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T • < /«-\ jy ' I:. . 7 7 CANDID INVESTIGATION, &^ .Ai> MilMii THE iingutarevetits wliich have alreadf taken pkce within fome few days^ iind the mdre alarming cdnfequences v/hich are univerfally expedted^ will be a fufficient itpoldgy for the humble efforts of an indivi« dual, to recall the publiti attention to th«i rights^ndt merely ttf prerogative, but o^ every private fubJeA in a goverriment, where Political Liberty is the dired end of the CoH/ ftitutioni V?" 4^ /is; ■ 1*^ The Houfe of Lords, iti a caufe of greatet* importance, and of more fearful expedatidn^ than any whicti has before occurred iti the lliftory of this country, refolved, at one A % Cf*elQic|f ,. ^\ ■A 1 1 .1 I ,« I ..'1 # I I I ( 4 5 o'clock in the morning, to adjourn to ffic tiejit day, for the exprefs purpofe of hearing the whole Evidence to be adduced, before they decided on a meafur^ftubvertirig the rights, confifcating the property of a great Company, . and deeply aifedtlng the conftitution of Go- vernment under which we live. In the firft pjtl^e, it is laffumedy that /ueh k^efolutioit could not originate in proper or becoming mo- tives. To give the argument its utnioft forcc,^ I will admit to^bettufe- eve ry thi ng, w hich ru- mour alfirms ; for the grof* and indecent de- claration imputed to the Sovereign, is now kno\yn not to have the fmalkft foundation in t^uth. "jhe fi^<^s no^y a^.fiTiedfby rumour ^re thefe, that wjiile the ]^aft l4jdia BiH wa» ^pcndiflg^. in ^he Houfe of Lords, a noble Peer, with ^he knowledge andappvobation o£ a gr^t UcK^^yr; of the NobUijty^ Ji^pi-^henfivc ^attb? Inl^ijence of the Crovfn, in th,€ hands ?( ^^ip^f^ nr\igh| ^PlUy 'prevail to paf» % ^11 thx^ugj^ ^eir Hoyfo, opeflly demand- ed an audience of his Majefty, to, ^xprefa his apprchenfion of the confequcnecs, and J^umbly ^o tender his advice to the Sove- IV&^i i^tjto givethe RoyalAffent to tlie BilL %A3mevirifonher ^.dd4, that his Majcfty ai>. ifvo ts ^btiVk' VUj* Ki peared rt i/n. .Mki, 'l ( 5 ) p^arpci to have the fame impreffion of th* Bill, but expreffed a hope that he Ihould not be compelled to employ his Prerogative^ The lat? MinifterS nOw add, that the Peers who yucxe about the perfon of his Majefty, under* ftandipg the alaVm taken, voted againil a jpill, which they had before expreffed an in* tmitipj^ to fupport. . This ftate of the cafe will be admitted id :%t fair dndcandid $ and on this flate cf fa^s, I affirm, that the whole is corre^y confiftent with pur Conftitution* f.v. The ^bufe of power during Lord North's adminlftration, and the fatal effc&is which fol- lowed, have taifed a prejudice againft Royal Authority, and already transferred the nomi- nation of the MlalHers, employed in the Executive Governmcnt,.to theHoufe of Com- mons. Let us, however, beware, left thefe. prejudice* lead to an abolition of the Kingly power, as a conilituenr part of the Govern- ment^ which muft, as ha|>pcned in the laft century, finally deftroy our liberties, by an ciuire Cubverfioft of the Gonftitution. ? •►ft-. ■"•; i:'wiii ■0^1 fi.: ( * ) ' t will not now difcufs the fatal cori^ei qiience of the change already efTefted irf our Government. Suffice it to obfervc^ that the late Adininiftration Were really no- minated by a combination of Factions in the Houfe of Compions ; the firft effedt of which iliras, that all refponfibility of Miriifters was for ever done away — ^becaufe this Aflembly^" vvhofc peculiar office is to accufe and con- troul Mirtifters, taking upon themfelves the notninatian, no accufers remained to the guilty; and, as- if it were intended to pro-* claim a general indemnity in future, the Noble Lord, whofe adminiftration at leaft was queftionable, was again faifed by tf^is nomination to the Cabinet.-^^The next eifedJ" AVas, that the whole Executive Government^ by our laws vefted wifely in the Crown, was by one ftroke conveyed 19^ the Nbmiftees of the Houfe of Commons: For the Miriifter^ thus made, named all thofe emplo'yed in the inferior departments of the State* Nothing^ now remained, but to render this power, thus acquired, perpetual, by eftablilhing in their' own party an influence which might rendei*" all future attempts to refift them vain. For this purpofe, as fome contend, a Bill was in- troduced "^fti<|-.ir KilfjL t 1 ) icoduccd to inveft the Nominees of the Party with the Government and Patronage of In- dia.^-! fpeak not of the violation of privatp irights and pqblic faith, involved in this mca« furc, becaufc thefe confiderations, however important^ are loft in the more alarminc^ danger to the general liberties of the coun- try4 Impreffed with tliis danger, a refpefta- l>le body of the Nobility interpofe, and the Minifters not being able to employ thp whole Influence of the Crow*, and to revive the pra(flice of taking ^rnis by the King's authority againil his petfon^^ a^e defeated l^ %he Houfe of Loipds, :■': m '.('\ ; "n- What IS the firft meafure propofed by the Minifters ? To revive in the Houfe of Com- mons the Bill, with fome minute alterations^, after the example of the Long Parliament in 1641^ in the Bill refpedting the Biftiops^ for the exprefs purpofe of compelling the Houfe of Lords and King to pafs it : Or, in; Other words, after the illuftrious example of thdfe times, to inveft the Houfe of Com^ mon*!^ exclufively of the King and Lords, with the real effeOiive legiijative authority, The next meafure i?, to improve on the ex- A • '. - ample yi ^> . ■■.*-.^-. r /• i ■ ^V ' . . . ample of tlie Long Parliament in ti54i, oy fecuiii^ the Independence of the Houfc of Xords, under the Patronage and Prote^ion of the Houfc of Commons. Inr the prbfc;* cution of thcfe laudable defigns, new dqo trihcs are advanced, the errors of which I mean to deted:, . >r ^ ,t •:r* ^Jj'^-J ^:cf The firii cfror m the new doctnne is cor^ founding the Prerogative, which enal>fcfi the King to r^jedt a Bill, as an indq>en3ea| "branch of t6e Legiflatiire, with thofc pterp;^ gatives wtiich b^fong to him as the fupyemc Executive Magiftratc of tfre country. In the latter charader, though he pe/fpnally can do ho wropg, i. e. is .perfonaUy not aft countable; becaufe, to fubjedt the King tq atiy tribunaf, would deftfoy, an eflential coi|'^ rtituent part of our Oovernntent, and.ren^W onfe or both Houfes of Parliament arbitra^ry.j^ yet', as Executive Magijtratiy he n^u^ ,^^^ f tlirdugh the int^rvehtion of otherp. who ace refponfible; bepaufe m this character, .the. Crown is fubjeAed* to tiit tc^ws^now exijiingl and thofe wh"o adt in the .nan^V cf the Crown^ if they vtoUte tie Lazv, my^L (ubimt theif^ tQ^^\:L^ioiYit Judgment df tie%m^ III '^ ~j«t^:>ii. li ( 9 ) '' In aflcnting to, or diffcnting from a Law proporcd, the King ads in a diflcrcnt cha- jradicr, as an Independent Branch of the Le- giflature, and ever mull be, like the other two Branches, imcontrouled and uncontrovil'^ ^ble in the exercife of his peculiar ihare of the Lcgillature. The character of Legiflator is deilroyed the moment Dependence is aff fumed. Why is the Lcgiflaturc of this coun- try veftcd in King, Lords, and Commons ? JBccaufe it is not probable that all three, hav- ing diJlinSl and J'cparate interefls, wiil concur in a Law dangerous to the government, or to the rigbn of the SubjcH* But the operation of thefe difi'm^ an4 fsparate inreiefts is de» llroyfed, the moment one of thefe ponders is fubjeded to the contfoul of the two, or two to the controul of the ttiird. The Prefident Montefquieu, in his beautiful delineation of lOur Government, fpeaking of the prefcnt fubjeft, affirms, that ^* Were the Executive ** Power not to have a right of putting a flop '* to the incroachnT*nts of the Legiflative *' Body, the latter would become delpotic ; ^* for as it might arrogate to itfelf what ^* power it pleafcd, it would foon deftroy all *' the otiher powers." It might go fome- B what fli ■i^:. *^ .■^, vm ( ,0 ) tvhat farther than in the late India Bill ; and inftead of invefting their own Nominees with the Executive Power over a part of the do- minions of Great Britain, it might confer on them the whole. Poffibly this Bill was only a fample of the good care they intended to take of the other parts of the Empire. The blow once ilruck, had certainly been decifivc, and all future refinance vam. Perhaps it may be conceded to me, that the King, in the exercife of his Legiflative charader, ought to be, and is Independent. • Probably it may likewife be admitted, that he ought to confult others, at leaft that he is not bound to a^l without advice. But the right to give this advice has been oppofed ii^ two forms. It has been faid, the King muft take the advice of Parliament. What is this,, but in different terms to deny the right of the Crown to negative any Law propofed ? For the Bill muft have palled the two Houfes be- fore it can be prefcnted for the Royal Affent. The Prerogative never can be exercifcd until the King has the advice of Parliament, to pafs the Bill by the very aft of prefenting it ; and the aifent given from the Throne would he be an ufelefs pageant, ar, idle riiockery oi Sovereign, if he had not a right to diflc^ In truth, as the preferVation of our Confti- lutioh may require the exercife of this power, fo the example of its exertion^ in feveral in- ftances> is to be found in the reign of one of the beft Kings that ever fat on the Englifli Throne, the glorious and immortal Reftorer of our Laws and Liberties. If the occafibn has of late years not occurred, for the exer- cife of this acknowledged right in the Crown^ this has not arifen fo much from the concur- ring wifdom of the diftindt Branches of the IvCgillaturej as ftom the domineering influ* cnce of one over the Other two. This Influ- ence is by late laws greatly abridged ; and during the laft Adminiftrationj the diredtioh of what remains j was adually tranisferred to a popular Leader in the Houfe of Commons, independently of the choice of the Sovereign* The dxcefles on this fide muft be watched with equal vigilance, if we wilh to prcferve our Liberties and our Laws* t' i III Glamour is now raifed ngalnfl Secret In^ Jiuence, and we are told the King muft advifc with his oftenfible Miniftcrs i%.one* This I deny. In his charader as Executive Ma- B 2 gillrate. fr ^IM i i I I ) giflrate, the King muft adt by his oficiat Sef-' vants, be^aufe each in his feveral jdepartment' , is punllhable, if thcfe ad:s do not conform to? the exifthig Laws, or the Laws would ceafe . to be the rule of his Government. But in his character as Legiilator, giving his con- fent to make nezv Lazvs^ the King may take the advice of all his Subjedl* ; and no man is- refponfible for his a<5t, becaufe this Prero- . gative oi refufing his alilnt to new Lazvs; of putting his Negative w^towzny propofed change in the Government, is a defeniive power given^ topieferve the Balance of the Conltitution,. and muftexill without reflraint, or it cannot exill: at all, Suppofe, for a moment, the two Houfes of Parliament determined to? /^wTs a Law, which transferred the whole Ex- ecutive Government of the State from the Crown to perfons of their own nomination. If the new dodtrines fhall prevail, who will jadvife the King to rejedt the Bill ? One •Jloufe will impeach, the other will condemn .ne advifer. Wh.o, under fuch circumftances,. will venture to approach the Throne ? Or .mud the King be left wholly without advice, and liable to htfurprifed into a conient, where- frrer is irreparable r' Fo4" a Law once paflcd, ... caruiot .1; c n ) Cannot be annulled without the concutretice of King, L6rds, and Commons, Or Ihali , the King be left wholly ignorant of the fen- timents of his Subjects, and in a fituation therefore to be terrified into a compliance ? Is this an idle apprehenfion ? The thing has .been once already accomplilhed, partly by furprize and partly by threats, not in a An- gle law, but in feveral fucceffive laws, by that very Parliament of 1640, whofe Creed is become fo falhionable of late. Suppofe, for the fake of argument, that a Parliament fo difpofed, Ihould be led by thofe who had forced themfelves into the councils of the Sovereign, Thefe Minifters will not advife the King to defeat their own proje(9:s. They will rather endeavour to perfuade or alarm him into a compliance. Shall no other Sub- ject approach the Throne, or tender his ad- vice ? If he cannot, the aft is done, and the fnifchief irrevocable ! — Away with fuch Li- bels on our Conftitution ! Every Subjedt has an equal right with His Majefty's Minifters, each in his feveral (Nation, to oppofg the cnaftment of a Law which he difapproves. If a Member of either Houfe of Parli;unent, in debate and by his vote ; if pri lec h w J( :' i ; f 'I i ( 14 i jefti by petition or remonftrance to each ana every branch of the Legiflature ; and in the excrcife of this right, the private Subjedt is no more punifhable for the advice given, than a Member of either Houfe of Parlia- ment for the vote which he gives. In the manner of tendering this advice to the King, there has^ by immemorial cuilom, prevailed a diftindtion between a Peer and a Com- moner ; but this diflindion is merely in form, not in the effential right. A Peer ten- ders his advice in the more dignified manner of demanding an Audience ; the Commoner, in the form of Petition, or, if he be angry, of a Remonftrance* Whenever the private Subjeft Ihall be profeeuted for petitioning the King not to affent to a propofed Law, then will feme late threats be executed^ of* impeaching a Peer* The public Papers have traduced Lord North, by imputing to him an opinion, that the Petitions of the Subject were confined by law to requcfting a place, or fome per* fonal boon or favour. It is impoffible the noble Lord could have advanced fuch an abfurdity in the face of the Bill of Rights'^ and . 1 t IS ) Itod the conftant unqueftlonable pradlce from that hour to the prefcnt. The dodtrine wasindeed advanced by Mr.Juftice Allybone, on the trial of the Seven Bilhops, but repro- bated by the other Judges, though depen-? dant at that time on the Crown ; condemned by the verdidt of the jury, and execrated by the univerfal fuffrage of the nation. This; national triumph was recorded at the Re- volution in the Bill of Rights, and remains an important article in that folemn compaft and deliberate recognition of our National K^ghts^ It is in truth, a fundamental prin- ciple in every freejlatey that all the fuhjeEls have an interejl in the Laws and Conftitution pf their Country. 2Xk nd If the King, or thofe who advifed him^ were refponfible for his aft, as an indepen- dent co-ordinate part of the Legiflaturc^ their lituation would be perfedly lingular III this country. Are the Minifters refpon- iible for their own adts ? Certainly not. As Members of either Houfe, they are amenable phly to the Aflembly in which they fit, for the moft indecent violence in urging their (cntiments. Why ? Becaufe to queftion their conduft mm I, ( i6 ) concKid before aiiy other tribunal, would de* flroy the independence of that Aflenibly o^ which they form a part, Cannot they, as. IvSfijpbers of Parliament, llften to the reafon- jng • o^jjOthers ? Or, is it not rather their duty to * obtain every poffible information .> Is the King the only perfon in his dominions, to whom thi s liberty fhall be refufed — on a iubjedt— T-upon which, by the forms of the Conftitution, he is compelled finally to de^ cide? The Supreme Authority is vefted in. the Three Eftates jointly, and it is by pofitivs law criminal to affirm, that one or both' HoLifes of Parliament pofl'cfs any Legiflative. Authority without the concurrence of the King. But if this concurrence muft depend.-, on the advice of Minifters, and Minifters are refponfible to Parliament for this advice, the right of the Crown is gone j bccaufc the ■ cxercife of it muft depend on the plcafure of the two Houfes, and the King become^- a mere fubordinate inflrument in their hands,; not ar Independent Eftate in whom a Legifk-. • tive Authority rcfides with the confent of the ' Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Com*^ mons of Great Britain, in Parliament aircm-^ • b][edj, as every ftatute declares^ {n Ihort, to • •■ ',. -.J * affirn^ ( «7 ) *ft ritj that btic of the Three EMeS, iti whonl jointly the §tipreme ?bwet tefidei, is dirdftly- »r indircftly accouiitablfe to the other Eftates^ ts a contradi^ion in terhis ; and is^ in other tvords^ to affirm, that the Supreme Leg'flative JPower reiides in the twb Hoiifci of Parlia- incht, eitclufive df tht Grown; Pierhajis it mzf be ftidj all thiS reafdning isjuft^ but the fentimehts of his Majefty ought hot to be difclOfed while the Bill depends in (either Holjfe 6f I^afliiment^ becaufe this may ihfiuence thfc defcifiOnt To anfwcr fuch Uto- t)ian purity ih argUmertti may be difficult tO a mere thebrift; Surely, however^ the ob- jeftibn is fmgular from thofcj whd were not tontented with the authority their lituationj as Minifters^ affdrded ; who Openly endea^ Voured in both Houfes of Parlianfxcnt to avail themfelvcs of the influence df the Royal Name^by art authoritative contradid:ion of the i-fcport, that his Majefty was aterft tO the Billj and who now declare that they> the Minifters bf the Crown, poiTeiiing the difpofal of ai^ fubordinate ftations^ had canvaffed befirt debate f and Obtained promifes Of votes fuffi* cient to fecure a fafe pafiage to their Bill^ tven before the parties, thus to be de- prived of tb'^ir rights and property, had been G hear4 K Hi .i m^wmmimmmm m- ¥. i heard m thcnr defence. Is this conftitutional ? or does corruption put on incorruption when ^ adminiflered by their hands } The whole of this alarming violation of the Conftitution, -^ amounts thLrefore to this, that the Minifters . having, by falfe pretences, improperly ob- tained the >romifc of Peers before debate; and the fiiblequent debate having difcovered thefe pretences to be falfe, were deceived in the event. I however affirm, that the only criminal part P^ ^he tranfadtion, as here ftated, is the fuppofe promifcd required and ghen. Far be it, however, from me, to im'» putc any other motives to individuals, than that fmcere conviction which certainly ope- rated on the Houfe at large* He who fa- bricates fuch tales, is the libeller of the Pcccr age, not he who reafops upon theiri, ^,,;^^. ^ , «~ ■* * -,'-.1^ **^ . ■ ■ T. ' • . : : The Lords ought certainly to a6t as Le- giUators with perfeift independence ; and every adt of others which violates that indo pendencc, is alwa^^s indecent, often criminal. ,Y.ct in a Government where offices of nier^ emolument are held during plcafure, and where requifitions arc daily made by Mini^irs, on the gratitude of thofe who hold them, fome indulge n«; i^dijetothe Spv^rcign, who v' Hll IndC" iiere and UrSf ( 19 ) %vhile thus Mlniftcrs are bufy, might wiih him* feif not to be wholly forgotten. My judgment here didates a fentiment which in my brcai^ is perfectly iincere. The defire of the Sove- reign to avoid an invidious excrcife of Prero- gative, I think an honourable and laudable motive in the Peers, whom this motive plight influence. The Peers undoubtedly are a diflinft and independent Eflate ; their pe- culiar office, however, is to adt as an interme- diate power between the Crown and the po- pular part of our Government, and to mode-* rate the excelfcs of both. If we now hear fo much of the great Majority in the Houfe of Commons ; if the rejed:ion of the Bill by the Houfe of Peers has excited fo much vio- lence ; and if the attempt is now to be re- newed for the purpofc of compelling tha compliance both of the King and Peers, what might he expeded, had thv^ King alone r£jcd:ed the Bill ? A conflid: might have en- fued, which it well became the Houfe of Peers to intervene and prevent. Let us fuppofe, for a moment, that the Lords of the Royal Houfehold, voting with the King inftead of the Minifter, deferve all jhe epithets which the moft violent may ftl r C a thin i. ( " ) think fit to bcftqw j anqther quc(Uoit thqn pccurs — By whqm is the independence of the Peers tq be vindicated ?-r-Ii^ 1641^ botl^ Hopfes cqnpurfed in condemning the dired^ iptcfpqfjtion of ^\\e Prince, who prppofed ai^ amendment to a Bill depending \n Barlia- penr, Thi? mufl certainly be adniitted tq \ic a more diredt violation of the precdc^m of Parliament than the prefeqt ; and yet, if \ ^remernber right, the Hqufe tp whom the Melj&ge was fent, firfl vindicated their own independence by a Vote, and then deiired ^he CQncurrci^ce pf the qtheip Hpufe in ai^ Addrefs^ condemning a praftice, which might in its exapple ulti^iately affedt the freedqn^ of both. Evep in thqfe violent meafurcs of tjie l.ong J'arliament, which afterwards de- luged tlii? cpuntry with blood, the rules of public decorum were tqr a time qbferved. It was not then ^ifcqvered, ihat the voluntary.^ unfoughi interp€fit'ion qf qne Hqufe qf Parlia- ment, w^s the be|^ meaq?i pf prefcrving the independence of the qther-:7^r that independenctt could be Qonfiftent with patronage and ^ro- teR'wn* 1% it not palpable, that the Houfe of Commons are now doing the very thing they condemn in the Crown—encroaching ^pon the independence ©f the Peers ? ^^mm^mm 1 ( II ) The Prefident Montefquieu, who af- firms tliat Liberty appears in our conftitii- ^ion of government as in a mirror, proceed^ with a mafterly hand tq diflcft its feveral parts, and explain the principles froni which that Liberty is derived. Among the firfX he ftates this : *f When the Legiilative ♦* an4 Executive Powers are united in the f* fame perfpn, qr in the fame body of ** Magiftrates, there can be no Liberty ; be-. *^ caufe apprehenfiqns mjiy arife, left the ^<^ fame Monarch qr Senate ihquld ena6: f * tyrannical laws, to execute them in a ^* tyrannical manner," He then Ihews the manner in which the Legiilative Power ig diftributcd between the Reprefentatives of the People, a body of Hereditary Nobility, and the Crqwn : To the two former the tower of refilving ; to the latter the power f/ reje£littg, ** By the power of refilving \ f * mean," fays he, *' the right of ordaining f * by their own authority, or of amending f* what has been ordained by others. By 5* the power of rejeSltng, I would be under- V ftqod to mean the right of annulling a U (efolutiqa taken by another." Demon- i ill >*■ ('" ) i i if T)ctuonftraHngthrnfCfiTityofvcAingthU larrcr power, togcth'' with the nomination to all oificcs of Executive Government, it\ the hands of the Monarch, the great Au^ thor of the Spirit of Laws, as if he had fori I'cen our prefcnt fituation, adds, "But '* if there was no Monarch, and the Exe-* ** rutive Power was committed to a cer- *' tain number of pevfons f.ledted from the' ** Ic^nilative body, there would be an end *< of liberty ; by rcafon that the two powers. ** would be united, as the fame - perfons " would adlually fomctimes have, and " moreover be always able to have a fliare <' in both." If therefore the Executive' Power of Government be really veiled m the perfons fo fcledted, fclf-chofen, inde- pendently of the will of the Monarch, w& have no King, the Conftitution is fubverted,^ and our liberties arc gone. Do not the Lead- ers of the celebrated Coalition openly boaft, that they remain an unbroken body ?— That all have refigned as one man ? And that an Adminiftration formed in the face of their power, cannot continue three days? Is not the attempt of the King to nominate' to the icveral departments of Executive. Governmeat% Government, made the objcdt of their de* rifion in the Houfc of Commons, the feat of their power ? Do they not openly de* mand, that the King fhall not break that power, by diflblving the Parliament ? i, an humble individual, who have no pcrfonal advantage to hope from the prevalence of any Party, do not hefitate to exclaim, that ihall that formidable phalanx henceforward tranfgrefs the bounds of their legiflative character ; ihall they attempt indiredtly to feize the Executive Government,, by ren- dering it impoffible for others to hold it, the King is bound by the duty which he owes to the country, to diflblvc the Par- liament, and appeal to his People. 7 I N I S. I : til .v.-'l' ^1