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Learn to Jae wife at otheri hami) And you ftall do full well* Old Ballad of the ladies Fall. -s^: . ■5- I O N D N: flintci for JOHN STOCKDALE, Piccadilly, 179a. [Pri^^* One Sl^UUng.J] /,-. t- •- ^ "!'■> ,P»Ki-: . ''! u'' ''"'■':. Tifitr'-* ,'.i' ■*■■ i*-^:', &<• :f•»^■■■■^f ■^.,.* ;fr' I- TT* T^ ,'-* aeJpon of^whafi|iji^ rnpTjC j*My.K^P^'^"^^'9i?^fMi).pleafing..^ ^^^ ._., As a real, and downiight lover of freedom and eacei which things I. ;|iop? (never t;9 fee fepa- :' .i/:.!! ' . :: / . rated v.Ov,' K .-..: <{ "HP mi r s 3 \ rated in this kingdom, I have, for fome time, perceiving that all. men are not patriots who prer tend to be fo, watched the motions of thofe gen- try pretty clofely, and cannot help publicly ac* cufing thefe reformers of an unfair manoeuvre in che prefent cafe. — If I am wrong, let them an- •iwer me. :'..'.■ . - .; i ..'•<' < : •'. u ■ \' i.-'.To call out for a reform without knowing what Ibrt of a; reform ihey would demand, and what 4he probable confequences will be, is the aft of men either mad, ignorant, or badly intentioned. Thofe who lead the reformers may, perhaps, x;lear themfelves readily of the two firfl charges, but they could efcape the latter only by fubmit- tingtheinplan to the public, at the very time oi propofing the reform; which they have taken care not to do :— on the contrary, by enumera- tin^-'iind exaggerating the evils of our prpfent mode of reprefentation, "they try to turn th^ ge- neral opirtion in favour of a reform, before the people cart adually be in a'flate to judge of its propriety and wifdom, being totally ignorant of its nature. This is very unfair. But thus it is, that, by exciting general difcontent againft the prefent fyftem, they would obtain the public I voice f ■: c^ # •;. \\ r « ) iroice in favour of whatever plan they may pro- poTc in Parliament as a reform. J'-'^ ;r; i-s-j-^ \. -' Such is the manoeuvre; but every man of commcn fenfe fhouid be aOiamed to fpeak in fa- vour of a reform, the nature of which he does not Imow. Let us not, however, iall into the fnare which they have laid for** us :—• >let us, on the contrary, examine what fort of a reform they can {ive us, before we Cpeak in favo'ir of their doc- trines ; as it is unworthy of thinking men to be drawn into a blind approbation of any met- The three following aifeitions^ if proTTed, as far as moral probabilities can go, will, I think, put that matter in a very decided and clear point ofviewt ■ '-.../.:,- k:. .>.. ,,.-.... •;■;; ill, A partial reform is in itfelf ridiculous, and I nuy fay, impra(^icable ; and a complete re- form would bring on a revolution. , ;-. i; ; . 2d, A revolution would be attended with a civil war and national bankruptcy. The ruin of our trade, manufactures, and national import- ance, would be the immediate consequences. . , 3d, The prefent advantageous Atuatbn of Brt« tftifi, once lofl, is of fuch a nature as is never likely .'::'i-V< '..^W;'"?"", .'■ li « r likely to be recovered; and, even in point of ireedom^ we have more chance to lofe than to gain by a revolution* ^ ^ . j . . ;. .. The imperfedtions of the prefent mode of rc- prvfenting the people in Parliament are evident to every one; and, of confequence, all parties have agreed in acknowledging their exigence. Every one can perceive it to be unjufl: that Old Sarum (hould fend up two Members to PaHia- ment, while Manchefter and Birmingham do not fend up one ; but every one docs not, perhaps, ob* ferve, that the fame injuilice takes place, in a greater or lefs degree, in the eledion for every borough and county in England. , . . It is clear, that were the prefent mode of elec- tion altered, for the fake of what may be called an equal reprefentation, it would be necelTary to re- duce the elections to an arithmetical fxaclnefs ; for certainly to rejedt the prefent in order to adopt other errors, would be ridiculous : beiides, were the Parliament of England weak enough to re« drefs the grievances in part, and flop (hort at an Arbitrary point, which they themfelves might think proper to fix, it would excite m^re difcon- ^ents than ever, and very juftly : the prefent times art ^H I f if' 1^ ^WMPHMPNUli : , ( i C 8 ] ■■> 1/ "arc too enlightened, and too well informed, ta admit of any arlMtrary change ; it muft be a re- form upon principle, or none at all. - • / • Biit every reform upOn principle muft require the number of elefted to be regulated by the number of eledors; and, inftead of lopping off the rotten boroughs only, every town in the king- dom (hould fend up a number of Members pro- portioned to its fize and population ; or rather, as every town makes part of fome county, no town Ihould fend up any Members at all. .^ . .i . Again, as the counties are not equal, either in extent or population, they fhould not fend up equal numbers of Members.—Middlefcx would then fend up more than fifty Member's, while fome counties would be ^entitled, in proportion, hardly to fend one. ' . • » There are but two ways in which this can be regulated, either every town and village muft become a borough, as in France, or elfe all bo- roughs muft be done away, and there muft be no Members but for counties; in either cafe, the prefent boroughs would make but a very fma)l figure in the new reform. Let them, therefore, well weigh .this copfideration before they fupport '^' >■ meafures **-'^ < ■ ^ ■■ if —i . i ,^^..Mr' »— lll*|l ..^.jI*!-*.!*- >A0m SS^*', ■■■*^ /- ff C 9 3 mcafiircs by which they muft inevitably be de- prived of all their confequence. Whichever of thefe two methods were prac- tifed in equalifing the reprefenration, the change in the conftituiion of the country would be pro- digioufly great ; and we ought, I think, to con- fider a while before we lay the axe to the root of our old conflitutional oak, which has flouriflied fo long, and under the branches of which we ar(j To happy. Greatly, however, as our reprefentation would be changed by this new mode of eledlion, that js the fmallefl: of the confequences of a reform. The rights of voters require as great a revifal as the righ«:s of boroughs i and in regulating this upon principle confifts the greatcfl diiUculty, and the greateft danger ; it is, indeed, a matter which can fcarcely be too cautioudy inquired into, af- ter the ill fuccefs of France, the greater part of her misfortunes having originated from that very caufe. A vote niuft either be given by a man on ac- count of his property, or merely becaufe he is a man. But by what rule can the riiformers de- termine what quantity of property is to give.a ^ ••' B vote? \ [ lo ] vote ? any regulation whatever on this fubjedl muft be abfurd and Uiijuft, as it muft be arbitrary. The Conftituent Aflembly in France has given us an example of the abfurdity of making fuch a rule, and the impoffibilify of its being long ad- hered to ; the arbitrary diftinftion made by that legillature among people of the fame clafs re- volted every one, and was one of the principal caufes which overturned that conftitution before it was a year old. On the other hand, were the natural rule to be adopted of giving every man a vote, then would the aflemblics of electors be ruled entirely by the lower clafs, which is the moft numerous in every country ; and the pro- prietors, and even tradcfmen, finding themfelves the minority in all ufTemblies, would, fromafenfe of their inferiority, and an experience of the mor- tifications to which they were liable, abfent them- felves from all eledions; and .thus the real pro- prietors of the kingdom would not be reprefcn- ted at all, as is the cafe at this moment in France. Thus would the nature of the electors be completely changed, and the nature of the elcfted muft foon change with it. That wife rtguiation that requires a certain property for him wbg -.^, >j„ ,. .»?; •f^w^m PBffPP "'■"■■"'^PPPWIPBiPIIPiiPHI C " ] who reprefents his fellow citizens in Parliament, would foon be done away ; firft of all, bccaufc it would be in the power of the electors to change whatever they thought proper, and it would be their difpofition very naturally to do it ; and fe- ' condly, becaufe that regulation is founded in po- licy, and not in equality, or the natural principle of reprefentation. Then might the Britifli Parliament be faid to be fallen indeed, and would inftantly become, like the National Aflembly, or Convention of France, a fet of intriguing, indigent men, repre- fenting another fct of indigent men, and pillaging all the men of property in the kingdom. Between the prefent imperfedt, though fuc- cefsful mode of reprefenting the people, and a reprefentation fuch as I have here defcribed, I fee no medium, no point to ftop at, no rule for di^ redion ; and what is worfc, as foon as the pre- fenn manner of eledfting Ihall be changed, in any degree, there will remrin neither argument nor force to prevent a further change. The danger here defcribed feems already to be perfedly liifficienr, to deter all welf'-mean»ng and wcU-affeded men from meddling to fupport a re- B 2 form : »^tH lL -f « ■' mmt'mf^pggfimmi'ti^'mmvm • l i li^lliiii I - iiilOr H l l — mmm •n r .2 ] form : but I perceive another evil, which, though not fo certain, I think might very probably take place. If tl>e prefent mode of eleftion fliould be changed on account ©f its imperfcdlion, would not that alteration carry along with it an idea, that the laws made while the Parliament repre*- fented the people impeifedly, were fubjed to a revifion by the new-modelled Parliament ? This is a qucftion neceflary to be decided ; a queftion •which the French have repe.ltcdly decided, and always in the affirmative — they decided that all the tranfaftions of the King and his Minifters be- fore the revolt were liable to revifion, from the beginning of the monarchy ; and they claimed an equal right to abolilh titles of nobilit)'-, and grants made by the crown 500 years ago, as to abolifh a conirad made, or a penfion given yef- terday. The fecond Aflembly ufed the fame right with regard to the firft, and now the Con- vention exercifes the fame from the oldeft records to the prefent day. I do not prefume to decide the queftion, a? applied to the changes in the BritiQi Parliament, but I liilieve the ftrongeft arguments would be iu / ,:^^..,.: h '•"WRflP*^' ■" •) /' [ >3 ] in favour of the revifion, and the will of the Members certainly would ; the probability of a complete revolution is therefore very great. When I faid, that a partial reform was imprac- ticable, I meant fo literally ; but I mufl explain myfelf a little. Any kind of reform the King, Lords, and Commons chufe to fandlion, is prac- ticable for a time, but unlefs it be a reform that fatisfies reafon and jullice, it can fubfift only for a very Iliort time ; and though it might be only itep by ftep that all the changes I have pointed out might finally arrive, yet it is perfedly evi- dent, that the fame arguments that may be ufed in favour of the firft reform, might be ufed again, with the fame reafon, and with more advantage than they are at prefent. Far be it from me to fpeak againft the dghts of any clafs of citizens, or to write any thing againft liberty in its ut- moft pradicable extent ; but thefe are regulations that have their rife in policy and experience, as well as thofc that have their rife in right ; and although they cannot be made to uninftrufted minds fo clear and obvious, their utility and value are not therefore the lefs ; and it is an ineftimable advantage to have what cannot I'lways be ex- plained, il if II *. -' ^■ ■ai i — i*w n > - . -■^>T^-''T"X- "'■'-■*;'■-•" ) i^ ^ t '4 3 plained, but yet is very neccffary, rendered as it were facred by ufe and cuftom. As a Whjr^, which I glory in being, perhaps k may be thought ftrange, that I (hould ofTcr any argument in favour of the prefent mode of dedions. What I have hitherto faid, contains, indeed, only objeclions to a reform, and not a defence of the prefent fyRemj neverthelefs, I have alfo fome argruments to advance in favour of the prefent mode. I regard, then, an equal reprefentation as a thing impradicable in a country where property h Co unequally divided as in this ; and if it is to be imperfett, as it is now, the variety of circum- ftaaces under which the different boroughs and counties arc placed at prefent, affords undoubt- edly a great advantage, as it prevents any com- bination among the eleclors to overturn the con- flitution. Now, as I confider peace, and leifure to follow our different occupations, and to enjoy the fruits of our labours, as among the greatefl blefllngs, I am happy to think that it is not eafily in our power to unite in thofc turbulent political focieties that overturn every thing. U C '5 ] It may not be improper here to make a fevr remarks on a notion that led the French levellers into great errors at their firft outfet ; at prefent they are beyond the reach of error from example ill applied, as they are infinitely beyond any (late of anarchy and confufion that the hiflory of the world records. The Romans, and feveral Grecian dates, fecni to have voted in a pretty equal manner, and as that method fucceedvjd for a long time, it feems to 4)rove the practicability of fuch a fyftem. The Romans were certainly a fuperior race of men, and for fome centuries were real patriots, preferring the grandeur of their country to their individual welfare. Although^ 1 believe, we do not in this matter equal them, yet as there is no thermometer to meafure patriotifm, what I fay reduces itfelf to an opinion, and has not the weight of a faft. However, there are fads that render all parallels between the Romans, or Athe- nians, and ourfelves, perfedly inadmiflible. In Romp, the majorhy of the people were Jliives, not only the menial fervants, but the artifans ; of confequence, that clafs of men, who would ipaie the majority in ail our eleftions, were not A i' ; ^ \^*^' II iiilHtHii I III I i..i" i"i I i'"' i' I '.»;■■-;.•%.-- Ti ■" -.y [ .6 ] even honoured with the title of citizen* At Athens, the cafe was the fame; the Roman ci- tizens had almoft all of them fome property, and after all it is to be obferved, as foon as luxury and corruption gained ground in the ftate, their fyftem fell to the ground. It has been fo with all other popular governments, though not any one of them was carried to fuch an equal reprefen- tation, or general voting of the people, as has been with fo little fuccefs attempted in France, Yet fuch an equality muft be the final aim of every reform in our Parliament, which on no othec plea can be demanded. Of America, which alfo has been held up a$ an example, let me obferve, that the almoft un- tried republic in that country is under the mofV favourable circum^Unces that ever occurred, for fuch a government ; and no country in Europe ever will be in a ilate at all refembling it. Firft of all, in America moft of the inhabitants are proprietors, and thofc that are not fo have an iiUn mediate profped of becoming fo. Add to this, that free, in great meafure, from the luxuries and vices of Europe, and in a fertile foil of which they have more than they can cultivate, they •^ I have ' ?i; ■n *•■■ »*!; [ >7 ] have neither necefllty nor temptation to com mil great crimes, and of confequence their liberties arc eafily preferved : few taxes, and no foreigr^ enemies, complete tht jontraftjto our ftate of af- fairs all over Europe ; in flioi t they are almod in a ftate to admit of their living without any further bond of fociety, than that which virtue and wif- dom form, to men who know that mutual afliftance and friendfliip are neceffary to renderlife agreeable. The punilhment of crimes, public works, and above all, protedlion from foreign enemies, are the original cement of Government of every form ; America has little of thefe caufes, and of confequence may enjoy a relaxed republic : but we can draw no inference from fuch an inftance, refpeding European ftates. Thofe who mifled the French by endeavouring to make them imitate America, have much to anfwer for, and one fees them without regret be- coming daily the vi u ^> t •? ] men with whom I Ihould have been fo proud to join in opinion, have difgraced themfclves for ever by their connection with the French Demo- crats, who without virtue, religion, or even any regard to the common rules that are neceflary to the prefervation of fociety, have overturned a monarchy, and eftablifhed a new conftitutioh which they have vaunted to all the world, as the chef 6'oeuvre of the human underftanding, find which they have overturned before they had fairly tried it. ; If there be any morality, virtue, or religion in this country, I hope fuch men and their doings are held in juft abhorrence, and that of confe- quence our EngUlh reformers who hold connec- tions with them, will meet with no fort of confit- t3ence ; that, on the contrary, their plots will i'^ feen through, and their fair profeffions dilbelieved* Let us recolledt with what modefty the Abbe Sieyes in the beginning of the French Revolution affcrted the rights of the people j he faid that they were politically nothing, and they only wanted to become fomething. With what rapid ftrides they became every thing, we all know. * Q% Th^ i t ' [ w 1 ■ ■ The French P.evolution gives another leflbn to men in all countries who wifli to continue as they arc, and let the voters in this country look to themfelves, and not by intelline divifions become weak, as the nobility and clergy have in Franc©. The voters and burgliers in our boroughs (houlc) cohfider the privileges they enjoy, and not envy each . other. . If L.iverpool and Briftol begin to envy Old Sarum, let them remember that the in- habitants of London have as much reafon to envy them ; and that when once they begin to reckon jrtumbers, they become but as the drop in the ijuckct. Atnongft the counties the thing will be the fame, and as in the moft populous places there is always the greateft prevalence of vice, the reprefentation cannot be expected to be ber- ibred. ...!., ... -. , . ■ ■ ■ : .: . But (hould a revolution happen, as it naturally and neceflarily would, from the circumflance of transferring power from the hands of proprietors into thofe of the labourers, artifans, and manu- fadurers, a clafs of men, who though not propri* Ctors, are, when induftrious in their way, and not feduced from their employments, as eftimable Ag any clafs in fociety ; /hould fuch a r?^olution hAppen, i t *« 3 happen, can it, I fay, be doubted a moment that a civil war would immediately take place ? No, certainly ; for one of the firft things that happens in a fudden transfer of power is, that the taxes are not paid regularly ; and were that the cafe in England, our boafted millions would not go for the furplus, revenue would not then do much for us, and we could not create affignats ; we have not that refource, which fupports, for a while, the crimes of ihofe who have been employed in levelling the throne and the altar, in a neighbour- ing kingdom. Our nation, as well as the individuals in it, de- pends chiefly upon trade, and trade is fupported by credit and good faith, which would ceafe,the inftant that the pubhc taxes were not paid, and the public creditor not fatisfied. France was in a ftate of adual bankruptcy before the revolution be- gan, and things were accuftomed to be fo arranged in that country, that the pubhc creditor waited the time convenient for government ; fo that the re- volution deranged nothing in the way of the pay- ments. In England, on the contrary, where we pay regularly to an hour, the delay of a fingle hour would ruin our credit, ' . • The %i'i /7 C " 3 The riclies and Intrinfic value of France are far beyond thofe of England, which is a country raifed as it were by force, and the induftry of the inhabitants^ to her prefent ftate. The fale which ftic has obtained for her produ(5lions and manu- factures all over the world, depends ftill more upon the long credits which the merchants are able to give, than upon the excellence or price of jihe manufadures. Now from the moment that inteftrne commotions Ihould begin, our merchants would be able to give no longer fuch long cre- dits, and of confequence they would lofe in a great degree their foreign correfpondents, never again to renew their commerce whh them. ;. "^he navy of England could not be kept up without trade, and even fuppofing that order coijld be rcftored, the taxes vould ceafe to be fo prtidudive ; the bankruptcy therefore begun from the confulion of the circumftances, would be con- tinued by the confequences. We are not ignoi ant that our country Is envied by the rcll of the world, becaufe of the fuccefs of our merchants, and, the fums which they bring away from them, fo that we need not doubt that all poffible mear*5 would be employed to perpe- tuate \ fm T \ m I n 1 tuatc the abafement into whicb vvc fliould thui have fallen. Our pofleffions in the Weft Indies would naturally be occupied by America ; and as for Afi'.i, it b to be hoped it might become inde- pendent, but certainly it would be no longer under our dominion. Nor is it probable with all this, that the caufc of liberty would in the end be advanced, for wc are not eftablilhed on a fertile enough foil to pafi our lime away entirely in politics, and negledt the plow and the fpade. Induftry would dill be necellary, and anarchy would fatigue us as it has once done already, and at the moment of lafli- tudc, it would depend merely upon chance, and the prevailing circumftances of the time, whether the yoke laid upon us would be like that of Oliver Cromwell, or whether it would be a wife arrangement like that made at the glorious revo- lution of King William. It appears then, I think, very evident, that we run an immenfe rifqiie in attempting any re- form whatever ; therefore it is worfe than mad nefs to attempt it. I do not, though a moft ^rm admirer of the prefent ftate of things, mean fq take up the tiaie of my fellow citizens in be-r I ftownig mm' mmmmmm ^PfWfifPipPip [ 24 1 : i (lowing praifc on a conftitution that is far above the praife of any man, having been approved by time and expf.rience ; but give me leave to afk, what is expected from this reform of Parlia- ment ? Is k expeded that the government will be- come more oeconomical ? Suppofe this to be the cafe, yet,, as the intereft of the national debt and the finking fund amount to more than ten mil- lions annually, the favi^gs could only be in the fix millions tnat remain. The civil lift is one million, the navy two millions, the army nearly two, fo that for the ordnance and other general cxpences, there remains but about one million. Suppofe that on thefe it were poflible, which I do not believe, to make a real ccconomy of five hundred thoufand pounds, which would certainly be a good thing, flill that is but a faving of eighteen-pence a-head for the people in Britain, a fum certainly too inconfiderable to be fought after at fuch rifques as thofe I have been pointing out ; befides, let it be obferved, the reform would not, perhaps, fave us that trifling fum, even upon me fuppofition of the partial reform being pra(fli- {:able. Do ir«. ^ ^ I, As''^;,)! *^^fP "W [ *5 ] I Do we individuals confider t'lt important plea- fure of voting for a Member of Parliament as a great defideratum, let us confider alfo, that the more univerfally it is extended, the lefs impor- tant it becomes, and the pleafure dies away ; as in France where an adlive citizen, as he is called, is, for the moft part, not at the pains to give a vote, which nobody is at the pains to fo- licit, and which he (hares with 5700 others, for fuch is the number requifite to chufe a member. . But to be (liort, though Parliament may be accu- fed fometimes of turning a deaf ear to remonftran- ces that are well founded ; and though grievances that ought to be removed, are fometimes left to continue, yet when the people decidedly through- out the nation Qiew their opinion, the King, Lords and Commons immediately comply, and this feems to me to he what the vain-glorious French are feek- ing after, by a wild mad-headed plan, and which they call the fovereignty of the people. As to particular lav, 1, they can but be the refult of the good fenfe and experience of the icprefen- tatives of r.he people ; and as it appears to me that the Parliament confifls of hearly the fitted perfons D in ■ -'■••■'^-'•"•«..W'ii«|ii)WV' '^w ■npp ^iPliii f * , , [ z6 1 - • ■ ■■•■- in the nation, I do not think we can reafonably exped better laws by means of any reform. As to reforms of feveral vices that have crept into the adminiflration of juftice, and into parti- cular laws, it were earneftiy to be defired, and is not to be doubted, that the times are pad when men arc to be led bh'ndly, or argued out of com- mon fenfe ; that can no longer happen : and i the prefent happy conllitution is meant to be preferved, the Minifters and Lords muft hearken ro the general opinion, which, when it fpeaks, dcfcrves attention, even upon matters of interior arrangement. Of this kind, perhaps, is the privilege of ex- emption from arreft, a privilege much abufed, and by that abufe, liable to encourage deraocra- tlcal principles ; for it is revolting to humapity itfelf to fee one part of the community imprifoned, in many inftances, for the confequences of misfor- tune, and another triumphing in liberty, after the moll wanton riot and -extravagance. If my arguments are wrong, let thofe whom it concerns anfwer them, if not, let them give up their plan, and ceafe to agitate a flourifhing and p. happy people with a reform fo dangerous, and of which m m [ '^7 ] M.T, t Il- ls n 11- d be en KS, which they have not yet announced the nature. May the example of a neighbouring nation teach us caution and timidity ! may it alfo teach our rukr3 to be attentive to tlie interefts of men, by removing thofe grievances that are juftly com- plained of! and fo the iatal experience of our ' neighbours may be produfJve of good to us, and the means of prolonging and increafing the prof- periiy and happinefs cf the inhabitants of this hi- therto fortunate ifland. FINIS. Morfe's Geography. 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