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Multa dabo, quibus vitia non nocuerlnt; qusedam quibus profuerint : quae fi quis corrigit, delet : fie cnim vitia virtutibus immifta Tunt, ut illas fecum tra^ura fint. ' * * Sen EC. Ep. cxiv. ^■* LONDON: Printed for J. STOCKDALE, Piccadilly. M.DCC.LXXXIIL ^ •> T i'\ DIALOGUE ON THE Actual State of Parliament. ( > ) DIALOGUE, &c. i. WO gentlemen, one of whom I took to be a foreigner by his drefs and accent, though he underftood Englifh perfeaiy, the other, as I found out afterwards, a member of parliament, came into a cofFee-houfe not far from the Exchange 5 and, pla- cing themfelves in the next box to me, began by talking over the fights they had been vifiting ; and then fell into a con- verfation upon the Britifh government, whiph I thought fp curious, that, when B I came ( 2 ) I came home, I endeavoured to recoi- led it, and to throw the fubftance of it upon paper. A, What a wonderful privilege is a good government ! When I look upon this little ifland in the map, — the penitus toto divifos orbe Britannos^ — I can fcarcely think it is the fame country that has ex- tended its empire from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico; given law to the kingdoms upon the Ganges ; trampled under foot, in our own memory, the u- nited force of France and Spain ; and fpread the treafures of its commerce through every region of the globe. E- ven now, when civil dilTention and the perfidy of its powerful enemies have re- duced it almoft within its original limits by the events of war, — when it ftands fmgle and unfriended againft the entire ftrength of four ftates combined to its dc- ftrudion, without one objed to divert their united power j — how great do you appear even ( 3 ) even in your calamity I What fleets have you not equipped ! what armies have you not maintained ! what refour- ces of wealth and power have you not difplayed ! Above 100,000,000 flerling have been expended in your defence, whilft your commerce ftands interdicted by half Europe and by thofe American colonies who were underftood to be the principal vent for your manufactures. Yet have you no mines of gold, no extraordinary fertility of foil or advantages of climate: you have nothing but induftry, an infu- lar fituation, and a free government. I have heard and read a great deal of your boafted conflitution. The hif- tory of Europe is a fufficient evidence of the importance it has conferred upon you in the fcale with other nations. I have now the pleafure of contemplating the grandeur it has acquired in the mag- nificence of this proud capital, the firfl: commercial city that probably ever exifl:- ed in the world. B z B. ( 4 ) B. We have been indeed a great and happy country j but every thing is fub- je£l to viciflitudes. A train of errors has been for fome years Tapping the foundations of our greatnefs j and thofc exertions, v^^hich appear to you the proofs of our ftrcngth, are to us indica- tions of our approaching decay ; they aie rather the convulfive efforts of diflb- lution than the exercife of wholefome natural faculties. I fear fome ambafla- dor will fay to ours as well as to the Ve- netian treafury, when he lifts up the carpet and looks under the table, — non fV la radice. " here is no root to it." A. Come, come, — this is the effefl of climate j for want of prefent evils you Englifhmen are looking forwards to fu- ture jnifchiefs. Your happy conftitu* tion of government is the radice^ the root, of all your profperity; and, till that fails you by fome fatal revolution, you ( 5 ) you will ftill retain your afcendant in the fcale of Europe. A free country, brave, induftrious, and public-fpirited, has refources which are unknown to ar- bitrary governments. Yours has every advantage united : it has the juftice and equality of the raofV perfefl democracy, iince your people, through their repre- fentatives, have a ihare in the legifla- turej it has the gravity, confillency, and moderation, which accompany great pofleflions and hereditary honours in a patrician fenate; whilft, at the fame time, it has all the fplendour, thea6livi- ty, fecrecy, and decifion, of monarchy, the prerogative having vefled in the crown not only a negative in the legifla- ture, but the whole executive power and patronage of the kingdom. Thefe three principles, which have each of them, when fingle, eftablifhcd as the fole fpring of government, btcn found productive of fo many evils to compen- fate their advantages, are in your confli- B 3 «♦ tution ( 6 ) tution (o happily balanced and adjufted, that, fo long as they are kept feparate and indspendtnt, the good only of each principle is felt without its inconveni- ence. B* You fay, truly, that the ipeculiar eyrellence of our conftitution confifts in the participation of thefe three princi- ples J but, believe me, you are deceived in thinking, they are or ought to be dif- tind and feparate. On the contrary, their advantage arifes really from their being mixed and blended together in a manner that the fuperficial obfei-ver is little av^rare of, though it is felt by thofe whom praflice has made familiar with our government. Were thefe three princi- ples independent of each other, as the taeo- rift contends for, and fuch jarring ele- ments oppofite in their nature, and un- controuled in their exertions, a political chaos muft inftantly enfue. The veto of one branch, as of one individual in a PoUfh : ach ( 7 ) Polifh diet, would interrupt all decifion, being conftantly in an intereft oppofite to the other two. Parliament muft be diflblved within a week after it had been convened j as we have fcen to be the cafe as often as the crown and the two hou- fes, or the two houfes with each other, have aflert'^d their diftindl: rights and in- dependency. No : it is upon the harmo- ny, not the diffention, of thefe principles j upon the clofe and intimate connexion, not upon the oppofition, of them ; that depend the beauty and efficacy of the Bri- tifh conftitution. A, Are not, then, the three branches of your legiflature independent of each other? and yet, has not the neceflary harmony fubfifted for ages notwithftand* ing this independence ? B. According to plan and theoiy it (hould feem fo undoubtedly \ and it is no wonder you Ihould judge by appear- B 4 ances. ( 8 ) .inces, when fo few amongft ourfelves, and even amongfl our loaded politi- cian:^, Ixawt a fulpicion of the true na- lurc of our government. . . . - ^ ji. Explain to me in what I am mifta- ken. Your king, for example, has he not a rif ht, by his prerogative, to refufe his confent to every law that is prefented to him i the right of appointing all offi- cers, civil and military; of making peace and war -, of conferring honours ; of pardoning offences; in Ihort, the whole branch of the executive power ? , B, He has, indeed, thofe powers vef- ted in him by his prerogative ; but they are committed to him in trufl, and he is refponiible to parliament for the exercife of them through his miniflers and advi- fers. In moft infta ces, the fignature of fome minifter is neceflary to give va- lidity to an a6l of the crown, that the refponfibility may be the more appa- rent: ( 9 ) ' T . I ( ■ I » ' ' f ' .,' ' "^ . . . rent; by which means the feivants of the crown are interpofed, both as a pledge to the nation that the powers of the crown may not be abufed, and that, when they are fo, the odium of bad meafures may be attributed to them who arc liable to punifhment, and fife no higher than to the feet of the throne. It is the maxim of our law, " that the king can do no wrong,'* quia contra leges nil facer e potejli .. -. , , , ' The king has an undoubted right to re- fufe his aflent to any bill in the laft ftage: without fuch affent an acl of parliament can properly have no validity. But par- liament have as clear a right to infiit upon knowing, from the king, who it is that prefumes to interpofc his advice and o-r pinion againft the fenfe of the peers and commons in parliament aflembled. Thu^ has this important right fallen into dif-^ ufe 5 nor can it ever be revived, to any great efFecIf, without fetting the crown at variance with the reft of the Icgifla-^ Ml.. ture; ( lo > ture ', and a right, which * i prudence can never be exerted, amounts in faeir handj and this was a fufRcitnt guide 10 them in the conflitution of the lower houfe. The terms, reprrfcntative and auual reprefenta- iion^ were unkiiown to them : all ideas of apportionment were out of the quef- tion ; the inftitution anfwered every practical purpofc, and they looked no farther. Political commentators have, in after times, endeavoured to reconcile theftate of things they found to the fyf- tems of abftrad fpeculation they had conceived -, and, like learned commen- tators, force and torture the text into a meaning the author never dreamed of. A feat in parliament, which was for- merly fo burthenfome that the expence of it was to be defrayed by the confcitu- ents in the days of our political infig- niiicance, is now become of that value, in ( 33 ) in the efteem even of thofc who make no profit by it, that it is coveted at an ex- pence which has often funk our moll opulent families for feveral generations : reduce that feat again to its former value by degrading the importance of the bo- dy, and you will cut up bribery at elec- tions by the roots. New towns, of the firft confideration for trade and manu- fa6lure, have not yet had imparted to them the honourable privilege of fending delegates j ana, what is more, they de- precate that honour which would be at- # tended with ferious mifchiefs to their looms and manufafliires ; whilil the privilege dill remains attached, in cer- tain inftanccs, by prefciiptlon, to the foil, after the houfes have been, long fmce, in part or in the whole, removed to fome other fituation. What is the evil arifing from fo glaring a partiality ? that the new towns flourifh, and that the old ones fend members of all others the lead liable to the influf ace of the minifters. Syltem is loud in fupport D of ( 34 ) it of popular ele^lions. as the leaft liable to influence, and the moft confonant to every idea of juftice and equality ; ex- perience condemns fuch elections, as li- able always to the influence of the worft men, as theatres of diforder and corrup- tion. The total number of our elec- tors, of all denominations, is computed to be about 200,000 out of 8,000,000 of inhabitants, fl-ill a number infinitely greater than was intended when the right of electing was confined among the comparatively few freeholders of former times, to aiofe who pofleflied 40s. per annum, a fum which would now be e- qual to at leaft 20I. And yet the num- ber is fo great as to occafion fuch local inconveniences, where a conteft happens in a county or great city, as, in many itiftances, to make it preferable that an unworthy reprefentative (hould be conti- nued through his life rather than obtain his removal at the hazard of fo much pub- lic and private mifchief. All this, in the eye .( 35 ) eye of the fpeculative theorift, is abfur- dity itfelf i yt under thefe abfurdities thehoufe of commons has grown up to what we now fee it, and is praflically ^ found to an Aver every purpofe of its in- , tention. Nay, ftrange as it appears, it ,^was precifely through the influence _of vyriat is reprobated as the very worit .part of our reprefentation, that the ., country, after the revolution, was pre- feryed in iis liberties, againft the fenfe of whajt has been emphatically called the country party. So little do our eflabliflied fprms, and the practical experience of our hiilory, adapt themfelves to the ^,,abftra6l reafonings of philofophers, and , thoic fytlems upon which they affed to found andiuOify the civil and natural rights of raunkind. Such as it is, this ^ ^ftrang:ely-conflru6lca fenate alTumes to /itfelf, and exercifes, the moft important rights of our government. As repre- tenting the body of the people, they hold at their good pleafure the purfe of the D 2 public s 1.) ( 36 ) i .1| public } they not only grant the fup- plies, but fuperintend the application of all monies levied upon the fubjeft. As the grand inqueft of the nation, they not only ftand forth as the redreflers of public and private grievances, but watch over all encroachments of the crown, all abafes in the difpenfation of juftice and in the various branches of executive government. As advifers of the crown, they call before them, when they think proper, minifters of e- very denomination, and flate-papers of every defcription, for their cenfure or approbation. ' If the crown has the right of declaring war, it mufl be their vote that enables the king to maintain it : if he makes a peace, the minifter who figns it is ref- ponfibleto them for the expediency of the meafure. If the crown employs wicked mi- nifters to bad purpofes, the commons im- peach them for their crimes ; if weak and infufficieiit minifters, the withholding the fupplies ( 37 ) fupplies is an efFe6lual means of obtain- ing their removal in favour of fuchfuccef- fors as the public confidence fhall ap- prove. I think I need take no farther trouble to convince you that the whole efficiency of our government refides in the houfe of commons^ and that the o- ther branches of the legiflature are in a ftate of a6lual dependence upon it. A. The power of the houfe of com- n is indeed feems to he tranlcendent with you. But, to fecure to yourfelves the free exercife of that power, it is ne- ceflary for you to eradicate influence by a reformation in your own body. The defeds, as you have explained them, which have grown through lapfeof time, ftrike the eye of every obferver, and call aloud fo'- a more equal reprefentation. B, Thar, hideed, is the word of the day. But, if you have attended to what 1 have been faying, you will perceive, P 3 the iNi *; ( 38 ) the defe£ls in our conftitution, if they are fuch, are not fo much grown out of the lapfe of time, but are owing to the original frame of that aflembly, which never had an idea of an equal ac- tual reprefentation as its objedl. To in- fufe, therefore, into it a principle fo oppofite to its inftitution, the whole mafs muft be melted down and new mo- delled. Whether, -^'e fuch a renova- tion to be attempted, . ould be poflible to adopt the new principle, at leaft in a- ny fatisfaclory degree, (without vvhich, as an abflra<5l principle, you do nothing j) or whether, if it were poflible, it would produce advantages by any means equi- valent to the almoft infuperable diflUcul- ties that oppofe it ; would carry me into a wider field than you are aware of. I will only fay that the inconveniences of fuch an attempt would be immediate and palpable j the praBical advantages of it doubtful at leaft and problematic^. In which cafe arguments of theory cah weigh (. 39 ) weigh with me but little. A man will be hardly tempted to run the rifque of pulling a warm houfe about his ears only to render the front of it fpmewhai more regular. A. For mere fymmetry, I grant you, no man in his fenfes wruld endanger his f^fety, or even the comforts of prefent convenience. But, to remo'. 3 all influ- ence from the houfe of commons, by reftoring, or, if you pleafe, by confer- ring upon, the people at large the right of ele6ling their reprefentatives, fcems to me to be fomething more eflential than mere fymmetry. Whilfl it renders the fyftem infinitely more confonant to the principles of theory, it promifes to give the greateft improvement in pra6lice th^t a free government is capable of. B. Were equal a6lual rcprefentation never fo expedient, I am convinced it is impracticable upon any but the fmalleft D 4 fcale -, ,1 *!. ( 40 ) fcalc ; which is a fufficient anfwer to fo vifionary an idea. But, were it other- wife, is it quite fure that fuch ele6lions would be uninfluenced? Did the in- creafe of the citizens of Rome fecure them from all influence and confirm the freedom of the republic ? If the influ- ence of moderate ambition, in wife and good men, fhould be extinguifhed by fuch fcenes of tumult and outrage, is it certain that the unbounded ambition of bad citizens would not infufe an in- fluence into fuch meetings which might tend through anarchy to defpotifm ? The paffions of the uninformed r 'ti- tude may be pra6lifed upon to pu: pofes however violent and depraved; but what appeal can be made to their reafon be- yond their competence, beyond their feelings ? Can the peafant who holds the plough, or the mechanic who lays dov/n the tool, have a judgement to decide between the political merits of two candidates, their votes in former parliaments, or the principles that are likely ( 4» ) s likely to determine their condufl for the future ? But let a candidate appear be- fore them who alks their inftru6lions, whether taxes fliall be repealed upon all the neceflaries of life; whether they choofe to pay the intercft to public cre- ditors upon their malt, their beer, their foa' and candles, their miferable cotta- ges and window-lights, and the innume- rable articles which affe(5l the pooreft in- habitants amongft us i if they hear a propofition of lowering rents, abolifli- ing tithes, laying embargoes upon corn, plundering farmers granaries, deftroy- ing inclofures, or pulling down turn- pike-gates J fuch arguments they will underftand, fuch a candidate will be borne upon the fhoulders of the multi- tude, whilft his oppofers will be trodden under their feet. Till man ceafes to be a creature of interefl and paflion, influ- ence can never be excluded from an af- fembly compofed of men. The fuppoli- tion is as ridiculous as the attempt would ( 42 > would be pernicious. If, then, influ- ence of fome kind or other will always govern the ele^f^orb and the defied, it re- mains only J determine what kind of xn'!.ience is the fafetl for the good of the community, and what kind of influence aftually prevails in the houfe of commons. We were agreed, if I miflake not, when we began this fubjeft, that the peculiar excellence of the Englifh government arofe from the operation of the three principles ; the regal, the ariflocratic, and the popular, being fo blended in our confl:itution as to produce the good of each without the inconveniences of either. Now I have proved to you, that thefe three principles do not a6l feparately in the three bran- ches, as has been fuppofed $ but that, two of thofe branches being ultimately fubfervient to the third, the power and authority of all the three refide there al- fp. Now I will fuppofe, for a moment, that, by fome change in the mode of our eleflions, the king could affume to him- felf. r ( 43 ) felf, as in an inftance which will occur to your mind without my mentioning it, the means of naming all, or a very great majority, of the houfe of com- mons, who muft hold their feats imme- diately under the royal influence. What would be the confequence ? Would not the principle of our government, from that hour, become purely monarchical ?" Suppofe, then, inflead of the crown, that the fame afcendant could be obtain- ed over the ele6lions by peers only; would it not throw the whole power of the country as decidedly into the arif- tocracy ? But fuppofe the houfe could by any regulations be effeftually fecured from all influence of the cro^^n, and of the great men of the country j and that, by opening the eleflions to the people at large, by a6lual reprefentatiort, oy annual parliaments, &c. that af- fembly might be rendered totally, or by a great majority, plebeian j would not the confequence be as certainly the annihilation of every other principle ifi our I i ' ( 44 ) ■ ■ii ^9i • our government, and the eflablifliing, under whatever form, a perfedt demo- cracy amongft us ? Without exami- ning, therefore, the pradlicability or ex- pediency of either of thefe innovations, it is obvious, that whichever of them were to take place would effedually de- ftroy that balance of the three influences which conftitutes a mixed government. If, then, we are agreed, that neither of the extremes is fo defirable as the three principles properly blended together; and if I have demonftrated that thefe three principles cannot operate in dif- tin6V independent bodies, with oppofite interefls, but to the deflruclion of each other; there remains, I think, but one poflible manner in which they can con- tinue to exift together, and operate in harmony to one common benefit; which is, that the influence of each principle fhall find its way, as it has done, into the houfe of commons, where no con- fiidl can produce interruptions to the functions ( 45 ) funfllons of government, and where all the powers of government and legiflaturc ultimately refide. So far am I, there- fore, from thinking the influence of the two other branches incompatible with the nature of that aflembly, that I can- not conceive the principles of our mixed monarchy to exift one moment with the exclufion of them. A. Your argument would prove, that the powers, vefted originally in the king and in the hereditary nobility of the kingdom, are now centered in the houfe of commons only ; that, though that houfe of commons have departed, not only from every principle of theory, but, in fa6l, from every principle of their in- tention ; have affumed to themfelves a degree of authority never thonght of by their inftitutors -, that they confift of a clafs of perfons totally different from thofe anciently deputed ; in fliort, though every thing in your government is ( 46 ) , is the very reverfe of what it profefTes to , be ; yet that, under all thefe cjrcuni- llances, matters are precifcly in j;he; beft ^ fituation poflible. B. I do not fay fo i — but I aflert free- ly, that, if the three principles of go- vernment are better than one ; if they cannot exift, independently, in king, lords, and commons -, if, in the courfe of our hiftory^ through all our revolu- tions, the powers of government have always united in the one branch that was predominant, to which the ottier two have been made fubfervient ; it is far better, for every good pnrpofe, that fuch powers (hould devolve upon the houfe of commons, than upon the king or upon the peers ; provided always, that the influence and fpirit of the three principles accompany that power in the aflembly that acquires it. I aflert, therefore, that, if the houfe of com- mons, which has aflumed to itfelf the power. ( 47 ) power, and in my opinion happily for this country, fhould ever be diveftM of any one of thofe three influences, to guide, temper, and regulate, the exer- tions of that power, that inlbnt there-is indeed a change and revolution, not in the form, but in the eflence, of the go- vernment, which requires the three in- fluences in the efficient part of the legif- lature to be, what it profefTes, a mixed government. The whole nicety confifls in the adjufl:ing and apportioning the quantum of each influence, fo as to keep the balance even, without welghijig ' )wn the others. As long as the patro- ...56 of the crown affc6ls the houfe of commons only fo far as to induce a general fupport of public meafures, and a bias towards the fyftem that is purfued, not a blind confidence in, or proftituted devotion to, the miniftcr; as long as the patrician influence extends no far- ther than to give to landed pro- .: perty and ancient eflablilhments their ( 48 ) J * '? ;l juft weight, Without trampling upon the rights and interefts of the people at large ; and whilft the democratical prin- ciple in that aflembly is reftrained with- in fuch bounds as fhall give equal liberty to every fubjeft, impartial juftice, and fecurity to their perfons and property, without the inconfiftences and extra- vagances of a popular government, I fhall fay all is well, and better than any alteratic can hope to make it. I do not fay this balance is atlually adjufled with all the prec'fion poflible. It is ef- fential to the nature of things, which are ever changing, that thefe three prin- ciples will have a tendency to encroach upon each other. The vaft increafe of patronage in the crown, which aug- ments with the diftrefles of the country, cannot fail to give a proportionable in- creafe of influence; and that is, in my o- pinion, the immediate danger which re- quires the vigilance of every well- wifher to the political equiiibre. The counterpoife to % ( 49 ; to that increafing influence is not, if I can judge, the diminifhing that importance which is derived from large pofleflions, hereditary privileges, family connexions, in one v^rord, every thing that gives con- fiftency> ilrength, and conlideration, to an aflbmbly j in order to fubftitute in its flead all the confufion, mutability, and inconfequence, which mull arife from uninfluenced^ frequent^ and popular^ elec- tions. On the contrary, were I the friend to abfolute monarchy, thefe would be the very means I flxould puifue, and which have never failed, wherever they have been attempted, to introduce arbi- trary power. Wife and rnoderale checks may be thought of, t'rom time to time, without dangerous experiments of in- novation, to counteract the increafing influence of the crown ; and to fuch I fhall be always ready to lend eve»:y allift- ance, as long as that weight appears to me, as it does at prefent, to predominate inthefcale, . ' r *- — -- ■ E A. \i r J" ) A. Your government appears more and more a riddle to me, as I pro-» ceed in the inveftigation of it. Your king flands in a fmgular predica- ment. His miniflers, trufted with the executive power, are refponfible to the parliament at leaft as much as to their mafter. The confequence is ob* vious 5 they have two mafters inftead of one : the king they muft make their court to by flattering his paflions ; and the parliament they muft manage through the medium of corruption, which is an- other word for the influence of the crown, You render that very corruption an ef- fential fpring in your government, whilft you are every day complaining of it as the objed of your alarm and ap- prehenfion. That influence has already fwallovved up the houfe of lords ; and, by what I can learn, threatens to draw the houfe of commons into the fame vortex, unlefs that houfe throws itfelf, for ( ft ) tot Its fecurity, into the oppofite ex- treme, republican democracy; an evil ftill more to be dreaded. In the one cafe you have abfolute monarchy under the vain forips of a free government j in the other you have a mere republic, with the name only of a titular monarch* If this be the alternative^ it is but a poor choice between them. B. the alterhative you flate would be direful indeed tothofe who have enjoyed the happinefs of a middle ftate equally removed from both extremes. Fortu- nately, our experience tells uSj we are not reduced to choofe between thefe e- vils, which ftill continue to blend and mitigate each other. The influence of tlie crown, or power of corruption if you pleafe, great as it is, has not yet overturned the civil liberty of the coun- try. Our lives and liberties are preferved to us, at this hour, in a degree of fecu- rity known to no other nation. The E 2 trial ~T ( 52 ) \{ - t. ) > trial by juries and the habeas corpus, the two great tefts of our freedom, re- main unfhaken. All the forms of our conftitution flill continue to us 5 and a very recent example has demonftrated, that not all the powers of corrupting, with all the abjedl difpofition to be corrupted, could maintain in his fituation a minifter, when once the public indignation was roufed againft him. That fuch a fpirit did not fooner exert itfelf was in fa£l ow- ing to many caufes. A prepofleffion in favour of the perfonal charader of the minifter, whofe indolence and apathy, however prejudicial to the public, was never actively ofFenfive to individuals -, the opinion that his own hands were clean, whilft his inactivity left the ftate a prey to the rapine of his dependents j the principle of the American war, which was juftly popular to the feelings of eve- ry unprejudiced Englifliman j and, a- bove all, the want of popularity in his oppofers, to ufe the fofteft word for it, con- ( 53 ) contributed to confirm him in the fta- tioii to which his fovereign had called him. In all this the parliament exaftly fympathifed with the people. But, when difgrace and calamity, heaped up- on us from year to year, had at length awakened us from the delufions which had been fo artfully fpread around us ; when the experience of every day con- tradi6led fome of the profeffions and af- furances of the minifler ; in fhort, when it was no longer poflible to conceal the misfortunes of the country, or to dif- femble the true caufes of them ; the fen- timents of the people changed, and par- liament kept pace wdth their feelings. The unproteded minifler ufed all his arts in vain -, he flruggled, tottered, and fell. Thus, when the people are in earneft, their reprefentatives, however chofen, feize their fpirit, and their exer- tions cannot fail to be effectual. Surely our king can hardly be called defpotic, af- ter fo recent an example of the authority of I ( ]l ( 54 ) of the houfe of commons ', nor can the houfe of commons, after fuch an exer- tion, be called the property of the crown. On the other hand, we have fufficient proof that, whilft that body continues in its prefent flate, there is not enough of the democratic principle to obftru6l the ordinary courfe of the ex- ecutive power, or to overturn that con- iideration which belongs to property and perfonal importance, and gives confift- cnce and folidity to the fyftem. *o J ^. Your arguments convince me how little theory is to be depended upon in matters of government ; and that no- thing but experience can pronounce up- on the efFefl of innovation. I fee plainly the raflinefs of endeavouring to reduce your prefent eftablilhment to fpe- culative principles. Whatever reforma- tions may be fafely undertaken to ame- liorate your conftitution muft require not only fagacity, but experience and a long k ss ) long and intimate knowledge of caufes and efFe6ls : not the reveries of a philo- fopher in his clofet, but the pradical obfervations of thofe who are ncareft to, if not themfelves aflually converfant in, public bufinefs. The increafing influ- ence of the crown in the houfe of com- mons feems to be your immediate dan- ger, and demands the moft jealous at- tention. Whilfl your king has fo large a power to bribe, I fear you will feldom find parliament refift his diiSlates, unlefs in extreme cafes, where refiftance comes too late. Upon the whole, however, you actually enjoy a larger fhare of civil liberty, under your prefent government, than any other ftate in the world. When well governed, you have exalted yourfelves to a higher pitch of wealth and glory than would feem poffible from the extent of your natural refources. All things are indeed periftiable -, and ftates, like every thing elfe, " await the inevitable hourj" but maladies may be long i ' ( 5^ ) long palliated, or borne with patience, when the ignorant interference of empi- rics will in an inftant put a period to exiftence. It is the height of folly ne moriare mori^ . -0( ■ ^.^ C V < ; ./ 1 t I .' ^ ,'sJI : U V o i^-,^ •-,#* ^w^i» ..aV-. *. , 4 f » i> ■ ,v 4i.V-'-. ■ w* « - ,i . J. v.>C/J ;.v ra >■♦ .1,31;;;; .. T H E END. ,._.,,ji; it * * t • f f-' ..p.v V> f;::tiq t.:-::! n 'n zT^j^huor J. "uf-'i ••'••'X i".'s<^i |, f^f/"\-// fif- ■; t t.-"t?,i .-1 i - rr " •* V ■:> »- f - ►' c « ./.i.f./-. > I j,» . i..ii J {.< v.. ; J.-,.; ...i-. ., jf >rfiiJ ] ■i ... ; :; ^ * -i./. » - ne :h