A Letter to a Gentleman elected a Knight of the Shire to serve in the present Parliament.  
SIR,  
WHen you were chose by the Majority of the Freeholders for the Counts of— you were pleased to express yourself on that Occasion. That though you were very sen●●●●e of the Kindness of the Country in pitching on you to represent them; yet, at the same time, th●● was ● great Burden laid upon your Shoulders; a mighty Trust reposed in you; and which required the utmost Care and Vigilance to discharge faithfully. For that the Nation was in such a Posture, and the Matters that would come before you were like to be of such extraordinary Weight and Moment, That all the Powers and Virtues of a Man, The greatest Prudence, The most upright Sincerity, and the steadiest Resolution, were little enough to grapple with, though all the Members were singly endowed with these great Qualifications, and which was rather to be wished for than expected, in so numerous a Body. Upon the whole, you desired my Opinion with ●●●pection 〈◊〉 Conduct and Management in so difficulty 〈◊〉 Juncture, which I shall faithfully give you. And I shall the more cheerfully obey your Commands, because I know you to be a Gentleman of such Qualities, as very well enable you to serve your Country, and particularly at this time. For,  
First, you are a True English man, who always have, and, I doubt not, always will aim at the Welfare of your Country, separate from all Parties of all Denominations. The Interest of England is an entire Thing, and subsists of itself; it supports all Parties, but is of none of them; 'tis neither a Courtier, nor a Countryman: the Public is the Whole and can therefore be of no Side, nor Faction. The late Parliament hath furnished us with a Distinction between the Court and the Country Party, the Church and the Commonwealth Party: But if there be not a third Party independent of ●●ther, the Whole is like to be torn to pieces by particular and factious Interests: So that whatever Party a Man may be of in his private Judgement, he ought to be of none in his Representative Capacity, which is, contrary to all distinction and partiality, and invests him with the same public and common Relation to the whole Body. I will not presage of the Temper of your House; but this I will venture to say, That if any Man comes there, with any other Bias besides that of the Public Good, he is a thousand times fit to sit as a Delegate from Thiefs and Pickpockets, than to represent the Freeborn People of England.  
Secondly, your Honesty is inflexible, not to be bended with Frowns or Favours; you will not be threatened nor cajoled to act against your Judgement, or to decline it by silence or absence, when it is fit to declare it, much less will you be warped by Bribes, or any thing equivalent to Bribes. I know you never took the House of Commons for a Shop to sell Votes in; your Estate is above it, and your Conscience abhors it. There is nothing more free than a House of Commons; but if the Persons shall suffer themselves to be frighted, tempted, or bought, there is nothing in Nature more Slavish; such mercenary Tools are not Representatives: For whatsoever Formality passes at the Election, the Writ instead of a Member returns only a Broker, or a Chap man, who first sells his own Liberty, and then that of the People.  
Thirdly, your Judgement is sound, clear and piercing, able to dive into the Depths of Business; to unravel the Webs of Cunning and Artifice; to see through the Mists and Obscurities raised by a contriving Party, to clog and hamper the best Designs. Wisdom is as necessary in a Senator as Honesty. Tricks cannot pass upon a Man who hath a due presence of Mind, and a steady Judgement: And he will pursue a good Cause through all the Mazes and Labyrinths, the Embroilments and Entanglements of crafty and winding Interpositions and Obstructions. Nor will he be diverted by Noise and Clamour; a Method (however practised) more becoming a Mob, or a Tumult, than the Gravity and Wisdom of an august Senate.  
These, Sir, are Qualities which as I know you are possessed with, so do they very well suit with your present Character, and enable you to become a very useful Member of that honourable Assembly. A complete Body, or but a Majority, of such Men would revive our drooping Spirits; and we might yet hope to see the Kingdom set to Rights, the Ancient Glory of England retrieved, and the great matters to come before you adjusted, to the Advantage and Satisfaction of the whole Nation.  
And which I shall now more particularly apply myself to, and for Methods sake shall speak to them under several and distinct Branches.  
In the first Place, there is no doubt but the great Business of Money, and Supply, will be the main subject of the King's Speech, and with all Care recommended to the Consideration of the House of Commons; and for this, you must expect to be often called upon and reminded by the Court, if you do not go fast enough of yourselves. This indeed is a weighty Point, one of the Ardua Regni, and more so now than ever; and therefore deserves your best Consideration upon many Accounts, I shall suggest to you these following.  
1. That whatever Supplies you think reasonable to Grant to the Government, that it be done in such Order, that thereby the other necessary Affairs of the Kingdom be not prejudiced, or wholly neglected. I need not direct to a Method for managing this; Besides the plain reason of things, you have Precedents in all Ages; the Wisdom of our Ancestors, and even of Parliaments within our own Memory, have always thought it highly requisite to Postpone the Supplies to the Redress of Grievances; that however Liberal they have been to our Monarches, they ever took Care in the first Place to secure the Rights of the People at home. And the Reason of this is obvious, and undeniable; for Parliaments sitting purely at the Will of the King, when once the Ends of the Government are answered, there is no further need of you; and it is no Prophecy to tell you, That so soon as you have done with the Money Bill, the Court hath done with you for this time, and you shall be sent into the Country with the best part of your Business undone. You have fresh Instances and Experiences of this; our Grievances have been brought into the House, and debated sometimes warmly enough by our worthy Patriots, but the Debates have always proved abortive, and they left our Grievances just where they found them: And for this Reason, and for this only, for that they had first perfected the Supplies. What therefore I here recommend to you is nor an Opposition between the Supplies and Grievances, but only matter of Method, and Order▪ and surely it will not need much considering, in what Place to lay that, which either must be first done, or not done at all. You have but one Season for this, and that is to begin with the Grievances; which if you neglect, 'tis, like time itself, irrecoverable, and will never more return this Session. And give me leave plainly to tell you, That if you dispatch the Supplies, and then afterwards fall upon the Grievances, 'tis only to amuse the People, and to stop their Mouths; but this Covering is already worn so thin that every Man sees through it: For 'tis the most visible Delusion to pretend to be earnest to do a Thing, and at the same time to pretermit the only Opportunity in which it can be done.  
2. The great Poverty, and low Estate of the Nation, is that which every Englishman sees, and feels too; (except those only who have filled their Pockets at the Kingdom's Cost) The prodigious Losses at Sea, the utter decay of Trade, the excessive and constant Taxes, have drained the Kingdom to the very Bones, and this sure deserves to be one Consideration, when the Case of the Money comes before you. 'Tis not the Superfluities and Luxury, the Pride and Wantonness of a People, that is to be the Matter of these Supplies; but our Bread, and our Drink, the Necessities and Supports of Life: Whatsoever you now give is drawn from the Quick, and is just so much paid from the Subsistence of our Families. And surely there needs no Argument to persuade our Representatives, when they come to give our Money, to take their Measures from the Poverty of the People; and to consider what they can give, as well as what is asked. Six or Seven Millions for one Year, would have been thought an intolerable Burden in the most flourishing and prosperous Condition this Nation ever enjoyed: But when we have born that Year after Year, besides the additional Impoverishment of unspeakable Losses, to repeat the same, or to advance upon us, is to confound all the Distinction of Things; to make no difference between Prosperity and Adversity; to lay the same Load on a Man languishing with Age and Infirmity, as upon the Healthful, Vigorous, and Lusty. In short, Our Veins are emptied already, and you have now our Heart's Blood in your Hands, and which certainly ought to be squeezed gently, that it may preserve, and not utterly exhaust, the poor Remnant of Life that is yet left. I shall not undertake to determine what Proportion is fit for you to Grant, only I conceive in that Case the following Considerations on this Head may be useful.  
3. A strict and impartial Enquiry what Proportion our Expenses bear to the rest of the Confederates: And if it be found to exceed, to reduce it to equal Bounds. For 'tis the most unreasonable Thing in the World, when the War is primarily and principally theirs, and at their own Doors, that we must bear three Parts of the Burden. If any Party must over-pay, that surely aught to be the Part of those whose Interests and Effects lie immediately at Stake, Had we never so much Plenty and Abundance, such a manner of Proceeding might make us perhaps very kind Neighbours, but no very wise Men. And, in good truth, our Conduct in this War is laughed at all over Europe, and we are become a Scorn and Reproach, even to those who reap the Benefit of our Folly. The Concern of our Allies in this War is ten times more than ours; 'tis flaming within their Bowels, or at their Frontiers. Their Country and Interests are defended; and if there be any thing gained by the War, 'tis theirs altogether: We neither have, nor have any Expectation to get any thing but Blows. And yet (to the Honour of our Discretion be it spoken) we pay two Thirds at least of the Expense. Let us assist our Allies, but then let us do it by the Rules of Equity and Prudence: Their Account in the War is Immediate, and Direct, ours only Remote and Collateral. And it is the most unaccountable Thing in the World, That, in such a Case, we must drain our Men, and our Money, and reduce ourselves to Beggary, only to save their Pockets, and that they may sit easy and flourish by our Miseries. For 'tis as plain as the Sun, That the Advance of our Quota is a Diminution of theirs; and we pay the more, that the Spaniards and the Dutch may pay the less. And it is no wonder, That, by such an unequal Distribution, they thrive and grow Rich under a War that is within them, and at their very, Doors, while we at a Distance, and upon the most advantageous Circumstances, are notwithstanding impoverished to the last Degree. Do we believe that if we were attaqued at home, our Neighbours would, send us a double Supply of Men and Money, and take upon them two Shares of the War; and not rather think they used us well, if they gave the Assistance of a Sixth, or even a Tenth part? We have a fresh and flagrant Instance to guide as in making a right Judgement, and even to teach us Wisdom (if we will learn it) by the Practice of our Neighbours. At this very time Namur, and its Dependencies is engaged to the Dutch, and actually in their hands, to defray their Expencies of the War, and of its Repairs: And yet it is a Barrier to their Country, and in that respect they would have the same account in it, as well in the Hands of the Spaniards as in their own. But for all that, they thought it Wisdom to take good Security even of their Allies for Reimbursement. They are wise Men, and good Husbands, and understand Things better than to think the Name of Ally means a Fool, to fright and pay all for the Benefit of others, without taking some Share of it to themselves. But what, I pray, have we got? We sight for the Spaniard and the Dutch too, and yet we have no Mortgages, nor Cautionary Towns; nor so much as a poor Hospital for our Sick and Wounded. Queen Elizabeth assisted the Dutch, not when they were Great and Rich as now, but when they were as Low and Poor as ourselves are, and yet she thought good to take Cautionary Towns of them, although she was at the same time actually engaged with their Enemy in the same War. But we are grown of late mighty Generous; we fight and pay Gratis. 'Tis enough for us to have Honour for our Blood and Money, let the Spoils go to the Mercenary; and, in truth, our part in the War hath hitherto been nothing else but Knight-Errantry. We have rigged out Fleets, and sent out Armies, in quest of Adventures, and to relieve distressed Ladies; but never had the least thought of having any profitable return of our Arms, or making any Provision for ourselves. And however this might pass in heat of Blood, and when our Coffers were full and ran over; yet sure 'tis now high time to take Example by our Neighbours, and to have some Caution and Security for all the vast Expense of Men and Treasure we have been at on their Account; or at least to settle Things on such a Foundation, That our Allies, who have ten times the Interest in the War, should at least bear an equal Share in the Expense: And for this you have a very good Precedent before you in a Vote of the last Parliament, April 18. That this Kingdom be put upon an equal Foot and Proportion with the rest of the Allies in bearing the Charge of the present War: Which Vote ought to be revived, and insisted on: And it is of such great Importance, and of so much Advantage to the Nation, that if it be effectually pursued, I dare promise you, it will save the Kingdom near one half of this Years Expenses.  
4. A General Excise likewise will require your Thoughts; not that I think it will ever be brought into your House by any True Englishman: But it is so generally discoursed of as a Project to raise Money, that it will highly deserve your Consideration. And it is true, it will certainly raise Money, so long as there is any in the Nation to be raised: But I hope that is not All that is to be considered by an English Parliament, The Ease, Safety, and Freedom of the People, equally deserves your Care, and especially when you are giving away their Money. And what then will become of the so much boasted of English Liberty, when Slavery shall be laid on us with both hands, and we shall be sunk into the utmost Hardships of the Subjects of the Dutch Commonwealth: English Liberty means the Liberty of the People: And if this load be once laid on us, there will be nothing left but the Name, and we shall not in reality enjoy any one Privilege above our Neighbours. Our Gentry will be as much curbed, our Farmers oppressed, and our Peasants as poor as in any other Nation. For consider how many are there of the lowest Rank of the People, who now under the general decay o● Trade, and dearness of all Commodities, with all their Labour and Industry, cannot support themselves and Families? And what will their Case then be, when every thing they Eat and Drink, and are Clothed with, and Use, must over and above pay a Tax to the Government? So that this is a Tax that will eat into the very Hearts of the Poor, and make their Condition desperate; and, in truth, will ultimately redound upon the Rich. For it must of necessity multiply the Poor, and consequently the Charges of every Parish, and will thereby prove a double Tax to the Rich: First to pay their own Excise, and then to maintain them who are beggared by it. Besides, it reflects Hardship upon all other States in the Nation; upon another, and indeed a more stinging Accounts, it subjects them to the Insolence and Sauciness of every pitiful Excise-man, who shall enter and search their Houses when, and as often as he pleases; and they can neither keep themselves, their Families, nor any thing they have, private from every officious and domineering Rascal. But besides these (which are bad enough) there are yet two other terrible Consequences that attend a General Excise; the one is, That it infinitely multiplies absolute Dependencies on the Crown: The Officers of all Sorts in their several Districts all over the Kingdom will amount to many Thousands; and if it was thought to deserve Complaint, that there were so many Officers in your House, what will it do when there are so many Thousands throughout the Nation? This, in the first place, will have a bad Influence on all Elections of Members of Parliament; for all their Votes, in every County in England, will certainly be determined at the Will of the Court: And I need not say what a dreadful Prospect this hath on that Fundamental Right of the English Nation, viz. Freedom of choosing their Representatives. And the Consideration of their Numbers is full out as formidable, that their united Strength may be able to endanger the Nation to keep it under, and to rule it by a strong hand. 'Tis a kind of standing Army, and which may be employed to other Purposes, besides collecting Excise, whensoever opportunity offers. And it hath ever been the Wisdom as well as the Jealousy of English Parliaments never to intrust the Prince with so much Power as to enable him to govern Arbitrarily whensoever he pleases. And which a General Excise does also upon another Account, it lays in an eternal Fund for Supplies, which will answer all the Ends of the Government, and utterly takes off all the Need the Prince may have of the People's Assistance, and consequently roots up the very Foundation of Parliaments, and makes them perfectly useless: So that, at one Blow, this Tax destroys all the Rights and Freedom of the Nation. I know to obviate this it may be said, That the Excise may be laid to hold for a determinate time, and no longer, or during the War only: But this is no answer to any Man that can see but three Inches before him. For the King is left in Possession, and who shall dispute it with him, if he resolves to have it Collected, especially being backed by a numerous Troop of Officers, whose Subsistence and Livelihood depends upon it? A Parliament may dispute it indeed, but then we may have none, or only such a one that shall be composed of Excise-men, whose Interest it will be to continue it from Generation to Generation. Methinks in this point we may take warning from our Neighbours the Dutch; they began it in the Exigencies of their State, but have continued, it through all their Flourishing and Prosperity, and no doubt will never ease the People of it to the end of the World.  
5. Seeing we are upon the Article of Money, it may not be reasonable to pretermit the State of the Coin itself: I do not mean here only as it is Embased and Clipped, (for which in a great measure we are beholding to our good Neighbours, who have expressed their Gratitude to us in this Instance, as well as many others.) And the Gold which is not clipped, the current Price is Uncertain and Arbitrary, though it be advanced above the Standard of all Europe; and the baseness of our Silver, and, the height and even uncertainty of our Gold, have a mighty Influence on all Parts of Trade, but more particularly on all Foreign Trade; upon the Account of which the Exchange is sunk, and there is 20 l. if not 30 l. per Cent. difference, in all the Commodities the English buy or sell, to what it was heretofore; and which therefore, and upon many other Accounts, will deserve your Care to apply some effectual Remedy. But that which I principally aim at, and is indeed proper upon this Head, is the Scarcity even of that Coin, which is thus nought either in kind or degree. We have scarcely bad Coin enough left to supply the absolute Necessities of Trade, and of Private Families. And I was going to say, that when you are granting our Money: This is a consideration, that must be thought upon, whether you will, or no; for if you do not find Money as well as Votes, you may give as you Will, and neither the Government nor our Allies will be much the better for it. And therefore it seems absolutely necessary, as well with respect to the Government as to the People throughly to consider both the nature and quality of our present Coin, and also what proportion of it there is yet left among us; for if the King wants it Abroad, and the Necessities of the People cannot spare it from Home, 'tis plain, one of them must be great sufferers: For I shall take these two things for granted; First, That the Nation cannot drive a Trade, nor yet subsist with Copper Farthings or Halfpennies. Secondly, That the Exportation of our Coin, hath been the only reason of that great scarcity that is now in the Kingdom. And if it be suffered to continue, it is impossible but it must drain away all that remains, for our Money is embased and clipped to half the value, and consequently the Exportation must be double to what it was formerly, one Million of our Money transmitted in specie, will prove but half so much in the Expense Abroad, for tho' we take it by Tale, and according to the Stamp, yet Foreigners will take it only by weight, and according to the intrinsic value; so that if two Millions were Exported yearly to Flanders, to the Allies, and to the straits, now for the same purposes, must be Exported four Millions, and then let any Man judge what will be left at home, for the subsistence of the Nation. The King himself was so sensible of this, that (when the Kingdom was in a better Condition than it is now;) He tells the last Parliament in his Speech, That He could hearty wish some Expedient might be found to prevent the Exportation of our Mony. And such an Expedient I shall now lay before you, and which is liable to no manner of Objection, but will answer all the Ends of the Government, and also secure the remaining Bullion to supply the Necessities of the People. And it is this, That we be obliged, either with clothes ready made, or else with Cloth, to clothe all the Confederate Armies, in Flanders, Piedmont, and on the Rhine, and to furnish them with Lead, and all Warlike Provisions of our own growth, or of our conveniency in point of Trade, and to discount with our several Confederates at the same rate for these Commodities, as they could have provided them in their respective Countries. This no Englishman can except against, for the manifold advantages it will bring to the Nation. This the Allies cannot except against for Money worth, and of present and necessary use, is the same thing to them with Money itself, and they may easily provide for the subsistence of our Troops, when they have a full recompense by an equivalent. I know but of one Objection that can possibly be made to this, That it will be more expensive to the Treasury, for that some of the Commodities may be cheaper in their own Country, besides the charge of Exportation. Let this be granted, and possibly it may be so in some measure, and there will be so much lost by the discount. But this is of no great moment, and will by no means serve to balance these mighty Conveniencies that will thereby accrue to the whole Nation, by the Consumption of our Manufacture, by the reviving our decayed and almost ruin'd Trade, and (which at this time is more than all the rest) by preventing the Exportation of our Bullion. Suppose the Treasury be a little burdened, which receives subsistence, and all its Supplies from the People, is that a Reason to lay aside an Expedient so every way profitable and advantageous to them? And is it not a thousand times better, that the Treasury bear a little burden, and which also the People must pay, than for the small and inconsiderable Ease of that, an intolerable and insupportable load be laid on the whole People. And in short, the Objection in its full force is no more but this, the Treasury must not bear the supernumerary Expense of five Shillings, tho' by so doing the Nation gains five Pounds, and saves ten.  
I have now done with the great Point of the Money, and shall proceed to another general Head, viz.  
2dly. There is a strong Report, of a very great, but at the same time a very daring Project, to endeavour a new Settlement of the Crown. This is such a bold attempt on the Constitution, that it never durst be set on foot, but by these who think the English are grown so tame and weak, that they are sit to be made a Property, and can be prevailed upon to do any thing in the World: What do they think of us? When they can propose to us, to put our own hands, to the overturning our Foundations, and breaking through our Establishments. The unsettling the Foundations in any Government, is of that dangerous consequence, and hath such a train of unforeseen Mischiefs attending it, that there is not a Wise man upon Earth, that will ever put his hand to it, and I cannot think so meanly of your House, that there is one single Member will hearty engage in an Undertaking so extremely rash, and unadvised. And (to speak the plain truth, it is a thing you cannot do, tho' you had never so much mind to it, for whatever powers a Parliament may have, they are all confined within the Terms of the Constitution, you sit in Virtue of it, and derive your Powers from it, and whatsoever you enact in concurrence with it, is valid, and binding, and hath the force of a Law, but whatsoever is in opposition to it, or in destruction of it, is null and void of itself, and neither obliges yourselves, nor any body else. The utmost the Convention pretended (as appears plainly by the Debates and Conferences between the two Houses) was a Power to fill a vacant Throne; but they utterly disclaimed the Power of altering the Constitution, and turning an Hereditary Monarchy into an Elective one: And which this apparently does, for what is settled by Parliament to day, may be unsettled by Parliament to morrow, and a new Settlement made a third day, so that we may have not only as many Monarches, but as many Monarchies too, as we have Parliaments. And if this be not destroying the Foundation, and altering the Constitution no man alive knows what is. And therefore before you enter upon this dangerous Point, first ask yourselves these Questions, How you came to be a House? What Authorities you have there? What place you have in the Constitution? Whether all your Powers are not purely and solely derived from the Constitution? And if these be effectually answered, this attempt falls of itself, as being not only besides the Constitution, but in plain contradiction to it, and it is the most ridiculous thing in the World to think, that any Body of Men whatsoever can derive an Authority from a Constitution in prejudice of itself, much less to destroy it. Besides, this will not only destroy the Constitution, but yourselves also, as Branches of it, and dependant upon it, it will undermine the very being of Parliaments, and all your Ancient and Legal Privileges; for there is such an inseparable connexion between the Fundamental Constitution, and all the depending Branches of Authority, that they must of necessity fall together, you cannot derive a Being and Powers from that which is not, and consequently, whatever else you may be, you can be no English Parliament, composed of Englishmen indeed, but not of the English Constitution. And this sure is consideration sufficient to make you tender of all Violations of the Constitution and of all steps towards it. Preserve the Constitution, and it will preserve you, and support you in all your just Rights and Privileges, but if you dissolve the Constitution, you cashier yourselves, you will be no longer our old legal Parliament, but must set up upon a New Title, even as new as your New Settlement; and you will have but a Mushroom Authority, and but of yesterday. But if your House should be so forgetful of itself, and its own Being and Privileges, is it credible that the Lords will lower themselves, their Honours, and Interests which they hold upon the old Foundation, they are more nearly related to the Crown, are the Arms to uphold and defend it, they derive all their Titles from an Hereditary Monarchy, and are more peculiarly obliged to support it, not only from the nearness they stand to it, and immediate dependence they have upon it, but also from their particular Oaths of Homage; and it is by no means probable, that they will forego all these, and whatever you do, there is no likelihood of meeting with any concurrence in that House, which is sufficient to dash and discourage all such attempts, which will only bring Honour to the Lords in standing by the Ancient Rights of the Monarchy, and Shame to yourselves in deserting them.  
3dly. There is another flagrant Rumour, of a Design to Alienate the Revenues of the Church, or at least to engage and pawn them for the defraying of great Sums, either of which hath a terrible Aspect upon the Church. And will in the end prove the very same. The engaging the Church Lands, as a Fund for Supplies, is the first stepped to their Alienation, and the next is to abolish Episcopacy Root and Branch, and then the Lands come of course, the Office will soon be found useless, when the Revenues are thought convenient, and the Inheritance will endanger the Heir, so that what was designed by the Piety of Princes, and of Good men, for the Honour, and Security of the Church, will prove the only Inducement to destroy it, by the Covetous and Rapacious. I shall offer you little on this Head, where the Consequences are so apparent; but beware what you do, for you touch Fire, which at one time or other will burn your Fingers, for Sacrilege never did prosper, nor never will.  
I come to the Fourth and Last General Branch, viz.  
4thly. The Grievances, And here is such a large Field of sad Matter, that if I should enumerate all Particulars, I should never have done, I shall therefore only select some few, and leave the rest to be supplied by your Memory, and searched into by your Wisdom.  
In the first place, besides the matter of our Grievances, there is somewhat of extraordinary Malignity, with respect to the Season, in which they have been committed, they have not grown upon us through long intervals and discontinuance of Parliaments, but have been perpetrated in their very Faces, have throve under the shadow of your House, and (to speak plain truth) have not only grown under it, but in it, and some of our most Flaming Grievances have been born, and bred within the Walls of St. Stephen's Chapel itself; and if the Antidote be Poison, how great is that Poison?  
For Bribes of all sorts, on all Occasions, and in all Persons, are of a very black Complexion, but if it affects Persons of a high Station, in the greatest Trust, and who are obliged by all Ties, Humane and Divine, to act sincerely, uprighly, and indifferently, 'tis hideous, and monstrous, 'tis a crime that wants a name, and uncapable of representation, and it is no wonder it is so, for 'tis perfectly new, and was never heard of in all the Ages before us. If a Judge, sells Judgement, he deserves the utmost severity that can be inflicted, but if a man in a Legislative capacity, sells a Law, 'tis a thousand times worse, than Bribery in the Administration, as it corrupts the very Fountains of Justice, and poisons the Springs, that are to convey the Measures of Right to the whole Kingdom. The Cases of the East India Company, and that of the Orphans are now notorious to all, as having, in part, been examined towards the latter end of the last Parliament; and it is undoubtedly your Duty to proceed where they left off, and to pursue it to the bottom; and for this you have a fair handle, by calling for the Confession of Sir Thomas Cook, which he delivered in Writing to the Committee appointed to receive it, and one of that Committee is your present Speaker. And it is my Motion, and I hope you will second it, that whomsoever you find tampering in these lewd Practices, both Receivers, and Givers, (as being both equally guilty) that you will proceed against them with a severity as exemplary, as the Crime is abominable, that you may for ever put an end to, and banish from the Kingdom, the most foul and scandalous corruption in the World.  
But there is another sort of Bribes, tho' called by the finer name of Pensions, yet equally foul and corrupt, in this they differ indeed, that the East-India Pensioner is Bribed but once, whereas the other receives his Bribes all the year, and by annual Allowance; however in this they agree, that the formal Malignity of each, is the same, nay, the latter is of the two, the more perfidious and treacherous, and together with his Vote, selling his Country, and betraying the greatest Trust a People can repose in him. Several of these were named in particular in the last Parliament, how easily soever they came off, and if you please to inspect the List of Expenses in the Treasury, and particularly the prodigious Sums for Secret Service, and critically examine into whose Pockets that Money went, I doubt not, you will find many more. However this Matter of Bribes (of both kinds) hath alarmed all the Kingdom, hath reflected dishonour on your whole Body, and hath weakened your Interest among the People, insomuch that it is high time to purge the Infamy of your House, and to take some proper and effectual Methods, that such Corruptions be never more heard within your Walls.  
2dly. The next thing, I know not what name to call it by, but 'tis a strange and unpresidented action of some of your Members, to endeavour to be chose for several places, and particularly Admiral Russel stood for Middlesex, when he knew he was chosen before for Portsmouth, and also for the County of Cambridge, and had furthermore declared that he would adhere to the choice of Cambridgeshire, because his Estate lies in that County. This, how slight soever it may appear at first view, is of very great consequence, not only as it creates disturbances, and multiplies unnecessary expenses and trouble in new Elections, but (what is infinitely more momentous) as it hath a mighty influence upon the freedom of Parliaments themselves, for if this Practice be suffered to pass without Animadversion, a few popular Men, may engross half the Elections of the Kingdom, and so at first sitting down, the Parliament would be only a Rump, a partial and incomplete Representation of the People, and before new Writs could be issued out, and returned, the great Business of the Nation might be transacted by half a House, and their Money be given away, and themselves concluded by Laws, without having any Member of their own to represent them, and act in their behalf. And this plainly strikes at the Root of all Parliamentary Proceed, deludes the People out of their Just Rights, and if not timely prevented, may occasion more Mischiefs, than can easily be foreseen.  
3dly. And Enquiry into the State of the Navy, and particularly of the straits Fleet, seems more especially necessary at this time, not only because the furnishing them with necessary Stores and Provisions at that great distance, is triple the Charge to what it would cost us at home, and at this time of day, 'tis absolutely necessary to retrench all the Expenses we can; not only because a great part of that Fleet is disabled and honny-combed by the Worm, by the long remaining in those Seas, as plainly all those Great Men of War are, that are come back with Admiral Russell, which will require vast Sums to repair, and make serviceable, and which inconvenience they were by no means liable to in our own Seas, it need only be remembered, that the strength of England consists in her Wooden Walls, and if these be suffered to be eaten up, and moulder in the Service of Foreigners, half an eye can see, that in the end it must prove fatal to the Kingdom. I know 'tis pretended that this Conduct hath broke all the Measures of France, by dividing their Fleet, and thereby making them unable to offend us, which to me (which submission to wiser Heads) is one of the strangest Assertions in the World, for if the Fleet in the straits be too strong for theirs at Tholoun, and if ours at home be superior to theirs at Breast, 'tis little less than ridiculous to think that we cannot as easily deal with their united Force in our own Seas, and that too without the danger of exposing our Ships to Rot, and the dreadful Expense of maintaining them in another Country. So that, whatever is pretended, 'tis for the Interest of Spain, and for that only, that our Fleet was sent, and is still kept there, we ourselves reap nothing by it, but great Expense, and greater damage to our Ships. But if this shall continue year after year, we may soon feel the smart of this Conduct, and by the constant disabling our Men of War, together with the draining of our Money (the Sinews of War) for their Supply and Repairs, we shall be far less able to deal with them either at home or abroad: Their Ships lie safe, while ours are eternally wasting, and what Tragical Effects this will produce, a very ordinary foresight may easily determine. And I am pretty confident, that if there be not speedily some other Measures taken, this one thing, as it hath already almost broken our backs (as you will see presently) so in the end it will prove the utter overthrow and destruction of the Kingdom.  
But besides these, there is another Matter that earnestly calls for, your inspection, and remedy. Admiral Russell can tell you if he please, (and 'tis highly reasonable that he should be pressed home on this Article) how the Dutch have been furnished with our Stores and Provisions, without any manner of Discount or Payment, how they detached their Men of War from the Grand Fleet, to Convoy their Merchants, and carry on the Levant Trade, whilst ours remained upon Public Duty. So that it seems, the Terms of Alliance with our Neighbours, are, that we must feed them, and fight, while they mind their Business and their Trade, and gain all the Profits, not only distinctly by themselves, but by our Losses. And 'tis the same in all other branches of Trade, our Fleets are stopped at home by high hand, or otherwise employed, to give them the best opportunities, and the Cream of the Markets both for Buying and Selling. Now this perhaps may appear to you as a mysterious Riddle in the Confederacy, that we must fight, and pay all, and our Allies gain all; but 'tis unfolded by that powerful and wise Maxim, We must oblige the Dutch, meaning, we must give them all the Advantages, whatsoever becomes of ourselves. And this sure is a new way to make us a rich and flourishing People, to engage us in the greatest Burden of the War, and at the same time to have our Trade wrested out of our hands, even by those, for whose sakes we bear it, if therefore you would drive these Mischiefs to their true Spring, and Original, you must rise as high as the Councils by which our great Affairs, and particularly those of Trades are managed, and it deserves your enquiry, whether our Allies the Dutch, instead of minding their own business, have not too great a share in ours for they have actually got the best of our Trade into their hands, and this can proceed but from one of these two Causes, either from their Management of our Councils, or from our own mismanagement of them. I must confess that beloved Maxim, which can never be too often repeated, We must oblige the Dutch, hath a very kind Aspect on our Neighbours, although considering our present vast Expense both of Men and Money on their Account, together with our former Services for that Commonwealth. A poor Englishman may be so foolish to think, that the Point of Gratitude is due on the other hand, and the Dutch should oblige us, and  
4. These unparallelled, and illegal attempts on the Lives and Liberties of the Subject, call aloud to you, not only for remedy for the future, but for punishment for the present upon the Offenders. The Case of Tooly, Provost Marshal in Holborn, is one of the most dismal and tragical Stories that ever came before a Parliament; to have Freemen kidnapped, and sold like Slaves, to be immured, and starved, and suffered to die like Dogs, is enough to make every Englishman to tremble; and that which aggravates it, and adds to our amazement, is the slight passing it over in the last Parliament. When a Complaint was brought into the House against Captain Reyny (Decemb. 12.) for pretending to hire Thomas Atkinson as a Servant, and then putting him into the Custody of Tooly. What became of this? Why truly three days after, in vindication no doubt of the just Liberties of the People, Captain Reyney was called into the House and Reprimanded. A most terrible Sentence, and which must needs prove a mortal discouragement hereafter to venture on such villainies, to which there is annexed the punishment of a Reprimand. In the mean time, if you do not go thorough with them, and stigmatize such Crimes according to their guilt, 'tis much better to let them alone, and leave them wholly to the Mob to redress; for tho' I am not very fond of a Mob Reformation, nor I suppose is any Person else, who considers it; yet 'tis much better to suffer them to take what vengeance they please, than that such outrageous and impudent violations of our Liberty should escape unpunished. And just such another Instance, but of a yet more tragical nature, is that of the Lord Conisby and Sir Charles Porter, who hanged a poor man (Gaffney) in Ireland, without Trial, Examination of Witnesses, or any other Forms of Law, but by the most arbitrary Proceed that ever were heard of; the Fact and all the Circumstances were undeniably proved before the last Parliament, and moreover owned by a Vote of the House of Commons, and yet it was passed over with an excuse, and the Prosecution silenced, upon pretence of I know not what necessity of the Times, and of which necessity no man can tell one tittle, or ever heard the reason of; for I do not doubt to say, that there never was, nor never can be such a necessity of any State in the World, to hang up a man arbitrarily, in a time and place of peace, when the Courts of Justice are open, and by Civil Magistrates, and not Military, which was apparrent●y the case in every circumstance. Now, Sir, I do not know what you will call this, but all the Nation hath hitherto called it by the name of Murder, and certainly so it is, if there be any such thing in the World; and Murder, you know is a contagious Sin, and affects all accessories, both before and after th● 〈◊〉 and whosoever consents to it (as he certainly does, who exe●●●●● or does not punish it, when he is in a Station impowering him 〈◊〉 it, is involved in the Gild, equal to the principal offender; and 〈◊〉 them who contrived, or admitted the excuse, wash their hands of it, as well as they can, I am sure, if you do not take some effectual course about it, the Gild will be translated to your doors, and that vengeance which Blood cries for, will be apt to stick, not only to yourselves, but also to your innocent Posterities, for above all other Sins, this leaves such a taint on the Blood, as will not be purged for several Generations.  
To this Head also belongs, the manifold illegal Imprisonments of the Subject, and more especially the hardships, sufferings, and severities which have been undergone in Prison, by those which have been, and by those which have not been offenders against the Law, nor ever have been proved so, nor so much as any attempt made to prove it, even to the loss of the Lives of some, the Limbs of others, and the health of many; whereas the whole design of Imprisonment, according to the Terms of our English Laws, is only to keep men in safe custody, and that they may be forth coming, but hath made all possible Provision, that Prisoners may not want reasonable conveniences, and supports of life, that they should suffer nothing hard, but the mere durance, and much less that they should be used with the utmost inhumanity, and like the Slaves at Algiers, so that if men are never so legally imprisoned, yet if they are illegally used, if they are cooped up into holes, starved with cold or want of sustenance, debarred of the necessary assistance of their Friends, and Relations, and in fine, if they are treated like Beasts, by the barbarous and inhuman Keepers, or by order from the Ministers, the Law is violated, and the Freedom of an Englishman sacrificed, let his Crimes be what they will, and which in truth are nothing in the Eye of the Law, till his Trial and Conviction. If I should descend to particulars on this Head, they would fill a Volumn, and therefore I shall only represent to you a very late and fresh Instance. One Spencely; (who kept a Coffee-house in Little Wild-street,) was taken up, upon a Warrant of High Treason, and carried Prisoner to the House of Hopkins, the Messenger. He immediately fell sick of a violent and dangerous Fever, his Wife made several applications to the Messenger, and to the Secretary's Office, but could not get leave to come to the Speech of him, and much less to administer to him, and give him that assistance his condition required; But instead of that, Mr. Ellis (to whom she applied herself at Mr. Secretary Trumbal's Office) reviled and reproached her with hard Language, at length, and when he was passed hopes, she found means, by long and constant waiting, to come to the Speech of Mr. Secretary Trumbal, (which before she could never do through the behaviour, and power of Mr. Ellis) who promised her leave, and appointed Mr. Ellis to write her an Order to that purpose, but he not only declined it, but plainly told her, she could not see her Husband, for that Mr. Aaron Smith was out of Town. The same Evening she attended again, and gave Mr. Hopkins a Reward, who took her to Mr. Secretary Trumball, and he again gave her liberty, but with this express caution, that she should never be with him herself, nor very long, and which tho Messenger punctually executed; whereas his Condition required a Nurse, and not a Visit. But this is not the worst of the Case, for she procured a Friend to write to Sir Hugh Chamberlain, and state his Case, and desire his assistance, both with respect to his Faculty, and also to his Interest at the Secretary's Office, and particularly with Mr. Ellis. The Dr. fairly told her, her Husband was past recovery, and very kindly went himself to the Secretary's Office, and spoke to Mr. Ellis, that some Divine might be admitted to pray with him, and perform the last Offices, but Mr. Ellis flatly refused it, and told him there was too much granted already, and so in a few days he died; and in all probability for want of seasonable and fit attendance, and the use of proper means for his recovery, to be sure without that ghostly Advice and Council, and Spiritual Administrations to prepare him for another World, which was never before denied to the most notorious Malefactor, that ever was confined to an English Prison. This is an action so all over barbarous, that it ought not be named amongst Christian People, Savages and Turks use their Prisoners with more Humanity. If it be said that Spencely was an Enemy to the Government, and so deserved no favour nor compassion; but the Question is not about Favour and Compassion, but common Justice, favour to be sure he had none, but had he Justice done him? Is it just that a sick man in durance should be admitted to the necessary Provisions for his Condition? Then the Prisoner ought to have had them, let him have been what he would, his particular qualities (which I neither meddle with, nor plead for) are quite out of the Question, for if Justice be any thing, 'tis equal, indifferent, impartial. And if Justice once open her eyes, and weighs by a false balance, if she can discern Parties, and Persons, and administer accordingly, the Name and the Virtue is gone, 'tis Fraud, Oppression, Partiality, Hypocrisy, or any thing but Justice. Moreover no man by the Law, is reputed an Enemy to the Government, till he be tried and convicted, and if this be the Case, what do Laws or Trials signify? There is a more expeditious way, than by the dull formality of Judges and Juries, take him up by a Paper with a Seal to it, and send him to the Goals or Messengers to be Murdered, and there is an end of him; but withal, there is an end of all Justice too, and no man can be safe one moment, for 'tis but clapping a hard name upon your back, and calling you, or suspecting you for an Enemy to the Government, and then away you go to the Cannibals, and are never more heard off.  
5thly. The prodigious Losses at Sea, And these I call Grievances rather than Misfortunes, for that they were occasioned, by miscarriage and mismanagement, if not treachery in the Council. For in the first place the Petition of the Merchants for Convoys could not be heard, nor answered; and Secondly, after the Alarm given, and two East India Ships taken, Admiral Hobson was sent out with a Squadron, and who returned home again, and gave the French liberty to take the other three; but that which is the Fundamental miscarriage, is the sending our Fleet to the straits, to take care of Spain, while our own Interests are neglected and laid open to the Spoil, if our Fleet had stayed at home, it is impossible that such a Ravage could have been made among the Merchants, our Coasts would have been guarded, our Seas cleared, and our Trade open, and unmolested. And here you plainly fee the wonderful poling of this Conduct, our Fleet was sent to the straits, and for this reason, because it broke all the Measure of France, yet their Measures must needs be broken, because that thereby they have gained five East-India Ships, and five hundred others, I dare say the French King would be content to have his Fleet eternally cooped up at Thoulon, if he might continue the advantageous opportunities, he has thereby, of enriching himself by our Spoils. Alas, Sir, we are grown the kindest People in the World, we will lop off an Arm ourselves, to save the Finger of our Allies, we have spent our Men, our Money, and our Ships too, for the advantage of Catalonia, and for that very reason, have ourselves lost ten times the value of the whole Country. But I need not remind you of this, the whole Kingdom is alarmed, and all on fire about it, and you cannot but hear of it, and the dismal Effects of it from all Quarters, and by all sorts of Persons.  
I conclude with telling you, that our Grievances are the Objects of your Authority and Great Trust, about which they are to be exercised in order to an effectual Remedy; for if our Grievances are only brought into the House at the beginning of a Session, and then dropped or lost, it will not only be fruitless, but pernicious to the People: For such pretermission, or connivance, will most certainly be interpreted into a Licence or Authority to commit them, and offenders, instead of being restrained, will be emboldened to act yet more outrageous Villainies, in hopes of the same impunity. And therefore my humble request is, that, in Justice to yourselves, and in Compassion to the whole Nation, you will pursue our Grievances till they are redressed in all Points, that is till the remedies for our future security are ripened into such provisionary Laws, as shall seem agreeable to the Wisdom of your honourable House. I am in all respects,  
SIR, Yours &c.  
FINIS.