IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 laiM 12.5 m M |2.2 y] / .<.■> '/ z!^ . Photographic Sdences Corporation •O^ V <> 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WiUTIII,N.Y. 14StO (716)172-4503 %o CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de micrureproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibiiographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may ise 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. D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pellicul6e I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents r~T| Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int6rieure 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 ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas dti fiimies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppiimentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exempiaire qu'il lui a St6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exempiaire nni sent peut-Atre uniques du point de vua bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une 'mage reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une inodification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restauries et/ou peilicul^es Pages discoloured, stained or foxet Pages dicoiories, tacheties ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages ddtachies Showthroughy Transparence Quality of prir Quality inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary matertf Comprend du natiriel suppldmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible r~| Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r~| Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ r~| Pages detached/ rri Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure. etc., ont 6t6 fiimies d nouveau de fapon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est fiimi au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-dessous 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X X 12X ^v:. • 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmad here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: York University Toronto Scott Library The Images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmA f ut reproduit grflce A ia g^nirositA de: York University Toronto Scott Library Les images suivantes ont At4 reprodultes avec ie plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de l'exemplaire fiim6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated Impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated Impression. Les exemplalres origlnaux dont ia couverture en papier est Imprimte sent filmte en commen^ant par ie premier plat et en termlnant soit par ia dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'Impression ou d'illustratlon, soit par Te second plat, salon Ie cas. Tous les autres exemplalres origlnaux sont fllmte en commenpant par ia premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'Impression ou d'illustratlon 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 dee symboles suivants apparattra sur ia dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon Ie cas: ie symbols — »» signifle "A SUIVRE", ie symbols y signifle "FIN". iVIaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely Included In one exposure are filmed beginning 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 fllmte A des taux de rMuction diff fronts. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, il est film6 A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche k droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'Images nAcossaire. Les diagrammes suivants lllustrent ia m^thode. 1 2 3 "'"S^:" 1 2 3 4 • 6 , w Ail t" wr H tru \ nui Ji 1 fM! « THE EXAMPLE OF FRANCE Earning to Britain. // // a eeriainy though a Jirangt truths that in polities aU principles that are fptculatively right, are praSiicalfy wrong; the reafon of which is, that they proceed on a fup^ portion, that men a{f rationally, which being by no means , true, all that is built on fi falfe a foundation, on expert- mentf falls to the ground, V \ SOAME JeNYNS, THE SECOND EDITION. BV ARTHUR rOUNG, Es BURY ST. EDMUNDS: ^HINTED BT J. RACKHAM, STATIONBR* MR W« mCHARPj^OH, W 9'' RQYAL .BXCHAMOB, LONPOKI |I0CC»CI|«« % w n T ■v'„i v/ l>'.- »>. » ^ ;.: ^i i ) ^■'': I '/ -• <■•< » * »A. • ..;■* .«/'.'«,. .-^. '! '•\\..' v\-.. JAN - 3 iC33 I i^<^ ''k^>:!^nY OF ^^^-;:P' ■**..- -FT ^' 4 ,.i ,1 V- '■* — -■ -A < •■ • ■ - ■ I" « ,-• » - * «• • . (• ».,. . i >■. >■; ■>1 .'. Y II ^>^^. T H E EXAMPLE OF FRANCE WARNING TO BRITAIN. y r|^HE writers who have publifhed their fenti- X ments on the events which have palTed in France Hnce the Revolution, have been fo lavifh of argument, fo exuberant in theory, that they feem to have relied for fuccefs with their readers, not ia much on force of fadts, as on ingenuity in weav- ing curious webs of reafoning. We have had, on the one hand, panegyrics on Gallic freedom, with enthufiaftic calls to purfue the fame fyftem in order to arrive at the fame happinefs : on the other hand, every circumftance of the Revolution, from the original wifli for liberty, has been condemned and fatirized with more wit than truth. To plain men thefe writers feem equally removed from that B exami- -: I fe^ ( » ) examination, which, attending folely to fa^ts, and their innmediate and more remote confequences, is not apt to truft to the cunning of argument, but looks on every fide for the more folid fupport of experiment. I am inclined to think the appplicacion of theory to matters of government, a furprifing imbecility in the human mind ; for men to be ready to truft to reafon in inquiries, where experiment is equally at hand for their guide, has been pronounced, by various great authorities, to be, in every other fci- ence, the groiTeft folly— -why the obfervation (hould not equally extend to the fcience of legidation, will not eafily appear. My perfpn.al purfuit, for a long leries of years^ has confirmed me iii the habit of experimental in- quiry : I have obfervcd on fo many occafions the fallacy of reafoning, even when exerted with great force of talents, that I am apt, whenever fafls are not clearly difcerned, to queftion rather than to decide s to doubt much more readily than to pronounce; an::^ to value the citation ot one new experimented cafe in point, more than an hundred brilliant de- clan^arions. Having refided a good deal in France during the progrcf^ of the Revolution, to which I was, for fome time, a warm friend j having paiTed through every province of the kingdom; exa- mined ( 5 ) mined all her principal manufadlures ; gained much inftruftion, relative to the ftatc of her commerce, and attended minutely to the fituation of her peo- ple, it was natural for me, on my return to England, to confult with attention the legidative afts of the new government ; and to procure, by correfpond- ence and converfation, with perfons on whom I could depend, fuch Intelligence as was necefTary to enable me to fatisfy my curiofity concerning the refulc of the mod fingular Revolution recorded in the annals of mankind. I ffaould confider myfelf as a bad fubjed of Britain, if I did not ufe every endeavour to render the knowledge, thus acquired, of ufe to my countrymen ; and it is folely with this v'leyr that I now throw together a few ihort efTays, inferted originally in the Annals of Agriculture, fomewhat improved in form, and with iuch addi- tions as the events of the period Afibrd,.^: „.:• ■ * '. ' . • . • * ' ■ '.• t~'' But in attempting to give exprefTions'^dequate to the indignation every one mud feel a' rlie hor- rible events now pafTing in France, I am fenHble that I may b^ reproached with changing my poli- ticsj my « principles," as it has been expreffed.— My principles I certainly have not changed, be- caufe if there is one principle more predominant than another in my politics, it is the principle of change, I have been too long a farmer to be go- verned by any thing but events -, I have a confli- B 2 cutional ( 4 ) tutional abhorrence of theory, of all truft in ab- ftrad reafoning } and confequently I have a reliance merrly on experience, in other words, on events, the only principle worthy of an experimented. ' . , - > -^■•• " • • • • -• > , 1. - / . . , ' ^ .1 . , J ' ■ The circumftance, of there being nnen who having been friends to the Revolution, before the loth of Auguft, yet continue friends to it, proves clearly one of two things i that they are either republicans, and therefore approved of the Revolution before the loth of Auguft merely as a (lep to the 2ift of January, thinking, with Dr. Prieftley, the Revolution of the loth neceffary and happy j— or, that they have changed their principles. The Revolution before the loth of Augull, was as different from the Re- volution after that day as light fronn darkncfs \ as elearly diftindt in principle and pradlice as liberty and flavery ; for the fame man to approve therefore of both, he muft either be uncandid or changeable s uncandid in his approbation before that period- changeable in his approbation after it. How little reafon therefore for reproaching me with fentiments contrary to thofe I publifhed before the loth of Augud I I am not changeable, but (leady and confident; the fame principles which directed me to approve the Revolution, in its commencement (the principles of real liberty), led me to detefl it after the loth of Auguft. The reproach of change- ablenefs, or Jomething worfe, belongs entirely to i thofe ( J ) thofe who did net then change their opinion, but approve the fepuhlic, as they had approved the //- mited monarchy. Upon the Aire ground of ex- periment, it (hall be my bufinefs, in the cnfuing pages, to bring to the reader's notice Tome fa6ts, proper to explain. First, the real (late of France : and. Secondly, the caufes of her evils ; and I (hall then apply her example to the landed, monied, commercial, and labouring interefts of thefe kingdoms. PRESENl' STATE of FRANCE. THE fadls which will beft explain this, con- cern— i. Government, a. Pcrfonal Liberty, 3. Se- curity of Propcny. . •v;^ Government. • In all difcuflfions relative to the new fyftem of conftitution or government in France, it is nece(^ fary, firft, to inquire, whether they have any other fyftem than that of anarchy. The circum(lanccs, to which I (hall allude, tend very flrongly to prove that the Jacobin clubs, the general councils>of the commons, and the nominal legiHative convention, appear fo to divide the fupreme power among . B 3 them. ( 6 ) them, while the mob, or nation, call it which you pleafe, aft fo independently of all three, that, to compliment the refult with the term governmenf, would be truly ridiculous. To talk of the Rights of Man, or any other declarations or laws of the Condituent Affembly, is perfedtly befide all pre- fent quedions ; the heptarchy is not more out of date. — But let us examine faftsj as reported by "5? Jacobin authority. The freedom of eleftions feems to be curioufly attended to.' Refolution of the Jacobin club of September 13, fenc to all the clubs of the kingdom : — -" Let us not lofe a Tingle moment to pre- vent, by firm meafures, the danger of feeing thefe new legiHators oppofe, with impunity, the fo- vereign will of the nation. Let us be infplred with the fpirit of the eleffcoral body of Paris whole decrees exprefs, that ajcrutiny Jhall be made of the National Convention, for the purpofe of ex^ felling from its bofom fuch JuJpeSfed members as may, in their nominationt have ejcaped the fagacity of fhe primary ajfemblies" (Polit. State, No. 6. p, 449.) What a beautiful IcfTon is this to the men who complain of our reprefentation in England, an4 wilh it reformed.— Here is a delicious reform, and at the "hands of republicans ! The world, pro- bably, never contained a proof of more dett^rmined * - ' ' ' • ' confuHQlli; ( 7 ) confuHon ; this is truly a digeft of anarchy. For members to be elected to the Convention under the controul of the commons of Paris, whether they (hall take their feat or not, is curious, and ought to give us the cleared conviftion, that the Jacobins want no Duke of Brunfwick to be the avenger of the crimes of Paris. None can be fuch adepts in national mifery, fuch found- ers of national ruin, as the people themfelves, whofe exertions are, with fingular ingenuity, pro- ducing a fyftem, in which regulation fhall produce diforder, and decrees blood. That the people de- fign to legiflate perfonally for themfelves, cannot be doubted i they mean the Convention to have no power, but an initiative to propofe to the fovereign body, who will accept or rcjedb by the organ of clubs. It is eafy to guefs at the obedience paid to a fovereign body whofe eledlion is thus refpefbed : the Convention de(^reed, that all elections fhould be made by ballot*, this was directly difobeyed by Paris. "Of twenty-five Sedtions," faysBarbaroux, Oft. 30, ** that have returned an account of the eleftion of a mayor, eighteen have violated that law; and the fedion of the Pantheon has propofed, fliould their priefident be called to the bar, to at- tend him armed." . , J ;- B4 Oaober /: ..<' ^4 Hi ill ill ( « ) OAober 5th, a deputation from that city, thui fpeak at the bar, demanding the fpeedy trial of the King. " The men of the 10th of Auguft will never fufFcr, that thofe they have invefted with their confidence (hall defpife for an inftant the fo- vereignty of the people j courage is the virtue of a free people j and we will not depart from the principle, that if it is jud to obey laws, it isjud alfo to refift defpots, under whatever mafque they may conceal themfelves : we think it for our interefl: to make our eledVions viva voce (a haute voixjf'* The minifter of the interior is forced to write the fame day to the Convention, " I pray you to take meafures, to prevent being null and without effc6t all the demands and requilitions which I daily make, IN THE NAME OF THE LAW, to the commons of Pa- ris." The minifter, in the name of the Convention, applied for law ; but found the commons of Paris ftronger than both. " I have feen," fays Cambon, Sept. 25th, " thefe comnlons rob the national edir ficcs of all their moft precious efFcdls, without the lead regifter or note $ and when we decreed that thefe e0e6ls (hould be carried to the national trea- fure, that decree remained without execution." ^* The council general of the commons of Pa- ris," fays Barrere, Nov. loth, " has fought to dc- prefs, by every poflible method, the national repre- fentatipn/' The legiflative body faid^ that tkatgerm ( 9 ) efnew revolutions ought to difappear, and the next day it was obliged to withdraw its decree. It faid alfo, that the gates of Paris ought to he opened, that every man might travel freely through the interior of the empire ; but the council general ordered them to be Ihut. The legiHature decreed that no more pajfports fhould be necejfary. The council general diredly ordered that none ihould fl:ir without a paflport *." That the municipalities are in a ftate of real anarchy appears clearly from different bodies alTuming the fame power; while the municipa- lities of Paris were demanding one fum of the Convention, le commune proprement dite, or nine- ty-fix commidioners of feftions were demandirjg another, which induced Kerfaint to explain. In what anarchy is our admimjlration plunged. Ought there to be two bodies of reprejentatives of the com" mons of Paris ? the law prohibits i( *. This is curious ; a legal veftry meets in ihe church, and is oppofed by another in an alchoufc kitchen, who term themfelves the veftry, properly call- d i and one having a tafte of public plunder, the other pe- tition alfo for the fame thing j fuch are the bodies that feize and divide, unJer the epithets of conQf- cation, admini(l;ration, and fale, the eitates and property of emigrants. f Moniteuri Oft, zS* -j- Ibid. ;i •1^' Th« # '111 Hi I ill ;-'t ii ( 10 ) The conhmiflioners of the feftions oF Paris, at the bar of the Convention, bully it in thefe terms : •' The time prefies — the ftorm forms itfelf." — Thus overturning the government that bad been formed on the Rights of Man, which, inftead of yielding peace and tranquility, produced ftorms only, the eternal product of fuch Revolutions; and the blood that had been fo lavifhly fpilled for the puMic repo/e, afforded fo little, that the minifter Rolland, writing to the commons of Paris, fays, / hear of nothing hut con/piracies, and projeSis of murder, and ajjaffination *. The wicked preached yejierday, at the fame moment^ in different parts of Paris J pillage and affafftnation f. And being ordered by the Convention to report the flate of Paris, his expreffion is, the adminifirative bodies, without powers j the commons defpotic j the people deceived i-^fuch is Paris l^ But deceived and ignorant as they were, they thought their lights fufficient to inftrudl the nominal legiflature; as Marat and his gang were daily declaring, that cut- ting off heads was the genuine employment of a people, and denouncing fo many members of the Convention in the Jacobin clubs, it was debated in the Convention, whether a guard ought not to be drawn froni all the eighty-three departments. On* this projeft, the commiflioners of the forty-eight? fcftions of Paris thus fpeak (Qft 19) to the Con- vention : fore you come to words — a level v guard, ciples 01 fides, de dangeroi ciple. "^ people w propofe exigence ifts; and made tli the reft tain it * Here that thei fandbion afiembly pofTefs f power, and thei themfch form! fhe fhu Moniteur, Nov. 3. + Nov. I* X oa. 30. vention 5 (ns, at terms : *elf."— been lead of ftcM*ms ucions ; led for at the ions of ieSi and wicked afferent d being (late of ^ bodies, 9 people ed and r lights irej as lat cut- It of «' I of the )ated in' >t to be s. Oti y-eight c Con- • 30. enclon 3 C " ) vcntlon ! " Proxies of the fovereign ! You fee be- fore you the deputies of the fetflions of Paris. They come to make you underftand eternal truths. No words — but things 1 It is propofed to place you on a level with tyrants — to furround you with adiftinft guard. The fcftions of Paris weighing the prin- ciples on which the fovereignty of the people re- fides, declare to you that this proje(5t is odious and dangerous. We will attack in front fuch a prin- ciple. What audacioufnefs, to conjedure that the people will confent to fuch a decree ! What 1 they propofe to you conftitutional decrees, before the exiftence of the conftitution ! Wait till the law cx- ifts; and the people have fandioned it. Paris has made the Revolution. Paris has given liberty to the reft of France. Paris knows hoi^ to main' tain it *.'* , . Here Paris exprefsly declares to the Convention, that their decrees were wafte paper, till the people fandion them : fuch is perfonal reprefentation ; an affembly is fo cleded, and the people no fooner poiTefs fuch reprefentatives, than, intoxicated with power, they declare their deputies things of ftraw, and their decrees null, till fandlioned by the people themfelves ! What a lefTon ! to the friends of re- form ! In all the public places, fays Louvet f , at the fhuilieries, in the Palais de la Revolution, an4 t Monit. QSi. %u + oa. 89. elfe^ ,*. w J" ( 14 ) elfewheret you hear them preach continually infur* reSiion againft the National Convention. The de- puties of the department of Loire, tell the Con- vention at the bar. Tour Jcandalous debates are known in every corner of France. The affliSled people fent you to make laws^ and you know not how to make a regulation; they Jent you to render France refpeSled, and you know not how to refpeSl it your^ Jelves i th^ fent you to eftablifi liberty ^ and you have not known how to maintain your own. Tou tremble before thefe tribunes *. The National Convention, fays Marat himfelf, ofr fers the mofl affixing and fcandalous fpeSlacle, Could an American favage be brought into it, he would bC" lieve the French legi/lators an ajfembly of madmen and furies. Unworthy men I You are without knowledge , virtue, patriotijm, or fhame j and are led by a band of vile wicked rafcals, devoted to ambition, and trem- Wng left their crimes fhould be revealed,-^ Paine is of an opinion dircftly contrary, " they fprang not from the filth of rotten boroughs— they debate in the language of gentlemen— their dig- nity is ferene— they preferv^ the right angled cha- racter of man." We well know what their lan- guage is ; and if a right angled character produces right an{ For the 1 jeft for I It is i that the archy, fa baroux :|: done noti murder ^ of all out VENTIOJ Indre ar Thefe member we have the Frei «< the en the fair lightful. French 1 murders Ihould d Provide while th vadQS, t • Monii • Monit. Jan, |o, 1793, t jQUfneAdt Marati Jan. 16. ( «3 ) right angled actions, we know what thofe are alfo. For the fercnity of their dignity! ! ! — It is a fit fub- je6t for mirth but not for argument. // is high time for us to know, fays Cambon, that the dnvention is ahfolutely defpifed*. Art" archy, faid Baurere f , is at its zenith : and Bar- baroux f , Anarchy reigns around us, and we have done nothing to reprejs it. Thofe who provoke to murder are yet triumphant. Anarchy is the caufe of all our evils / fays the President or the Con- vention to the deputation for the department of Indre and Loire li. Thefe are the accounts and the words of the members of the Convention openly delivered ; but we have a reformer in England^ who charafterizes the French government with the epithets of,— " the ered mien and heavenly dignity of afpeft,— the fair and enchanting form, — the vifion fo de« lightful/'— It is whimfical enough, that while the French find their government a mere anarchy of murderers and banditti, our Englifh reformers fhould delineate it as the peculiar difpenfation of Providence (howering blefTings on mankind. That while the adminiftrators of the department of Cal- vadQS, tell the Convention, that Paris is the focus * Moniti :. Dec. 29* t 0£l. 30. % 06^. 30* || Dec. 4. ii'li i u i^ ¥■■' 1! 4 I I lii'i ( M ) of in/urreSHorti vengeance ^ and pro/cription : that in^ nocent blood has flowed^ that villains who are the detejiation of the nation^ and will be the opprohium of pojlerity, ftill calculate^ in criminal Jilencey the life and death of citizens *, an Englifliman can be found to declare iuch a governrnent fo beneficenr, that he can refer it only to the Brft great caufe of ail It - ^ ■■-■ ^ - ^ ■ Jan. i6. The nniniftcr of the interior to the committee of general fafcty; every day for a month pajly they have talked of renewing the prefer iptions; I have, for many days, received and laid before you affurances of projects of maffacre and murder, pub- lickly preached. From fuch a polluted fountain, it is eafy to fup- pofe what ftreams mud flow ; and that all parts of France have been fcenes either of infurreftion, of plunder, or of blood $ the inftances of Marfeilles, Lyons, Avignon, Aries, Rouen, Caen, Bourdeaux, Nanc^, Lide, and a long lid of other cities, are notorious: it may not be fo generally known, that at Charleville the colonel commandant was murdered J. That at Crefley all was riot and violence |). That at Cambray the lieutenant colo- nel Befombre was murdered by the Gens d'armes, * Monit. 061. so. t Major Cartwright to the Duke of l^cwcaftle. t Sept. 4. Ij Oa. 17. • and and capt That the that of Ct the cafe ( (locks on for crime expofe^ < populace Gens d*a of the c fFhen, d it, will the laws Marat that ftai which is new gov( What is France j guifi); tl tune; th fider the rapine, t the kfngt fo ruinou. never u fuch a cc H Jourm that f»» 1 are the prohium nce^ the I can be leficenr, ic caufe to the a month 'ipionsi fore you r, pub^ to fup. parts of tion, of rfcilles, rdeaux, eSj» are known, int was ot and It colo- armes, Duke of and ( »j ) and captain Logros' head was on a bayonette*. That the rebellion in Poitou was of 1 0,000 f, and that of Chartres double. More lingular than thefe is the cafe of D*Hote, who being condemned to the flocks only for four hours, by the jury de jugement, for crimes that merited an hundred deaths, being expofed on the Place de Greve, demanded of the populace, liberty or death ; the mob, in fpite of the Gens d'armes, mounted the fcafFold, cut the cords of the criminal, and carried him ofF in triumph. IVhen, fays the editor of the Moniteur, reporting it, will the feople feel the necejftty of refpe£ling the laws .<* J Marat will not be fufpe^ted of a want of that (launch republicanifm and Jacobin ardour, which is inclined to admit no more evils in the new government, than are really to be found in it. What is his account ? Confider the aSfual flate of France ; the profound mifery in which the people laU" guijh i the enormous dilapidations of the public for- tune i the rapid exhaujlion of its lafl re/onrces ; con- fider the mouopolies^ thefts^ brigandigesy majfacres, rapine^ and dijorder of every fpecies, which defolate the kingdom, l^ever was the mifery of the people fa ruinous i never was anarchy carried to fuch exce/s; never was tyranny fo devouring \ never was then fuch a contempt of law ! ! ! || • 0£l. 10. f Moniteur, Ofti 15. y Journai d< Marttt Mars i* t oa. 29. What llj •.hi: iii III' I ( «6 ) ~ What multiplied proofs of that fad, that with- out a King, and Tome hJy between the King and the people, where there is an indigent poor, all falls to con fuHon. The Jacobin Rabbeau once knew this : — *' Dans un grand empire il faut abfolume'^t des hommes de cores, fans quoi Tetat tombera dans une vafte popularite, dans une imnTienfe demo- cratie, qui doit Bnir par Tanarchie, ou par le def- potifnie felon que le prince ou le peuple feronc Tun ou I'autre, le plus fort." * The Nation, fays Paine, not Parliament, Jhould reform abujes : the idea of vitiated bodies reforming themfelvei is a parodox* Exaftly in proportion then to a nation interfering and taking the remedy of abufes into its own hands fhould be theeffeA in wiping them out. Apply to France for a com- mentary on this text. Has it been fo ? As fhe advanced in reform, did abufes difappear ? Never was doctrine fo belied by events as the doftrine of this great politician. Such is the refult of that conftiiution, founded on perfonal reprefen cation, which has been boafled as the pride and glory of legiOation. Such are the effects that form the comment on fo many fiund^fd books and pamphlets publifhed in praile * Confidtrqtions fur les Interits du Tiers EteU fu Rabbeau St. lUcnnc^ 17S8. ad editi P. 641. »l ■/■ ( 17 ) of an edifice erefbed on the Rights of Man I— ^ And of which we may fay, with truth and mode- ration, that it has brought more mifery, poverty, devaftation, imprifonment, bloodfhed, and ruin on France, in four years, than the old government did in a century. Such is the govpdiment that has been contraded by Paine to the no conftitution of England. Every thing with us, according to him, has a conftitution except the nation ; and if we had a conditution we (hould be able to pro- duce it. The French, on the contrary, formed one which they could produce, printed on vellum, and bound in morocco; carried by every one in his pocket, as the charter of his Rights; but, un- fortunately for theories of government, this great v effort of legiflation ; this boafl of French, and envy of Englifh Jacobins ; this mafter-piece of the metaphyfical art of Abbe Sicycs; this quintef- cence of what ought to 6e, in oppofition to wb it is*; this fine machine; pronounced by fo many ^ ^ pens immortal ; pjajektcible^^the idea of Paine, h'h\ antecedent to the government ^ and diJiinSl from it ; ' this capital produdion of Gallic genius, endured fcarcely two years. The fieedoin it afforded was not fufHcient for adepts in the Rights of Man : the ex^ence cf a King became ofFenfive to the new lights by which they were illuminated. In- tn * La phyfique ne peut etre que la connoiflance de et qui eftm L'art plus hardi demandc (e qui doit itrt pour l*utilite des hommes. . - - G furrcdlion b" ' V- :■• kl! ( 18 ) ■ furrc6lion was pronounced a facrcd duty ;— revolt followed J— and the horrors that will for evcr^ftaiii the annals of mankind, — the deep damnation that en- fued, — are written in every heart from which Jaco- binifm has not eradicated all traces of feeling and hu- manity. Such has been the practice of the French Revolution j for its theory, go to Rights of Man, Perhaps experience will juftify us in aflerting, that that government is bed which is bed cal- culated to ftand flill; becaufe the thing wanted in government is not aftivity, but repofe; and to do nothing is nineteen times in twenty bet- ter than readily to do any thing. The vetos of different orders, or houfes, therefore muft be good, as they are fomany impediments to aftion. No government is fo reftlefsly aftive as a pure democracy, voting in a fingle afTembly; the mob being fatisfied no longer than a torrent of events keeps them in breathlefs expeftation. We fee, in thQ cafe of France, that fuch buftle is the energy of mifchief, the motion of defpotifm. Their late fucceffes, fo unlocked for and furprifing, made them fpeak commonly, in the f^reets of Paris, of conquering Europe i (hould farther fuccefs attend their arms, they will infallibly attempt it. The kaders, who owe their importance to the prefent hurricane of events, would fink too low in a calm> for fuch men to allow the ftorm to fubfide. \he authority legi/late a^ ^onftitution Vations are etionary pi c was well ed down rnment an i of alterin, r. Here! e five hur ch govern et thefe ini are not I ly, in the I )g their na h the Briti charaAeri and def[ ;led, and nents, loa the people (ling on ci ens and a p • How le of fecir dng contr lible conc^ l\ M ( «9 ) he authority of future ajfemblies, fays Paine, zvill Ugijlate according to the principles prefcribed in :onJiitution j and if experience Jhould fheiv^ that •ations are necejary, they will not be left to the etionary power of the government. Before his was well circulated, that future governmenc d down the conftitution. He goes on— /f rnment arijing out of fociety, cannot have the f of altering itfelf-, if it had, it would be arbi^ 1, Here he levels point blank the fyftem he e five hundred pages to fupport. Thai the oh government IS arbitrary. et thefe infamies of abftradb and ideal perfec- are not black enough to deter men from ly, in the full face of government and of day, ig their names to fuch fentiments as thefe, in h the Britilh conftitution and its friends are charadberifed :— " The mad councils of and defperation."— " Maimed, mutilated, led, and wretched condition." — " Scanty nents, loathfome offals, are all of freedom the people of England tafte."— " Mendicants fting on crumbs,"—'* Vifions of flaughtered ens and a pillaged nation." — " Happy French- ! ' How long will Englilhmen endure the e of feeing their houfe of reprefentatives a ting contraft to models fo pure ! " — Not even ible conc^on will now, in my humble opinion, C 2 put i \'\ liiiii r,> f ( 40 ) put the people off their guard, and compromife be received as infult. Their demand is their riglj They are taking their caufe into their own han They want no patrons; and their friends will I their fervants. Their operations are infallij their ftrength will foon be invincible." — " Am| the difcQverics of thefe pregnant times, it has found our, that men may live and thrive witii lords; that the fun will (hine and the dew will! fcend where there are none but equal cicizenj partake of thefe bleflings; and that even laws can be made, and juftice well adminidc without either hereditary legidators or heredil judges * ! " — The people of England, fubduel wretched artifice and juggling policy j — their vioi rights and expiring liberty — fays Mr. Sheridaj ViSlims of venal and perfidious ajfociations' Mr. Grey J. • '' Would any perfon conceive it poflible, thaj paflages here colleded, expreffive of the wan detef^ation, were not applied to France, as mod peculiarly adapted to mark the ftate ofl kingdom, weltering in its bed blood, rather [ to one in fo lingular a (late of profperity as * Major Cartwright's Letter to the Duke of Newcaftte. f Declaration of the friendi of the liberty of the prefs, pJ X Ibid. pis. ( II ) ? When our dcftru'^ion is rhreatened (6 mpromife ^nly— when fo clear an explanation is given of s their rigll real meaning and iniencions of the reforming ir own harlieties— and when the operations and (Irength of ends will! rabble are fo foon to be I-NVINCIBLE, it pre infallillely behoves the government of this country to *— " AmBaken to danger fo imminent j to menaces fo au- s, it has bicious i and to a licentioufnefs of publication, irive witAich, whatever be the intention, mud, if unre- : dew willlained, let loofe the daemons of difcord, the hell al cicizenAunds of the mob> to the utter deftruftion of all at even Max flouriflies at prefent in this kingdom. adminiftJ i-l-^h (.i-d ••••:; . .. r-' or heredil But Paine thinks differently of our no confti- id, A^^^wion.*— " The country governs itfelf at its own ^/i»«> v/«pcnce, by means of magiftrates, juries, feHions, [r. SheridAc) affize} — what is called government, is only '^r/4/f0»j— loundlefs extravagance." This is one of the falfe id flippant remarks of that endlefs prevaricator, ho has not fadl: to fupport him in more than one lible, thalf a thoufand affertions. What are magiftrates with- f the warlut the controul of feflions, but tyrants ? What ance, as b|rould feflions be without the King's Bench ? hat would the King's Bench be without a fupe- ior ? You can finifli in none of thefe fleps with- ut tyranny being the confcquence. It is the gra- ation and controul of powers which forms the true aiance. It is THE CROWN that keeps all the prefi, p.^here meaner ftats in their refpedtive orbits ; there C 3 is : ftate of d, rather erity as Newcaftle. '• i ^..■:r i w ( " ) is no fimilar power in France, and therefore all I confuHon and tyranny. The admirable utility { magiftrates, fenions, afTize, &c. are felt and mitted :— you would have this without a fupren magiftrate, — that is, you would have attraftiij without matter, and folar heat without a fun. cc The generality of governments," fays Dl Prieftley, " have hitherto been little more than| combination of the few againfl: the many ;. and the mean paflions and low cdnning of thefe h\ have the greateft interefts of mankind been to long facrificed. Whole nations have been deluge with blood, and every fource of future profperit| has been drained, to gratify the caprices of for of the moft defpicable, or the moft execrable the human fpecies. For what elfe have been th generality of kings, their minifters of (late, their miftrcffes, to whofe wills whole kingdor have been fubjeft ? What can we fay of thoi who have hitherto taken the lead in condu6tlng thl affairs of nations, but that they have commonlj been either weak or wicked^ and fometimcs bothj Hence the common reproach of all hiftories, tha they exhibit little more than a view of the vice and miferies of mankind. From this time^ there] fore, we may expeft that it will wear a differenj and more pleafing afpeft *." • Letters to the Right HoQi Edmund Burke, p, 144. Th I ■ > I V in ) The events which have pafled fince this paflage was written, muft make one fmile in reading it. It now appears that the combination of the many againft the few, can alfo deluge a nation in blood, with a cruelty more accurfed, becaufe unneceflary to the many: that fourccs of profperiry can be drained without minifters and without mifi:refres ; that weaknefs and wickednefs can take the lead without kings ; and that hiftory will ftill continue to exhibit the vices and mifcries of mankind. 1' Perfonal Security, -.. > The ftate of France refpedling the perJbnal liberty of her citizens is dilpatched in few words ; There is no such thing: the fad is fo notori- ous, that an appeal to indantes might by many be deemed unneceflary; there are, however, a few circumftances that merit noting, not fo much to prove the violation of this firft and moll facrcd duty of government, as to fliew that fuch viola- tions have been committed on principle i and per- petrated or permitted even by the legiflature itfelf. The declaration of the Riglits of Man and of Citizens fays, no man can be accujedy arrejiedi or detained, except in cafes determined by the law, and ACCORDING TO THE FORMS WHICH C 4 THE :, ':l ::', II 'm ( 24 ) THE LAW HAS PRESCRIBED. Such is the letter : what is the praftice ? On complaints from Niort, againft fome counter- revolutionifts, feized by a mob thirfting for their blood, but who wifhed to have the flimfey cloak of a femblance of jufticc, the National Assembly decreed, " that all the criminal tribunals of the kingdom (hould try, without appeal, all crimes committed againft the Revohition*. And in order to indulge the fame thirft at Paris, which was not, with all its murders, fatiated, they decreed the removal of the criminals from Orleans to Paris j that is, from the legally eftablilhed judicature, where there was a chance of juftice, to an illegal one, where there was no fuch chance; and they did this in confe- quence of fuch addreiTes as thefe from the deputa- tion of the commons of Paris. // is tv e that the criminals at Orleans, be transferred to Paris, there to receive the punijhment of their crimes. If you do not agree to this demand, we cannot anfwer for the ven- geance of the people. Tou have heard us, and you know that infurreSiion is a facred duty ! Invited to the honours of the meeting ! ! ! The fate of thefe piifoncrs is known to every one. The declaration fays, that no man can hefunifhed hut in virtue of a law ejiablifhed^ and promulgated prior to the offence, and legally applied. The ap- • Monit. 3ift» plication^ V.i.t ( 15 ) plication, " difobedience " in the colonies, " (hall be regarded as high treafon, and thofe who (hall render themfelves guilty (hall be fent to France to be tried, according to the rigour of the law," The liberty of the prefs was provided for in the declaration. Such the theory. The pradlice was filencing all that were not Jacobin papers, and be- heading the authors. No wonder that, under fuch a fpecies of government, prifons (hould be emptied by ma(racre, and Killed again by arbitrary arrells. Sept. i6, the minifter writes thus to the Af- fembly : " The natural^ civil, and political liberty of the nation is in queftion ; fince the 5th, above five hundred perfons have been arretted, fo that the prifons are as full as ever * j no fatisfadlory account is given of the authority ; they have been imprifoned by orders given by the municipality, by fedions, by the people, and even by indivi- duals : emprijonnees par ordre, Joit de la munici- paliUy Joit des Je^ions, Joit du peuple^ SO IT MEME D'lNDIVIDUS; and the reafons of very few of thefe orders are given." The legiflature thus informed of the abufe, may be prefumed to be on the wing to remedy it. The progrefs of the bufincfs is curious: — 061. 8. De- • Contraft this with the seven prifoners (four of them not flale one»), the whole number found in the Bailile when forced by the mob I ! I - crcc t ! ( a6 ) cree— " The National Convention decrees, that citizens detained in houfes, which are neither pri. fons nor houfes of arreft, fliall be removed, within fifteen days, into legal prifonsj after which time, every citizen, againft whom there appears neither warrant of arreft, nor decree of accufation, (hall be fet at liberty *." If any doubts could remain of the real tyranny under which France groans, fuch a decree would be fufficient to remove them :— the faft of citizens being thus illegally confined, without warrant, and not in legal prifons, is here admitted} and men SO treated may be kept fifteen days longer before they are fet free ! Sept. 1 6, the Convention receive the notice ofiicially, and Oft. 8, they decree a power of arbitrary im- prifonment fifteen days longer ! !— Nor does it end here; for Nov. ii, complaint is heard in the AfTembly, that no report is made concerning the prijoners-^; and it merits great attention, that during this long period of the imprilbnment of fo many unhappy people, Paris was inceflantly con- vulfcd J and every day brought reafon to cxpeft, that iinprifonment and flaughter would prove fyno- nymous terms. To imprifon whom they pleafed on fufpicion, as a method of taking off thofe they dared not, or could not publicly accufe, was a convenient mode of tyranny, not unworthy of the wretch, a member of their Pandemonium, who. • Monit. Oft. 9. f Nov, 13. (peaking ( »7 ) rpeaking to the queilion of trying the unhappy King, adlgned him to torments in the hearing of thofc tribunes, who might foon be the executioners of his bloody wiihes. Morijfon, " the firft and moft natural of all my afFcftions would be, to fee that fanguinary monfter (Louis XVI.) expiate his guilt by the moft cruel torments * : and another (Gottchon, Dec. 12.) fays, Kings will pafs away! hut the declaration of. rights and pikes will never pafs away. Here let the tyrant hear his condemn nation. Deputation of the Seftion of Gardes Fran- (offeSy ** The Se£iion of Luxemburg has fworn to poinard Louis XVL if you do not condemn him to perijh on a f caff old \ we were invited to accede to iVf." As if the declaration of rights was not laid in the dud, when fuch language could be fpoken of a prifoner unheard ; and amidft unanimous and reiterated applaufes ! The applaufes of thofc whofe pikes were ready. •k ■ r •:,f H In the full face of fuch authentic fadts, given on the authority of their own miniftf rs and friends, we read, in the Political State of Europe^ printed by Jordan, and written by Paine and Co. No. 6. p. 435, that in Paris a refpeft is paid to the facred prefervation of property, and that the laws are no where fo univerfally refpe5led and obeyed!!! What will not Jacobin impudence reach ! • Monit, Npv. 14, f Dec. £9« The :. \ "■1lll 'I I ' 'III' n ( a8 ) The infamous Marat, deeper in the blood of the ad of September than any other peribn, except, perhaps Petion, feeks to prove it the a6l;, not of a few, but of the people. As to the majfacres of the id and ^d of September, it is an atrocity to re- prefent them as the work of a gang of brigands. If fo, the Affembly, the Mimjier of the Interior^ and the Mayor of Paris^ were the culpabUs ; and nothing in the world can wajh them clean from the crime of not having prevented affafftnations that lajied three days', hut thty will doubilefs fay, it was impoffiblfy being equally the aSt of the national guards, the fe- derates, and the people, Petion rejled tranquilly at table, with Brijfot and his friends, and dijdained to quit the party even for receiving the commijfioners Jent by the Ajfembly, to charge him to flop thofe eX' cejfes*, 'i* ■ • ' '(' •'■'''■ . ; - ■•..' ; Such has been the attention to perfonal liberty, under the reign of philofophers, eftablifhed on the ruins of the mildeft and mod benignant govern- ment in Europe, our own only excepted; a go- vernment cruelly libelled in the charadtcr given by one of our reforming orators, who thus defcribes it J "a fpecies of government that trampled on the property, the liberty, and the live- of its fub- jefts ; that dealt in extortions, dungeons, and tor- tures: and that prepared, beforehand, a day of * Journal de Marat, Noi 105. "' fanguinary % 4^ ( «9 ) fanguinary vengeance*." Expreflions fo fingu- larly applicable to the fabric ercfted by the Re- volution, that one can with difficulty believe it poflfible that they were meant for any other. w. Security of Property, If I had not heard Jacobin converfation in England, there would have been little occafion for this paragraph; to a reader that reflefts, it mud at once be apparent that where there is no peribnal freedom, there can be no fecure property: It would be an infult to common fenfe to fuppofe, that a tyrannical mob would refpeft the property of thofe whofe throats they cut : arbitrary impri- fonment and malTacre mud be inevitably followed by diredt attacks on property. Contrary however to thefe plain deduftions of common fenfe, it has been repeatedly aTerted, that the government of France has done nothing in violation of the rights of property, except with relation to emigrants, who were confidered as guilty for the ad of flying : but is it not palpable, that filling prifons on fuf- picion, by arbitrary commitments, and emptying them by maiTacre— that the perpetual din of pil- lage and airaiTination— are culculated to All men wi;h alarm atfd terror — and ro drive them to fly rl , I * Mr, Sheridan's Speech. not ( 30 ) not through guilt, but horror ? By your murders you drive them away ; and then pronouncing them emigrants, confifcate their eftates ! And this is called the fecurity of property. The cry of ariflo- crate or trakor is followed by immediate imprifon- ment or death, and has been found an eafy way of paying debts. Upon my inquiring of a corre- ipondenc what was become of a gentleman I had known at Paris, the anfwer was, that he was met in the ftrect by a perfon confiderably in his debt, who no fooner faw than he attacked him as a trai- tor, and ordered him to gaol. No known mafla- cre was committed in that prifon, but my ac- quaintance was heard of no more. It is eafy to conje(flure what became of the debt. Should the daemons of difcord effed a revolution in this king- dom, and bring Mr. Legiflator Paine, (tired of being called the punchinello of the Convention *), ill once more to Thetford, Sandwich, or Lewes, he would not find it difficult thus to fatisfy all his creditors, however numerous — he would come well prepared with a French recipe for wiping oflT all their [cores. In a country where fuch things are poflible, every tie that binds property is broken. To imagine its fecurity is a folly too grofs to be endured, and to aflert it, is a falfehood chat ffaould excite no emotion but contempt. * The name givcQ htot in the yoarxa/t/ir Marat, March 5, 793. In { 3' ) In a parifh in the Clcrmontois (Croti-le-Roy), \\t fteward of a gentleman reliding at a diflance, ime to receive the rent of three confiderablc ^rmers. He was told that the Convention had jecreed equality, and that paying rent was the loft unequal thing in the world ; for it was a man ^ho did much to receive a litde, paying to one> mo receiving much, did nothing at all. The leward replied, that their joke might polTibly be |ood, but that he came not for wit, but money ; id money he mufl have ; he was ordered inftantly depart or to (lay and be hanged. The pro* Irietor demanded juftice, but in vain ; the muni- Ipality was applied to -, and the only refult was, lat body (the veftry) ordering the farmers to Keld up the lands ; they were taken pofTedion of |y themfelves, in depofit redeemable for the na- lon; and adually divided in portions among the pouring poor, that is among themfelves. What le event may be is nothing to the purpofe : what jecomes in the mean time of the Right of Pro> jrty ! The probable event however is, that the roprietor will be driven to emigration, for the lere convenience of retaining their plunder. It can hardly be doubted but that robbery, even land itfelf, mud fpread throughout the kingdom, l^hen the Committee of General Security could thus cport to the Convention X'^'the national refources may 1 1' Mil ( 32 ) may he augmented by impofing contributions upon per- 1 Jons of fortune^ pcrfonncs aifces, and the obJiinateA who wait^ with tranquility at home^ the event of the\ Revolution *. Contributions impofed on perfons for two reafons; firft, for the crime of being nnen| of fortune ; and, fecondly, for remaining in tran- quility I With fuch a legidation can property bel refpefted ? ^ With fuch a principle, recognifed in the Con- vention, we need not afk how taxes arc levied.— I The poor and fmall proprietors of a few acres, whol every where form the majority of each municipa* lity, efcape all taxation, but are vigilant in forcing! thofe of more confiAVrable property to pay to thel lad farthing ; and as all taxes are aiTelTed and le-j vied by the parochial vote, at aiTemblies, to whicli all refort, the men without property order every thing at will, and have various ways, much mor^ effcdtive, for the divifion of property, than a d\xd agrarian law would be. Let the farmers of this kingdom reprefent d themfclves a pifture of what their fituation would be, if their labourers their fervants, and the pauj pers whom they fupport by poor's rates, were all armed, and, in fome meafure, regimented, and in pofTellion of the veilry, voting not only the monei * Monit. Oa. i8t ( 33 ) to be raifed by rates, but the divifion of it among themfelves; decreeing what the price of all the farmer's produ6l:s fhould be ; what wages (hoiild be paid to fervants, and what pay to labourers. Under fuch a fyllem of government, I beg to afk, what fecurity would remain for a fingle (hilling in the pockets of thofe who are at prefent in a ftate of eafe and affluence ? And whether fuch a tyranny would not be worfe than that of the mod deter- mined defpotifm at prelcnt in Europe ? While the farmer is thus expofed to parochial oppreffion, at the mercy of thofe who were fo lately his inferiors, and who are even fed and fup- ported by him, he is not exempted from attacks of a very different nature ; to authorife the fcizure of horfes and arms, was, in the National AiTembly^ a meafure of violence a,nd tyranny $ but as ic iffued from the legiOature de faSio^ it had the au- thority of admitted power; but the municipality of Paris have gone much further; September 13, the minifter of the home department complains to the Aflembly, that the commiflioners of the mu- nicipality of Paris are fcnt into the country with fuch arbitrary orders, as are utterly inconfiftent with his own refponftbility; their orders are figned by four of the adminillrators of the public fafecy, for feizing fufpedted perfons and precious efFefts. Vaur s'emparer des perfonnes /uJpeSfes tf des effets D prfcieux I- ;-ii' 3^- ■ij ! •,':;il ii';;ii i:i f ( 34 ) precieux *. Seizing fufpcfted perfons and precious efFf*'^s ! A very pretty commilTion in a land of libcrry i and givf n, not by the Icgiflative boHy, but by a corporation ! Tiie corporation of a town fends commifTioncrs, in other words, defpotic mo- narchs, into the country, to arreft and to plunder, and this under the eyes of the IcgiQature. When the republican reader of Mr, Paine, on corpora- tions in Enojand, is well fatiated with rigbtSt it would do him good to take the aftions of French municipalities as a comment on the text. The abufes and plunder in the fale of the pof- feflions of the emigrants, may be eafily (Conceived from the complaint which Sillery makes in the Convention : — " The furniture of the chateau of Nangus, belonging to the Baron de Bretueil, was worh at lead 1,500,000 liv. and has produced fcarcel/ any thing. Six tapeflries of the Gobelins, which coft 30,000 liv. in money, were fold for 2800 liv. in aflignacs. A clock that coft 24,000 liv. in money, fold for 800 in paper f ." Such is the virtuous adminiftrationof the res publica among republicans! ^ » Marat lets us into the fecret of the wealth of members of the Convention, who were once as poor as himfelf.— fiar^tfrowA; tenoit les cordons de • Monit. Sept, 14. f Dec* 31, 1791, la % he pof. nceivcd in the tcau of :ii. Was oduccd >belins, )id for J4,ooo •uch i& Jmong ilch of ice as ( 3s y la hturfe comme il tenoit la clef du bondoir (he al- ludes to his being the lover of Madame Roiland), at leajl if we may judge by the facility with which he diftributes ajjignatt to the right and left. People have been aftonifhed at the enormous expences of*iany members t who, like myfelf have had no other patri- mony than debts, Although married, thefe gentlemen keep girls, give great fuppers, and their wives are always at the theatres, Valaffe is royalijl and Jpends enormoufly, The father-in-law of Petion lives in a palace, drejfes richly, drives his coach, keeps an excellent table, and bought the cellar of Egmont Pignatellt, which coft him 23,000 liv. A footman of Montefquieu is colonel of the regiment of cavalry hujfards braconniers, and at the fame time contractor for furnifhing /i&«».— Gorfas, Dulaure, Poncelain, Roederer, Caritat, Rabaud, all paid by Rollandj in the 100,000 liv. pour former Vefprit public*. The watch- word, from one end of France to the other, is equality ; they join liberty with it, as mountebanks annex a favourite epithet to the nof- trum, whofe only objedt is the money in the pockets of the credulous. But after all rank, title, nobility, and didindion have been aboli(hed, what do they mean by equality ? They talk of equality, not bccaufe they know what it means, but becaule la • Journal de Marat, No. iiz. D 2 others 1 m I I'i ill i ■1 li::ll! !1 ( 3« ) Others have talked of it. Marat remarks, that the people follow one another like flieep: — Ceji un terrible torrent que celui de Vexemple car toute peuple eft naturellement montennier *. The word h abfurd, if it attaches not to property, for there can be no equality while one man is rich and another poor. But the preceding fadls fpeak what the new equality is, in terms too clear to be mif- underftood. 7 am not aftonijhed to fee, fays Buzot, an arret come to us under the name of Momoroy whom /, as frejident in the department of Eurcy heard preaching the divifton of eftates j but I am truly fo to find fuch a man prefidng in one of the JeStions of "Paris f. We hear it afferted in England, that property is not attacked in France : there you hear no fuch affertions: on the return of the commiffioners, members of the Convention, from the riots at Chartres, where they were nearly deftroyed, it was afferted on fadls, in the Convention itfelf, that all the principles of an agrarian law were in agitation mis en avance J. Before we quit this fubjecpay; ■orn is i with nnities cnce: >fthc )f ir. 5 bc- of a e. rhe ( 39 ) The fame minifter writes to the Convention, Oft. 1 5. — " I am informed that the overfeers of the military fubfiftences do not ceafe to fly through the country, and to force, with arms in their hands, the farmers to furnifh their commodities. Such prafbices dcftroy every meafure of order, and infinitely impede the free circulation of corn. I cannot diflembie with the Convention, that this condudb of the military contraflors tends to fprrad diforder every where, and that if they continue to take by force, or at their own price, provifion from the farmers, it will be impoflible to inlure the fupply of Paris.'* Now this, if poflible, exceeds every thing the Jacobin adminiftration, adling on the ideas of Ja- cobin liberty, could devife to (hew their perfedb contempt of the whole farming race. He dates the glaring magnitude of the evil to the Conven- tion; and what is his conclufion ? Why, he tells them, that if fuch things are allowed, ir will l/e impqffible to fupply Paris ! ! There is the only evil ; as to the poor plundered farmers, he allows, in- deed, that robbing them is a dijordert but when he fums up to imprels the legiflarure with the ne- ceffity of paying attention to the evil, he recurs folcly to the fupply of Paris ! If Paris is fupplicd, all is well— as to the farmers they may take care of D 4 them- ti :H i; .' .;ilU ( 40 ) themfelves. Let thofc who tell us in England, that the Revolution of France was favourable in the beginning to agriculture (particularly in tithes) confidcr the value of a free market; and then our farmers will not be long difcovering, that no exemptions, no fuch favours will prove a recom- pence, for being forced, the pike or broad- fword in hani, to fell at the price offered by thofe who brand i(h the weapon over their heads. No wonder that fuch meafures Ihould ftarve the towns, as well as ruin the country * and that the commifTioners of fubfiftence ihould report, that the penury of gram, in the great cities ^ is extreme *. I'll In all thefe and a thoufand other inftances, we fee the living and effedtive confequences of Paine's doArines ; he expatiated on the luxury of great eftates, and recommended their feizure; French pradice realized the doctrine, and doubtlefs there were French farmers, who rejoiced at the fpcdacle of all the great properties of the kingdom being levelled by the nation j they did not however fore- fee, that it would be their own turn next ; that the principle of equality being once abroad, would in- fallibly level ALi, property ; and would give to the beggar, without a loaf, but with a pike on his * Monit. Nov. i Such being the ftate of government, liberty, and property in France, I ihall unite thefc h&s in one general concluHon, and venture the aflertion, that the Revolution has abfoluteiy ruined thit kingdom. I may be told, perhaps, in reply, that (he carries no more appearance of ruin at this mo- ment, than many months or years pad. Her arms are even victorious on every fide. The inquiry into that degree of depreffion or violence which properly conftituces national ruin, ivould lead into an extenfive and unnecefTary difcuf- fion. If nothing merits that defcription but foreign * Purfue the declaration of rights through every article, and it will be found that there it not a fingle article regiftered as an ini- prefrriptible right of nian» that has not been violated under cir< cumftances of the mod odious and abominable cruelty. An Englifhman is proud of the idea of his houfe being his caf- tle i fee the pra£lice of Jacobin government in this relpeft 1 ** De- creed, that the municipalities are authorifed to fiearch the houfes of] all perfons for arms, and to take an account of horfes and car- riages applicable to the war." And foon after their abfolute fei- zure decreed. This was founding the alarm bel]> in order to give! lip the houfes of all the gentlemen in the kingdem to the plunder! of brigands j and this by the legiflature itfelf— ele£led by perfonalj reprefentation. If we are alked what apology the tyrants of Paris have to makel ,fof their a£lions, their anfwer is state expediency j which ani Engliih reformer calls the offspring oj helU conquefld w The faults, fiderabl cepted ; every cla natural cvety or well as a iicnccm ( 43 ) conquefl", Morocco was in no (late of ruin under a barbarian, who put 40,000 men to death with his own hands; nor is Turkey ruined uncer the do- minion of horfe-tails and bow-ftring«i. To every purpofc of fober argument, the danger of lif? and property is efFeftive ruin. ' >' I I Life and property in France are in this fitua- tion, if raifed a fingle point above the level of the populace } a gigantic and devouring defpotifm has levelled in the duft all fecuriiy to thofe whofe pro- perties raifc them above the mob. In one word, LAW does not reign ; there is a power evrry where fuperior : a defpotic authority may fill the ranks pf their armies, as the flaves of Algiers are made to arm and to fight, but the kingdom is as much I ruined with vidlory attending her ftandard, as if the German banners were fly.ng at Paris, Mar- Ifeilles, and Bourdeaux. The old government of France, with all its faults, was certainly the bcft enjoyed by any con- fiderahle country in Europe, England alone ex- cepted j but there were many faul s in it which every clafs of the people wifhed to remedy. 1 his natural and laudable vvrifh made democrates in cveiy order, amongft the poflcflbrs of property, as well as among thofc who had none. At the com- mencemcnc of the Revolution^ France pofTciTcci a very ii ■H t\\ y iHii > .1 III Sii •ii m ( f»4 ) . very flourifhing commerce; the richeft colonies in I the world j the greateft currency of folid money in Europe; her agriculture was improving; and her people, though from too great population much too numerous for the highefl degrees of national profperity, yet were more at their eafe than in many other countries of Europe; the government was regular and mild ; and, what was of as much confequence as all the reft, her benignant fove- reign, with a patriotifm unequalled, was really willing to improve, by any reafonable means, the conilitution of the kingdom. All thefe circum* dances, if compared with England, would noti make the proper impreffion. They are to bel compared alone with what has (ince enfued ; andl her prefent (late may thus, with truth, be cor- reftly defcribed.— Her government an anarchy,] that values neither life nor property. Her agri- culture faft finking ; her farmers the flaves of all i| and her people ftarving. Her manufactures anni- hilated. Her commerce deftroyed ; and her colo- nies dbfolutely ruined. Her gold and filver dif-j appeared ; and her currency paper fo depreciated,! by its enormous amount of 3000 millions, befidesi incredible forgeries, that it advances, with rapidi ftrides, to the entire ftagnation of every fpecies ofl induftry and circulation. Her national revenue di-l minifhed three-fourths. Her cities fcenes of revoltj maiTacre, and famine ; and her provinces plunderedl byl Viiin f national e than in avernment F as nnuch nant fove- was really neans, the fe circum- would not ( ^^ ) olonic? »nl|jy gangs of banditti. Her future profpeft of money in Bpeace and fettlcmcnt, depending on a conftitution J and herBjj^jj •^^ ^^ be formed by a convention of rabble, and ion ^-^^chtranffioned by the fans culottes of the kennel. It is iOt a few infulated crimes on fome undeferving en J it is a ferics of horrid profTiption, fpread- ng far and near ; pervading every quarter of the ingdom ; it is the annihilation of rank, of right, f property j it is the deftruftion of the pofTcflbrs f more than half France -, it is the legidation of olves, that govern only in deftrudion : and ail he{e maflacres, and plunderings, and burnings, nd horrors of every denomination, are fo far from are to beBj^j^g neceffary for the eftablifliment of liberty, ifued i andl|jjj jj,ey have moft effedlually deftroyed it. In h, be cor-Bjng word, France is at prefent abfolutely without n anarchy,fcQyg|.j,ment j anarchy reigns j the poniard and the Her agri-Rjjjjg ^f ^^^ ^^^ gj^g ^j^g j^^ to all djaj q^j.^ ives of all Wormed the higher claffes, and to all that at prefent ocks with the (hew of legiilation. The mob of aris have been long in the actual pofTeflion of nrivalled power j they will never freely relinquifh I : if the Convention prefumes to be free, it will e maiTacred ; and, after a circle of new horrors, 'ill (ink ((hould foreign aid fail) into the defpo- y fpecies olBjCjjj ^^ triumvirs or didtators : the change will be revenue (^'^-^rom a Bourbon to a butcher ! :s of revolt, plunderedb <{ ^^y bf iture& anni d her colo- filver dif' e predated, Dns, befides with rapid ik,-". ' n 1: ( 46 ) " All former Revolutions," fays Paine, " till the Amei ican, had been worked within the atnnof- pherf of a court, and never on the great floor of a nation * j" unfortunately for this miferable copy, fhe worked on a floor broad enough f; her bafis was the blood and property of France. The pic- ture has no rcfemblancr in •' the infipU ftate of | hereditary government J." She found in " fcenes of horror and perfeftion of iniquity J,*' what " man is up to J. ' It is eafy to fee what they have loft j as to their gains, they have afllgnats, cockades, and the muflc of fa ira ; it may be truely faid, that they| have made a wife bartei". they have given theirl gold for paper; their bread for a ribbon; and their blood for a fong. Heaven preferve os from the phrenzy of fuch exchanges ! and leave Revolutions for the " order of the day J," for *' the morning] of reafon rifing upon man J" in France. • Rights of Man. f The Convention declares, in the name of the French nation,! that it will grant aflliftance to all people who wiOt to recoverl their liberty, and charges the executive power with giving the ne^ ceflTitry orders to the generals for giving fuccour to fuch peopiCi Nov. 19, ordered to be printed in all languages. t Paine. , . . , il. If the the h'>rr( more pro the doubi I Mr. Nee authority |within th without, |vided ; hcfc we loment. nows w ts fruits, 'entation, direft great narchy, • Paine fa '>«fcHt to havi ! Ill' ( 47 ) e atmof- iloor of a ►Ic copy, her bafii The pic- IL Such arc the confequences of the French Re- volution. Our ney,t inquiry is, from what have thefe evils arifen? They may be attributed to d ftate of I three prominent features in the new fyftem of their I *^ (ctnt^m/oi-di/ant philofophers. — i. Pcrfonal Reprefenta- lat "manltion.— 2. The Rights of Man. — 3. Equality, have loft J r Lades, and! If there is any one circumftance to which all that they I the h'>rrora that have paffed in France may be riven theirlmore properly attributed than to any other, it is ' and their 1 the double reprefentation given to the tiers etat by from thelMr. Neckar, direftly contrary to every refpcftable cvolutionslauthority *. The preponderancy of the people morning§within the walls, united with the Ipirit of revolt without, was manifeft in a moment -, the court di- {vided; and the King, confcientious and honed; hcfc were not arms to meet the prefTure of the oment. The mob triumphed -, and all the world nows what followed. If a tree is to be judged by fuch peopie.B''' ^uits* ^e may fairly aflcrt, that perfonal repre- entation, which gives to the loweft of the people direA influence in the government, mud lead in great empire and a great capital to abfolute narchy, fuch as has ruined France. french nation, ilh to recover giving the ne-| 11. * Paine fays* that the parliannent of Paris recommended it. H« |>u^ht to have known better; for what was h9 at Paris at the time ? In t •J' ll ■r^ t :. II ,l '■ 'i! i:^ ( 48 ) In any reprcfentative govern mfnt, if pcrfons only arc reprefented, — that is to fay, if a man without a fhilling deputes equally with another, who has property, and if men in the former fitu- ation arc ten times more numerous than thofc in the latter i and if the rcprefentatives, fo chofen, fit for fo fliort a time as to vote truely the wills of their conftituents, it follows, by dire(5t confequence, that all the property of the fociety is at tne mercy of ihofe who pofTcfii nothing j and could theory have blundered fo (lupidly, as to fuppofe for a moment, that attack and plunder would not fol- low power in fuch hands ; let it recur to France for faSif to prove what reafon ought to have furefeen. The abflrad Rights of Man, moft prcpoftcrous of all ideas, which in fadb have no •political ex- iftcnce whatever, have cfFc<5ted all the mifchief; lince thofe rights, which cannot be exerted, or become efficient without the deftrudlion of other rights, and the rights of other men, equally ad- mitted, are palpably vifionary— the children of| playful brains — but impofTible in practice. But the French had thefe dreams ; they imagined that perfonal reprefentation would recognize and fecure fuch rights, and they eflablifhed their government accordingly :— they ridiculed the conftitution of| England for depending on a balance of powers; in which a corpration of ariftocracy has a negative on ( 49 } on the Rights of Man ; and wove a web of theory from the phantafy of their brains, to fecurc thofe rights from all controul. Is this a cafe in point i Is this a great political experiment on perfonal repre- fentation ? Let the works of Mr. Mackintolh, Mr. Chriftie, and many other able writers, who have printed warm panegyrics on the French conditution, anfwer this queftion. They have anfwered it deci- (ively i for the faults found, if any, are, that the reprefcntation was not perfonal enough ; the refulc has (hewn it /o perfonal, as to have annihilated property ; this part of the qucftion therefore is de* cided as foon as propofed. There is a party in this kingdom who call loudly for a reform in the reprefentation of the people, and who would have fuch reformation give a right of eleftion indifcriminately to all mankind : I am myfelf in the number of thofe who wi(h a reform, but not of fuch a complexion, nor at a moment like this; I wi(h the middle ciafTes of landed property better reprefented i 1 wilh a new member for every county, cledled by men who poflefs not lefs than an hundred a year in land, and not more than a thoufand j and an equal number of members deducted from the mod objetflionable boroughs. But I would live at Conftantinople ra- ther than at BradBeld, H the wild and prepofterous propoHtions founded on the Rights uf Man, were to become cffeAive in this kingdom. In other worcs, £ I have ..'^ Il If'' , 1 ■ ■ . ;ii : J.ll , ( 5° ) I have property j and I do not choofe to live where the ftrft beggar I mcr, may, the fabrc in one hand, and Rights of Man in the other, demand a (hare of that which a good government tells me is my own. But my idea of a reform is as fpeculative as the reft, and therefore merits not more attention : rotten boroughs are found, on experience, not dan- gerous ; of what account then the objedlions of fpe- culatifts? The faft is, that the French conftitutioii was founded abfolutely on perfonal reprefentation. By the letter of the law, certain perfons were excluded, but by collateral parts of the fame fyftem, the mob was armed; and the authors of the Revo- lution might not perhaps forcfec the event, that eleflions made at the point of the bayonet, would be at the power of the bayonet. Examine not the letter of a vifionary code, but experiment, in in the hiftory of Paris, Marfeillcs, &c. from the firft moment of the troubles. That many who wifh the reform, on popular principles, of that parliament, under the aufpiccs ot which we enjoy the fecurity which makes us every hour (of anarchy in France) the object of the envy of other nations — that many who wifh this reform, do it on meritorious motives, I have not a doubt:— they think, on theory, that pcr~ lonal reprefentation may be confiftent with the fecurity ( SI ) . fecurity of property j much as they are drceived in chis idea, yet their error was once refpcdablc*. They fay to themfelves, fo far I would go and no farther f j but they forgot, that by going fo far they * Of Tuch meni conftfted many of the Conftituent AfTembly in France } but the abfolute folly of the idea is now a matter of ex- periment i thataflembly made the trial. They formed a govern- ment en the Rigbtt of Ma«» and the foundation they built upon was fo flippery, that the whole edifice ha> tumbled about their ears in a fingle year. I hardly know any thing more naufeous than the cortvrrfation one now and then hears at prefent on thofe fine theo- ries* delivered pretty much in the fame accents as a twelvemonth ago, when the Conftituent Aflembly was as much praifed as it is now condemded ; fuch men forget that it is theory no longer t it is now fa£l and hiftory; the experiment was made; we have feen >ht refult} it failed totally and completely; in the name of com- mon fenfe, let ut, as farmers, regard experience oniy ; and when thefe eternal theorifts ftill recur to new vifions of their heated brains, kt us reply, the thing is tried i that method of drilling has been experimented and found good for nothing ; the crop did not anfiuer { the principles of farming are the principles of government; when you have experiment for your guide, will you refort to theory ? When experiment has damned half a dczen theories from the fame quarter, will you ftill lilien to new fancies, and go to work again, becaufti the fame men tell you they have new imaginations for your employment i The leading conclufion, deducibie trom the f rench experiment, and written in charaAers, which he that runs may read, is this, if persons are represented, property is DESTROYED. We know then what to think of the propofals for reform hitherto made in this kingdom. f The iirft leaders in the Revolution faid this, and they now feel the confequence. Neckar, who gave the double tiers, banifhed with the loft of an hundred thoufand pounds; Sieyes who faid ie tiers eft tout in difgracej and Barnave, who alked if the firft £ a blood il: •; -it' ■f--Jl yi i ■V i 1; ( 5* ) they have given the power from their hands, by which alone others are prevented from pu(hing matters a little further ; and that thefe again are impelled by a third fet, who drive at the Rights of Man, and pulling down all that exifts at prefent, with the temple of Dagon, by the Sampfon of the mob. However refpeftable, well-meaning, but wrong-headed, men may be for thefr motives, let it not be imagined for a moment, that there is any thing refpeftable in the levellers, your fellows of the Rights of Man, whofe principles are not a jot better than thofe of highwaymen and houfe* break- ers; for the objed of both is equalizing property. Mr. Wyvil, in his late pamphlet, talks of tem- perate reformation, and of pointing the zeal of the people to a moderate corre£lion of grievances (p. 8^), blood fpilled was fo pure, in a dungeon ; le beau jour of Bailly /hines at prei'ent in a garret at London; La Fayette feels in the prlfon of Wezel, that infurreflion i» not la plus faint des devoirs i and had Mirabeau been now alive, his head would have been on a pike; and the minii^er RoUand, who, in his impudent letter to the King, faid, that as the voice of truth is not heard in courts, re- tvolutians hccmoe neceffary, now, crouching under the uplifted pike, finds, in t'le difpenfations of Jacobin juiHce, that the voice of 'ruth is heard as little in conventions as in courts, and curfes the folly that culled for revolutions; Petion pelted and hifled, Ma* lat carried in triumph *, and Manuel with his throat cut, continue the revolutions of the wheel of retribution. Sec thefe changei* : and on the propagation of political ignorance. Perfonal reprefentation in cities, mud be apt to fall into the hands of a few of the moft daring, reftlefs, and profligate of the mob : of this, we have an inftance, (Irangely remarkable, in the cafe of Paris; in that city there are about 150,000 vorers, yet the number who have been brought to poll have varied from 9000 to 1 2,000 j it is there* fore, evident that the mafs of the inhabitants, find- ing I I ( 55 ) ing they could not vote freely and in fafety, would not voce at all. What a fatire is this on the unircrfal fufFrage of the mob, who rcgulace the right of their neighbours voting, as they diftri- bytc jufticc— by the pike ! " Materials fie for ail the purpofes of government," fays Paine, " may be found in every town." He certainly means the pike, for that is the chief material in the new fyftcm. i;, cr // is well knowtiy" fays the deputation of Finiftere, at the bar of the Convention, " that the JeSlicns of Paris are held by at nioft fifty individuals, to whom all cede with a facility perfe5fly incredible ; aftonifhed at fuch a general defer tion^ we have been careful to inquire the cauje^ and have been affw ed, that the only reajon iSy that none had the power of freely expr effing their opinion without running the greatejl danger. We are Jhocked to think of Juch a popular defpotifm *." The federates at the bai; Ja- nuary 13th:— '" The public force if di/organtzed, and poniards intimidate the good citizens. Spare not the liberticide memberSy who vote in favour of Louis, we devote them to infamy. — Marfeiiies to ' the Seftions of Paris. If perfonal reprcfentation has, in the fhort period of four years, given the government of France into the hands of the mob *-wich two legiOacive bodies in fuccelTioa moit * Monit. Dec. a6. E4 completely , : i , :; ii>: ( S6 ) completely devoid of property ; and if the confe- quence has been the deftruftion of property, and the delivery of its poflcflbrs, to be butchered or baniflied, we are furely juftiBed in averting that THE EXPERIMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATION HAS BEEN MADE AND TOTALLY FAILED** i.iJ '! ' ',1 m *f: i * The Jacobins boaft the government of America too foon to have experiment for their fupport, all countries fully fettled muft have a numer<'U* and indigent poor: America with immenfe deferts of fertile land at command, has no indigent poor to govern j flie is, therefore, exempt from the great difficulty of all government"— but the time will come when fhe is no longer free from its pref- fure— when (he has a numerous and indigent poor, poifoned or enlightened by a licentious prefs, it will then be found whether her fyftem is fo perfect as feme pretend. *' The truth is," fays Dr. Wilfon, " that in our governments the fupreme, abfolute, and uncontroulable power remains in the people, as our conftitu- tions are fuperior to oyr legiflature } fo the people are fuperior to our conftitutions. Indeed the fuperiority in this laft inftance ic much greater j for the people poiTefs over our confiitutions, con- troul in aA as well as in right," Commentaries en the America?: Confiitutions So able a writer, doubtlefs, is not miftaken in this } but if the faA is true, anarchy and confufion, and the concomitant de(lru£tion of property, will inevitably be the fate of that country, when indigence is found in the mafs of her people. If they are in truth paramount, they will pafs laws for their own relief, and how is that to be efFrfttd without attacking properties that will not want the epithets of unneceflary, luxurious, or ariftocratic, for a pretence 1 To fuppofe that the mob will pofTefs the fovcreign au- thority tn a£i as well as in right, and remain hungry, is a faice~« and worthy only of the theories with which we have been amufed : and who has inftrufled us clearly in the importance of fuch a cha* rafler, as General Walhington keeping heterogeneous parts to one common centre i Ih i ■ II' ( 57 ) / r ' II. ]|, The Rights o*" M" were tht next pillar of the French fyftcm, .. d f 'ed, in this eve. f^i ex- periment, as vifionary and mifchievous as perfonal reprefentation. The conilitution was built on a declaration of thefe rights ; and, as if every para- graph of the code had been formed only to be broken^ practice has torn the whole into fritters, or trampled it under feet, with a contempt it never experienced in any other country. So that a man would go much readier to Conftantinople than to Paris, for the exercife. Its commentator calls out for anfwers to his performance. — The French Re- volution is an anfwer round and complete ; there is not a page it does not reply to -, there is not a po- fition it does not damn : and the author has the daily mortification to fee his marvellous efforts iVir- pafHd by his colleagues in the legillative banditti, who arrive at the fame end by a fhorter road ; by engraving the Rights of Man, with poniards, dipc in the beft blood of France, ;:-^ , When that prince of incendiaries, reviewing a train of his projci^s, alks, with an air of triumph, after each, would not this he a good thing ? This f}trejy would ha good thing ! Id like manneV, take , - the .|« M^ t- ; m ■;-f:i ti r :|; :l i] III 1. ■ .. m m. ( 58 ) the French declaration of the Rights of Man, and there is hardly an article to be found, to which the fame writer, and an hundred others, would not an- nex the fame queftion, is not this good? Can you deny this? But concentrating the rays of right into one focus, and giving it in a declaration to the people, as the imprefcriptible right of man— the right of refinance againft opprefllon became the power to opprefs} the right to liberty crammed every prifon on fufpicion ; the right to fecurity fixed it at the point of the pike ; the right to pro- perty was the fignal of plunder ; and the right to life became the power to cut throats. ARE THESE GOOD THINGS ? If declarations of I right and governments, founded on them are really I good, the refult mud be gocd alfo. But thele are the good things in praflice, that flow in adircdtj line from the good things of French theory, ^he declaration of rights, fays Paine, is of more value to the world than all the laws and Jiatutes\ that have yet been promulgated. It ft ares corruptionl in the face. The venal tribe are all alarmed: froml Juch oppofttion the Revolution receives an homage* Tbe\ more it is ftruck, the more f parks it will emit-, and\ THE FEAR IS IT WILL NOT BE STRUCK ENOUGH.— >| I copy this ihfanity, to bring to the reader's recol- ledlion the confidence with which this charlatan! predicted, in oppofition to the predi^ions of Mr. Burke ii who hav produce! in thefe the liber do they man hai the mec produce; nial in t ( 59 ) lurkc ; wbofe ideas, he fays, tumbled ever and de^ hoyed one another, for want of a polar truth. The polar truths, by which Paine (leered acrofs the boundlefs and unfathomable ocean of the French Revolution, make one fnnile ; he now finds, (brely to the coft of his reputed penetration, that all the polarity which guided him was a will-o^'tbe-wifp meteor, that led his frail bark o'er rocks and quick- fands :--<-yet, ingulphed as he is, he fays, Mr. Burke takes a ground of [and. Events have amply told us which of chem was upon fand. ■I The madnefs of transferring fuch rights to Bri- tain belongs to the mechanics and labourers at Stockport *,—-who, complaining that the ufeful fcience of politics is negle^ed^ afTemble to difilile it; they refolve that all men are burn equal in their rights, that the fovereignty of every nation oughc to be invefted in the people as their birth-rights who have the chief right to pofTcfs all that labour produces : and it is a very curious circumftance in thefe refolutions, that though they refolve thac the liberty of the prefs ought to be inviolable, yet do they not give one atom of a refolucion, that any man has a right to property, except the right of the mechanic and the labourer to all that labour produces. Thefe are refolutions perfectly conge- nial in their purview, to that degree of fecurity to ^, M»nd)^ft9r H«rald, Srpt. t. property 1., ' 'I '1 ( 60 ) property which the Revolution produced in France. .Thefe labourers and mechanics nnay tell us, that ihey deteji rioti\ but as they arc fo dtcp in the /Hence of politics, they ought to know that their obje£l and their refolutions tend pointedly and di- redlly to the utter ruin and deftrufVion of all go- vernment, peace, and fccurity of cither life or pro- perty. So alfo in the refolutions of a fimilar fociety at Derby *, they fpcak of temperate and honefi di/" cuffionSi and call on other focieties to aft with una- vimity and firmnefSf until the people be too wife to be impofed upom and their influence in the government he commen/urate with their dignity and importance. Can any perfon, warm from the recital of the hor- rors committed by the " fwinifh multitude " in France — by the mod enlightened of all the mobs of France — who have moft ftudicd the /cienceofpo- litics, and moft frequented focieties nmiliar to thefe^can any man of property, acquainted with thefe abominations— read fuch rcfolution without indignation? Temperate and honefi dj/cujions I Why the cHkuflions of the Jacobins were doubtlefs once temperate ; their honefty is another queflion. But let us not be deceived by fmooth words at the outfet. Theie men demand that which they cannot have without pofTcfling the power of feizing our property and cutting our throats — they aflb- ciate and combine, in order to attain their end. ■■I!. 'ill' *. ^Ianc}leftjer HcxalJl, Auguft 18. \,c'^- iV^itj To '' %, ( 6« ) JTofupprefs at once, by vigorous and declfive mea- fares, fuch hot-beds of fedition and plunder, is the firft duty of parliament; refoiutions lefs offenfive than thcfe began the bulinefs in France; we have feen the event, temperate re/oluthns were the the- ory; plunder, rapine, and murder the praftice. Give us our rights, is an exprefllon which has Ibeen ufed with fingular enriphaHs ; the reply once proper, was an abftrad reafoning on the nature of lihofc righft : we have now fomething much furer Ito direft our judgments ; and can anfw^r with lllrift reference to the fadts that govern the quef« Ition, " you have your rights ; you arc in poffcf- Irion of every right that is confiilent with fafety to [the life and property of others j — to give you more Iwill endanger both,— to give you much more will linfallibly deftroy them, and eventually yourfelves. |You have, therefore, all your rights; for you lave all that are confident with your happinefs ; land thofe who alTociate to gain more, feek, by Imeans which they know to be the high road to Iconfufion, to feize what is not their right, at the lexpence of crimes Hrnilar to thoie that have de- Ifiroyed the firft kingdom of the world. ' ♦«' s 1 It is common to hear it alTerted in France, that Ithe ruin of the coniHtution, ellablilhed on the [Rights of Man, was owing only to the perfidy of the I'i- \ .1 1 .1 1 ".iK. ., i ( 6t ) the court, and not to thofe Rights ^ which is a| wretched fophiftry ; thefe men do not perceive thail that perfidy was a part of the conftitution which! included a court ; if courts can be per/idiouSj youl are to fuppofe they will be fo ; and if you have not! colour I the legil too ftroi let the C will not do not , Bdence i modifica at the h clefts, ai and ftiU fo provided as to turn that perfidy to the benefit( u f • of the ptople, you confcfs at once that your con- ftiiution is vifionary, and if you rtiuft deftroy it, THE EXPERIMENT FAILED. The fecond expeH menr, which is now in execution^ faib equally for there is no provifion whatever to" fecure tol the reprefentatives of the people the obedience ol the people; and we accordingly find, that all i)| anarchy, on their own Jacobin authority j in tht| firrt experiment there was no fecurity againft thi perfidy of a court i and in the fecond, none againill the violence of the people; to get rid of one evil they plunge into another, till, in the accumulatiool of oppofite mifchiefs, there is no better relief than! Marat's grand fpecific of cutting ofl?" 1 50,oooi^"°"* °' heads. In this argument, I take the Jacobiiil^^^*''^' ground of fuppofing the court perfidious; whichiP®"""^ * is an impudent lye, for a prifoner, deprived of hisi '°^' ^" ^ rights, cannot be perfidious. icountryn: J impudent Perhaps it will be faid the prefcnt experiment isl^?*^* to r not finiihed, and that when a better executivel P^°P^"y power is eftabliflied, things will go well; but thij|°' Bourh is abfolutely inadmiflible ; for the whole force and *" affcml colou J ^"ic^««, As to Ifyftem, i ( 63 ) which IS "IcQiour of Jacobin argunaenc in England is, that •rceive tnai|j|^g Irgiflativc power is too weak, and the executive tion whichHj^ ftrongj and that the remedy of this evil is to ^idious, yovi||jj jI,^. Connmons be rtally the rcprcfentativc of >u have "oflthc people: now this is the cafe in France — and the benefit ^^^^ j^ ^1^^ ^^jj p ^^y, precifcly, that the people your con : deftfoy it, md experi \\$ equally j" fecure to bedience oi , that all i! ritvi in the againft th none againft of one evi cumulation relief than ff 150,000 he Jacobiti 0U8i which irived of his sperimcnt r executive \; but this le force and colour will not obey the men chofen by themfelvesi— they do not love the Convention enough to have con- fidence in it i this is an incurable evil, which no modification of the executive can effcdl ; it ftrikes at the heart of perfonal reprefentation — the mob eleAs, and the mob does not know how to chufe, and ftill lefs to obey. III. As to equality, the laft fupport of the French fyftem, it is too farHcal and ridiculous to merit a ferious obfervation,— it is worthy only of Monfieur Egaliti! who has wafted three hundred thoufand pounds a year, in order to ftand on reco: ; Uie firft fool in Europe, and to give the better part of his countrymen occafion to call that afll nption great impudence; for he who was b.'bw all, could be equal to none. A genius, who facrificed the Hrft property of any fubjedt in Europe, and the name of Bourbon, to become the lubjed of debate in an alTembly of taylors, ftay-makers, barbers, and butchers, whether he (hould not be banifbed from : if 1 -fe i ( «4 ) from that c6untry which he had di(graced by his crimes! .:.-r ,,.- '- ■y.-^-: :,•;:; lii The equal right of all citizens to equal laws, was declared in the tirft conftitution : — Equality of right to equal juilice,— that in the law ail arc equal i — this equality was decreed by the Confti- tuent Aflfembly, and clearly afcertained to be the I law of the land s the new declaration of equality m*ift therefore mean fomething more, or it rneant| nothing; if equality of rights were only in con- templation, why call the year 1792 the firft year I of equality? the fourth of liberty, and firft of I equality ? A clearer proof cannot be defirtd, that the equality of 1792 was not the equality of 1789J let the writers and fpeakers who afTcrt the term in the two points to mean the fame thing, reconcilej the abfurdiiy if they are able. To the apprehen* henfion of common underfianding, property was| glanced at j — that the French populace fo under- flood it, there is abundant proof indeed, for pro* pofitions v;ere immediately made for the equal di* viHon of wealth, and received in a manner thatl left no doubt of the meafure being perfcdlly to| their taftej and ihefe propofitions have been car- ried into execution much more, than commonlyl admitted in England; the peafantry paying no taxes, while they force the'- richer neighbours to| pay to the laft Ihiiling, is dire^ly in point. But! ( 6i ) But the ciirfe of thcfe principles of equality is, that they never can allow tranquility to be the in- heritance of a people ; fuppofing it poffible for a country, infefted with luch dodtrines, to be well governed, fuch good government will infallibly generate wealth and inequality; and by confe- quence the neceffity of riew civil wars and confli- lion to reftore the equality, which would for ever tend to variation ; thus, under fuch fine-fpun prin- ciples, peace could never inhabit; tranquillity would be baniflicd, even by the merits, fuppoHng there were any, of the fyftem; and new arrange- ments of property mull be periodically made, at the caprice and tyranny of thofe who, poflTefling nothing, would look to confufion as their fupport, and to anarchy as their birth-right. Such have been the three leading principles of the French Revolution; perfonal reprelentatioo, the rights of man, and equality; and the queftion for us to decide upon (a greater queftion never was before a nation) is this : — (hall we imitate the ex- ample of France, and by tampering with that con- (litution to which wc owe all our profperity, ha- zard fb immenfe a ftake of happinefs? There are men to be found who demand this, and even focieties aflfociated to enforce ':$' m 14 e ll f. I*'.! '■- 'I Reform, m ( 66 ) Reform, .1 I '.. As the queftion has been difcuffed to faticty, the obfervations that follow (hall be brief:— it is not uncommon to hear the expreflion of reftoring the conftitution to its original purity, — Two words on this purity will not be entirely mifplaced. This is an cxprtflion we often meet with in the writings and fpeeches of men, who apparently are not very intimately acquainted with the date of reprefcnta- tion in former periods. It tends ftrongly to give an idea to the ignorant and unwary, that the coa- flitution has declined, and is at prefent in a worfc {late for the liberty of the people than it was in former periods ; and that the evils now complained of were not to be found in its practice or principles at times alluded to. There is no man acquainted with the hiftory of England who does not know that this is a grofs error, and that the circumftances now mod complained of, fuch as inequality of re- prefentation and burgage tenures, took place age* before the Revolution, and were eftablifhcd before we had any regular conflitution at all. Let us throw a rapid eye over a few inilances, which will be fufEcient to (hew, that there never was, even in idea, fuch a principle as equal reprefentation, and that as to the pradice, no reformer has yet been able to (hew its cxiftenre. Camdeo> ty, the is not ing the rds on This is vritings lOt very refcnta- to give he coa- a worfc t was in nplained rinciples [^uainted oc know Tjftanccs ty of rc- ace ages :d before Let us hich will ras, even entation, r has yec Camden> ( 67 ) Camden, who wrote in Queen Elizabeth's reign, (peaking of Dunwich, fays, tfoaf it lies in Jolitude and defoktion, Orford, he fays, was once popu- lous. At Eye, he finds nothing but the rubbijh of an old monaflery, and the ruins of a caflle. He fays of Caftle-Rifing, // is ruinated, and as it were expiring for age. Yet this place had its charter to fend members in the lad year of Philip and Mary; and Eye, in the 13th of Elizabeth. This looks very little like any attention to give places of con- fequence only that privilege. Camclford, in Corn- wall, he fays, is a little village, I^cftwithiel is a little town, and not at all populous. St. Germains, he calls a /mall village of nothing hut fifhermen*s huts, yet this charter was no older than Elizabeth* I have not time, at prefent, to fearch for the ftate of many burroughs in a former age, but thefe inftances are fufHcient to (hew, not only that the conftitution flood in this refpedb on as rotten a foundation in the reign of Elizabeth, as at prefenr, but that charters for fending members to the Houfe of Commons were aAually granted to places of no kind of confideration. To what period then are we to look for that ideal perfedlion in this part of the conftitution, which is not to be found in it at prefent ? Hiftorians are agreed as to the Parliament of i265» fummoned by a ufurper, being the origin Fa of ■■•if:. What nt by the ;raduaUy nd never the Re- principles , they arc ; to term ; pious or it is not s of com- rociations. ( 69 ) for fpreading difcontent— off-fets of fedition, who detail the parliamentary influence of the Earl of Lonfdale, Lords Elliot, Edgecumbr, &c. and who take great pains to (hew that a fmall number of voters, compared with the number of the people at large, eled the Houfe of Commons. Well j you ftate the faft ; but the faft fimply dated means nothing— leads to no conclufions. Have you pre- fumed to ftate what was the cafe 100 years ago— • 200 years— »30o years paft ? in order to Ihew that the people once pofifeffed fomething which they have now loft ? No : you know what would be the event of that inquiry, and therefore you are filent ! You ftate, that in the confticution of Eng- land 2600 perfons return 320 members. What then ? You might alfo have ftated, that in the fame conftitution the King rerurns the whole Houfe of Lords. You ftate a fa£t j but do you prove that fad an evil ? How are we to know whether it be really an evil or a benefit ? Are we to rely on our own experience for an anfwer, or fliali we icome to your theory for the decifion \ The quef- tion is in a nutftiell. We feel that we arc free under this conftiiution, that you want us to mend with French affiftance. We know that Englifli praflice is good — we know that French theory is bad. — What inducement have we, ihere- jfQre, to liften to your fpeculations, that condemn F 3 what i I ■\: \\ I.i V f . !■! •,.' ■ • . ■' i iU ( 70 ) what all England feels to be good— and approve what all France experiences to be mifchievous. The faft is, that the prefent conftitution of Eng- land was gradually extorted, fword in hand, frotn feudal fovcreigns, deriving their rights from the fword of a conqueror : nobly extorted -, but de- rived from no other right. It is now legally efta- blifhed, and has the fandion of ages to give ir the veneration that, with wife men, belongs to antient eftabliftiments ; and thofe perfons who de- mand the conftitution of feme preceding age (which they ought to demand, when they fpeak of I purity, greater than that of the prefent age), as a fyll^em better than what wc enjoy, are bound to name the period, when the liberty of the fubjedl was in theory better defined, or in practice better { protected. There is indeed a period to which our reforniers| allude with lingular pleaiure, and which is in theirj contemplation oftener than they name it$— 'the re* public in the middle of the lad century ; therel wab the purity admired by fo many ; a period thati bore lome icfeinblance to the prefent in France,! The parliament which mer in 1640, are termedl by a female hiltorian, <* Patriots, whofe number, virtues, and abilities, were greater than had even ■ V ........ j^^^ I':- ipprove ous. of Eng- id, frotn from the but dc- ally cfta- give k dongs to i who de- ding age f fpeak of age), as a bound to he fubjefl tice better reformcrsl is in theirj J — the re- ury i thcrcl period that! in France.! are termedl fc nunnber, in had evci| been ( 7' ) been convened in any age or country." If fiich men were guilty of enormities and tyranny, ic muft arife from the ficuation, and not from the peculiar ftrufture of their bofoms. Two words will dif- patch their actions: they palTed a triennial bill, and fat thcmfclves 13 years. They quarrelled with the King for levying 200,oool. a year illegally, and in five years they raifed, by their own fingle authority, forty millions, fully equal to one hundred millions at prefcnt. — They were accufed by one of their own party of dividing 300,000!. among their own members — An acculation highly probable, when it is upon record, that in the afTefT- ments of thofe infinite burthens they laid on the people, their own members were exempted, fo as to be taxed only by one another — They inftituted country committees, with power to fine, fcquefter^ imprifon, and corporally punifh, without appeal, and without law— They put an imprimatur on the prefs —and they abolilht-d the trial by jury againfl: their own accufations — They preffed men into their ar- mies, and then pafTed ordinances for punifhing them if they ran away — The King and Parliamenc had never yet fixed an excife on bread, flefh, and every confumablc commodity j but the Parliament alone did it without cumpundion. If this manual of tyranny is good, we Ihould do wifely to repeat it. The whole ended, as might have been fore- feen, in a pure defpotifm, as the prefent copy of it will do in France. F 4 Three "i ^■:W -m «!■ . ( 7» ) There cannot be a more ferious, or a more awful fubjeft for Parliamcnc to enter upon, than rhat of any alterations in the conftitgtion : that there could not be a better one, nobody will afTert ; it may be poflible, that a nation might enjoy tht fame blt^fT- ings at a lefs expence ; but to give us a change, un- der the name of an improvewenty is a dangerous experiment. What is called a real reprefentation of the people (that is, an equal reprefentation) and biennial Parliaments, would certainly be a great change ; property now has the power of this realm; and under fuch a change, population would have the power; in for.e governments of America this is the cafe j but America has no indigent poor, or at leaft very few, arifing from plenty of land; thus America is no example applicable to us. We fee very exaftly in France, what is the cafe of an in- digent poor polfcffcd of power. So great a change as taking the government of the kingdom from property, and giving it to population, is not r^- ftoring principles of purity, but eftablifhing new ones, an abfolutely uncried experiment any where but in France. If it is once admitted that pro- perty ought to pofffb the power, it is of very little confequence whether the election is by burgage tenures or any other mode, as the men of the greateft property will find themfclvcs in the houlej and as to the Crown, Qrford and Harwich fhew that it is as likely to lofe a borough as to gain pne. The queftion, however, is of fuch ipiportancc, that ( 73 ) that reafoning ought not to be admitted ; the fact is, that property poflcfles the preponderancy of power at prefcnt in the Houfe of Commons j the changes propofrd, all tend co remove it from pro- perty to popuUtton i this is not a reftorattott, but an abfolute novelty. ' <; li There are men pretending to be moderate, who argue for, and are ready to declare their approba- tion of the Englif}) conftitution, as fixed in King, Lords, and Commons, confiaering the Commons as the reprcfcntatiyes of the people i and they con- tend that as the Commons do purport to be a reprefentation of the people, they wi(h for no other alteration in the government than to makp that Houfe really that which it purports to be. This is the moft rational ground that any reformer can take, becaufe h( re is a femblance of propriety. Very few words will be necelfary to (hew from fa^s that it is only a femblance. I contend in reply, that it is mere theory to fup- pofe that the Houfe of Commons purports to be the reprefenratives of the people, if by reprefenta- tion is meant choke. Being once chofen by the few, they reprefcnt the many *. They purport to • " Every member of the BritiOi parliament, though chofen by one particular didrifl, when elc^ed and returned, ferve» for the ' whole % :l!' ( 74 ) be nothing more than what they are : and they are nothing more than this— men fitting in a fenate, and forming a third branch of the legiflature, chofen by certain bodies, who, by the confticution, have the privilege of electing them. They may be accurately defcribed without ufing the word, or referring to the idea of reprefentation. To call them the reprefentatives of the people, is a very inaccurate mode of expreflion j they ought never to be called by any other name than the Houfe of Commons, to diftinguifh them from the Houfe of Lords. If they were really the reprefentatives of the people^ they might in theory be good, or better; but they would be fomething elfe than what th^ are, and confequently different from that which has rendered us a great, a free, and a happy nation. I I But there is not the leaft reafon to think that they were ever deemed the reprefentatives of the people; certainly not the Knights for the 40s* qualification of eledors, the value of money con- fidcred, was nearer 40I. of prefent money. The notion of reprefentation and delegation of rights and privileges from the electors, has vitiated and whole realm. For the end of his coining thither is not particular, but general; not barely to advantage his conftituents, but the commonwealth, and to advife his Majefty, as appears from the yij\t of fummonai.'* • ' Wrned ! i-'''fiii ( 7J ) turned to confufion fo many ideas on the fubjcft, becaufe writers and pailiamencs thcmfelves, ro fuit the purpofes of a momeni, have thought it for their intercft to be cP.eeiiKd fi>meihing different than what they really are. The el lors of mem- bers of parliament do not delegate powers, nor entruft privileges, if, by delegation, is rreant the tranbfer of fomething puff ffcd by thofc who de- pute; for the elcflars have neither thofe powers nor thofe privileges, and therefore cannot delegate them. But the members when elefted, and in combination with the other branches of the legif- lature, affume, and pofftfs, and give themfelves Aich powers and privileges, which thofe did not pofTefs who fent them. Hence, then, the fepten- qial adtwas juft as conftitutional as the biennial. fc".' ..I But, on the other hand, fgppofe a nation in any period of confuHon or anarchy of all condituted powers, ihould, by univerfal confcnt and fuffrage, cleft a convention or parliament, for the purpofe of declaring what in future (hall be the National JVill't here you have palpably all the ideas of re- prefentation realized, and fuch deputies ought to fpeak the direct voice of the people, but fuch a republic (for it could be nothing elfe), is a govern- ment as diftinft from that of England as Algiers is ; and our Houfe of Commons has not the fmalleH: refemblance with fuch an affembly in its origin, its progrcfs. I- 'i'l 'XU ^."tf fljl y 'i^- ( 7« ) - progrefs, or its fundlions. It is not ncccflary to chara6lci ifc fuch a government, the cafe of France is dircdlly in point. If the Houfc of Comnnons were fuch reprefcn- tatives, and renewed in fhort parliamenrs, they would be guided by lu^ paflions, folly, and mad- nefs of the people j wc fee in France what that leads to : at prefent they are guided by their own wifdom. But they are corrupt and bribed. If they are bribed in order to afb wifely it is an argunnent directly againft you, and tends to prove that there is fornething on the verge of d.^nger in all nunne- rous affemblies, which, if not controuled by prero- gative or influence, would hazard the public peace. Wc know, on experience, that they do aft wifely, for nothing but a wife governnr.ent can make a happy people. If the nature of fuch an affembly demands to be corrupted, in order to purfue the public good, who but a vifionary can wiih to re- move corruption ? Government certainly would have been carried on cheaper if honefty alone had induced our Houfe of Commons to a£): as it is faid corruption has induced them ; but if the vices of mankind can, by a well poifed conftitution, be made to contribute to their good government, would it not be infanity to change the fyftem, and imitate the French, who depend only on their virtues ? Examine i'' ( 77 ) Examine the Houfe of Commons in whatever light you will, and it will be found to polTefs in the power of the purfc fo enormous an authority, that the other branches of the Icgiflature are abfolulcly at its mercy : what prevents it from fwallowing them up ? Is it good to prevent it ? Is it ncccl- fary even for the liberty of the people? If it is neceflary, how beft done ? Would the beft way of cfFcfting it be popular rcprefcntation and fhorc parliaments, a fydem in which all corruption, or even influence, would be impoflible? The obvi- ous reply finifhes the chain of reafoning from fadt, and proves the utter abfurdity of fuch propofitions. But grant for a moment the expedience of the ex- perimentj and fuppofe that you have fuch a Houfe of Commons, on what will you then depend ? On their moderation and virtue -, but this moderation and virtue have not been tried. If the theory of what moderation may do, and the fpeculation of what virtue may eflTcft, are as juft grounds to build on as fa£t and experiment ; in fuch cafe I am ready to agree, that we may, without impropriety, ex- change the poffitive poffefTion of what we enjoy at prefent, for the hope and expedation of fomething better; and to ^fix here, you have only to prove that theory is as fatisfaftory as praftice. To which fine inquiry I leave you as one fairly on a par with the philofophy of France. ^ I '; Still \ f t I l':ij ( 78 ) Still the advocates for a reform return to the charge, and afTert, that Parliament, as eledled at prefcnt, does not fpeak the will of the people, and that a Houfe of Commons ought to fpeak that will. The argument is a good one for thofe who relilh theory. But I contend on the contrary line of faft, that the profpcrity and happinefs we have enjoyed for a century, and never (o great as at pre- fent, is owing precifely to the Houfc of Commons NOT fpeaking the will of the people j and I am founded in the fa£t fo notorious to all the world, that fuch profperity has grown to its prefent height under the influence of a Houfc elefted not by per- fons, but by property. If a parliament fpeaking therefore the voice mi of the people^ has made us what we are, and if National Afiemblies fpeaking the voice of the people, have brought France to her prefent fituation, I have a double experiment to fupport me in the afTertion, that reforming or changing the conftitution of our Houfe of Com- mons, fo as to make it fpeak fome new voice, un"" tried in this kingdom, would be a procedure on theory, and worthy of theorifts only. If corruption and influence have given a century of happinefs to this kingdom, and if purity and patriotifm can in four years {o completely ruin an empire, as they have ruined our neighbour, 1 beg for for one and by of our £ rity in t by equi uncorru] bloodlhc ries dcci A woi ofperfon the peop Idemonftr Ichofen ii principle! the peop \^ood the fyftem ol Mingle inf which th( minority, I before th [in defianc tions givi Mid this H gallery, a jchair of tl pals of tl [monarchy to the acd at >le, and ak that )re who ary line we have s at pre- onnmons nd I am e world. It height t by per- fpcaking made us , fpcaking ^rancc to Dcriment jrming or of Com- oice, un*^ edure on a century urity and ruin an lur. 1 beg for ( 79 ) for one that the vices of England nnay govern met and by no means the virtues of France ; the vices, of our government have wealth, eafe, and profpe- . rity in their train ; the virtues of theirs operating by equal reprefentation, biennial eledtions, and uncorrupt majorities, have brought with them blood(hed, anarchy, and ruin. The contraft car- ries decifion in the front. A word, however, might be faid on the point of perfonal reprefentation rendering the real will of i the people fupreme. The futility of the idea is Idemonftrated in the condufb of the AfTemblies fo Ichofen in France; their Brft merit on Jacobin principles is that of fpeaking the fbvereign will of the people, by which expreffion is always under- ilood the majority: but fo truely abominable is this fyftem of government, that there has not been a fingle inftance of great and marked importance, in which the minority, and commonly a very fmali minority, has not, by means of terror, carried all before them. The Conftituent Affcmbly a£tcd, lin defiance of their cahiers, which were the indruc- tions given them by their confliituents ; and they Idid this with a mob raging at their doors, in their igallery, and even on their benches, and in the Ichair of their prefident. I mean in the fundamen- Itals of the conftitution, fuch as maintaining the |monarchy, &c. ; in many fecondary objedlsof im* portancejj V. ti V. '. , . -3. ( 80 ) Jiortance, the Conftituent Aflembly obeyed their cahiers, as I have (hrwn in another place. What that A (Tennbly did that was good, is however of the leaft poffible confequrnce, for the plaineft of all reafons ; they formed, at the fame time, a con- ftituti n that could not lupport itfelf, and confe- qucniiy the good things th' y did were committed to the winds. Whatever has appeared refpedlable in reprefentation in France, was in that firft Af- fembly; the fccond was mobj and for the third the kennels were fwept. The fecondj at one Jftroke, knocked down all that was built by the firft. It remains yet to be feen whether the third will not do the fanr-.e by the fccond i every ftep they have hitheito taken has been a page from the code of anarchy. The National Affembly adtedj under the dominion of the pikes of Paris, wit- nefs that memorable vote confecratcd to eternal I infamy, when 280 voices having driven, by me- naces and blood, and maflacre, the majority to| abfence or filence, dethroned the King, and abo- lilhed tne conftituilon, which all France had Twornl to live and die with. The Convention, which hasi aflcmbled fincc, have exhibited the fame fpedtacle ; have been inceflanily bullied by the mob in thcl galleries j have voted with a pike at their throats,! and exitied in the hourly expedtation of being allow- to exift no I'm^ci i murdered their prince by al majority of Jive voiccb, though their law required] three- thrcftif pronou the nne confutr of the France that wa cerely \ A great world i- to com{ a proted not an i the ignc fuafion, for the r this grc! and oug human monfter, human c atliciftici for holdi that the bounds THE S he dcftr told hinn hcfougl: ;yed their ;. What owever of Dlaineft of ne, a con* ,nd confe- :ommitted •efpeftable c firft Af- the third \j at one lilt by the r the third every ftep je from the mbly afted Paris, wit- to eternal !n, by me- najority to , and abo* ; had Tworn which has efpeftaclei nob in the leir throats, )cing allow* >rince by a iw required three* ( «* ) three^fourtbs at' leaft for declaring guilty or for pronouncing detfch ) and the majority obtained by the menaces of the afTafllns paid by Egalite, The confufinmation of political infamy ! The murder of the beft prince that ever fat upon the throne of France : the only monarch thiic country ever knew^ that was a real friend to liberty, or that ever finr cerely wilhed to render his people truely happy. A great and awful lefTon tor'all the princes of the world;— not a ieffon teaching mildnefs; attention to complaints ; an ear to the friends of innovation -, a protection of arts, and literature, and philofophy j not an inftruftion to enlighten ; not a call to teach the ignorant ; not a wi(h to foften power into per- fuafion, or to change the ftern didfcates of authority for the mild voice of humanity and feeling. NO : this great abomination demands other fentirnents $ and ought to generate (for the real feliciry of the human race) a tighter rein in the jaws of that monfter, the word and mod hideous ca^^catufc of human depravity, the metaphyfical, phibfophical^ atheiftical. Jacobin republican j— abhorred for ever, for holding out to all the fovcreigi^s of the earth, that the only prince who ever voluntarily placed bounds to his own power,— DIED FOR IT ON THE SCAFFOLD, and ruined his people while he dcftroyed himfclf. He gave ear to thofe who told him of abufes ; he wifhed to fafe his people ; he fought popularity j he allowed the liberty of the G prcfs, m C '1 ■ , I ( «4 ) pre(s, and would notreftrath eVca its licenttoufQcfs ; he cheriflied the arts, to' produce a David« and Dourilhed, m.the boibm of protend fci€«€ir» a Condorcet * j he would not Ihed the blood oC trai- tors, confpirators, and rebels f ; he liftened to thofe who petitioned for a R£FORM.-^Ws also have thofe who demand a R£FORM,-^and when the legidature of this kindono, unwarned by this great example, (hall liOen to the doctrines that, have drenched France with blood, we alfo may fee fpec- tades too horrid now to think of; did not die late tragedy tell us, that no iniquity is too black for republican reformation. • ^ * »• ^ •- ^'ini ts. i.-M 1.:. This damned event, deep written in the cha- rafters of hell, has thrown a ftupor over man- kind : when the princes and legidators of the world recover from it> the obfervation of Machia* * That is to fay^ the virtuous meritorious charafler* of whom wt have peers who have publickly declared themfblves pretul tf bis torrejfondinet. Let thote whp would wiih to know hinv welly read bis character in La Mttbrit JoUrHol Phji^ut, and the memoirs of the aflaiii nation of the Duke de la Kochefoucauld. i ' ■ ' f And this himianity called on his memory the abostiinably un* iieeling |remark« which I have fomewhere read, in the regifter, I fu|>pofe» of fome night cellar, that the phyficsl fain bt Juftrtd in bu txtaUioH nvaf Itfs ibeti thf fimu iornUnts tf LaFt^ttU* pid the vmocem Louis declare that infumffieat by which they both fell, to be tie mofi pured of duties f And are the children of the author of that ficntiment clinging to the knees of » father leading to cxe* cution ? The nor? Jicobinirm we read, the morf amiable it apptws. vclli ioufoefs; md^ and d ^tm" i CO ih6fe LLSo have when the thifi great that, have ^ fee fpec- dt die late black for I the cha- >ver man- rs of the f Machia- [tVt of whom t prottd tf bis I inv vrallf read le memoirs of I I, ,t lominably un* he regifter, 1 1 Juftrtd in bu tut* P'iA the r both fell, to of the author | sading to exe- rt' amiiable it vclli ( 83 ) velli> will not probably be forgotten: Percbe con pocbiffimi effempi/arai piU pietofo, che quelli H quali per troppa pieti Ufeiano Jeguire i di/QrJip onde nafr cbino Qccifiom rapine, , | . > It is well enough amongft men who never fee a remote caufe, when an immediate one is before ^hem, to attribute this deep (lain in human annals^ to the butchers who are in the Convention ; in like manner the ambition of Cromwell was the diredt caufe of the death of Charles I. : but thefe are not the firft caufes $ they are rather the natural refulc of preceding events. It is not Roberfpiere and Egalite that have murdered Louis, it was Neckar with his double tiers; it is PERSONAL REPRE- SENTATION to which this horrible crime, pre- ceded (and whiqh will be followed) by fo many Others, is alone to be attributed. And (hould ever ilmilar deeds again blot the national character of this kingdom, it is not the wretches who fhall i^orm jEorn^ diftant convention oi anarchy, to whom the mifchief (hould be attributed,but to our reformers; to our Jacobin advocates for improving our reprefcr** ^tion ; for doing that here which has deluged France in her bed blood. Such is perfonal reprefentation $ fuch is the fovereign will of a mob ; fuch is the ma- jefty of the people ; fuch is liberty, when founded on Equality and Rights of Man ! Reprefentation deftroys itfelf; and generates, with infallible cer- , , f ; ^ '^ tainty. •i 5 ' I i'. •( »4 ) taintyj dn oligarchy of itiobbifh demagogues^ till, of all other voices, that leaft heard is the real will of the people': 280 Voices declare the will of 745 in the legiflature; and 11,000 voices in Paris are the organ of 1 50,000 voters 1 ! \ Bad as you may make rotten boroughs, are tHey as bad as this? Of what is the prefent Convention of Francie compofed ? Of the lowed, pooreft, moft "profli- gate, and moft wofthlcfs of the pebple-^-of the fcum of gaols, of their gallies, and of our hulks —of robbers and cut thrOats, \vithout chif^fter, without fortune, without: a hope under any fyftcm but that of anarchy-^and of perfons of a defcrip- tidn not'qtiite To loW, but of charaders, if pofliblc, more bUfted than thofe of butchers or taylors can be. What IS Condorcer, Paine, Briffot, Rab- beau ! ! ! What are they but men who prove, that foitie education, Tome knowledge, fome ta- lents, are neceffary to fink mankind into its lowcft and bafcft ftate of depreflion and guilt? Who can doubt of our having men of all thefe defcrip- tions in England ? Some have been fedulous to regilter their names on the tablets of that Conven- tiuFi— Ennpty cui gaols — ftop the (hips that arc failing to Botany Bay— and who can queftion that, with the affiftance of our reforming focietics, we could form a Britifli Convention, that might rival in merit the Aflcmbly at Paris ? Men in fufficitnc numbers m ■n ( «j ) numbers might be found, and of fufficient po- verty,, who would confider a feat in a National Convention of England, with boundlefs power to rob and murder, as the confummation of human happihefs. Can such men be friends to the PRESENT WAR? No; aflu redly. It blots their profpeft's— it brings perdition to their hopes. Pow- erfully^ as they are inft'igated to deprecate a war— juft'iri that degree are all honeft men, the friends of law and order, bound to blefs the wifdom of government, that has awakened to the dangers that threatened us, and taken the effedual means of WAR to fectfre^to bs our houfcs, our properties and eftates, our laws, our religion, and our lives. A war in fuch a caufe, founded in fuch motives, was never before a (jueftion in Britain. Will you have a municipality in your hall, and a pike in your bofom, with what (ome men call peace? or will you keep French aiTafTins at a didance, and Englifh Jacobins amenable to Englifh law, by a WAR? To return from this digrellion— the abfolute nonfenfe of all that Paine fays on the diftindl natures of a conditution and a govtrnm.enr, ap- plied not to a fcedcration of independent repub- lics as America^ but confounded, as he confounds it with the new conftitution of France, was go* rioufly exemplified in the National Aflembly, Iwhich was the government) dtftroying the confti- Q 3 tutionj t 1 :■ \ I •>'' , ] M ! '> y.Ct ( 86 ) , t .« ^^ .1,1 -^ ' .u I J . „ tution; demanding of the people (thi^t is of anar^ chy) to make a new one. Here the (slO: clearly is^ that an equal reprefentation, /ttting in one beufe^ and in a great city, bad Jbe power to deftroy a eonjiitur tion eftablijhed and /worn to by all France % and the conclufion is, that lee the next conftitution be what may, it. will be equally in the power of the go* vernmenc of the day aflemblin^ at Paris, tc d ftroy thatalfo. , , ,.,,, ,, ^ , ^rd M«t< An argument I have heard much urged is this^— that fomething ihould be granted to moderate men, in order to (eparate them from the republican party. It is urged that the obftinacy of the l^gif* lature granting nothing, drives moderate men to afTociate with others not equally moderate in their views i but if a temperate refofm were to be effected, or even commenced by the legiflature, all who are at prefent with reaibn difcontented, would be de- tached from the reformers, and the violent party would (ink for want of notice. In replying to this common objeftion, I do not mean to alTerr, that all innovation Ihould always be rejected % I would only bring to the recolledion of moderate men, certain circumftancet which it is fair to weigh. * ' ' The '} < 87 ) The clubSj aflbciations, and focietieSj who af- femble ' wich views of enforcing refbrnnatian, on certain plans projefled by various writers, fome moderate, fome violent, have publifhed repeatedly to the world the principles on which they would found the nsitional freedonn, and the multifarious changes they would make in the conftitution; thcfe very generally go to great lengths. W hile imaginations are heated by the example of France i white the moft unlimited panegyric is profuiely lavifhed on the Revolution; while the demands made are of a nature that thi eaten the entire ovcr^ throw of our government; while chofe Rights of Man, which have deluged France in blood, are openly profefTed as leading principles in the im- provements called for here, it may furely be ad* micted in candour, as a'&ir reply to fhe mode- rate,— that to give a li:tle, when a great deal is demanded, does not feem the way to quiet cla- mour; and when, by a thoufand publications and refolutions, it is declared, that Personal Repre- sentation is the panacea for all our evils (though under a hundred various names), and demanded even with threats and menacts, it muft be pal- pable to every confiderate man, that fmall coii- ceflions to fatisfy the moderate would btr loft in the agitation of the moment,— defpifed as the cdri- ceflions of timidity, wrefted from fear, not granted by convi^ion. They would be made a vantage G 4 ground m i } < I 'V •/■.•,|!l ( 88 ) ground for new demands; and clamour, Jnftead of being filenced, would vociferate with renewed vigour. / ?r. .'■' iiaiTj M 'f^" : All demands, therefore, that come under the theory or praAice of perfonal reprefentation, ihould be refifted on principle with firmneis, , and a de- termined refolution never to take that firft ftep to anarchy, contuiion, bloodflied, and Jacobinifm, which, in one word, fums up all that is atro- cious in politiciaL depravity. This ought to be contidered as the only line of demarcation clearly defined, that fep^rates moderation of fentiments from infanity of innovation. , ..^ ,| ,; „ j "-;v .. ' . ■ '- f .•^r ..). « When the right," fays Paine, " to make a conftituttGn is eftablifhed in a nation^ there is no fear that it will be employed to its own injury. A nation can have no intereft in being wrong." But here, as in every page of his work, the prac- tice of France is the reply to the theory of his feciition. That kingdom ejlabli/hed fuch right.; and what was the confequeice ? Why i^t proved no more than the right to cut her own thrpat, ...It was employed to much more than her injury,^ for it was employed to her utter deftruAion. That a narion can have no intereft in being wrong, is a trueifm; but in contradiction to her own iiitereft, ihe chofe never to be right. What is the. force fwjrn^.'-: and ■ "t K, m ( 89 ) AnCi worth of fuch a writer's eternal firings of af- fertion, wheo birought to the teft of French ex- perimcntl: ,..,,,„.., .. .-.. k.' ,-.,1 ...,,. .The principle of our conftitut un is the rcprc- fentation ol property ^ imperft h in theory, but efficiently in pr^dlice ; by mea apparent de- ileAs, but whic.hi iperhapsy are difguiicd merits, ^he great mafs of property, both landed, monied, and commercial, finds itfelf reprefented ; and that the evils of fuch reprefentation are trivial, will ap- pear from the cafe, happinefs^ and fecurity of all the lower claifes, hence pofTibly virtual repre- fentation takes place, even where the real feems n^pft repiote.^ j:/. ..-.j-ijij:, ■< ...^ •■ .V •I :^'^' If virtual reprefentation is good, would not real reprefentation be better? — No, replies experi- ment; it has been tried in France, and failed en- tirely ; real perfonal reprefentation is not a people well governed, but the government of the people ; that is to fay, anarchy and ruin. If parliament afts from ^the immediate impulfe of the people, and it can adt no otherwife with perfonal reprefen- tation, the wifdom of the community is governed by the folly of it. While experience gives the living and energicfanflion to this principle, in the cleareft and mpfl unqueftioned profperiry that any nation cvcji; y<[t(, enjoyed) would it not be infanjty IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ■^ 1^ 12.2 ^ 116 K £f »£ 12.0 lit 1.1 l.-^l 1.8 i.25 II 1.4 III 1.6 ^ 6" ► ^ > . Photographic Sdences Corporation -.^:; ^ 4^ \ <^ 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR,N.Y. 14SM (716)172-4503 • -.i y, - {. id ri^ tliis fi^ir^fhheritance, thi^ rich poffeBkHH^ th tht dnide dedti£iion^ 6f new theories i6nt chahge iriii€r»>ba iii a go^ I a gmt lave beeli from the this mo- they ap- he annihi- ly they rc- under the tn are in* Does not thele poli- [lerace and nderftand- g (hort of iKould they rite, under \ie deftruc- :e, as the 7 glory in r French !«i^'-l' %'. •'■>. : ^ f'rench ^vents», effefked as they have been by pi-o- fcriptibhs ahq nia04cre ? iTou wantonly tempe- rate reforrrt.-^! w'lJl tell you what you want, by the CQmpany yod.keep;— >if you iire a party in af- fociationsy you want that for which thoife aflfoci. ations cprnbiQe tTT-if you call for peribnal t'epre- fencation, you cail for that "which perfonal reprc- fentation lias given to France i-i-if ybii dieqaand a popular Afiembiy, fubjedtecl to popular pHrenzy, y;du demand the ef^e^s which fuch an Afteiijbly produced with our neighbours. Vou would c6 only certain lengths— >but you herd with thbie, and give them your countenance who you know WbuM puiji events nfiucfi further; have we nor> therefore^ reaJTqn forjudging dire^ly from your aftiohs, that you m/fan.m9rc than you think political to, avow, ,, It is curious to remark the conduit of certain men, calling themfelves moderate, who make the tour of reforming focieties, but quit them when they go too far. There are fuch now clamorous amongft the Friends of the People, who have ftruck their names ojJt of the Conftitutional Society, as they found their views too bold : this is the exa^ mi« niature of a Revolution ; the firH inftigators want, |)erhaps, a moderate reform of abufes, and when their companions drive at more, they feparate ; but fuch companions do not ftop their purfuit for want of moderate men, who, by theiV countenance, brought %■:. brought the ill-defigning into consequence, ^xA i( is then no longer in their power, to ftipprels them. Thus the Confiitutiiinal SocUty^ i^^^ by tbe rcfpedable, were not therefore 'filent, but at the bar of tbe Convipntion of France, ' hail the coming Convention pj^ England :" theie hien will do the fannc with' the /w«i/j of' 'the people:' when they have nurfed up rnifchievous tneh ti^to a fo- ciety of importance, tKey will be'driyien out if they refufe to go all lengtW, and wi)rfind that the only refu^, of their, niodierate viiews^ has, been to pro- linote and bring, into eiHcacy the, iniiiiodcfrate de- fiens of thofe who think our coniHtution the tetn- pie pf Dagon, and tha^t to level \i in the duft is a duty, in order that out df its ruins ipay arife the " heavenly form" and " ddightful vii5oh" of a French Convention.' 'What is thb COhdliifion ?— That the firft lines of difcoment are in fa£t the moft dangei:ous: that moderate re&riti, or any reform at all, on principle, is a fure ^t^ to all thai followed reforn- France; jacobinifm, anarchy^ and blood, " , ;'»Ar^^.^:il^T "^J; « '■>>5A*-t'. ^-. If any attempts, at To perilous a feaibn, to re- form the conftitution, muft be attended with fuch tinqueilionable danger, reafoning as we may juftly do on the experiment of France; it will follow, that EVERY INTEREST in this kingdom is bound to refill:^ with ^he utmoft folicitude, fuch mif- , ' ' ' ' * chievous chieit>iii our'neij with uni THi and mol quality direftly Francci cftates f( their m\ either tt\ almeft ir fhew, th the 'kin{ have not paid deia violent a fquent ( old gove itbecon ^znew are not : treatmer out-vote at marki dered by our Eng ill at nee, s^nd it preis them. (|uitt^d by eiit, b'iit at Cf ' nail the 6 hieh will ople:' yihta ti^to a fo- i out if they lat the only »ecn to pro- odcirate de> on the tem- :he duft is a ay ariie the fion" of a icliifidn ?— in faA the titif or any ^ to all thai n, anarchy^ 1 V. j'oj il^O' lion, ip rc- i with fuch ! may juftly will follow, kingdom is c, fuch mif- chievous chie^ou» projeAs, the execution of which, amdogff our neighbours^ has deluged a great kingdom with univcrftil hiiiB*^ *^'' i-i-i-i"-': *-«■!. i.*" i^»i: ;;.,;«3;.*u>Lf'.{3a £i;**J fi'::-;ii. oH- ■» ar^nsvi '"to- •vhnv;ri THE liANDED INTEREST is immediately and moft efi^ntially eoncerfted i for the poifon of quality in principle^ and in-Fttnchpra^ite, tends dit«£Hy to ^heir ruin: the faite of landlords, in France, is too well known to want repetition; their cftates feizedj their chateaus plundered and burnt; their wives^ ahd dinighters violated $ and themfelves either itiurdered or driven into exile ; and this to an almeft incredible extent. ' I have feen details which (hew, that the landed property of more than half the 'kingdom has changed hands. The farmers have not nnuch more to boaft of, for they have paid deiarly for their exemption from tithes in the violent attacks made on the (ize of farms and con- fquent diviiion ; the hard filver which, under the old government, was the price of their produfts, li become paper depreciated to half its value under fhtnewi and even this wretched fubftitute they are not allowed to receive at a fair market; their treatment in this refpeft has been already detailed : out-voted, and confequently cheated in taxation : at market plundered by the mob : at home plun> dered by the military. Are thefe fadb^ to ^ake our Englifh yeonnanry and farmers wifli to try rheir flcill at mending the confticution ? Are thcf cal- '^^--■r;'- ■■'-' ^" ■ --'.>■ culatcd M ^ SI 4' :; ■m A-. -I , - - H I) If?""'"'" •. .- i ' ■ li i; i 5* :) taiAnlt/fdtQ gift 11$ «Q]r ^!pf^fyr;^\^ ^ur ^9^1|»^s .iiQtp^^ggjersP Who would recoHvneod ypi^ to x|i^gf ]i(9i;fCj^l« for the fabres of a <;pn)p^ny .qf patrfpc q^^ra^tors! Qentlemen who hf^tf^ (he^fi t^onnf(^iVies^^ee^f)gl)f adroit in (tPt^ing down /^dds pf Fcqndt ^qcp. ){ w'tfk you to inake .experiments ip, huj[b;a^drjr, b do, not let them bepf this pppnplcitipn: ,fl9 not l other men> and eipeqia^ly.f^fpr^iersA.P^a}^ ^99^^'^' inents pn yoi|r prope^ya typur breatp,,^ yyoi biopdi three objicif^s upon which fo^ny «^ .pi^ei^ts have been trjed in |*!ra|)Ge,-afid w^ hi^c U tliftt thef^ccefs has no^ibc^njluch as gi|v«s y^ re .{on to try ourhands /at tb^fj^ape worljL;: jfpr, in oi wordj their property i^ ;gpnei for \>rfsi4 .^Y ih^ the bark of ueef ; ,and as toblpodj itis t]>e,oii: qcuiiure the (^el(^s. of France hy ^j gives vs r<> ^/r jfer, in 01) it is t}>e,onl] prefently coi fly jyith it qfiains fpcvrc! |iis property .^l|^ has n powe '^'' { 95 > "■"■ ' ^owfer of moyeqieat, but fnuft abide the beadng of -die Aorm, be^it pifcilefs iS u may. — Tohim* therefbre, the new fimgled do^^rines of equity ought to appear in all their native defbrdnity { for they are doArines that tend dirt&ly to his dieflruc* tiont and from whofe peftilential influence he ainnot, like others, .B^. :'''rm6'xiii'r^tK^tio\h^ »- it THE MONIED INTEREST* in moments of convulfion, have fome advantages from the more portable nature of their wealth, bm the warn- ing of France may inf^ru6t, that nothing can efcape the depredations flowing from the Rights of Man. Their nation.^? debt, amounting to 300 million^ fterling, has been treated not altogether with the delicacy fbewn tb the public creditors of England, for every fort of bankruptcy, but a nominal and declared one has been committed ; and the intered on funds and mortgages paid, has been in aflig- nats: if a man Tells flock, he receives afTij^nats; and though aflSgnats are portable, what is their vdue on the exchange of London, or the Stadt- houfe at Amfterdam*?«»Of ninety millions der- ling y- '-'^'J:;: i. f ■:f:,.m r<^{.) i-^, unv* * The tftonifliing and daily coinage of aflignats, by the Con- vention, mut^ have effedi which they do not feem clearly to forefeei from their readinefs to iflue paper, it Ibould feepi Ibit they expe^ a poiCble continuance of the fame facility, but in this they will certainly find themfelvea deceived. The amount Mil jnuch-exccfdi what it knowq* The number of . ^ o . , ..:'■ •. " ■■.;. forgtta in TH I ^^ il '' I 4. i i':i ', f1 ( ^s ) ling of former currenqr, eightatff-twefltieiihs hive difappeared. The monied men' ha^Cji> chercfore^ loil (lock and calh} the want of credit, has &IU lowed i (o, without funds, credit, or cafli,' and no- thing feen in the ioimenie vacuity but aiTigniati, the monied intereft of France mods flourilh nnur«> ▼elloufly. Is there any thing in thii pidurertbat ihould make the monied intcreft of England fond of revolutions ? i>« i I X.!:iii/';0.v; IMT Unite thele xircumftances with (Ke l^Qtril?le. 4?^- - > . k ^ ft W4 ». . lO forgers of falfe alTignats now in their gfoU proves this ra^ } bjit the great deluge is not by men within tlie?rpowi/iJl' "t^e f'i^m^, thebukeof Brunfwickt and all the encmiesiif Frajicf) iiicii^iy place they came to, left in circuUtioii ii^p^epfe^ auantjiiei^t'a|^ what is (till worle, their own AicceiTet in Flanders, arid on the Khine, had the fanne elFeJl j he town was taken mat was not #tll provided t though -depreeiatedj this^ cariiMcyijHatfe gotid pSkOsibc for foldicrst who w^ere hafidjy .^^the irouVlef of^, pUiodcfin^jip order to procure it. This.exct^nve .intcoduAiun was probably the leafon for the countrymen abfbVutely reriidng to take them. ' Din* le Belgique, les habiiaiiv tie* cainpagnes iSt^'veulfeoi-pis itCHMt d'aiBgtiats.i ce difcrfdit :vic^ 4e ce ^t^fpyfrnj^titn-nplitt' pandu un Jiiultitude dc f»(«('^ Mpiiit.fD^c^^fji.*—— They have their own conventional forgeries as well as others, for it is a ca- rioiks circumftance, that the new aOignats are iflTued without being numbered, and c'onfequently may be by mill:aiJs inftead cf mil- lions : this has been aflerted m the Convention, And yet uncontra- sliAed. Of the fame complexion is th^ fail[, that in the IMonio icur the NatiohalCafzche ; ^he pitce of the louis i^bt- in affigtiats, ilbas notl>eeh pttblifhed for'lome rAonthspaft, whtcli waslatV^ays Tegiilarly dotie before.- 'tlebt reported by C^abdt| Moii'it. 3d March, 8,o34,){98,98o liv.— Intereft, 367,844,94^ liv.«-n helplefs, proportioned to their fuccrfs; for their paper, on the frontier, is not of half the value it bears in the interior of the kingdom. This is their real foi^rce of weaknefs, and it is abfolutely irremediable } nor will the farmers continue to cul- tivate the ground for more than the phyfical necef- faries of their families, if paid only in a currency continually depreciated; — annual famines enfue; —in a word, the feeds of ruin lie fcattered fo thickly, that the moft carelefs attention mud re- cognize them. The nation feeling feverely that equality means but equal mifery; and that the Rights of Man produce only the right to be (larved, will revolt, and call in their lawful fove- reign as the beft and readieft mean of fafety. ^ H Paine i I ( 9« > Paine is fond of runn'mg paralells, and Co are moft nnen of genius i btic he is rarefy happr in them:— "The generality of the people in Ame- rica," fays he, " efpecialty the poor, are more able to pay taxes than the generality of people either in France or En^^land." And he unites with this, the *< cruelty " of a civil lift of a millioii ilerling, which he compares with the civil lift of America, which is only 300,000 dollars. One muft fearch many writers with talents, to find one who can comprefs fuch multitudes of falfehoods and blunders into the fame fpace with this cap<* tain-general of mountebanks. The abilliy to pay taxes does not depend on a people being at their eafe, — that is, having few or no indigent poor. This afTertion will feem a pa- radox only ro the ignorant. That ability depends on the (quantity, number, and rapidity of tnongy exchanges-, in other words, on concentrated CIRCULATION. The eafe, the plenty, and hap- pinefs of the people have nothing to do in this bufinefsi for give a man a thoufand acres of rich land, which produces beef, mutton, pork, wheat, wool, hemp, flax. Sec, to profufion j let the fa- mily that poiTefs it, live in the utmoft conceiv* able plenty,, there does not refult from this outline the capability of paying one (hilling of taxes* Even taxes on folid property, like land-taxes^ muft r ■.. . be :">.• tif I lb are lappT in n Ame- re more r people e unites I millton Ml lift of J. One find one ilfehoods ;his cap- tend on a )g few or em a pa- depends of tnouey ffTRATBO ind hap- o in this s of rich wheat> t the fa* concciv- is outline of taxes* xe8> muft be ( 99 )'• be paid by c^fi> in tirculafiou: land does not pay g land-tax, but money. It is not, therefore, the ea/if of the people that enables them to pay, but the monty fuperfluity that goes beyond that eafe. In the confumption of a thoufand pound's-worth of products forming the eafr, the phyfical " ability," mentioned by Paine, what is the taxable amount? PolUbly not a penny beyond the confumption of foreign wine, coffee, fpices, &c. I ufed the ex- prefllon concentrated circulation; America, if fhc I wanted heavy taxes, would feel what it means: let a fetder in the woods, two hundred miles from a city, fell his hemp or his wool to a ftore- keeper for money, there is a (lep in circulation where the ftate might levy a tax; but in a wild country, it would coft ten times more to levy it, than the tax Iwould be worth. We know what diftilleries are in tiie Highlands of Scotland ; the Americans have Ithat tax alio, but they can levy it only in peopled Idiftrifts: nay, there are diftrifts in America, where [the land-tax will not pay for the colle<5ting ! ! It 7ould be eafy to purfue thefe obfervations to de- lonftration ; and to (hew, that the reverfe of his propofition is true, and that the people of Eng- land and of France (before the Revolution, for nothing fince has circulated but blood and rapine) tre infinitely more able to pay taxes than thofe >f America, for this plain reafon, that they have circulation infinitely more rapid. H a When 1 '■ W I 1 ■■1 (100 ) When I confider the boundlefs wealth of this kingdom; its enormous confumption} its rapid circulation of 40 millions fterling, in gold and lilveri and of paper to an inBnitely greater amount; its exportation and importation, which, if valued truly, would exceed 50 millions (lerling ; the faci- lities of movement, exchange, transfer, of life, if I may ufe the expreflion, arifing from the fize ot our cities, and the mafs of our circulation; I ibould think it a moderate calculation to fay, that, in cafe of any unforefeen emergency of the ftateJ that called for fome great exertion, it would be eafier to raifc, by taxation, in Great Britain, 6ve pounds^ a head on the people, than it would be to raife 5s. a head in America : for in taxation, fpeak- ing at large of a nation, the quantum paid is notl fo much the objeft to regard, as the quantum km after taxes are paid. Suppofe the people of cnel country pay 20s. a head, and the people of anotherl country 40s. (not very far from the fa6t of Eng{ land and France) — what does this prove? Jull nothing. What is left in their pockets after th^ tax is paid ? There is the inquiry ; and in tli Englifhman's pocket you would find a purfe guineas and (hillings * ; in the Frenchman's, th * The mafs of our taxes ii not fo great an evil at their m equality} the burthens paid by a country gentleman, of fma eftate, are hideous, and leave him, like the Frenchman, «ii| empty pockets. nr • Sir, maladie ie la pocbe, vacuity. Perhaps the happieft and moft enviable people in America, the cont" firtable freeholder, in the back country, is, uf all the men in Europe or America, the one leafl able to pay taxes. What do I deduce from this? That the comparifon of the Englifli civil lift of' 898,4681.*, amounting to is. 7|d. a head, is not at all unreafonable, when compared with the Ame- rican civil lift of 300,000 dollars (66,oool.), or 5|d. a head. But no comparifon can be drawn juftly, between a new country that did not form itfelf and an old one that did, and now pays the expence of forming that new one. Let the Ame- rican account be charged with the expence of the war of 1756, or one hundred millions, and then compare taxation. ' * * THE COMMERCIAL INTEREST of France has been completely laid in the duft. Her colonies, by far the greateft fource of her trade, have been totally ruined. Equality and the Rights of Man have, to the fugar of America, been as propitious as to the wheat of France. Afllgnats flruck with a palfy all the imports of the king- dom, and her exports, after the dcftruftion of St. Domingo, were a handful. The horrible con- vulHons in the great towns, drove the merchants and mafter manufacturers, with the rennnant of * Sir John Sinclair** Hiftory of the Public Revenue, vol. ii.p- 7^. H 3 ' their their wealth, into other countries, or funk them in ruin at home. /r, "We have been told indeed, with fomc degree of confidence, that the French fabrics are not at prefent in fuch a (late of depreffion as fome have reprefcnted. As I have very late intelligence from that kingdom, and on which I can rely, I may venture to aiTert with confidence, and I could confirm it by referring to many reprefentations made to government by the municipalities of the manufacturing towns, that every fabric wrought from foreign materials, fuch as the whole bufinefs of Lyons, and a confiderable portion of the wool- len fabricsj are in abfolute ruin ; the mailers and undertakers, bankrupts or fled, and the work- men begging in the ftreets, fubfifting by charity, or wandering vagabond banditti, — the irigands that infed the country, by endeavouring to wriiig from the peafantry a portion of that bread they are unable fairly to earn ; fuch is the Jot which the new dodrines of equality have produced for Lyons, the fecond city in France, as well as nu- merous other places that once were flouri/hing. The governing party in fuch towns have nothing to give the people, but the flattery of equal rights j they, flarve on equality, till the number in the fame defperate fituation becomes great enough for tha'iT /acred duty of infurredioB | then they rife, V Hnock ; A-'^;- m funk them me' drgree are not at fome have gencc from ely, I may id I could irefentations lities of the ric wrought lole bufinefs )f the wool- maAers and the work- ; by charity, he brigands ng to wruig bread they le lot which iroduced for well as nu- Houriihing. ave nothing qual rights -, [Tiber in the rcat enough »cn they rife, jtnock ( to$ ) : ^ ^ knock thetr governors on the head, and are them- felves e!e£l£d into their places ; but this cures the evil fcarcely for one in a thoufand ; the mafs re- mains ftill poor ; and muil neceflarily remain fo, for fuch convulOons do not re*eftab}i(h manufac- tures : knocking brains out does noc (et looms a going; nor does the cxercife of' the pike in the body of a mayor and h«9 aldermet), bring Italian filk to L^OQS, or Spanilh wool to Louviers. Id the naanuladuring towns which work up nir tive commodicies, the mifery is not equally great, becaufe there is fome employment that ftirs ; but let vs examine a little more clolely the nature of this circulation. I am informed, and oomman (eofe will tell one it muft be fo^ that the only fi\o- dve which induces maO^r manuraj6i:urers to con- tinue their buftneft is that of getting ridpfaffign^ts ; they fold their Hock in trade when piaper was a better commodity, and accumulating^ ;by degrees, what grew every day worfe and worfe, alarm in- cited them to do any thing rather than keep in tbeir pofleflion fuch a deprecJatod currency -, dread- ing the inevitable moment when it would be worth nothing, they feared to keep what a breach might difOpate; they regarded it as an obje<5fc oi terror, and employed their workmen merely to get rid of what they knew carxied a value merely nominal ; and paid readily what they kept infeaujreJy. Yi 4 There if? •t. } 1 ' I ( »04 ) \ , . There is a pafTage, in Swift's Draper's Letters^ which accounts fully for gold and filver fo abfo- lutely difappcaring in France; I change only Pf^ood's pence for affignats,'^** For my own part I am already refolved what to do ; I have a pretty good (hop of (tuffs and (iiks, and inftead of taking afflgnafSt I intend to truck with my neighbours, the butcher, and baker, and brewer, and the re((, goods for goods; and the little gold*and filver I have, I WILL KEEP BY ME LIKE MY HEART'S BLOOD, TILL BETTER TIMES, till! am juft ready to (larve^ and then I will buy qffignats" ■•■-i .if- c? '' Turn your eyes from France to view the com- mercial (late of England. Contemplate the im- menfe^language cannot fwell beyond the mag- nitude of reality,— 'the gigantic fabric reared on the induftry of this kingdom: throw into one vail amount the public funds,— -the paper circulation of every fpecies,— 'the gold and filver, whether money or plate,— the manufacturing e(labii(hments that have raifed new cities, as it were, by enchantment, —the capitals inverted in roads, canals, and other public works,— >the (hipping, magazines, and mer- cantile wealth of a thoufand kinds, and fpread throughout the globe. How would this enormous total, which, in England, has been nurfed to ma- turity by the fond tendernefs of parental protection «*how would it fupport the ftorm yrhich the Rights of Letters,' b abfo- ye only n part I a pretty >f taking ours, the ft, goods have, I MART'S till I am ^gnats" he com- : the im- the mag- 'ed on the one vaft ulation of ler money )ents that bantmenr, and other and mer- nd fpread enormous ed to ma- proteftion the Rights . of . ( 105 ) of Man have kindled in France ? Mortal would be the blow. To touch on fuch a fuppofuion is enough; every reader can piflure the univerfal fcene of ruin that would blot fo fair a canvas. But how has this prodigious capital, riflng much above five hundred rnillions ftcrling, been formed ? BY THE SECURITY WHICH THE BRI- TISH CONSTITUTION GIVES TO PRO- PERTY: not by equality, perfonal reprcfenta- tion. Rights of Man, Jacobinifm, and the vile theories by which poor profligates, wanting to be rich rogues, become praflical robbers. Such were-not the paths of the commercial profperity 'Of Britain ! . :s,.i !».^.. ..'. .. _,- *>^ .; . :■-:.■■. ,r.-.'; f,!- !,->i5 \ K:f\\ THE LABOURING INTEREST; the per- gonal intereft of the labouring poor has been at- tacked in an inftance, the more remarkable as it was a ground of accufation againft the old govern- ment. Thofe who recolle6l the complaints againft ir, on account of countrymen being enrolled for the militia, and conft-qucntly liable to be called into fervice, have probably read much, in the pub- lic prints, of the number of volunteers, which flock from all parts of France to the armies on the fron- tiers. Until thefe few days, I was ignorant and foolifh enough to believe that thefe were really volunteers; but an Englilh labourer, returning from 9 farm in Fraoce, to which I had fent him. "^M. ■;! 6 !l 'f'-il 'I ill., mi m < :]'r'^ s •> :■! has explained to me the nature of this voluntary fervice. All the men in the parifli, able co ierve, ^ere enrolled, and then drew lots to fee who ihould go to form the number demanded; and, though an Englifhrnan, my informant himfeH drew. Such is the mode of calling forth VO- LUNTEERS, and lb grofs^y are we deceived by names, which under a femblance of freedom, co- ver the fevereft tyranny that can diigrace a people, and precifely in thole articles, which, under the old government, were made the iubjeft of the loudeft complaint. When we (hall read in future of the ^agernefs with which citizens fly to the fron- tiers, VempreJJement avec kquel tous les ciig^fem VO' lent aux frontiers, we fhall know what it means. May not fuch wretches aik« " what indt7cemenc has the farmer, while following. the plough, to lay afide his peaceful purfuits, and go to, war with the farmer of another country * ? " At firft fight it Ihould appear that a Revolution in England, in favour of principles of equality, would be moft favourable to the poor claifes, the labouring part of the fociecy,— and yet, perhaps, in fa^, being ftill governed by the experiment of France, there is no clafs in the ilate, the great landed pofTe^ors alone excepted, to whom it would prQve fo completely mifchievous, There is every • P^ioe. m ^f^^i^* rcafon ' ... ' - voluntary e CO ierve, i fee who ided; and, It himfelf forth VO- leceived by edonif co- e t people, under die e&, of the d in future to the ffon- t it means, indvcemenc ugh> to lay ar with the Revolution )f equality, claiTes, the ;t, iperhaps, }eriment «f the great m it wouM &r« is CT«ry rcafon ( «07 ) reafon to have confidence in the honefty, moral feelings, and good intentians of the great mafs of our lower and poorer claiTes, and to be rationally certain, that in cafe of general confofioo, like that which has ruined France, they woidd abfolucely refufe to become cut throats, blood hounds, and alTaflins : the mafs in France were honeft alio, but they were driven like fticep by forward determined wretdiesj a ho, getting together in arms, feized on the power which they pr<'tended to aflign to the people I plunder followed this, and the great body of the nation found, dreadfully to their coft, that they had only changed mafters ; but this change, from a king to bands of ruffians, brought wich it fruits of fore digeftion; money abfolutely diiap« peared; the rich, who formerly gave employment, were hunted down and deflroyed like wild beads ; the convulfions of the moment banifhed the rich merchants and manufacturers ; employmsnt, which converted labour into bread, was dried up with the iprings that fed it. Amidft the mockery of pay, if the poor workman cannot eat his afljgnats he ftarves — he has but tjnc refource— he dips them in blood;-— with pike in hand he attacks the corn deftined to fati&fy the hunger of others i and the tragedy fo often a6bed in that milerable kingdom, IS again performed till equality ends, as every where eUe« in equality of ruin. " The manufa^^turers fpake i)o;hingi iiothing \% t)0ught; commerce » '"'■■-^: ■■•-■-■- ■ ■ "V-'. alive ■ ^ '''* .:i 'A '■•> ii '-^ i i! y 1 m ( «o8 ) alive only in foldiers. I fee nothing in trade buc our imprudence and our blood. Nothing will foon be feen in France but mifery and paper *." This from the mouth of a Jacobin in the Convention ! Can any doubt remain f ? xC'^'; Nov. 2$, at the bar the deputation from Loire and Eure tell the Convention : The laws are with' out energy t and^without vigour. The price of bread renders it inaccefftble to the poor. Misery is at ITS HEIGHT. If the dearne/s continues, the greateji msfortunes may be expeSled. With troops march-> ing about the country to force the farmers to fell their corn at half the current price, and yet half paid with affignats, nay, who feize it at any price. — -<< Illegal troops of men, in many departments, • St. Juft. Monit. Dec. i. f The price of wheat now, in many of the departments, is 4I. 108. a quarter Englifli} but as that price is paid in aflignats, men not well informed may imagine that the poor being themfelvet paid in paper, might be proportionably able to buy ; but the re- verfe is the cafe} the paper, while it has raifed the price of bread, has deltroyed both manufa£lures and commerce, and is now at- tacking agriculture itfelf j the people are abfolutely without em- ployment, and have no more the means to procure an afligoat than a louis. This degree of mifery is not yet of a year ftanding, for jnanufa£lures were a6live in fome parts of France laft fpring. The affairs of that kingdom demand an attention that never fleeps, or we are fure to be deceived. . The operation of the paper money has been very Angular, for, to a certain period, it appeared to be bene- ficial; hvx the tint once faffid, every tiding has been rapidly de- clining ^■11 :t«» ♦ ■ '•■li^Sf^J- feize II' ■ •! /,■ :racle buc will foon » This ivention ! t>m Loire are with' e of bread LY IS AT V greateji ps march^ lers to fell 1 yet half any price. >artments, ,- V' >j/-r^ -■*.«•• r. !■».-■■■■ partmentSi is in afllgnatSf ng themfelveft r ; but the re- rice of breadf d is now at- without em- I afTigaat thap ftanding, for ^fpring. The ever fleeps, or per money has ed to be bene- n rapidly de« i- fcizc M'-l ( «09 ) feize the corn in the markets, without paying for it*." ** At Louviers 5 or 6000 workmen arofc to force the magiftrates to go at their head, to feek corn in the granaries of the farmers. Laft week» at Paflfy, they feized all that was in the market, while 600 others fpread devaftation through the foreftsf." - -- ■■»*: m I -,"•''% The date of the roads (under the old govern^ ment the envy of Europe) is fuch as would alone, without other addition, very much impede the tranfport of corn, and add to the fcarcity in niany fituations. I am informed, by a perfon who lately travelled acrofs the kingdom, that no repairs what- ever have been done for three years paft, and that he was informed, on inquiry, in fcveral diftrifts, that the people abfolutely refufed to contribute either money or labour to mend them. The mi- nifter of the Interior, Jan. 6, complains to the Con- vention, that they are \n a (hocking (late of ruin ; dans un etat de delabrement epouvantable. In a ftate of anarchy, the objeft of roads may be thought fmalli but it (hews, that in a point where the people thcmfelves are fo intimately concerned, go- vernment for every purpofe of doing good is ab- folutely at an end, and that it remains for evil only. You abolilh tithes, and feudal payments s * The minifter of the Interior to the Convention, Nov. zS. Moniteur. , f MoQit< Jan. 9. the ^t*^- ', # ■- , :\:\: ( no ) - •- the next ftep is, the people wiU not pay the land tax, and then will not repair the roads that are for their own ufe. Such is the ftate, and there are politicians m England who tell us, all will end well in France, a& if it were pofllble to remedy fuch evils by new experiments. The abfulute and unequivocal rcftoration of the old government, with terrors in its train, not the beneBcence of Louis XVI. fcems now to be the only remedy. It was NOT THUS UNDER THE OLD GOVERNMENT} but they were not content. The next day the ininiOcr of the Interior writes to the Convention, complain- ing of the Commons of Paris, in the midft of ahun' dance we are ready to periflj with famine. Such is the fruit of eternal declamation to beat the people, jidmniftration is negle^ed : /'/ is all a horrible dif- order, " Our food," fays Saint Juft, " has dif- appeared, in proportion as our liberty has extend- ed *." There, in two words, is the evil and the caufe. ^he people triumph and juffer^ fay the Ja- cobins, in their addrefs to their brother focieties, during four years of mijeryy and four months of con- tinual outrages \, 5..J ':;,:;;f, ,..r.u.' r.'-:m \_ The deputation of the department of Loire and Cher, at the bar of the Convention, Nov. a6, de- clare an infurredtipn of 25,000 men, on account of • Monit. Dec. t . t Ltttra dt Rabtrfpitrri ajes Commettant, No. 8. p. 386, 387. the the higl that tbei but the diftrefi, vitalf w rentin went ho killed h( This fur log pool whom o of equal have pr< the pool THEIR c ING OF 1 "By mi lization ^ dance, g dance pr men to ( fuch equ lofophy i oretical I their pn England rights th own chill jf- ( lit ) the high price of corn.— They aflert, however, that there is corn enough in the country for a year, but the operations of the people, occafion fuch diftrefi, that a poor woman of the parifh of I'Ho- vital, went three times to the market of Romo- rentin for corn, but not being able to get it, ihe went home, and, driven to excefs of hunger, (he killed her infant, for which ihe was fince hanged *• This furely merits fome attention from the labour* log poor,— from thefe clafTes of fociety, amongft whom our Jacobin reformers diftribute their poilbn of equality and Rights of Man. Thefe rights have produced delicious fruits in France, where I the poor are driven to the gallows for killing I THEIR OWN CHILDREN, TO PREVENT THEIR DY- ING OF FAMINE, with coTH enougb in the country!!! "By means of revolutions," fays Paine, "civi- lization will be left to the enjoyment of that abun- dance, of which it is now deprived."'— The abun- dance produced by revolutions is a text for French- men to preach on. And it is for thefe rights, for fuch equality, for this fine fyftem of French phi* lofophy and new lights ; this moon-lhine of the- oretical benefit, that our poor are to give up all their prefent comforts! To change what Old England gives them, whether good or bad, for yigJits that drive them, by famine, to kill their [own children, amidft Jacobin plenty; and then be ^ '. * Moniti Nov. 97. .^'rj^X^''''^'''''^----^:.^ -'::' i '' ' ; ■"" '" '■' ''':'' . '■'■■ hanged ' :l: ,;>( < ':: ,1 h > ^ ( "« ) V banged by that law which would have fufFered them to die of hunger! Oh, John Bull! it it not thus that tliy government treats wild beafts»«* Thou nnayeft be (hut up in the tower, John, but thou wilt not be made to eat thy' children I '- « f^e fee every day in the ftreets, and even at the doors of the fanfluary of the laws, wretches who want both bread * and cioathing"-—** Our fiiuation is fuch," fays a member of the Convention, "that tyranny will fpring with vidtory and vengeance ■ : from popular commotions; and if the Rights of Man (hall continue to exift, they will be written with the blood of the people on the tomb of liberty. : The afyUim of our farmers will be violated j the hope of future harveds deftroyed j and our nation become the jcft of Europe f." This city, illuftrious^ ^ hut miferabUt faid the mayor of Paris, at the bar of the Conveniion, Jan. 2^. Oh ! were the good citizens to rally, we Jhould fee confpirators repul/ed\ '^'in darkne/s, as on the loth of jiugufi. Thus call- ing for new revolts — for new malTacres.—- — The Rights of Man are written in their blooo!| . This, the prefent language of Frenchmen, even in the National Convention* Here is experience | of what thofe blefied rights are which our Engliih | ' reformers are fo defirous of eftablifliing in this kingdom, as the bed boon of heaven! v 'Sb/ a new deficit of three hundred millioni. , Ten nnillions of royal paper, the complaint i^-^^ three thoufand millioni of aflfignats— the cure, A national debt of 300 millions, the mahdjf;^" one of 9000 nyllions, the remedy, ■ «» 1^ '/.^.i?. r Marie Antonietta condemned for the follies of a necklace.-*— Mademoifelle Theroigne applauded for leading prifaners to flaughter. .^^:. *^ The arbitrary government of Louis XVI,— ebanged'^for the defpotifm of Marat. Drawing men for the militia, the cruelty i'^'^^ forcing them into volunteer corps, the favour* r^' Lawyers and fuits, the misfortunC'^-^^cure'^the fiimmary jurifUiftion of the lanthorn. . ^^T^'^j^^'J Twenty-five millions, the expence of one king, the burthen;'' — one hundred and fifty millions, the charge of fevcn hundred kings, the ea/e, >j^'^ :;!; ., - ' '-'^ jfffbciations. • •- • Next to the eftablifhment of fuch a militia, the prefent fpirit of affociation amongll the friends of the copftitution, is a noble and genuine effort truly worthy of Britons. There is no real friend to his country, that does not rejoice to fee this elec- tric ftroke of true patriotifm fpread with vital energy through the empire : it carries confufion to Jacobinifm ; it gives confidence in a juft caufe, and fecurity to every generous bofom. Rapidly as the effort has fhot, with genial influence through our counties, it could not be expedted that the views would be uniformly directed to the fame de- terminate objeds. In ^ little time the fcope and . meaning ^ ^ ( 119 ) meaning will be well imprefTed, and then it will doubtlefs be found neceiTary to fix on places of rendezvous, to which honed men may refort when the wicked are abroad. The national fpirit is at laft roufed; it has feen long enough the defperate and abominable aflociations of thofe who do wifh, and did openly demand the overthrow of our ex- cellent conCtitution, under pretences of Jacobin re- formation: we have feen the danger— we have been (hocked at the infolent threats of " invincible mobs," we have fought the right means of i^Stty ; with a vigour of defence equal to the malignity of attack, a great nation will prove that (he is not to be infulted with impunity. Had fuch a(rociations exifled in France, or any thing tending to them at the early (lage of the Revolution, all the horrors that flowed from it might have been prevented 5 but the higher orders of fociety knew not their their danger.— Here the cafe is direftly contrary. —We arc inftrudled by their calamitous experi- ence—and of all efFeftive means to be ready to meet a (lorm, this of affociation is (next to a mi- litia of property) the moft dired. '.■■■"■ It may be faid with truth, that a moment never yet occurred, which demanded equally the united, firm, and determined afllRance— the heart and hand of men, friends of peace, to prevent, while ye( ic is pQlfible to prevent^ the horrors that fb 1 4 lately «'■■') I: ' Vii 1 1 1 i' lately awaited us. It is a moment that ought to bring political agitation to every bofom.^-— The queftion concerns not empires, kings, and mi- niders alone-— it comes borne to our fortunes, our houfcs, our families. Will you, by the nerve and vigour of your meafures, by the broad bafis of univerfal property, on which you build the aflb- ciations, by the prudence of the refolutions, and the energy of their execution, will you avoid the miferies of France ? Liften not to the inHdious pretences of Jacobin reformers— there is no me- dium in moments like thefe.— >With the example, of France in full difplay, prppoHtions of reforni, which in that kingdom produced conflagration and malTacre, will, in this, have the elFefb of putting the nation on its guard againft men, who fo openly profefs a readinefs to (lake all we enjoy, on the defperate throw of a new Revolution. This is the queftion that ought to collect the ene- mies of Jacobinifm, and which ought to have a feajmahle influence on all the orders of Society, by which they may know and. learn that we jhall ev^r rally round the conflitution *, uncontaminated by reformsy or the tree of liberty^ the true fymbol of Jacobin confufion. The danger has lefTcned iince government has awakened to the nature of the prefent criHs, and fince the admirable fpirit of the people has manifefled itfelf, the enemies of • Mr, Fox'8 Speech to the Whig Club.— RiDcwjiY's, the the publ a multiti of more they wil rcfornper becaufe pointed men knc France, the peo{ did there This cha be an ob hat of I fpreadinji le on th( lodlrines Is an eye in objed eans tl he fame uined ih hops, a ^oj the naterials lalf theij ?/w«-me seeing tl ht to -The \ mi- i, our 'c and liis of ; aflb- s, and id the fidlous o me- cannple. cform, on and putting ^ho fo enjoy, )lution. le enc"^ have a iety, by all ev(r ited by nbol of ;d fince of the )irit of nies of the ( «»« ) I the public peace will not dare now to profefs thofe Jacobin tenets, which, till lajcely, met us in fiich a multitude of (hapes: they will put on the garb of more moderate and more temperate meafures— they will now appear merely in the charadler o( reforn^ers— TfV charadler more dangerous, perhaps, becaufc mqj-ej^nr.afked jand j infi^^ious : not lefs pointed in effeA to equality and feditioni forthefc linen know fufficiently, by the great experiment of [France, that an equal perfonal reprefentation of [the people .would infallibly produce here, ds it there, the abfolute ruin of a:ll legal authorities. [This chara(fter of a reformer ought, therefore, to be an objed of as much jealoufy and didruft, as khat of a profefTed Jacobin; and the afTociaiions Spreading fo laudably through the kingdom, fhould l)e on their guard equally ag^inil them and their dodbrines. The profperity of England, as neutral. Is an eye-fore to the Jacobins, and, as an enemy, )n objeft of terror. The queftion, then, is the leans thefe cunning leaders are taking to fpread [he fame Confufion through this country, that has juincd theirs ; n:oft a0uredly they will not opea lops, and write JACOBIN over the doors— Joj they know their bufinefs better — they find laterials much more to their purpofej they find blf their work done to their hands by our Oppo» p/w«-men, and our reformers of the conftitution. Seeing that the refilt of the labours of fuch men anfwers *•■ V* t' r a '■) M ^'■! ■T 'ti ■?' PI ( m ) anfwers exaftly their own viewSy they chime in, and cry reform ! with a more energetic vocifera- tion than ever they did a la lanterne in France. Their views, and this union of the Jacobin de- firoyers with the Englilh reformers> ought to| open the eyes of honeft men, and make them, I one and all, unite in the firmeft affociations. Not in faint declarations of loyalty*, that mean any '• .^ ,. . . :^ ,„ .., ; •■■•• ■ thing 4 J t » > * In grtat numbers of (he afluciationi, ther* feemt to hare been a marked attention in drawing up their declaratient of loyaltj and veneration for the conftitution, either to ufe phrafei of equi* vocal meaning, or that might be palateable to reformers, as if it were a wifli to include all defcriptions of men, whateter their pc litical fentiments i if fuch management had been carried a littlej further, declarations would have been produced, which dire£l Ja^ cobins would have iigned ; but the original intention was wrongJ and tended ftrongly to weaken' the force and vigour of aflTociationil In the rational terror of a perilous moment, when firu'jk with common fenfatien of common danger, men fly to aflbciation, ti fecure themfelves againft the attacks of men already aflbciated ti deftroy them t at fuch an inftaat, what can be fo futile, what cai be fuch imbecility, as to feek, by an ill«timed complaifance o candour, fo to exprefs their feelings, that aflbciators of a And contrary complexion, men who profeffedly feek to change the coO' ftitution on French principles (for there has not been a Angle pro pofition of reform that is not on thofe principles), that fuch ma may be indueed hypocritically to unite with you I The weakneii of fuch a proceeding is inexcufable. On the contrary, all theii declarations ought to have been fo framed, ?s exprefily and pur pefely to exclude a union with men fo dangerous, as thofe whi would not feel a horror at the idea of tampering with the coni tution, at fuch a feafon as this i— by fuch an exclufion, it won! be found, that, however numerous the reformers were before tl lotll ' ( ^23 ) thing or nothing, and will be forgotten in (ix months, but in the moil vigorous oppoHtion to every idea of reform, on principles of giving more • , •• ■'•..-..' ,.,<■! ,.;; . ■ power loth of Auguft* that at prefent not one man in a thoufand would liften, fvlth patience, to hear the word Reform feriovfly pro- flounced ) nor fail to deprecate the idea* as pregnant with na- tional ruin. Inhere is one obje£t in aflociations whioh has not been thought off but whioh would, perhaps, be as ufeful and effeAive as any ether, and that it, for aflfociators to refolve againft dealing with any fort of Jacobin tradefmen i if the atrocity of attempts to alter a conftitution, which fo effeflually protefls property, as that of England does, on comparifon with any other that Europe ibes, be well confidered, the fupinenefs of mankiucl, in giving encourage- ment to thofe whofe utmofl. efforts are aimed at its defiru£l{on» will furely appear the mod marvellous fiupidity. Who, ac- quainted with the complexions of men, in any town in England, does not fometimes hear the wealth of the difafFeJled made % boaft of? If you name the danger of the political principles of certain men to property— your hear it exclaimed, Hoiu ? Do you confider tbt tutaltb of fucb mndfucb perfoni ? Are ibey not ricb ? Have tbey not a flake? Yes} they have a ftake { commonly as moveable as their pcrfons, and therefore the readinefs with which they hazard public confufion. But whence this boaft of property ? Becaufe* probably, the Ianded>men in their vicinity, and the monied-men of other principles, have, with this grol's blindnefs, which I at prefent allude to, been for years in the habit of afllfting fuch difaf- fe£led republican Jacobin reformers, to accumulate that wealth yrhich is now ready to be employed in their own deftniAion : they have been paying their incomes into the haads of men who are ready to convert the intereft they make upon it to the eftablifliment of a Convention in England, to confift of brother citizens of equality} to fubfcribe money, food, cloaths, and arms for the af- faffins and regicides of France, to enable them, by fuccefs at kome, to fubdue the i/kes of the Britifi conjlitutmi bj a radical re- form. ■ ;i • .1 '-t I* 'i % -f:-ji I power to the people :— Here lies our danger in the prefenc moment -, it is not the rank Jacobin, with bare and bloody arms, pike in hand, and ready for your throat ; it is his gentleman uiher, )^our mo- deft reformer, who, meaning a great deal, afks a little, and knows how to make that little much. But be not fo cajoled— -refift all changes in that conftitution, which gives you the means of wealth, and protects you in the enjoyment. Come to re- folutions declaratory of the abhorrence of changes j and of every propofition for them that does not originate in the legiflature; and petition parliament to render illegal all meetings and clubs, whofe ob- je£b is to make experiments on Britifh happinefs ; to difqover rights better than thofe of an Englifli- man ; to change your laws, religion, and govern- ment; arid give you, in lieu of them, the new LIGHTS OF FRENCH PHILOSOPHY. .„ , 1 . 1 If any man doubts whether I have reafon for thefe afTercions, let him confider the addreifes that have been prefented to the National Convention fomt This fupine inattention, which turns a man's money to his own deAru£\ion, is highly reprehenfible. Let thofe who are real friends to the conftitution, expend their income with men whofe principles are known— and not become, unthinkingly, promoters of fedition, and encouragers of republicanifm. Go amongft feAa- ries of various denominations, political and religious, and examine if the individuals are not attentive to this pointf , . ^' .._ ■•■ ■ '■'«■ of 'v iger in the )bin, with 1 ready for jjour mo- :a], afks a ;tle much. i£S in that of wealth, 3me to re- F changes ; L does not parliament whofe ob* happinefs ; n Englifh- td govern- the NEW reafon for Ireffes that lonvention money to bis : who are real th men whofe ly, promoters mongft feAa<* I and examine ( "5 ) of France, from focieties of reformers in England; here follow a few extraAs : i ^i,« ^ . 1 ■ « t- . * of The Friends of the People and Conftirutional Society of Newington*, thus addrefs the Conven- tion :— // is with the moji profound fenjibility that we behold thefuccefs of your arms, in your undertake ing to deliver from Jlavery and deception, the brave nations which border your frontiers : how holy is the humanity which prompts you to break their chains. Signed, J. F. Skipper. ' - F. Peacock, > The Revolution Society of London.— ^^ot;^ all we rejoice in the Revolution of the loth of jiugufl, Jo neceffary to f ecu re to you the advantages which the former had taught you to expeSl. We feel an agree' able fenfationy that the right of infurreSlion has been fo fuccefsfully exercijed, " ■* ■, ">' , Signed, J. Towers. • * ■ Cooper. The Friends of Liberty and Equality at Belfaft. — 'Fipr the glory of humanity, may your declaration of rights be every where put inpraSlice, ' ' t* ' % ■ ■ ■• • Legacies left by the late Dr. Price, for the good of his coun- •^y >—pefhaps the taorft eitiztH, fpeaking politically, that has lived in it of late years { but there are doubtleis noble* that can boaft of bit friendfhip. . ^ ' ,:vi'^"- The i|':'^ii ■i:.d ^^m ;i-; ■* 1 iU;, ( lad > The volunteers of Bdfaft.— 7^^^ fuccejis tf the French Jecure liberty to the neighbouring nations* The united Societies of London.— ^» opprejfed part ofnuinkindf forgetting their own evils , are fen* ftble only of yours i and beholding the frefent events, with a difiurbed eye, addrefs their mifi fervent prayers to the G^d of the univerfe, that he may be favourable to your cau/e, with which theirs is Jo intimately conneSed, Degraded by an oppreffivejyf' tern of inquifition, the invincible, but continual en' eroachments of which quickly deprived the nation of its boajled liberty, and reduced it almoji to that ab- jeSt flate of Jlavery from which you havef&glorioujly emancipated yourfelves, Frr thousand Englijh citizens, fired with indignation, have the courage to flep forward to refcue their country from that oppro* ,;>; . brium which has been thrown upon it by the baje condu5l of thofe who are invefted with power. Frenchmen, our number will appear veryfmall, when compared with the rejl of the nation; but know, that it increafes every day -, and if the terrible and con- tinually elevated arm of authority overawes the ti' mid,—iffalfehoods, rvery moment difperfed with Jo much indujlry, mijlead the credulous ^--'ana if the public intimacy of the court with Frenchmen, avowed traitors to their country, hurry away the ambitious and unthinking, we can, with confidence, ajfure you^ Freemen and Friends, that knowledge makes a rapid w. progrefs^ 'Ipts $f the atioHS, '» opprefid Is, are fen- fent events, ^ fervent be may he theirs is Jo peffivejyj' mtinual en- be nation of to that ab" ■faglorioujly ND Engiijh g tourage to that ofpro* by the haje vitb fewer, Jmall, when r know, that ble and con- \wes the it' fed with Jo 'ami if the nen, avowed be ambitious t ajfure yott, akes a rapid progrefs ( 147 ) frogrejs among us* Tou 4tre already free, hut Britons ere preparing to be Jo, ^, , „ . ,. ,.,i,.. , , . .. / . Signed^ ,v M. Margarot. '■A :IJ-t^- *p. n\ T, Hardy. Conftitutional Society of l/mdon.'^Jnnufnerable Jocieties of the fame fort are forming in every part of England, After the example given by France, Re-- volutions will become eajy ; reafon is about to make a rapid progrefs, and it would not be extraordinary if, \n a much lejs fpace of time than can be imagined, the French Jhould fend addrejfes of congratulation to i National Convention of England,'^Other nations mil foon follow your Jleps in this career of improve- nent; and, rijingfrom their lethargy , will arm them- jdvesfor the purpofe of claiming the Rights of Man, i' id^--* *'u 'f./ Signed} ( Ik ^^('•n^- Sempill. ,p ^, ,/ D. Adams. ' , , Joel Barlow. J. Frost ♦. The Pfefident's anfwer was a real declaration of war againft this kingdonn.— •T'/i'^ fiades of Penn, of Hampden, and of Sydney, hover over your heads % end the moment, without doubt, approaches, in which the French will bring congratulations to the National Convention of Great Britain. ,'tmii' %^%\-\.x%x\. Let thofe men (not Jacobins) who condemn, or who think it might have been avoided, ferioufly confider thefe extrai^s of the direft communication of Engliih republicans with French cut throats. Can any perfon, not ablblutely bereft of realbn, conceive it poflible that fuch men, thos machina- ting the deftruflion of our conftitution, could con- tinue their connexion with the French Convention, which peace gave a boundlcfs poWcr of doing, without our running the moll imminent hazard of every thing that government and law fecure to us — tifat is to fay, life and property. "ilfi* The " Proceedings of the Ajfociation of the Friends of the Conftitution. Dublin. The Dukeof Lein- fter ! ! in the chair," is a publication that deferves notice; becaufc rt proves, t(50 clearly to be doubt- ed, that our dangers are not at an end. jfaco- binifm hardly fleeps, in fpight of ail our alTocra- tions J the enemies of law and of order never relax their efforts; Ireland is their favourite ground; and fbould thefe new principles of equality, the tu * new ^claratibn, •That it will ^uftng or re" a of preferv^ 'r of entering ho condemn, dcd, ferioufly .mnnunication ctit throats, ft of reafon, ms machi ha- ll, could con- Cortvctrtion, er of doing, :nt hazard of fccurc to us E *J>'A '•■^'■■i of theFriendi \vkt of Lei n- that dcfervcs to be doubt* end. Jaco- I our affocra- r never relax rite ground; equality, the new ( 129 ) new French " Ughis," be there eftablilhed, it will not be long before th^y are raging in our own vitals. Thcfc '* friends" call on the people to «* SUBDUE the corruption," " the infamy," «* the fouled a6ts under the fouleft names," which form the " regular fyftem of government," by " a ra- dical REFORM i" by a body of *' reprcfehtatives, an integral and efTcntial part of the con(litution» derived from the people by GENERAL clc'ftion." —•The Englifh language could I'carcely, in an equal number of words, paint in (Ironger terms the Bre- brands of fedition. To call on the people not to crave, or pray, or petition, but to subdue the errors of government, — to subdue them by a RADICAL reform, and general reprefentation, is, in other words, to demand a Convention, the King at Tyburn, the Lords annihilated, and property the reward of new Roberfpieres, BrifTots, and Ma- rats. But thefe exprefTions are too remarkable to be accidental -, they coincide too exafliy with the threats of the Jacobins in France, to allow us, for one moment, to believe that there is not a clear intelligence and union between them. The minifter of the marine, to the friends of liberty and equality in the maritime cities : " Will the English republicans suffer the King and his Parliament to make war ? Already thefe free men teftify their difcontenc and their repugaance K 19 i%. Ji ■•I '-i' 1 '. '1 ll t' 1,. "•'f,! , > 1 ■" / ( rjo ) to carry arms agai nft their French bVothets. Well ; we will fly to their assistance; wc Wilt invade that ifle, and fend 50,000 caps of libeity to |)lant the SACRED TREE, and to oflTer bur opin* arbs to our REPUBLICAN BROTHERS, to PURIFY EnglliH liberty, and REFbRM the vices of the govern- ment." Here the Jacotihs threit^n' to^urlfy our liberty, in conjunSiicn with Englijh republiciins, and to reform our vices with 5o,obo hayonets. What is this but to fubdue us by a radical reform!!! If any doubt could remain of the tendency of the operations of our reformers, furely fuch declara- tions are fufficient to remove them. To open our eyes to the horrible fituation we ifhould be in, if our legiflature were abfurd enough to liftcn to fuch incendiaries; or weak enough not to take cfFcdlive meafiires to controul their trcafonable praftices. This is the glorious conqUeft of reform^ gained by the Irifh people over the Britifh minijlry*. Our Jacobin reformers never fpeak of liberty, but it fuggf^fls ideas of conqueil on one hand, and of fubjeftion on the other. We are to be coNQyERED by reform, and subdued to equality ! '•s^y It has been fafd, even in Parliament, fincc go vernment was fufficiently alarmed to c^li out the militia, and put the nation on her guard, that the King's Minifters ought to be impeached fof • Diclaration of the Frltttiis of the Liberty of the IPre/i, p» 14* thcii ( «3« ) their ;h in doing chs, and it therefore wanes the afTiftance of this egregious affociaiion to promote its liberty. Strip the objedt of the garb which legal cunning and eloquent fophiftry know fo well how to ar- range, and the plain unvarnillied propofition is proper only to be laughed at; and, without any doubt, has been the butt of private ridicule among thefe wits who afTeinble in public in all the dignity of rueful vifage. There is indeed reafon why they fhould range with knights of the woeful coun- Cenace, they are not yet honoured with those STATIONS OF EMiNENCY f, which their leader on that day, by a iapie of the tongue, promifed them as their due. The cxpreffion was remarkable, and (hewed, with fufficient clearnefs, that there are views, certainly better and more worthy views, than opening a (hop for conllitutional coiruptions, and for impunity in the difpenfation of Jacobin re- medies— for bringing into pJay the divine energy of Englifhmeni in oppofition to the forms of the confii^ 4 J.^ i \ If \ til • P. 9. ■f- P. 14. •-The room underftood the expreiHon in its palpable meaning, as I do, and commentied on it accordingly. 'iil'rl.,,,. ( >38 ) - tutiott*, that they may have virtue to praffi/e \ the^ doArJne» which aiTociations regard as fedicious :-> for a lawyer of great eminence in his profelHon to quit the Held of legal inquiry for fo bold a recom- mendation as this, is coming very near indeed to the f radical dodfcrine of the pike and the lanthorn ; iii perffdt analogy with the giorious eonqu^s % of Irilh Jacobins, /v^^Mifg the vices of our conftitution with the divine energy of z, radical reform. liV ■A- ^ '.:^.-,- .: . ■ r r. 'f jr. But neither government nor the public ought to be driven from their purpofe by the anfwer no^ uncommonly heard^ which accufes the a0bciator8 of going to the contrary extreme, and endangering the liberty of the people by profellions of loyalty ; this accufation may be confidered as the laft effort of difappointed fedition : the men who feel with the deeped chagrin the fecurity fuch aiTociations give to the conftitution, as at prefent eftablifbed« have nothing left during the vigour now exerted^ but to retort accufacions— and to tell us, that we mean, or a£b as if we meant, to render the King abfolute : but fuch aflertions fcarcely merit atten- tion: thofe men, if there are fuch, who wiihed before to change our government to a defpotifin, certainly wi(h it nowj but that afibciations d\r redly declaring a determination to maintain the • p. i6. t P. 1. V t ^'H. I ..V conftitution ous:— (Hon to rccQm- d to thQ orn; in of Iriih ion with >ught to *wer no^ Ebciators ingeriog loyalty ; aft effort eel with ociations ablifbedi exertedf that we the King rit atten- > wiflied efpotifin, tions di^ tt^in the ( "39 ) conftitution as it /j— free as '.c is now^^mcan re* ally an intention to overturn it, is too prepofterousi to be credited —-and worthy of the reforming: quarter only from which it proceeds, . .> ;■• ■..■•'".^.-.- " But neither a militia, aflTociation, nor any other* meafure to be deviled would yield fecurity were the licentioufnefs (not the liberty) of the prefs ta' be permitted to fo (hameful ai;id deftrudive » length, as we have of late years experienced in. England. It will probably be found after this pe^v riod that no conftitution, whether good or bad, can podibly exift againft a licentious pre(s« The old government of France was ruined unqueftion* ably by inattention to this engine : the new ty- ranny cftablifhed there is well aware of that mo- ftientous truth, and hath accordingly converted ir, like the lanthorn intd an engine of government. Where the licentioufnefs of the prefs is in any de- gree allowed, the general inftrudtion of the lower ^ clafTes liiufl become the feed of revolt, and it it for this reafon that the friends of reform, and . jealous admirers of French equality, are ilreniiious ^ for iunday and charity fchools. -? " V -• ; r^ i :ixt!'I-rn \i* The gentlemen who confider Paine as a ton/pi-' cuous friend of mankind, and an admit ahk writ^% ^'r 4 iil'ni w : iftitution * Mr. Cooper's Reply to Mr. Burke's lnve£live, p* 7^. would !!-'::iJ ^ ( 140 ) would have a fyftem of national education efta- blifhed, in which every perfon may become in- formed what arc the rights of a citizen * j what privileges they are deprived of -ft and how to bring capabilities into aSlion by a glorious career of im- provement. The French have been wonderfully well inftrufted in all thisj they have indeed brought their capabilities into aflion ; th?y have not been wanting in leifuret unremittingly employed^ or in beft endeavours exerted to bajlen § improvement. Since alTociations are fou. d to diftribute treafon and fe- dition, to teach the exertion of capabilities, and to point out the glorious career of France as an ob- je£b of imitation for England— the poifon thus ex- panded, does not render the vehicle more refped- able. I do not Hnd on my farm^ in the vi)|ige, or its vicinity, that thofe are the beft ploughrncrn and carters who are the deeped adepts \u the Rights of Man. If there muft be hewers of wood and drawers of water, why preach equality ? Will not French horrors tell us, that to ^each, is to be- wilder} that to enlighten, istodeftroy? ^, ,5 t p. 7fi. 'a^f-Vtk'Hc:. ^:H^t % Mr. Cooper fays of the approach of tHe devolution he looks for in Bngland, the daivn of a glorious day (p. ix.) : *' my leifure <' (hall be unremittingly employed, and my beft'^endeavcurs ex- f* erted to haOen its approach." p. 77. Doubtlefs well prepared for the bufinefs by his converfatiens with Mademoifelte The> roigne, of whom Hie fays, '* I have feldom met with views more «• enlarged, more juft, more truely patriQtict" - .m*.^ But, ation efta- ecomc in- n * i whac w to bring eer of im- ^ondcrfuUy ed brought ; not beenr , or in hji int. Since fon and fe- ties, and to as an ob- }n thus ex- )re rcfpcft- thc village, ploughmen fpta m the crs of wood lity? Will 1, is to be- lution he looks J «* my leifure endeavours ex- 's well prepared Enroifelte The- ith views more But, ( 141 ) But> contrary to all this, with a prefs regulated for the benefit of fociety, and not vomiting foftli poifon for its deftruftion., the lower claffes cannot well be injured by inftruflion : what a duty then devolves on governmenr to guard againfl: abufes, the negleft of which may be attended with danger, and even ruin to the whole community. . - < I feel but one great obje6^ion that may probably be made to the general conclufions 1 have drawn from the example of France : it may be faid that my reafoning goes too far, becaufe^ if juft, a na* tion howevvir enflavcd, and however mifcrable, ihould fubmit to al! evils, rather than attempt the greater c\ril of a Revolution. The argument is common, and, dilTefted by reafoning, would lead on both fides into a difcuffion that would here be mifplaced. But reafoning is endlefs, and fadls arc fewj one motive, were there no other, for pre- ferring them. . , . * ' '■ » 31 i In the former revolutions of the .modern world, whether in Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, Hol- land, or England, the people foon fettled into a form of government nearly refembling that which they had enjoyed before the troubles, they never dreamed of making new experiments on principle. Even in the cafe of America the fadt holds true in almolt every inftance ; for there is not now in the world ;? \'. f^-. '■, ' ;,*' "}■ i ( «4» ) , world a conftitution fo near the Britifh as that of the United Scate9; I think, fince the events in Frame, that it is inferior, for the plain reafon of not providing fo well againft the danger nqw moft to be 2i^^Tthtndzdy popular power : the defpotifm of a monarch was every where the objedb of ra- tional apprehendon j it is fo no longer : a worfe monfter has (hewn itfelf in the world, that carries a venom in its (angs more rabid than, the rapine. In all former revolutions, therefore, the people reafoned in argument, and felt in fa6t, that what- ever might be the event of the ftruggle, it could fcarcely place chem in a worfe Htuation; and this with exception only to America. Epcperiment therefore ju(liBed the nations who felt themielves opprciTed in the attempts they made to efifedt a revolution. ■ ., Reverfe the medal, and let us aik how this great queftion (lands at prefent : the principles of equa- lity and Rights of Man are adoat, and an experi- mentum cruets tells us, that a nation, though under a very bad government, may change for one a ' . thoufand times worfe. This great and difaftrous . «vent will give men, let their rank be what it may - -f-the honeft workman equally with the prince-r-a horror at the idea of revolutions; will teach men . rather* to bear the ills they have, than fly toothers .^ that they know not of j /and confcqucntly has done ( «43 ) done more agaioft the caufe of chat real and fafe liberty, which was gradually pervading the world, Chan any other event in the power of mifchief to effed^. A refleffcion that ought to make us loathe a Jacobin, with the fame deteftation as noxious animals of hideous deformity. >' ) ,4 't. If.\ • low ^IK^^'^'iZ .11-. i'L» «jf w )■ f IP Take the wbrft of the German military govern- ments, and compare the ficuation of the people, in any point whatever, and it may be alTcrted truely that they are in a happier and better fitua- tibn than the French under the anarchy given them by the Rights of Man : to anfwer that this anarchy may fublide and produce a good government at laft, is fo completely befide the quelVion, reafon- ing on fafts, that I am aftonifhed to hear it fo often recurred to ; the experiment of the new go« ' ▼crnment, in France, was complete— it was fi- niihed — decreed and accepted—It is farfical to fuppofe that Louis XVI. had more power to Tap or deftroy it than any other King: if it could not go on with him, it could not go on at all, and therefore was rotten at heart. It had made a thou- sand provifions againft a difarmed king, but had made none againlt an armed mob : this mob broke into the fandtuary and kicked the conftitution out 9£ doors. MalTacres followed, till no man felt his head more fafe on his (boulders than the fub- jcfts of Achen or Algiers ; and, as to property, it m ■ 111 r \ ! * " ■■'! S' m'-'^l «j-? was 'W' ' ( 144 ) was given to the winds : where are the fubjeAs 6f a German defpoc whofe Hcuacion matches this? And as to the hope of leeing fomething better; the hope of the German is more likely to be re- alized than that of the Frenchman, who has no- thing in perfpedive but new evils, and new revo- lutions to cure them. A German, therefore, would be wife to renounce the thoughts of liberty, rather than purfue the idea of it through a revoiuiiuR fimilar to that of France. Time and a happy co- incidence of events may give them fuch an oppor- tunity as France, worfe than loft. They have her example to inftru6l ihcm. : ? -; '"■ r<'' . -^ - ^ The plain conclufion to be drawn is this j na- tions fhould proceed as individuals ; rely only on experimented cafes. When philoibphers advifed the French to feek fome fyllem of freedom better than experiment (Great Britain) offered, they advifed a truft in theory; and at this moment, when Jacobins and reformifts advife us to improve our conftitution, is it not a queftion directly in point to afk them, whether the experimented free- dom we enjoy at prefect, ought to be hazarded on projedls of theory ? An unequal reprefentation, rotten boroughs, long parliaments, extravagant courts, felfifti minifters, and corrupt n^ajorities, are io intimately interwoven with our pradtical freedom^ that it would require better political ana- tomifts than our modern reformers, to fhew, on f«a. )" ^ ■v^- ( 145 ) - |fa£b, that we did not owe our liberty to the iden^ Itical evils which they want to expunge. I n France Inone of thefe are to be found, a reprefentation kqual, no burgage tenures, biennial parliaments, Ido -court, minifters of ftraw, and majorities cor- Irupted only by themfelves; but with thefe envied IbiefTings is France free ?— Here is an equal re- Iprefentation of the people — an experiment com- Iplete — ^and the refult " heavenly " in the eyes of lEnglifh reformers ; but not fb in the mouths even lof Jacobins in the Convention— they tell you ■that it is anarchy, bloodfhed, and famine. " The libolition of formal government brings fociety Idofer toge:her," is one of Paine's mountebank Imaxims ; his theories fhould always be brought to Ithe ted of French practice s this compreiTure, this Icontafb of fociety, is there well underftood ; it is |the pike of one man in the belly of another. Is lis fo very encouraging as to induce an imitation in England ? Such things, however, are not fufiicient |lo fatisfy thofe who demand a reform ; no flight eafon for fuppofing they look further — and that khrough the obfcure of fuch a foreground, there p a profpe the fpoil of equal Wizens I "rrwvrw W ' I.*- >. '■. ; , .^ ,', > ., ">''-/:U * i ; :.>-■! :^A^fk L * ' - J • .». • .f^^ ■..*; There ■ :/W-. •'■ '!.<■ yt-i if !■ i;;3 •'•it :'t 'lit it »'. %i mm M I fr- it t': There is, in Moaf. Mounter's laft tdmirable per . > few inhabitants, have, from cuftom, the right 0; deputing } while diftri^s, very populous, do not ' participate in ele^ions. This irregularity appearf V contrary to many inconteftible principles $ but! could not be redified without augmenting th ibrce of the democratical part of the government without danger of breaking the equilibrium, whici ; has been fo weH prefcrved for a century; and i ever they confent to render the reprefentatioi more equal, it would be indifpenfable to ftrengthei the other two branches. Inequality of reprefenta tion, above all, produces this advantage; that : „ great part of the people identify themfelves mud lefs with the deputies of the commons, and thi public opinion is lefs corrupted by the palTion ' that may agirate the lower houfe*.'* There deep fenfe in this remark : the author, who is oni ! of the beft of men, and mod honeft of politicians who was a leader in the conftituent afliembly, an( * Recherches fur les Caafes qui ont emplch^ les Francois i dcvenii- Libres, 1791, torn. ii.p. »7x. / marked; idminble per* 'rits ^eat at^ 'oiTdTes a free te, the real ap^ the enfteiK^ land the num* le is very un^ which contair \, the right oi 3itlouSj /do nod ularity appeari iciples; butiJ gmenting tM e government] librium, which CMuryi andii reprefematioij e to ftrengthen of reprefenta] Lntage; that rmfelvcs mucfi nons, and m f the paiTioflj ^" There ^r, who is onj of politiciansj iScmbly, am i6 let Francois il markedJ marked, with great acumen, their errors, felt the troth he here delineates, and faw the overthrow of their conftitution in the eagernefs with which the people, incorporated as it were, with the de- putieSf till thofe without talents became as cor* rupt as thofe whofe only talent was corrupting the hearts of others. What fadt, what experiment, do our reformers pretend to, on which to ground the certainty, that if thofe apparent defedls of the conftitution were removed, the power of the people, without property, would not, in confequence, gain enoUgh««-"to enable them to gain more*—— and to ?.dv Tice, by means of thofe fteps,— till they gain' »► ? The cafe of the French Revolution is much ftronger in the affirmative than any other to be produced in the negative; but to (peak of cafes is abfurd, with the reformers, for they pro- ceed abfolutely on theory and Rights of Man; thofe well adapted foundations for a republic in Bedlam. There appears to me to be a lingular propriety in the aflbciations which are at prefent fpreading through the kingdom, petitioning parliament to pafs an ai& to declare all clubs,' alTociations, fb- cieties, and meetings of men, that aflemble for the purpofe of obtaining changes in the conftitu- tion, illegal, and that no meeting can legally correfpond, cither in their own name, or in the La names 4': '' 1: ■SI '. i , r I t MM Ui •' ■il ( 148 ) names of their (ecretary, or other officer, with any foreign body or governnnent, unlefs fuch meet* ing is fandioned by charter. The friends of .or- der and good government are now coUeded, the time is precious, and ought not to be loft; and while we are threatened with the horrors of anarchy, it behoves us to have as much adivity and energy in our defence as the violators of all human rights have exerted in their attack: for men to tell ps, in fuch a moment as this, and fituated as we are with the enemy of mankind, on one fide, and the torch of revolt lighting in Ireland on another fide —that they are not Jacobins, but moderate men, wifhing reform, is as impudent as it would be for a thief to fay, that he is not an afTaffin, becaufe he only holds a candle while another cuts my throar. . ■ :er, with ich meet* s of or- ated, the >fti and aivirchy, I energy an rights cell lis, IS we are and the ther fide ite men, Id be for becaufe :uts my rd, and to (land jfcribes vanccs, lothing ay the every loved . t little lat the I (hall ^ - ( 149 ) I ftiall not be fufpeded of thinking tithfs a light grievance ; but they are a grievance that would be ill remedied by the lofs of the crop that pays them} the enormity of the taxes I pay is known to every man that reads the tra£ts I pu^plifh ; heavy as they are, let them remain rather than be changed for a ' contribution fonciere j the little left me is my own, which might not be the cafe under the pure dif- pcnfations of Jacobin equality. Evils certainly exift in our fyftem, and they are fuch as will, I truft, be remedied, gradually, by the legiflature, : afling from its own impuHe; and not from the influence of clubs and reforming focieties. It was an old obfervation, that a republic could fubfifl on the trappings of a monarchy. The- French have fet the fcal of experience here, as in every other cafe, and have fhewn, that citizen Ro- bcrfpierre, and citizen Rolland, can out do Emperor Jo/gpb And King George in extravagance; the moft enormous expences, chat ever any nation was de> luged with, are the prefcnt in France j a fingle month's deficiency is 176 millions,or 7,700,000!. fterling ; this is fpending at the rate of 90 millions a year. Paine fays, "It is cruel to think of a' million a year to a kingi " but it is not a break- faft to an afTcmbly of citizens. There is a great, deal in the civil liit of England that does not con- cern trappings* The payment, for the fupport qf ^ti^OiU . , L 3 thofc I-'; 'i ■•| 'ti ft ■;;;!- ilili! ft . ( 150 ) thofe trappings, do not probably arhount toT fix- pence a head upon the population of Great Bri- tain, for which fixpence every man has the fUp-* port of a chief conftable that kee^s all the other conftables to their ^uty. Inftead of fixpence a head paid for tranquility; the French now pay five fhiilings a head for keeping a gang of cut cbroars, and an afiennbly of mad dogs. A fplen- did iaiperial court might be fupported out of fomething worfe than trappings of the French republic. Monarchy, fays Paine, is a filly contemptible thing, I compare it to fomething kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bufile and fufi, and a wonderful air of feeming Jolemnity -, but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open, and the com* pany fee what it is, they burfi into laughter. He has fince, in the charader of a Icgifiator, had rue- ful occafions of witnefllng that reprefentation can exhibit fcenes more burlefque, and to the full as laughable, as any in monarchy j and that the le- giflators of the Convention, determining priority of fpeaking by boxing^^— a kick for a trope, a 1 black eye for a metaphor, and the defccnt of ora- tors from the tribune that of being tumbled or hurled upon the benches, to the fhouts, clappings, and bifiings of the galleries, have upon a thoufand occafions prefented fpcdfcacles admirably adapted for V ' moving ihle thinly aittt about ufSy and a )eu, by aifjf i the com^ Iter, He had rtie- ^ation can le full as lac the le- ; priority trofti a t of ora- nbled or lappings, thoufand lapted for moving moving the rifible faculties of fpeftators ; not for- getting the nickname of our Thetford ilaymaker— the funcbinelh of the Convention. > -I- %■>*.■ ^iiS"', If France (hould ever agai'> pnflefs the precious moment of improving ler vernmcnt witho .. convulHons, which opportunity (he had, and loft $ or if any other great country, having an indigent poor, (hould meet fuch a moment— -—experiment ipeaks to them but one language.— Take the British Constitution, not becaufe it is theo- retically the bed, but becaufe it is pradically good ; but take fpecial care not to miftake that conftitu- tion, and give the poifbn of perfbnal reprefenta- tion, for in fuch an error your import of Br icifh li- berty would become the eftablilhment of French anarchy. - ^ > The conclulion may be comprefled in a few lines J the danger of the moment is great indeed j; and only to be guarded againfl by the moft unremitted diligence and adtivity: — exert that diligence, and bring that activity into play by a unanimous fupport of the adminiftration, en- trufted at prefent with the public fafcty : the quef- .tion is not whether you are a friend or an enemy of that adminiftration j you are certainly a friend to the lives and properties of mankind. Join in a0bciacions for our defence againft banditti, cut vf .; L 4 throats. ' l! "'■ 'B*'ii, •xi ft ',ifl • ' ; - ■i L* I; I • J. si lie I . i.i'< B:'::;il II n ( 15a ) throats, and Jicobins -, join againd an enemy morel fubtle, and therefore more dangerous, the friends' of reform; the afTociaturs who would plant the I tree of equal liberty; the mountebanks who have a French noftrum, and Birmingham daggers, for the difeafes of our Englifh confticution. Guard againft fuch mifcreant attempts by pointed refolu- tions i and call, with one voice, on the legiflature to fupprefs, by vigorous and decidve laws, the clubs of fedition; the alTociations that call them- felvcs our *' conftitutional" inftruftors and our " friends i" whofe leffons are inftitutes of anarchy; and whofe friendftiip, — (hould their tenets prevail, —would cement with our bed blood, that Na- tional Convention of Britain with which thofe fo* cieties have fo lately threatened us*. [■ . ,. f I know not how other men feel at reading the regiftert of meetings of Jacobius, reformers, friends of the conflitution, friends of tht liberty of the prefs— but to me thty appear hitlf farcical^ half (difgulting i a IlrAnge jumble of fpeeche?, and drinking, and fing- ing i one is doubtful whether the proper retribution would be to confider them as traitors, and fend them to the Tower; as mad • men, and convey them to bedlam; or as difturbers of the peace, and fjveep them all to the round-houfe. There is no government upon earth, or that ever exiited in the world, this alone excepted, that would permit aifcmblies, the profetTed purport of which it to pull it in pieces ; whole obje6l is to declare their own difcontent, and to render th« people as unhappy as themfelves. To. confider th^ epithets they give one another, and the toads they drink, a bye- flander would fappofe the kingdom had been for fometime in a ^ate of utter ruin«*an4 that the libertiei of the people were ren> . / ' - . ; dered . t) I tiemy more 1 the friends plane the I s who have aggers, for m. Guard ited refoiu- ; legiflature i laws, the call them- rs and our of anarchy; )ets prevail, , that Na- ch thof& fOr i.-.v' %•!•:*. le regifterft of ution, friends of farcical* half cing, and fing- n wQuld be to wef} as mad* of the peace, o govei'nmeat one excepted, of which is to lifcontent, and cunfider the drink, a bye- foinetime in a »ple wew ren- dered A t'.i'? ■ V! f "'.o wf^r- ' 1 '-i v'ri;Of»<«H ( >ja ) ,* *,!.- ..«A.4.«1S. W-. I^ueftion of aJFar. ,, |>,ii.! ^^^j ^ Every refleAing man muft, on convidlion, de- rived from long experience, be an enemy to war, and muft be of opinion, that that fyftem of policy ought, at this time, as well as at all other periods, to be embraced which promifes us the longefl: du- ration of peace, for the fifty next years to come. This ought to be the only rule of a (latefman i and dered the fport of tyrants— —He would imagine that the prefs had been under an imprimatur^ but removed by the zeal of an indivi* dual; that the- people owed all their rights to another member: that all reprefentation in parliament hung on the lips of a third t and that ihe property of England would be at the mercy of exciftSt Were it not for the exertion of a fourth. And, attendinglo the fpejeches delivered,; he would find, to his. Airprize, tbat:the peuj^ie pf .England did nqx qvve their hpppinefs to thei]- government, but were cajoled into profperity : that they were vtSltmsy viewing with envy the |[/onoas ««ytff/?i of Irifli reformers. Such a byellarider, not well informed of fa6ls, would certainly conclude that Englifli' men were moce mifrj-aUe .than zx^y nation' on tl|e globe, afnd pni'ti- cularly than Frenchmen. Speculative £(rrangeme..t.s of iiate offices 'aV)c fdmetiiin» amiiiihg— let us fupp'ofe one of thefe orators a (ecre- t^ry, anothei; a fecHretdry's Ttcretary, another a treafurer of the navy, .9 fourth payti^after,ra jfifth fecietafy at w^r, and a fixth attprncy general: what, in fjach a cafe, would at once become of all tiiis ruin? Where, alas I would be found the rights of ^the prefs, the Tights of the pwJpW/ the rights of reprefentation,- the fighi* tip 'iio ;iexcife i A: pi^gic .Mra.pjd .i»- wf y^d pvser tlje, jflan^. ai)d evi|»' fly. off like the eyappratioq.9f ^p i,theria> npift—thfi atnijofgherp clears-?- the fun fliines. This is, not Aipuofition, or theory} it is fact, deduced frdni a:i^ou£ind EXPSRiMEWTi-^Ir ii In^or^t'exfititiiett and man. 'in v ■'■'■It r * ( 154 ) if, by avoiding hoftilities with thefe new deftroyers of mankind at prefenc, we had any chance of pre- fer ving peace, my weak voice fhould urge our mi- niflers to guard it with the moft fedulous precau- tions ; but if, on the contrary, preferving peace at prcfent be only whetting the fwords, ftoring the magazines, and difTeminating the principles, which are by and by to be employed againft us, with tenfold efFeft ; and, above all other points, plant- ing and nourifliing thofe principles among us by every infidious art ; if fuch fhould be the conle- quences of peace at prefent, it muft be fufficiently apparent to every reafonable man, that on the long account, every year of war, at this criHs, will probably fecure ten years of peace in its train, and confequently that the policy of permanent peace is, of all others, that which moft clearly calls for temporary war. •1 ivii;^'^:^. '''Such a coincidence of clrcumftances, as pro- duces this fingular fituation, has very rarely hap- pened. In almoft all the former wars, in which this kingdom has been engaged fince the revolu* tion, our government or the oppolition to govern- ment, have looked only at their own interefts, and but feldom at thofe of the nation. The war of 1744, wis a war abfolutely without an objedt, and bcQught on by the oppoficion in parliament, raif- us: •vv' "■ •,'■...: ( '" ) v; ■ ing ft clamour agalnft Sir Robert Walpole. The war of 1756, was a commercial war for the pre- (ervation of colonies. The Am^ican war was to retain thofe colonics in obedience ; a war, partlf of commerce, partly of governmeor, and partly popular. But on true political principles, all thofe three wars, to which we owe nearly the whole of our national debt, were ill-judged, and ought to have been avoided : the attainment of the objeA in view was not worth an hundredth pare of the ezpence, much lefs the ibance of attaining that obje6b. If the objed before us now were of no greater magnitude, God forbid that any honeft man (hould have pleaded for hofVilities. Had the French contented themfelves with the domeftic ar« vangements of their own government, what would have been our concern in their tranfa^hons ? Nonel Nothing in either policy or pretence. Whether their edifice were philofophical, atheiftical, or me- taphyfical i*-rwhether their parliament affembled in one or two houfes; whether they purfued the fights or wrongs of man, all wftre the fame to ust and accordingly our government, greatly to its honour, was a mere fpt^ator, not an indif- ferent fpefbator; but rather frieAdly than otHer- wtfe* But wheo' the new Revolution of the 10th of AuguCt, brought other principles into pUy i-p-when the repubUcaiis> who then mounted aloft in the dorm of their own raifing, proclaime4 s^tn - principle* i^m •N' m ( «56 ) ^.*'. principles direftly and hoftilcly off-nfivp ♦ to the government of every country around them— and in effed: declared war againO ihem, in the famous decree of fupport to all rebels who wilhed for French freedom ;•— when thcfe hoilil^ decUrations were found to fpring from the vi(ftorit'j» hat at- tended their arms j — when they were accompanied with the moft bufy, impudent, and inirufivc inter- ference in the parties and difconcents of chcfc king- doms, and that in a tone and manner equally in- fidious and dangerous : when all theie ciicum* (lances combined to BU our government with the utmoft alarm, what epithet of condemnation would have been adequare to their demerit had they aded on any other plan than the one they purfued ? It is not war or no war? But war in 1793 or in 1796? War with an enemy powerfully attacked by others ? or with the fame enemy after flie have conquered others ? Shall it be war in St. Do- mingo and Martinique, or in Ireland and SuiTex ? V , Thofe who have attempted to per.fuade.us, that Yft are in danger, this war from the (Irength and vigour of republican France, have their . motives for fuch an opinion ; but, according to all the ap- pearances on, which hgman forefighc can build, the **', Liberty ihall be extinguiflied in Europe, or our principles fliall every where triumph/* j^^d^ri^ oftbe CdnveKtionto the United ;.:--i-fli:iq . '. ■■;, • - idc4 idea dang( threat perfui you e: on. t\ Dogs harveji mauufi crown crown lodgedy have a increa/e Februa Such of the/ breeche (ion of I received the hop( lave exi ore the tanks oj onfeque rippo Si ublicam rft Jjocs * to the m— and famous [hed for larations hat at- mpanicd vc intcr- Erfc king- [ually in- ciicum* with the ion would they aded ucd ? It 93 or in attacked (he have Sr. Do- ulTcx ? V 1 • -■ - f] • ,us, that [ngth and motives |11 the ap- Ibuild, the [ur principles \totbeUnittd '.,' Ill 3iyi" ide4 ( 157 ) idea has little of juftice for its fupport* The dangers that threaten at prefent, are thofe that threaten France; they have orators, it is true, who perfuade them, that they arc invincible, but when you examine the circumOances of the force relied on, they muft make any rcafonable man fmile.— • Does the pay of our troops require money ? Our harvejis and our vintages, our raw materials and manufactures, will they be lefs abundaut becaufe ic ffbiiticrs. in lorant is to bfcrvations, for confut- iples 6f na- t*<'- ,'r* itits, I may e regal and trds, that i8 •counts ftatc ctnigrants at are at icaft inginCloots' land and fcr- * you will be 3,boo,000 liv what has bed )ined paper t( 1 31- ,000,000 , within thcl norc of paper lius proving )us politician do£trinc. doftrine.— >No government that ever exifted in the world, came into the poflTefTion, or rather into the plunder, of fuch folid wealth $ and yet it is of fo little coniequence, that they are now driven, after a fingle, and that a triumphant campaign, to the CKCremicies of adding 800 to 3000,000,000 of pa- per! paper! paper!!! With the rich land and abundant harvefts of three-fourths of France in their power, they are fo poor, (o ragged, and fo hungry, that half the regiilers of their alTembly is •ccupied with cries for raiment, d *mands for food, complaints of famine ; a nation without bread, and armies without breeches. ^ V -' *'' ^ '.\*r -'.• X Such are the fafts,— -they (a noble Lord in England is of the fame opinion) were too ignorant to know, that fuch would inevitably be the rtfult; •—and this orator of the human race continues ig- norant, in fpighe of all their experience. He might, however, have known, that rich land and the wealth which, in home confumption, may be called folid ai d real, cannot be brought into effeA in a war at a diftance, but by means of a circulat- ing fpccie of fuch credit, as to command commodi- ties. Aifignats, before a livre of this 800,000,000 il circulated, have created a famine, and raifcd the price of wheat to 50 liv. the fack, or 100 liv. the quarter (4I. 78. 6d.) $ the new iflue will in- creafe this fcarcity, and throw a proportionable impediment i§ ( i6o i impedirtie'nt in the way of every operation of g(H vernment. Great difcoritcnts, and even iflfinrec- tionS) have been heaixd in various parts of the kingdoqn ; what will be the confequence of adding in fiicceflive campaigns, to this enomnqus amount of circulating mii<;hief,-rof injedbing into all the veins and arteries of , the political body,, not blood but poifon ? The yalue of rich land, of harvcfts, and vintages, will foon be founds when the filvec wings which ought to convey then)/ with vital ef- ficacy, to the frontiers, becomes pape/, at loo per cent, difcounr. It is taxes paid in fpecie, or in fomething as good as fpecie, that enablels the pub- lic to avail iifelf of private wealth. If eight mil- liards of real wealth leave them beggari^- for want of MON EY, the fxpjeriment is forjcly Complete and finiflied, for all except. (0«{i;^;f//o» politicians I -;;r.' The objc£l of the- jwar .being a durable peace, attained by the deftrudiqn of a combination of reformers, who, not Goi)tent with operating on the bafts of their own country, proclaim iwprovethtnt and hofiility againft aUjthcir neighbours-^fuch be- ing the great objedt, the principle; of felf-defence, which iwftigatcs the war— it is but of fecondary moment what the Immediate eventiOf the military operations may prQve.. Qur profpeft however ha* nothing to alarm : the ftate of . the French Weft Indies is fuch, that* a ^rliifh fket has only to ap- pear I'll:;!! of go-^ ifinrcc- of the adding imoiint all the t blood arvcfts, le filyec 'itai ef« ICO per ;, or in ic pub- »ht mii- br wane Mnplece clans I ; peace, itiun of ; on the ovemtni ach be- kfence, :ondary military ;ver has Weft f to ap- pear ( i6i ) pear and meet the greeting of friends. The Rights of Man and equality have proved too ruinous to be liftened to after the flag of real freedom appears in thofe feas j this is the expedation in the Con- vention itfclf ; and their recompcncc is the idea of giving freedom to Peru ! • ; •! -^ . If there is truth in the reprefentation I have given of our danger— if the field of that danger is at home —and if in this war with France we have to fight, not thro* ambition or for conqueft, but for the prc- fervation of our live^ and properties againil foreign and domeflic foes, combined for our deftrudtion; it then furely behoves every man that wiihes well to his country, to give firmnefs and vigour to that government by which alone we can hope for de- fence and fecurity ; by as great unanimity as our enemies will admit,— by rejefting, reprobating, and holding up to abhorrence, every idea of alter- ing, reforming, or tampering^ at fo dangerous a crifis, with the conftitution to which we owe the profperity that is fo hateful an objefl to the Jaco- bins of France j— by exerting ourfcives, every man in his individual and colletftive capacity, with all vigour, to promote the views of govern- ment in an cnergic condudt of the war, by which alone we can hope for a continuance of thofe bleillngs which belong to us as Britons. The public condud which this kingdom at prefent M . holds. ,; T 'r' ' ,1', ■^.X.: / ( 162 ) holds, is paternal to the deareft interefts of the people, and ought to render it popular and re* fpci^ed. Succefs under God depends on the peo- ple bearing the burthens, which the neceffity of war may impofe on them, with patience and chear* fulnefs; convinced as they muft be, that the war is not only jud, but abfolutely and eflfentially necef- fary to the falvation of all that makes life defirables the peace of families,— the furety of dwellings,— the fafcty of life,— the fccurity of property :— they win confider its expence as the facriHce of a little, for the prcfervation of the whole* ^ ^^ ; ^ " • ': j-'v I am old enough to remember diOin£lly the whole courfe of the war of 1756, to have rcfledted on the events of that and of the American war; and though I felt as an Englifliman ought to feel for the honour of his country's arms, yet the events made no deep impreflion on my mind, — nothing perfonal treated the lead anxiety in my bofbm. In the pre- fent conteft there is none of this want of intereft —the rapid conquefts of the French in the laft campaign Blled me with apprehenfion and gloom; I faw with horror the elevated crefts of our own Jacobins,— I marked the meditated mifchief, and felt, that all for which I wifhed to live had re« ceived a fhock. The late events, which gave hope of a turning tide, revived my fpirits,— my houfc '■■l.'li of the »nd rc- he peo- effitjr of i chcar* le war is y necef- cfirablc ; llings,— f :— th€y r a little, the whole flefted oti war; and eel for the ints made 5 perfonal n the pre- )f intcrcft n the laft id gloom ; our own chief, and had re*, lich gave irits,— my houfc houTe became more my caftley<^ viewed my (^tia as more my own,***.'! began to feel the foil Brm^r under my reet,«^and that the fun of Britiih free- dom might yet flilne with beams unblotted by deeds of horror. What were viftories in Hefic, or defeats in America, to the perfonal leelings of a farmer in Suffolk? alike to him or conqueft or defeat.— -Not io in this contell:, eventful to eyeny human feeling,— that comes home to men*s bujinefs and bofoms't >n which defeat will rob him of his patrimony, his friends, his life, his children ; con- vert his country to his gaol, and raife the hand he may have fupported to afbs of plunder and of death. He who does not feel his property more fecure, and the lives of his family more fafe, in Gonfcquence of every fuccefs gained againft that band of cut throat wretches, that ufurp the go- vernment of France,— has a bofom touched by vi- brations in no unifon with mine. It is a war of humanity againft the ravagers and deftroyers of the earth; and it might have given one the horrible proipedb of feeing men, the members even of this profperous and happy fociety, tempted by vile am- bition, or infligated by the poverty of profligacy,— marking power as the offspring of confufion and plunder, the reward of anarchyj — of feeing fuch men repining at victories that fill every honefl b0fom:wirh joy, and glorying in defeats difaftrous to the caufe of humanity. The vidlorics of this M 2 war ^:i 's 1 !'':i;!- a V-v.' • ( 164 ) war tend to prcferve liberty on the firm bafis of the Britifti conftitution; property on law; and life in the pure dilpcnfations of unfufpeftcd jufticc. But to what tends defeat ? Lcc the French fyftem cftablifti itfelf, and there fets the fun of England's liberty,— there flics, as before a pcftilence, all that renders life Iwect, or property defirablc:— plunder, rapine, blood, fuccccd. :.-. , L ..■.-; ^,. v:.'^-:. ■ ::>■; 1£ibr^ ,:i.i»lv3T[ .atCCM I • ■ ' ■ ! ' V '. ...... I • , ...... .»'../., :./ x>. 'u-. ■'"■■' '>''^ ^'! '..-:-• (j^lw^*:-^' '\::.*}'j i."'' .>;,' ,.',i. ^,i'./> 4-- ^^.t* .i' "• ; .'I ." ' ti ' "■' ' vv/:;i;-?f^^.-. i ', ■•<-•■ - I* U i' il. y'--i ^i,;, ■■". - .-, ;.; { *i''><. ' ^ '^l * ' •^..' 1 .i.f l'»t»(|i<:.o , ■......,.. 1 . .1 ... ..,Vh V,-j-;,,n-; ^ '• ■■•''■^">iM'" \;\- ■ i-'' '. 1 ;, = i«^i ■<;;.:,* .J. .4 '. V, H^^'i'^ '< *; ,:.( .'••-'-; .'■ .,, /:. to ir'TiiKi'?., ! •V» •■''{(Jft'^'* . if-^ I. f,i gi.'i''^'":otj:' u.:.:; APPENDIX. ,.>• I',', •* «» APPENDIX. • « > . ', :'- ,' -Uij w. t.- jf III J TX7HATEVER reprefcntation took place in 'I antient times, was of property, never of perfons. " The fuprcme power in the mycel- gemotes, or folkmote (p. i7i.)> was ever lodged in the coUeftivc body of the fret proprietors OF LAND," fays Dr. Squire, afterwards Bifliop of St. Davids, in his Inquhy into the Englijh Con» ftitution* " The vvittenagennote, compofed of the King's companions, or Thanes, the governors of counties, blfliops, and dignified clergymen of large property.'* lb. '' Without five hides of lahd, a ceorl could not be put upon the rank of a King's Thane." Jh, A hide of land from 500 to 600 acres, Hunce, vol. i. p. 203. T^HE laft, and perhaps the bcft, of our hifto- ■ rians (Henry), unites with all other unpre- judiced men, — " As loon a^ nny of the ceorls acquired five hides oj bndy with a churihy a belU - bouje, and manor place, they " ere declared thaucs or nobles, and jnernber:) ot the wittfnagemote. This qualification was gradually raiitd, till, in the M 3 reigt^ ■J'i'A m III :i 'i I ■* I P ■| m I .1 ( i66 ) reign of Edward the ConfcfTor, it was fixed at forty hides." (Vol. iii. p. 371. fVilkins* Leges Saxon, p. 70, 71. Hiftoria Elienjisy cap. 40.) Though great efforts have been made to prove, that the ceorls, or fmall proprietors of land, were reprefented in the wittenagemote, by their tithing- men, or borfholders ; and the inhabitants of trad- ing towns, by their aldermen, or portreeves) it rtiuft be confefTed, that of this there is not fuf- ficient hiftoric evidence remaining {^yrel Introd, p. 95. Squire, 244). It is however .highly pro- bable, that many ceorls and burgeffes, who dwelt in or near the place where a wittenagemote was held, attended it as interefted fpedators, and inti- mated their fatisfa^ion, with its refolves, by Ihouts of applaufe. On fome great occafions, when there was an uncommon concourfe of fuch fpeAators, their prefence and approbation is recorded in fuch terms as tiiefe '* omnique populo audienh et videnta (ana all the people hearing and looking on) alior" umque jidelium infinita multitudo qui entries lauda- ve^unt (and a prodigious crowd of other people who all applauded) they frequently afTembling in the open air, in fomc extenfive plain.*' (Spelm^n Condi, p» 62^, 2S^' Henry. if^.-r T^R. BRADY hath taken the pains to collr(51: "^^ all the accounts given in old chronicles of the great councils or parliaments of (his nation^ in . the ■1P:'I fixed at \s* Leges apk 40.) o prove, id, were r tithing- of trad- leves } it not fuf- ?/ Introd, jhly pro- iho dwelt Tioce was and inti- by Ihouts hen there pe^tators, d in fuch et vidente, jn) alior" es Uuda- er people nbling in (Spelm^n to coiled: >nicles of nation^ in the . ( 167 ) the Saxon times, and hath (hewn very clearly, that the common people or inhabitants of burghs> never had deputies in any of them, nor were they in a proper condition of freedom to be capable of choofing reprefentativcs to (it in fuch an afTembly, Sir Plenry Spelman, after carefully examining into the conftitution of an hundred parliaments, held from the Norman conqucft to the 49ch of Henry III. pronounces that the boroughs never were reprefented in any: Sir W. Dugdale, and all other judicious and unprejudiced writers, verfcd in the di<5l:ion of the times, and in the antiquities of cheir country, agree with him in this opinion. Carie^ vol. ii. p, 457. TF in the long period of two hundred years, which clapfed between the conqueil and the latter end of Henry III. and which abounded in faflions^ revolutions, and convulfions of all kinds, the houfe of commons never performed one fingle le» giflative aft fo conliderable as to be once men- tioned by any of the numerous hiftorians of that age, they muft have been totally inHgnificant : and in that cafe, what reafon can be ailigned for their ever being a^emblrd ? Can it be fuppofed that men of fo little weight or importance pof» fefTed a negative voice againfb the King and the borons ? Every page of the fubfcquent hidories, difcovcrs their exiftence; though thefe hiftories ; ^ M 4 «r« Mi'. ■|i;^! m m ii I -III! ill r.i m m ( i68 ) arc not writ with greater accuracy th^n the pre- cctiing onesj and indeed fcarcely equal them in that particular. The Magna Charta of King John provides that no fcutage or aid (hall be im- pofed, either on the land or towns, but by the confent of the great council j and for more fecurity, it enumerates rhe perfons entituled to a feat in that council, the prelates, and immediate tenants of the crown, without any mention of the com- mons: an authority fo full, certain, and explicit, that nothing but the zeal of party could ever have procured credit to any contrary hypothefis. Hume, voi. ii. p. 119. In oppofition to fuch authorities, Lord Littleton is party-headed enough to rely on a petition fiom St. Alban's, which implies a pre- ceding right i yet himfelf confefles, that it con- tains two grofs falfehoods. A pretty houfe of com- mons, whofe exiftence is to be proved by the im- plication of a few words in a lying petition -, and ^his in the teeth of Magna Charts ! ! , 'i « - i TN anticnt times, and at the firft inftitution of •^ reprefentatives for counties, none had any vote in the eleflion of knights, but fuch as owed fuit to the county court, /. e, fuch as held immedi- ately of the crown; for all that held lands of mefne lords, owed fuit and fervice to their lord's courts. What contributed to the alteration of the contlitjijtion jn this refpeA, was a /hameful indo- ^ .ii , ' Icnce 1 the pre- them in of Ktng all be im« ut by the c fecurity, a feat in te tenants the com- i explicit, ever have s. Hutxe, uthorities, to rely on lies a pre- at it con- e of com- )y the im- cion: and itution of any vote owed fuit immedir lands of heir lord's ion of the eful indQ- Icnce ( «69 ) lence in country gendcmen, who procured pri- vileges, allowing thenri to oppear by proxy; and it was one of Simon de Monifort's \vays of en- gaging the favour of the gentry, by making fuch privileges general. The proxii-s deputed by the gendemen were generally fomc of their ov n free- holders, who, by this nr.eans, attending at county courts (though not in their own right), came, in procefs of time, to be put on Junes, &c. Ic doth not appear, however, thnt thefe freeholders, tinder mefne lords, ever had a (harr in the elcc-i tion of knights of (hires, till the tumuituarv par- liament, in the ift of Henry IV. j a;iu thence arofc the grievous complaints, made '- tli- <')m- mons in parliament, of outrageous and exceffr^c nuni'- bers of people pfetending a right to attend eledions. * Henry IV, thinking thefe inferior freeholders convenient for his purpofe, eftablifhed their right of voting by an aft in his 7th year. This ad, the firll of its kind that was ever made, the rights of electors having ever fubfifted on prefcription, paffed in the fiame fcflion, wherein, by a iike no- velty, he took upon him to alter the courfe of fucccffion and defcent of the crown, as if a new modelling of parliaments was necelTary to fupport his ufurpation. Carte^ vol. ii. p. 699. What then becomes of a modern reformer's conception^ that • Stat. 8 Hen. VI. c. 7, 7 Heii. IV, c. 15. 6 Hen, VI. c. 4. 10 Hen, VI, c. 9, , — ^ the II ( 170 ) the llatute of the 8th of Henry VI. cut off tht rights of nineteen in twenty of the peopie j inftead 'a cutting off, it was an extennon in matter of right. , 'T^HE origin of knights of the (hire is thus fhewn "*• by Carte (fee alfo vol. ii. p. 250.)* to have been ariftocratical^-^a mere method by reprefen- tation of eafing the lelTer barons in their appear- ance in the great council,— thofe who had a right to choofe had a right to fit in perfon, but craved the exemption ; it was a feries of abufeSt contrary /# the original purity of the confiitution that gave this right of eledlion, firft to men not holding by noble tenure, and then to 40s. voters. I have read, with attention. Lord Littleton's mod unfatisfaftory en- deavours to prove the contrary (Life of King Henry II. vol. 3.), which Mr. Hume puts down with his ufual eale and perfpicuity, Hift. vol. ii. p. 509. The more remotely this bufinefs is ex- amined, the more decifivcly every thing in our govcrment traces back to the crown, and to an ariftocracy created by the crown. Where is your original PURITY ? In the woods of Germany ? TN all difputes on the origin of a branch of the •*■ legiilature in any country, where there is a quefliion of its exiftence, its being a queftion at all is prima facie^ a ilrong argument againft fuch ex- iftcnct;, ■^V cut off ibt iei inftead ^ matter of thus fliewn ), to have ' reprefen* :ir appear- ad a right but craved contrary /# t gave thift I by noble read, with adtory en- of King >uts down ift. vol. ii. tf& is ex- ig in our ind to an re is your ermany ? :h of the lere is a ion at all fuch ex- iitencc;. ( 'y ) iilence, and therefore the onus prcbandi, ought to ht on thofe who prefume it. It would be an utter abfurdity to make any queftion of the txillence of an ariftocratical wictenagennote, before the Con- que(^, or of a Houfe of Barons after it ; their ex. iftence is palpable in ev^ry page of the hidorians % and after the Houfe of Commons was really infti- tuted, the exigence of that alfo was nnanifeft in legiQativc a^s. But to pretend to a legiflature incog, is a farce; if it efFcAively exifts, it muft (hew itfelf in a thoufand different ways, and not want to be dragged from the lurking hole of dark cxpreflions in old mufty charters, fomc tranflated, the original loft, and others proved to be forgeries* The attempt thus to prove the exiftcnce of a legif- lature is alone, without looking further, a ilrong fufpicion, that it had no exiftence. It is worthy only of Lord Littleton, who trandates the expref-^ Hon, omnes de regno, in an age of feudal barbarity, by the whole commonalty of the realm t he might as well have included the fwine as the men who drove them, for they were in that age of as much ac- count : it is like his making the exprefTions prin^ cipes, JatrapXf optimates, magnates, proceres, mean the people: by thus torturing words fi om that meaning which holds of the charader and man-, ncrs of an age, fuch writers deduce— what ? Not fome trifling point, which might eafily, from its nature, have been clear or confufed— but ' thp I % iiii! m ■Hi,'! , : : ': ( «7a ) the exiftence of a Houfc of Commons ! ! ! And our reformers are very glad to join them in or- der to (hew the original purify of the conjitution, flourifhing amidft the rapine, blood, and death that followed the footfteps of tartar barons j amidlt the barbarity of feudal monarths, and enflaved villains; fcenes of mifcry, to which the people of England are now bid, by the vile tongue of Jaco- bin fadtion, to look back to with eyes of envy and regret ! 7 V < TN a pamphlet, called the People's Barrier^ it is faid that the Commons were reprefented in the parliaments of the Saxons, and this is taken from the works of the Rev. Samuel Johnfon : his EJfay concerning Parliaments at a certainty now lies be- fore me, and there you find much of Saxon par- liaments, but without one word of proof that they wtre fo compofed : thofe parliaments were merely ariftocratical, and the exprefllons, in the mirror of jiffiice, much of which was written in Edv/aid the Se^cond's time (and therefore no Saxon authority), convey no determinate idea : Le Roy ajfembler les ccmittes ; again, le commun ajfent de Roy ^ de fes countes — now for the explanation — comittes and counteSj mean counties, counties mean free-men, free- men mean the mob — ergo, all the world were reprefented under the Saxons ; very well deduced Mr. Samuel Johnfon : this is all he offers for Saxon \ ■it !!! And em in or- '.onftitutiorif and death ns; annidfi: i enflaved ; people of le of Jaco- s of envy rrier^ it is ued in the a ken from : his EJfay (V lies be- axon par- ' that they ;re merely mirror of .Iv/aid the uthority), ^embler les ^ de fes fittes and free- men, orld were 1 deduced offers for Saxon «73 ) Saxon times— the next word he jumps to Edward the Fird : but he would afterwards make out, that a Saxon folkmote was a parliament, yet he ex- prefsly fays, / do not readily know what that folk" mote is (p. 287). He admits, however, that Sir Henry Spelman's is the learneded gloffary that ever was writ; and that learned antiquary is di- redtly againfl: him, and proves that a foikmore was not a wittenagemote ; and how the corona- tion oath of Richard the Second is dire^ proof vfWl puzzle a plain man to difcover. Let the reader confult Mr. Hume's firft appendix, and various paf- fages in Dr. Henry, and the authorities cited, he will there fee the utter folly and abfurdity of looking for the Commons in the wittenagemote, or for tbe people, not freeholders, in the county and hundred courts. .'•' ... ... •■■■, . Annual parliaments have been as much mif> taken : Blackftone (a favourite authority with many reformers), fays, " not that the King is, or ever was obliged, by thefe ancient ftaruces, to call a jtew parliament every year, but only to permit a parliament to fit annually." The above quoted Johnfon, has a chapter to fhew, that they were held frejh andfrefh: but all he fays amounts to no, more than an inquiry into who fhould bear their cxpcnccs if they fat longer than forty days ? For he fays exprefely that the true reajon of abrupt dif^ foluiion wa4, that their fittings after the given time, C : ■ ' mujl M: 'il I I I' I ( «74 ) mufi he at the Kmg*s charge^ which in one word explains the reafon of fo many new parliaments, and completely overturns the whole argument of the chapter. . . i When the Houfe of Cortimons, in Charles the Firft *s reign, gave, in the Petition of Rights what might be called a hiftory of their own importance in the Ifgiflature, and began with a ftatute of Edward the Fird, to fhew that the confent of knights and burgeflcs was neceflfary to the levy of a tax— is ic poliible to conceive that they would nctt have gone farther back, had they been able to do it upon, un- qucllioned authority ? But to drop all reference, and to reafon on the comparative (late of fociety in the time of the Anglo-Saxons and the prefent age— an obfervation very obvious is, that the power of the ariftocracy, which admitted fuch men as Harold, Godwin, Leofric, Siward, Morcar, Edwin, Edric, and Al- fric, mufl have been fo grc«*i, that whatever infti- tutions could throw a weight into the fcale of the people, were a right and neceflary counterpoife :— after the Conqucft the Crown vvfas omnipotent, the fame maxim held ; but after the people became predominant, brought their king to the fcafFold, and trampled on the peerage — after liberty became firmly fixed, and the Crown was left abfolutdy at the the its x\ peri< ing bec£ one word trliaments, ^ument of harles the 'hat might ice in the f Edward lights and tax— is it lave gone uponun- bn on the ic of the )fervation illocracy, Godwin, and AU rcr infti- cof the >oife :— cenc» the became fcafibld, becanw utdy at the ( 175 ) the mercy of the Commons for every fhilling of its revenue — is it for fuch an age to look back to periods fo totally different; and to call for render- ing fuch a popular government (lill more popular, becaufe thofe laws (fuppofing their exiftence) were good 800 years ago I ! Every principle, not of politics only, but of common fenfe, mufl: be given to the winds before fuch reafoning can be admitted. This fpirit of fadtion fays, give us our antient laws, our antient rights— have not the Crown and the nobility an equal right to reply ? — granted — take them-^but reftore to us what we at the fame time pojfejfed. Like true tyrants (and no fpirit of ty- ranny matches the republican) they buy their pof- fefHons, and then, keeping the purchafe, demand back the price. Do you urge, in reply, the ma^ jefty of the people ?— The majefty of the fans cuj^ littes ? Go to France. , If any one doubts what our reformers rcaily look for, let him reflect on a pafTage in the People's Barrier', the author is contending f^r univerfai fuffrage in the eleftion of reprefentatives— " By the word reprefentatives, I by no means intend to deny or derogate from the right of the Commons at large, for that the original power and authority refide in them is implied in the very word itfelf." Here reprefentation is cut up by the roots^ in the very language of the tribunes in the Na'jiicnal Con- vention; ( «76 ) ventlon ; — the conftitucion fefled to be mob and anarchy contended for is pro- 1 1 • ** Had a Houfe of CosTinnons, freely chojen ly all the people cxifttd, co;Jd Cha-les have been a tyrant, Crom'A\ ]] a proceft ji, or King Willianfi fuf- pend the habeas cc; pusy &rc. &c.?" People*^ Bar- rier. Anfwei : Such a Houfe of Commons exifts in France, and has caufed enormities fit only for re- republicans. The experiment is tried j and 25 millions of people rtiined, the refult. - 1 hold iti fays Blickftone, fufficient that it is ge- verally agreed^ that in the main the confiitution of Parliament J as it now Jlandsj was marked out fa long ago as the x^thof King John^ A. D, 1215, in the great charter^ wherein he fromifes to fummon all archhiJhopSi bijhops, abbots^ earls^ and greater barons perfonally j and all other tenants in chief under the Crown by the fheriff, Th's is whimfical ;— to refer to Magna Charta to prove the conftitucion then to be in the main as it now ftands, while it affords the moft pofitive proof of the dired: contrary faft, and even in the very words here quoted. ^Ihe te- nants in chief under the Crown were a part of the ariftocracy j here is an exprefs exciufion of every elementary atom that could form a Houfe of Com- monSt in the words from which the falfe deduftion is made, that in the main the conftitution was the fame -*t.,i'i or IS pro* f cbqfen by ft been a ''iiliam fuf- 'Ople*s Bar- ns exifts in nly for rc- i and 25 Jiitution of 'ked out fo . 1 21 5, in fummon all ater barons ^ under the —to refer on then to it affords itrary faft, 'the te- art of the of every k of Com' dedu6tion n was the fame ( 177 ) ftme as at prefent :"--if (b, Venice and the Grifons are under fimilar governments. ...... There is another pajGTage in that celebrated law- yer, which, in my humble opinion, deferves a re-con(ideration.— — '< The two houfes naturally drawing in two diredions of oppofite intereft, and the prerogative in another ftill different from them both, they mutually keep each other from exceed- ing their proper limits— like three diftin£b powers, in mechanics, they jointly impel the machine o£ government, in a direftion different from what cither, ading by themfelves, would have done 9 but at the fame time in a diredion partaking of each and formed out of all \ a direction which conftitutes the true line of the liberty and happi* nefs of the community." I do not conceive that this is either the theory or the practice of our ccn- ilitution.<»Three diftind powers in mechanics^ adting equally in contrary diredions, would arreft all motion and the machine would (land ffill, which is not the cafe. The theory feems to be one preponderating power, abfolutely overcoming the two oppofite one. tis ^ve Jb^ pta^le fuch a power over thofe leadtirs as to force at? At- tack on the escecucive itfelf, inftead of its admint- ftration— what would be the confequence ? It tt fu'fficiently clear to the raoft carelc^is obferver, that the conftittition wotild 'be IcvelKed in the duft— the Houft 6f Commons a^infg I7 the impulfe of the loweft of the people wbiild be irrefiftiblc— the Crown and the Lords would fink together. With a good and a popular King, fuch things are un- likely, but What is a conftitution good for that de- pends on the perpetual exiftence of what. is not to be looked for in the continued duration of many centuries i Suppofc a weak and unpopular King. Do net the >; con'fiderations give us fome reafon for qucftioning the J!?nice of the learned judges* defcriprion? Do they not rather lead us to be- lieve that the theory of our conftitution is really bad; that ihe prafiice is the beft part of ir>incl that to which we are really indebted for v^hat- cver we enjoy ? There arc men who tell us, that a virtuous. vithmodtt* c this could ers 'of that feizifigteht withoUtac* iich an al^ rdentatidn, arte an at- its admini- nee? Itb Ifervcr, that e duft — the pulfeof the ^ r. With gs are un- for that de- at is not to n of many sular King, bme reafon icd judges* d us to'bc- m is TcaHy of it>ind for i«^hat- ;11 us, that a virtuous a virtuous Houfi; of Commons, though at the command of the people, wculd a£): virtuoudy ;— this refolves itfelf into a dependance on the virtue of a mob— the men who wifh to place us in this dependance mud either be fools who fee not the danger, or rogues that know it well, and therefore are earned: to involve us : but at all events thefe ideas, of I know not what mechanical contradic- tions, and counter conftitutional powers, are ap- parently erroneous, and therefore ought to be well confidered before they are acquiefced in. -.1 .iC»; r ■ - . n "pvR. TUCKER gives a reafon of very great ^^ weight againft any reprefentation on grounds of equality of any kind. In fuch a reprefentation, London would have lOO members, at lead, and always on the fpot: what a novice in politics mud he be, that does not fee the infinite evils that would refult-— and this under a general fyftem, that gave more importance to mobs than they have at prefent ! What infatuation ! One hun- dred London members backed bv a London mob: a very amufmg idea! Treati/e on Civil Government, p. 258, .,■■••' / , ■i ... :...: ; .■ ■ . -v ,; ■'« . -. '• - ;, ' nPHE able and eloquent Count dc Lally To- "^ lendal) in his fecond letter to Mr. Burke,»con- tends, that it was necejfary to give the Joublc re- prefentation to xhii tiers. Let any perfon read his .i r N a date mr^'-^ I h ( «8o ) (late of the kingdom, p. 1 5, and then afk, if more powerful— more decifive reafons could poffibly be brought againji that meafure ? For if the tnob were dragging pailiaimems in the kennel, for de- manding antient forms, what had a politician reafon to expeA from making that mob omnipo- tent! ! Charles V. Guftavus, and the Barons of England (p. 17.), knew how to keep the popular party within bounds-— but did Louis XVI. ? Was his perfonal charadter, \vhich had relaxed every rein of government, to be overlooked in fuch a queftion ? With the government in fuch hands, ^ what iecurity againft the thre^? houfes coming to- gether; feeing there had been precedents even . for that? : . . ?. •;<:.' • - npHE point of religion, politically confidered, is a great and arduous queftion, which demands talents, fully to examine and arrange, greater per- haps than any other branch of legidation. The ableft men of the age, feem rather to fplit on this rock than to efcape it. When 1 read in a tradV, a complaint of the author, that, becaufe be objeSls to particular religious teneiSj be bas been repre/ented as an enemy of order and of government j and in the fame tradb meet with the afl*ertion, that the revo^ luti$n of the lotb of Jugufi was a bappy and ne- cejfary completion of tbat of tbe i^tb of July, I fee an inftance which affords a proof of this. The >■•/ w- 4' latter , ifpiorc iffibly be the mob , for dc- policician omnipo- iarons of i popular . ? Was :cd evfiy in foch a ch hands, )ming CO- ents even idered, is demands :ater per- )n. The it on this a tradV, a ohjeSIs to rejented as md in the the revO' and »tf- K/y, I fee iis. The latter ( i8i ) latter fentiment makei one's blood run cold, for it implies more than it prq|pfies. Freezing with its efFedt, I turned haftily to the end of the work, to fee if it was not explained (as the publication took place after the death of the King) in a chapter of additions and corredlions ; but no fuch matter. The queftion comes furely with force ; is fuch a man reprefented as an enemy of government, on account of his religious ienets, or on account of his political opinions ^ When fuch fcntiments are abroad, and even gloried in, and foOnd mod wonderfully connedled, one knows not how, with religious tenets, infinitely difficult becomes the buHnefs, I will not fay of toleration, but of the whole fyflem of kgiflation, fo far as it conncdts with religion. Would you have a unitarian take a feat on the bench of bifhops ? Religious reafons have not yet been given why they fhould not. But would you have a man there who publickly declares, that the re- volution of the loth of Auguft was a happy one? No J moft affuredly. Hence then, in the repeal of tefts and fubfcriptions, arc thty to be conlidered as levelled againft heterodox do(51;rines of religion; or, as political fecurititrs, that the power and emo- luments of the church fhall be lodged with men whofe opinions do not tend to the utter dedrudbion of oor admirable conftituion IN STATE? And ^ . N 3 further, I i - !,^ /I iili I' further, if there are any particular fer-h of religion, whofe profelTors are .gcn men fenfe fuppofQ the non-repeal of teds and re* (Iridtions perfifted in merely on religious motives ? ■Ma I ihall, from this fearful epoch of the French revolution, have many doubts in political maxims, which have been very generally fubfcribed to for thefe laft twenty years, and, among others, on the queftion of toleration, for tboje countries in which it has not been either the law or policy of the ftate. The tolerating fpiric of the old government of France was one of the chief engines of its deftruc- tion ; and ffaould the nobleft fyftem of government the. world ever faw— that of Britain^- receive a mortal wound^that wound will have its origin in the fame caufe. Were I a Spanifli minifter, I Dnight advife my mafter to regulate the inquifition ; but I would not advife him to aboli0) k^^tkanks to Ja^obinifml 'i./\ i.:> rf-'-ii i.--!? 'iujsnj(;,a Un/lAn'r^ br t ■' ' ■- -- i '.'.';A ^ yM ^iw T H £ PN i>r •■..;./.' tv^v/^"... ■ .:; dii'iHii) ^■f!i"«>> «>.ft2.t:. f / (.1 <1 » .^ -y rdigion, with re- of torn-* and re* ocives?. 5 French nnaximsj )ed to for rs, on the in wbkb the fiaU, nment of s deftruc- ►vcrnment receive a \ origin in liniftcr, I quilition ; t'^/kanks , -, ". ->r-.- . V^f'J-l •->• To Arthur YouHO, t/q. BradfieldUall, near Bury. '-.4^.^ Crrton and Anchor t March i8» 1793* S I R. T AM defired by the Committee to communicate to you * the inclofed Refokitions, which they came to laft night. It is their wifti> not only to pay the tri^ 'to they think due to To excellent a performance, but t^t all the attention of the public to a work which canrn. -^^ making a great impreffion on all who read it, I join moft heartily in the fentimf nts of the Commit- tee ; and I hope the ftep they have taken will be apprpve^ By you, ,. "I have the honour to be, .A I. '» S I R, .1 Your moft obedient, and very humble fervant, ' .-, . . ■,:■_,■■ JOHN REEVES, Chairman, I •;?. :;- 7." • ■ . ; i.i .. Crown and Anchor March 15^ 1793. jft a Meeting of the General Committee this Da^^ .» l: RESOLVED, V ' ! - THAT the thanks of this Committee be given to Arthur Young, Efq. for his excellent Pam- phlet, intituled, " The Example of France a Warn- ing to Britain: in which he has fuccefsfully op- pofed the teftimony of fads and experience to the ha;Eardous fpeculations of yifionary cheorids in matters of government. RESOLVED, That the faid refolution be inferted in the Nev'ipapers, ^.;o IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. 1.0 I.I l^ 128 — 1^ ■u Uii 12.2 S? 144 "™ Ui us lii Li 12.0 IJ£ L25||U,,.6 ^ 6" ► "1. ■ HiotDgjaphic Sciences Corporation 23 WBT MAIN STMIT WEBSTIR,N.Y. 14SM (716)t72-4S03 N? \\ 4^^^^ '^. '^.^ '^J^ \ >«». ^v I To Arthur Young, E/g. * Mtlfirdt April 7* I793< SIR, T AM defired by the Committee of the Aflbciation of loyal Inhabitants of the Hundred of Babergh, to tranf- mit to you the following ilefolution: ■'•>-»' V-' , '(That the bed: and moft cordial thanks of the Com- mittee be given to Arthur Young, £fq. for his ex- cellent Pamphlet, fo particularly ufeful at this crifis, in- tituled, *' The Example of France a Warning to Britain'^* and that the Secretary be requefted to communicate themy by a letter addreiTed to bim at Bradfield-Hall.*' I feel the greateft fatisfa£tion in fending you the above refoludon, becaufe it affords me an opportunity of inform- ing you, that it paiTed not merely with unanimity, but widi the ftrongeft e^reffions of approbation and applaufe. Permit me to add my acknowledgments for the pleafure and inftrudtion I have received from a publication, which, vidiile it gives you a juft dsum to the efteem, refpe£t, and gratitude of every friepd to the conftitution, will, as its next beft reward, fubjeft you to the cenfure and calumny of all the enemies to order and good government* » '*> ,5"; I am, very refpe£tfully. Sir, your moft humble fervan^ ■?Mt ■ it\: CHARLES EDWARD STEWART. ' t-\ '^'i:'- ':.\.H •' ■•SI V . ■ ■ J. ■ »,. ' .' - ;• -■; VJ*')' I 7, I793« [bciation of ;h9 to txajai" the Com- for his ex- s criils, in- J Britain}** icate them, 1 the above r of inform- nimity, but id applaufe. he pleafure ion, which, efpe£^ and will, as its id calumny :nt, * r .Ji « . -'V * EWART, .' '•'>: .1 TV? Arthur Young, Efq, * r S J j^ r ;- -'^"^ ^^ ^«^^» April ,6, ,793, ^S Chairman of the Loyal Aflbciaiion of the hundreds of Hoxne and Hartfmere, I have the honour to tranfmit to you the warmeft thanks of the Committee,, which met laft Thurfday, at Eye, for your incomparable pamphlet, intituled, « Tie Example of France a Warning to Britain^ And I beg leave to add my own in parti- cular, for the Angular fatisfaaion I have experienced from the perufal of that publication* ',■■*''•- ..'' ' lam, Sir, . '' , f^-::y''t ; Your moft obedient humble fervant, ' - THO. MAYNARD.. ■■'■ ■■■.■f ^■•■;v '- -*,"■ ERRATJi ,? i- -v^. c:;^^'j^ ^*':■ V ■'•iVtfc'.> •',U I. . .y-.fj JJii...^ '^i.. r ■ » ■ ' .S,,'V-fjL- ■ |. ft n ^ ' to to pn mc M foi pal •tei P. X I I . . . ; ■•< 3' 4 4 4 4 Ji 'd ,->^ ,'^.T\n> / s sa xtl 131 13- >J; Ih, lb. lb. >s; m: ■ 'f-'-y \ > --'-^•'^'^^^^"^'E'R 'jR '-^ 'r ^'.'^•' -^. THE only apology I can make for the incorre£hiefs of the firft edition of thefe papers, was the defire I had . to print them at the time when they were moft applicable to public eyents. For the errors that are found in the prefent edition, I have to plead an illnefs, which confined me to my bed during a great part of the time the printing lafted, and which permitted me to revife very imperfefUy fome parts that moft wanted correction} the following pafl^es, among, I am afraid9 many others, wanted the at- tention I could not give. P. 3. 8. lb, lb. «?• «8. 36. 46- 47« 48. > K.* rt» ;! ."i\j- i< -..(■i «!. 104. 118. 13s. 134' >SS» lb. lb, lb. 136. 137. M7. 1. 19> for inadequate* t/a/ adequate. 1* tbt hft. national reprefentation," dtU the inverted commai. , 1. 6. for government^ read fyftem. { 1.81. for prodacible to, read formed on. 1. tbe lajl. /or illuminated. InAirreftion, read illuminated : inlurreflion. v- , .^ ,. , ,. ~ ._• . , !. 15. yirwi-i, w 1. 1 3. fw tranquilly, read tranquil. * >' ''i^;' v ;' •»>*.* , '- , I. 4. /ir montennier, «« prefented, and that a new member for every county might be elected, &c. < ■* r v -^ /or Neckar, r«a p. I $0. 1. lb. 1. t 154. »• , I5«. 1. <■■,; iv, lit ',- •■*«!■; ftxi*^ • rt. 1. i». ]. ' i6o. 1. «6b. 1. J f^j. I. i66. 1. 168. I. 171. 1. I73« J- »}. ^^jfbr/ a kick, add % mark of parenthe(if . a6. A^«f/ to the iiouts, add tbe fee«nd mark of paren- thefit. 24. for have looked onljr at their own interefti, rtad hai looked at its own interefts only. ^3. for what epithet of condemnation woqld havrliwtn adequate to their dement, had fhey a^ed on any other plan than the one they purfued, read what con> demnation would have been adcqtiate to iti doMierky' had it afied on any other plan than wlut it baa pur- fued. %, for knocked on the bead, read erafeii* , *. for gottt rtad go. '% ^ , ", 3. ^r heard, r/aafrequent. •'" ^ '■•'' ' -' i./er is paternal to, r«M/'promotci»^ '<' ^V! ■] ■:> 4 14. /or UoDce, rani Hume. > '/v.fi^ ' '/t> 10. yir Tyrel, read Tyrrel. 14. for party-headed enough tO) read Co zealous as to. 14. yor original, r/a ' ' - - ■■ And above all, gentle reader, when you have had your laugh, correal that notable bu/l, p. 5^. and bad Mirabeau been nowo akve. Us bead would bave been en a fike, by inferting the rnQnofyllable Joon $— -— w0«/ly theniiis of intriguing, tdif- nbioe to.fpread trd in the Qaufe rn bufinefs at kve nothing of ig, toaflemble merit that ap- )b}e£it is to re- > (lalpabLy mob, ay. . .*" -i •;:« 3\.;. ' ../* J', c •; vii „ .. s .'■ --ii ■^ :«*•.! >Hi , Lately Puhlilhed, By the Author of this Pamphlet^ TRAVELS Through Francb, and Part of Spa|n and Italy. OneVol. 4to. Price il. 5s. ALSO, ' IN MONTHLY NUMBERS, ANNALS OF AGRICULTURE. ^ In No. no. is a SERMON on the Death of the King of France, by the Author of this Pamphlet. In the Prejs, and/peedily will he Publijbed, . , (Price 6d. or ti. 2s. per Hundred,) : , An ABSTRACT of the Example of France a Warning to Britain. AddreiTed particularly to Farmers and the La- bouring Poor. i