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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. :" v., , 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 . \- ..# »* w ~ * ^ C L A I MS P E O t 4, E £?^,^M t A N D.I ^W IiHl« Traa, may idew^ifc«a$/A«w of it, S iiii i^iSTRACT, attheEodofthe^lMilc; which hu |le^. «ncej {tiaaJmltxJ for more fWUIiiferinatioii olf each ; ■ iiiiicle. ^;,.... '•'■^. '*•»■■•■ ^M-M.MM3MlTm% ** •*«p» Ifaiah xxxiu 17. fl^..-*- * i i » n ji^ • -"nli - -'-Hi**' afeaiii;u^L * «< <( < 3 ) The Claims of the people IN the beginning of th«pfcAjnt century, (anno 1701, la W. III.) a fenfiblc and loyal Writer drew up a fmall Trad of political information, which he intitlt:d -^ *« The Claims of the People op England efayed in a Let ttr from the Country," But, before the Tradt was printed, the Author had the fat^sfadion to hear, that the Claims, he had aflerted, were inmai)^ refpects eftabliihed by a new A A of the Parliament then fitting ; which fea« fonable attention to the t'topie's Rtg&ts he mod gratefully acknowledged in afPolU fcript to his Letter. ^ V *' ^ ^ • ^^^x^' *' The AS} of Settlement, by virtue of which the prefent Royal Family (ucceeded to the Crown of thefe Realms, was the Statute, which then fo happily (in the opinion of that Writer) ** fecur^d the Claims op " THE People of England/' «;; It is intitled, ** An AB for ^ farther •• Limitation of the Crown, and better fe^' *' curing tiie Rights and Lihrties rf the •* Subjedli' -— and accordingly contains * A 2 eight * If * fc i V. i 4 ) eight very excellent Articles of Limitation^ agreeable to ** the Claims of the People of " England i' which, it feems, were en- adted, ** with the unanimous Concurrence of ** both Houfes of Parliament,** for the ex- prefs purpofe of ** fecuring our Religion, " Lawst and Liberties,** , "• One of thefe Articles ordained — **That" — '* all matters and things relating to the well governing of this Kingdom, iiobicb are properly cognizable in the Privy Coun^ * cil by the Laws andCuftoms of this Realm, * Jhall be tranfaSfed there, and all Refolu^ tions taken thereupon fhall be Jigned by fucb ** of the Privy Council as Jhall advife and " confenttothefame^*\ . And by another of thefe Articles it was ordained — ^ ** ^hat no perfon, who has an ** Office, or Place of profit, under the King, ** or receives a Penfon from the Crown, fiall •* be capable of ferving as a M^fnbir of the *' Heufe of Commons,*^* , _ , : ■ 1 • •-! )..j * = ,i T'.,.. - • ' ' ■- - r But, fl This excellent provifion would effeAually prevent any fecrtt CcunciJf or Faction, from becoming efficient luithout Refponjibility, * It might perhaps have been objeAed at that time, as well as at prefenti that fuch a total exdufioH of Place- men would withdrav/ from Parliament the Council and Aifiilance of many worthy Men in Office, (or that ought to be //; Office^) whofe parliamentary Abilities are the moil . . diftinguilhed cc c< <( •# ( s ) Bat, as the Parliament was at that time inveded with the dangerous unconftitutio* nal power of a /r/V^n/tf/duration without Re- elector!, it was impoilible that the EleSfed (who thereby acquired a temporary indepen- dency of the Ele^ors, and, of courfe, too ma- ny of them, zfeparate interefl of their own) could long continue real Reprefentatives of the Peoples Claims i and, confequently, thefe two mod excelleht provifions againft undue influence were unhappily repealed, a very . K . ..... ^ 2 few diftinguiflied and eminent. in the Kingciom. Vet there i' an obvious anfwer to this objedlign, viz. That it ii ytry eafy for a free Parliament (!f in their wifdom they (hall think it proper) to permit the grtat Officers tfStati, or even thtir Secretarits orjirft Cltrkt to have feats in Parliament* and, as Members, tiot only to declare their opinions, buc alfo, for the better information of the Hoofe, even to debatt and r^^/y upon all queftioos relating to public affairs; which might be allowred without any dangerous effeft, pro- vided they are duly reftrained frOm the lingle privilege of Voting. The Nation by this means may have ample be- nefit in the exercife of. their great and Ihining abilities, without rifque of undue infintHce, which cannot juflly be attributed to mere argument, as that has no other weight or effe^ than what is tairly due to its m^rit j and any aorea- fonable let/gth of Jpeecb, whenever it is ufed with an appa- rent intention toprocraftinate'kffd obftruA the intention of the Majority, may be duly retrained at the pleafare of the Houfe. But otherwife, (i. e. without fome due reftriAion, and, more efpecially, nuittout an abfolute exclufion/rom the fonuer of voting J a TREASURY Bench, or any other Bench of Placemen, in the Houfe of Commons, is a M«ir//7^ Abomination, utterly repugnant to all juft Ideas ot ayrM uninfluenctd Parliamint, and confequently is highly derogatory to the honour of that Houfe 1 ■F? ii ( 6 ) few years afterwards, in the 4th year of Queen Anne (c. 8.) Which amply proves, that the moft falutary provilions for «• tbe ** Claims of the peofU* cannot be fccurely eftablifhcd under irimmal otfftennia/ Par- Kaments ; and, of coarfe, that the antient ufage of 7r^;(5«tf/ Elections is a Claim, of all others the ino(t cfTentially necefTary for 6uf welfare. -'.*^-- »-*-'»• ;^^^ '»-'- '>^v- ■• ^^ Since the fatal repeal above mentioned, the prevalence of undue influence bath fo r&pidly and enormoufly increafcd, that the ever-loysil Citizens of London thought it their duty, in the year 1770, to bear tefti- mony againfl it ; and accordingly they affert- ed^ m a public declaration to the King him- felf, that '' the' (then) " Houfe 0/ Commons " M NOT reprefent the people "'f *v4 ' . - Subfequent Fad<:have demondrated the abifoiute neceflity we are now under to claim and promote an unequivocal abolition of all utti^e Influence in Parliament, n^ ? . r ii- Meatures, the mod unrighteous y as well as the mod ruinous that could have been de- f '' Rcprcfentattves of t1iet*eople are eflential to the " making of Laws, and there is a Time when it is morally " demonllrable that Men ceaTe to be Reprefentatives. ** That Time is now arrived. The present Hovsb ** OF Commons do kot represent the People.** -^Addre'fsof the Mayor, Aldermen, &c. of the City of London, ijyo. iti;. ( 7 ) vlfecl, have been adopted and carried on under a pretended fandtion oi parliameniarj Autb$rity,% which have involved both King and People (whofe true interefls ar« infeparable) in the moft alarming difficul- ties : and the oAenfible Agents in the mif- chief have obftinately pcrfevered to the ut« mod cxtenfion of ability^ until public Di- faders, and a happy preventive incapacity of their own, (tneir Heads and Fands being equally exhaufted of council and refource,) have compelled them to make a temporary retreat} though the nu.- V * i A 4 ». - merous § This mull of cqurfe be underl^ood to refer (if ypn pleafe) only to former Parliaments that began the Mifchief, vi\io(a prtiindtd SaaOian had more of the Namt than the RialitJ oi parli4mtp44iry Jutbori/j, if 9 reql Repr^entatka if the Comfiuni be at all efTentiai to conflitute a true legal Par- liament. Th^ Hepre^Btatives are chofen ^y a nuryfmall Propep- ffon of the People, and even i\itr.fmall Proportion o£ People is fo monftroufly unequal in t\it\T power of delegation , that the fmall N am bet o| 5733 Boroagh Voters elefl 354 Re- prefentatives, which iavery near ^0//^ the Number of He- prefentatives that are du( to fix Millions of People, and mgrt than half or a Mejorityy of the Numbers that are eTcr known tp atceod at any QRe Tiqte* The Injusticb of fuch ao enormfus Difprppcrtion in the Reprefentation of the whole People cannot be parallelled by any other grofs Ab- f«r4ity» cx(Qept thi ]«ii<]j;}ty of rendering i^udijpro- portionatt H^preftntation lliU more contemptible and nuga- tory by Septennial or (what were nearly as pernicious) Triennial, inftcad. of the aociciu conrnttttiiMial Ufage ^f Sbssional, Elections, ^^ 1 _*^ 3C%; I' n 0ti ij ( 8 ) merous Corps of Placemen, Penfioners, Contradlcrs, Sec. occafionally procured them a Ihameful Majority almofl to the Jolt I »«*%••■■ /\ • ••* ♦ *= 4 « i . ri • . • -^ 'k ' I rii - . , • , ^ t tf . ' Hence it is evident that the Corruption of Parliament is the real fource of all our national calamities and grievances, which cannot therefore be^ relieved by a mere abange of Minijlry, . -.. , t .,, . > n. p The Minority in Parliament hath once before, in the memory of moft men, be- come the Majority, and the worthy Op- pofers of bad meafures were indulged with a temporary adminiAration of public AfFairSi until the fecret efficient Cabinet could reco- ver from the furprife and difmay of their former defeat in Parliament, and, by a renewed exertion of their undie influence, were able to (hackle the new Adminiftra- tion with the rueful alternative, either to abandon their newly-acquired dignities, or elfe to adopt fuch meafures as mu(l effec- tually deprive them of the people's confi- dence; after which they were contemp- tuoully compelled (one by one, or as it might heft fuit the purpofes of the reigning lyftem of undue influence) to yield up their places for the emolument of the more pliant creatures of the fiscret fadion. '- a - ^^ -^ ^ t '"'■"W'^l". ( 9 ) •* It would be madncfs for Efigli/hmn^ af- ter fuch galling experience, to negled their jufl and indifpenfible Ciaim to feme imme- diate and effc^ual precaution againA fimilar deiufions. To trufl another new Adminif- tration, without infiAing at the fame time on a conflitutional limitation of power ^ by a free uninfluenced Reprefentation of the Commons^ may be dangerous to our very exigence as an independent Kingdom ! •^ » The reduced circumdances of the Na- tion cannot admit the rifque of another fuch credulous experiment! It is therefore become abfolutely necef- fary, for the fecurity both of King and Peo- ple, (which includes the true interefl of all parties,) that the juft •* Claims of the Peo" " pie" be fatisfied in an immediate Reftora- tion of the antient legal and refponfible Go- vernment, by a jR^-ynW of the two repealed Articles of the Adt of Settlement, above recited, and by a Revival tMq of that mod excellent Statute for Sessional Parlia- ments, pafTed in the 4th of K. Ed. III. c. 14. declaring, ** that a Parliament** (meaning a newiy-ele^edVarlhrnent, as the writs of thofe times inconteflably demoa- ftrate) " Jhall be holden every year once^ ana !* more often ifneedbe,'\ But this indifpen- ^ • • fible # hJ^ 'if 1/ 1 \l m'v C 10 ) liWe Right and C/aim of the People (for the A6b itfelf is no more than an authentic De* ciaraiiortt or Acknowledgement ^ of anantient Right) cannot have complete effeB without totally repealing an A£l of the 8th year of K. Hen. VI. (cap. vii.) which, on falfe frtUnceSt (wherchy it is rcnde'-ed unwor- thy the tit'e and dignity of a Statute,) dil^ franchifed at once by far the greatefl part of the Englifh Natimi, by robbing them of their Birthright, t the ineftimable Right of X In the Aft of Settlement, by virtue of which the pre- fcmt King fits on the Throne, ic is declared, that '* the •* Latus of England an the Birthright of the people thereof:** and» according to an aotient Maxim of the Common Law, this our Birthright in the Laws is to be efteemed our mofi valuable inbiritantet fuperior to every other Denomination of Property. ** Major Hareditas unicuique '>lMHP?«f,l,'fJ»J' ( 11 ) of voting for Reprcfentativcs in Parliament, without which they cannot properly be cfteemed Freemen^ becaufe the Laws, their Birthright and mo/i 'valuable Property^ may be changed, fufpended^ or entirely wiib^ drawn from tbentj without their confent i whereas, in antient tinres, they enjoyed not only the privilege of voting, in plen Countie, (i.e. the full County-court or Parlia- ment of each County,) for the Knights of the Shire, but frequently alio for the Citi- zens «« tw/W in itfelfy** if the People will but unite in maintain- ing this juit and legal plea againft it ; for which they have ample authority. See Do£lor and Student, c. lo. where- in it is declared, that ** StatuUt cannot exifi again^Rt Aios " or the Law Divine,"— ** nee contra Rationem, nee *' contra Legem di'vinam exijiunf" for the execrable iW- ^uiiy abovementioned is furely againft hoib'y and there- lore as " tkefe t 5. • " Plowden hat reported a variety of cafes, wherein A£li of Par- ** liatnent werc^Aevmed vvd m Lenv through the want of tntb in the " rtciuilt. See ^agei 398 to 4ce." (Sharp's Oeclaratioa, p. 237.) Which irgal diJqualiJicatioH is obvious in the preamble to the A.(k in •veltion ; whcreia ja.jt pttttnut are alleged to favour the fatal change, aec p. 10, *U, l1 f ( 12 ) zens and Burgefles, ele(^ed in their rcfpec* tive Counties; whereby the Equality of "Reprefentation was then prcfervedj and may again be h&ppily reftored by fome fuch equitable mode of transferring thereprefen- tation oi depopulated Qt notorioufly venal Bo- roughs to the Deciiion of their refpedive County^courts, Which method of equalijing Reprefentation deferves preference to all others, becaufe it is not liable to the odious charge of innovation t but, on the contrary, is authenticated by long^continued ufage and legal Precedents of ancient times : and the fame may be faid of all the other changes already recommended in this Addrefs. By thefe approved and tried means, the juft claims of the people may be amply, as well as eafily^ eftabliflied ; and the happy ef- fedts of fuch a perfedt Reformation would htfecurity and fupport to any virtuous Ad- miniftration : for it would prevent their jufl meafures from being impeded and clogged by the fecret machinations of any private Cabal y or Cabinet Fadlicn, that might other wife be efficient wi;hout Refponjibility j and it would alfo exclude the intereiled op- pofition of n'^edy unprincipled perfons, who at prefent can introduce themfelves into P— 1— m— t (if they can but find credit for the lldipi*»WJf^^» -^ ^ * •: .-n«c; * , Remedy'/ Repeal tHc A^s fortrunhioL ''^ wliicfi Say^be'kiclrtam^ by the evidence, of EleSHon-Writs ^ having been iffued'ecncf- ^d Glaitn of theP^pplc, ; (Sep :pt tp.) The dertain EfFcdt' of ine(c cohjiifutmaf Bleniidies will be Sirr «r/Vx an(J $upp6rt t6 k •y/Wwd«i> Adminiftratibri. f ♦'i2\ SisciitQi Ith^Motito in the Title) -^:.'» " V^- ' -1 i. ^ THE '^ N Di .. \n y- --,?^*v ««■ >■- • ■ 1^£± ^||(^P"f«i^^P!»mjfP>l|ffwnWTO mm^'m ■V"'-' «« on s- J* !♦ i1 be; air. ?tf/^ ir i