^. r\ ^^ Sir, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I I^|2j8 |25 :^ ua 12.0 IL25 III 1.4 liil I 1.6 PhotDgraphic ^Sciences Corporation a7 ^ \ <^ ^ ^^ o^ 33 WBT MAIN STRin WnSTIR,N.Y. MSM (716)872-4903 '^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical ISAicroreproductions / institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notoa techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. □ Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ D D n D D Couverture endommagte Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^ et/ou pellicula I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes gAographiques en couleur Coloured inic (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur □ Bound with other material/ ReilA avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^ftrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas M# fllmtes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a AtA possible de se procurer. Les ditaiis de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked ImIow/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagtes □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurAes et/ou peilicuites S Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dAcolortes, tachet6es ou piqutes Pages detached/ Pages ditachtes Showthroughy Transparence Quality of prir Qualit^ inigale de I'lmpression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du matMel suppKmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible I I Pages detached/ rrp\ Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ |~~| Only edition available/ The totl The posa oftr filmi Origi begli the I sion, othe first sion, or ill Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totaiement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont M filmtes A nouveau de fapon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. The I shall TINL whic IMapi diffe entir befiii right requi meth 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X • y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X lire details jes du modifier ]er une filmage The copy filmed here hae been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The imeges appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in Iceeping with the filming contract specificetions. L'exemplaire f ilmi f ut reproduit grice k la g4nArositA de: La bibliothAque des Archives publlques du Canada Les imeges suivantes ont MA reproduites ovec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de le condition et de la nettetA de rexemplaire film*, et en conformity evec les conditions du contrat de filmage. f i*es Original copies in printed (Miper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated Impres- sion, or the becic cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page wKh e printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplalres originaux dont la couverture en papier est ImprimAe sent filmto en commenpant par le premier plat et en termlnent soit par la dernlAre pegs qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustrstion, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les eutres exempleires originaux sent filmto en commen9ent par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernlAre imege de cheque microfiche, seion la cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". re Maps, plates, cherts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed befi inning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seui cllchA. il est film* A partir de I'engie supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAccsssire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. ly errata Bd to nt ne pelure, ipon A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 i ' I -I 'ir V ■^^ I ■ / ■g^' tT nl^r-s I'M' a" '^ Mi ■■ffH\ '■^'•^■■-Ctv* ■V» ■'*. N ' t * J ■A', nj 'J 1: .t::^- T'/Er--':m flf''^^^ ■TO.THfc D D R E s s Brit Sv M ■ ■ ;4 r^-flfei-: "^^p:^ l^vi * . ^^- ^ ■ . ■ ■ ,; ,;oR,. ■ :'^^..- :•■■,• -^i>:-= ■r' ■."^fN^' 1' '•'l\ k. L*^' ^.¥. 1 ■*M*^ '^ <*>■ ... "•. ( •' -. #. ' * . '■ 4- • ■*■ ■' : - ■*■ . 1 "^' 1 '.■• %.-■ • ->V (- - '^ ■^ ' t V . > .t *i.-;,; T' 1 > ^ t •■•■•■■•' ■ :'5^: !«V' asft:'.-^' •• r LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE ADDRESSERS, ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. By THOMAS PAINE, SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO CONGRESS IN THE AMERICAN WAR, an» AUTHOR OF THE WORKS intitljsd » COMMON SENSE;' ** RIGHTS OF MANy Tw« Parts," &c* LONDON: PRTNTED FOR H. D. SYMONDS, IN PA^RNOSTER ROW' AND THOMAS CLIO RICKMAN, N^7, UPPIR MARY>L£-BONE STREET. 1792. 'M>*>iiii^ fHp-n-;, ' m • "^-^y *■ ■%. '^m i;'5 LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE ADDRESS ERS, ON THE LATE P R O C L A M A T'l O N. r^^m ^^B I'-u- ■^fm iM'^m B^ GOULD I have commanded circumftances with a wifh> I know ; not of any that would have more generally promoted the progrefs of knowledge, than the late Proclamation, and the nu- merous rotten Borough andjCorporation Addrefles thereon. They have not only ferved as adv^ifements, but they have excited a .fpirit of enquiry into principles of government, Mid a defire to , .read the flights of man, in places, where that fpirit and that, work were before unknown. The people of England wearied and ftunned with parties, and alternately deceived by each, had ., Imoft refigned the prerogativs of thinking. Even curiofity had tx.jired^ and » umverfal lan- gour had fprcad itfelf over the land. The oppontion was vifibly no other than a ccfnteA for power, whllft the m^fs of the nation ftood torpidly by as the prize. ' • •In this hopelefs ftate of things, the Firft Part oif rights or MA N made its appearance. It had to combat with a ilrange mixture of prejudice and indifference ; it ftood expofed to ev?r/ . fpecies of newfpaper abufe ; and befidesthis, it had , to remove the obflru^lions which Mr. JBurke's rude and outrageous attack on the French Revolution had artfully raifed. But how . eafily does even the moft illiterate xeader diflingu^ « the' Q)oataneous fcnfations of the heart, from tlie laboured pro. A « . d*aioaa:,J ."'^ ** m itixS,i-' ' i*— s>^^&.-.^LiLi'iiiiiiisJi^ife, j^' •> : ^ i i^W ^••. \ . \ 4 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, duftions of the brain Truth, whenever it can fully appear, is ft thing lo naturally familiar to the mind, that an acquaintance commences at firil fight. No artificial light, yet dilCovcrcd, can difplay all the properties ot' day-light ; fo neither can the bell invented fidlion hll the mind with excry conviftion which truth begets. To overthrow Mr. Burke*s fallacious work was fcarcely the operation of a day. Even the phalanx of Placemen and Pen- fioners, who had given the tone to the multitude, by clamouring forth his political fame, became fuddenly filent; and the final event to himfclf has been, that as he roic like a rocket, he fell like the Aick. It feldom happens, that the mind refls fatisficd with the fimple detection of error or impofition. — Once put into motion, tlat motion foon becomes accelerated. Where it had intended to Itop, it difcovers new reafons to proceed, and renews and continues tne purfuit far beyond the limits it iirtt prefcribed to itlelf. — Thus it has happened to the people of England. From a detedion of Mr. B.urke's incoherent r;iapfodies, anddilloitcd faits, theybe- Jran an enquiry into firll principles of Gc.vcrnmcnt, whiilt him- elf, like an objcdl left far behind, became inviiible and ibr- gotten. Much as the Firft Part of rights of man imprefTed at its firft appear.ince, the progreiTive mind foon difcovered that it did not go far enough. It detected errors ; it cxpoled ablurdi- ties i it ihook the f^ric of political fuperftition ; it generated new ideas i but it did not produce a regular fyllem of principles in the room of thofe which it difplaced. And, if I may guefs at the ttird of the Government-party, they beheld it as an uncxpefled gale that would foon blow over, and they forbore, like Tailors in threatening weather, to whillle, left they fhould increafe the wind. Every thing, on their part, was profound filence. When the Second Part of " rights of man, combining Principle and Praiiice" was preparing tp appear, they affedled, for a while, to a£l with the fame policy as before ; but finding their filence had no more influence in ililiing the progrefs of the work« than it would have in flopping the progrefs of time, they changed their plan, and afFefled to treat it with clamorous contempt. The Speech-making Placemen and Penfioners, and Place-exped- ants, in both Houfes of .Parliament, the Ouu as well as the /»/, reprefented it as a filly, infignificant performance; as a work incapable of producing; any effed ; as ibmething, which they were fuie the good fenlis of the people would either defpife or in- dignantly fpam J but fuch was the overllrained awkwardnefs with WMch they harangued and encouraged each other, ti» .t in the very a6t of declaring their confidence they betrayed their f?ars. As moil of me rotten Borough Addrcffej^s are obfcured in hole^ '■-■ '■ " and bas^x-.^*' i' '■" m ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. '? and corners throughout the country, and to whom a newfpaper arrive as rarely as an almanac, they moll probably have not had the opporta .ity of knowing how this part of the farce (the ori- ginal prelude to all the Addrefles) has been afted. For their in- formation, I will iV.fpcnd a while the more ferious purpofe of my Letter, and enteruin them v/ith two or three Speeches in the lalt SeiTion of Parliament, which will ferve them for politics till Par- liament meets again. You mull know. Gentlemen, that the Second Part 6f r i Gh ts of MAN (the book againft which you have been prefenting Addreffcs, though, it is moil probable, that many of you did no: know it)' was to have come out precifely at the time that P^liam^nt latl nlet. It happened not to he publilhed till a few days after. But' as' it' was very well known that the book woiitd (hortly a]f>pear, the pai-lia- mentary Orators entered intb a very edrdiu CoaHtlon to cry the book down, find they began their attack by Crying Mp' the' il^ttgs of the ConlHtation. Had it been your fate to have been diere, ydu couM Aot but have been moved at the heart-ahd-pocket-felt cotigfatlilstions that pafled between alt the parties on this fubjed Qf iu^^s \ for the 6«/j enjoy placeis and petifions 'And finecttres as well as the Inst and are as devoutly Attached to the'firm of thelioufe. One of the mioft coAfmctrolis of this motley gfoUpe is the Clerk of the Court of King's Bench, ti^ho cdls hihifelf Lord fitormorit. He is alfo catted Jtaftce Gefneral^;^tIanH, and Keeper of Scoon (an oppflfitioii man) anft^ke iiiiaws fiDm the ptlblic fdr'lht^e tfdmiffdt offices, not liHs, iis I lam ixifomie'd, "than •fix thoitfandjpounasa year/ attdlle is, moft JproWMy, lit the titJb- 'bfe of tbdiiti^g'the faiohoy, and'fieAinjg arec^pt, torAfei^, tf^i'r- hap$,thatiic is 'qualified to 'be 'Ckrk as i^dl as jtfMce. ^fte 'fpokeMfoIlo\li^si* bjediupdn whidi thetc can be w divided opirtlc I do' not 'pretend to be deep'read in ihe ■kYtoWledg^cof ftc Conftitiitioh, 'bat Irake upbn m-'toi^y, 'thstt from the dttent of wy knoWteflgc 7j^ / hixvefimtnytbciitfAnits'i^^ niiBivjgJ it apjpearsto wf, thit from the pisriod of thfc*e>^oltition, fer it was by no means cre^ed then, it -has 'been, bothinV-i^eM^^ and fra^ke. thewj/^fyftemthAt ever was fortftcd. \tvs»tix"m& (he means he. iievelr was *//// jrww) aiteillertn pdMiiU'dntt. My . *•• 'life Jus liqt been occupied in tbdt tuia/, Iwt'thc fpectUHdofls of late fears /eem to hafve 'tdkiH a tarn, /if^Bieb'I danitot iatoiiaU. When i ^me into pttblic life, theT)dlltidl pampWcts-bf the time^ however they might be duorged with the%eat arid Vidlehce €€ At «( •1 • See'4ii8 %lidi kidtke Motolag ChftditliB of ftb. V: A 3 M.f)f i" 6 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, ^: '< of paitiifs, were agreed in extolling the radical beauties of the •* Conftitution itfelf. I remember (le means ht has forgotten) a ** nnoft captivating eulogium on its charms by Lord Bu]ingbrokc» *' where he recommend his readers to contemplate it in all its ' '* afpe^, with the aiTurance that it would be found more eilima- " ble the more it was feen. I do not recolU£t his precife wordsj ** but I wiih that men who write upon thefe fubjci^ts would take " this for their nfodel, infiead of the political pamphlets, which* /' I am toidj are now in circulation, (fuch, I fuppofe, as Rights " of Mfi/i) — pamphlets which I have not read^ and whofe purport ' " r know only by reportt (he means, perhaps, by the noife they ** ina}ce.) This, however, I am fure, that pamphlets tending to "*Vunfettle the public reverenc? for the conftitution, will have very ••little inflvjencie. They can do verv little harm — for {by the hyt^ •*. he is no ({thaler in political, capt) the Englijh are a fober-thinking •« people, and are more intelligent, more jolid, more fteady in their •f qpiaii^ifff.than any people I e-ver had the fortune to fee. (This ii "." wfetty well laid on, though, for a ne\y bjeginnier.) But if there ^ f* wovdd ever cornea time when the propagation pf thofe dodrine& ^ «* fliovld agitate the public mind, I •^'P.^'**^ ^9'' every otfe.Qx ypur '•* Lordfliips, that no. attack wiU,Jbe m^de on the conftitution, ** from, which it is truly faid that ^'e Arrive all our profperity, •* without. raifing ev^y oneo^ ypur Lprclfhip; to its fuppiprt. It .'♦will.the^^b^ found that there is no difference, among «/, but: that ft wt are all determined \.Qjiand Of fall tO£(;ther, in defence of the '*iMJHmableiyftem"r-of."jp1iace8 ^i^pcj^^ . ' /* fAfter Stoin^ot, .60 the, oMpoiitioii j^^e, .fat dpwq* up rofs e/^7i«^^ i^^/ '^nd maintenance. of the ^^cphuitudoh. as happily fubj^ing. It rj? ffkil^fi,mdo\il^^^^ Lordiliips «»9^^» .to l^nd, that the ',** timf^ is If me}. Qieigh ho,}); when, jth^re is propriety '^^ thefe ,,••,' exprefljoM of /egard to^(o! o! 0'!) thj[ cunstitvtion. ■ i!* And tha^ thejr,e a.t^ m,en IJ^on^fbuhd— their— po-li-tics) who •" '*• difiefloiwat'ie'iao^ the ^iniiine jpirit oS our *weli- ^ •*. 'df Lnc d f/Jiemf \,it is certainly well balanced when both iides " hold places and pcnfions at once.) I agree.. with the noble *f Viicount that they hay$:BOt (1 hope) mucbfuccefs, I am con- ** vinced. C( mnc . m *-M *-- .. .'.,.S&V^ 3^1^ 1 T'y^^r^m^f. / ©N THE LATE PROCLAMATION. *' ** yinced that there is no danger to be apprehended from their ** attempts : but it is truly important and con/olatwy (to ut place- ** men, I fuppofe) to know, that if there (houldever ariiie aieriout- ** alarm, there b but one fpirit, one/enj'e, (and that (enfe I prefume <* is not etmmon ftn/e) and one determination in this houfe," which undoubtedly is to hold all their places and penfions as long as they can. Both thofe fpeeches (excepting the parts enclpfed in paren- thefes, which ire added for the purpofe oi illu/iration) are copied verbatim from the Morning Chronicle of the ill of February laft^ and whetv the fituation of the fpeakers is confidered, the one in the oppofition, and the other in the miniilry, and both of them, living at the public expence, by fmecure, or nominal places^and offices, it required a very unblufhing front to be able to deliver them. Can thofe men feriouily fuppofe any nation to be fo comf^etely bUnd as not to fee through them 2 Can Stormont imagine that the political cant, with which he has larded hia- harangue, will conceal the craft ? Does he not know that there never wa» a Cover large enough to hide it/elf? Or can GrenviMe believe, that his credit with the public increafes with hi& avarice for places? But, if thefe orators will accept a iervice from' me, in return, for the allufions they have made to the Rights of Man, I will make i. fpeech for eitl^.er of them to defiver on %h& excellence of the conftitution, that fhall be as much to the pvu-pofe as what they have fpoken, or as Bolingbroke^s captivating encomium. Here it is. ' That we (hall all be unanimous in exprefUng our attachment to the conftitCition, I AM confident. It is, my~ Lords, incompre-^ henfibly good-: but the great wonder of all is the'wiidom ; for it \&t v^y\iOxikii the nuijkji'fyjlem thai ever ^wcu fotmed. •With refpe^t to us noble Lords, though -the world does not know it, it is Very well known to us, that we have more wirdonv thailweknOW'what todo with; and what is ftill better, my Lords, we have -it ^' in flock, I defy your Lordihips to prove, that a tittle <^}t \ai been' ufed yet ; and if we do but go on, my Lords>> withi the frugality we have hitherto done, we ihall leave to our heirs and fi;^eflbr6> when we go out of the world,!^ the whole (lock of wifdom, untouchedi that we brought in y and there is no doubt but they wiU-follovtr our example. Thb, my Lords, is one of the blefled eflFefts df the hereditary fyflerh j for ive can never be with^ out wifdom fo long as we keep it by us, and do not ufe it.. • * But, my' Loirds, as all this wifdom is hereditary property,, fbr ^e fole benefit of us andoiMr heirs, andas it is neceflary that the people fhould know where to get a fupply for their own ufe» theexcellence of our conilitution has provid^ a Kirig for this very purpofe, and for no other. But, my Lords^ X perceive a defe^^ ••,••■■■. ' ••■ A 4 ■-■■ ' '' t( 5™. I " ? ;i t\ jM^^ ^f L^TprR TO THE ADpiVEiSSi:|l5* ^ to which the conftituuon is fubjcft, and which I propofe to rc^iedy . hjf lw|uigjng a bill into Paf liaunen^ '', * The cbnJftitution, piy Lords, put of dcijcacy,^ I prefume, has left itas^a inatterOf rVV^ toa Kingwhetlier hewill be wife or not. It ha¬i X mean, my Lords«» inftfted upon it as a conjfUtutional .point, vhich* 1 conceive, it ought to have done; for l pledge myfelf to yotfr LordihipS to prove, and that with />w /«/m he fhall be de- , clared wJi^e enough to be JfCipg, according to the trMe m/eaoi^g of our excellent) conilitutio;;^. All, ther^bre,: my .Lotd$> th^t wiE be neceflary to, he done, by the ending chiaif^th4|( I ih^llibring in, will be to ipv^ ;Ae |vi^)g before hand with l^e quality of wifdom necefiary ibr.tius, purpofe> leil he Jhc^ld hlppen 9,Qt to poil'efslt; and tii^is, my Lords, vye can do \yithout making ufe ;of any of our own. ^ ;. ., « We further read, j^y/^ord^, in the; fai4. Statutes jat; Large .of the Jews, that Samuel, yirho certainly was as mad ^anyJjM^n- of-Rights-Man now a-days, (hear him 1 hear him I) Wat. highly difplcafed, and even e^^afperatedj at (he prqpof^l of the j£ws to have a>King, ^n4 |iewa.ned thep^gainft it with all that afUiraiKe and iiQpodjepc^ pf Mrhich Jie was mafter, I hive jlHsJnj my Lords, iat the .troubjle of going /all the way; to i^o/^rn^fr^roat;, to proctfre .aftjMtr^Jlypn ^mc .printed copy. I w^s'told that I ihoukl meet iwith it there, or in ^mcH-cortfer, for I was then going, ipy Lords, I© \ Mi ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. r '^ ( \ *t to rum^uaee for it among the curloflties of the Antiqtiarian Society^ I will read the extrafl to your Lordlhips^ to ihew how little Samuel knew of the matter. * Tlie extras, my Lords, is from i ^amuel, chap. 8b " And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people,. '* that afked of him a King. ** And he faid, this will be the manner of' the King that fhall' " reign over you: he will take your fons, and appoint them for '* himfelf>^ for his chariots, and to be his horfemen ; and feme •• ihall run before his chariots. ** And he will appoint him captains over thoufand^, and cap* ** tains over fifties, and will fet them to ear his ground, and to reap " his harveft, and to make his inftruments of war, and inftrwnents •* of his cliariots. ** And he will take your daughters to. be confedionaries* and- *' to be cooks, and to be bakers. '* And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive- yards, even, dke beil of them, and give them to his fervants.. ** And he will take the tenth of your feed, and of your vine-- yards, and eive to his officers, and to his fervants^ ^' And he will take your men-fervants,. and. your maidr^fervants*' ■*' and your goodlieil young men,, and your afles, and put them: •* to his work.. " And he will take the- tenth of your fheep, and ye fhall be-- •* his fervants. " And ye fhall cry out in that day, becaufe of your King,, ** which ye iliall have chofen you ; and the Lord will not hear f* you on that day." * Now, my Lords, what- can we think of thi» man Samuel ?' Is there a word of truth, or any thing like truth, in all that he' has faid? He pretended to be a prophet,, or a wife man, but ha»> not the event proved him to be a fool or an incendiary? Look ground, my Lords, and fee if any thing has happened that he' pretended to foretell ? Has not the moft profound peace reignedi ^roughout the world ever fince King- were in fafhion ? Are not,. £)F example, the prefent Kings of Europe the mofl peaceable of mankindj and-- the Eniprefs of Ruffia the very milk of human- kindnci's? It would not be worth having King.s, my Lords>, if it were not that tliey neve^ go to war. *■ If we look at home, my Lords, dp we not fee the fame things- here as are feen every where elfe ?." Are our young men taken* to be horfemen, or foot (oldiers, any more than in Germany ori' in PrufTia, or in Hanover or in Heffe? Are not our failors as: iafe at land as at fea?- Are they ever draggedfrom their homes,, like oxen to the flaughter-houfe, to ferve on board fhips of war ?.' \Kh?n they retujn from the perils of a long^ voyage wirfi the mer— A. 5^ cbandize-' Ai •«■.■ nly. 10 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, chandiTfe of diftant jcountries, does not every man fit down under his own vine and his own fig-tree, in pcrfeft fecurity ? Is the tenth of our feed taken by tax-gatherers, or is any part of it given to the King's fervants ? In fhort, // not every thing as free from taxes as the light from Heaven ! • * Ah ! my Lords, do we not fee the oleffed effect of having Kings in every thing we look at ? Is not the G. R. or the broad R. Itampt upon every thing? Even the fhoes, the gloves, and the hats that we wear are enriched with the impreiTion, and all our candles blaze a burnt-offering. * Befides thefe bleffmgs, my Lords, that cover us from the fole of the foot to the crown of the head, do we not fee a race of youths growmg up to be Kings, who are the very paragons of virtue ? * There is not one of them, my Lords, but might be trufted with untold gold, as fafely as the other. Are they not " more fober, more intelligent, morefolid, morejleady" and withal, more learned', more wife, more every thing, than any youths lue ** ever had the fortune to fee.'* Ah ! my Lords, they are a hopeful family ! * The bleffed profped of fucceffion, which the nation has at this moment before its eyes, is a moil undeniable proof of the excel* lence of our conftitution, and of the bleffed hereditary fyftem'; for nothing, my Lord's, but a conftitutio'n founded on the trueft and pnrefl wifdom could admit fuch heaven-born and heaven-taught charadlers into the government. Permit me now, my Lords, to recal your attention to the libellous chapter I have juft read about Kings. I mention this, my Lords, becaufe it is my interi-i tion to move for a bill to be brought into Parliament to expunge that chapter from the B^fole ; and that the Lord Chancellor, with the affiftance of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Clarence, be requefted to- write a chapter in the room of it; and that Mr. Burke do fee that it be truly canonical, and faithfully inferted." — finis. If the Clerk of the Court of King's Bench Ihould chufe to be the orator of this luminous encomium on the conftitution, I hope he will get it well by heart befofe he attempt to deliver it, and not have to apologise to Parlian)ent, as he did in the cafe'of Bolingbroke's encomium,' for forgetting his lellbn", and, with this admonition I leavo him. Ha-vihg thus informed the Addreffers of what paffed at the meeting of Parliament, I return to take up the lubjeft at the part where 1 broke: off, in order to introduce the preceding Speeches. I was then ftatine^, that' the firft policy of the Government party was filence, and the ne^xt, damofous contempt; but as people generally chufe to read and judge for themfelves, the work ftil! went on, and the affectation of contempt, like the filence that preceded * - • - paffed for nothing. Thus ^^^^^^^•^••[^^ :jiSiflii.,i^ MUMini«>t1M * It is alfo curious to obferve, amidfl all the fume and bufile about Proclamations and Addrefles, kept up hy a few noify and iuterefted men, how little the mafs of the nation feem to care about cither. They appear to me, by the indifference they (hew> iipt to believe a word the Proclamation contains ; and as to the AddrciTes, they travel to London with the filence of a funeral, and having announced their arrival in the Gazette, are depofitedl with the ames of their prede«efron» and Mr. Dnndas writes their cic jacet. One of the bed: elFefb which the Proclamation, and its echo the Addre^es. have. had, l^as been that of exciting and fpreading curiofity ; and it requires only a fmgle reflection to difcover, that the bbjedt of ap curiofity is knowledge. When the mafs of the nation faw that Placemen, Penfioners, and Borougli-mongers» were the perfons that flood forward to promote Addrenes, it could not fail to' create fufpicions that the public good was not their objei5l ; that the charader of the books, or writings, to whicK fuch perfons obfcurely alluded, not daring to mention them, was direftly contrary to what they defcrlbed them to be, and that it was neceffary that every man, for' his own fatisfaftion, fhould exercife his proper right, and read and judge for himfelf. But how will the perfons who have been induced to read the Rights of Mattt by the clamour that has been raifed againft it,. be furprized to find, thatj inftead of a wicked, inflamatory work, inllead of a licencioils and profligate performance, it abounds with, principles of government that are uncontrovertible— with argu- ments which, every reader will feel, are un^fwerable — withplans- for the increaffe ojT commerce and manufai'-»;->*:;..ai»» , ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION?. 15 as anjuft monopolies and public nuifances, jQiouU join in the cavalcade ? Yet thefe are the fources from which Addrefles have- fprung. Had not fuch perfons come forward to oppofe the Rigbt» ^ Man, I ihonld have doubted the efficacy of my own writings i but thofe oppofers have now proved to n»e, that the blow was well direfted, and they have done it julticc, by ranfeffing the ihiart. The principal deception in this bufmefi of AddrefTes has been*, that the promoters of them have not come forward in their proper charaders. They have aiTumed to pafs ihemfelves upon the Public, as a part of the Public bearing a (hare of the burthen of Taxes,, and a£ting for the public good ; whereas, they are in general that part of it that adds to the publi^e burthen, by living on the produce of the public taxes. They are to the public what the locufts are to the tree : the burthetl would be lefs, and the profperity would i?e greater, if they were fhaken off. ' ** I do not come here," faid Onslow^ at the Surry County meeting, ** as Lord Lieutenant and Cuftos Rotulorum of the •* county, but I come here as a plain country gentleman." The faft is, that he came there as what he was, and as no other, and. confequently he came as one of the beings I have been defcribing. If it be the charader of a gentleman to be fed by the public, as a pauper is by the pariih. Onflow has a fair claim to the title; ftnd the fame defcription will fuit the Duke of Richmond, who- led the Addrefs at the SufTex meeting. — He alfo may fet up for a. gentleman. As to the meeting in the next adjoining county, (Kent) it was a jfcene of difgrace. About two l^undred perfons met, when a finall part of them drew privately away from the reft, and voted an Addreis : the confequence of which was, that they got together by the ears,, and produced a riot in the very aft of producing an Addrefs to prevent Riots. That the Proclamation and the AddreiTes have foiled of their intended effeft,^ may be coUefted from the fiitnce which the Government party itfelf obferves. The number of AddrefTes has been weekly retailed in the Gazette ; but the number of AddreiTers has been concealed. Several of the AddrefTes have been voted by not more than ten or twe|ve perfons; and a coniiderable number of them by not more than thirty. The whole number of AddrefTes prefetited at the t..ne of writing this letter is three kun'rei and twenty, (rotten Boi-oughs and Corporations included) and even admitting, on an average, one hundred AddrefTers to each Addrefs, the whole number of AddrefTers would be but thirty-two thoufand, and nearly three months have been taken up in procuring this number. That the fuccefs of the Proclamation Jus been kfs than the fucceis of tlie Work it was intended to dii'courage^ &1 (■i^ujlt - <-«•■ I.; LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, dilcourage, is'a' matter within my own knowledge^ for a greater number of the cheap edition of the Fii ft and Second Part of RIGHTS T)? MAN iias been ifold in the fpace only of on^ month, than the whole number of ^ddreflers (admitting them to be thirty-two thoufand) have amoun^d to in three months. , It is a dangerous attempt iii any Government to fay to a Nation^ " thou Jhalt not read.** This is novv done in Spain, an4 was formerly done under the old Government of France ; but it ferve^ to procure the downfal of the latter, and is fubverting that of the former; and it will have the fame tendency in aU countries f becaufe thought, by fome means or other, is got abroad in the world, apd cani;ot be reftrained, though reading may. If lights of Man were a book that deferved the vile de- fcription which the promoters' of the Ad^refs have given of it, why did not thefe men prove their charge, and fatisfy the people,, by producing it, and reading it publicly ? This moft certaiiily ought to have been dene, and' would alfo have been done, haa they4)elievedit'would have anfwered their purpofe. But the faft is, that the book contains trilths, which tliofe time- fervers dreaded to hear, and dreaded that the people fhould know; aYid It is now following up the Addreftes in eviery part of the nation, and con- vitSling them of falihoods. Amohg the unwarrantable proceedings to which the Proclama>^ tion has given rife, the meetings of the Juftices in feveral of the towns and counties ought to be noticed. Thdfe men have afTumed to re-aft the farce of General Warrants, and to fupprefs, by their own authority, whatever publications tliey pleafe. This is an at- tempt at power, equalled only by the condiift of the minor defpots of the moft defpotic governments in Europe, and yet thofe Juf- tices afteft to call England^ Free Country. But even this, per- haps; like the fcheme for garrifoning the country j^ by buildingj military barracks, is necefTary to awaken the country to a fenfe of itsjlights, and, as fuch, it will have a good effeft. Another paift of the conduf): of fuch Juftices has beeni that of threatening to take away the. licences from tavferns and public - houfes> where the inhabitants of the neighbourhood aftbciated to read and difcufs the principles of Government, and to inform each other thereon. This, again, is fmiilar to what is doing in Spain andRuffia; and the refledlion which it cannot fail to Kig- geft is, that the principles and condudl of any Goyerhment muft Be bad, when that Government dreads and ftartles at difctifilon) and feeks fc'curity by a prevention of knowledge. If the Government, or the Conftitutibn, or by whatever name it be called, be that uiiracle of perfeftion which the Proclamation and the Audreffes have trumpeted it forth to be, it ought to have deiied difcuiEon andinveftigation, inftead of dreading it. Whereas,. every the ON THfi LATE PROCLAMATION. V; every attempt it makes, either by Proclamation, Profecution, or Addrefs; to fupprefs invelligation, is a tonfelTion that it feels itfetf unable to bear it. It is error only, and hot truth, that fhrink's from enquiry. AU'the numerous pamphlets, and all the itewC- paper fallhood and abufe, that have been publifhed againft the ** RIGHTS OP MAN," have fallen before it Uke pointlefs ar- rows ; and, in like manner, would any work have fallen before the Conftitution, had the Conltitution, as it is called, been founded on as good political principles as thofe on which the RIGHTS OP M A N is written. It is a good Conilitution for courtiers, placemen, penfioners, bordugh-holders, and the leaders of Parties, and thefe are thd men that have been the active leaders of AddrefTes ; but it is a bad Conftitution for at leaft ninety-nine parts of the nation out of an hundred, and this truth is every day making its way. It is bad, firft, becaufe it entails upon the nation the unnecei^ fary expence of fupporting three forms and fyilems of Govern- ment' at once, namely, the monarchical, the ariilocratical, and the democratical.' Secondly, becaufe it is in.^poflible to unite fuch a difcordant compofition by any other n eans than perpetual corruption ; and therefore the corruption lo loudly and fo "Univerfally com- plained of, is no other than the natural confetjuence of fuch an unnatural compound of Governments ; and in this coiinfts chat excellence which the numerous herd of placemen and peniionera fo loudly extd, and which, at the fame time, occafions that enor- mous load of taxes under which the reft of the nation groans. Among the mafs of national delufions calculated to amuie and impofe lipon the multitude, the ftanding one has been, that of flattering them into taxes, by calling the Government, (or as they pleafe to exprefs it, the Engliih Gonllitution/ " t/!>e envy •' and the admiratkn of. the ivorld.^* Scarcely an Addrefs has been voted in which fome of the fpeakers have not uttered this hackneyed nonfenfical falfhood. • Two Revolutions have taken place, thofe of America and France ; and both of them have rejefted the unnatural cdm- pounded fyftem of the Engliih Government. America has de- clared againft all hereditary Government, and eftablifhed the re* prefentadve fyftem of Government only.- France has entirely rejefted the aiiftotratical pait, and is now difcoverine theab- furdity of the monarchical, and is approaching faft to" Uie repre- fentative fyftem. On wha? ground, then, do thofe men contmue a declaratior., refpedling what they call the envy and admiration of other nations t which the voluntary practice of fuch nations, as have had the opportunity of ellabliftiing Government, contradicts' and falfities. Will fuch nica never confine themfelves to truth ? Will tliey be for ever the deceivers of ^ people ?• ' - »■ Buc .115 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS. But I will |6 farther, and (hew, diat, were Government now to begin in England, the people could not be brought to eila- blifh the fame fyltem they n»w lubmit to. In fpeaking upon thb fabjedt (or on any other)' oa tbi pure ground of primiplet antiquity and precedent ceafe to be authority, and hoary-headed error lofes its efFefL The reafonablenefs and propriety of things muil be examined abflrafledly from cuftom and ufage ; and in this point of view, the right which grows into pradice to-day is as much, a right, and as old in principle and theory, as if it had the cuilomary fandion of a thoufand ages. Principles have no connection with time> nor characters with names. To fay that the Government of this country is compofed of King, Lords, and Commons, is the mere phrafeology of cuftom. It is compofed of men ; and whoever the men be to whom the Government of any country is entrufted, they ought to be the- beft and wifeft that can be found, and if they are not fo, they are not fit for the ftation. A man derives no more excellence from- the change of a name, or calling him King, or calling him Lord,. thanllhould do by changing my name from Thomas to George, or from Paine to Guelph. I fhould not be a whit the more able- to write a book, becaufe my name were altered ; neither would any man, now called a King or a Lord, have a whit the more fenie than he now has, were he to call himfelf Thomas Paine. As to the word ** Commons," applied as it is in England,, it is a term of degradation and reproach, and ought to be abo^ liihed. It is a term unknown in free countries. But to the point. — Let us fuppofe that Government was now to begin in England, and that the plan of Government, offered to the nation for its approbation or rejedlion confifted of the follow- ing parts : Firft — That fome one individual ftiould be taken from all the reft of the nation, and to whom all the rell ftiould fwear obedience,, and never be permitted to fit down in his prefence, and that they ftiould give to him one million fterling a year. — -That the nations ftiould never after have power or authority to make laws but with, his exprefs confent, and 4har his fons and hi:i fons' fons, whether wife or foolifti, good men or bad, fit or unfit, fhould have the fame power, and alfo the fame money annually paid to them fos ever. / Secondly — That ^here ftiould be two houfes of Legiflators , by a delegation deAed for that exprefs purpofe, dedare . anid fay ** We the people of this laady do confiitute ** ^ndapppiut this, to he jiurjj/fiem uniform fifGot/ermaent," TJ»e •Qovjej^niaent has aiTumed. to couftitute itklf, but it (never was conftltutedby the. people, ia whom, alone.th^ right i)f£onfiitating refides. .I.w.ill here recite. the :preainble to the.Fjedexal Conftitutzon of . r^e; ijnked iSta&ss .of America^ I have ihewn in the Second ,PartofiiU^i/i.o/*jyA«* the manner by wJudi.the Cunftitution was formed- amlji afterwards ratified; and to whkh I refer the reader. The pcesuoble is iia die following words : %. • " " WE, % I ■ it LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS. « WE, THE PEOPLE of the Unired States, in order t# " form a more perfect union, eftabli(h juftice, infare ** domeftic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, ** promote the genersd wel^re, fecure the bleifing» of " liberty to ourlelves and our pollerity, do ordain " AND ESTABLISH thls CONSTITUTION for the United •' States of i'imerica.** Then follotv the feveral articles which aj^int the manner in which the feveral component parts of the Government, legiflative and executive, (hall be elected, and the period of their duration, and the powers they ihall have : olfo, the manner by which future additions, alterations, or amendments, Ihall be made to the Con- < ftitution. Coniequently, every improvement that can be made ia the fcience of Government, follows in that country as a matter of order. It is only in Governments founded on aii'umption and falfe principles, that reafoning up(m, and invelligating fyllems and principles of Government, and Ihewing their leveral excellencies and defers, are termed libellous and feditious. Theiie term» were made part of the charge brought agunit Locke, Hamp- den, and Sydney, and will continue to l^ brought againft all good men, fo long as bad government ihall continue. The Government of this country has been ollentatioufly giving challenges for more than an hundred years paA, upon what it called its own excellence and perfedion. Scarcely a King's Speech .' or a Parliamentary Speech has been uttered, in which this glove has not been thrown, till the world has been infulted with their chal- , lenges. But it now appears that all this was vapour and vain- boafting, or that it was intended to conceal abuies and deletes* and hufh the people into taxes. 1 have taken the challenge' op, aiid in behalf of the public have (hewn, in a fair, open,~ and candid . manner, both the radical and pradical defers of the iyftem ; when, lo ! thofe champions of the Civil Lift have fled away, and fent the Attorney-General to deny the challenge, by turning the . acceptance of it into an attack, and defending their Places and .1 Penfions by a proUecution. > : I will here drop this part of the fub}e£t, and ilate a few par- ■ ticulars refpe£ting the profecution now pending, by which the ^- .Addreflers iwill fee that they have been ufed as tools ta the pro- "fecuting party and their dependents. The cafe is as follows : •'. -. The original edition of the Firft and Second Part of rights ox MAN, having been expeniively printed (in the ntodern fiile of printing pamphlets, that they might be bound up with .. Mr. Burke's Refle£tions on' the French Revolution,) the high price precluded the generality of people from purchafing ;. and . many applications were made to me firom various parts of the country to print the work in a cheaper manner. The people of Sheffield requefted leave to print two thot^andcopicis for thom- - felve*' fn £- &■ ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. 19 fdvci, with which requeft I immediately complied. The fame re- ?[ueft came to me from Rotherham, from Leicefter, from Cheficr* rom feveral towns in Scotland ; and Mr. James Mackintoih* Au- thor of VinMcia GalUca, brought me a requell from Warwick' (hire* for leave to print ten thoufand copies in that coonty. I had ah-eady fent a cheap edition to Scotland ; and finding the ap- plications increafe, I concluded that the beft method of complying therewith, would be to print a vjpi y numerous edition in London* under my own direAion« by which means the work would be more perfe£l» and the price be reduced lower than it could be hy printing fmall editions in the country of only a few thoufands each. The cheap edition of the Firil Part was begun about the middle of lafl April, and from that moment, and not before, I expeded a profecution, and the event has proved that I was not miftaken. I had then occafion to write to Mr. Thomas Walker* of Manchefter, and after informing him of my intention of giving up the work for the purpofe of general information, I informed him of what I apprehended would be theconfequence ; that while the work was at a price that precluded an extenfive circulation, the Government-party, not able to controvert the plans, argu- ments, and principles it contained, had choien to remain iUent ; but that I expected they would make an attempt to deprive the mafsof the nation, and efpecially the poor, of the rignt of tead- ing, by the pretence of profccuting either the Author or the Publiiher, or both. They chofe to b«gin with the Publiiher. Nearly ailionth, however, pafTed, before I had any informa- tion given me of their intentions. 1 was then at Bromley, in Kent, upon which I came immediately to town, (May 14) and went to Mr. Jordan, the publiiher of the original edition. He had that evenmg been ferved with a fumnsons, to appear at the Court of King's Bench on the Monday foUowing, but for what purpofe ivas not dated. Suppofing it to be on account of the work, I appointed a meeting with hiin on the next momin^> which was accordingly had> when I provided' an attorney, and took the expence of me defencb on myfelf. But finding afterwards th^t - he abfented himfelf from the attorney employed, and employed another, and that he hjid l^en clofeted with the Solicitors of the Treafury, I left him to follow his own choice, and he choTe to ' plead Guilty; This he mi^ht do if he pleafed ; and I make no obJedUdn againft him for it. I believe that his idea by the ' word Xiuihj; was no other than declaring Jumfelf to be the pub- liftl^r, without any'reg^d to the merits or demerits of the work; ft)r'Were it to be iionlltUed otherwife* it would amount to the ab- furdity of converting a pubJiiher into a Jury, and his confefiion, ; into a'verdifk upon the work itfelf. This would b: the higheil poliible'refinen^ent upon packing of Juries. . ■Qa i I A' I € a« LfeTrCR TO THE ADDRESSERS, On the arft of May, they commenced their profccution agaiiiil .me, as tke Author, by leaving a fummont at my lodgings in town, to appear at the Court of King's Bench on the 8th of June fol- lowing ; and on the feme day, {May 21) theyiffued al/o their iPioclamation, Thus the Court of St. James's, and the Court of King's Bench, n-ere playing into each other's hands at the fame inftant of time, and the farce of AddrelTes brought up the rear ; and this mode of proceeding is called by the proliituted name of Law. Such a thundering rapidity, after a miniucr^al dormancy of almoft eighteen months, can be attributed to no other caufe than their having gained information of the forwardnefs of the cheap Edition, and the dread they 'felt at the progreifive incrcafe >ef political knowledge. 1 was ftrongly athifed by feveral gentlemen, a» well thofe in the praflice of the I aw, as others, to prefer a bill of indid^ment againft the publiftierof the Proclamation, as a publication tending . to influence, or rather to didkte the verdi^ of a Jury on the ilTae . 6f a matter then pending; but it apj^eared to me much better to avail myfelf of tnc opportunity which fuch a precedent juiHfied me in ufing, by meeting the Proclamation and the Addrefles on their own ground, and publicjy defending the Work which had ' been thus unwarrantably attacked and traduced.—- And confcious .IS 1 now am, that the Work entitled rights op mak, fofar from bein^, as has been malicioufly or erroneoufly reprefented, a falfe, wicked, and ieditious Libel, is a work abounding wi^h unanfwcrable truths, with principles ofthepureft morality and be- nevolence, and with arguments not to be controverted — Confcious, I fay, of thefe things, and having no objedl in view but the h^tv .pinefs of mankind, 1 have now put the matter to the beft proof m my power, by giving to the public a cheap edition of the Firft and Second Parts of that Work. Let tvtTy man re&d and judge for himfelf, not only of the merits or demerits of the Work, but of the matters therein contained, which relate to his own interift and happinefs. ]f, to expofe the fraud and impofitiQn of monarchy, and every fpecies of hereditary government— to lelTen theoppremon of taxes «— to proppfc plans for the education of helj^eis infancy, and the comfort^le uipport of the aged and diltreued— -to .endeavour, to conciliate nations to each other— to extirpate the'horirid prance of war — to proftfote anivetfal peace, civibzation, and commerce— and to break the i^hains of political fqperftition, and^^ahi; (^. graded man to his proper^ rank ; — if thefe thipgs be libellmu. Jet me live the life of a Libeller, and let tb<^ i^*'. I A i 1 ■ A 'i&iiii^l^ifci :Mk:Wi 2c LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, , that the words ** falfety, nuickidly, and malicioujly ,'* though tho/ are made the formidable and high founding part of the cnargc, are not matters for confidcration with a Jury. For what purpofe, then, are they retained, unlcfs it be for that of impofition and wilful defamation ? I cannot conceive a greater violation of order, nor a more abominable infult upon morality and upon human underftanding, than to fee a man fitting in the judgWent feat, afFe^ing, by an antiquated foppery of drefs, to imprcfs the audience with awe j ' thcj^ caufing witnefTes and Jury to be fworn to truth and jufticq, " kimfelf ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. 23 liimrelf having officially (worn the fame ; then caafing to be read a proiecution agai'nft a man, charging him with having nuickcdly and malicioujly nvrtttett and puhlijhed a certain falfe^ rwickedt and /edit ioiu book i and having gone through all this with a (hew of folemnity, as if he fpw the eye of the Almighty darting throng 1 he roof of the building like a ray of light, turn, in an inftant« the whole into a farce, and, in order to obtain a Terdi^ that could not otherwife be obtained, tell the Jury that the charge ^ii falfely^ fwickedly, and feditioujlyt meant nothing; that truth was out of the queition ; and that whether the perfon accufed fpoke truth or falfliood, or intended virtuoujly or nvicirdly, was the fame thing ; and finally conclude the wretched itiquifuorial fcene, by dating fome antiquated precedent, equally as abominable as that which is then aAing, or giving fome opi- nion ot his own, and faljely calling the one and the other — iLaav, It was, mod probably, to fuch a Judge as this, that the moft folemn of all reproofs was given — *• The Lord huill /mite thee, ** thou 'whitened t»all." I now proceed to offer fome remarks on what is called a Special Jury. — As to what is called a Special Verdi£l, I fhall make no other remark upon it, than that it is in reality not a verdi£l. It is an attempt on the part of tlie Jury to delegate, or of the Bench to obtain, the exercife of that right which is committed to the Jury only. With refpei^ to Special Juries, I (hall ftate fach matters as I have been able to collet, for I do not find any uniform opinion concerning the mode of appointing them. In the tirlVplace, this mode of trial is but of modem invention, and the origin of it, as I am told, is as follows: Formerly, when difputes arofe between Merchants, and were brought before a Court, the cafe was, that the nature of their commerce, and the method of keeping Merchants accounts, not being fufficiently underftood by perfons out of their own line, it became neceffary to depart i^om the common mode of appoint- ing Juries, and to feleft fuch perfons for a Jury whofe praSical knowledge would enable them to decide upon the cafe. From this introduction. Special Juries became inore general ; but fome doubts having arifen as to their legality, an ad was paffed in the 3d of Geo. 11. to eftablifh them as legal, and alfo to extend them to all cafes, not only between individuals, but in cafes where the irovernmcttt it/elf jhould bt the Pro/ecutor. This moft probably gave rilie to tne fufpicion fo generally entertained of packing a Jury ; becaufe, by this a£t, when the Crown, as it is called, is the J Prbfecutor, the Mafler of the Crown^office, who holds his office under tte Crown, is the perfon who either wholly nominates, or has great jpower in nominating the Jury, and therefore it haj gfeatly thv appearance of the profecuting party (eleAing a Jury. The proceis is as follows: On %i II .^.v^ ''^^ ■*i* ^"^ ;''V<- ■ 24, LETTER TO THE ADHKESSERS, On motion being made in Court, by either the F'laintiiF *et Defendant, for a Special Jury, the Court grants it or nOt, at its cvvn difcretion. if it be granted, the Solicitor of the party that applied for the Special Jury gives notice to the Solicitor of the advcrfe party, and a day and • hour are appointed for them to meet at the office of the Mailer of the Crown-oBice. The Mafter of the Crd\vn- oiHce fends to the Sheriff or his Deputy, who attends with die Sheriff's book of Freeholders. From this book, fbrtyreight hamec are iaien, and a copy thereof given to each of the parties i and on a future day notice is again given, and the Solicitors meet a fecond time, and each ftrikes out twelve names. The lift being thus reduced from forty- eight to twenty-four, the firft twelve that appear in Court, and anfwer to their names, is the Special Jury for that caufe. The firft operation, that of taking the forty-eight names, is called nominating the Jury; and the re- ducing them to twenty-four is called ftrtking the Jury. Having thus ftated the general procefs, 1 come to particulars, ami the firft queftion will be, how are the forty-eight names, out ofjf names, to which the word Merchant • - • ■ ■ » or «.4 hi '» t ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION, ij *r Efquire is affixed. The former of thefe are certainly proper, when the cafe is between Merchants, and it has reference to the origin of the cuftom, and to nothing elfe. As to the word Efquire, every man is an Efquire who pleaies to call himfelf Efquire ; and the fenfible part of mankind are leaving it off. But the matter for enquiry is, whether there be any exifting law to diredl the mode by which the forty-eight names ftiall be taken, or whether the mode be merely that of cuftom which the office has created ; or whether the feledlien of the forty-eight names be wholly at the difcretion and choice of the Mailer of the Crown-office? One or other of the two latter appears to be the cafe, becaufe the aft al- ready mentioned, of the jd^of Geo. II. lays down no rule or mode, nor refers to any preceding law — bat fays only, that Special Juries Ihall hereafter be ftruck, ** in fucb manner as Special Juries havt ■*• been and are ufuallyfiruck" This aft appears to me to have been what is generally under- Hood by a " Jeep take in.** It was fitted to the fpur of the mo* ment in which it was palTed, 3d of Geo. II. when parties ran high, and it ferved to throw into the hands of Walpole, who wa« then Minifler, the management of Juries' in Crown profecutionj, hy making the nomination of the forty-eight perfons, from wliom the Jury was to be ftruck, folbw the precedent eftablUhed by cuftom between individuals, and by this means it fllpt into praftice with lefs fufpicion. Now, the manner of obtaining Special Juries through the medium of an officer of the Government, fuch for inftance as a Maftcr of the Crown-office, may be impartial in the cafe of Merchants, or other individuals, but it becomes highly improper and fufpicious in cafes where the Government itfeif is one of the parties. And it muft, upon tlie whole, appear a ftrangc inconfiftency, that a Government ihould keep one officer to com- mence profecutions, and another officer to nominate the forty-eight perfons from whom the Jury is to be ftruck, both of nubom are ejicers of the Civil Lift, and yet continue to call this by the pompous name of the glorious Right of trial hy Jury! In the cafe of the King againlt Jordan, for publifhing r i g h ts OF WAN, the Attorney-General moved for the appointment of a Special Jury, and the Matter of the Crown-office nominated the forty-eight perfons himfelf, and took them from fuch parts of the Sheriff's book as he pleaied. The trial did not come on, occa- fioned by Jordan withdrawing his plea ; but if it had, it mlglit have afforded an opportunity of difcuffing the fubjeft of Special Juries ; for though fuch difcuffion might have had no effeft in the Court of King's -Bench, it would, in the prefent difpoliiion for enquiry, have had a confiderable efteft upon the Country ; and in all national reforms, this is the proper point to begin at. Put a Country right, and it will foon put Government right. Among the improper things afted by the Govermnent in the Caie of Special Juries* on their own motion« oa« iaa« becu tliat pf treat- 3 Kijf .-*■ .■^v t6 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, ing the Jury with a dinner, and afterwards giving each Jury- man two guineas, if a verdicl be found for the profecutlon, and only one if otherwife ; and it has been lon^; obferved, that in London and Weftminfter there are perfons who appear to make a trade of ferving, by being fo frequently feen upon Special Juries. Thus much for Special J uries. As to what is called a Commoti yurjt upon any Government profecution againft the Author or Publifhcr of rights of man, during the time of the pre/enf Sheriffryy I have one queftion to offer, which is, n.vhetber the frejent Sheriffs of London, halving publicly prejudged the cafe, by the part they have taken in procuring an Addrcfs from the county of Middlcfex, {J.^onve'ver diminuti-ve and itfignijicant the number of AddreO'en nuere, being only one hundred and eighteen^ are eligible or proper perfons to be enirujicd nvith the power of returning a fury to try the ijjue of any fuch profecution? But the whole matter appears, at leall to me, to be worthy of a more extenfive confideration than what relates to any Jury, whether Special or Common ; for the cafe is, whctlier any part of a whole nation, locally felefted as a Jury of twelve men alv/ays is, be competent to judge and determine for the whole nalion, on any matter that relates to fyftems. and principles of Govern- ment, and whether it be not applying the initituLion of Juries to purpofes for which fuch inllituiion was not intended? For example 1 haveaflerted, in the Work rights of man, that as every man in the nation pays taxes, lo has every man a right to a Ihare in government, and conlequently that the people of Man- chefter, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Hallifax, &c. &c. have the fame right as thofe of London. Shall then twelve men picked out between Temple-bar and VVhitechapel, becaufe the book hap- pened to be firft publiihed there, decide upon the rights of the inha- bitants of thofe towns, or of any other town or village in the nation f Having thus fpoken of Juries, I come next to offer a few obfer- vations on tiie matter contained in the information or profecution. The work, rights of man, confifts of fart the Firll, and Part the Second. The Firft Part the proiecutor has thought it moft proper to let alone ; and from the Second Fart he has ft;- lefted a few (hort paragraphs, making in the whole not quite two pages of the fame printing as in the cheap edition. Thofe para- graphs relate chiefly to certain faiSls, fuch as the Revolution of 1688, and the coming of George the Firft, commonly called of the Houfe of Hanover, or the Houfe of Brunfwick, or fome fuch houfe. The arguments, plans, and principles, contained in the work, the profegutor has not ventured to attack, They are beyond liis reach. The Act which the profecutor appears to reft moft upon for the fupportof the profecution, is the k&. intituled, " An Aft, dc- ** daring die ri^jhts and liberties of the fubjed, and fettling th? '" lucceflion ^m^mmm ©iS?&i!Ss!«SS35S! ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION, ij ** fucceffion of the crown," pafled in the firft year of William and- Mary, and more commonly known by the name of the " iiill of •' Rights. I have called this Bill, " J Bill of 'wrongs and ofinfult. My reafons, and alfo my proofs, are as follows : T'he method and principle which this Bill takes for declaring rights and liberties, are in direct contradiction to rights and liber- ties, it is an aiTumed attempt to take them wholly away from pofterity — for the declaration in the faid Bill is as follows : •' The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do, in ** the name of all the people, moft humbly and faithfully fubmit " themfel'ves, their heirs, and pojlerity for ever\*^ that is, to William and Mary his wire, their heirs and fucceffors. This is a ftrange way of declaring rights and liberties. But the Par- liament who made this declaration in the name, and on the part, of the people, had no authority from them for lb doing— and with refpeil to pojlerity for e-ver, they had no right or autho- rity whatever in the cafe, it was affumption and ulurpation. I have reafoned very extenfively againllthe principle of this Bill in the firll part of Rights of Man ; the profecutor has filently admitted that reafoning, and he now commences a profecution on the authority of the Bill, after admitting the reafoning againll it. . It is alfo to be obferved, that the declaration in this Bill, abjed and irrational as it is, had no other intentional operation than agaihfl the family of the Stuarts, and their abettors. The idea did not then exift, that in the fpace of an hundred years, pofterity might difcover a different and much better fyftem of govern- ment, and that every fpecies of hereditary government might fall as Popes and Monks had fallen before. Tms, I fay, was not then thought of, and therefore the application of the Bill, in the pre- fent cafe, is a new, erroneous, and illegal application> and is the fame as creating a new Bill ex poftfaSlo. It has ever been the craft of Courtiers, for the purpofe of keeping up an expenfive and enormous Civil Lift, and a mum- mery of ufelefs and antiquated places and offices at the public ex- pence, to be continually hanging England upon fome in- dividual or other, called King, though the man might not have capacity to be a pari0i conftable. The foUy and abiurdity of this is appearing more and more every day, and ftill thofe men con- tinue to a£t as if no alteration in the public opinion had taken place. They hear each other's nonfenfe, and fuppofe the whole nation talks the fame Gibberifti. Let fuch men cry up the Houfe of Orange, or the Houfe of Brunfwick, if they pleafe. They would cry up any other houfe if it fuited their purpofe, and give as good reafons for it. But what is this houfe, or that houfe, or any houfe to a nation? •* For a nation to be free, it isfuff.ctent that/he ivills it." Her free- dom depends wholly upon herfelf, and not en any houfe, nor on B 2 any 3« LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, H 4 any individual, I alk not in what light this cargo of foreig« houfes appears to others, but I will fay in what light it appear* to me. — It was like the trees of the foreft faying unto the bramble, come thou and reign over us. Thus much for both their houfcs. I now come to fpeak of two other houfes, which are alfo put iftto the information, and thofe are, the Houfe of Lords, and the Houfe of Commons. Here, I fuppofe, the Attorney- General intends to prove me gailty of fpeaking either truth or fallhood j for, according to the modem interpjeta'Jon oi Libels it does not fignify which, and the only improvement neceffary to ihew the compleat abfurdity of fuch do6>rine, wou'd be, to profecute a man for uttering a moft falji tmd nuicked truth. I will quote the part I am going to give, from the Office Copy, with the Attorney General's inucndoes, enclofed in parentheies as they ftand in the infumiation, and I hope that civil lift offi-- cer will caution the Court not to laugh when he reads them, and alfo to take care not to laugh himfelf. The information ftates, that Thomas Paine being a fwickedt wo- lUious, /editions t and evil-difpofed perjbn, hath, nuiih force and arms, and tnoji ^wicked cunning, avriita/i and publijked a certain falje, Jcandalous, malicious, and /editions libel j in one part thereof, to tht ienor and ejfid /ollonving, that is to/ay— *' Wim relpeft to the two Houles, of which the Engliili Par- liament {meaning the Parliament 0/ this Kingdom) is compofed, they appear to be effei^ually influenced into one, and, as a Le- giflature, to have no temper of its own. The Minitter, (meaning the Minifter employed by the King o/this Realm, in the adminijira-' tion 0/ the Go-vernment thereof) whoever he, at any time may •'. be, touches IT, (meaning the tivo Hou/es of Parliament 0/ this «* Kingdom) as with an opium wand, and IT {meaning the tiv* «* Hou/es of Parliament of this Kingdom) fleeps obedience." — A» I am not malicious enough to dillurb their repofe, though it be time they (hould awake, I leave the two Houfes and the Attorney General, to the enjoyment of tlieir dreams, and proceed to a nevr ^ubjeA. The Gentlemen, to whom I (hall next addrefs myfelf, are thofe who have ftiled themfelves " Friends of the People,*^ holding their meeting at the Freemafons'.J'avern, London. One of the principal Members of this Society, is Mr. Grey, who, I believe, is alfo one of the moft independent Members in Parliament. 1 colleft this opinion from what Mr. Burke formerly mentioned to me, rather than from any knowledge of my own. The occation was as follows : I was in England at the time the b;il':]'» broke forth about Nootka Sound ; and the day after tht ICiiig's Meffage, as it is called, was fent to Parliament, I wrote a note to Mr. Burke, ^hat vpon the condition the French Revolution ihould not be a fubje£t (for 4$ *t ft tf^ to a wvr ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. 29 (for he was then writing the book I have fince anfwcrcd) I would call on him the next day, and mention fome matters 1 was ac- quainted with, refpefting that affair; for it appeared to me extraordinary, that any body of men, calling themfelves Repre- fentatives, fhoald ccmniit themfelves fo precipitately, or, ** ileep ** obedience;" as Parliament was then doing, and run a nation into expence, and, perhaps a war, without fo much as enquiring into the cafe, or the lubjedt, of both which I had fome knowledge. When 1 faw Mr. Burke, and mentioned the circumftances to him, he particularly fpoke of Mr. Grey, as the fitteft Member to bring fuch matters forwar.' ; ^ur,. faid Mr. Burke, " lam not tht proper perfon to do it, as I am in a treaty with Mr. Pitt aboui Mr. Haftings's trial." I hope the Attorney General will allow; that Mr. Burke was \h.&n Jleeping bis obedience. — But to return to the Society — I cannot bring myfelf to believe, that the* general motive of this Society is any thing more than that by which every former parliamentary oppofition has been governed, and by which the prefent is iuHiciently known. Failing in their purliiit of powdr and place within doors, they have now (and that not in a very mannerly manner) endeavoured to poflbfs themfelves of that ground out of doors, which, had it not been made by others, would not have been made by them. They appear to me to have watched, with more cujnning than candour, the progrefsof a cer- ' tain publication, and when they faw it had excited a fpirit of en- quiiy, and was rapidly fpreading, they ftepped forward to profit by the opportunity, and Mr. Fox then called it a Libel. In faying this, he libelled himfelf. Politicians of this caft, fuch, I mean, as thofe who trim between parties, and lye by for events, arc to be found in every country, and it never yet happened that they did not do more harm than good. They embarrafs bufinefs, fritter " it to nothing, perplex the people, and the event to themfelves generally is, that they go jull far enough to make en:;mies of tlife few,without goin^ far enough to make friends of the many. Whoever will read the declaration of this Society, of the 25 th April, and 5 th of May, will find a iludied refer ve upon all the points that are real abufes. They fpeak not once of the extrava- gance of Government, of the abominable lift of unnecelTary' and linecure places and penfions, of the enormity of the Civil Lift,o^f the exceis of taxes, nor of any one. matter that fubftantially affeiils the nation ; and from fome converfation that has pafled in that So- ciety, it does not appear to me that it is any part of their plan, to carry this clafs of reforms into pradice. No Oppofition Party ' ever did when it gained poffeHion. ^■ In making thefe free obfervations, I mean not to enlei" into contention with this Society, their inci\'ility towards me is what I Ihould expeft from place-hunting reformers. They are wel- come, however, to the ground they have advanced upon, and I B 3 wifli \ »;S •''«'-w«wrii(«saf!®wwi> * CtflL "f T'i D aVV 2te^'^V ^l-Q"^ ^''^'kd V\ 30 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, wifti that every individual among them may aft in the fame upit- I ight, uninfluenced, and public fpirited manner that I have done*. Whatever reforms may be obtained, and by whatever means, they will be for the benefit of others, and not of me. I have no other intereft in the caufe than the intereft of my heart. The part I have afted has been wholly that of a volunteer, unconnefted with party ; and when I quit, it fliall be as honourably as 1 began. I coniider the reform of Parliament, by an application to Par- liament, as propofed by the Society, to be a worn-out hackneyed iiibjeft, about which the nation is tired, and the parties are de- ceiving each other. It is not a fubjcft that is cognizable before Parliament, becaufe no Government has a right to alter itfelf». either in whole or in part. The right, and the cxercife of that jight, appertains to the nation only, and the proper means is by a national convention, elefted for the purpofe, by all the people. By this, the will of the nation, whether to reform or not, or what the reform fhall be, or how for it fliall extend, wUl be known, and it cannot be known by any other means. Partial addrdTes,., .«r feparate afTociations, are not teftimonies of the general will. It IS, however, certaia that the opinions of men, with refpeft to fyftems and principles of Government, are changing fail in all countries. The alteration in England, within the fpace of little more than a year, is far greater than could then have been be- lieved, and it is daily and hourly increafmg. It moves along the country with the filence of thought. The enormous expence of Government has provoked men to think, by making them feel; and the Proclamation has ferved to increafe jealoufy and difguft. To prevent, therefore, thofe commotions which too often and too fuddenly arife from fnffocateddifcontents, iti&beft that the general WILL ftiouldhave the full and free opportunity of beiiig publicly afcertfuned and known. Wretched as the ftate of reprefentation is in England, it is every day becoming worfe, becaufe the unrepuefented parts of the nation are increafmg in population and property, and the reprefented parts are decreafing. It is, therefore, no ill- grounded efnmation to fay, that as not one perfon in feven is i;eprefented, at lead fourteen millions of taxes, out of the feven- teen millions* are paid by the unreprefented part ; for although copyholds and leafeholds are affeffed to the land-tax, the holder*^ are unreprefented. Should then a general demur take place a*~ to the obligation of paying taxes, on the ground of not being leprefented, it is not the Reprefentatives of rotten Boroughs, nor Special Juries, iliat can decide the queftion. This is one of th« poflible cafes that ought to be foreieen, in order to prevent thai inconveniencies that might arife to numerous individuals, by pro- voking ii. ' I confpfs I have no idea of petitioning for rights. Whatever )he rights of people. are, they have a right to thesi, and DQne< have ^*^'M^^^:^^i ^^m-:wf' ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION, jt have a right cither to withhold them, or to grant them. Govern- ment ought to be eilabliihed on fudi principles of juftice as to exclude the occafion of all fuch applications, for whercever they appear they are virtually accufations. i wi(h that Mr. Grey, fmce he has embarked in the bufinefi, would take the whole of it into coniideration. Hs will then fee that the right of reforming the ftate of the Rc^prefentation does not refide in Parliament, and that the only motion he could confiflently make, would be, that Parliament ihould recommend the eleftion of a convention by all the people, becaufe all pay taxes. But whether Parliament recommended it or not, tlie right of the nation would neither be IcfTcned nor increafcd thereby. As to Petitions from the unreprefenied part, they ought not to be looked for. As well might it be expe^cd that Mancheflerj ShePicld, &c. fhould petition the rotten Boroughs, as that they ihould petition the Reprefentatives of thofe Borough^. Thofe two towns alone pay far more taxes than all the rotten Boroughs put together, and it is fcircely to be expedled they ihould pay their court either to the Boroughs, or the Borough -mongers. It ought alfo to be oblcrvid, that what is called Parliament, is compofed of two houfes that have always declared againfl the right of each other to interfere in any matter that related to the circumflances of either, particularly that of cledlion. A re- form, therefore, in the reprefentation cannot, on the ground they have individually taken, become the fubjeft of an adt of Parlia- ment, becaufe liich a mode would include the interference againft which, the Commons on their part have proteiled; but muil, as well on the ground of formality, as on that of right> proceed from a national convention. Let Mr. Grey, or any other man, iit d«wn and endeavour to put his thoughts together for the purpofe of drawing ap an appli- cation to Parliament for a reform cf Parliament, and he will loon convince himiielf of the folly of the attempt. He will find that he cannot get on j that he cannot make his thoughts join, kt as to produce any effed j for whatever formality of words he may ufe, they will unavoidably include two ideas directly opppl'ed to each other J the one in fctting forth the reafons, the other in praying for the relief, and the two, when placed together, would ftand thus : " The Reprefentaiion in Parliament is fa 'very corrupt , that *' ive can no longer confide in it^ — and, therefore, confiding in tht ** jufiice and ing, and which, in this day of enquiry after Civil Lift influence, ought to be expofed. The one is an annual payment of one thoufand feven hundred pounds to the DifTenting Minifters in England, and eight hundred pounds to thofe of Ireland. This is the fa£l; and the difthbution as I am informed, is as follows. The whole fum of j^. 1,700 is paid to one perfon, a DifTenting Minifter in London, who divides it among eight otkers, and thofe eight among fuch others as they pleafe. The Lay-body of the DifTenters, and many of their principal Minifters, have long confidered it as difhonourable, and have endeavoured to prevent it, but ftill it continues to be fecretly paid ; and as the world has fometimes feen very fulfome Addrefles from parts of that body, it may naturally be fuppofed that the receivers, like Bifhops and other Court- Clergy, are not idle in promoting them. How the money is diftributed in Ireland, I know not. ■ 1 I ! ' J I 34 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, To recount all the ffcrct hi.lory of the Civil Lill is not the intention of this publication. It is lu.iicieni, in this place, to cx- pole its general charaue;-, and t/ic malir.of ialiuence it keeps alive. Jt will neceii'arily become one of the objects of reform ; and there- fore enough is laid to ihew that, under its operation, no application to Parlian.ent can be cxpeited to fucceed, nor can confiltently be made. Such reforms will not be promoted by the Party that is in poffef- fion of thole places, nor by the Oppofition who are waiting for them ; and as to a mere rtjorm in the itate of the Keprefcntation, under the idea that another Parliament, difi'crently eleded to the prefent, but llill a component third part of the fame fyltem, and fubjeJt to the controul of the other two parts, will aboliih thole abules, is altogether delufion ; becaufc it is not only impradicable on the ground of formality, but is unwilely expofmg anotlier fet of men to the fame corruptions that have tainted the piefent. Were all the objeds that require a reform accompliihable by a mere reform in the ftate of the P^eprcfentation, the perfons who compofe the prefent Parliament migat, with rather more propriety, be afKcd to abolifh all the abufes thcmfelves, than be applied to as the mere inftrumcnts of doing it by a future Parliament. If the virtue be wanting to abolifh the abufe, it is alio wanting to adt as the means, and the nation muil, of necefTity, proceed by fome other plan. Having thus endeavoured to ftiew what the abjed condition of Parliament is, and the impropriety of going a fecond time over - the fame ground that has before mifcarried, 1 come to the remain- ing part of the fubjedt. There oueht to be, in the conftitution of every country, a modA of referring hack, on any extraordinary occasion, to the fovereign and original conflituent power, which is the nation itfelf. The right ofaltering any part of a Government cannot, as already ob- ferved, refide in the Government, or that Government might make itfelf what it pleafed. It ought alfo to be taken for granted, that though a nation ma/ feel inconveniencies, either in the excefs of taxation, or in the mode of expenditure, or in any thing elfe, it may not at firft be fuHiciently alTured in what part of its government the defedl lies, or where the evil originates. It may be fuppofed to be in one part, and on enquiry be found to be in another ; or partly in all.^ This obfcurity is naturally interwoven with what are called mixe ' Governments. Be, however, the reform to be accomplilhed whatever it may, it can only follow in confequence of firft obtaining a full knowledge of all the caufes that have rendered luch reform necelTary, and every thing Ihort of this is guefs-work or frivolous cunnine. In t}iis cife. It cannot be fuppofed that any application to Parliament can bring forward this knowledge. That body is itfelf the fup- pofed ON THE LATE PROC L A M A'TION. 3J pofed caufc, or one of the luppofeJ caufes, of the abufes in qucf- tion ; and cannot be expeded, and ought not to be a (iced, to give evidence againll itfelf. The enquiry, therefore, which is ot ne- cefiity the rirft ilep in the bunneli, cannot be cnuuucd to Parlia- ment, but muft be undertaken by a dilHnft body of men, fcpaiated fiom every fufpicion of corruption or influenc*. Inlbad, then, of referring to rotten Boroughs an I abfurd Cor- porations for AddreiVes, or nawking them about the country to be figned by a few dependant tenants, the real and effedual mode would be to come at once to ti:e point, and to afcertain. the fenfe of the nation by eleding a National Convention. By this method, as already obferved, the general WILL, whether to reform ornot, or what the reform Ihall be, or how far it (hall extend, will be known, and it cannot be known by any other means. Such a body, empowered and fupported by the nation, will have authority to demand information upon all matters neccliary to be enquired into; and no MinilLr, nor anv other perfon, will dare to refafe it. It will then be feen whether leventeen millions of taxes are necefliiry, and for what purpofes they are expended. The concealed Pen- iioners will then be obliged to unmafk ; and the lource of iniluonce and corruption, if any fuch there be, will be laid op^n to the nation, not for the purpofe of revenge, but of redreis. By taking this public and national ground, all objedior.s againll partial Addrefles on one fide, or private Afibciations or* the other, will bs done away. The nation will DEcniE its own reforms; and the clamour about Party and Faction, or Ins or Outs, will become ridiculous. The plan and organization of a Convention is cafy in pradlice. In the firft place, the number of inhabitants in every county can be fuificienily enough known, from the number of houfes affefled to the Houfe and Window-light tax in each county. This will give the rule for apportioning the number of Members to be elet^ed to the National Convention in each of the counties. If the total number of inhabitants in England be feven millions, and the total number of Members to be elefted to the Convention be one thoufand, the number of Members to be elefted in a county containing one htmdred and fifty thoufand inhabitants will be twenty-one, and in like proportion for any other county. As the.eledlion of a Convention mull, in order to afcertain the . general fenfe of the nation, go on grounds difterent from that of Parliamentary eledions, the mode that bell promifcs this end will have no difficulties to combat with from ablurd culloms and pre- tended rights. The right of every man will be the fame, whether he lives in a city, a tovvn, or a village. The cullom oi attachir^^ Rights to placet or in other words to inanimate matter, .inllead rif to the per/on, independently of place, is too abfurd to make any part of a rational argument. * • As M ^..— — -— I'.i -■». .-vwi.; J .30* LETTER TO. THE ADDRESSER^, As every man '.i ihe nation of the age of twenty-one years payj taxes, either out of the property he poifefl'es, or out of the produi^l of his labour, which is property to him ; and is amenable in hi§ own perfon to every law of the land ; fo has every one the fame • equal right to vote, and no cne part of a nation, nor any indi- vidual, has a right to difpute the right of another. The man who Ihould do this ought to forfeit the exercife of his own right, for a term of years. 'I'his would render the punilhment confiftent with the crime. When a qualification to vote is regulated by years, it is placed on the iirmeft pofTible ground, becaui'e the qualification is hich -as nothing but dying before the time can take away ; and the equality of Rights, as a principle, is recognized in the aft of regulating the exercife. But when Rightsare placed upon, or made dependant upon property, they are on the moft precarious of all tenures. ** Riches make themfelves wings, and Ay away," and the rights fly with them; and thus they become loil to the man when they would be of moft value. It is from a i.range mixture ot tyranny and cowardice, that exclufions have been fet up and continued. The boldnefs to do wrong at firft, changes afterwards into cowardly craft, and at lafl into fear. The Reprefentatives in England appear now to aft as if they were afraid to do right, even in part, leil it Ihould awaken the nation to a fenfe of all the wrongs it has endured. This cafe ferves to fhew that the fame conduft that bell conflitutes the fafety of an individual, namely, a ftrift adherence to principle, conftitutes alfo the fafety of a Government, and that without it fafeiy is but an empty name. When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example to the poor to plunder the rich of his property, for the rights of the one are as much property to him as wealth is property to the other, and the little all is as dear as the mucJif. It is only by fetting out on juft principles that men are trained to be juft to each other; and it wUl always be found, that when the rich proteft the rights of the poor, the poor will proteft the pro- perty of the rich. But the guarantee, to be efteftual, muft be parliamentarily reciprocal. Exclufions are not only unjuft, but they frequently operate as injurioufly to the party who monopolizes, as to th'ofe wiio ai'e excluded. When men feek to exclude others from participating in the exercife of any right, they ftioiild, at leaft, be affurcd that they can effeftually perform the whole of the bufincfs they under- take ; for unlefs they do this, themfelv^es will be lofers by the monopoly. This has been the cafe with refpeft to the monopo- lized right of Eleftion. The monopolizing party has not been able to keep the Parliamentary Reprefentation, to whom the power of taxation was cntrulled, in the ftate it ought to have been, and have thereby multiplied taxes upon themfelves equally with thofe who were excluded. 4 A great >'i«i^^-»Siii:i.«CJ„|'~t'ii(^^^ijfe> ■ ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. 37 A great deal has been, an:^ will continue to be faid, about dif- cjualitieaiions, arifmg I'rom the commiiiion of offerees j but were tiiis llibjevit urged to its full extent, it would ol^qualify a great num- ber of the prcfent Elcctprs, together with their Repreieuiativesj for, of all offences, none are more deftruftive-to the morals of So-- ciety than Eribeiy ar.d Corruption. It is, therefore, civility to fuch |;eribns to pafs tnis lubjcdl over, and to give them a fair oppor- tunity of recovering, or rather of creating chara6ler. Every thing, in the prefent mode of eledionecring in England, is the reverfe of what it ought to be, and the vulgarity that attends eledions is no other than the natural confequence of inverting the order of tlie fyllem. In the iirft place, the Candidate feeks the Elector, infttad of the Elecflor feekiug for a Reprefentative ; and the iiledtors are adver- tized as being in the intereft of the Candidate, inftead of the Candidate being in the intcreft of the Electors. The Candidate pays the Elector for his vote, inftead of the Nation paying the Reprefentative for his time ai;d attendance on public bulinefs. The complaint for an undue eleftion is brought by the Candidate, as if he, and not tiie Eleftors, were the party aggrieved ; and he takes on himfelf, at any period of the eledion, to break it up, by declining, as if the election was in his right, and not in theirs. The compact that was entered into at the laft Weflininikr eledlion, between two of the Candidates (Mr. Fox and Lord Hood) was an indecent violation of tlic principles of eleftion. The Can- . didates aiTumed, in their own perfons, the rights of the Elei^tors ; for it was only in the body of the Eledors, and not at all in the Candidates, that the right of making any fuch compact or com- promife could exift. But the principle of Eleftion and Repre- fentation is fo compleatly done away, in every ftage thereoi^ that inconfiflency has no longer the power of furprifmg. Neither from EleAions thus conduced, nor from rotten Borough AddreiTers, nor from County-meetings, promoted by Placemen and Penfioners, can the fenfe of the Nation be known. It is ftill corruption appealing to itfelf. But a Convention of a thoufand perfons fairly elefted would bring every matter to a decided iffue. As to County-meetings, it is only perfons of leifure, or thofe who live near to the place of meeting, that can attend, and the number on fuch occafions is but like a drop in the bucket com- pared with the whole. The only confiftent fervice which fuch meetings could render, would be that of apportioning the county into convenient diftridls; and when this is done, each diftri(H: might, according to its number of inhabitants, eleft its quota of County Members to the National Convention ; and the vote of each Eleftor might be taken in the parilh where he refided, either by ballot or by voice, as he fliould chofe to give it. A National Convention thus formed would bripg together the fenfe and opinions of every part of the nation, fairly taken. The fcience of Government, and the intereft of the Public, and C of ^ I ***3W>?'^*?' y 38 LETTER TO THE ADDRESSERS, ' of the feveral parts thereof, would then undergo an ample and rational difcuflion, freed from the language of parliamentary difguife. But in all deliberations of this kind, though men have a right to reafon with, and endeavour to convince each other, upon any matter that refpedb their common good, yet, in point of pradlice, the majority of opinions, when known, forms a rule for the whole, and to this rule every good citizen praftically conforms. Mr. Burke, as if he knew (for every concealed Penfioner has the opportunity of knowing) that the abufes afted under the pre- sent fyltem are too flagrant to be palliated, and that the majority , of opinions, whenever fuch abufes (hould be made public, would be for a general and effeftual reform, has endeavoured to preclude the event, by fturdily denying the right of a majority of a nation to aft as a whole. Let us bellow a thought upon this cafe. When any matter is propofed as a fubjeft for confukation, it necefTarily implies fonie mode of decifion. Common confent, arifing from abiblute neceflity, has placed this in a majority of opinions ; becaufe without it there can be no decifion, and confe- qucntly no order. It is, perhaps, the only cafe in which man- kind, however various in their ideas upon other matters, can con- fidently be unanimous ; becaufe it is a mode of decifion derived from the primary original right of every individual concerned ; > that right being firft individually exercife^ in giving an opinion, and whether that opinion (hall arrange with the minority or the majority is a fubfequent accidental thing that neither increafes nor diminilhes the individual original right itfelf. Prior to any debate, enquiry or inveftigation, it is not fuppofed to be known on which fide the majority of opinions will fall, and therefore whilll this mode of decifion fecnics to every one the right of giving an . opinion, it admits to every one an equal chance in the ultimate event. Among the matters that will prefent themfelves to the confi- deration of a National Convention, there is one, wholly of a do- meftic nature, but fo marveloully loaded with confufion, as to appear, at fir ft fight, almoft impoiTible to be reformed. I mean the condition of what is called Law. But, if we examine into the caufe from whence this confufion, now fo much the fubjeft of univerfal complaint, is produced, not only the remedy will immediately prefent itfelf, but with it, ihe means of preventing the like cafe hereafter. In the fiift place, the confufion has generated itfelf from the* abfurdity of every Parliament affuming to be eternal in power, and the laws partake in a fimilar manner of this affumption. They have no period of legal or natural expiration, and, however abfurd in principle, or inconfiftent in praftice, many of them have become, they Hill are, if not efpecially repealed, confidered as making a part of the general mafs. By this means the body of what is called Law, is fpread over a fpace of feveral hundred , yeartt \i m Trnv^^-^'^m.^^^^^^' .,.f,*^^.--*.- ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION. 39 ng an timate rom the* power, mption. lowever of them nfidered he body hundred yearu ytarsy comprehending laws obfolete, laws repugnant, laws ridi- culous, and every other kind of laws forgotten or remembered ; and what renders the cafe ftill worfe is, that the confufion multi- plies with the progrefs of time * . To bring this misfhapen monlbr into form, and to prevent itsf lapfing again into a wildernefs ftate, only two things, and thofe very limple, are neceflary. The firft is, to review the whole mafs of laws, and to bring forward fuch only as are worth retaining, and let all the reft drop ; and to give to the laws fo brought forward a new era commencing from the time of fuch reform. Secondly, that at the expiration of every twenty-one years, (or any other ftated period) a like review ihall again be taken, and the laws found proper to be retained, be agam carried for- , ward commencing with that date, and the ufelefs laws dropt and difcontinued. By this means there can be no obfolete laws, and fcarcely fuch a thing as laws ftanding in direft or equivocal con- tradiftion to each other, and every perfon will know the period of time to which he is to look back for all the laws in being. It is worth remarking, that whilft every other branch of fcience is brought within fome commodious fyftem, and the ftudy of it fimplified by eafy methods, the laws take the contrary courfe, and become every year more complicated, entangled, confufed, and obfcure. Among the paragraphs which the Attorney- General has taken from the Rights of Man, and put into his information, one is, that where I have faid, " that with refpeft to regular law, there is " fcarcely fuch a thing.'" As I do not know whether the Attorney-General means to (hew . this exprcflion to be libellous, becaufe it is TRUE, or becaufe it is FALSE, I Ihall make no other reply to him in this place than by remarking, that if almanack-makers had not been more judi- cious than law-makers, the ftudy of almanacks would by this time have become as abftrufe as the ftudy of law, and we fhould hear of a library of almanacks as we now do of ftatutes ; but by the fimple operation of letting the obfolete matter drop, and carrying for- ward that only which is proper to be retained, all that is neceflary to be known, is found within the fpace of a year, and laws alfo admit of being kept within fome given period. I Ihall here clofe this letter, fo far as it refpefts the Addreflers, the Proclamation, and the Profecution ; and ftiall offer a few ob- fervations to the Society ftiling itfelf, " THE FRIENDS OF " THE PEOPLE." That the fcience of government is beginning to be better un- derftood than in former tunes, and that the age of fiftion and po- * In the time of Henry the Fourth, a law was pafled making it felony «« te multiply gold or filvcr, or to make ufe of the craft or multiplication," and thit law remained two hundred and e'lghly-fix years upon the itatute books. It was then repealed as being ridiculous and injurious. hucal retl upon. The Society already mentioned, (which is made up of men of various defcription5,bat diiefly of thoie called Foxites,) appears to me, either to have taken wrong grounds from want of judgment, or to have acted with cumung referve. It is now amufing tiie people with a new phrafe, jiamely, that of '• a temperate and *' moderate reform," tiie interpretation of which is, a continuance vf the ahtifss as long as poffihle. If ive cannot hold all let us holdj'ome. Who are thole that are frightened at reforms t Are the public afraid tliat their taxes fhould be leilened too much ? Are they airaid that ni)ecure places and pcniions fliould be aboiiilicd too fail? Ar-i the ^ cvur afraid tliat Uieir condition fl;ould be rendered too cornforcabie r Is tioe worn-out mechanic, or the aged and decayed tradefnian, frightened at tlic profped of receiving ten pounds a year out of the furplus taxes ? Is the foldier frightened at the tiioughts of his difcharge, and three ftiillings per week during life? Is tire failor afraid that prefs-warrants will be aboliflied \ The So- ciety millalces die fears of borough-mongers, placemen, and pen- iioners, for the fears of the people ; and the temperate and moderate Reform it talks of, is calculated to iuit the condition of the former. T'hofe words, " temperate and moderate," are words either of political cowardice, or of cunning, or feduftion.—A thing, mo- derately good, is not fo good as it cught to be. Moderation in teniper is always a virtue ; but moderation in principle is a Ipecies 2.0 ogrefs of r it has r that it : popular and ra- pofiibly ;oliefting eady ob- Convcn- ; a centre if men of ppears to Lidgment, ainufing erate and mtinuance hold Jome. the public Are they 1 too foil? dered too i decayed pounds a led at the iringlife? The So- and pen- i moderate le former, i either of ling, mp- ;ration in 3 a fpecies lerate and nobody ; nmit this ^ had no tciety has propofed tained no J prefents e dangers tent. AINE. •,V'f* • ,* i;^ r' r »• i' I.' ' \- !. , . * ! ^-« I. y^ v.. ,>■ •> ♦ » • • ♦ ■ ■± ••\yl^ ■ 'J Lately publiJJje^^. j' . BY THE SAME AUTHOR'i ■ *• • ■ . In Oflavo, Price Three Shillings each, X RIGHTS OF MAN, Part I. being an Answer, ta Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution.' II. RIGHTS OF MAN, Part II. COMBINING . '^ r ; * PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE. ' _,. jfihsoi - ., ^;-^ ' • T^'^.. Cheap' Editions of the abo'ue Works^. i> R I C JE SIX-PENCE EACH;. qR,. ■:■■•,■ . Thirty shillings per hundre d« "^ 41 i ■ Iv- ■ f , , r,-. : f m^t JUXNTED for H, i), BYMONDS, in PATERNOSTER ROW# 1...,'*%' »■;;:. ',- . - ■ , ■ '• ,;:■ i)iM, MM}Mm^£sM> "««». ,.wfe,.«,« .-•■/ ss^ass^'^-ss^^^w^^ipr^fi^,^ > V SWER to- ILUTION.' 1*: D R E I?». ER ROW# :^, r ■■ ■'•■ ..- ' >.'' <*'■-'-''■ vjf