IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. O _4, 1.0 I.I 1.25 if 1^ H^ ■^ !■■ mil 2 2 2.0 HI 1 40 1.4 1.8 1.6 V] V] ^^^ / y /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WESI "^AIN STRFE1 ! VEBSTkri!, ^t.Y 14560 ., 71 < ) J>2-'?303 \ ^ k ^\ - '«. <«^-V '4>^i\ ;\ "^ '>i *ii.' tS° 4ifi CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques ' i ©1984 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically uniqus. which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ n □ D Couverture endommag6e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other .han 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/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareiiure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure 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 ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apr^raissent dans la texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires; L'Institut a micofilmd le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6\( meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6nArosit4 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reprodultes avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity nvec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimie sont fiimds en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soot par la derniire page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte ine empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signif le "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, 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 6tre filmte A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. Bta ilure, 4?«'- : 2X 1 2 3 N-'o •M'-' ' 2 3 4 5 6 (9,- -v' ■-», jAt ' '■ ■', I -'. ■■■ W-it ":"- .%_ hi.' ■■■ ^mt w >; »Jt:71 ^-J-- V' •** 4 ;f ^ •' ^' 9 ^ >> ?t ^«. ■J% .^1 v ^-o-/ ).*■"■; -ItS^ (»-*l'> « , m ■"■A v >' f^yt W- *'ci? '■'"■Tr^^ y<: e 7 ,^ SJIPGIPLES OF GOVERNMENT k 'f-'\ . ,■ •\#li^ «. ( '^iilfc' FRENCH- ERRORS, .' -.I'^'^^rS'*"'*'*' TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PVKR OF, YORtV i^OPHOCLBIji :^>'^*^^ "THERE 1$ NQ GJEATERiU. TjU:tf MjaSpHI* .^„_:^,.Ai:4: *|(.iNTED Foa John STOCKDALEt opFQM-tl^ ^^%i.iVQtp»jf, ik*i *g* :B. iPricc Two Shillings and SSt|*cnee. J I'fi-: 'll^me: w IP. i'^ .«■? ^ V-<9 A, ■<' 'jK VT. ',* . i** << J..S.. j-^.. mmmmmmp •»,. y^ '[ 1 1. J * w ^t«S• VO HI! KING AND COUNTRY, THE BEST KING ' .'f'^^- AND THE HAPPIEST COUNTRY AT PRESENT KNOWN, ,:?,■ #v ■m is, W. ■ ', "59' ■• >«*■■ THESE SHEETS, INTENDED FOR THE SERVICE OF BOTH, ; ARE, WITH ALL HUMILITY, •A ,*v INSCRIBED BY f THE AUTHOR. t '"t"!*^' # I. • 1991 PREFACE. xV Preface to a Pamphlet may appear, pe#* jbaps, like a veftibule to a cottage ; a great formality to introduce a trifle. There feems, however, to be reafoii for it in the prefent cafe, The enfuing iheets are confined to general topics ; this place ;may be allotted to more particular confiderations, Mofl of thofe in this country, who either read or converfe, begin at length to be fa- tigued with the difputes between the Englifh and French politicians. The obje£l of this Eflay is, to give a newer and more ufeful form to the moft ipomentous queftions that arife froin thofe difputes : to convey what is 1 VI PREFACE. conceived to be the truth, in a kind of ele- mentary ttiethod. The French Revolution and its admirers are, therefore, for the reader's comfort, baniflied to the preface. On thefubjeM^ / PREFACE* Vii compafs and extent, as when he dwelt with- in the bofom of his valley. Such fudden illumination is not within the courfe of nature. The French have gone, in- deed, from one extreme to another, they have burft, after long fervility, the chains of defpotifm, and now all is liberty, equaUty, and rights of man : but this is alfo the com- mon progrefs of ignorance, long ago notetj by Satyrifts.* Men efcaped from chains hav? always raved as they do of liberty and equa- lity, in proportion to the galling of their former bonds : but this is not wifdom, it is only extravagance. Becaufe one extreme is evidently wrong, the other, they imagine, muft be right ; but truth, as well as virtue, refides generally in an intermediate point be- tween fuch utter oppofites. We, too, have had our phrenfics of this kind, but we have long * Dum vitant fluU^ vitia in contraria currunt. Hor. ftajt. I. ii. 24. From one £xtreine fools rufli into another. b2 been J,, Preface!. i: 1 been cured. Thefe new dtfcover'ies of the French were then made here, and had been made before, whenever men were in the humour to throw off all order and reftraint. Jack Cade had as correct a notion of the rights of man as the filh women of Paris, and exprefled it very fimilarly.* The progrefs of human wifdom in difco- veries is naturally very flow; and a little Ibund experience, properly improved, is bet- ter than whole waggon-loads of theory. The conftitution of this country is the work of found, deliberate {ti\{e, proceeding cooly on experience ; it has been conflru£led gra- dually from a long fuccellion of experiments, and having thus acquired a form which has obtained the approbation of the wifcH: men, - '' Cade, Thou (loft ride on a foot-cloth, doft thou *' not ? — Say» What of that ? — Cade, Marry, thou *' ought'll not to let thy horfe wear a cloak, when *' honefter men than thou go in their hofe and doub- " lets." Sbakcfp. Hen. vl. a^i,fc, 7. and for fuch wife rrafons the Jriji-jcrat, Lord Say, was put to death. and, I- / P R E F A C K. IX and, what is infinitely more decifive, having been found produ(5live of profperity and public happincfs, has become renowned and glori- ous, fo far as it is underftood, throughout the civilized world. We prefume not to af- fert it is perfed, for it would not then be hu- man ; but it is excellent ; and in this rcfpccl peculiarly fo, that it has within it the means of going on forever towards perfcclion, with- out convulfion, violence, or danger. To be always open to improvement, by regular and legal procefs, is one of its moft ftriking qua- lities. The Britifh Conftltution is, however, in its prefent ftate fo good, that to ftudy its conil:rudion, and to comment on the modes by which it is eiKibled to produce its excellent effedls, is perhaps the very beft of all political exercifes : and if any man may reafonably hope to make difcoveries, and to place this branch of human knowledge within wider limits, it muft be an EngliHiman, who has well con- fidered m ^s.^* 3C r R E F A C E, 'I II U if: S; fidered and comprehended the rights t6 which he has bcea born, and the means by which they are fecured. On this ground, rather than with any vain affumption of fuperior wifdom, has the author of thefe fheets prefumed to lay down principles, which ^ being fo concile, upon a fubje£l fo extenlive and fo inti'icate, muft be confidered as a iketch defigned for ready ufe, and not as a complete or finiflied iyftem. If tae principles are true, which it is hoped they will be founds every man may build fecurely on them for himfelf. This, at leaft, they feem to have peculiar, that they accord at once with the do£lrines of Rehgion, and the claims of freedom ; and that they lead to peace, good order, and fecurity. Of this I am convinced, that nothing folid can be formed in morality or politics, that has not true Religion for its bafis. By the will of God we are placed here, and by that, if we are I. i / PREFACE. XI arfe either wife or good, we muft be guided. Nor can thofe lyftems be accounted right, or friendly to the happinefs of men, which lead to violence, injuftice, and confufion, and cannot be eftablifhed, but on the ruins of Religion and morality. The decifions of reafon will here be found to accord with thofe of revelation, fo that they who are infatuated enough to objeft to either, may reft upon the other, and unite in one conclufion. The main point to which thefe general refledions tend is to fhow, that all the real rights of men and citizens are fecured to us by that form of Government under which we live ; and that all other pretended rights are not only chimerical, but pernicious to Society. devolutions have been lately talked of as if they were in themfclves defirable, inftead of being, as they Ihould be, the rare and ulti- mate refult of dire necefiitj-. Common fenfe can eafily difcern, that this is like the error of a a man Xll PREFACE, I: I a man who having feen a good effect pro- duced by violent medicine, fhould defire to live upon it. It is faid, that once a man was cured of an inveterate abfcefs, by the thruft of a fmall fword through his body ; but fur- gery will furely never life this method in the common courfe of pra<£lice, Efforts have been lately made, with no fmall diligence, to perfuade the people of this countrv, that even here another Revolution is required ; and to alienate their minds from the eftablifhed conftitution. That thefe en- deavours have met with fmall, or no fuccefs, is owing to that found good fenfe which makes our people know when they are well. They who hold up to them the example of the French, wifh only to miflcad them. At the delivery of France from ilavery, the Englifh honeftly and generoufly rejoice ; but having no chains of their own to throw afide, what ihould they imitate ? If they do not on the whole rejoice, it is becaufe they fee their neigh- I / PREFACE. XlU neighbours blindly rufliing from one great evil to a worfe ; from an oppreflive Govern- ment with many faults, to one which, want- ing the firft principles of order, muft be little befides faults. The horrors that have taken place in every parx of France, fince the de- ftru6tion of the old imperfed conftitu(;ion, are in this country very little known ; and a work might eafily be formed frpm moft au- thentic materials, containing a detail too iliock'ng to humanity to be perufed with pa- tience. The murders of a few men at Paris and Verfailles are nothing, to the f^en^s that have been a£led in the country. There is reafon ta fuppofe that th^ mci^ who recommend an imitation of thq French, defire to introduce that anarchy, and viola- tion of all rights of property which have been there exhibited. We feem to have even a di- red proof, that hoflility and hatred to oui: whole conftitution actuates them more than any other principle. The proof is this : a c niian xiv PREFACE. I S: & I. w I mail unconneded with this country, except by the injuries he has done to it, and the pro- tedlion he at prefent, though unworthily, derives from the equality and mildnefs of its Laws, put out a paltry pamphlet ; in which, in a rude and ungrammatical ftyle, though not devoid, in parts, offtrength, and a certain coarfe and popular ftyle of declama- tion, he ventured to deliver a libel upon every part of the Englifh Government. He at- tacked, however unlkllfuUy, the principles of our moft important Laws, the fucceffion to the throne, the ad of fettlement, the throne itfelf, the Ariflocratic order, and even denied, moft impudently and abfurdly, that w^e have a conftitution. This pamphlet, however, bafe as it was, both in origin and execution, fpoke out the meaning of the Revolution party, and faid what for them- felves they had !iot dared to fay. It was extolled, patronized, bought up, reprinted, circulated under forged recommendations, given away ; and all this with thq hope that 2 its ( / PREFACE. XT its bold aflertions might pafs lipon the igno- rant for truth, and that its virulent abufe might leffen at leaft in the minds of the peo- ple, their habitual afFe£lion for their country's Laws and Government. Happily the at- tempt has proved abortive* But it has had accidentally this good efFe(St, that it has fet a mark upon the men vi^ho hate and would de- ilroy our conftitution. The circulators and extollers of this pamphlet muft be of courle the enemies of all our rights, as much as he who wrote it. This, therefore, isofufe: it has taught us whom to view as difafteded ; it has made it certain, at leaft, what men we cannot truft. Between the maxims of that pamphlet they admire, and the principles of the Britifli conftitution, there cannot pof- fibly be formed a medium of reconcilement ; where the one is loved, the other muft be hated, I,et fuch men, therefore, take whatever name they pleafe, they are and have declared themfelves the enemies of the Biitifli Confti- tution. c 2 Wiiht •Ai£r^". ^vi Preface* 4 li (li. ilr With refpeft to the general attack of all the principles of order at prefent fo inclined to fpread in Europe, it is fingular enough that an old poet in this country, lefs known than he deferves, confidercd it as a natural confe- quence to arife from the difcovery of printings Daniel, for he was the writer, afligned in- deed a period too immediate for the produc- tion of thcfe efFe£ls t but were he now allve^ he might perhaps be tempted to imagine that his infpiration had been more than merely poetical. He introduces Nemefis inftrudting Pandora to fow the feeds of mifchief among men, in thefe terms : Go therefore thou with all thy ftirring train, Of fwelling fciences, the gifts of grief ; Go loofe the links of that foul-binding chain. Enlarge this unquifitive belief : Call up men's fpirits that fimplenefs maintain. Enter their hearts, and knowledge make the thieO To open zU the doors to let in light. That all may all things fee, but what is right. Oplxxiont / Preface. xvit Opinion arm againft opinion grown ;* . . Make new-born contradiflidns ftill to rife, As if Thebes founder, Cadmus, tongues had fown, Inftead of teeth, for greater mutinies. Bring new defended faith, againft faith known ; Weary the foul with contrarieties ; Till all Religion become retrogade. And that fair tire the malk. of fm be made. And better to affeil: a fpeedy end, Let there be found two fatal inftruments,>|^ The one to publifli, th' other to defend, Impious contention and foul difcontents. Make, that inftamped charadters may fend Abroad to thoufands, thoufand mens intents ; And in a moment may difpatch much more Than could a world of pens perform before. Whereby all quarrel*, titles, fecrecies, May unto all be prefently made known ; Fadlions prepar'd, parties allur'd to rife. Sedition under falfe pretences fown : Whereby the vulgar may become fo wife, That with a felf-prefumption overgrown, They may of deepeft myfteries debate, Controul their betters, cenfure ads of ftate. » Grown opinion, for mature opinion; as a man grown for 2 man of full age. '4 i t Printing and gunpowder.- And XViii P R E F A C EJ And then, when this difperfed mifchicf ihall Have brought confufion in each myfterie. Called up contempt ofjlates in general^ Riper! d the humour of impiety ; Then have they th' other engine, wherewithal They may torment their felf-wrought mifery, And fcourge each othe'- in fo ftrange a wife. As time or tyrants neve. ,ould devife. Civil fVars of England^ b. vi. fl, 35, bid With this curious antique pidure, which feems only an anticipated reprefentation of France, I fhall conclude this introdudory addrefs, and leave my readers to conlider whether the principles that I have ofFered In this treatife are not of a better tendency. CON- / CONTENTS. Page I HAP. I, On Government in general i II, Of the Rights of Man 12 III. Of Liberty - - 25 IV. Of Laws •' - 31 ' V. Of Legiflation " ^ 39 VI. Of Reprefentatioji - - 47 VII. Of the Legijlative Body 54 • VIII. Of the Executive Power 62 IX. Of the King - - 81 — X. Of the Balance of Powers 100 — — XI. On the Creation of an Arifio- cratic Order - - - 113 XII. Farther Conf derations on an Order of Nobility «- - - 122 XII. On a Religious Eflabiyhment 128 XIV. On the Right ofReJiJiance 137 > I f - m ERRATUM, Page 17, 1.3. *^ For in truth^** Sec, feparate from {ho (]|UOtat}on, to which it does not belong. I h^ [ / PRINCIPLES O F GOVERNMENT, &c. C H A p. L On Government in general, X H E fource of all good government is ivifdom : the univerfe is therefore governed perfeftly, becaufe the Wifdom that dire prac- tice, wifer to endure them. This, however^ depends pf courfe, on the proportion fubfift- ing between the degree of that danger and the preflure of the evil. There are undoubt- edly fome faults too great for men to tolerate from motives of common prudence. As Government is intended for the general good of fociety, the beft and fureft teft of goodnefs in it is the happinefs and profperity of thofe for whom it is conftrudled : if thefc be great and ftriking, it can be with no good intent that evils very partial are noticed and exaggerated. To expeft entire perfection is abfurd ; and to hazard the great'^ft evils, for the fake of removing fome that fcarcely are perceptible, if it be i^t mere infatuation, mufl: have / ( If ) have fome taint of vvickednels. In what eftimatlon fhouldwe hold a phyficlan, who to remove a blemilh in a ifinger, would put his patient's life to hazard ? Amendments, that can be peaceably and fafely gained, are at all times to be fought ; but thofe improve- ments whidh beget contention, and awaken malignity, muft be very confiderable in value to repay the price of the attainment. C2 CHAP. !l ■ !j it' Hi"! 'W ■mi n> :?! (i ( » ) CHAP. 11. Of the Rights of Man. J.T is perfectly falfe, that every man has naturally and ejfentially a right to govern him • felf, or to be governed by his own confent ; and the aflertion that 'le has, is either the boaft of ignorant pride, or the artifice of wickednefs to efcape controul, and to render folly mif- chievous. No man can have a right to do an a<5l for which he is altogether unfit. Wif- dom and goodnefs alone have, in reafon, any right to govern, fince they alone are fit for it. The foolifh and the wicked, therefore, in proportion to the extent of thofe imperfeftions, are difqualified from Government by nature, or by themfelves, and ought to be controul- ed. But the foolifh and the wicked com- pofe no fmall part of mankind, who there- fore Ihould be ruled ; and if refradlory, without their confent, and even againfl their 2 will. / ( -3 ) will. . To fuch imperfedions, indeed, all men are fo far liable, that there is no complete fecurity agaiiifl: their prevalence in any individual. Hence, as we have feen, arifcs the neceffity for Government ; which being fo confHtuted as to be wife and good^ may cxercife a due controul over the imperfections of all. Large bodies of men have no elTential right of governing themfelves ; for what no indivi- duals have, the aggregate of individuals cannot have. In fadl, experience proves their great unfitnefs for it ; the aCts of very numerous bodies, operating coUedively, being for the moft part foolifh, or wicked, or both : and that, for a moft clear and limple reafbn, fug- gefted by the very nature of man, that faf- Jion is more Jirong than reafon,^ Still * Whoever has confidcrcdunfclefted bodies of men as adling together, and the more numerous they are the more ftrongly the obfervation holds, muft know that they \\Ik'' i* Mil '-' U , >■ ( «8 ) is the moft neceflary ; namely, when his will is bad and dangerous. As men have not in reafon any right to govern themfelves, or to be governed by their own confent, fo neither do there ap- pear, in the eftablilhed order of nature, any traces of a plan by which they may enjoy that privilege* As foon as man is born he is fubjecl, by the ordinance of nature and of Providence, to the government of others wifcr than himfelf : he owes obedience to his parents, or to thofe by whom his infant weaknefs may chance to be protected. If independent rights of felf-government were natural and inhe- rent, they would belong to infants no lefs than to adults ; the Rights (f Children would deferve as much refpeift as ihe boafted Rights of Man \ and confequently no child could juftly be governed but by his own confent; no parent could have any right to command the children he produced and nouriflied. To affert ( 19 ) afferc which would be no Icfs an outrage to reafbn than to religion. So far is this from being true, that to controul their children is not only a right of .parents, but a duty indif- penfably incumbent on them ; fince other- wife, we know the growing mind would fbon become depraved. i ' :!: Man is thus born iTubje^l: to a natural Go- vernment. As he grows to riper age, he muft of courfe be fubjed to that Government to which his parents or fupporters owe allegi- ance, and under which they found that iafety and protection they were thus enabled to ex- tend to him. To that which thofe obey who govern him, he muft by implication owe obe- dience : and if at years of i'uW difcretion htt refolve to fix his lot in the fame country, he tacitly confents to li\e thjre on the terms on which he was at firft fupported, and to continue that implied allegiance. Thus, if there be any Government in the country where he is produced, he is born under au D 2 implied, ' 1 ' i .1: 1 ( 2° ) implied, anfl he lives under an adual obli- gation to obey it, and if he difobey, is juftly liable to punifliment. If there be no Govern- ment already eftablifhed, he, and every other individual, is bound in moral obligation to form, as foon as poffible, and with their ut- moft wifdom and goodnefs, that which is fb abfblutely neceflary to the welfare of human fociety. In doing this he will confer the greateft benefit he can upon the whole com- munity. Are there then no Rights of Man ? there are undoubtedly, and thofe of the moft clear and certain nature. In general terms, what- ever man may reafonably expe£l from wifdom and from goodnefs, the univerfal foilrces of Government, is his undoubted right. The wifdom and goodnefs of God have given him life, and evidently mean to give a life well worth acceptance ; confequently he has a right to exped of human wifdom and good- nefs that they will imitate the Divine, and 2 endeavour ( 2> ) endeavour to fecure to him his life and all that innocently conduces to its comfort. More particularly may he expert this, as it is the profefled defign of Government to promote the general welfare of fociety, which can only be effeded by preferving, as far as may be pol- fible, whatever is effential to the being and well-being of every individual. Now thefe efleniials are life, and whatever belongs to the natural perfedion of man ; as health, and the integrity of his limbs ; liberty of a£lion, fo far as may be not injurious to others; perfonal li- berty, property, reputation, and that rank and fitu^tion among men which he has fairly and juftly obtained. The fecurity of thefe is neceffary to the happinefs of every man : to have them, therefore, prote£led is the natural xifhr G H A P. III. Of Liberty » Liberty, in the moft extended fenfe of the word, is the power of a£ling without any fpecies of reftraini : ofefFefluatingwhat- foever the will fuggefts. Such liberty be- longs to God alone ; nor is it fit to be com- municated to any other being. When united with perfe<9: wifdom and goodnefs its effects can only be good : but combined with any degree of imperfection in thofe qualities, it muft become dangerous in exa6b proportion to the quantity of that imperfedion. . p 1 Such Liberty, therefore, is denied univer- fally to all inferior beings : In thefirft place, phyfically, or naturally ; becaufe their natu- ral powers are limited. In the fecond place, morally, in fuch beings at leaft, as are capa- E ble .' 'ki f iif '(ti I ii* I'M . ! • i % ( ^6 ) b^e of iroral a6tion : all aflions in themfelves per'^'cio-is, that is, produdive of uimeceflary evii, being forbidden ; either by reafon, as eflentially offenfive to the nature of that fu- preme Being, whofe goodnefs we difcern throughout his works : or by Revelation, which is an exprefs declaration of that ofFen-r livenefs, proceeding froni the Deity him- felf. The limits of the former reftraint, that which is natural, are abfolute ; fince no finite being can poffibly gain liberty to ad beyond the limits of his natural powers. The moral reftraint, even when adopted by religion, is conditional ; a moral agent being at liberty, or in other words, having the power, to tranfgrefs the laws of reditude, and to do thpfo things which he knows to be offenfive to God, if he can re-r folve to rilk the confequences. But ( ^7 ) But it is no advantage to fvich moral agent, to a man for inftance, to be permitted fo to exercife his natural free agency as to incur a fure and dreadful penalty. On the con- trary, if the natural checks of realbn and of confcience fhould not be fufficient to reilrain him, every new reftraint, every fuperadded temporal penalty, that can excite his fears, or over-rule his vicious will, Is hi truth a wife provifion for his fafety. i J '• .. Liberty, therefore, is not an abfolute good. Nor can it be by any means conducible to the proper happinefs of any man, even in this prefent life, to have the power of a6ting foolifhly or wickedly. The reftraint of will without juft reafon is indeed an evil ; with it, the advantage far outweighs the pain of the conftraint. Liberty, fo fir as it is to man a real good, may be defined, the power of following the dictates of the will in all indifferent matters, and of adling In all others according to the E 2 laws :iT i: I' If 'l' ill '■if' li ' 'If A ( 28 ) laws of vvifdom and of goodnefs. This Li- berty, which is made up of two of the na- tural rights of man, above enumerated, (page 21) of Liberty of Action, as there de- fined, and perfonal Liberty, which is, in flri£tnefs, only a part of the former ;* this Liberty it is, which every wife and virtuous man would ftrenuoufly aflert for himfelf, and no lefs earneflly endeavour to obtain and to fe- cure for others. For this the men who have fought and died, have fought and died like heroes, and Uke patriots ; their tombs are vifiied with rcTpe^fl, and their memory is confecrated by admiration. To this Liberty^ they who have endeavoured to fet the divine law in oppofition, have grolfly injured both. Religion violates it not ; but, with whatever elfe conduces to the true advantage of man- kind, defends and confecrates it. * Enumerated feparately, for the fake of cleari- nefs; left any one, not perceiving the implication, ihould imagine it omitted The ( ^9 ) The violent abridgement of this rational Liberty, and the other natural rights of men, is oppreffion ; the pain of which will al- ways make men feel the value of that free- dom which they want, and ufually, in time, produce a ftruggle to obtain it, with a flrong enthufiafm to preferve it when acquired. Unhappily the fame fenfations do not make them fully underfland its nature or perceive its proper limits ; whence, in the ferment of their eager paffions, they are apt to feek in- ftead of it licentioufnefs ; and to demand an abfolute Liberty, inftead of that reduced and qualified fpecies, which wifdom knows to be alone conducive to their happinefs.* On this pofition, however, we may reft in practice, chat in whatever country every ! I iM * In England the true notion of Liberty has, oti the whole, been better underftood than in any- other tovintry ; for though there have been times, even here, when the undefined notions of licentious free- dom fubverted all found Government, yet the people Were foon brought to feel and to repent their error. man ( 3^ ) iToati ma}^ do without rcftraint, whatever may be plcafing or advantageous to himfelf, and not injurious to other individuals, or to the con^munity, I^ibcrty is fufficiently efta- bhfhed.* W' 1 1 m; f^: * It 13 of courfe implied, that thefc expediencies fliould be e(juit;ii)ly alceitained, and actions fairly judgi'd ; with permanent fccurity for tlie continuance of thefc advantages. CHAP- ( 3' ) CHAP. IV. Of Laws, As the perfe£tion of all Government de- pends upon the eftablifhed agency of wifdom and gooduefs, particularly of political good- nefs, which is juftice, it is neccflary that there fhould be fome fixed and public rules by which this benefir may be fecured. Such rules are denominated Laws. ■ : .1 ii: Laws, knovs^n and acknowledged, are, from the imperfe«flion of human nature, equally neceflary for the direction of th^fe who govern, and thofe who are governed. For, in the firft place, there would be ma- il ifeft danger in fuffering every cafe of right and wrong to be decided as it fhould arife. They who were called in as umpires might be either unwife, unacquainted with the ge- 2 neral (1 t m mm i\ 4 f ill ( 32 ) neral principles of juftice, or, in the par- ticular inftance then before them, biaffed by partiality. But Law gives its decifion in general terms, before the cafe occurs, and therefore is impartial ; it is made at time? of leifure and reflexion ; and, if fitly made, by men who are well verfed in fuch inquiries, diftinguiilied and approved for knowledge, wifdom, and integrity : or it is deduced from long experience, and practices of known and tried utility. Laws thus conftruded give at leaft a promife and flrong probability of wif- doni and impartial juftice. In the fecond place, Law is neccflary for the general di- redion of men living in fociety ; who, with- out its falutary warnings, might offend un- knowingly againft th'=i general principles of juftice, and the rights which all fhould equally refpedt. Law, to be perfect:, (hould conlifl of the decifions of perfe£l wifdom and goodnefs, on all fuch matters as concern the regulation of fo. i^ ( S3 ) fociety. E. 'K fuch perfedioii cannot be at- tained qr hoped for in any works of man. Were there a divine law promulgated, in that it would be reafonable to exped a per-r fed fyllem. There is, in fa6t, a law exift- ing, which proceeds from a divine authoiity; but that law is not formed or me^nt _ to be a guide ir politics, or to lay down the plan of of human * Governments ; it is defigned for higher purpofes. This, however, fhould be obferved in the formation of all human laws, that they in no refped may contradid th? principles and fpirit of thofe facred ordinan- ces ; the reft is left intirely co the care, the virtue, and the wifdom of mankind. Tlie end of Government beirig the good of men in fociety, the tendency of its chief iiii- ftrument. Law, fnould be tj fecure to every v:\ '^' T^e law delivered by Mofes was^ indeed, a dlvinp law, intended to airedl a human polity ; but, acCs^rd- ing to a Cyftem peculiar and fingular, nor ever meant to be applied to other Governments. F pinn, m' ( 34 ) man, as much as pofliblc, the poflefllon of his natural rights, above enumerated, with- out which he can have no full enjoj^ment of [lis life, or any other worldly good. I'sit i i One primary eflential of good laws is, then, that they fliould be equal ; that is, that they (hould equally enfure to all, of every rank and fituation, the fame kind of protedioq ; defending againfl all invaiion the natural and inherent rights of every indivi- dual. Wherefoever there is, in this refpeft, any deficiency, fo far there is, or may be oppreflion. Hi I The firft outlines of Law arc fimple, clear, and obvious, deduced from thofe neceffities which all men feel alike ; and, confequently, are in every country much the (ame. But the complicated interefts of men, united into large focieties, make it very difficult, in many cafes, to determine what is beft and wifefl ; a. d there are points, on the compa- rative ;i ( 35 ) rative e^jpediency of which difputes may be hiaintained for ever* : ■!/,! . . A fyftem of laws j tonfidered chiefly with refped to its general tendency and fpirit, is called a Conftitution. It is abfurd to fay, that any country* having laws, is without a conftitution. Thefe may differ in degrees of goodnefsj or they may be intrinfecally bad ; but every couhtry, not in a ftate of fa- vage wildnefs, has fome eftablilhed conftitu- tion of its Government. ii m^ ': 1 A wife man, if his integrity be equal to his wifdom, may do much towards drawing up a ufeful fyftem or code of laws ; but it is not to be expe ( 49 ) »ri(ing from too frequmt ele^lions, which, with many other points, experience will jbeft afcertain. In England, feven years have been found a period very convenient for the duration of the legiflatiye body ; and though there ftill are many advocates for quicker returns of nomination, it does not yet appear to have been proved that the inconveniences of fuch a methgd wpuld not overbalance its advantages. To the queftion, " who Ihall be the elec- ^* tors ?'* The general anfwer that fuggefts itfelf is this : in every diftrid of the nation, iome, that the intcrefts of no part may be negleded ; but all, upon important quef- tipns, may be compared and duly balanced. As to number, the cle<5lors fhould be, upon the whole, fo many, that the general body of ^e nation may have juft rcafon to be fatif- £cd with the influence it retains ; and that, in fa£l, whenever, upon any public meafure, it fhall be deemed expedient to know the ■:' ''f; W''. H feelings ^n sRsaffn ( 5° ) feelings of the nation, its general feiitiments may be cjil^vted fairly from the tendency of the eleflions.* Principal divifions of a kingdom, and prin- cipal towns, Ihould properly be reprefented ; and the number of eledlors in each fhould, according to theory, be regulated by local circumftances. But thefe may vary much at different times ; places once important, may be at length reduced, and others of no note may rife to eminence ; if, however, on the whole, the general effeds above ftated be produced, it will mofl: commonly be better that fuch partial imperfedlions fhould be tole- rated, than that alterations (hould be hazarded which muft produce great jealouly and fer- mentation. The great objed in politics, is * According to the modern notions of right, nothing can in juftice do away the claim of any individual to a vote ; but this difficulty is one of the phantoms con- jured up by falfe theory, and at the touch of reafon VHnifJies, not ( 5J ) not theoretical perfection, but pra^ical ex- pedience and fecurity. . The right of voting in fuch eIe£lions, ex- tended in every cafe as flir as local conveni- ence will permit, fhould not however defcend below the fphere of property. From total indigence or dependence of fituation, little lagacity and little freedom of choice can be expededj; corruption and influence will there of courfe prevail, and defeat the genuine pur- pofe of the inftitution. Property, Che^^es that it is the moft vulnerable part of civil rights, being neceflarily fubje£t to taxation, and to depreciation from various caufes, and requiring therefore the moft efficacious de- fence) has this peculiar advantage in its na- tural efFedls on thofe who have it, that It creates a fpirit of independence, and an ac- tive jealoufy for the defence of every other real right of man. He who has a houfe, and family, and goods ; and in his trade, at leaft, or other oftenfible means of fubfiftence, a H 2 kind ] Hi^jl k , '• !■(.: li'V ( si 1 kind of independence, will be alarmed a^f every movement that may hurt or touch him, in any of thefc vulnerable parts. He will watch with anxious eye even the re- motefl inroads of oppreflion. Whereas a man detached from all fuch ties, has only pcrfonal fecurity to guard, of which, perhaps, he may be though tlefs ; or perfonal advan- tage to provide for, which oftener will fe- duce him from his duty to the public, thau confirm him in it. Property is, therefore, the beft criterion \vhereby we can confer the right of voting : which, where the numbers will not thus bcr made too great, may be extended to every man who has a houfe or a lodging, with fome oftenfible fubfiftence for himfelf and family. Limitations, where neccl!ary, muft be di- rected by the general fpirit of thefe obferva* tions ; excluding thofe who have the leaft, for thofe who have the ftronger interefl in the public welfare. Reprefen- ( S3 ) Reprefentation, with great advantages^ has alfo fome attendant inconveniencies^ Elections, in very popular towns, can hardly be preferved from the difgrace of grofs cor- ruption, idlenefs, and tumuU. In fuch lltua- tions, the right (hould, therefore, be as much confined a» is confiftent with the general principles of reprefentation ; and the time of cledion as much abridged as poffible. With thefe, and all reftridtions, an election in 2 populous and bufy place, will generally be ibund a temporary evil, and therefore ihould not, without good caufe, be frequently re- newed* m J II rj; i.-i^ CHAP. i 54 ) M ;,, CHAP. Yit : Of ths Leglflcitlve Body, In what clafs of fociety the legiflators (houlcf be chofen, has been already ftated. The de- fcriptlon points at perfons in a fituation to have been well and liberally educated ; in af- fluent, or at leaft in eafy circumftances. In general, the greater the fortune of the repre- fentative, the ftronger his fecurity from fomc temptations ; though this rule is not infalli- ble. Great landed property, and in fomc meafure, all great property, has this addi- tional advantage, that it produces a flrong intereft to promote the general welfare of the country, by the diftrefs of which, thofe will be affe£led in the greatefl meafure and proportion, who have the moft extended polTeflions to fufFer depreciation, plunder, or deftru(5lion. The interefts of a country, however di- Verlified iu form, arc all coniieded, more or I lefs. ( 55 ) Icfs, with landed property. The price of labour, of proviiions, of manufaflures, all immediately afFe£l the holder of land ; who cannot therefore injure thofe who labour, who raife proviiions, or produce manufac- tures, without partaking in their lofs or dif- advantsge.* Among the numbers fuch a clafs may fur- nifli, thofe will be the fitteft to be legiflators, who fliall be diftinguilhed for abilities, in- tegrity, political experience, or knowledge cxtenfive and accurate, in any of thofe vari- ous matters which may become, in fuch af- femblies, the fubject of inquiry or delibera- tion. To fuch men, the public choice will of itfelf moft naturally tend ; by means of the refpe£l which common fame will always pay to characters of this defcription : it would, perhaps, fo tend in every inftance, were it * It is found in fail, that in this nation, thofe who are called the country gentlemen, men of extenfive landed property, form the ftcadieft and moft uncor- f uptcd fource of legi/lation, poffiblc 1 \m ( 5« ) poflible entirely to dcftroy the inflgcncc of iorrie fecret motives, •which the mod pru- dential regulations can diminilh only. To fek^t fueh Jegiflators is undoubtedly the iu- tereft and the duty of thofe who ire allowed to vote ; which if they negle(Sl, they muft at their own rilk abide the confequences. The legiilatjv^ bpdy, powerful by the very nature of its office, (hould have no ex- iclufive privileges, but fuch as tend to give it (dignity. The laws its member^ )rm for Others muft he binding alfo on thcmfelves : por fliould they claim exemption from any puhlie burthen, fuch only excepted as may fes incompatible with theii: chief truft and From this aflembly taxes, with the plaa and m.ode of their afleflinent and collection, Ihould originate. Becaufe, conneded as it is with every diftrid of the nation, the intereft ^f the whde mufi there be knpwn : and be- caufe ( 57 ) cniife by the great weight of property its members carry with them, they muft be deeply interefted to prevent oppreffive aiv unequal burthens. Befides, which is indeed the moft material point, they are at ftated times refponfible for their proceedings to the general body of the nation, which will not fail on fiich occafions to make its feelini^s known. To fecure this flilutary effe6V, the votes of the aflembly and its proceedings ihould lb far be public, that it may be always known from whom each meafure firft origi- nated, and by whom it was fupported ; but its deliberations fhould be flridly facred at all times from all cabal, interruption, and in- fluence ; from infult, and every kind of dif- refpetSl. The proper time for the duration of one aflembly, before a re-eledlion, has been above confidered. (p. ^^.) Provilion mufl be alfo I made ( 58 ) made by law, that too long time may never intervene, by any means, between the diflblu- tion of one houfe of reprefentatives, and the aflembling of another ; left the nation (hould be left without its legiflators, and the public bufinefs ftand fufpended, or be carried on without due reference to thofc whofe office is to check the inroads of opprcflion. The fitteft number of which aflemblies of this nature can confift, is among the points which cannot ftridly be defined : it will of courfe be regulated in part by the extent and magnitude of the community there reprefent- ed. But this at leaft (hould be obferved, that there be in every fuch allembly fuch a num- ber, that all queftions of importance or of difficulty may receive a due difcuflion, and be illuftrated by various and extenfive views, the refult of different minds, and different habits of confideration. It muft alfo, on the other hand, be recolleded, that very nume- rous alfemblies are tumultuous rather than wife. ( 59 ) Wife, and like bodies of unwieldy magnitude, impede their own operations. Experience feems to fhow that the utmoft bounds of number, fo as to be at all confident with convenience, order, and wife deliberation, fland far below a tlioufand. * From the principles laid down in this and the preceding chapter, we fee beyond a doubt, how perfe6lly abfurd muft be the no- tion of directions given by the electors to the legiflators ; and how completely the permif- fion of it would counteradl: the very purpofes for which a reprefentative is chofen. f The I '■' The national aflembly of Fiance feems to afFord, not a refutation, but a proof of this aflertion. •f- It may be granted, that the word reprefentative implies apparently mere perfonal fublHtution ; but it muft be granted alfo, that, in many cafes, ifthele- giflator reprefented; by any ftrong refemblance of chara<5ler and acquifitions, thofe by whom he mufl be nominated, a houfe of this kind would be ftrangely filled. Grammatical diftindions are not always of the firfl importance. I 2 body u % ¥ i h ( 60 ) body cf a people unable, from defe<£l of wif- dom, or knowledge, to legiflate for itfelf, choofes thofe who feem deferving of that truft, amon": the men who are moft likelv to be duly qualified. In thcfe then it is ne- ceflary, for the time, to place full confi- dence : fince to appoint a wifer man to avft, and then prefume to tell him what to do, is inconfiftent. It is to confcfs, in the fiift in- fl:ance, comparative inability, and then afllime fuperiority : to call in a phyfician, and then attempt to teach him what he fhould adminif- ter : to choofe an abler pilot, and then feize the helm. When queftions are expected to be moved, in which the people lake a lively intereft, it is very natural that ele(5lor3, not leflefllng duly en the nature of their office, ihould be defirous to impofe dire£lions ; but it fliould not be permitted. Notions the moft popular may yet be perfe6lly erroneous ; and \t is fit that every queftion fhould be fub- mittcd fairly to the full difcuflion of wlfdom, and ( 6' ) antl tried by the ftrong tefl of argument, not trarrifi by the force of popular opinion. * ■^' Mr. Burkq, in a fpeech to his conftituents at Briftol in 1774, very ably argued the fame point, ** Government and legiflation are matters of rcafon and judgement^ and net of inclination; and what fort of reafon is that, ii> which the determination precedes the difcuflion; in which one fet of men deliberate and another decide ; and where thofe who form the con- clulion are perhaps three hundred miles diftant from fhofe who hfar the argum(?ntsr" With mcK; to the i\\n)c sfFed. ki CHAP. ( 62 ) C II A P. Vllf. Of the 'Executive Poiver, i^AWS, to be completely perfecl, iliould have, among their other properties, that of enforcing their own execution ; for^ if they are clientlally good, every failure of their operation, or delay in it, muft be, in fome degree, an evil. Such are the laws of God eftabliflied in the vil'ible creation • they ope- rate of neceiliiy without external aid ; and ill every time and fituation, according to the flate of circumdances. Hunaan laws, however, canmt have ihn excellence: the poweisofman are not fuf- iicient to confer it : they are dead, and their operation mufl: be provided for by means ex- traneous to them. They cannot enforce, they ( 63 ) they cannot even, with certainty, '^xplaiit themlelves ; for both which piirpofcs there muft be proper officers appointed. To defccnd to the detail of fuch arrangc- iiients, is foreign to the pnrpofe of this trea- tifc. Suffice it to fliy, generally, that, in every department of them, knowledge and integrity mufl: be the qualities required ; and that the removal of temptation, and the re- n:ri(5llon of bad difpofitions, muft be provided for by every poflible attention. 1*1 While all is peaceable and regular, the ordi- nary officers of law will, perhaps, be fully able to enforce its execution. But, as there may arife, from various caufes, a difpofition to rcfift, the means muft alfo be provided of arming law with power to bear down oppo- fition. The v/hole force of the ftate Should be, if poffible, concentered in the law ; for that which '^ ii H\ m ( 64 ) Xvhich is for the fake of all eflabllflicd, flioulJ alfo for the fake of all be executed. It is in vain that Wifdom has decreed, if folly or perv'crfeiiefs fliall be left at liberty to difobey. But the real force of every ftate, notwith- {landing all endeavours to transfer it, muft remain in the colledive body of the people : and in very large detachments of that body there wiii always be a llrength which it is not eafy to oppolc. To this ftrength, left at any time it be difpofed to fpurn, or difobey the laws, it is ncceflary to provide fome counterbalance : and to eftablifh fome where an authority that may in general overawe, if it cannot always overcome refiflance. m m fl Difobcdience and avowed oppofition even to law cflablifhed and acknowledged', muft be expetfled from the vices and fermenting palfions of mankind. Nor could exprefs ailent obtained beforehand effcdlually exclude this evil : for it is one thing to approve a pro- pofition in cool judgement, or perhaps with- 2 out ( 65 ) t)ut fefledion, and another to continue thcic aflent, when the paflions are inflamed againft the Law, or prefent intercft feems to lead another way. Proportionable to the flrength of paffion, and the fceblenefsof reafon, is the efFedl of thofe propenfities which thus pro- duce refinance ; which^ confequently, will prevail the mod in thofe whofc numbers are moil formidable. The multitude is neither exercifed to ufe its reafon, or fubdue its paf- fion s. Thus will even the expedient of a previous aflent be found uncertain and inade- quate, as a pledge of fubfequent obedience. Nor can this feeble guarantee be had for the fupport of ordinary legiflation, which mufl be carried on when the people cannot be col- lected to aflent or to rejed ; and muft ; en founded on confiderations which, if col- lected, the greater number could not com- prehend. ' W But if it be thus probable that the Lavy fliould be refifted, and if the natural fl:rength K of w. ( 66 ) of •multitudes be fuch as cannot eafily be counterbalanced, there certainly is nothing more impolitic, than to arm the body of the people. This is adding force to that which has too much already ; it is giving to a power- ful herd the fangs and the ferocity of lions ; after which, who fhall attempt to be their keepers ? It is even worfe ; for lions w'ould attack their keepers only, whereas the people would deftroy each other alfb. It is hoftile to their primary and moft important intereft, which is that of being well and wifely go- verned. Befides this, as the natural ftrength fo likely to refift, fo difficult to be refifted, re- quires fome counterpoife, the force of arms muft be rcferved to ftrengtheu that authority in which we place the energy of law. Where the people arc i\ot armed, the com- mand of military force may, indeed, confer on Govenimeut a ftrength which caniiot often be ( «7 ) be redfted. But in what hands fliall fuch a power be placed r The experience of the world has Ihown, that armies fo augmented as to be rendered almofl irrcfiflible, form an engine too deftrudlive for any Government to be allowed to wield. Power may be abu- fed, and therefore muft be kept in ftrider limits ; when unreftrained, it a£lually begets abufe, by the temptations which it offers, and the corruption which it gradually pro- duces in the human heart. A military force, too far augmented, produces generally a doubfe tyranny : firft, that of the governors over the body of the people ; and fecondly, that of the armv, as foon as it has learned its own importance, over the governors them- felves. So was it under the corruptions of the Roman Empire, fo is it alfo in the Turkifli. The army, therefore, as the only effeclual counterbalance to the natural ftrength of piultitudes, mufl be employed for the fup- port of Law, and confided to the manage- K 2, ment i ( 68 ) ment of the executive power; but then It muH: be held within fiich limits, as to aug^ mentation, and under luch reflridions, that it may not be in danger of becoming the means of violence, or the inftrument of op? preflion. In civil matters, it mufl continue fubje(5l to the general Laws, and ordinary tribunals of t'::. ilate ; its regulation and em^ ployment mufl be confided to the hands of Government. m What cannot fafely be conferred in the form of a<5lual force, muH: be fupplied by means of opinion ; and the executive power, on which, as has been faid, the energy of Law depends, if it be not made fo flrong as to deftroy all oppofition, mufl at leafl, for the fake of public tranquillity, be rendered fo refpeclable, that it may not often meet it. To produce this excellent efFedl, the mofl obvious and natural method is that of efta?- blifhing ( h ) blirtiing a monarchy. Tr> a King, mankind in general are difpofed to iCH k with rcve* rence; and commands, confiftentWHl- Law, proceeding from that authority, wiU .ot often be difputed. The authority of a King is fimpleand intelligible; it refembles that of a father, which every man has been trained up to venerate ; or that of a mailer, whicU every man has either held, or hopes to exer- cife. It is the mofl: natural fprm of power, not only from its general analogy to thefe, but alio as being that, to the eflabhfhment of which almoft every flate of incipient fociety direclly tends.* If we go back to the origia ^f mankind, we cannot but fuppofe that, while the f]:ate of things continued peaceful. i-4 tt-f: ^ Ai3 xa* TO wpwiov (pu(Ti7.tvono a,i ?r&X=»f, x«» vvv it» to. sBUi* F/t /5«o-tA;Do/ASvi'i' yep ciivnAGov. TlutTix yxf uy.Ia ^y.ai'kixinM in* Ttf 'crpEtrS'uTaTS* w,- te x.oiX cu irouti^j, ^»w rnn (ruyysvnav. Itaque initio civirates regibus parebant, ct nunc etiam geiites ; ab lis enim qui regio nnperio tencbiiatur profefts funt. Omnis enim familia feni re, ut rcge gubcrnatur ; quare etiam colo- iijnr, propinquitatis caufa. Jrijiot. Polit. i. i. See alio i. 3, families, ( 7° ) families originating from one father, Hill alive, would continue to acknowledge the authority he had ufed in his domeftic circle, and thereby confer upon him a kind of mo- narchy. Thus would the firft man, during life, be allowed to govern his defcendents ; and after his deceafe, priority of birth, which muft have given before a kind of occafional and deputed authority, would be admitted as the fitteft claim to fill the vacant place. In difperfion, fimilies would naturally take np that form of Government to which, in their original abode, they had become habituated. Thus mull have arifen the Patriarclial Gor vernmenr, and thus become extended ; every patriarch being, within his little diftrid, a fort of Monarch. In any other cafual union of families into villages, or villages into aif- trids, the necefllty of an umpire and referee, in all difputed points of right, would loon be rirongly felt ; and this umpire, with a very Hctlc management, would foon become a mo^ narch« ( 7' ) narch.* Thus would it be in peace. In a flate of warfare, the chief who had fucceff- fully led forth his country's troops to battle, would, when that exigence had ceafed, with eafc fecure obedience. Regard for his cou- rage, and experience of his wifdom, added to the influence unavoidably arifing from his military fituation, if not an adlual force re- tained, would lead, or overawe the multi- tude to rank themfelves as fubjeds under him. Againft external violence, he would, as a King, for his own fake, defend them ; and in him, whofe qualities they had already tried, they would not readily fufpe£l abufe of power. ■* Thiscirc mftance actually t»A place in thecafe of -Deioccs, who 'hus became king o 'Media. Deprived for a time of h«s equitable decifions, the Medes faid, ** Our prefent fituation is really intoler. !e ; let us ** therefore ele<^ a king, that we may have the ad- " vantage of a regular Govci ment, and continue ** our ufual occupations, without any fear or danger *' of moleflation." Their umpire of couric was made their king, Herodotus, b. i, c. ^6. 61.C, iiaod's tr^'./' In tl''. A M '^V,^ %.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I i.25 If 1^ IM 2.0 1.8 U ill 1.6 P^) ^ /a >> -V.ii^' Photographic Sciences Corporation 4^ '^q> v O^ ^^".^^^.15^ %^ <^ 33 -VEST MAti4 STREET t>:..STER,N.Y. lASaO (716) 872-4503 A' vV ( 7^ ) In thefe, and other cafes, whldi might hd imagined, the monarchical authority would, probably, have lefs or greater ftrength, ac^ cording to the circumftances from which it happened to arife. But it would be Oil! aii authority of the fime kind, and would afford, in every inftancc, a proof how naturally the ibcieties of men coalefce into the forms of Monarchy. If the power of a monarchy be afcertaineu and carefully defined by Law, and not too flrongly armed with military force,there will be little caufe to apprehend opprefiion from that form of Government. A nation that has once enjoyed the benefits of free and equal Laws, will not be readily perfuaded to relinquifh or negle£t them. A King is a confpicuous ob- jeSj whofe aflions many eyes will always be employed to watch, and whofe intentions many minds, in fuch a flate, will always be inclined ^N ( 73 ) inclined to fcrntinlze.* He can take no da- ring ftep without creating an alarm, which would infallibly defeat hii purpofes. Limited as we fuppofe him, and fupported rather by opinion than by real and efficient ftrength, to roufe the public apprehenlion would be to hazard every thing. Much greater caufe is there to fear that by gradual, unfufpeded, or ^ et more formidable, becaufe applauded, en- croachments, the body of the ftate that has the natural power, the people, or their repre- fentatives, may deftroy that vigour which a monarchy fhould have, and with it the beft fafeguard of the law. Againft this danger wife provifions muft be made. Other modes have been deviled of veiling the executive authority, but they are in ge- neral more remote from nature, more com- plicated, and lefs advantageous. Of num- * See De Lolme on the Conftitution of England, b. ii. ch. 2. where this truth is very fenfibly fug- geftcd, and more fully explained, and illufirated. L bers ( 74 ) bers placed in joint command it may be fald univerfally, that if united, they are more for- midable than a fingle man ; if difcordant, they impede each other. * Among expedients to prevent ■*' Of a Sovereign Ariflocracy there are at prefent few defenders. Of Republics take a pidture from one who wrote from knowledge and experience, and i'peaks of fmall ones, which are fuppofed to be the beil. " The mind is never fubje6led to a more odi- ** ous tyranny, than that which prevails in thefe " little republics; where not only the rich citizen ex- ** »<9;shimfelf into a proud mafter over his lefswealtliy ''equals, but where tlic contradled notions of this *' little tyrant become, if unoppofed, the ftandard of ** reafon to all the town. The members of fmall re- *' publics care only for themfelvcs, and feci little ** anxiety about any thing that pafles beyond their ** own limits. The all-powerful and imperious go-r *' vernor confiders his little territory as the univcrle. *' His breaili alone decides every queftion that is pro- ** pofed at the Guild-Hall \ and the reft of his time is *' wholly occupied in maintaining his authority over *' the minds of his fellow citizens, in relating anec- ** dotes of families, &c." Zimmerman on Solitudey chap, lit. p. 96. We may fay, perhaps in general, of repub- lican government, that it is an effort to make thofe govern, or appear to govern, who cannot do fo in reality. They have the flrength, but not the wif- 4oni, They muft be guid,'d, they inuft, even for their \\.. ( 75 ) prevent abufe of power, that of a frequent change of governors has been devifed and tried, it is, however, a contrivance which. Oil the very face of it, prefents this difadvan- tagc, that it excludes from the executive pbwer whatever wifdom may be gained by habit and experience. * Befides, it is a plan which mufl infallibly produce contentions and intrigues. Ambition is a fierce and rel- iefs paflion, and whatever ftation gives the their own eafe, be controuled ; though perhaps with- out being confcious of it. The general arguments for democracy, oligarchy (or ariftocracy) and monar- chy are certainly not ill detailed by Herodotus in the fpeeches of Otanes, Megabyzus, and Darius, b. ili. ch> 80, See Bgloe's tranflation, vol. ii. p. 96. ^The Romans, during the republic, often fuffercd fiomthis caufe; and |till more frequently from that which follows. Contentions for the confulfhipmake tip > great part of their hiftory. The conftituent aflembly of France, in its felf-denying ordinance agahift 5. re-elem hereditary monarchy ; the inability or depravity of an individual on whom the fovereignty may happen in thq courfe of the fucceflion to devolve. Of this eventual evil, which was hinted at before, we here perceive the means of fully obvi* ating the efFe6ls. Whatever may be the fup* pofed character of a poffible inheritor of the crown, his advifers and immediate agents muft be men who can defend and jullify their meafures legally, and in a public difcuflion ; and will be driven fucceflively from their places, by the influence of the legiflative af- fembly, fo long as they fliall give pernicious counfels ; or, what will be in the eye of the conftitution the fame thin" , whenever they confent to execute the orders of a fovereign, either unable to dired well, or defirous to di- rect improperly. By ( 93 ) By the fame contrivance, we ihall hav« attained the moft important obje£l in the whole theory of Government, government, according to our fundamental principle^, ia the hands of perfect wifdom and goodncfs, WQuld be perfe6t. The power of iuch 4 Government would require no limitation ; on the contrary, to introduce limitations would be, in that cafe, to introduce defefts^ Thus, the infinite and illimitable power of God effeds the p refer vation qf the Uni- verfe ; were it poffible that any external re<- ilridions could affe£b that power, the ener- gies of perfefelf, but ihofe whom he employs, be anfwerable ; and the ftate will then be mar'e a body at for aftion, and yet fecured from moft of the dif- orders which the fermentation of bad paifions midit produce. Ill i 99 ) It feems not in this place neceffary to de- fcend to the detail of all the branches of pre- rogative. The reafbnings above ftated, will apply to the defence of thofe with which the monarch of Great Britain is inverted, and will (how the great neceflity of fome of which a neighbouring king has been defpoiled. To do much more, is beyond the purpofe of the prefent treatife.* * For fuller information on tbi$ fubje6l Judge , Blackftone's excellent chapter on the prerogative iliould be perufed with care, (jComm* b. i. c. 7.) in which republican principles are Qccafionally opppfe^ \vith manly vigov*, and great political fagacity, ' ,.!.• mm 0^ CHAP. ( BOO ) CHAP. X. Of the Balance of Powers, A/Ve have now two .powers eftablifhed in our flate, and only two, the natural power of the people, operating through the legifla- tive affembly, and the conceded or artificial power of the Sovereign. Now as one indifpenfable guide in political let^ulations and contrivances is the knowledge of human nature, the fubjed to which they muft be all applied, we muft not fail to re- colled that, of all the paffions of mankind, the moft reftlefs and infatiable is the love of power ; andconfequently, wherefoever power is o-iven with limitations, attempts muft be expeacd to ihake off reflraint, or to acquire at leaft an ampler (hare. Suppofe, then, the ■'■ two ( JO' ) two powers eftabliftied in our fancied flatc, inclined, as they would be, to make in- croachments on each other ; it is evident, that, as our regulations ftand at prefent, the conteft would be perfeCly unequal. The Sovereign, limited by Law, and armed with fuch a force, as is calculated ra- ther to prevent the difpofition to rellft, than _ a£lually to overcome great efforts, ftill lefs to make addition to his power by any a£ts of violence ; having beyond this, no other fun- port than public opinion, and an influence which can operate only within a certain dif- tance from the throne, and not at all upon the bulk and body of the people ; being belides a confpicuous, and generally, among a free people, (though frequently withou. the flighted reafon) a fufpefted obje£l, could do but little towards acquiring any new accef- lions of authority : and whatever^ he might do by unfufpedled means, would be with cafe, as foon as its effects difcovered it, repreflfed. Il5'i f ( I02 ) reprcfTed, and for the future totally pi-e* vented, by a fingle effort of the Icgiflativ'e power. ^ On the other hand, the legiflative body, holding an authority derived direftly from the people, and by election reverting to them periodically, will not fo readily incur fuf* piebn of ambitious aims : or if it were fuf- peifted, the peopla would in general be eafily perfuaded that the powQr their reprefentativcs acquired was; gained, in fadl, to them ; and confequently would hp ready to fupport and countenance fuch efforts.* Befides this, two of the greatefl powers that can be given, are already, by our fuppofition, vefted ip," ' * In L^ngland where, fince the dreadfi^l t^oublqs of Cliarles the firft's reign, and the mifcries enfuing, the- people have been more enlightened than in other Countries^ concerning the comparative merits of Mo- narchy and pemocracy, they have been known to make ftrong efforts in fupport of royal power. But this is a degree of political fagacity not to be expedle^ in. general, noi to be calculated upon in theory. . ■ ■'. that ( 103 ) that body : thefe are the power of granting money, and the power of making laws. • r • ' In the form of money, the public force is reprefented moft compendlonny ; without it neither military ftrength c^n. be fupported, nor any effort of importance made ; not even outward dignity and fplendor can be long maintained. Whatever may be nomiiially the powers conceded to the Sovereign, they are all at once fufpended if the public purfe be clofed again ft him. P The lefjriTiative anthorltv is alfo of fo ccrear extent, that it can at any moment changd the conftitution. Whatever be the powers eftabliflied, to whatever hands entrufted, or in whatever form conceded, a fingle a(5t of ^egiflatlon may aboilfli them at once : or if that were too bold an effort, on the fuppofi- tion that the body of the people might prefer the former ftate of things, and would refenc fuch daring innovation ; yet ftill, by imper- 2 ceptible ( 104 ) ceptible approaches, which the people could not trace, nor would be likely to fufpe«?t, an attack upon the regal power might be main- tained, which in the end would sender it fubfervient wholly to the legiflative., Againft fuch evils, whofoever wifties to prefcrve the form, and to enjoy the great ad- vantages of monarchy, will l)e inclined to make efFedtual provifion.- With i'efpe£l to rtioney, it.muA he con- fefled that the reftraints which the with- holding of a full command of it impofes upon monarchy, are abfolutely neceflary, to pre- vent oppreflion. The powers that muft be vefted in a King are fuch, that could he gain fupplies at pleafure, neither property nor freedom could have that ,fecurity which the rights of man, above enumerated, demand. Making then, at proper tidies,* fome ge- * For infiance, at the acceffion of a new king, as in England. ncral ( i°S ) neral and adequate provifion to fupport the ro)al dignity, wc muft in other matters leave the monarchy with this ftrong check upon ic Nor is the power of thus with- drawing aid fo much a force ofFenfive as defenfive : it may difarm a power that leems too formidable, but raifes up no arms againft it. . The power of legislation is very differently circumftanced, it may be ufed to make at- tacks dirt'Sl or indire£t ; and as, in our con- fiderations on the fubjcdt of reprefentation, it was advanced as a maxim, that it is the perfection of political contrivance, for every man to be employed in doing that for which he is moft fit, fo here alfo we may apply the fame remark. To watch over his own pre- rogative, the fovercign is undoubtedly moft fit. He, with his immediate advifers, can bed: perceive when an attack upon it is either made or meditated ; his intereft is the moft immediate and moft urgent, to dete6t in- P croachments. M n ! ll i!';:^f|ii i> Ml m\ ■■ S r'i, ( I06 ) croachmeiits, iii whatever manner covered and difguifed ; and he is firft concerned to ftand upon his guard againft that rival power which mufl by its own natural ftrength prevail, if not relifted with fome care, and balanced b/ Ibme force of counterpoife. To give the Sovereign, then, the means Of meeting fuch ? •tempts with proper vigour, it is necefl'ary that he (hould be allowed to form an integrant and independent portion of the le- giflature : to every a£l of the great and popular body already conflituted, his full aflent muft be required ; his fingle negative muft be made of force fufficient to prevent all innovation m the law, which he may apprehend as hoflile to his power and dignity, or may tfteeni for any other reafon inexpedient ; and this with- out delay or interruption, left the adverfc power Ihouid gather ftrength to make re- iiftance. With ( 107 ) With refpedl to this great power of coun- teradting the proceedings of the other branch of legiflature, we have feen that it is necef- fary to defend the royal fun^lions. It mufl be confidered alfo, left it fhould appear more formidable than in truth it is, that it is inno- vat ion only which the King is thus enabled to reHft, If the conftitution of the ilate was tolerably formed before, it cannot greatly fufFer from the want of a new Law, which, in the judgement of the Sovereign, or of his advifers, (by the fuppofition, men of, atleaft, fome competent degree of wifdom) fhall ap- pear to be of evil tendency. For the exer- tion of this, as well as every other branch of fovereign authority, thofe counfellors will be of courfe refponfible.* If, however, the Law propofed, and thus reiifted, fhould have found wifdom on its fide, or very evident ex- lilt f SL;,' iir *' Unlefs, as is fuppofable, he fhould difmifs them at the inftant, and turn the privilege againft their mca- fures. In this cafe, it would remain to be inquired ty what fecret advifers this ftep had been fuggcftcd. P 2 pediency. ( io8 ) pedicncy, it is not to be feared that men fo fituated as the royal minifters, or even the So-, vereign himfclf, in a ftate fo conflituted as here has been laid down, will venture long to ftand againft the general convidlion of the public* Nor will it be fufficient thus to arm the Sovereign againft attacks, dired or indired, proceeding from the legiflative aflfembly ; he muft alfo be enabled to put a flop to the de- liberations of that body by diffolution, when- ever it may be their general tendency to * This power of rejecSling bills by royal negative, has been acknowledged in its full extent by all the writers on our conftitution. That it is not dange- rous, is proved fufficiently by hiftory: yet it was, within the memory of all, the favourite opinion that the crown could not with fafety ufe it ; and the doc- trine of many, that it ought not to enjoy it. That the do61rine is erroneous, I have not the fhadow of a doubt; ^nd if the opinion be jufl, our conftitution has received, in that rcfpe6l, a confiderable alteration, which may in time prove fat^l to the very exiilencc of thp monarchy, T thwart ( ^09 ) ' thwart and to impede the iieceflary powers of Government, or to declare a hoftile difpoli* tion towards himfelf, or thofe whom he em* ploys; or for any other caufe to be deter^ mined by his counfcllors, under the reftraiat of their refponfibility. This is alfo a power which by its nature cainiot greatly be abufed. We have fuppofed it fixed by^ Law, that no long time ihall pafs without converging an aflembly of the reprefentatives ; diflblution, therefore, fol- lowed by a re-ele(5tion, is in truth an ap-? peal only, and a recurrence to the people ; and in every fuch recurreiice, ftrength is given to popular fentiments, and an adivity to popular influence, which for their own fakes, the men who hold the reins of Go- vernment will not too frequently beftow, Tt is indeed, in the firft inftance, an exertion of great apparent power againft the popular divifion of the leglflature : but, inthcfecond, it fubmits itfelf to the decifion of the people, It I'.; § 'ilh'i III! If ( no ) , It fends back the legiflators to their conftitu- cnts ; but the people, in their turn, can fully Ihow their fcntimcnts, either by a rc- elcdlion of the fame difcarded reprefentatives, or by the choice of others ftill more friendly to their wilhes or pretei^fions. After which, it is mofl: evident, that nothing could be gained to Govermrieiit by further, diffplu- tions, './ , ,, ■ . . But when we have thus balanced with fome care the two great powers of ftate, the King, and the aflembly chpfen by the people ; an4 have provided fonae defences for that power which is artificial, and qriginally weak ? againfl that which is natural, and eflentially ftrong ; that which is cpnftituted for the purpofe of producing a good Government, againfl that which, by its inherent and indeftruftible flrength, occafions the chief difficulty in forming any Government at all : when all this has been done, by the means above re- cited, there will flill fubfifl:, without fome further ti i ( "• > farther care, one evil of no trifling magnitude. It is this : that in every flruggle and difpute, the power and will of* the monarch will be let in competition, immediately and folely, with the power and wi(hes of the people ; which will tend to make the former odious, and the latter violent : lubverting thus at once the chieffupportof afree monarchy, opinion, and deftroying the chief pledge of popular obcdi« ence, the want of difpofition to refift. m i'l' Againft this danger alfo we muft make pro- vifion, and the beft expedient that reafon can fuggeft is that of raifing up fome intermediate power between the fovereignraid the people. The mode of doing this (hall be conlidercd in the chapter following. i CH AP, ;''i ( 112 ) CHAP. Xt On the Creation of an Arlflocratk Order, As we na/e at prefent but two legal powers within oiir ftate, and each of them an indc* pendent portion of the legiflature, it is evi- dent< that if we would prevent their too im- mediate (hock and conflid, we muft raife up a third, of fimilar authority, to ftand be- tween them. To render this great fervice, nothing caa be better fitted than an Ariftocratic Body, which, ftanding in political f^-uation, be- tween the fovereign and the people, or their reprefentatives, may be inclined by intcreft, and hab'tual notions, to refift incroachments made on either fide.* Ths ■ * In this opinion our moft able flatefmen of all parties arc at prefent happily united, Mr. Fox, in the m ( ''3 ) This ariftcciadc body muft be formed, like the democratic, into a fepaiate and inde- pendent the debates 013 the Quebec Bill, May nth, 17^2, "laid *' it down as a principle never to be departed from, that every part of the Britifh dominions ought to pof* fcfs a government in ti.e corftitution of which monar- chy, ariftof icy, and democracy, were mutually blended and united; nor could any government be a fit one foi Brii fii fubjc«£ls to live under, which did not contain its due weight of ariftccracy, becaufc that he confidered to be the proper poilis of the conftitu- tion, the balance that equalized an i inelioratcd the powers of the two other extreme branches, and gave {lability and firmnefs to the whole." And afterwards the fame gentleman declared, " that fo nereflary was ariftocracy to all governrrjents, thai in his opinion, the deftrudtion of all that had been deftroycd, could be proved to have arifen from the ne^ledl of the true ariftocracy, upon which depended whether accnftitu- tion fhould be great, energetic, and poweiful." BtockdaWs Debates, p. 5? 6. and ^20, An. 1791. k m 1* !l' I' II Mr. Pitt aKo, alluding \.o Mr. Fox's words, faid, that " Ariftocracy was the true poife (as the hon. gen- tleman had empliatic.'iily ftated it) of the conftitution, it was the cflential link that held the branches toge- ther, and gave ftability and ftreng^h to the whole. Ariftocracy rcHedled luftre on the crown, anf^ lent fupport and ciFe»5\ to the democracy, while the demo- cracy gave vigour and energy to both, and the fove- QL rcignty ( "4 ) pendent aflembly,* for the purpofes of deli- beration, and entrufled with an equal (hare of legifiative power. Queftions of much in- tricacy and importance will obtain, by this contrivance, full difcuflion : taken up in this aflembly on different grounds, and viewed in new and various lights, it rnay be hoped that they will gain elucidation, in one part of the procefs or another, from the beams of truth. And if there be, at any time, occafion to refiil; opinions, which, though falfe, may happen to be popular, the effort may be made more fafely by a body of this nature, than by the (ingle a6l and intervention of the Sove." jeio;n. reignty crownet^ the cqnftitution with authority and dignity." Ibid.p.e^li. See alfo the very ftriking quotation from tlic wri- tings of John Adams, cited by Colonel Simcoe in his fpcech upon the fame occafion. P. 513. * It is true that there were ftrong reafons, at the flrft aflembllng of the deputies in France, for an union of the orders in one houfe ; but reafons that nuift vani/h with the temporary exigence and the ancient government,- J A rich ( "5 ) A rich and hereditary nobility, created driginally by the Sovereign himfelf, will pof- fefs thofe properties exactly, which we feek in an order fo to be employed. G"tine£led with the monarch by the mode, and brought near to him by the degree of their political elevation, thefe nobles will furround his throne, augment its daity fplendor and its general influence, and form a bulwark be- tween him and democratic power, without conferring any real ftrength that can be ren- dered dangerous to liberty. Independent at the fame time, both by wealth, and by here- ditary right to hold or to tranfmit the ho- nours once conferred, this order will not be enflr-ved by royal influence ; even the perfonal obligation of a gift that cannot be retraced, will not bind too ftrongly or too long, when other motives intervene to counteract it.* Such a body will be, if any can, above cor- 119 m m m m * In England it has been proved, that the obli- fratlon of a title conferred, may be forgqtten In a time incredibly fhort. Q^ ruption. 'iii^iS ( ti6 y ruption. Interefted above all other fubjevl* in the prefeivation of that focial order on which their rank depends, and as much, at leaft, as any others in the prevention of fuch arbitrary meafures, or fuch popular licentiouf- nefsy as may leffen the fecurity of property,- ar other perfonal rights^ the cKifs of nobility will oppofe itfelf alike againft the machina- tions r a King defirous to extend his power beyond » proper limits, or the exceffes of a people defirous, in the name of liberty, tQ a£t the tyrant.* It will be found, therefore, the ''•■ " On peut douter que le Rol aceepte I'd/rcmtrtt la. profcription de la Noblefle, et fandtionnc le malheuc des plus illuftrcs families du royaume, Une profonds- reflexion a du lui faire connoitre que dans un grand etat, la Noblefle, non point comme ordre, fi I'on veut, mais comme dajfe^ comme eleme:it dhinfenat nationaly pre-' fente un appui durable a la eonfliitution, a la iibertd une mefure fage, au trone la fplendeur et la puifliance qui lui conviefinent." Thus writ-^s a fenfible and in>- telligent author, by birth a Genevan, M. Mallet dw Pari, in the Mcrcure de France, He then aflerts the fame, in effeift, as I have laid above, and proceeds, ** Ces verites centre Icfquelles il eft de mode d'argu- menter aujourd'hui, ne font point detruites par I'af- fcdation ( "7 ) the furefl: anchor of the ftate in every kind of political agitation. There is nothing To difficult for a prince^ defpotically inclined, to render patient and fubraiffive as an high fpirited and indepen- dent nobility. In France the gradual extinc- /eiflation incniongcre de confotrdrc la corruption d^ quelqtaes nobles, et la feodalite, avec I'inftitution poli- tique de la Noblefle dans I'etat,, Tant qu' a Rome le ffcuat a joui de la confideration et du pouvoir, qu'il % balance la force toujours croiflante du peuple, la rc- publique s'eft elevee au plus haut dignede gloire etde puiflance; elle u'a perdu fa libene, elle n'eftd^venuo- k patrimoine des Neron, et des CaUgida^ que lorfque la Noblefle avilie, et le fenat fans force, n'ont pu em-' pecher le peuple de fe ventre aux tyrans. Lorfque Cromwell, feconde du parti fanatique, voulut regner par la crainte, cc fut centre la chambredes pairs qu'ii dirigea les fureurs des communes. Des qu'elle fut de-" truite, la liberie s'aneantit avec elle, et Ton vit bien* tot un Roi foible et malheureux cimenter de fon fang. Ja fervitude publiq-ue." Merc, dc France^ No, 32. yitiguji 3d, 1 79 1. M. Mallet du Pan writes uniformly with the fentiments of an Englifhman, acquainted with the true principles of politics; and has had the honour to be perfecuted, on that account, as an^r//^ tocrat, though a very zealous friend to liberty. i ^'' if h' tj mil i It m s tion ( "8 J tion of ibe independent nobles of the ancient ftate rendered the Sovereign defpotic ; and in all the flates of Europe the principles of liber- ty that flill fubfift, originated chiefly fronm the freedom and high fpirit of the feudal ba- rons. In England particularly, where we are indebted to the united efforts and flrong courage of that very order for the great and fundaittental Charter o^ our Liberties, for its frequent renewal, and final confirma- tion, it would be unpardonable in gratitude; to decry nobility, which, even for that one a«3:, deferves to be accounted iacred among us for ever. The fituation of a nobility, fuch as is here defcribed, oppofes itfelf with no lefs felicity againft the undue influence of popular force. For which reafon, and becaufe the very ex- igence of fuch a clafs is ofFenfive to that un- focial and bale pride, which, when it cannot honeflly exalt itfelf, is defirous of obtaining gratification by the only method remaining, that ( "9 ) that of degrading others ; a nobility h generally th^ firft obje£t of rage, whenever there is in the people a difpofition to exert their dange- rous ftrength ; that ftrength which for the benefit of fociety, and particularly of thenri- felyes, ought to remain in general ina£live. In the earlieft periods of the Roman repub- lic we find, indeed, the patricians oppreffing the plebeians, but not fo much as nobles exerting their power againft the commons, as in the chara(!T:er of rich men who opprefled their indigent creditors, which may happen where no order like nobility exifts. In all the fubfequent periods of that hiflory, the tendency of popular pride to gain the eleva- tion it denies to others, is perpetually illuf- trated ; and in time fo far obtained its objefV, that the ambitious among the patricians were compelled to the expedient of being made plebeians. Then was the country ripe for the machinations of demagogues, and confe- quently for fubfequent fervitude. All which is no more than the natural operation of hu- man ■ * ,1? I I' I ! I '. W' III li I ill- ( I20 ) mail pride, ambition, and other vices, not reltrained by the due balance of political au- thority. In our own country, the deftruc- tlon of the nobility was fought with eager- jiefs by thole chiefs of the republicans, who wifhed to exercife a heavy tyranny them- felves : and when the neceflity fqr a free and equal government was felt and underftood, the nobility was fully re-eftabliihed, with- put a murmur, Gare muft of courfe be taken, for the fake of public liberty, that, the privileges conceded to this order, be not of fuch a nature that they can produce oppreffion. No exemp- tions from the fan£lions of the pepal law, no exemptions from taxes or other public bur- thens ; * no right of exa6:in§ fer vices. Theif diftindions mufl be only fuch as give a dig- nity and fplendor, without opprefling any * Such exemptions formed the real grievances felt in France from their noblcffcy which dift'ered in almoft every point from our nobility. man ; ( '*■ ) Xnan : titular, and armorial honours, prece- dence, the appointment to certain royal or- ders, and the like ; things which, though it is mofl: natural for thofe to feck very ear- neflly, who have a reafbnable profpeil of fuc- cefs, difturb no man's repofe that has them not, while moving in another fphere, nor raife even traniient envy in the bofoms of the wife. )'' if; The independence and liberality of an af- fembly formed from fuch a clafs, will, in general, free its, deliberations from the fetters of all mean' and partial interefts : and, by the fame qualities it will befl: be fitted for a court of ultimate appeal, efpecially if there be of neceflity admitted to it fome of thofe men whole lives have been employed ih ftudying and deciding on their country's laws. Such a court will be, in this refped as well as others, above improper influence, and having the affiftance of knowledge, may be expe(Sled to decide impartially and juftly. R CHAP. w i il •*! I !i| i ( ^^i ) CHAP. XIL Farther Conjiderations on an Order of Nobility IT is a vain attempt to fquare the paflions of mankind to fuit the theoHes of abftrad reafoners : a wife man forms his fyftem ra« ther on experiments, and works on human nature as he finds it. The moft important fecrct is, to render even the failings atid faults of men, if poffi- ble, fubfervient to the public welfare. The love of honour, and political diftin«Slions, is among our ftrongeft paflions. To gratify it, men will make fuch elForts as few other worldly motives will produce ; to aggrandize their families they will die ; and thefe feel- ings, though not entirely pure, are often found infeparable from minds of the moft noble texture, and capable of the moft ex- * cellent mi ( »23 ) cellcnt. exertions. Befides this, to prefcrve for any time a fyftem of political equality, is of all attempts moft vain and fruitlefs. Nobility denied in one form will rife up iu another: nor can it be forefeen upon how many different pleas it will be claimed, and, in a little time, acknowledged. In Rome, when the original ftriflnefs of diftinflion be- tween the orders was deftroyed, thofe men aflfumed nobility, and with all the pageantry and pride of any times afferted it, whofe an- ceftors had gone through certain public offices. So that latterly man might be a plebeian, and yet not only noble, but proud and infolent from his mobility. The images of their ancef- tors preferred to curule honours, were their armorial bearings ; were fet up in their houfes arid carried at their funerals, with a ppmp exceeding that of modern heraldry. Yet this was a republic, without a titled nobility, in which the new man Cicero had a thoyfand m- fults to encounter, before even his uncom- mon merit could procure him due re- 1; ill «'■ hi iiif iw ( 124 ) jpe£^.* So invoterate are thefe propenfities, and To impoflible is it for any fyftem wholly to prevent their operation. A foreft might be kept upon a level, but it could only be efFe^Sted by a labour which nature would be ever a(.^ive to r^efeat ; by cutting to a certain mark the bcft and finell trees, the (hrubs could never be trained up to any height or magnitude. There are many public fervices which honours only can repay, and thofe not merely perfonal, but of greater value and duration. To hold in high reaped the families of men, whofe a£lions have been great or wifdom eminent, is natural and juft. It (hows the '^ To fhew that the exiftence of a titled nobility is not fo hoftile to merit as the common prejudices of niankiud ; in England, where there is fuch a nobility, the fon of a cobler or a fcavenger might become the firft maa in the nation, next to the fovereign, with much lefs difficulty than Cicero encountered to ob- tain his dignities in Rome. Through the channel of* the law he might become lord chancellor, and then prime minifler. Other means of rife might alfo be pointed out, fandlity i: ( >25 ) fandity of virtue by which a whole defcent can be illuftrated, and gives, as far as mortal power can give, a kind of immortality of ho- nour. When the career of hfe is nearly clofed, of what avail are perfonal diH:in£tions to a wife or thinking man ? but to exalt his family he will purfue his toils to the very verge of life. It is wife to have incitement? of this kind for thofe who may defpife all meaner motives, and to keep them in grada* tion, fo that very few indeed may ftand above the hope of gaining fomething more. This is to take fair advantaQ;e of the ftroi ^reft hu- man propenfities, and to ufe them as the means of caufuig good and great exer- tions. i m ! I Honours gained by public fervLe are paid to thofe who firft achieve them as a general debt ; they are continued to their families, becaule it is moft evident that otherwife, in comparifon with the benefits conferred, they are futile and inadequate rewards ; to violate them, ( '26 ) them, at any 'period, is national difhonefty,- amounting to Icfs than a diredt confeffion of being too bafe to merit any noble fervice, and much too falfe to anfvver any confi- dence.* From a clafs of men accufiomcd to look, chiefly to high objecls, hereditary counfellors of ftate, and legiflators, connnanding the be{l means of general information and improve- ment, a nation cannot fail to gain acceffion of fome great and noble fentiraents, which will on due occafions ihow themfelves in its defence and fervice : and if, as in the execu- cution of all human plans there will arife de- fe(5ts, vhe origin of honours Hiould not always be in praftice that which fages ^ight point out, the ufes of the clafs which * Is there any Engiifhman fo voic' of feeling as not to glory in the elevation which feme great English families enjoy from the achisvements of their ancef- tors ? To oeftow them was originally a duty, to efteem them facred is the pnly proof that can be ftUl preferved of public gratitude. bears -» ^ ( 127 ) bfors them will yet remain the fame ; its in- dependence will refift amoitious projects from the throne, and its coUeded firmnefs check the turbulence of demagogues. lull The pidlure of a well-confl:ruCted fociety cannot be perceived in a monflrous and forced equality of ranks, but in fuch a regular grada- tion of them, as may give to thofe whofe talk it is to aid or to participate the government, dignity, and noble elevation ; to the greater numbers, who to be happy mufl be governed, protedion and fecurity, without the flighted danger of opprefficn. Thus, in a garden well arranged, the high and fpreading trees will neither be cut down nor violated, but placed in fuch a mar.ner that, while they neither intercept die fan, nor draw the juices of the foil from the liumbler plants, they may effedually ward off from all the fury of the north, and blighting fliarpnefs of the eaft» IP'' iil I is m m CHAR RtN r iz8 ] CHAP. XIII. On a Religious 'EjlahUJhmcnt » Though it be a moft falfe, and the re- fuge of a defperate perverfenefs, toaflert that religion was at firft invented by the magiftrate or lawgiver, the better to effed his purpofes ; yet certain it is, that to Law and public or- der, there can be no aid fo perfecl or fo powerful as religious principle. That which pervades the heart, and regulates the fecret fp rings of aftions, is able to prevent fuch crimes, and difpofition towards offence, as human Law can never take within its cognizance ; and by referring to a judge of infinite intelligence, excludes all hope of pafTing undetefted.* Ah ■ See Warburton on the alliance of church and flate. b. i. c. 3. where the fubje(?t is more fully treated, and more ( 129 ) An aid £0 powerful fhould, moft aflufedlyj be fought by every wife and prudent lawgiver 5 and a good man, in thofe circumftances, muft naturally wifh to make that dodrine preva- lent which he himfelf believe? to be di>^ vine. i! '* Now it feems impofTible that without the aid of an eftablifhment, the culture of Reli- gion can be properly encouraged, or its pef* manence fecured : for, though to entertain fome notions of Religion be fo natural to man that he is hardly ever found divefted of them totally, yet, to think corre6lly on a fubje£t fo abftrufe, or to aft confiftently with fuch good principles as he admits, things fb little fuited to his feeble reafon and ftrong paffions, that we find him always liable to W more ably : the whole rhapter welldeferves a careful and confiderate perul'al. I would, however, have it underr flood, that in commending certain parts of that very able work, I by no means undertake to be a blind de- fender of the whole. S the m ( '30 ) the greateft eorriiptions in opinion, and the pioft extreme licerttioufnefs in conduft. As an anchor to prevent, in fome degree, uncertain flii6:uations> an eftablilhment is highly uleful. It is a public teftimony of preference to the perfuafion fo maintained, by which it is enabled to command attention and refpedl. It enforces duties which might ©therwife feem merely fpeculative ; and gives, in due return for the fupport that Law derives from the internal principle, the ftrength of Law to regulate the outward pra3+ ) From the office which the minifters of Religion hold, as employed in public wor- ihip, and in the general inftrudtion of the people, it is neceflary that the whole eftab- lifhment fhould be maintained by Law, on fuch a footing, that neither dependence may render them timid, nor indigence contempti- ble. The illiberal of all clafles, if they could command their teacher, would infult him ; and the vain, if his appearance were not decent, would defpife him. We muft proceed in this cafe, as in others, not upon the fuppofition of the virtues which m.en ought to have, but Co as to obviate the dan- ger of thofe vices which we know are always prevalent. To all perfuafions in Religion, belides that legally eftablifhed, fhould be given an entire toleration; with this exception only, that whenever there appears in any fed a hoftile and an aftive fpirit, eager to fubvert and to fupplant the church, to which the Law h^s given ■I ( 135 ) given eftablifliment, fuch rcftridlions muft be made as legiflative wifdom fhall efteem fufEcient to defeat thofe machinations ; that the country be not tom by contefts the moft violent and dangerous, nor the majority of people interrupted in the worfhip tney pre- fer, nor deprived of thofe advantages, for the fake of which the eflabliflimcnt v^^as at the firft deemed neceflary. To form an in- flitution, and then refufe protedion to it, v^^ould be the height of folly. So long as any dangers can be juftly apprehended, to endeavour to remove fuch Laws as form a barrier to the church eftablilhed, would be to try to make the legiflature counteract itlelf: to perfuade an honeft man to give away his own fecurity, and yield, through mere well-meaning, his only weapons of defence, to thofe who have declared them- felves his enemies. While religious opini- ons continue matter of fpeculation, or of private obfervance only, they fall not within the jurifdidion of the legiflator ; but when they in ( '36 ) they are produdlvc of defigns and a(f^ions dedruOiWe of that orJer, which the wifdom and goodnefs of the nation has appointed, they then require reflraint and counterac- tion. CHAP* ( '37 ) CHAP. XIV. On the Right of Refjiancc, jnLs ill this fmall tra£l fome points have been denied, which the extravagant aflerters of freedom mifunderftood have confidered as axioms ; and fome truths afferted, concern- ing the neceflity of order and obedience, which arehoftile to many notions injudicioiifly C0iine and thankful to heaven for all the comfort that fecurity conveys, muft regard, not as crimes, but as proofs of wifdom and of virtue, thofe great efforts of refiftance, by which it was at firfl obtained and afterwards perpetuated. Had the refiftance of the Com-? mons in the reign of Charles the Firft beejl confined to the rejedlion of all arbitrary irti- pofitlons, and the prevention of all arbitrary judgements and oppreffive meafures ; every flep, in fuch a caufe, prefcribed by ftri<5t necef- iCty, would have been within the boundaries of right : but when they thence proceeded to ( ^29 ) to degrade the nobles, perfecute the church, and with a mockery of juftice try and mur- der him to whom, in all juft points, they owed obedience, then their guilt effaced their former merits, or rather brought to light their dark hypocrify. For this, when they had filled their meafure of iniquity, they were punilhed ; firfl: by a flrong tyranny they raifed themfelves, and then, by being configned to infamy, and the public execration of pofterity. Of the Revolution in i685 we now all think alike, or nearly {o : we regard it as the glory of our nation ; as a memorable and mofl illuftrious proof of public virtue, firm- nefs, moderation, and true wifdom. Thofe only are diflentient who hold, as very few at prefent do, the old do£lrine of right indcfea- fible,; and thofe who, on the contrary, think that effort was imperfeft, becaufe it did not reproduce the horrors oFthe former icra ; or whc think, as fome at prefent feem to do, that as a Revolution, it was indeed a good T 2 thing, ( HO ) thing, but Ihould be preparatory only to ano- ther, which in its turn muft lead to other Revolutions in everlafting fucceffion ; ima- gining of Government, as the old fanatics did cf religion, that it was — intended, For nothing elfe but to be mended ; And that the thing to be defired in politics is the want of permanence in ill inftitutions, and the frequent introduction of confufion. Having premifed thus mueh as explana- tory of my particular notions as an Englifli- mun, I (hall proceed, as in ihe former inftan- ces, to confider the political do6lrine I advance on the general principles of wifdom and of ri^ht. THE ( HI ) THE Right Qf making Refiftance to op* preffive Government is founded upon that which nature has moft ftrongly intimated, and no refpedtable authority has ever called in queftion, the right offelfprefervaiicn; which, though conveniently afferted in this fnigie phrafe, is in truth no other than the right above laid down a^ natural, the univer- fal right to life and all its innocent advan.- tages, derived exprefily froo) the gift of th? beneficent Creator. When from the imperfeaion or the incr quality of law, or the iniquity of fome prcr vailing cuftom, the value of that general gift is grievoufly diminifhed, by the Infecurity of life, of liberty, or property, it then is wife and jjfl: to introduce fuch reformation as the cafe requires. Whatever has been inftituted the colleded ilrength of many may annul : the right to exercile this power ^eppids upon :■ ( *42 ) the juftice of the caufe. Whoever finds him felf aggrieved, and hable by the eftablifh- c4 ftate of things to be fo, in thofe great points wherein the focial liberty of man con- iifts, in thofe effential rights to which he is attached by the moft natural of all feelings, the defire of felf-prefervation, is aiithorifed to join with others, and to make refiftance. Laws are not facred in tliemfelves which de- feat, inftead of being friendly to, the end of all good Government, the general welfare ; and refiflance may be carried on by all expe- dient means, till permanent redrefs and due fecurity (hall be obtained. The precepts re- commending honour and obedience to all hu- man inftitutions in behalf of Government^ are applicable only to the general ftate of things, when all proceeds by rules admitted,, and in the even tenor of a fixed eftabliih- ment ; not to thofe few periods of ebullition, and general exertion, when oy a ftrong ncceffity men are compelled to change their form of Government, or new-model fonne impor- ( »43 ) important parts, or elfe relinqullh their true rights as men. By the commands of Scrip- ture and morality enforcing order, individu- als are in general mofl ftridly bound ; nor does the exception take its rife until the caufe become a common one ; until the juftice of the plea be evident, and the neceffity for the effort prelling. In wifdom, however, it muft be remem- bered that a total Revolution, changing every thing, and annulling all exifting authority, is a very defperate meafure. It introduces anarchy, the worft and moft pernicious ftate of man colleded in fociety. Nor can it of- ten be required : bad Governments have parts, in general, that are good : thefe expe- rience has approved and made familiar, and to change them is to choofe a hazardous expe- riment in preference to certain knowledge. Need we add that fuch a preference is folly, if not wickednefs ? This ( H4 ) *rhis alfo, for the lake of juftice, muft be kid down as a maxim to be kept in mind in every Revolution or new-modelling of Go-* ternment, partial or entire, if in times fo cir- cumftanced the rules of juftice or the voice of reafbn can be heard ; that property or fub- fifiehce legally acquired, under any previous forms of policy, however faulty, muft be held facred in the perfons of the individuals fo pofleffing or enjoying thehi. For as the beavieft of punifhments, hardly excepting death itfelf, is degradation, or the redu6:ion of man from affluence to a ftate of indigence, cither abfolute or even comparative, to inflid this puni(hment on thofc who have been guilty of no crime, muft be a cruel and a vio- lent injuflice. Whatever there might be im- proper in the prior laws, they were, while they exifted, the bond of the community* and to Hve according to them was not only innocent, but necefiary. Under the faith of the fubfifting Government, and confequent- ly of the whole nation, while the nation ac- quiefced, ( H5 ) quiefced, men exercifed their powers and ta- lents to obtain fupport ; and confequently, by the faith of the whole nation, if there be any, they ought to be protedled to the end of life in thofe their lawful acquifitions. If favings are decreed in certain branches, the nation in the end will be the gainer, but cannot juftly make its profit by the ruin or diftrefs of thofe who there have vefted all their hopes of maintenance, who fought their fituations with the fandion of the laws, and paid the legal price *to gain them. The lapfe of a few years will, in the courfe of nature, clear away the prefent holders of fuch pofts as may fecm burthenfome, and then fuppreflion or reduc- tion may be made without injuftice, and the immortal public will enjoy the benefit. If for the negle^l of this juft maxim be al- ledged the prefl'ure of a public neceffity, even this plea, fpecious as it may appear, muft be injurious and falfe. If there be indeed a pub- lic neceffity, the public fliould combine, gene- U rally ( 1+6 ) rally and individually, in fair proportions, t^ remove it : but to plunder any fingle clafs of the community, merely to relieve the reft, who have no better claim than they to favc^r and protedlion, may be the law of the ftrong, but never can be of the juft ; it is indeed the ut- mofl ftretch of public profligacy. With refpedt to honours, the fame rule ihould be obferved ; for if the worth of pro- perty be rated by the natural feelings of man- kind concerning it, then muft honours be among the moft inviolable kinds of property, and that which would be laft relinquilhed : mere honours opprefs no one ; but the lofs of honours, lawfully obtained, without a •crime, is a very grievous oppreffion. Very different is the cafe of privileges which are, in their nature or efFeds, oppref- five. It is not juft that any men fhouW, for an hour, endure oppreffion, for the fake X)£ thofc who, by a claim once legal, had gained a powet ( H7 ) a power to exercife it. The privilege was from the firfl ofFenfive to natural risrht and juftice, and the defire to ufe it, fb vicious, bafe, and cruel, that it can deferve no ten- dcrnefs or management. It may be at any time deftroyed, and by any mode of abroga- tion, fo that it be attended with no penal judgement, but that lofs, againft the men, who, when they ufed it, had the f^nflion of the law, ^'^•^••^••'mm Such have been my private thoughts upon the general principles of Government, and the moft ftriking features of political fciqnce ; which I have no farther laboured to accom- modate to the Conftitution of Great Britairiy or to aim againft the prefent errors of France, than as the one appeared to me confiftent with the foundeft wifdom, and the other pregnant with confufion and deftrudioa both ift their origin and example. U 2, The ( ^4S ) The genferal maxim on which the whole difcuffiou has been founded, and which, for diflindnefs fake, I here repeat, is this; That the sources of all good Govern- ment, AND ESSENTIALLY OF ALL RIGHT to GOVERN, ARE WISDOM AND GOODNESS. My deduaiions from this principle, and re^ fleaions on the fubjeds naturally arifing thence, I have nqw made public ; becaufe- 1 feel a hope that they may be of fervice to my country ; and becaufe I know, undoubtedly, that whomfoever they fhall perfuade to think as I do on the whole, or concerning the main parts of thefe great topics, they will make a zealous friend to public order, public virtue, and public liberty. APPEN. mmamm APPENDIX, -^ Review of the French Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizem on the Priur ciples of this 'Treatife^ DECLARATION. I. REMARKS. I. iVlEN are born and al- X HERE is nothing in ways continue free and this article that is objec- cqual as to their rights, tionable, or not recognized Social diftin6lions can be fully by the Conftitution founded only upon gene- of Great BritaJM, ral utility. ThQ This ♦ The preamble is omitted, as containing nothing that re- quires to be controverted, except the general notion that th« jgood propofed can be efFefted by the declaration fubjoined, the (aliehood of Nvhich \vill be evident from the remarks annexed. ( '50 ) DECLARATION. REMARKS. ir. II. Tiic end of every poll- This alfo is acknow. tical afrpciation is the pre- lodged ; ^nd is aficrted fully fcrvation of the natural in this treatife, at p. 21. and imprefcriptible rights of man. Thcfc rights arc, liberty, property, fecurity, and Ikfjlancc of opprcjjion, III. The nation is effentially the fource of all fovereign- ty. No body of men, nor any individual, can exer- HI, The nation has, iudeed, effentially the power by wli all Cjovernment muft be fupported. But cife any authority which Government is its moft cf- ■i I is not derived from it. fential want ; could a na- tion govern itfelf, thero would be no occafion to appoint a Government. The principle is aifo pradticalJy dangerous : who will obey, when he is told, that it is his right to govern ? They who can controul their gpver^v nors are -not governed. That all authority is, in fadl, derived from the collscflive ftrength of the mfiny, is a ttuth ; but is a truth from which no obligation to obey the many can be properly deduced. The many muft ♦ISey, for their own fakes, becaufe they know not how I to ( '5' ) REMARKS. t0 govern. If they command, it is ber mfe they can^^ not bccaufc they ought : becaufe they are ftrong and wilful, not becaufe they are either wife or virtuous. Jf a majority, however great, aflume, by force, tlic right of governing, becaufe they have the power, they injure the minority; for' every man has a natural right to be governed by reafon and juftice, not by brute force. DECLARATION. REMARKS. IV. ' '• IV. Liberty confifls in the This Is true, and feenls power of doing whatever to need no particular re- does not injure another, mark. Thus the exercife of the natural lightsof every man, has no other limits than thofe which enfure to eve- ry other member of the fame fociety the enjoyment of the fame rights. Thefe limits can be determined only by the law, V. V. The law has no right to This too is very well, if forbid any a(£tions except it be remembered that the thofe la\T ( '5^ 3 bECLARATION. REMARKS. thofe which may be huft- law alone is to determine ful to fociety. What is what is hurtful. not forbidden by the law fliould not be hindered, nor can any man be forced tb do what the law does not require. Vh The law is the expreflion of the general will.'* All ci- tizens have a right to con- cur perfonally, or by their leprefentatives^in its forma- tion. It fhould be the fame for all, whether it protecils or puniflics. All citizens, being equal in its fight, are equally admiillble to all digni- VI. The law is the expreffion ofthewifdomandthejuftice of the men who formed it, and is, if they were well fe- le(Sled, the befl wifJom of the nation : to this tlic va- rious wills of the commu- nity fhould properly be fubjedl. There is no fuch thing as a general will in large * Thefeare the words of RoufTeau. But Roulfeau fays alfo, that this will is intranCmilllble, that it cannot be rcprefentedor fupplied, and refults from tlie iminediate will of every citizen. M. Malouet^ remarking on this fiibjedt in the National Alfembly, faid very pro- perly, " Rouircau would have defined law better if he had called ** it the exprejfion ff the public jujtice and nsj/fdom : for the general •' will may be unjiift, and tindtured with bad palTions, which the «' law fliould never be."— ——ilitrfwrff de Francff Aug. 30, 1791, p- aio. ( ^53 ) n d, 0- ed ral Ihe DECLARATfON. REiMARKS. (lignitiLS,placcs, and public large focietics, lor there employments, accoriiing to never can be unanimity ; their ijuaiitications, and and the will of a majority without any diftindlion, may be unjuft when that except that created oy their of a minority is juft. If virtue or their talents. citizens had all a perfonal right to concur in forming laws, the fending reprcfen- tatives would not be an equivalent. But the forming of laws is matter of prudence, not of right; and repref:ntatives are chofen to fecure the people from oppreflion, not to utter their intentions, or to take up their opinions right or wrong. That laws fliould be equal is true. As to the eligibility of men to places, as places do not rank among the rights of men, the caution feems unneceflary. Much, how- ever, will depend upon the latitude of the interpre- tation. If it be meant that a prieft may be created a judge, or a lawyer a bilhop, upon proof or fuppofitiori of their being qualified, the meafure would produce fome difcontent, and on the whole, perhaps, more harm than good. I^it be intended only to prevent ex- clufive claiinsof clafles more arbitary, fuch as nobles or plebeians, to certain employments, tie provifion isjuft enough ; but fhould be made in another way, by the de- nial of exclufive arbitrary privileges. X Very ( 154 ) Kis DECLARATION. vii; No man can be accufed, airefied, or held in con- finement, except in cafes determined by the law, and according to the forms thereby prefcribed. They who folicit, promote, exe- cute, or caufe to be exe- cuted, any arbitrary orders, ought to be puniflied : but every citizen, cited or ap- prehended by virtue of the law, ought to obey inftant- ly, and by refiftance be- comes culpable. REMARKS. VII. Very right; and per- fcdly eftablifhed here in England : except that there is a latitude in the terms of the declaration in this place, which might admit of much ridiculous inter- pretation. VII r. The law flioulJ not ef.abliih any punifhments but fuch as arc flrifily and evidently nocclTary : and no man iliouIJ be puniflicd but by virtue of a law efta- bliilicU *iud promulgated be- VIII, Right : except that it i^ hardly poflible for human wifdom todetermine> what puni/hments are ftridlly and evidently neceiTary in fome cafes. The latter claufe is perfec^tly right. Right. r I ^5 DECLARATION. before the ofFence,. and le- gally applied. REMARKS. IX, IX, As every man is pre- Right, fumed innocent till his guilt is [legally*] declared, whenever the detention of any one is judged indifpen- fable, all rigour, beyond what is neceflary to fecurc liis perfon, fhould be fe- vercly prohibited by l^w^ X. X. No man flxould be mo- Veryjuft; and perfe£t- lefled on account of his lyconfiftent with the prin- ppinions, not even his re- ciples laid down above, in ligious opinions, provided Chapter the Thirteenth, his avowal of them does not interrupt the public or- der which by law has been qftablilhed. * Legally fliould have been added, it is clearly in«ant to hr im- plied. The X'x This ( '56 ) DECLARATION. XI. The free communica- tion of thoughts and opi- nions is one o^ the moft precious rights of man : every man may, there- fore, fpeak, write, or print freely, except that he muft anfwer for th.^ abufe of this liberty in cafes determined by the law. REMARKS. XL Thisbeing only the fourth article applied to a particu- lar caf;, is nugatory and fuperfluous. It means only tl^at a man may do in this refpeft, as well as others, whatever the law does not forbid ; as to the free communication of thoughts being one of the moft precious rights of man, it is true enough; it is a part of perfonal li- berty, and conduces both to the comfort and to the improvement of life. 1 J/ XII. A public force being of neceffity required to gua- rantee the rights of men and citizens, that force is inftituted for the benefit of all, and not for the private ad- XII. This no Englifhman will ucny» very 1 f 1 i c r f( d ( '57 ■) DECLARATION advantage of thofp to whom U is entrufled. REMARJK^. XIII. XIII, For the fupport of the Very true: aduing only, public force, and for the ifpoffible. expences of Government, a public contribution is of indifpenfable neceffity. This, therefore, fliould be equally divided among all the citizens according tQ their property. XIV. Every citizen has a right, by himfelf or his reprcfen- tative, to determine the neceffity of public contri- bution, to give a free con- fent to It, to examine the employment of it, and to regulate the amount, af- feflment, enforcement, and duration. XIV. They whogive their mo- ney have certainly a right to be well fatisfied, that it is legally demanded, and juftly ufed ; but as moft of thefe points are totally be- yond the knowledge of the generality, and as the peo- ple always will incline again ft ( '58 ) DECLARATION. REMARKS, againfl: an impofl:, the gc- ral management of allthefe points mull: be entrufted to tlie Government, or rather to the legiflature, under due reftriclions, XV, xy. The fcciety has a right to Eyery public agent \vh^ demand of every puHic betrays his truft fliould be agent an account of \is punifiied by the law. The iidminiftrationa, foyercign, however, is nQt properly a public agen!;, nor can confiftently be made rcfpp^fible. See p* XVI. Every fociety in which there io no full fecurity of rights eftabliflied, nor fepa- ration of powers deter- mined, is vvithout 9 confti- tution. XVI. It fliould rather be faid, that every fuch fociety has a badconftitution; though what is faid about the fe- paration of powers is not; very intelligible. The The ( ^59 ) DECLARATION. REMARKS. XVII. The right to property- being inviohible and facred, no one ought to be de- prived of it, except in c^fes when public neceffity, le- gally afcertained, may evi- dently demand it, and on feondition of a juft and pre- vious indemnity. XVII. The plea of public ne- ceffity was evidently in- tended to cover the bold ra- pinesof the National Aflem- bly.* But public neceffity can attack no particular property in preference to others ; as the law is equal to all, fo alfo the neceffity which fuperfedes the law muft prefs on all alike, and confifcate all property or none. "What indemnity have ^ the French clergy received ' ■'^ So fpake the fiend, and witTi ncceflity The tyrant's plea, excus'd his devilifli deeds. Parad. Lojl. iv. 393. '\ This is acknowledged by IVIf. Mackintofli, (p. 72.) who fctks no defence for his French allies, but in his (hangc Argument, that church property :s not property. Such . jiiiiM laimaia TTT' ( 160 ) Such i, the celebrated declai-ation of rights which af- ferts no claim that is hot granted freely to al! Englifh- men, excen^ fach as are founded on fajfc principles* THE END