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Les diagrammes suivartt* illustrent la mAthode. rata eiure. 3 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 E PR % 'Wi '■« '% SPEECH O F '11 Mi EDMUND BURKE, Esq; At the Guildhall, in BRISTOL, PREVIOUS TO THE LATE ELECTION IN THAT CITY, [Price IJ-. 6^. ] ir i ', SPEECH J o F !': EDMUND BURKE, Esq, AT THE GUILDHALL, IN BRISTOL, previous to the late Eleftion in that City, UPON CERTAIN POINTS RELATIVE TO HIS i.^/VRLIAMENTARY CONDUCT. THE FIFTH EDITION. 1* > I LONDON: pRiNTpp FOR J. DODSLEY, IN Pall-mail, M.DCC.LXXXiX. -i!| ■:*■* \*: \ . f'T l'"^ ]-'::■ ^Ih I ^ 1 1 Vi : S P E E C H, &c. Mr. Mayor, and Gentlemen, ^ . ^^ IAm extremely pleafecl at the appearance of this large and relpeflable meeting. The fteps I may be obliged to take will want the fandion of a confiderable authority j and in explaining any thing which may appear doubtful in my pub- lic conduct, I muft naturally dcfire a very full audience. I have been backward to begin my canvafs.' The diflblution of the Parliament was uncertain j and it did not become me, by an unfeafonable importunity, to appear diffident of the fa<5t of my fix years endeavours to pleafe you. I had fervcd the city of Briftol honourably j and the city of BriRol had no reafon to think, that the means of honourable fcrvice to the public, were become indifferent to me. - ; ..>• I found on my arrival here, that three gen- tlemen had been long in eager purfuit of an ob- jedl which but two of us can obtain. I found, that tlicy had all met with encouragement. A contefted eledlion in fuch a city as th's* is ny, light thing. I paufed on the brink of the precipice. Thcfc three gentlemen, by various B merits. Nl ^i /ll I ^( ^>& I ?s t a ] merits, and on various titles, I made no doubt, were worthy of your favour. I fhall never at- tempt to raife myfelf by depreciating the merits of my competitors. In the complexity and con- fufion of thefc crofs purfuits, I wifhed to take the authentic public lenfe of my friends upon a bufinefs of fo much delicacy. 1 wiflied to take your opinion along with me; that if I fhould give up the contell at the very beginning, my furrender of my poll may not feem the effed of inconftancy, or timidity, or anger, or dilguft, or indolence, or any other temper unbecoming a man who has engaged in the public lervice. If, on the contrary, I fliould undertake the eledtion, and fail of lucccfs, I was full as anxious, that it fhould be manifcft to the whole world, that the peace of the city had not been broken by my rafhnefs, prefumption, or fond conceit of my own merit. I am not come, by a falle and counterfeit fliew of deference to your judgment, to leduce it in my favour. I afk it lerioufly and unaffectedly. If you wifli that I (liould retire, I lliall not con- fider that advice as a cenfure upon my con- duft, or an alteration in your fentiments; but as a-rational fubmifTion to the circumftances of af- fairs. If, on the contrary, you fliould think it proper for me to proceed on my canvafs, if you will rifque the trouble on your parr, I will rifque it on mine. My pretenfions are fuch as ^you cannot be afliamed of, whether they fuccced ■ or fail. a ■ ' u m^. ■Mi ■ t 3 1 t^ you call upon mc, I (hall folicit the favout* of the city upon manly ground. I come before you with the plain confidence of an honed fervant in the equity of a candid and difcerning mailer. I come to claim your approbation, not to amufe you with vain apologies, or with profeflions ftill more vain and fenfclcfs. I have lived too long to be ferved by apologies, or to (land in need of them. The part I have afted has been in open day j and to hold out to a condudl, which (lands in that clear and fteady light for all its good and all its evil, to hold out to that condudl the paltry winking tapers of cxcufes and promifes— I never will do it.— They may obfcure it with their fmoke i but they never can illumine funfhine by fuch a flame as theirs. I am fenfible that no endeavours have been left untried to injure me in your opinion. But the ufc of charafler is to be a fhield againll ca- lumny. I could wifli, undoubtedly (if idle wifhes were not the mod idle of all things) to make every part of my condudl agreeable to every one of my conftituents. But in fo great a city, and fo greatly divided as this, it is weak to ex- pe£l it. > In fuch a difcordancy of fentiments. It is better to look to the nature of things than to the humours of men. The very attempt towards pleafing every body, difcovers a temper always flalhy, and often falfe and infincere.. Therefore, as I have proceeded flrait onward in my condudl, B 2 fo ■U i u I I . I ■ I m I-^ f ) til I r 4 1 To I will proceed in my account of thofc parts of it which have been molt excepted to. But I muft firft beg leave juft to hint to you, that wc may fufFcr very great detriment by being open to every talker. It is not to be imagined, how much of fcrvice is loll from ipirits full of adivity and full of energy, who a'"e prefling, who are rulhing forward, to great and capital objcds, when you oblige them to be continually looking back. "VVhilft they are defending one lervice, they de- fraud you of an hundred. Applaud us when we run i confole us when we fall j cheer us when we recover •, but let us pals on — for God's fake, let us pals on. Do you think, Gentlemen, that every public 'Ji^l in the fi;: years fmce I Itood in this place before you— that all the arduous things which have been done in this eventful period, which has crowded into a few years Ipace the revolutions of an age, can be opened to you on their tair grounds in half an hour's converl'ation ? But it is no rcafon, becauit; there is a bad mode of enquiry, that there fiiould be no exa- mination at all. Molt certainly it is our duty to examine; it is our interelt too. — But it muft be with difcretion ; with an attention to all the cir- cumltances, and to all the motives j like found judges, and not like cavilling pettyfoggers and quibbling pleaders, prying into flaws and hunt- ing for exceptions. Look, Gentlemen, to the ivbole tenour of your member's condud^ Try whether [ 5 ] bad whether his ambition or his av.irice have jiiftlcd him out of the llrait line of duty i or whether that grand foe of the offices of a(5live life, that maftcr-vice in men of bufincfs, a degenerate and inglorious floth, has made him flag and languil? in his courfe ? This is the objedl of our enquiry. If our member's condu<5t can bear this toucli, mark it for fterling. He may have fallen into errors; he muft have faults; but our error s greater, and our fault is radically ruinous to our- feives, if we do not bear, if we do not even ap- plaud, the whole compound and mixed mafs of i'uch a charadler. Not to acl thus is folly •, I had almoft faid it is impiety. He cenfurcs God, who quarrels with the imperfcdtions of man. Gentlemen, we mud not be pvevilh wirli thofe who ferve the people. For none will I'crve us whilfl: there is a court to ferve, but thole who are of a nice and icalous honour. I'hev who think every thing, in comparifon of tliat honour, to be dull and afhes, will not bear to have it foiled and impaired by thofe, for whole AiLc they make a thoufand f.iCiificc<^, to prelcrve it immaculate and whole. We Ihall eithi.^r drive fuch men from the public (lage, or wc fliall fend them to the court for protcy ly e I lid t 9 1 wherever your affairs could call me; and in a6b- ing for you 1 often appeared rather as a Ihip- broker, than as a member of parliament. There was nothing too laborious, or too low for me to undertake. The meannei's of the bufmefs was raifed by the dignity of the objedl. If fome lefler matters have flipped through my fingers, it was becaufe I filled my hands too full j and in my eagernefs to ferve you, took in more than any hands could grafp. Several gentlemen ftand round me who are my willing witnefles ; and there are others who, if they were here, would be ftill better; becaufe they would be unwilling witneffes to the fame truth. It was in the middle of a fummer refidence in London, and in the middle of a negociation at the Admiralty for your trade, that I was called to Briftol ; and this late vifit, at this late day, has been poffibly in prejudice to your affairs. Since 1 have touched upon this matter, let me fay. Gentlemen, that if I had a difpofition, or a right to complain, I have fome caufe of complaint on my fide. With a petition of this city in my hand, paffed through the corporation without a diffenting voice, a petition in unifon with almoft the whole voice of the kingdom, (with whofe formal thanks I was covered over) while I la- boured on no lefs than five bills for a public re- form, and foughp, againft the oppofition of great abilities, and of the greatefl power, every claufe, and every word of the largeft of thofe bills, al- moft to the very laft day of a very long feffion ; all this time a canvafs in Briftol was as calmly carriecl it [ 10 ] carried on as if I were dead. I was confidered as a man wholly out of the queftion. Whilft I watched, and faded, and fweated in the Houfe of Commons— "by the moft eafy and ordinary arts of ele(5lion, by dinners and vifits, by '* How do you do's," and, '' My worthy friends," I was to be quietly moved out of my feat — and promifes were made, and engagements entered into, with- out any exception or referve, as if my laborious zeal in my duty had been a regular abdication of my truft. To open my whole heart to you on this fub- jefl, I do confefs, however, that there weie other times befides the two years in which I did vifit you, v;hen I was not wholly without lei Pure for repeating that mark of my refpeft. But I could not bring my mind to fee you. You remember, that in the bej;;inning of this American war (that jera of calamity, difgrace and downfall, an jera which no feeling mind will ever mention with- out a tear for England) you were greatly divided •, and a very (Irong body, if not the llrongefl, op- pofed itfelf to the madnefs which every art and cveiy power were employed to render popular, in order that the errors of the rulers might be loft in the general blindnefs of the nation. This oppofition continued until after our great, but moft unfortunate viftory at Long Ifland. Then all the mounds and banks of our conftancy were borne down at once; and the phrenfy of the American war broke in upon us like a deluge. This victory, which feemed to put an immediate end to all difficulties, perfected us in that fpirit .2 of t II 3 of domination, which our unparalleled profpcrity had but too long nurtured. We had been fo very powerful, and fo very profperous, that even the humbled of us were degraded into the vices and follies of kings. We loft all meafure between means and ends j and cur headlong defires be- came our politics and our morals. All men who wifhtd for peace, or retained any fentiments of moderation, were overborne or fiienced j and chis city was led by every artifice (and probably with the more management, becaufe I was one of your members) to diftinguifii itielf by its zeal for that fatal caufe. In this temper of yours and of my mind, I fhould fooner have fled to the extremi- ties of the earth, than have fhewn myfelf here. I, who faw in every American vidlory (for you have had a long feries of thef« misfortunes) the germ aild feed of the naval power of France and Spain, which all our heat and wanvuh a- gainft America was only hatching into lire,— I fhould not have been a welcome vifitant with the brow and the language of fuch feelings. When afterwards, the other face of your cala- mity was turned upon you, and fliewed itfelf in defeat and diftrefs, I fhunned you full as much. J felt forcly this variety m our wretchcdnefs ; and 1 did not wilh to have the It^aft appearance of infulting you with that fhew of fuperiority, which, though it may not be afiiimed, is gene- rally fufpedted in a time of calamity, from thofe jBvhofe previous warnings haye been defpifed. I c'i ' " ■ could I 12 I could not bear to (hew you a reprefcntative whofe fac2 did not refleft that of his conftituents ; a face that could not joy in your joys, and forrow in your forrows. But time at length has made us all of one opinion •, and we have all opened our eyes on the true nature of the American war, to the true nature of all its fucceflcs and all its failures. .^ ■ - In that public ftorm too I had my private feelings. I had feen blown down and proftrate on the ground feveral of thofe houfes to whom I "was chiefly indebted for the honour this city has done me. I confefs, that whilft the wounds of thofe I loved were yet green, I could not bear to fhew myfelf in pride and triumph in that place into which their partiality had brought me, and to appear at feafts and rejoicings, in the mid ft of the grief and calamity of my warm friends, my zealous fupporters, my generous bene- faftors. This is a true, unvarniflied, undifguifed ftate of the affair. You will judge of it. This is the only one of the charges in which I am perfonally concerned. As to the other matters objefted againft me, which in their turn I (hall mention to you, remember once more I do not mean to extenuate or excufe. Why fhould I, when the things charged are among thofe upon which I found all my reputation ? What would be left to me, if I mylelf was the man, who fof- tened, and blended, and diluted, and weakened, all the diftinguilhing colours of my life, fo as - '' to t '3 3 to leave nothing diftlnt^ and determinate in my whole condu(5t ? .^, It has been faid, and it is the fecond charce, that in the queilions of the Irifli trade, I did noc confulc the intercfl: of my conftituents, or, to fpeak out ftrongly, that I rather adted as a na- tive of Ireland, than as an Englilh member of parliament. I certainly have very warm good wifhes for the place of my birth. But the fphere of my duties is my true country. It was, as a man attached to your interefts, and zealous for the confervation of 'your power and dignity, that I a6led on that occafion, and on ail occafions. You were involved in the American war. A new woild of policy was opened, to which it was neceflary we Ihould conform whether we would or not ; and my only thought was how to con- form to our fituation in fuch a manner as to unite to this kingdom, in profperity and in affefbion, whatever remained of the empire. I was true to my old, (landing, invariable principle, that all things, which came from Great Britain, Ihould iffue as a gift of her bounty and beneficence, ru- ther than as claims recovered againft a ftruggling litigant ; or at leaft, that if your beneficence ob- tained no credit in your concefTions, yet that they fhould appear the falutary provifions of your wifdom and forefight -, not as things wrung from you with your blood, by the cruel gripe of a rigid neceffity. The firft conceflions, by being (much againft my will) mangled and ftripped of ;•..-•-.- i " the I k [ 14 ] the parts which were neccflary to make out their juft correfpondence and connedlion in trade, were of no ufe. The next year a feeble attempt was made to bring the thing into better fliape. This attempt (countenanced by the minifter) on the very firlV appearance of feme popular uneafinefs, was, after a confiderable progrefs through the houfe, thrown out by /?>/»;. What Aras the confequence ? The whole king- dom of Ireland was inftantly in a flame. Threat- ened by foreigners, and, as they thought, infulted by England, they refolved at once to refift the power of France, and to call off yours. As for us, we were able neither to protedt nor to reftrain them. Forty thoufand men were railed and dif- ciplined without commifiion from the crown. Two illegal armies were feen wirh banners dif- played at the fame time, and in the fame coun- try. No executive magiftrate, no judicature, in Ireland, would acknowledge the legality of the army which bore the king's commiffion ; and no law, or appearance of law, authorifed the army commifTioned by itfelf. In this unexampled (late of things, which the lead error, the Icafl trefpafs on the right or left, would have hurried down the precipice into an abyfs of blood and confufion, the people of Ireland demand a freedom of trade with arms in their hands. They interdid all com- merce between the two nations. They deny all new fupply in the Houfe of Commons, although in time of war. They flint the truft of the old revenue, given for two years to all the king's * " - . predeceflbrs. t 15 1 predcceflbrs, to fix months. The Britifti Parlia- ment, in a former fcflion frightened into a limited conccITion by the menaces of Ireland, frightened out of it by the menaces of England, was now frightened back again-, and made an univerfal furrender of all that had been thought the pecu- liar, rcferved, uncommunicable rights of Eng- land 1 — The cxclufive commerce of America, of Africa, of the Weft-Indies— all the enumerations of the adts of navigation — all the manufadtures, — iron, glafs, even the laft pledge of jealoufy and pride, the intereft hid in the fecret of our hearts, the inveterate prejudice moulded into the conftitution of our frame, even the facred fleece itfelf, all went together. No referve ; no ex- ception j no debate; no difcuflion; A fudden light broke in upon us all. It broke in, not through well-contrived and well-difpofed win- dows, but through flaws and breaches ; through the yawning chafms of our ruin. We were taught wifdom by humiliation. No town in England prefumed to have a prejudice •, or dared to mutter a petition. What was worfe, the whole Parlia- ment of England, wh.'ch retained authority for no- thing but furrenders, was defpoiled of every flia- dow of its fuperintendance. It was, without any qualification, denied in theory, as it had been trampled upon in pradice. This fcens of fliame and difgrace, has, in a manner whilft I am fpeaking, ended by the perpetual eftablifh* ment of a military power, in the dominions of this crown, without ccnfeut of the Britifii V; ^ . ■ ■■ ■•" \ * ^ legiflature, i 9 t 16 ] kgiflaturc*, contrary to the policy of the con- ftitution, contrary to the declaration of right : and by this your liberties are fwept away along with your fuprcmc authority— and both, linked together from the beginning, have, I am afraid, both together pcrifhed for ever. "What ! Gentlemen, was I not to forefee, or forefecing, was I not to endeavour to favc you from all thefe multiplied mifchiefs and difgraces ? Would the little, filly, canvals prattle of obey- ing inftru(Slions, and having no opinions but yours, and fuch idle fenfelefs tales, which amufe the vacant ears of unthinking men, have faved you from " the pelting of that pitilefs ftorm," to which the loofc improvidence, the cowardly raflinefs of thofe who dare not look danger in the face, fo as to provide againft it in time, and therefore throw themfelves headlong into the midft of it, have cxpofed this degraded nation, beat down and proftrate on the earth, unfheltered, unarmed, unrefifting ? Was I an Irifhman on that day, that I boldly withftood our pride ? or on the day that I hung down my head, and wept in Ihame and filence over the humiliation of Great Britain ? I became unpopular in England for the one, and in Ireland for the other. What then .? What obligation lay on me to be popular ? I was bound to ferve both kingdoms. To be pleafed with my fervice, was their affair, not mine. :- I was an Irifhman in the Irifh bufinefs, jufl as much as I was an American, when on the fame * Irifh perpetual mutiny aA. principles, [ 17 ] principles, I wifhcd you to concede to America^ at a time when fhe prayed cchccfTion at our feet. Jtift as much was I an American when I wilhed Parliament to offer terms in vi(5lory, and not to wait the well-chofen hour of defeat, for making good by weakncfs, and by fupplication, a claim of prerogative, pre-eminence, and authority. Inftead of requiring it from me, as a point of duty, to kindle with your pafllons, had you all been as cool as I was, you would have been faved difgraces and diftreflcs that are unutterable. Do you remember our commiflion ? We feht out a' Iblemn embafly acrofs the Atlantic ocean, to lay the Crown, the Peerage, the Commons of Great Britain, at the feet of the American Congrefs. 'That our difgrace might want no fort of brighten- ing and burnirtling, obferVe who they were that compofed this famous embafly. My Lord Car- lifle is among the firft ranks of our nobility. He is the identical man who but two years be- fore, had been put forward, at the opening of a feffion in the Houfc of Lords, as the mover of an haughty and rigorous addrefs againfl: America. He was put in the front of the ertibafTy of fub- mifTion. Mr. Eden was taken from the of- fice of Lord Suffolk, to v/hom he was then un- der Tecretary of ftate-, from the office of that Lord Suffolk, who but a few weeks before, in his place in parliament, did not deign to enquire where a Congrefs of vagrants was to be fou^nd. This Lord Suffolk fent Mr. Eden to find thefe vagrants, without knowing where this King's ^ " C Generals s. I' I ' ♦^(1 M 8n I i8 J Generals were to be found, who were joined m the fatnc commifTion of liipplicating thofc whono they were fcnt to I'ubdue. They enter the capi- tal of America onl, to abanrion it; and ihefc afiertors and reprclcntativcs of the dignity of England, at the tail of a flying army, let fly their Pirthian fliafci of memorials and rcmon- llran^cs at randoni behind them. Their pro- mifcs and their oflVrs, their flatteries and their menaces^ were all ddpifed; and wc were faved the difgrace of their formal reception, only bc'caufc the Congrefa fcorned to receive them v wliilft the State-houfe of independent Phila- delphia opened her doors to the public entry ot tiic ambafiador of France. From war and Mood, we went to IbbmifTion ; and from fub- mifTion plunged back, again to war and blood ; to defolate and be tlefolated, without mea- lure, hope, or end. I am a Royalift, I blufli- ed for this degradation of the Crown. I am a Whig, I biuflied for the difhonoiir of Parlia- ment. I am a true Englifhman, I felt to the cjuick for the dii^race of England. I am a Man, I felt for the melancholy reverie of human affairs, in the fall of the firll power in the world. To read what was approaching in Ireland, ia the black and bloody charafters of the Ameci- can war, was a painful, but it was a necefTary part of my public duty. For, Gentlemen, it is not your fond defircs or mine that can alter the nature of things i by contending againft which what have we got, or Ihall ever get, but defeat ....... .• and r t 19 ] anil fhame ? I did not obey your inflru6l*^^iV» : No. I conformed to the inftruftions of truth v^\ nature, and maintained your intercft, againft ycjr opinions, with a conftancy that became me. A rcprcfentativc worthy of you, ought to be a pcr- fon of (lability. I am to look, indeed, to your opinions*, but to fuch opinions as you and T tnufi have five years hence. I was not to look to the flafli of the day. I knew that you chofe me, in my place, along with others, to be a pillar of the ftate, and not a weathercock on the top of the edifice, exalted for my levity and ver- I'atility, and of no ufe but to indicate tile Ihift- ings of every falhionable gale. Would to God, the value of my fentiments on Ireland and on Ame- rica had been at this day a fubjcdt of doubt and difcuflion ! No matter what my fufferings had been, fo that this kingdom had kept the authority I widied it to maintain, by a grave forefight, and by' an equitable temperance in the ulc of its power. The next article of charge on my public conduft, and that which I find rather the molt prevalent of all, is Lord Beauchamp's bill, t mean his bill of laft rcflion, for reforming the law- procefs concerning imprifonmcnt. It is faid, to aggravate the offence, that I treated the petition of t^iis city with contempt even in prcfentmg it to the Houfc, and expreflTed myfelf in terms of marked difrefpeiSt. Had this latter part of the ch^Tge been true, no merits on the fide of the eans. 1 am a debtor to the debtors. I confefs judgment. I owe, what, if ever it be in my power, J ftiall moft certainly pay, — ample atonement, and ufu- ricus amends to liberty and humanity for my unhappy lapfe. For, Gentlemen, Lord Beau- champ's bill was a law of juftice and policy, as far as it went j I fay as far as it went, for its fault was its being, in the remedial part, mifera- bly defedlive. »■?•:-. '..... There are two capital faults in our law with relation to civil debts. One is, that every man is prefumed folvcnt. A prefumption, in innume- rable cafes, dire<5lly againft truth. Therefore the debtor is ordered, on a fuppofition of ability and fraud, to be coerced his liberty until he makes payment. By this means, in all caies of civil in- folvency, without a pardon from his creditor, I'.z is to be imprifoned for life :'?»-and thus a C ^ miferable i J 1 .if Hi; ''1 if !l [ " ] miferable miHaken invention of artificial fciencc, operates to change a civil into a criminal judg- ment, and to fcourge misfortune or indifcrction with a punilhment which the law does not infli(5b on the greateft crimes. . .:v<»; The next fault is, that the infli(5ting of that punilhment is not on the opinion of an equal and public judge; but is referred to the arbitrary difcrction of a private, nay interefted, and irri- tated, individual. He, who formally is, and fubftantially ought to be, the judge, is in rea- lity no more than miniftcrial, a mere executive inftrument of a private man, who is at once judge and party. Every idea of judicial order is Subverted by this procedure. If the infolvency^ be no crime, why is it punilhed with arbitrary^ imprifonment ? If it be a crime, why is it deli- vered into private hands to pardon without dif- cretion, or to punifh without mercy and without meafLire ? • • ■;' — 'To thefe fauUs, grofs and cruel faults in our law, the excellent principle of Lord Beau- champ's bill applied fome fort of remedy. I know that credit muft be preferved i but equity muft be preferved too*, and it is impoflible, that any thing ihouid be neceflary to commerce, which is inconfiftent with jvifticc. The principle of credit was not weakened by that bill. God forbid ! The enforcement of that credit was only put into the fanie public judicial hands on which we depend for our lives, and all that makes life dear to us. But, indeed, this bufincfs was taken [ 23 ] up too warmly both here and elfewhere. The bill was extremely miftaken. It was luppoial to cnaft what it never enafted ; and complaints were made of claufes in it as riovelties, whioU cxifted before the noble Lord that brought in the bill was bom. There was a fallacy that run through the whole of the objeftions. The gentlemen who oppofed the bill, always argued, as if the option lay between that bill and the antient law.— But this is a grand miftake. For pra<5lically, the option is between, not that bill and the old law, but between that bill and thofc occafional laws called afts of gi'ace. For the operation of the old law is fo favage, and fo incon- venient to fociety, that for a long time paft, once in every parliament, and lately twice, the iegiflature has been obliged to make a general arbitrary jail-delivery, and at once to fet open, by its fovcreign authority, all the prifons in England. Gentlemen, I never relillied acts of grace-, nor ever fubmitted to them but from deipair of bet- ter. They are a dilhonourable invention, by which, not from humanity, aot from policy ; but meixjly becaufe we have not room enough to hold thefe vidims of the abfurdity of our laws, we turn loofe upon the public three or four thoufand naked wretches, corrupted by the habits, debafed by the ignominy of a prifon. If the creditor had a right to thole carcafes as a na^ tural fccurity for his property, I am fure wc have no right to deprive him of that fecurity. C 4 But If m Mm [ ?4 ] But if the few pounds of flefh were not nccef- fary to his feciirity, we had not a right to detain the unfortunate debtor, without any benefit at all to the perfon who confined him.— Take it as you will, we commit injuftice. Now Lord Beau- champ's bill intended to do deliberately, and with great caution and circumfpeftion, upon each feveral cafe, and with all attention to the juft claimant, what ads of grace do in a much greater meafure, and with very little care, caution, or deliberation. ' '■'.-■ :»-;'-' '•- •• - I fufped that here too, if we contrive to op- pofe this bill, we (hall be found in a ftruggle againft the nature of things. For as we grow enlightened, the public will not bear, for any length of time, to pay for the maintenance of whole armies of prifoners •, nor, at their own ex- pence, fubmit to keep jails as a fort of garrifons, merely to fortify the abfurd principle of making men judges in their own caufe. For credit has little or no concern in this cruelty. I fpeak in a commercial afTembly. You !'now that credit is given, becaufe capital muji be employed : tliat men calculate the chances of infolvency-, and they either withhold the credit, or make the debtor pay the rifque in the price. The count- ing-houfe has no alliance with the jail. Hol- land underftands trade as well as we, and (lie has done much more than this obnoxious bill in- tended to do. There was not, when Mr. Howard vifited Holland, more than one piifoner for debt in the great city of Rotterdam. Although "•' "' - • Lord I i [ »5 ] Lord Beauchamp's ad (which was previous to this bill, and intended to feel the way for it) has already preferved liberty to thoufands ; and though it is not three years fince the laft afb of grace paflcd, yet by Mr. Howard's laft account, there were near three thoufand again in jail. I cannot name this gentleman without re- marking, that his labours a'^d writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. H has vifi ted all Europe,— not to furvey the fump- pufnefs of palaces, or the ftatclinefs of temples •, not to make accurate meafurements of the re- mains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a fcale of the curiofity of modern art ; not to colled me- dals, or collate manufcripts :— but to dive into f he depths of dungeons ; to plunge into the in- fiedion of hofpitals; to furvey the nianfions of forrow and pain ; to take the gage and dimen- fions of mifery, depreflion, and contempt ; to re- member the forgotten, to attend to the negleded, to vifif the forfaken, and to compare and col- late the diftrefles of all men in all countries. His plan is original ; and it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of difcovery i a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labour is felt more or lefs in every country : I hope he will anticipate his final reward, by feeing all its effeds fully rea- , lized in his own. He will receive, not by retail but in grofs, the reward of thofe who vifit the pri- foner •, and he has fo foreftalled and monopolized ^his branch of charity, that there will be, I U i € u /.." in "K. nt I: [ 26 ] truft, little room to merit by fuch a(5ls of benevo- lence hereafter. Nothing remains now to trouble you with, but the fourth charge againft me— the bufi- nefs of the Roman Catholics. It is a bufinefs clofely connected with the reft. They are all on one and the fame principle. My little fcheme of conduct, fuch as it is, is all arranged. I could do nothing but what I have done on this fub- je(5l, without confounding the whole train of my ideas, and difturbing the whole order of my life. Gentlemen, I ought to apologize to you, for fcem- ing to think any thing at all necefiary to be faid upon this matter. The calumny is fitter to be fcrawlcd with the midnight chalk of incendiaries, with '" No Popery," on walls and doors of devoted houfes, than to be nnentioned in any ci- vilifed company. I had heard, that the fpiric of difcontcnt on that fubjecb was very prevalent here. With pleafure I find that 1 have been grofsly mifinformed. If it exifts at all in this city, the laws have crufhed its exertions, and our morals have fhamed its appearance in day-lighc. I have purfued this fpirit where-ever I could trace it; but it flill fled from me. It was a oholl, which all had heard of, but none had feen. None would acknowledge that he thought the public proceeding with regard to our Catho^ lie diffenters to be blamcable ; but feveral were forry it had made an ill imprefllon upon others, and that my intereft was hurt by my (hare in the bulineis. I find with fatisfadlion and pride, that not T lEwnaffB •nmm t 27 1 not above four or five in this city (and I dare fay there miflcJ by fome grofs mifreprefentation) |iave figned that fymbol of deluHon and bond of fedition, that libel on the national religion and Englifh chara(Slcr, the Proteftant Aflbciation. It is therefore, Gentlemen, not by way of cure but of prevention, and left the arts of wicked men may prevail over the integrity of any one amongft us, that I think it nccefTary to open to you the me- rits of this tranfa6tion pretty much at large ; and I beg your patience upon it : for, although the reafonings that have been ufed to depreciate the a£t are of little force, and though the authority of the men concerned in this ill defign is not very impofing } yet the audacioufnefs of thefe confpi- rators againft the national honour, and the ex- tenfive wickednefs of their attempts, have raifed perfons of little importance to a degree of evil eminence, and imparted a fort of finifter dignity to proceedings that had their origin in only the meaneft and blindeft malice. • ' * ••* " In explaining to you the proceedings of Par- liament which have been complained of, I will ftate to you,— -firll, the thing that was done ;— next, the perfons who did it j— and laftly, the grounds and reafons upon which the legiflature proceeded in this deliberate acl of public juftice and public prudence. Gentlemen, The condition of our nature is fuch, that we buy our bleffings at a price. The Reformation, one of the greateft periods of hu- nian improvement, was a time of trouble and confuHon* 1 t! t I . [ »s J confufion. The vaft ftruft.Trc of fuperftition and tyranny, which had been for ages in rearing, and which was combined wiih the intereft of the great and of the many ; which was moulded into the laws, the mannersf and civil inllitutions of nations, and blended with the frame and policy of flates \ could not be brought to the ground without a fearful ftrugglej nor could it f^ill without a violent concuflion of itfclf and all about ir. When this great revolution was attempted in a more regular mode by government, it was oppofcd by plots and feditions of the people; when by popular eRbrts, it was reprefTed as re- bellion by the hand of power ; and bloody exe- cutions (often bloodily returned) marked the whole of its progrefs through all its ftages. The affairs c: religion, which are no longer heard of in the tumult of our prefent contentions, made a principal ingredient in the wars and politics of that time i theenthufiafmof religion threw a gloom over the politics ; and political interefts poifoned and perverted the fpirit of religion upon all fides. The Proteftant religion in that violent ftruggie, inftded, as the Popifli had been before, by worldly . interefts and worldly pafTions, became aperfecutor in its turn, fometimes of the ne\y fc(5ts, which carried their own principles further than it was " convenient to the original reformers •, and alway? of the body from whom they parted -, and this perfecuting fpirit arofe, not only, from the biiter- nefs of retaliation^ but from the mercikfs policy of fear. •, . .. .-\ ..... I ■ ■ ' It •^ [ «9 ] It was Ijong before the fpirit of true piety and true wifdom, involved in the principles of the Reformation, could be depurated from the dregs and feculence of the contention with which it was carried through. However, until this be done, the Reformation is not complete ; and thofe who think thcmfelves good Protellants, from their ani- • mofity to others, are in that refpedl no Proteftants at all. It was at firft thought neceflfary, perhaps, to oppofe to Popery another Popery, to get the better of it. Whatevei' was the caufc, laws were made in many countries, and in this kingdom in particular, againft Papifts, which are as bloody as any of thofe which had been enaded by the Popifli princes and flares •, and where thofe laws were not bloody, in my opinion, they were worfe ; as they were flow, cruel outrages on our nature, and kept men alive only to infult in their perfons, every one of the rights and feelings of humanity. I . pafs thofe ftatutes, becaufe I would fpare your pious cars the repetition of fuch fhocking things j and I come to that particular law, the repeal of which has produced fo many unnatural and un- expected confequences. A ftatute was fabricated in the year 1699, by which the faying mafs (a church-fervice in the Latin tongue, not exa«5tly the fame as our Li- turgy, but very near it, and containing no of- , fence whatfoever againft the laws, or againll good morals) was forged into a crime punilh- ; able with perpetual imprifonment. The teach- 1 ing fchool, an ufeful and virtuous occupation, . , ' even i If ■■ir ^ [ 30 ] even the teaching in a private family, was in every Catholic fubjedted to the fame unproportioned punifliment. Your induftry, and the bread of your children, was taxed for a pecuniary reward to ftimulace avarice to do what nature refufed, to inform and profccute on this law. Every Roman Catholic was, under the fame adV, to forfeit his cftatc to his nearefl: Protcftant relation, until, through a profcfTion of what he did not believe, he redeemed by his hypocrify, what the law had transferred to the kinfman as the recompence of his profligacy. When thus turned out of doors from his paternal eftate, he was difabled from acquiring any other by any induftry, donation, or charity ; but was rendered a foreigner in his native land, only becaufe he retained the religion, along with the property, handed down to him from thofe who had been the old inhabitants of that land before him. Does any one who hears me approve thi. any part of it ? If any does, let him fay it, and I am ready to difcufs the point with temper and candour. But inftead of approving, I per- ceive a virtuous indignation beginning to rife in your minds on the mere cold dating of the ftatute. But what will you feel, when you know from hiftory how this ftatute paffcd, and what were the motives, and what the mode of making it ? A party in this nation, enemies to the fyftem of I the t 3« J the Revolution, were in oppofition to the go- vcrnmcni of King William. They knew, that our glorious deliverer was an enemy to all per- lecuiion. They knew that he came to free us from flavery and Popery, out of a country, where a third of the people arc contented Catholics under a Proteftant government. He came with a part of his army compofcd of thofc very Catho- lies, to overfct the power of a Popifli prince. Such is the efFedt of a tolerating fpirit : and fo much is liberty fcrved in every way, and by all pcrfons, by a manly adherence to its own principles. "Whilft frtedom is true to itfclf, every thing becomes fub- je(5l to it i and its very adverfarics arc an inftru- iiient in its hands. The party I fpeak of (like fome amongft us who would difparage the beft friends of their coun- try) refolved to make the King either violate his principles of toleration, or incur the odium of proteding Papifts. They therefore brought in this bill, and made it purpofcly wicked and ab- furd that it might be rejc(5l:ed. The then court- party, difcovering their game, turned the tables on them, and returned their bill to them ftuffed with Hill greater abfurdities, that its lofs might lie upon its original authors. They, finding their own ball thrown back to them, kicked it back again to their adverfaries. And thus this a"as that which we in part repealed, knowing what our duty was ; and doing that duty as men of honour and virtue, as good Proteftants, and as good citizens. Let him ftand forth that difap- proves what ve have done ! , Gentlemen, Bad laws are the worft fort of ty- ranny. In fuch a country as this, they are of all iaad things the worft, worfe by far than any where elfe; and they derive a particular malig- nity even from the wifUom and foundnefs of the reft of our inftitutions. For very obvious realbns you cannot truft the Crown with a difpenfing ^iower over any of your laws. However, a go- vernment, be it as bad ns it may, will, in the exer- cife of a difcretionary power, difcriminate times and perfons ; and will not ordinarily purfue any man, when its own fafety is not concerned. A mercenary informer knows no diftinftion. Under fuch a fyftem, the obnoxious people are flaves, not only to the government, but they live at the mercy of every individual; they are at once the fla' j of the whole community, and of every part of it v an'', the worft and moft unmerciful men are thofe on whofe goodnefs they mof^ depend. In this fituation men not only fhrink from the frowns of a ftern magiftratej but they are obliged to fly from their very fpecies. The feeds of deftru<5lion are fown in ci?'! intercourfe, m foclal habitudes. The blood of wholefome kindred is infeded. Their tables and beds are uirrounded with fnares. All the means given by Providence to make life fafc and comfortable. '-i are. y:. s [¥ e s n '* c t 35 ] are perverted into inftruments of terror and tor- ment. This fpecies of iiniverfal fubferviency, that makes the very l^^rvant who waiis behind your chair, the arbiter of your life and fortune, has fuch a tendency to degrade and abafe man- kind, and to deprive them of that aflured and liberal (late of mind, whici: alone can make us what we ought to be, that I vow to God I would fooner bring myfelf to put a man to immediate death for opinions 1 difliked, and fo to get rid of the man and his opinions at once, than to fret him with a feverilh being, tainted with the jail-difbemper of a contagious fervitude, to keep him above ground, an animated mafs of putre- faction, corrupted himfelf, and corrupting all about him. , .,., •.. ., -,,:%,.•- „. . „ • The aft repealed was of this direct tendency -, and it was made in the manner which I have re- lated to you. I will now tell you by whom the bill of repeal was brought into Parliament. I find it has been ind "ftrioufly given out in this city (from kindnef>, to me unqueftionably) that I was the mover or the feconder. The fa£t is, I did not once open my lips on the fubjedt dur- ing the whole progrefs of the bill. I do not Tay this as difclaiming my fhare in that meafure. Very far from it. I inform you of this fadt, left i ftiould feem to 'arrogate to myfelf the merits which belong to others. To have been the man chofen out to redeem our fellow-citizens from flavery, to purify our laws from abfurdity and injufticej and to cleanfe our religion from the D 2 bloc A n f V A ii 111 J [ 36 ] blot and (lain of pcrfecution, would be an honour and happinefs to which my wifhes would un- doubtedly afpire ; but to which nothing but my wifhes could pofTibly have entitled me. That great work was in hands in every refpeft far bet- ter qualified than mine. The mover of the bill was Sir George Savile. When an a£l of great and fignal humanity was to be done, and done with all the weight and aurho- rity that belonged to it, the world could caft its eyes upon none but him. I hope that few things, which have a tendency to blefs or to adorn life, have wholly efcaped my obfervation in my paflage through it. I have fought the acquaintanct of that gentleman, and have feen him in al' fi . ations. He is a true genius \ with an under- ftanding vigorous, and acute, and refined, and diftinguifhing even to excefs ; and illuminated with a moft unbounded, peculiar, and original caft of imagination. With thefe he poffeffes many external and inftrumental advantages ; and he makes ufe of them all. His fortune is among the largeft; a fortune which, wholly unincum- bred, as it is, with one fi.ngle charge from lux- ury, vanity, or excefs, finks under the benevo- lence of its difpenfer. This private benevolence, expanding itfelf into patriotifm, renders his whole being the eftate of the public, in which he has not referved zpecuUum for himfclf of profit, diverfion, or relaxation. During the feffion, the firft in, and the laft out of the Houfe of Com- mons ; he pafles from the fenate to the camp \ ' '" and . ■ ~ — . ., » . [ 37 1 and, feldom feeing the feat of his anceftors, he is always in Parliament to ferve his country, or in the field to defend it. But in all well-wrought compofitions, fome particulars ftand out more eminently than the reft-, and the things which will carry his name to pofterity, are his two bills i I mean that for a limitation of the claims of the crown upon landed eftates ; and this for the relief of the Roman Catholics. By the former, he has emancipated property ; by the latter, he has quieted confcience j and by both, he has taught that grand leflbn to government and fub- jedt, — no longer to regard each other as adverfe parties. ■ ^ r . • Such was the mover of the adt that is com- plained of by men, who are not quite fo good as he is ; an ad, moft afiuredly not brought in by him from any partiality to that fc(5t which is the objed; of it. For, among his faults, I really cannot help reckoning a greater degree of pre- judice againft that people, than becomes fo wife a man. I know that he inclines to a fort of difguft, mixed with a confiderable degree of afperity, to the fyftem \ and he has few, or rather no habits with any of its profcflbrs. What he has done was on quite other motives. The motives were thefe, which he declared in his excellent fpeech on his motion for the bill -. namely, his extreme zeal to the Proteftant religion, which he thought utterly difgraced by the pcI of 1699 •, and his rooted hatred to all kind of oppreflion, under any colour or upon any pretence whatlbever. Dij The w 1 ii 1' f ''i ^:i '■.1 % :;:w t 38 ] The feconder was worthy of the mover, and the motion. I was not the feconder •, it was Mr. Dunning. Recorder of this city. I (hall fay the lefs of him, becaufe his near relation to yoii makes you more particularly acquainted with his merits. But I fhould appear little acquainted with them, or little fenfible of them, if I could utter his name on this occafion without eXprefr fing my efteem for his chara6ler. I am not afraid of offending a moft learned body, and mod jealous of its reputation for that learning, whea T fay he is the firft of his profeffion. It is a pv "ettled by thofe who fettle every thing elfe •, and i muft add (what I am enabled to fay fron> my own long and clofe obfervation) that there is not a man, of any profcfTion, or in any fitu- ation, of a more ered; and independent fpirit 3, of a more proud honour ; a more manly mind j a more firm and determined integrity. Affure yourfelves, that the names of two fuch men will bear a great load of prejudice in the other fcale, before they can be entirely outv/eighed. With this mover, and this feconder, agreed the whole Houfe of Commons i the whole Houfe of Lords i the whole Bench of Bifhops ; the King ; the Miniftry ; the Oppofition i all the diftinguifh- ed Clergy of the Eftablilhment ; all the eminent lights (for they were confulted) of the Diflent- ing churches. This according voice of national wifdum ought to be liftened to with reverence. To fay that all thefe defcriptions of Englifh- men unanimoufly concurred in a fcheme for introducing I 39 3 introducing the Catholic religion, or that none of chem underflood the nature and efFe^s of what they were doing, fo well as a few obfcure clubs of people, whofe names you never heard of, is fhamelefsly abfurd. Surely it is paying a miferable compliment to the religion we pro- fefs, to fuggefl, that every thing eminent in the kingdom is indifferent, or even adverfe to that religion, and that its fecurity is wholly aban- doned to the zeal of thofe, who have nothing but their zeal to diilinguifh them. In weighing this unanimous concurrence of whatever the nation has to ooaft of, I hope you will recoUeft, that all thefe concurring parties do by no means love one another enough to agree in any point, which was not both evidently, and importantly, right. ■■ • • > . To prove this; to prove, that the meafure was both clearly and materially proper, I will next lay before you (as I promifed) the political grounds and reafons for the repeal of that penal ftatute; and the motives to its repeal at that par- ticular time. Gentlemen, America When the Englilh nation feemed to be dangeroufly, if not irri^co- verably divided ; when one, and that the moft growing branch, was torn from the parent ftock, and ingrafted on the power of France, a great terror fell upon this kingdom. On a fudden we awakened from our dreams of conqueft, and faw ourfelvcs threatened with an immediate invafion } which we were, at that time, very ill prepared to refill. You remember the cloud that gloomed D 4 ^ ' over -*. mmmimmi "^ w^f^nm^^mm' [ 40 ] over us all. In that hour of our difmay, from the bottom of the hiding-places, into which the indifcriminate rigour of our (latutes had driven them, came out the body of the Roman Catho- lics. They appeared before the fteps of a tot- tering throne, with one of the moft Ibber, mea- fured, fteady, and dutiful addreffes, that was ever prefented to the crown. It was no holiday cere- mony ; no anniverfary compliment of parade and ihow. It was figned by almofl: every gentleman of that perfuafion, of note or property, in Eng- land. At fuch a crifis, nothing but a decided refolution to fland or fall with their country could have dilated fuch an addrefs •, the direfl tendency of which was to cut off all retreat j and to render them peculiarly obnoxious to an invader of their own communion. Tiie addrefs Ihewed, what I long languid to fee, that all the fubjedls q{ England had ci c off all foreign views and connexions, and that every man looked for his relief from every grievance, at the hands only of his ov'n natural government. It was neceffary, on our part, that the natu- ral government (hould (hew itfelf worthy of that name. It was neceffary, at the crifis I fpeak of, that the fupreme power of the ftate fnould meet the conciliatory difpofitions of the fubje abilities to many, I yielded in ?eal to none. With warmth, and with vigour, and animated with a jult and natural indignation, I called forth every fa- culty that I poffefled, and I diicded it in every way which I could poflibly employ it. I laboured night and day. I laboured in Parliament : I la- t)oured out of Parliament, If therefore the refolur tion of the Houfe of Commons, refufing to com- mit this aft of unmatched turpitude, be a crime, I am guilty among the forcmoft. But indeed, what- ever the faults of that Houfe may have been, nq one member was found hardy enough to propofe ib infamops a thing j and on full debate we paffed the refolution againft the petitions with as much unanimity, as we had formerly pafled the law of which thefe petitions demaided the repeal. Jhere was a circumftance (jufticc will not fuffer \ t 55 T me to pafs It over) which, if any thing could enforce the reafons I have given, would fully juftify the aft of relief, and render a repeal, or any thing like a re- peal, unnatural, impodible. It was the behaviour of the perfecuted Roman Catholics under the afts of violence and brutal infolence, which they fuffercd. I fuppofe there are not in London lefs than four or five thoufand of that perfuafion from my country, who do a great deal of the moft laborious works in the metropolis ; and they chiefly inhabit thofe quar- ters, which w?re the principal theatre of the fury of the bigOtted multitude. They are known to be men of ilrong arms, and quick feelings, and more remarkable for a determined refolution, than clear ideas, or much forefight. But though provoked by every thing that can ftir the blood of men, their houfes and chapels in flames, and with the moft atrocious profanations of ev^ry thing which they hold facred before their eyes, not a hand was moved to retaliate, or even to defend. Hcd a conflift once begun, the rage of their perfecutors would have redoubled. Thus fury encreafmg by the reverberation of outrages, houfe being fired for houfe, and church for chapel, I am con- vinced, that no power under heaven could have prevented a general conflagration 5 and at this day London would have been a tale. But I am well informed, and the thing fpeaks it, that their clergy exerted their whole influence to keep their people in fuch a fVate of forbearance and quiet, as, when I look back, fills me with ailonifh- mentj but not with aftonifhment only. Their E 4 merits f 56 1 Merits on that occafion ought not to be forgot^' ten; nor will they, when Englifhmen come to recoiled thcmfelvcs. I am fgre it were far more proper to have called them forth, and given them the thanks of both Hoyles of Parliament, than to have fufFered thofe worthy clergymen, and excel- lent citizens, to be hunted into holes and corneri, ^hilft we are making low-minded inquifitions into the number of their people ^ as if 4 tolerating prin-f ciple was never to prevail, unlpfs we were very fure that only a few could pofTibly take advantage of it. But indeed we are not yet well recovered of our fright. Our reafon, I truft, will return with oup fecurity; and this unfortunate temper will pafs over like a cloud. Gentl?mpn, I have now laid before you a few of the reafons for taking away the penalties of the adt 1699, and for refufing to eftablifl^ them or^ the riotous requifition of 1780. Bec^ufe I would not fufFer any thing which qiay be for your fatisfac- tion to efcape, permit me jpft to touch on the ob- je£lions urged againft our adt and our refolves, and intended as a juftjfication of the violence offered to both Houfes. " Parliament," they aflert, " was ** too hafty, and they ought, in fo eflential and ** alarming ^ change,, to have proceeded with a ^' far greater degree of deliberation." The di- reft contrary. Parliament was too flow. They took fourfcore years to deliberate on the repeal of an adt which ought not to have furvived a fecond feiTion. When at length, after a procraf- tinatiofi of near a century, the bufinefs vvas taken ,V^> it proceeded in the |noft public manner, by the I. V < [ 51 ] the ordinary {lage«, and as (lowly as a law To evi- dently right as to be refifted by none, would na- turally advance. Had it been read three times in one day, we fhould have (hewn only a becoming readinefs to rccognife by proteftion the undoubted dutiful behaviour of thofe whom we had but too long puniflied for offences of prefumption or con- jecture. But for what end was that bill to linger beyond the ufual period of an unoppofed meafure ? Was it to be delayed until a rabble in Edinburgh fhould didlate to the Church of England what meafure of perfecution was fitting for her fafety ? "Was it to be adjourned until a fanatical force could be colledled in London, fufficient to frighten us out of all our ideas of policy and juftice ? Were we to wait for the profound lefbures on the rea- fon of ftate, ecclefiadical and political, which the Proteftant Aflbciation have fince condefcended to read to us ? Or were we, feven hundred Peers and Commoners, the only perfons ignorant of the rib- bald inveftives which occupy the place of argu^ ment in thofe remonftrances, which every man of common c' Tervation had heard a thoufand times over, and a thoufand times over had defpifed ? All men had before heard what they have to fay ; and all men at this day know what they dare to do ; and I truft, all honed men are equally influenced by the one, and by the other. But they tell us, that thofe our fellow-citizens, whofe chains we have a little relaxed, are enemies to liberty and our free conftitution.— Not enemies, I prcfume, to their own liberty. And as to the conftitution. W MMMMM » t [ 58 ] S3 conftitution, until wc give tl.*m fomc fiiarc in It, I do not know on what pretence we can examine into their opinions about a bufinefs in which the/ have no intcreft or concern. But after all, are we equally fure, that they are adverfe to our confti- tution, as that our llatutes are hoilile and dcflruc- tive to them ? For my part, I have reafon to be- lieve, their opinions and inclinations in that refpe^b are various, exadtly like thofe of other men : and if they lean more to the Crown than I, and than many of you think we ought, we muft remember, that he who aims at another's life, is not to be furprifed if he flies into any fanduary that will receive him. The tendernefs of the executive power is the natural afylum of thofe upon whom the laws have declared war *, and to complain that men are inclined to favour the means of their own fafety, is fo ab/urd, that one forgets the injuftice in the ridicule. 1 muft fairly tell you, that fo far as my prin- ciples are concerned, (principles, that I hope will only depart with my laft breath) that I have no idea of a liberty unconne£led with honefty and juftice. Islor do I believe, that any good conftitutions of government or of freedom, can find it neceflary for their fecurity to doom any part of the people to a permanent flavery. Such a conftitution of freedom, if I'uch can be, is in effeft no more than another name for the tyranny of the ftrongeft fadion ; and fadlions in republics have been, and are, full as capable as monarchs, of the moft cruel oppreflion and in- juftice. It is but too true, that the love, and even the t 59 1 the very idea, of genuine liberty, is extremely rare.* Jt is but too true, that there arc many, whofc whole fcheme of freedom, is made up of pride, pervcrfe- nefs, and infolence. They feci themielves in a (late jof thraldom, they imagine that their fouls are j:ooped and cabbined in, unlcfs they have fome man, or fome body of men, dependent on their piercy. This defire of having fome one belovf them, dcfcends to thofe who are the very lowcfl: of alli--and a Proteftant cobler, debaftd by his poverty, but exalted by his (hare of the ruling .churchy feels a pride in knowing it is by his generofity alone, that the peer, whofe footman's inllep he meafures, is able to keep his chaplain . from a jail. This difpofition is the true fource of the paflion, which many men in very humble life, have taken to the American war. Our fubjefts in America -, our colonies ; our dependants. This lull of party- power, is the liberty they hunger and Ithirft for j and this Syren fong of ambition, has charmed ears, that one would have thought were never organifcd to that fort of mulic. This way, of profcribing the citizens by detjomifta" fions and general defcriptions^ dignified by the name of reafon of llatf;,, and fecurity for conftitutions and common weakhs, is nothing better at bottom, than the miferable invention of an ungenerous am- bition, which would fain hold the facred truflr of power, without any of the virtues or any of the energies, that give a title to it ; a receipt of policy, made up of a detedable compound of ma- lice, cowandice, and floth. They would govern ^ men ^T^-— --fflW [ f o J men againft their will ; but in that government they would be difcharged from the exercife of vigi- lance, providence, and fortitude *, and therefore, that they may Heep on their watch, they confent to take fome one divifion of the fociety into partner- (hip of the tyranny over the reft. But let govern- ment, in what form it may be, comprehend the whole in its judice, and redrain the fufpicious by its vigilance; let it keep watch and ward; let it difco« ver by its fagacity, and punifh by its iirmnefs, all delinquency againft its power, whenever delin- quency exiils in the overt a£ls ; and then it will be as fafe as ever God and nature intended it fhould be. Crimes are the ads of individuals, and not of deno- minations i and therefore arbitrarily to clafs men undt^ general defcriptions, in order to profcribo and punifti them in the lump for a prefumed delinquen'^y, of which perhaps but a part, perhaps none at all, are guilty, is indeed a compendious method, and iuves a world of trouble about proof; but fuch a metho^^ inftead of being law, is an aft of unnatural rebellion againft the legal dominion of reafon andjuilice*, and this /ice, in any conftitu- tion that entertains it, at one time or other will certainly bring on its ruin. We are told that this is not a religious perfe- cution, and its abettors are loud in difclaiming all (everities on account of confcience. Very fine indeed I then let it be fo; they are not perfecU" tors i they are only tyrants. With all my heart. I am perfeftly indifferent concerning the pretexts upon which >ye torment one another *, or whether it be for the conftitution of the Church of England, or ' [ 6i ] or for the conftitution of the State of England, that people choofe to make their fellow- crea- tures wretched. When we were fent into a place of authority, you that fent us had yourfelves but one commiflion to give. You could give us none to wrong or opprefs, or even to fuffer any kind of opprefllon or wrong, on any grounds whatfoever i not on political, r.s in the affairs of America ; not on commercial, as in thofe of Ireland *, not in civil, as in the laws for debt \ not in religious, as in the ftatutes againft Proteflant or Catholic Diflenters. The diverfified but cpnnefted fabric of univerfal jullice, is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts ; and depend upon it, I never have em- ployed, and I never ihall employ, any engine of power which may come into my hands, to wrench it afunder. All fhall fland, if I can help it, and all Ihall fland conneded. After all, to complete this work, much remains to be done ; much in the Eafl, much in the Weft. But great as the work is, if our will be ready, our powers are not deficient. Since you have fuffered me to trouble you fo much on this fubjeft, permit me, Gentlemen, to detain you a little longer. I am indeed mofl foln citous to give you perfect fatisfaflion. I find there are fome of a better and fofter nature than the perfons with whom I have fuppofcd myfelf in de- bate, who neither think ill of the adl of relief, nor by any means defire the repeal, not accufing but lamenting what was done, on account of the conr fcqucnces, have frequently exprefTcd their wifh, ihac WTFI fmrnt "iPW* HPP t 62 ] that the late afl had never been made. Somtf of this defcnption, and perfons of worth, I have met wich in this city. They conceive, that the prejudices, whatever they might be, of a large part of the people, ought not to have been Ihock- cd ; that their opinions ought to have been pre- vioufly taken, and much attended to ; and that thereby the late horrid fcenes might have been pre- vented. I confefs, my notions are widely different ; and I never was lefs forry for any aftion of my life. I like the bill the better, oft account cf the events of all kinds that followed it. It relieved the real fufferers ; it ftrengthened the ftate ; and, by the diforders that enfued, we had clear evidence, that there lurked a temper fomewhere, which ought not to be foftered by the laws. No ill confequences whatever could be attributed to the ad itfelf. Wc knew before-hand, or we were poorly inflru6led, that toleration is odious to the intolerant •, freedom to oppreflTors ; property to robbers ; and ail kinds and degrees of profperity to the envious. We knew, that all thefe kinds of men would gladly gratify their evil difpofitions under the fanftion of law and religion, if they could : if they could not* yet, to make way to their objeds, tiiey would do their utmoft to fubvert all religion and all law. This wc certainly knew. But knowing this, is there any reafon, becaufe thieves break in and fteal, and thus bring detriment to you, and draw ruin on themfelve that I am to be forry that you are in pofiefllon of (hops, and of warehoufes, and of whoiefomc !i [ 63 ] >vholefome !aws to protcd them ? Are you to build no houfes, bccaufe defperate men may pull them down upon their own heads ? Or, if a malignant wretch will cut his own throat, becaufe he fees you give alms to tlie ncccffitous and deferving ; fhall his dcftruftion be attributed to your charity, and not to his own deplorable madnefs ? If we repent of our good aftions, what, I pray you, is left for our faults and follies ? It is not the beneficence of the laws, it is the unnatural temper which beneficence can fret and four, that is to be lamented. It is this temper which, by all rational means, ought to be fweetened and correded. If fro ward men ihould refuf-; this cure, can they vitiate any thing but themfelves ? Does evil fo reaft upon good, as not only to retard its motion, but to change its nature ? If it can fo operate, then good men will always be in the power of the bad -, and virtue, by a d.eadful reverfe of order, muft lie un- der perpetual fubjedion and bondage to vice. ••-' ■ As to the opinion of the people, which fomc think, in fuch cafes, is to be implicitly obeyed ; near two yeirs tranquillity, which followed the ad, and its inftant imitation in Ireland, proved abundantly, that the late horrible fpirit was, in a great meafure, the effeft of infidious art, and per- verfe induftry, and grofs miff eprefen ration. But fuppofe that the diflike had been much more delibe- rate, and much more general than I am perfuaded it was— When we know, that the opinions of even the greateft multitudes, are the ftandard of reditude, I Ihall think myfelf obliged to make thofe opinions the ■ •■ <<■ *"V imimimmimm wimmm the martfirs of my confcicncc. But if it may hi doubted whether Omnipotence itfelf is competent to alter the efTential conftitution of right and wrong, fure I am^ that fuch things, as they and I, are poflefled of no fuch power. No man carries further than I do the policy of making govern- ment pleafing to the people. But the wideft range of tlis politic complaifance is confined with- in the limits of juftice. I would not only confult the intereft of the people, but I would chearfuUy gratify their humours. We are all a fort of chil- dren, that mud be foothed and managed. I think I am not auftere or formal in my nature. I woukl bear, I would even myfelf play my part in, any innocent buffooneries, to divert them. But I ne- ver will a6t the tyrant for their amufement. If they will mix malice in their fports, I Ihall never confent to throw them any living, fentient, creature whatfoever, no not fo much as a kitling, to tor- men;. ,; " But if I profefs all this impolitic ftubbornhefs^ *' I may chance never to be eledted into Parliament." It is certainly not pleafing to be put out of thfc public fervice. But I wifli to be a member of Parliament, to have my Ihare of doing good, and refifting evil. It would therefore be abfurd to re- nounce my objects, in order to obtain my feat. I deceive myfelf indeed moA grofsly^ if I had not much rather pafs the remainder of my life hidden in the receffes of the deepeft obfcurity, feeding my mind even with the vifions and imaginations of fuch things, than to be placed on the moft fpkndiid throne i 65 1 thi'orie of the univerfe, tantalized with a denial of" the praflice of all which can make the greateft fltuation any other than the greateft curfc. Gen- tlemen, I have had my day. I can never fuffici- ently exprel's my gratitude to you, for having fet me in a place, wherein I could lend the flighteft help CO great and laudable defigns. If I have had my (harei in any meafure giving quiei to private property, and private confcience ; if by my vote I have aided in fecuring to fan\ilies the belt poflef- fion, peace j if I have joined in reconciling kings to their fubjedts, and fubjefts to their prince •, if, I have adifted to loolen the foreign holdings of the citizen, and taught him to look for his protedion to the laws of his country, and for his comfort to the goodwill of his countrymen •, — if 1 have thus taken my part with the beft of men in the beft ojf their adlions, I can Ihut the book i — I might wifh to read a page or two more — but this is enough fur my meafure. — I have not lived in vain. And now. Gentlemen, on this ferlous day, when I come, as it were, to make up my account wich you, let me take to myfelf Ibme degree of honeft pride on the nature of the charges that are againft mc. I do not here ftand before you ac- cufed of venality, or of neglc6l of duty. It is not faid, that, in the long period of my fervice, I have, in a fmgle inliance, facrificed the flighteft of your intercfts to my ambition, or to my for- tune. It is not alledged, that to gratify any anger, or revenge of my own, or of my party,' I have had a lliare in wronging or oppreffing F anV' T^ "^mmmmmmmmmsF > I 66 } any defcription of men, or any one man in any defcription. No ! the charges againft me, are all of one kind, that I have puihed the principles of general juftice and benevolence too far i further r'lan a cautious policy would warrant j and further than the opinions of many would go along with me. —In every accident which may happen through life, in pain, in forrow, in depreflion, and diftrefs— I will call to mind this accufation j and be com- forted. Gentlemen, I fubmit the whole to your judg- ment. Mr. Mayor, I thank you for the trouble you have taken on this occafion. In your ftate of health, it is particularly obliging. If this company ihould think it advifeable for me to withdraw, I (hall refpedfuUy retire ; if you think otherwife, I fhall go diredtly to the Council-houfe and to the Change, and without a moment's de- lay, begin my canvafs. THE END. 11 H .i«Miwiinii....«i [ 67 ] ii Briftol, Sept, 5, 17S0. ^7* a great and refpeaable Meeting of the Friends of EDMUND BURKE, Efqs held at the Guildhall this day \ ' ; ! >, ' i:he Right Worfloipful the Mayor in the Chair j Refolved, That Mr. Burke, as a reprefentative for this city, has done all pofftble honour to himfclj as a fenator and a man, and that we do heartily and honejily approve of his condutl, as the refult of an enlightened loyalty to his fovereign \ a warm and zealous love to his country, through its widely-ex- tended empire ; a jealous and zvatchful care of the liberties of his fellow-fubje^s \ an enlarged and liberal underjlanding of our commercial iyiterefi ; a humane attention to the circumflances of even the loweft ranks of the community -, and a truly wife, politic, and to- lerant fpir it, in fupporting the national church, with a reafonable indulgence to all who diffent from it ; and we wifh to exprefs the moji marked abhorrence of the bafe arts which have been employed, without regard to truth and reafon, to mifreprefent his etninent fervices to his country. Refolved, I'hat this refolution be copied out, and Jigned by the Chairman, and be by him prefented to Mr, Burke, as the fulleji exprejfwn of the refpe£tful ' % and -.'-' " **ilt''i»..i^. .- *,.*^'«A..,. . jznss !WI [ 68 ] and grateful fenfe we entertain of his merits and fer- vices, public and private, to the Citizens of Briftol, as a man and a reprefentative. Refolved, That the thanks of this Meeting be given to the Right JVorJhipful the Mayor, who fo ably and worthily preftded in this Meeting. " Refohed^ That it is the earneji requefi of this Meeting to Mr. Burke, that he fljould again offer himfelf a candidate to reprefent this city in Parlia^ ment \ affuring him of that full and Jlrenuous fupport which is due to the merits of fo excellent a reprefen- tative. This buftnefs being over, Mr. Burke went to the Exchange, and offered himfelf as a candidate in the ufual manner. He was accompanied to the Council- houfe, and from thence to the Exchange, by a la7ge body of mojt refpeBable Gentlemen, amongft whom were the following Members of the Corporation, viz. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Alderman Smith, Mr. Alderman Deane, Mr. Alderman Gorddt, William Weare, Samuel Munckley, John Merlott, John Crofts, Levy Ames, John Fifher JVeare, Benjamin Lcfcombe, Philip Protheroe, Samuel Span, Jofeph Smith, Richard Bright, and John Noble, Efquires. StJ Vs/ \a^ xp ^£ ^f KM ms^nssM