DPs 507 1792 Combe Word in season to the traders and manufacturers THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES WORD IN SEASON TO THE TRADERS AND MANUFACTURERS GREAT B R I ? 4 I N. w Hi 1*9$* Cam be SIXTH EDITION. LONDON, Printed: EDINBURGH, Reprinted by WILLIAM CEBECH, M,DCC,XCIK [Price Sixpence.] 'So -7 WORD IN SEASON, &c. BEFORE I enter upon the fubjeft, the confederation of which has, for fome time, employed all my thoughts, it may be proper to inform you, that my life has been paused among yourfelves, in the midft of a flourifhing, manufactu- ring country. I was born to competence, which I owe to the fuccefsful induftry of my father. In this fituation I have marked, with a very vigilant attention, the moil ma- terial events which have arifen fince I was of an age to con- fider them. My education gave me a tafte for literature, and from the tenor of my life, I have had much time for reflec- tion j and the refult both of my reading and reflection is an increafing confirmation of the reverence and attachment I had, at a very early period, conceived for the Britifh Con- A 2 ftitution. 863921 ( 4 ) ftitiuion. I well know, that fome of the wifeft authors who have written on the theory of Government, have defcribed its general principles long before it actually exifted, as thofe which) if ever reduced to practice, would lead to the utmoft poffible perfection j and they only doubted the poffibility of realifing what feemed to them beyond the attainment of hu- man wifdom. My opinion, however, refts ftill more on my own obfervation and experience,, than on the refult of any general reafoning. Through the whole courfe of my life, whatever accidental caufes may have checked at times the courfe of our profperity, I have always been fatisfied that I could trace, even in the midft of misfortune, the beneficial effects of the fyftem under which we live ; but they are doubly confpicuous in fuch a period as the prefent : they are mani- fefted in the general tranquillity, fecurity, and order, which have long prevailed throughout the country ; in an enjoy- ment of the utmoft degree of political liberty, confiftent with the exiftence of fociety under any regular government ; in the continual encouragement to honeft induftry ; and in the confequent increafe of trade, manufactures, and commerce, which have ever appeared to me principally to promote the individual comfort and happinefs of the great mafs of my countrymen, and to form, at the fame time, the fureft foun- dation of national wealth and profperity. My furprife, there- fore, that any attempts mould be made to produce difcon- tents among the trading, commercial, and manufacturing part of my countrymen, to whom tranquillity and good order are fo efientially requifite, can only yield to the afto- niftunent I fhall feel, if fuch attempts fhould find the leaft fuccefs among them. The leifure of my prefent life qualifies me to confider, with attention, the means employed to fow difcontents a- mong you, as well as the character and views of the perfons who arc fo bufy in employing them ; and, for your infer- C 5 ) Tnation, as well as, Lhope, for your conviction and advan* tage, I have undertaken to offer my opinion of them, and their probable mifchievous confequences, to your moft feri- ous confidcration. The perfons who compofe the focieties, and who have e- ftabliihed them, as they announce the matter, for conftitu- tipnal reformation, are men, I am not afraid to fay, of weak heads, of bad hearts, or defperate fortunes. The firll clafs are certainly the beft who, with good intentions, ar perfuaded and deceived by artful and wicked men of lupe- rior understandings, into a co-operation with them in pro- moting defigns, which, were they to fucceed, would give a very deep wound to the happinefs of this country. The fecond clafs confifts of perfons of confiderable ta- lents, who, under the influence of a factious fpirit, are en- gaged in attempts to promote public confufion, in order to realize the dreams of their unprincipled ambition. For, be- lieve me, if thefe men, or men with the fame pernicious dif- pofuions, were, by any violent convulfion of public affairs, to get into power, you would find a woeful difference be- tween thefe upftart rulers, and your prefent mild govern- ment. The third clafs is compofed of the moft abandoned cha- racters, who, having diffipated their fortunes in every fpe- cies of vicious excels, would rejoice in a national diftur- bance, on the fame principle that thieves and pickpockets rejoice at a fire, as it gives them an opportunity of allevia- ting their diftreffes by rapine and plunder. The means which thefe focieiies, and the individuals who take the lead in them, employ to promote their wicked and incendiary purpofes, though directed ultimately to the fame object, vary their courfe to the attainment of it: fome. with a daring outrage of all decency, with an audacity that fcems to tempt the cognizance of the law, hold forth to you a ( 6 > a conduct which would involve you in perfecution, and end in punifhment ; while others, in the form of fobcr reafon- ing and difpaffionate enquiry, artfully endeavour to under* mine and weaken thofe principles of due fubmiffion to Go- vernment, which are the great fupport and fecurity of na- tional happinefs. I fliall confider them both in their order. The firft do not hefitate to tell you, that, under your prefent Government, you have no conftitution, and that the Revolution at the clofe of the laft century, (by which you have hitherto been fo ignorant as to believe, that what you thought an admirable conftitution, was reftored and confirmed, and from which period you and your anceftord have felt yourfelves free and happy), was an artful and ty- rannic contrivance to delude the people out of their rights, in order to gratify the ambition of thofe men who project- ed and brought it to a conclufion. They will tell you, that all kings muft be tyrants ; and, therefore, a fcourge to all free governments ; ^that your Houfe of Lords is the fervile and abject fupport of regal tyranny, and fhould, therefore, be annihilated ; and that your Houfe of Commons does not contain an adequate reprefentation of the people ; and that, if it did, the Members of it are fo corrupt, that it cannot reprefent you as it ought ; and that, fuch being the prefent ftate of the government of this country, the people ought to arife as one man, to pull the King from his throne, degrade the nobles from their rank, diflblve the reprefentative body of the nation, and form a government for themfelves : and, to add to the infult they thus offer to your underftand- ings as reafonable beings, they hold forth the Revolution of France as an example for your imitation. Extreme wickednefs, very fortunately for mankind, is ge- nerally obferved to outwit itfelf. Thus the men, who broach thefe pernicious doctrines, are fo blinded by their paflions, ( 7 ) as to give their mifchief a fliape, that perverts the end for Which it was projected. As for the bleffings which the people of England would derive from following the example of France, let us for a moment confider, by way of recommendation, the aftual bleffings which the French themfelves enjoy, in conference of their boafted Revolution. Their King is himfelf a captive in what is called a land of liberty. Their National Aflembly is a mob. Their arrets, their decrees, and their laws, are changed every hour, as the caprice of the moment or the violence of the populace directs. Their revenue is fo inadequate to their expenditure, as to demand the ruinous expedient of millions of paper money, which is already 40 per cent, beneath its original value; while their new coin vanifhes in its pafiagc to circulation, becaufe every one hoards up what he can get of it, in a time of fuch univerfal diftruft. Their army (if an armed rabble can be called fo) is deferted by the flower of its officers, and their navy incapable of ex- ertion. Their ancient nobility is degraded their clergy pillaged their commerce almoft annihilated and their colonies in a rapid progrefs to ruin. Property, perfonal fecurity, liberty, and life, are equally endangered ; for neither their laws nor their magi ft rates have fufficient ftrengtb, or power, to punifh theft, robbery, or murder. The empire, at large, is convulfed and torn to pieces by contending factions, and daily ftained with blood, from riots, infurrections, and mafiacres. To fupply the deficiency of taxes, the church has been robbed ( 8 ) robbed of its pofiefilons, and the very altars -pillaged 06 tuek- ornaments. Religion, which is formed to fupport us amidft the -for- rows of time, and to qualify us for the happinefs of eterni- ty; Religion, that fublime principle, which more imme- diately connects man with his Maker, is now fabdued-in France by the influence of an infidel philofophy, under the name of univerfal toleration, while perjury is the only road to ecclefiaftical preferment, and confcience and piety the certain conductors to poverty, to derifioo, and to contempt. But thefe, it is faid, are only petty evils when compared with the . bleflings which accompany them, and that, after all, the fubjects of France are a free people. ' arff Yes, the gentleman of landed property may call himfelf free ; -but, at the very moment he is boafting of his free- dom, his caftle may be feized by the banditti of his neigh- bourhood, and the walls of it ftained with his blood. The merchant may boaft of the fulnefs.of liberty ; but his warehoufes are empty, his correfpondents are iilent, his capital is loft, and his credit is gone. The tradefman may fit in his fhop, and delight himfelf with the idea that he is a free man but he fells nothing. The artift may exclaim liberty is the friend of genius, the encourager of the arts but, alas ! it has not left him a fin- gle patron. The manufacturer may be elated that his country is blcf- fed with freedom -,-T-but the fire blazes no more on hrs forge, and the ufelefs loom is occupied by the fpider*s web. The pious man is grateful for the enjoyment of liberty but he fcarce knows where to find an altar, before which he can offer his thankfgiving according to the religion of his fathers. It is true, indeed,' that a great part of the National Af- fembly may juftly fay, this liberty is an ineftimable bleffing, for ( 9 ) for we were poor, and it has made us rich we were almoft without bread, and it has given us fumptuous tables we Were forced to obey laws which the authority of govern- ment had made for us, and we are now empowered to difo- bey thofe laws which we make for others we were com- pelled to fubmit to every officer of the ftate, we now make them obedient to our commands, and tread upon the necks of kings. The members of the popular clubs thofe men, for they are of the fame texure as thofe we have at home, of weak heads, bad hearts, and defperate fortunes, may alfo lift up their voices in praife of liberty ; for it gives the one a fiia- dowy importance, which fatisfies their idiot vanity j it qua- lifies the otheis, to gratify their malicious ambition in the .contemplation and the fpoil of fuperior ruin, and it lifts the reft from the fervice of brothels and gaming tables, to the intrigues of a disjointed and falling (late. Such are the comforts of a revolution, which Mr Paine and his adherents recommend to your imitation. A revo- lution, which, while it has plunged France into every dif- trefs that can befal a nation, gives a few uncertain, ruin- ous, and fhort lived privileges, to a fmall band of the moft worthlefs people in it. Thefe are the confluences of a re- volution brought on by mad, tumultuous, unreflecting, po- pular infurre&ions, excited and fomented by factious clubs and focieties , and who, alone, of twenty-five millions of people, are in any degree the gainers, if gainers they can, with truth, be called, by this general calamity. If any thing were wanting to enforce thefe confederations, it would be the contraft formed by your own condition. You cannot open your eyes, but you muft fee it ; you can- not liften, but you muft hear it ; you cannot reflect a moment, but you muft feel it. Equally free from the oppofite ex- tremes of mifery which France has fucceffively experienced, B you ( 10 ) you neither groan under the oppreffion of arbitrary power, nor tremble at the madnefs and fury of popular confufion. Your King is neither himfelf in chains, nor does he hold his fubjedls in bondage. With dignity fufficient to com- mand refpeft, with power fufficient to enforce obediei.ee, his authority is limited by the law, which is equally binding upon him and upon the meaneft of his fubjecls. The fupreme legiflative power he holds only in conjunc- tion with the two Houfes of Parliament, and each of the three branches of our government forms an ufeful and fa- lutary check on the other. The Houfe of Lords is compofed either of an ancient no- bility, qualified by rank, education, and property, and in- heriting from their anceftors an attachment to the conftitu- tion ; or of thofe feledled from time to time- from the orders of the church and the law, from the profeffijns of the navy and the army, or from the reft of the laity, and ad- vanced by the Crown for their piety, their learning, their valour, or their fervices. The Houfe of Commons is chofen by the great bulk of the freeholders in counties, and by different cities and boroughs in the kingdom, according to the leveral forms which char- ters or ancient cuftom has eftablifhed. It, therefore, not on- ly reprefents the great mafs of landed property, but it has an. immediate connection with property of every description. It confifts of a mixture of perfons chofen by the monied and mercantile intcrefis by the manufacturer and mechanic o.f thofe whofe fortunes have been originally acquired, or are fUll embarked in trade. From the manner in which the right of election is diflributed, an opening is offered to eve- ry man, who rifes to eminence in his own line, whofe fitua- tion makes him refpedlable, or whofe talents render him ufe- ful to the public. Hence it is, that even the places which have no immediate and feparate representative, can never be at at a lofs to find thofe who have a common intereft with themfclves. No part of the country, no corner of the king- dom, feels itfelf neglected or forgotten j a communication is eftabli ;;ed th ough all the claims of iociety, and not only every defcription ot men, bat every individual in this coun- try, who feels himfelf aggrieved, may find his way to parlia- ment, and is fure of an advjcate and a friend. In queftions of general concern, not only the intereft of the people is confulted, but their prevailing wiihes and femiments have a due weight, when tempered and corrected by calm and fober reflection. Parliament will be guided, as it ought, by the flea-* dy current of public opinion ; but it will neither yield to the cry of a mifguided populace, nor fhift and turn with every gull of varied paffions of the day. This it is which diftingui- fhes the gravity, the confiftency, the wifdom of deliberative bodies, from the levity and inconfiftency of republican a* femblies. This forms the great excellence of our conftitu- tion, and eftablifhes the difference between the confufion and anarchy of wild and turbulent democracies, and the fettled courfe and order of a free but well-regulated govern- ment. If we proceed to examine the details of our fituation, we trace every where the natural effects of a ileady and regular fyftem. Look firft at the means of national defence, one of the primary ends of all political fociety. Our navy, the natural bulwark of a commercial country, and to which we chiefly owe our pre-eminence among the nations of Europe, was never in fo flourifhing or formidable a condition ; our mili tary eftublifhment, fmail in time of peace, contains, never- thelefs, the foundation of a force fufficient, in cafe of emer- gency, to repel and refent the attacks of our enemies : our officers and foldiers are equally diftinguilied for their va- lour, their fidelity, and their difcipline ; they have a cotn- B 2 mon. ( 12 ) mon intereft with ourfelves, and feel no attachment but to their fovereign and the laws. Confider the ftate of the efta- blifhed church, and you will find it to be maintained and fupported on principles of moderation: power and truft are confined, as they muft neceffarily be, to thofe who join in the national religion ; but at the fame time, a free tolera- tion is granted to every different feel: of Chriftians, and the rights of private opinion and liberty of confcience are held as facred and inviolate. Obferve the progrefs of national wealth ; the load of public debt, by a wife and osconomical fyftem, is continually decreafing ; the revenue is augmented, not by new taxes, but by the effects of general profperity ; fome of the heavieft burthens, which irrefiftible neceffity had impofed upon us, are already diminifhed, and every year of tranquillity will afford us an increafing relief. Even at pre- fent, how little have the public taxes interfered with induf- try or trade ! Within a few years our commerce is nearly dou- bled, and is ftill rapidly increafing ; while our (hips convey the produce of our united fkill and labour to every part of the globe where the winds can waft and the waves can bear them. The confirmed and advancing ftate of our credit, the increafing facility of circulation, the extent, the variety, and the perfection of our manufactures, are the aftonifh- inent, the admiration, and the envy of the world. In this happy fituation, the mild fyftem of our laws, and (he impartial adminiftration of juftice, fecure to every man, according to the ftation he occupies, his full fhare in the general profperiiy, and equally protect the rights, the for- tunes, and the interefts of the higheft and loweft among us. If this is a true picture of our actual fituation ; if thefc are the effects of our exifting constitution and form of go- vernment, fupported as it is by a general love of order, a juft fenfe of our prefent advantage, and an habitual fubmif- iicn to our eftabliflxed laws j what will you think of thofe men. ( '3 ) men, who, in the form of fober reafoning, with the ap- pearance of difpaffionate inquiry, and in the language of temperate patriotifm, endeavour to undermine thofe princi- ples of fubordination, which at once form and fecure the na- tional happinefs ? Thefe men are far more dangerous than thofe I have before mentioned, becaufe they make their ap- proaches in the feducing form of public virtue ; their aflb- ciations are made without tumult, and their addrefles to the people recommend moderation; and contain, for the pur- pofe of difguifing their intentions, fome maxims of found political doctrine, and breathe a patriotic attachment to the conftitution of their country : they profefs to amend, and not to deftroy ; to renovate, and not to injure. Their pu- hlic refolmions, which are difleminated by newfpapers, hand- bills, and pamphlets, through every part of the kingdom, are always formed upon certain general principles and abf- tract propofitions, of which fome may be true, and others may have a fpecious appearance ; but it will be difcovered, on examination, that when the principles are well-founded, their application is erroneous, and that the refult is neither confiftent with any practical notion of government, nor with the peace and order of fociety. As their opinions point to the redrefs of evils which will arife in the beft conftituted governments, and thofe political defects which, from the incidental imperfection of all hu- man inftitutions, muft be found in the beft regulated ftates, they are felt by all, though underftood by few ; and, there- fore, by reprefenting thefe evils as produced by the acquired defects of government, and not by its inevitable imperfections arifing out of the general nature of human affairs, an undi- ftinguiflied fpirit of difcontent may be raifed, and being art- fully fomented, may prove a powerful engine to promote the views of thefe factious affociations. To the whole courfe of reafoning of which I have now been ( 14 ) been fpeaking, I anfwer at once, that theory is one thing* and that practice is another; that many things which appear excellent in theory, cannot be reduced to practice ; and that it requires a confiderable fhare of underftanding, and the habits of experience, to determine between the one and the other. There is no doubt but a perfect fyftem of laws and government may be conceived; but to be perfect in their application and effects, they muft be put in execution by be- ings of a fuperior nature to man. We are very fallible creatures, as the firft and beft of us know ; and the fociety which we compofe muft partake of our imperfections : and, therefore, before we venture to become difcontented with the government under which we live, becaufe it is not abfolutely pure and perfect, it would be a proof of our wildom, to con fider how far we ourfelves, who propofe to correct its errorsj and improve its energies, are in pofleffion of purity and perfection. While men are men, the inftitutions they form will be liable to error and perverfion. Even SOLON himfelf, whom hiftory records as pre-eminent for political wifdora and integrity, when he formed a code of laws for the Athe- nians^ did not aim at impracticable perfection ; he acted from the fuggeftions of practical fagacity, and not according to the fanciful principles of inapplicable theory ; in Ihort, he acted upon a knowledge and experience of human nature ; and he provided fuch laws as were beft calculated for the people whom they were to govern and protect; or, to ufe his own/rxpreffion, "the beft laws which they were ca- '* pable of receiving." , The ftudent in phyfic, when he has, by long and patient application, made himfelf mafter of his fcience, comes for- ward with a theory which no one can controvert ; he gives his general hiftory of human difeafes with the moft fcientific ac- curacy , the powers of medicine then fucceed, and, accord- ing to his fyftem, every infirmity of the human body feems to ( '5 ) to be provided with an adequate and effectual remedy : nay, ^s you liften to his difcourfe, you begin almoft to be per- fuaded that he poffefles the means of vanquifhing all difeafe, and prolonging life to a patriarchal duration. But his mode of reafoning is precifely that of every man, on every fubjeifc of human life, who derives his knowledge from the books in his clofet, inftead of the more inftrucVive volume of expe- rience ; and, with all his fine and feducing theory, if he did ftot learn by praclice and obfervation to adapt its application to the various nature and fhape of human diforders, he would, inftead of curing his patients, have no other merit than that of killing them according to art and fyflem. Thefe focieties of reforming politicians may produce fimi- lar evils to the ftate, if the good fenfe of my countrymen does not counteract the folly and the mifchief of liftening to their projects. They have their plaufible theories they have their never-failing elixirs for the cure of national in- firmities. They boait of their renovating power ; and, if you will but truft to them, the Britifh Conftitution (hall, like the fnake, throw off its flough, and come forth in all its primitive ftrength and beauty. Without repeating the motives of fuch men, I {halt briefly confider their theories, and endeavour to explain to you, how far they are capable of being applied to the cir- cumftances of the Britifh nation and government. You have, no doubt, heard much of late about the Rights of Man, and are, perhaps, acquainted with the argu- ments promulgated, with no common art, to perfuade Eng- lifhmen that they do not enjoy any of them. This doctrine of the rights of man is fupported on the principle, that all men are equal by nature, and that no one clafs has a real claim to privileges which are not the common pofleffion of all. That all men are, in fome refpedls, equal by nature, can- not be denied ; they all come into she world naked and helplefs ; helplefsj they all cling to the breaft for fuftenance ; and, after paffing through the portion of life which the univer- fal Parent has allotted them, they retire to the common, home which Nature has prepared for all her children. But in the interval, from the cradle to the grave, focial life for- bids this equality. The ftrong and the feeble are not equal the wife and the ignorant are not equal. The difference in corporeal ftrength and intellectual faculties, which are ine- qualities produced by Nature herfelf, are as abfolute ex- ceptions to this principle, as the artificial variations which necefTarily arife from a ftate of fociety. We cannot be all matters or all fervants j wealth will be the lot of fome, and labour and poverty of others. Thofe diftinctions will arife from the unconquerable nature of things, which promote the union and form the fecurity of focial life. The firft, and primitive relations from which thofe forms and efta- blifhments are derived by which fociety is prefervcd, that of parent and child, produce at once the power of command and the duty of obedience. That a fociety could be formed where all rights and all privileges fhould be reciprocal, is not within the reach of my reafon to comprehend ; at lead, of this I am fure, that if thefe preachers of the levelling doctrine of equality had the power to reduce their equalizing principles to practice, they muft follow up their deftruction of all the old forms of government, by profcribing, from their political fyftem, not only the arts and fciences, but all trade, manufacture, and commerce. Whatever promotes an exertion of the intellec- tual faculties, whatever encourages a fpirit of enterprize, whatever tends to the acquifition of fortune or of fame, muft be forbidden by their confined legiflation. Thofe who live under fuch a government mull be all rulers and fubjects, teachers and pupils, mafters and fervants, judges and ^execu- tioners, in their turn. If 17 If thefe are the rights of man, I am ready to admit, that bur conftitution is formed on no fuch bads ; but I may ven- ture to affert, what indeed, it appeai-s to me, I hive already proved, that there is no one right which a reafonable man would wifh to enjoy, that you do not po fiefs under the exift- ing government of your country. You have every right but the right of doing wrong. I fpeak, always, with the referve of human imperfection, but, appealing to the de- fcription which I have before given of your fituation,' and which 1 call on yourfelves to witnefs; let me afk you, if you are not governed by wife laws if you do not enjoy the property tranfmirted to you from your anceftors, or acqui- red by your own fkill and induftry, in perfect: fecurity ? Have you not the privilege of a trial by jury ? Is there any power that can rightfully opprefs you ? and againft which the laws do not provide an effectual remedy ? Do not you fit beneath your own vines and your own fig-trees, and en- joy yourfelves and your pufltflions in peace ? Do you not worfhip God in your own way, and according to the forms which the fpirit of your devotion fhall prefcribe ? It is by loling fight of thefe bleflings, and by aiming at the chime- rical objects which are now held out by our wild reformers, that the French nation have brought themfelves to a condi- tion which excites the wonder and the pity of Europe. Such are the general rights which every Britifh fubject poflefles : every man, be he a duke or a peafant, equally feels the influence of the laws and the protection of govern- ment. But iociety requires different degrees and chfies of men, and each member of it pofiefles the individual right of his refpective fituation, and it is by a coalition of the fe- veral parts, in their various fubordinations, that order and harmony is produced, which forms ths happinefs of the whole. C The The different members of the body are made for different functions, but it is the co-operation of all, in the refpectivc difcharge of them, that gives energy, effect, and, indeed, life to the fyftem. Now we will fuppofe, by way of argument, that the feet fhoule no evil fo much to be dreaded as popular commotions. A fo- reign enemy would repay fubmiffion with clemency : fire may be checked in its progrefs but who (hall fay to the mad fpirit of popular tumult, thus far (halt thou go, and no farther ? This may all be very true, fay the wife and worthy ad- vocates for reforming your political condition ; but, then, there are very great defects in your government, that call for immediate reformation. The King, fay they, has too much power, and the Houfe of Lords is devoted to fupport it ; while the Houfe of Commons, whofe duty it is to oppofe and diminifti it, does' not compofe an adequate, independent reprefentation of the people, and is fubject to the very in- fluence of the Crown which it ought to correct ; fo that every privilege you polTefs, and all the blefiings you boaft of, are at the mercy of the Sovereign. Whether there are any defects in our Government, and whether, in fome of its arrangements, there may not be room for amendment, I think it fcarce neceflary to inquire. If it can ever be really improved at all, which (conndering the happinefs we now enjoy) is, I think, a very doubtful queftion the improvement can only be obtained by the mod temperate meafures. At all events, I would rather bear with the defects of our Government, whatever they may be, while we derive fo many practical advantages from it, than truft the removal of them to the meddling fpirit, the reftlefs ambitkn, and factious interefts of tavern clubs C 2 and and focieties, by whatever name they may chufe to diftin. guifh themfelves. As for the King, he is the father of his people ; and has, neither the inclination, nor the power, as it would be in di- rect oppofition to his heft interefb, to deprive them of the leaft of the many bl-ffings which they enjoy. He feels, both as a man and a fovereign, that their happinefs muft be his happinefs that their profperity muft be his profperity that their glory muft be his glory that the loyalty of the people is the firmeft fupport of his Throne, and their affec- tion, the brighteft jewel of his Crown. It may be true that, according to ftrict, arithmetical calcu- lation, the nation at large is not reprefented in a fixed, ac- curate proportion between the numbers in different diftricts i but in effect, has any part of the country, whether imme- diately reprefented or not, any caufe to complain of a want of parliamentary fervice : and though Manchefter, Bir- mingham, and other confiderable towns, have no actual re- prefentatives in Parliament, is there a Member of the Houfe of Commons who would not be proud to tranfact their par- liamentary bufinefb? I muft, indeed, repeat my opinion, that our reprefentation, in its prefent ftate, is perfectly ade- quate to all the purpofes for which a reprefentation of the people can be delired : at all events, any change in it fhould proceed from the moft mature and temperate deliberation ; and while notions are agitated, fubveriive of all government, it is not a feafon in which thofe temperate reforms, which might, perhaps, at other times be practicable, could fafely or prudently be attempted. I am alfo apprehenfive, that the charge of corruption, which is made againft the Houfe of Commons by the reforming focieties, might be made, with equal juftice, againft a very great part of the Electors themfelves 5 and that this evil would be more likely to be in- creafed created than to be remedied, by mod, if not all, of the va- rious plans of reform which have been projected. We live, it is true, in an age of luxury but luxury is the certain aflbciate of wealth ; and however, in a moral or a re- ligious view, it may be an object of ferious concern, the tra- der and manufacturer, at leaft, will be difpofed to confidec with complacency, the fource of fo much benefit and advan- tage to themfelves. Whatever, therefore, may be the pretexts ufed to make you difTatisfied with your condition, your own experience tells you every day, that the Conftitution you live under is, jn its prefent ftate, a glorious Conftitution. You are now, my Countrymen, the moft profperous people in the world- and it becomes you to be proud of your allotment. You muft, furely, coniult your realon as little as your piety, if you look, in this world, for bleflings pure and unmixed. It is not in the nature of things it is not in the order of Providence, for man to poflcfs them. Be thankful, there- fore, for the fuperior good you enjoy repine not at the evils which human wifdom cannot prevent ; and be affured that thofe reformers, who tell you that your Government is not perfect, have, in fact, any views rather than thofe of ma- king it fo. Be not fo weak or fo ungrateful, as to fuffer wic- ked and defigning men to inflame you into difcontent and fpare not your beft exertions to check the fpirit of it in o* thers. Treat the bufy, meddling, feditious zeal of reforming afibciations with the contempt they deferve j purfue the ho- neft and induflrious occupations from which you, and your families, have derived fuch conftant advantages, and avail yourfelves of the, prefent tranquillity to improve your own, and the public profperity. In a word recollect the well-known ftory, as it is given in. the Spectator, of a man, who, jthough-he was in a irate of perfect health, fuffered himfelf to be perfuaded by empirics and and mountebanks, that he would be ftill better if he dofcd himfelf with their noftrums : the confequence was, as might be naturally expected, that he foon ruined his health, and brought on a decline, which carried him to the grave. As an acknowledgement of his folly, and as a warning to o thers, he ordered the following epitaph to be infcribed on his tomb. ** I was well I endeavoured to be better and here I lie." That you may all of you poffefs the wifdom to avoid a fi- milar conduct, that your trade, manufactures, and com- merce may continue to flourifh, that the free conftitution and fuperior happinefs of our country may remain undif- turbed by foreign foes or domeftic enemies, is the ardent wifhof Your fincere friend, A TRUE-BORN ENGLISHMAN, When you have read this, pray lend it to your Neighbour. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below Form L9-50m-7,'54(5990)444 507 A word in 1792 season to the C73w traders and manufacturers DA 507 1792 C73w