to produce, it is that of 
 fowing fedition and difeontent amongft a happy 
 people; and now that the tree is fo well known 
 by its fruit, now that the example of France 
 fhews the unparalleled misfortunes that attend the 
 leading aftray the multitude, we can lcarc.ely ex- 
 cufe thofe who attempt to do fo, on the fcore of 
 not forefeeing the confequences. — Never did a 
 
 E 2 foreign 
 
( 3 6 ) 
 
 foreign enemy, with the affiflance of fire and the 
 fword, reduce a people to facli a hate of poverty, 
 flavery, and wretched nets, as that to which the 
 French have reduced themfelves. Thus is exempli- 
 fied that great truth, that man alone can render 
 himfelf completely miferable : nature fupports us 
 again ft evils brought on by others, but increafes 
 thole which we bring upon ourfelves, and makes 
 them doubly fevere ; and if ever the hand of the 
 Omnipotent was viflbly manifefted, in attaching 
 mifery and madnels to crime, it is in that wretched 
 nation, and more particularly in thofe fuperiorly 
 culpable individuals who have led on the reft. 
 
 The hiltory of mankind fhews, that in all ages 
 and in all countries misfortunes have ever been the 
 confequences of error, and that very few happy 
 and free nations ever exilted ; and, above all, 
 hiftory teaches us, by example, how prone men 
 are to err. Can we then for one moment avoid 
 drawing the conclulion, that as we are more free, 
 fiourifhing, and happy than any nation recorded 
 in hiftory, it ■ is unwile to rifk that happinefs in 
 hopes of increafing it ? We fhould confine 
 ourfelves to thofe improvements that can be made 
 without endangering the whole, though to rifk 
 that whole feems to be the fyitem of the reform- 
 ing demagogues of the prefent day, who have not 
 even patience to wait with their innovations until 
 the fate of thofe men, whom they with us to imi- 
 tate in fo many leading points, fhall be finally 
 determined. 
 
 Does not the conduct of our prefent innovators 
 and fedition-mongers, when oppofed to tlie con- 
 du6t of the nation at large, referable the falfe 
 mother and the true who came before Solomon 
 to be judged, and might not their real regard for 
 dhe con dilution be decided in the fame manner ? 
 
 3 Whatever 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 Whatever a man is really attached to he does 
 not with ralhly to rifk ; and even a change for the 
 better, without being reduced to an abfolute cer- 
 tainty, cotts the heart a pang. Thofe perfons, 
 then* who pretend to love the conftitution, and 
 yet with to make innovations in a rath manner, 
 add contrary to nature, or, in other words, their 
 patriotifm is a deception, and their affedtion for 
 our liberties a fcandalous barefaced impotition. 
 
 Before we quit this fubjedt, let us take one 
 more view of the affair of feditious practices. 
 
 A fair trial before a jury is all that men can 
 have, and therefore the verdidd is not to be called 
 in quetlion. But as our protedlors of fedition talk 
 of royal clemency, let them be put in mind, that 
 the Sovereign cannot ttretch his prerogative far- 
 ther in any cafe, nor ule it worle, than by par- 
 doning men who have been found guilty and 
 condemned to punifhment, but who hill perfift 
 in and glory in their crime. Even mercy, that 
 moll amiable of all the virtues, requires repent- 
 ance in order to reconcile it with juflice and po- 
 licy: nor is there, perhaps, any conhitutional 
 method by which the King of England could ruin 
 the nation, and overturn the conflitution itfelf, 
 fo eafily, as by a wrong exercife of this part of the 
 royal prerogative ; and this with fo much the 
 more facility, that he would certainly not have to 
 combat the prefent oppofition upon fuch occa- 
 ■■ lions. 
 
 Perhaps at a time when every quehion that re- 
 gards our liberties is fo freely difeuffed, it might 
 be worth while to inquire, whether, when an in- 
 dividual has been fairly found guilty by a jury of 
 his peers, it is not an infringement upon the rights of 
 thefociety at large, in a public manner, to endeavour 
 to render honourable what the laws have found 
 
 to 
 
f 38 ) 
 
 to be criminal. Is not this a fort of refinance to 
 the laws, and fiich as might of itfelf be conftrucd 
 into a crime ? That it is a refinance of the law, as 
 far as the moral part of the punifhment goes, is 
 clear, becaufc it takes off its effect, arid thereby 
 encourages the crime. ... 
 
 A tingle inftance will illuftrate this ; fuppofe a 
 crime for which the pillory and hard labour for a . 
 month is the fevered: pnnifhment the law can in- 
 flict, and that a let of men had entered into a 
 fubfcription for every fuch criminal, who fhould 
 be well paid for his time while at hard labour, 
 and that while in the pillory they would furround 
 him and do him homage, and publicly plead his 
 caufe. Could fociety exterminate crimes fo protect- 
 ed, but by punifhing the protectors, or by changing 
 the punifhment to fomething fo fevere, that neither 
 money, nor the honour and fame lavifhed on him 
 by his affociates could pay the criminal ? Who is 
 it that can be fure that certain feditious perfons 
 have not been fent to Botany Bay in order to be 
 out of the reach of thofe friends who, by flattering 
 their vanity and fupplying their wants, were they 
 near at home, would convert their punifhment 
 into a reward ? This queftion will perhaps fomc 
 day become more important.* 
 
 With 
 
 "* Thofe who preach up reform, and who admire French 
 liberty, and the duty of infurreftion , fhould remember, that 
 the French have invented a fort of counterpoife for infurre&ion* 
 which is termed by them oppofition to the national will (ofi- 
 pojition a la volonte nationale). This they have made the moft 
 heinous of all crimes, and it is this crime that gives victims for 
 the guillotine. Thus the philofophical fans culottes, who were 
 the dupes of La Fayette’s facred duty of infilrre&ion, are equally 
 impofed upon by the facrednefs of national will ; for certainly 
 it is carrying the law of l'edition a little too far to punifh with 
 death leditums looks and getlures, and being fufpecled to be in 
 connexion with relations who are fufpefted of difobeying the 
 
 national 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 With refpe$: to juries, they are certainly, as 
 we have already feen, bound to judge of the in-* 
 tention ; and the balls of all government is at an 
 end if it ceafes to be a crime to excite difeontents 
 again!! that government, becaufe, although opi- 
 nions are free, and fpeech is free, they are no far- 
 ther fo than actions arc, that is to fay, when they 
 can do no harm. I may difeharge my piftols in 
 the air as long as I pleafe, therefore I am free to 
 lire my piltols ; but if fome perfons pafs that may 
 be injured by them, lam not at liberty to do it. 
 
 As to what writings or actions, therefore, are 
 punifhable, that is in a great meafure dependent 
 upon times and circumltances, from which the 
 moral culpability and the evil tendency are to be 
 difeovered. As for example, a man who fpeaks le- 
 ditious words in a tavern, when he is heated with 
 wine, and may not fully underhand the nature 
 ofthefe words, may be innocent of every bad in- 
 tention ; but if fuch a man has been diltinguifhed 
 for fpreading the fame fort of principles before, and 
 is known to be a man who well underltands 
 the meaning of his words, then there can be no 
 doubt as to the intention. 
 
 It would be very eafy to enter into this at large, 
 and to prove by many arguments, that juries are 
 bound to conlider men who openly preach up in- 
 novation, at this time, as enemies to the conhitu- 
 tion and the hate, becaufe they fee that, from the 
 experience of France, fuch innovations are very 
 dangerous, and contrary to public good. But 
 after what we have already obferved, no doubt 
 can be remaining upon that head ; and it is by 
 juries doing their duty in cafes of feditious prac- 
 
 national 'will. Thus ignorance will always be impofed upon 
 by artifice and knavery, and the moment an ignorant man be- 
 comes a philolopher, he is only fit to be made a dupe. 
 
 ' tices; 
 
( 4o ) 
 
 ticcs, or libels again ft the Hate, that the arm of 
 the executive power is to be drengthened in this 
 time of danger, in order to keep oil an emergency 
 that might hazard all our liberties. 
 
 At the fame time, let nothing more than what 
 judice and policy dridtly require be done by the 
 judges who pats fentence, as no feverity that 
 feems difproportioned to the crime, although it 
 may not in reality be fo, ought by any means to 
 be pradtifed. 
 
 Now it appears, that wherever there is proof 
 of fedition, to be obliged to pay a fine, to be im- 
 prifoned for a certain time, and find fecurity for 
 future good behaviour, could never be too levere 
 as to its mode ; and there is no objection to fuch 
 • mode of punifhment (which can always be pro- 
 portioned to the circumflances of the man and of 
 the cafe) except the efforts of his abettors to con- 
 vert his punifhment into a triumph : and let thofe 
 men take a hint, if they really wifh well to thofe 
 perfons whom they pulh. forward to open a<ds of 
 fedition, and remember, that thofe men who 
 dragged Mr. Froft to his houfe in triumph, were 
 very likely dragging Meffrs. Gerald and Margarot 
 to Botany Bay. The law mud prepare a pu- 
 nifhment, and not a triumph, for whoever is 
 found guilty. 
 
 Although jurymen find themfelves very much 
 embarraffed in general in cafes of libel and fedi- 
 tion, where they are to determine between good 
 intention, ignorance of the confequences, and bad 
 intention, yet the prefent circumflances have at 
 lead one advantage, by taking that difficulty off 
 their minds ; for fince the French revolution has 
 taken fo horrid a turn, fince that people are be- 
 come the mod wicked and wretched that the earth 
 ever bore upon its furface, and their government 
 
( 4i ) 
 
 IS become the molt tyrannical that can he con- 
 ceived, the criminal intention of thofe who, by 
 inftilling the fame principles, would run the rilk 
 of leading us the fame road, cannot be doubtful. 
 The French levellers might at leaf! plead igno- 
 rance of the confequences, but ours cannot. 
 
 It would be difficult to dwell upon this fubje£t 
 fo long as it merits, and to treat it as it deferves, 
 on account of its importance, is far beyond the 
 power of him who attempts to inveftigate it ; but 
 let every man inquire of himfelf, if he is not con- 
 fcio.us of being free in this country to do whatever 
 is not hurtful to others, if his property is not fe- 
 cure, if trials are not conducted with juft ice ? and 
 let him recollect, that equality in the eye of the 
 law is the only equality that ever did, or ever can 
 exift, that all other equality is a Speculative, ab- 
 furd, and impracticable chimera; that if it could 
 exift, it would be at open war with liberty, 
 which leaves a man free to labour, and with fe- 
 curity, which preferves to him what his labour 
 has produced. 
 
 Let every true Englishman atk of himfelf if, as 
 long as the yeomanry are armed, and we have a 
 trial by a jury of our peers, the power of the 
 crown can take away our liberties, and let him 
 produce any’- a6tby which it appears that our liber- 
 ties are endangered, or that even a deft re of in- 
 juring them has been manifefted ? and let thofe 
 fortunate individuals, who have arms put into 
 their hands, or vho have the high honour of 
 being called upon juries for attacks upon their 
 country, reflect, that it is by them that the firft 
 attacks upon all that we hold dear to us is to 
 be repul fed ; that their duty to their country 
 Should take place of every perfonal conlideration. 
 
 F It 
 
( 4 ^ ) 
 
 / 
 
 It is by fuch a conduct that pofterity will judge 
 of our wifdom and virtue, and that we thall be 
 able to tranfmit to our children, unfullied and 
 unaltered, that precious Work of our Fore- 
 fathers, the British Constitution, 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 * -• V . ' ' 
 
 * : ? ; : ; — ? : 
 
 HISTORY of the EAST-INDIES, 
 
 This pay is publijbed in Two Polttmes^ ^to. Price £ 2 . 21, 
 
 FERISHTj's 
 
 HISTORY OF DEKKAN, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE FIRST MAHUMMEDAN CONQUESTS ? 
 
 WITH 
 
 A CONTINUATION FROM OTHER NATIVE WRITERS, OF THE 
 EVENTS IN THAT PART OF INDIA, TO TJ^£ REDUCTION 
 OF ITS LAST MCMARCHS BY THE EMPEROR 
 AULUMGEER AURUNGZEBE: 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 THE REIGNS OF HIS SUCCESSORS IN THE EMPIRE OF 
 KINDOSTAN TO THE PRESENT DAY; 
 
 AND 
 
 THE H IS TORT OF BENGAL, 
 
 From the ACCESSION of AHVERDEE KHAN to the YEAR 1780; 
 COMPRISED IN SIX PJRTS. 
 
 By JONATHAN SCOTT, 
 
 CAPTAIN IN THE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S SERVICE, PERSIAN SECRE- 
 TARY TO THE LATE GOVERNOR GENERAL, WARREN HASTINGS, 
 ES^.AtJp MEMBER of THE ASIATIC SOCIETY IN CALCUTTA. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 ■ Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1,794,