^ . :••/. LIBRJ^RY ! OF THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case, ^, RARS* (200^3 Shelf, ^.^,,,,, S^C.„„^ t^ook, ,f4^^ ._. 1 . .O^ ... . , 1_ • 1 #*i########ii#t#t#ti^^!^«.g^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ POLITICAL DISQJLJI SIT IONS, &c. After treating of our duty to the Gods, it is proper to teach tha{ which we owe to our Country. For our Country is, as it were, a /e,.«0»M>-"<>«<-<>''"<>'' •■<>''"<>""<>-"<>"-<>".^""<>««.><>'' ••<>•••'<>••■'<►•-.«>••..<>- «<>—<>""<>""<>«-'4>--<»*"^>" POLITICAL DISQUISITIONS; O R, An ENQUIRY into public Errors, Defects, and Abuses. Illuftrated by, and eftabliflied upon Facts and Remarks, extraded from a Variety of Authors, Ancient and Modern. CALCULATED To draw the timely Attention of Government and People, to a due Confideration of the Neceffity, and the Means, of Reform- ing thofe Errors, Defects, and Abusesj of Restoring the Constitution, and Sav- ing the State. . / By J. BURGH, Gentleman; Author of the Dignity of Human Nature, and other Works. volume the first. PHILADELVHIA: Printed and Sold by ROBERT BELL, in Third-Strsst; and WILLIAM WOODHOUSE, m Front-Street, M, D C C, L X X V. GENERAL PREFACE. EVER fmce I have been of age to diftinguifli between good and evil, I have obferved, that, in this bleflcd country of ours, the men in power have purfued one uniform track of tax- ing and corrupting the people, and increafiog court-influence in parliament, while the pretended patriots have exclaimed againft thofe meafuies, at leaft till themfelves got into power, and had an op- portunity of carrying on the fame plan of govern- ment ; which they feldom failed to do, while the conftitution was drawing nearer to its ruin, and our country lay bleeding, I was fure, there was a right and a wrong in go- vernment, as in other things. I knew, that the fpirit of the conftitution, and the intereft of the nation are fixed things, not to be altered backward and forward according as a Harley, a Walpoky or a Pelhaniy was in, or out of place. 1 faw much quibbling and fallacy in our party-fquabbles, while 1 was certain, that there was a true and a falfe in politics, as in all other objedts of human under- ftanding. I determined to take the fenfe of mankind on the great and interefting points of government ; and vi GENERAL PREFACE. and to fee what experience teaches to expe£l from wife and upright, as well as from blundering and corrupt adminiilration, I applied the leifure hours of many years to the perufal of the beft: hiftorical and political books, an- cient and modern, and made coUedtions to the quan- tity-cf many folio volumes, I cpnfidered, that hiftory is the inexhauftible xnine, out of which political knowledge is to be brought up. This was obferved by Plato ^ and in confequence he wrote his Republic, and other poli- tical works. Ariftotles Politica are full of wife remarks, drawn chiefly from hiftory. Montes-* QUiEU has colledted his admirable work, L'Esprit DES Loix, in great meafure, from hiftory, Monta- gues excellent book on Ancient Republics is wholly mad;^ out of the fame materials. The abbe de 5/. Pierre labours in many parts of his Ouvrages Politiques (particularly in his EfTay, entituled, Ob^ jervatiom pour venire y &c. Remarh Jor rendering the Perufal of Plutarch' i hives more agreeable ^ afid more profitable ) to fhev/, that there are no means fo effec- tual for communicating the moft ufeful inftrud:ions to the minds of men, as making obfervations upon the fads recorded in hiftory. Alph onfus Y . kmg oi Arragouy was wont to fay, the dead were the beft counlellors. Rollin wrote his Ancient and Roman Histories on purpofe that be might have an oppor- tunity GENERAL PREFACE. vii tunity of making ufeful moral and political remarks upon the fadts he was to relate. Our incomparable female hiftorian (Mrs. Macauly) has given the public a new hiftory of the StuartSy for the purpofc of inculcating on the people of Britain the love of liberty and their country. That no important hiftorical faft, nor valuable po- litical remark, or as few as poffible, might efcape me, I went through a general courfe of fuch read- ing; particularly the following, viz. Universai* History, Ancient and Modern, 68 volumes, befides feveral of the Greek and Latin originals ; Raping and two or three other £«'^///y& hi (lories ; Magazines of the laft lo years; Parliamen- TORY History, 24 volumes; Debates of the Lords and Commons, 30 volumes; Ancimt vi\ik A/(?^fr« Republics, 27 volumes ; xYiq Harleian Mis- cellany, 8 volumes; Somers\Trz&$y 16 volumes; the political writings of Sidney, Locke, Harrington, Gordon^ Tre?tchardy Bolingbrokey St. Pierre, Hume, Montefquieu, Blackjione, Montague, Rymers Foe- dera, Statwtes at Large, 5tate Papers, &c. And it is my purpofe to apply what may re- main to me gf life and leifure to the fame ftudy : and if I find any new ipiatter intcrefting to my country, which I cannot infert "in the body of this work, it fhall be given the public in a iupplemental volume. » Moft via GENERAL PREFACE, Moft writers bave a fet of dodlrines they would lay before the public, and they perufe authors on the fame fubjedl, in order to ftrengthen their own af- fertions by the authority of eftabliflied writers. But I read in order to obferve what the bed hiftorical and political writers have faid, and to lay that be- fore the public, as decifive. And as I did not, in celleding my materials, truft to indexes ; but turn- ed over, page by page, many hundreds of volumes, tKe matter I colledted came at laft to fuch a prodigious heap, ^■M "rudis indigejlaque moles, -congejlaque eodem Non bene jun5l arum difcordia femina rerum, OviB.) that I forefaw, I ftiould have no fmall difficulty in arranging this chaos into a fyftem. Nor have I been able to pleafe myfelf at laft in this refped. For many articles are, I doubt, not referred to the heads, to which they moft properly belong ; and many articles relate to feveral heads. I hope, however, by means pi a table at the end of the whole, to make up for this deficiency. I have every where referred to the volume and page of my authors, with as much corredtnefs as I could, that my readers may fatisfy themfelves- and, if they think fit, may perufe what I have not quoted. Where I have put turned commas, I quote verbatim; and where I tranflate, or abridge GENERAL PREFACE. ix abridge the fenfe of my authors, I believe the reader will find I give it genuine. When I infert fhort remarks of my own in the midft of other matter, I inclofe them with brackets for diftindtion's fake. The political authbrs I quote are not all of equal authority. To mod of them I appeal on account of the weight, which their opinion has juftly obtained j others I introduce becaufe they have expreffed the fentiment I would inculcate, with fuch clearnefs and ftrength as muft convince every reafonable reader* In cafes where it may be fuppofed a writer may be partial to a particular fentiment, it is an advantage to give his reader the fame fentiment in the words of another, rather than in his own, though the au-- thor quoted may not be of the firft rank for merit and weight. I do not pretend to have extradled from my au- thors, or to have applied all that may be found in them interefting to this country. But the number of fads and remarks I have extraded and applied, is fo confiderable, that I think the colledion muft be va- luable, as tending to fave gentlemen, who would im- prove themfelves in political knowledge, a great deal ©f time and labour, and as ferving to bring together a multitude of ufeful hiftorical precedents, and of wife refledions, fcattered in many hundered volumes j upon which materials alone it is poflible to found any folid political principles. Vol. 1. b Every X GENERAL PREFACE. Every body has obferved, that, on political fub- jedts, the opinions of men are peculiarly vague, un- fettled, and contradictory, becaufe all men will, and in a free country, ought to judge of politics. There are indeed many particulars to be attended to, various views of things to be taken, and many comparifons to be made, in order to form juft ^nd fteady prin- ciples of politics. And thefe etnployments o^ the mind requiring leifure, thought, and labour, it is not to be wondered, ' that few ever come to defervc, in a general and extenfive manner, the character of found politicians j though it is certain that every man of common fenfe may, if unbiaffed, very clearly fee wherein his country's great intereit confifts. The fame obfervation may be made on politics as ofie of the fathers has made on holy Scripture ; The lamb may wade in them, and the elephant fwim. • The fcietice of politics' [extenfively confidered] « is as much fuperior to all others,' fays S. Pierre, « as the whole is fuperior to a part. For it compre- hends nil human knowledge, and, to be a good po- litician, a man muft have a general knowledge of all arts and fciences a/ On the other hand, it is obferv- ed by Locke, That politics [in the common and con- fined fenfe] are only common fenfe applied to na- tional, inftead of private concerns. Some a S» Pierre, Ouvr, Polit, vi, 14. GENERAI, PREFACE. XI Some things are right in theory, for inftance, but not in pradice, and contrarivviXe. Hereditary fuc- ceffion to regal power applied to the left of reafon, appears, ^^mr/, confummately abfurd. But eledive monarchy, if we judge of it from its effeds in Po- land, is an inexhauftible fountain of mifchief to a country. Some meafures are in general falutary ; but purfued at particular times, would ruin all. In diftinguifiiing wifely lies the fuperiority of genius in flatefmen, ^ There are no fuch mighty talents neceflary for government as fome, who pretend to them, v/ithout poiTeffing them, would make us believe. Honeft affec- tions, and common qualifications, are fufficient, and the adminiflration has always been beft executed, and the public liberty beil preferved, near the origin and rife of ftates, when plain fenle, and common honefty alone governed public affairs, and the morals of men were not corrupted by riches and luxury, nor their underflanding perverted by fubtleties anddiflindions, Great abilities have generally, if not always, been employed to miflead the honeft unwary multitude, and draw them out of the plain paths of public virtue and public good ^^' In a country which pretends to be free, and where, confequently, the people ought to have \1^^eight in the government, it is peculiarly necef- fary a Cato'sLett. i. J78. xii GENERAL PREFACE. fary that the people be poffefled of juft notions of the intereft of their country, and be qualified todiftingui(h between thofe who are faithful to them, and thofe who betray them. It mud, 1 think, fill every generous mind with indignation, to fee our good-natured countrymen a- bufcd over and over, from generation to generation, by the fame ftale dog-tricks repeatedly played upon them, by a fucceffion of pretended patriots, who, by thefe means, have fcrewed out their predeceflbrs, and wormed themfelves into their places. To teach the people a fet of folid political principles, the knowledge of which may make them proof againft fuch grofs a- bufe, is one great objedl of this publication. If the people do not look with an eye of fevere and unremitting jealoufy, after their own great and weighty concerns, in whofe hands muft they leave them ? The anfvver is. In thofe of a miniftry. And what hope is there, that in fuch hands they will be fafe? In thefe coUedlions, under the article Minis- ters, it will too plainly appear, from hiftory, that minifters have generally been a fet of ambitious, or avarcious grandees, who have, by all the worft kinds of arts, thruft themfelves into power, in order to raife (as they call it) themfelves and their fami- lies, and to fill their pockets. Entering into public ftations with fuch views, it is to be fuppofed, that they would form to themfelves an intereft totally GENERAL PREFACE. xui totally feparate and diametrically contrary to that of the people, and that they would debauch the houfe of commons to join them againft their conftituents. And is it not then neceffary, that the people fliould be qualified, and difpofed to take care of their own interefts, and fecure themfelves againft fo formidable a fet of internal enemies ? * None can be faid to know things well, who do not know them in their beginnings,' fays Sir W. temple \ * All ought to know what is right, and what is wrong in public affairs,' fays St, Amand^. Not only the people, but our ftatefmen and legif- lators, may from the following collections gain lights, and meet with hints, which, if properly purfued, may lead them to meafures of a more generous kind, than that feries of poor and temporary expedients, by which they have long made a (hift to patch up matters, aud barely keep the machine of government from burfting in ruins about them, while the effici- ency of the conftitution (as will too clearly appear in the fequel) is annihilated. The ableft politicians have always been the moft defirous of information. The great Colbert ufed to declare, that he thought his time well fpent in peruf- ing an hundred propofals for advancing the wealth, the a Pref, to Hist. Enc. b Pref. to Hist. Parl. ivx GENERAL PREFACE. the commerce, and the glory of France, if but one of them deferved to be encouraged a. If, on the contrary, any Leviathan of power (hews himfelf bent on other objeds, than the public good, and with a brutal effrontery prefumes publicly to turn into ridicule all that tends to national benefit, and to declare, as fome ftatefmen have been known to do. That he knows of only one engine of government, ^iz. * Finding every man's price, and giving it to him '/ it is to be hoped, that the independent people will find a hook for his jaws, and be able to drag him out of that fea of pov/er, in which he wallows, that the vefl^el of the ftate may fail in fafety. To point out thofe enemies of mankind, and to animate the in- dependent people again ft them, is as great a fervice as can be done the public. Whether thefe coHedions will, in any degree, produce this effed, remains to be feen. Some courtly readers may think I have put too much gall into my ink, when defcribing the political abufes, which difgrace our country : But Mr. Gor- don^ fays, * No man can be too defirous of the glory and fecurity of his country, nor too angry at its ill ufage, nor too revengeful againft thofe, who abufe and betray it.* When Sir J, Baniardy A. D. 1740, was cen* fured in the houfe of commons by Sir fF. Tonge, for a Pojlleth^. Brit. True System, xlv, b Cato's Lett. 11. 49, GENERAL PREFACE. xt for calling the feamens bill by its proper name, he anfwered as follows. ' I have always heard it reprefented as an inftance of integrity when the tongue and heart move in con- cert, when the words are reprefentations of the (cn^ timents ; and have therefore hitherto endeavoured to explain my arguments with perfpicuity, and to im- prefs my fentiments with force. I have thought it hypocrify to treat ftupidity with reverence, or honour nonfenfe with the ceremony of confutation. As knavery, fo folly, that is not reclaim able, is to be fpeedily difpatched, bufinefs is to be freed from ob- ftruftion, and fociety from nuifance. Now, Sir, when 1 am cenfured by thofe whom I may offend by the ufe of terms correfpondent with my ideas, I will net, by a tame and filent fubmiffion, give reafon to fufped:, that I am confcious of a fault, but will tf^at the accufation with open contempt, and fhew no greater regard to the abettors than to the authors of abfurdity. That decency is of great ufe in public debates, I fliall roadily allow 5 it may fometimes fiieU ter folly from ridicule, and preferve villainy from pub- lic detedions nor is it ever more carefully fupported than when meafures are promoted, which nothing can preferve from contempt but the folqmnity with which they are eftablifhed. Decency is a proper circum- cumftance; but liberty is the eflenceof parliamentary difquifitions. Liberty is the parent of truth: but truth and decency are fometimes at variance: all men and xvl GENERAL PREFACE. and all propofitions are to be treated here as they de-* ferve ; and there are many who have no claim either to refpeft or decency.' I expert the fons of flavery to cry out, * The au- thor is a republican, a difcontented party-man, a Ja- cobite, a papift/ So the '^ews ftigmatifed the primi- tive chriftians, and the papifts to this day the pro- teftants with the odious appellation of heretics. The court-fycophants in Charles I's times called the friends of liberty puritans, and the Walpoliam called the op- pofers of that arch-corrupter difaffeded. But wifdom is juftified of her children. Let our courtiers over- throw the facts and the reafonings in the following pages. If they cannot, they are to yield to truth, were it delivered to them even by a papift. • J would wifli the reader to think I write in the fpirit of a true independent whig, whofc charader JMr. Gordon defcribes as follows. * An independent whig fcorns all implicit faith in the ftate, as well as the church. The authority of names is nothing to himj he judges all men by their aftions and behaviour, and hates a knave of his own party as much as he defpifes a fool of another. He confents not that any man or body of men (hall do what they pleafe. He claims a right of examin- ing all public meafures, and if they deferve it, of cenfuring them. As he never faw much power GENERAL PREFACE. xvii power poffeffed without feme abufe, he takes upon him to watch thofe that have it ; and to acquit, or expofe them, according as they apply it to the good of their country, or their own crooked purpofes \' Others may alledge, that a private gentleman, who has never been employed in the ftate, is lefs likely to be of fervice to the public by writing on political fub- jedts^ Let Harringto?2 anfwer them. ' It was in the time oi Alexander, the greateft prince and commander of his age, that Arijiotle^ with fcarce inferior applaufe and equal fame, being a private man, wrote that excellent piece of prudence in his cabinet, which is called his Politics, going upon far other principles than thofe of Alexanders government, which it has long outlived. The like did Titus Ltvius in the time of AuguftuSy Sir Thomas More in the time oi Hen. VWh zndi Machiavel when Italy was under princes that afforded him not the car. Thefe works neverthelefs are all of the mod efteemed and applauded in this kind j nor have I found any man whofe like endeavours have been per- fecuted fince Plato by Dionyfius. I ftudy not with- out great examples, nor out of my calling'; either arms, or this art, being the proper trade of a gentle- man. A man may be intrufted with a fhip, and a Vol. L c good a (?<>rr/, Tracts, i. 311 xviii GENERAL PREFACE. good pilot too, yet not underftand how to make fea charts. To fay that a man may not write of go- vernment, except he be a magiftrate, is as abfurd as to fay, that a man may not make a fea chart, unlefs he be a pilot. It is known, that Chrijiopher Colum- bus made a chart in his cabinet, that found out the Indies, The magiftrate, that was good at his fteerage, never took it ill of him that brought him a chart, feeing whether he would ufe it or no, was at his own choice ^ and if flatterers, being the word fort of crows, did not pick out the eyes of the living, the (hip of government at this day throughout Chrif- tendom had not ftruck fo often as fhe has done. To treat of affairs, fays Macbiavely which as to the con- ducft of them appertain to others, may be thought a great boldnefs 5 but if I commit errors in writing, thefe may be known without danger ; whereas, if they commit errors in ading, fuch come not other- wife to be known than in the ruin of the common- wealth 2/ I do not pretend to enter far into political contro- verfy. Life is not long enough to difpute all that is difputable in fo boundlefs a fuhjed: as politics, or to give ihtpro and co?i of all controverted points. If I fufficiently prove a point, as, That a ftanding army is dangerous to liberty. That placemen in the houfe A Oceana, pt 235.. GENERAL PREFACE. xlx houfe of commons are inconfiftent with the neceffary independence of the reprefentative body, &c. it figni- lies little what may be urged in defence of thofe a- bufes. For though, * ^udi alteram partem. Hear both fides,' is a good maxim in law, yet there are cafes, when that is needlefs. If there be fufficient poiitive proof, that the accufed was at Edinburgh at the hour, in which a murdered perfon was killed at London, it can fignify little to hear prefumptions of his guilt, unlefs it were to give a declaimer an oppor- tunity of fhining, As to the article oi Jiyle, I am in hopes, every candid reader will allow, that the colledor of fuch a variety of matter could not well fpend time in ga- thering the flowers of ParnaJJus. Such a work as this, adorned with the flights of rhetoric, would re- femble an anchor (would to God this work might prove an anchor to the tempeft-toffed flate!) orna- mented with carving and gilding. And 1 cannot help remarking here, that, of late years, we feem to have paflTed from too great a negligence of ftyie to an excefs on the laboured and finical fide. I have, in what of the following is v/ritten by me, aimed at perfpicuity. The worthlefliiefs of the great is often not Icfs r/- dkulous than it is odious. In remarking upon it, I have fometimes been forced to laugh, though with a * heavy heart. This, as I indulge it but feldom, I hope the reader will excufe. Pafcal, XX GENERAL PREFACE. Fafcak a grave author, if ever there was one, re- commends the ufe of ridicule in oppofmg opinions too abfurd to bear reafoning \ Sbaftjhury carries this point fo far as to fet up (very erroneoufly in my opinion) ridicule for a tcft of truth, inftead of truth for a tcft of ridicule. Even the infpired writers have not difdained the ufe of ri- diculed I ridcntem dicere verum Quis vetat? ridiculum acri Fortius et melius magnas plcrumque fecat res. HOR. Though the fubje<5l of the intended fubfequent vo- lumes be the continuation of what is treated in thi$ iirft, viz. an enquiry into public abufes, and means of correding them ; it is my intention, that this and every fucceeding volume, be, in fuch a manner com- plete and independent, as to be fit to ftand by itfclf without any of the others -, as if each volume vi^as a different book. In this volume, for inftance, I have endeavoured to fliew, that our parliaments are, at prefent, upon fuch a foot, as to the inadequate ftate of reprefentation, the enormous length of their period, and minifterial in- fluence prevailing in them, that their efficiency for the good of the people is nearly annihilated, and the fubverfion a Proving. Letters, Let, xi. b See I Kings, xviii. GENERAL PREFACE. xxi fubverfion of the conftitution, and ruin of the ftate is (without timely reformation of thefe abufes) the con- fequence unavoidably to be cxpeded. If the candid reader finds, that all this is but too effectually proved in this firft volume, then may this iirft volume be properly faid to be complete, and in- dependent on thofe intended to follow. Thofe minute critics, whom Mr. Pope dignifies and diftinguiflies by thetitleof Haberdafhers of fmall wares, may plume themfelves upon finding fome errors and inaccuracies in this work. In the lift of boroughs, for inftance, which fend in the majority of the houfe of commons, two or three places are faid to fend 2 members each, whereas they fend only one each. But in that calculation an error of looo, or 10,000 voters is nothing toward invalidating the affer- tion to be proved : And the cafe will be the fame in many other inftances. If any miftakes of importance are pointed out to the author, he will thankfully ac- knowledge them. And if he fhould have occafion to publifli a new edition, corredted, or improved, he will take care, that the Jirji purchafers have the cor- rections and improvements ^r^//i. It never was my defign to form aj(jjy?^/;^ of politics; therefore I did not hold myfelf obliged to treat of all political fubjefts. On xxii GENERAL PREFACE. On land war I have colledtcd little, befides con- fiderations, fliewing, that we have hardly ever had any occafion tointangle ourfelves with thedifputes be- tween the powers on the continent, unlefs where we could employ our naval force with fuccefs. Commerce is an immenfe field, into which, I fel- dom enter; the comprehenfive Didionary on that fubjed: by Mr. Pojilethwaytey and Hiftory by my late efteemed friend Mr. Anderfon, having fuperfeded my labour. In thefe two books, and the original authors quoted in them, is contained a treafure of valuable remarks on that mod interefting fubjed, to which every public-fpirited perfon in the kingdom ought to attend. The fubjeds treated of in this volume are drawn out in the following table of contents. If the public (hews a difpofition to receive favourably the remain- der of what I have colleded, it fliall be publilhed with all convenient fpeed; as there is but little wanting to fit it for the prefs. For the remaining vo- lumes, I have by me large coUedions on the follow- ing heads, viz. Of corruption in general , of degeneracy in this country s of manners, education, luxury, adultery, duelling, &c. of liberty in general 3 of various forms of government, their refpedive advantages and difadvan- tages 3 oiBritifi liberty ; danger of the lofs of liberty, and confequences i ofjuries, advaatages and difadvan- tages 5 GENERAL PREFACE, xxiii tages; of law, and its grievances; of colonies, and the proper methods for encouraging them ; of the army, and dangers from it -, advantages of a militia; the ruinous effeds of continental con- nexions 3 the importance of the navy; the condud of finances, comprehending taxes, cuftoms, excifes, national debt, flock-jobbing, &c. ; a view of the artsof wicked miniflers, and favourites ; charaderand condud of kings; and of lords; a difplay of priefl- craft ; importance of population, comprehending obfervations on provifions, monopolies, cultivation of land, &c, ; of redrefs by the people, when govern- ment refufes it ; of party ; of patriotifm, true and falfe ; of national prejudice, and many other articles. The fubjed of thefe colledions, though political, goes beyond mere temporal concerns. It takes in education, manners, and charaders, public and pri- vate. Thofe are but fhallow politics, which do not comprehend found morals ; and the confequences of the moral charaders of men reach into the unfeen world. Long Prefaces are feldom acceptable to readers. I fhall therefore beg leave to break off here for the prefent, and to leave before the impartial tribunal of the public my following labours, not doubting but they will be in general received with the candor, ^ which their intention, more than their merit, may claim. Books BOOKS guofed or referred to, in this Firjl Volume A ARISTOTELIS Politica. App-'am Opera. Antonius Ih^usy De Republica Athenienfi, Antient Univcrfal HiTtory. Almond Dcibates of the Houfe of Commons, Ada Regia. ArticuH Cleri. Amand (SJ Hiftory of Parliament B Bible. Burnett Hiftory of his Own Times, Brady s Hiftory of England. Blackjione's Commentaries on the Englifli Law. Bohuns Right of Eledtion. Boriaje^ Natural Hiftory of Cornwal. Bacons f Nathan, J Difcourfes on the Government of England. £(?/z£;^/*s Account of Corfica. Bolingbroke^ Remarks on Englilh Hiftory. Cafaris Commentarii. Carte's Hiftory of England, Cokes Inftitutes. Cicero de Legibus. Cole's Memoirs. Cat OS Letters. Confiderations on the Caufes of the prcfent Difcon- "^ tents. \ Czarina's Inftrudlons for a Code of Lawfi, b BOOKS quoted, or referred to, in this Firji Volumel D D tony fit Halicamajfcnjis Opera* Idioms Cajjii Hiftoria. Davenatit'^ Works. Diffirtation upon Parties, Dalrymple's Memoirs. Doddridge on Parliaments. Debates of che Lords, r of the Commons, Emmii fUbbonis) Refpublicae Vetcn Elfynge on Parliaments, P Fadion detedted by fads. • G Gordons Tradts. Grotms, De Antiquitate Reipubl. Batav. H Harringtons Oceana, JIakeueii's Modus tenendi Parliamentum, Hale's Power of Parliament. Bume's Hiftory, and Effays, Horatii Opera. Hirtorical Effays on the Englifh Conftltution. Harleian Mifcellany, I yanigon, Etat prefent des Provinces Unies, K Krztfianomc, Poloniae Defcriptio; BOOKS quoted, or referred to, in this Firft Volum jjivtt Hiftoria Romana, Lucant Pharfalia. Locke on Government. Laet (De) Hifpaniae Defcriptio* Ludlow^ Memoirs. M Modern Univerfal Hiftory. Montefqueu L*Efprit des Loix* Magazines. Macaulays Hiftory of England. Milton\ Paradife Loft, Eikoaoclaftes, ^c, MackiaveH Political Works, Mirror of Juftices, by Andrew Home. Murray (Alex,) Efq. Pamph, N ISIepos (Corn,) Vitae. News-Papers. Nalfon^ Colledtions. Platonis Opera. Plutarchl Vitae. Pojilethwayte's Didlionafy of Commerce; Bfitain'a True Syftem, (Sc, Parliamentary Hiftory. (Polybius) Pretace to a Fragment from, Pierre (S ) Ouvrages De. Petyt\ Miiceilania Parliamentarian Rapine Hiftory of England* Richelieu^ Teftam. Pulit, BOOKS quoted, or referred to, in this ^irfi Volume. Review of the Place-Bill. ReyneFs f Abbe J Hiftory of Englifli Pari. Retz (Cardinal de) Memoirs. Rujhworth's Colledions. S Statutes at large, Saluji. Hiftoria. Somer/s (Lord) Trads. Steele (Sir Rich. J Englifhman and Crlfis. Suetonit Caefares, Simleri Helvetias Defcriptio. Sidney on Government. Smiths (Sir Thomas) Commonwealth of Engl^ State Trads written in the time of k. William. T Taciti Annal. ct Hiftor. Tindah Continuation oi Raping Hiftory, "Temples (Sir William) Works. Velleius Taterculus, Voltaire Effais fur THiftoire.^ Virgil ^neid, Verjlegan\ Englifli Antiquities. Ufe and Abufe of Parliaments. W Willis\ Notitia Parliamentaria. Whitelockes Memoirs. Whiteheads Manners, C O N T E N T S« BOOK I. Of Government Briefly, C H A P. I. Page i. Government by Laws and SanSiions, why necejfary. CHAP. II. Page 3. ffbe People the Fountain of Authority, the ObjeSi of Government y and laji Refource, CHAP. III. Page 5. Of Government by Reprefentation» CHAP, IV. Page 6. Advantages of Parliamentary Government y 'which have recommended it to many Nations. BOOK II. Of Parliaments. CHAP. I. Page 22- Parliaments irregular and deficient y i. By ejlablifh-- ment. 2, By Abufe. By EJiabli/hment they are an inadequate Reprefentation of the People^ and their Period is too long. By Abufe they are corrupt. CHAP. II. Page 24. Inadequate Reprefentationy its Difudvantages* CHAP. III. Page 36. What would be adequate Parliamentary RepriCentatiofu C O N T E N T 8. CHAP. IV. Pape 39. Viewoftheprefent State of Parliamentary Reprefentatlon. CHAP. V. Page 55. How Parliamentary Reprefenfation came to be thus in^ adequate. CHAP. VI. Page 62. Evil of the Boroughs having fo di [proportionate a Share in Parliamentary Reprefentation. CHAP. Vir. Page 72. Inadequate Reprefentation univerfally complained of Propofah by various Perfonsfor redrejftng this Irre* gularity. BOOK in. Of the fecond Confiitutional Irregularity iri our Par ^ liammts, viz. fhe excejjive Length of their Period. CHAP. I. Page 83. Parliaments were originally annuaU CHAP. II. Page 87. Brief Hijlory of the lengthening and Jhortening Parlia^ ment. CHAP. III. Page 95. ^ Example of fever al Nations ^ who havefiewn a Fear of inveterate Power, CHAP. IV. Page 104. Example of the Englijh, in fome Inflances, Jhews an Apprehenfon oj Danger Jrom inveterate Power, I C O N T E N f S. CHAP. V. Page io6. Senfe of Mankind on inveterate Power-, or^ Argument for jhort Parliaments. > CHAP VI. Page 173. Of Exclufion by Rotation. CHAP. VII. Page 176. Of Ekaing by Ballot. BOOK, IV. EfeSts of the above Irregularities. CHAP. I. Page 180. Members of Parliament no longer hold themfelves re* Jponfble to the People. CHAP. II. Page 186. TChe Denial of Refponfbility is a novel Dodtrine. CHAP. III. Page 199. Arguments for Refponfibility sf Members to the People* CHAP. IV. Page 205. "Unwarrantable Privileges ajfumed by the Houfe of Com'- monsy in Confequence oj inadequate Reprefentation^ and too long Parliaments. CHAP. V. Page 236. parliamentary Privileges and Profecutions have been too generally frivolous and unjuf. CHAP. VI. Page 256. Of excluding the people from the Houfe of Commons^ and punijhing thoje ivbo publijh the Speeches made there. CONTENTS. CHAP. VII. Page 262. OfAbfentes from the Houfe^ and Members negleSling Parliamentary Bufinefs.- B O O K V. Of Parliamentary Corruption. CHAP. I. Page 267. Of the Origin, Funds and Materials of Corruption. CHAP. 11. Page 278. Of Corruption in EleBions. CHAP. IlL Page 345. Statutes, RfoiH^ioiis, &c againjl corrupt proceedings at Eledlions. CHAP. IV. Page 359. Of Minifteriaf Influence in the Houfe. i POLITICAL. POLITICAL D I S QJU I S I T I O N S, &c. BOOK I. Of Governmentj briefly. CHAP. I. Government by Laws and Sandiions, why necejfar\\ IF there be, in any region of the univcrfe, an order of moral agents living in fociety, whofe reafon is ftrong, whofe paffions and inclinations are mo- derate, and whofe difpofitions arc turned to virtue, to fuch an order of happy beings, legiflation, adminif- tration, and police, with the endlefsly various and complicated apparatus of politics, muft be in a great mealure fuperfluous. Did reafon govern mankind, there would be little occafion for any other govern- ment, either monarchical, ariftocratical, democra- tical, or mixed. But man, whom we dignify with the honourable title of Rational^ being much more frequently influenced, in his proceedings, by fuppof- ed intereft, by pafTion, by fenfual appetite, by ca-- price, by any thing, by nothing, than by reafon ; it Vox. I, B has. 2 POLITICAL Book L has, in all civilized ages and countries, been found proper to frame laws and ftatutes fortified by fanftions, and to cftablifh orders of men inverted with authority to execute thofelaws, and inflidt the defervcd punilTi- ments upon the violators of them. By fuch means only has it been found poflible to preferve the general peace and tranquility. But, fuch is the perverfe dif- pofition of man, the moft unruly of all animals, that this moft ufeful inftitution has been generally de- bauched into an engine of oppreffion and tyranny over thofe, whom it was exprelly and folely eftablifh- ed to defend. And to fuch a degree has this evil prevailed, that in almoft every age and country, the government has been the principal grievance of the people, as appears too dreadfully manifeft, from the bloody and deformed page of hiftory. For what is general hiftory, but a view of the abufcs of power committed by thofe, who have got it into their hands, to the fubjugation, and deftiudlion of the human fpecies, to the ruin of the general peace and happi- nefs, and turning the Almighty's fair and good world into a butchery of its inhabitants, for the gratification of the unbo^inded ambition of a few, who, in over- throwing the felicity of their fellow-creatures, have , confounded their own ? T^i^^/ government only can be pronounced confiftent with the defign of all government, which allows to the governed the liberty of doing what, confiftently".j with the general good, they may defire to do, ancf^** which only forbids their doing the contrary. Liberty does not exclude rcftraint j it only excludes unrea- fonable rcftraint. To determine precifcly bow far ferjonal liberty is compatible with the general good, and of the propriety of focial condud in all cafes, is a matter of great extent, and demands the united wifdom of Chap. I. DISQUISITIONS. 3 of a v/hole people. And the confent of the whole people^ as far as it can be obtained, is indifpenfably necejfary to every law, by which the whole people arc to be bound ; elfe the whole people are enflaved to the one^ or ihtfew, who frame the laws for them. Were a colony to emigrate from their native land, and fettle in a new country, on what would they pro- pofe to beftow their chief attention ? On fecuring the happinefs of the wfjole ? or on the aggrandizement of the governor ? If the latter, all mankind would pro- nounce thofe colonifts void of common fenfe. But m every abfolute monarchy, the aggrandizement of the governor is the fupreme objed ; and the happinefs of tht people is to yield to it. Were only a handful of friends to form themfelves into one* of thofe little focieties we call clubs -, v/hat would be their objeou Vit, Pblos^, et E?am?.n. Plut, in Peloj, 12 POLITICAL Book I. from any antient antbor, Greek, or Latins for of the country itfe'f we have not fo much as the name of ^ writer. We read of their having a fenate, and of a fatal divifion among the people by the Hannonian fac- tion, which ruined Hannibah fchemes, and prevented his making a total conqueft of Rome after the battle of Canned ^. 7 he 2?^;«/^« government dovs^n to Julius Cafar was parliamentary. Their fenate maybe compared to our houie of peers, as the fcnators fat for life, and in their own right. And though the -Rc);??^hj had nothing cf reprefen ration comparable to our houfe of com- mons, fuppofing our houfe of commons incorrupt and independent; yet reprefentation, or giving the people their weight in government, was what they intended by their tribunes of the people, and by di- vidmg the people into curtce, comitia, tribes, .&c. The Roman republic was but half-formed, and the formed j^art was the leaft valuable. We read often of the tribunes fending the confuls to prifon; and, we find the fenate depriving the tribunes of their office ^. This (hews the Roman republic to have been miferably ill-balanced, when the (enate was fometimcs above the tribunes, and the tribunes fometimesabove the confuls. Romulus hzd originally divided the people into three tribes, and each of thefe into ten curiae. He chofc one fenator himfelf, and ordered each of the tribes, and curia to chufe three, which amounted to loo in all. None but patricians could be fenators. Thus 99 of the I OD fenators owed their feats to the people. When the joo Sabines were added, they were all patri?* cians^ rt a See the Reman Hiftorians of that period, \> Ant, Umv, Hist, xiii. p. 143. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 15 cians, and all chofen by the people. When Tarquinius Pn'fcus, to ingratiate himfelf with the people at his acceflion, chofc 100 fenators out of their body; he enobied them firft. The number of the fenators pro- bably continued to be about 300 till the timt oiSylla, ^30 years from Tarquinius Prifcus, Sylla probably increafed the number (by bringing in men for his pur- pofe, to above 400. But thefe additional fenators were ftill chofen by the people. Ccefar^ to ftrenthen his party, increafcd the fenate to 900, introducing all forts of men, as ne^w-made citizens, half barbarous GWj, foldiers, arid fons of freed-men. It would be|^ ridiculous to think of the people's having any hand in this traiifadion. For in Ccefars time the army ruled all. And laftly the triumvirs increafed the fenate to above 1000. In the imperial times it is of no confequence what the number of the fenate was ; becaufe all power was then engroflcd by the emperors, and the fenate was an empty name 5 that mighty fenate, of which Cineas Pyrrhus% embaffador, faid, it feemed to him an alTembly of kings ; that fenate, which was for ages the fcourge of tyrants, was then become a mere ergajiulum of flaves, the drudges, the flatterers, and fupporters of tyrants. After Coriolianm\ time, A, U, C. 263, the plebei- ans became eligible, without being ennobled, into the fenate. And thofe magiftrates, who were called curule, had the privilege, during a certain time, of giving their votes in the fenate, though they were not fenators. , The Roman fenators voted cither by a general Aye or No, fitting in their places, or by feparately declar- ing each his fententia^ as iht cenfors czWcA their names; pr by dividing, thofc for the queftion going to one fide of 14 POLITICAL BookL of the houfe, and thofe againft it to the other, which they called, ire fedibus in fententiam tua?n, &c. and thofe fenators, who only divided, without giving their reafons, were cMcd fe?iatoris pedan'iK The Roman republic was indeed never finiflied. For the caprice of the multitude was left to operate at random. So that every popular demagogue had it in his power to fpirit up the multitude to whatever pitch of madnefs might fuir hisambitious,orinterefted views. Nor was the general (enfe of the Roman people known by the fluduating violence of the mob of the capital, who were often deceived, and often influenced, by largcfles qf corn, or by (hews of gladiators j but who had more weight in the government, than the confulsj, fenate, and all the citizens of Italy and the other Rg-^ man dominions. The error confided in the want of a regular fubdivifion, and reprefentation of the people, The body of the people of property ought to have in their own hands the government of themfelves. But the multitude in one great and debauched city ought not to be confidered as the body of the people. The tribunitial power was too great. The appeals to the people at large, and their voting at large, was what firft opened a door for the contefts of S^jlla and Mariniy and of Ccefar and Pompey^ which overfet liberty. The great error in the Roman republic was. That the people, or plebeians were not reprcfented, but voted in a coUedive body ; which occafioned conti- nual tumult and confufion. They aflembled in innu- merable multitudes, and forced their tribunes upon what- a Dion, Halic, Dion, Caj: Liv, Aj>pian, Veil, Pattrc. Sutton, Pajjr, Chap. IV. D I S QJLJ I S I T I O N S. 15 whatever their licentious fancy diftated. They had no reading ; confequently were very ignorant ; and often chofe the worft meafare, when the fenators, if left to thcrnfelves, would have chofen much better for them. The Gauls to Pharamond's time, who died A. D. 428, managed all affairs in the affembly of the peo- ple, where they fet up and dethroned their kings at their pleafure. The power of the French kings was antiently re- ftrained within very narrow limits. Liberty was the fame in France, ^s in all the GolhicHsitts, The power was in the aflembly of the ftates. The frequent calling of general afiemblies was thought inconvenient. Therefore they Tiad (landing committees, which gave rife to the parliaments of France. The parliament of Paris firft attended the king, then was fixed to Paris, for convenience. They formerly judged the Peers and great men of the kingdom, over whom the king had no power, becaufc they were to be tried by their peers. All the great officers of flatc took their oaths in par- liament j not bound perfonally to the king, but in his political capacity. Laws had no force, unlefs they regellered them. The efficiency of all thofe checks is now loft. No affembly of the ftates now heard of. Parliaments are only the ihadow of what they were. Their tyrant has the liberties of the fubjedt entirely at his mercy 5 imprifons whom he pleafes^ fets up what judges he pleafes, to try whom he pleafes, and con-.t vidt them of what crime he pleafes. The great officers take the oaths to him, and are refponfible to him, and not at all, as formerly, to the people. This is the work oi Richeliu \ Advices A Mod. Univ. Hist, xliii. p. 413, i6 POLITICAL BookL Advices from France, Jan, 1773, Signify, that the princes of the blood have yielded to the court, and that the parliaments o{ France will be aboliflied to the very name : the thing has long been loft. This abo- lition has accordingly taken place fince. The three eftates of France^ in their times of free- dom, vi^ere, i. The clergy (they will always be upper- moft.) 2. The mobility. 3. The deputies of the provinces. According to the original fyftem of the Franks^ every free fubjedl was intituled to fome (hare in go- vernment, either in perfon, or by reprefentationa. Frequent conventions of the ftates of 'Denmark^ when that country was free, were a fundamental ar- ticle of the Danifi conftitution. They confulted con- cerning matters of government, laws, peace and war, taxes, and promotions to offices ^ . The Swedi/h government has always been upon a parliamentary, or free plan. In that country, till the revolution in 1772, four eftates made the laws, viz. 1000 noblefle, 100 eccleiiaftics (juft 100 too majiy J 1^0 citizens, and about 250 peafants c. They had no nobility before -^. Z). 1560. Volt air obferves, that Charles XI. was the firft abfolute prince in Sweden^ and Charles XII. his gfandfon, the laft. * In Sweden, the fupreme power is vefted, not in the king, but the fenate, which is no other than a committee of twelve chofen out of the eftates, or parliament of the kingdom, to controul the king in all actions, which they diflike d. •The a Mod. Univ. Hist, xxiii. 396. b Ibid. XXXII. iS. c Folt, Ess. suR. I'HisT. IV. 241. d Clutttrbuck\ Speech, Tind, Con tin. vim. 2151 Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. ly * The BQlognefey A, D> 1200, had b'vely ideas of the Roman republic. They had confuls, whole powers were Hke thofe of Rome ; and many inferior magiftrates, whom they feldom fufFered to continue in power above a year ^/ In a time of public dan- ger they continued them feveral years, if they thought them wife and faithful ^. Marfeilles, like Holland^ was a free republic planted by a fet of brave people flying from flavery ^. Grotius^ celebrates the Dutch, for that, like the antient Romans, they have always been againfl kingly government. That in the times of Cajary the com- mands of the people had as much power over iheprin^ cipes, or eleded chiefs, as theirs over the people, Non minus in ipfisjuris^ &c. «• Grotim quotes Tacitus ^, who obferves, that all the Germans were for liberty, and that by liberty the Romans meant republican government, is evident from Tacitus*^ expretlion, Urbem Romam a principioy &c. Rome was originally under kingly government. Liberty (in oppofition to monarchy) * and the confular power were efta- bliflicd by Brutus -y and from LucanZy Liber- fas ultra Tanaim, &c. Liberty' (after the decilive battle) * fled beyond the Don and iht Rhine ; and what is now pofleflTed by the German and Scythian, fo often obtained at the expence of our blood, is denied to us/ The Spanijh cortcs v^ere much the fame as our par- liaments, compofed of prelates, maftersof the military Vol. I. D orders. a Mod Univ. Hist. XXXVII. 3. b Ibid. 14. c Ubb, Emm. ii. 285. d De Antiq.u. Reip. Batay* cap. 11. e Caef, Bell. Gall, v, f De Morib. Geem. g Phars, vir. i8 POLITICAL Book I. orders, nobles, and reprefentatives fent from the cities, and towns (no mention of counties). No adl could pafs unlefs they were unanimous as our juries. And the ads muft be confirmed by the king. They were affembled by funrimons from the king and privy coun- cil, and diffolved by order of the prefident of the council. But a committee of eight fat ftill. They have been rarely called fince 1647. Their laft fitting was in 1713. They were laid afide by CharlesY. bccaufe they would grant no money, and becaufe he found he could raife money without them. The Vifigoths governed in Spain about 350 years, termi- natmg about y^ D. 700. During that period, Spain was very refpedable. Her government was free; her church more pure than others, from popiili fuper- flition, rejeding the pope's fupremacy. Her mo- narchs, eledlive and limited, as in almofl: all the Gothic ftates, commanded the army, called general councils, propofed the fubjeds to be confidered, gave their fandion to laws, gave out edids merely .execu- tive, coined money, gave employments, conferred honours ; but all under corredion of the general council, who could fet afide any of the king's ads a. All the northern nations had fuch a mixed form of government, in which no money could be raifed, nor laws made, or repealed, but with their confent, Spain is now under ablolute government, occafioned by the timidity of the Cajiilians, who finally gave up the caufe of liberty on a defeat in war, between them and Charles V. which lafted only two years (the Dutch fought for liberty 70 years). Charles told the cortes, he wanted them to grant him lupplies firft, and then he would a Mod, U«iy, Hut. xix, 480, 482, 484, 486. Chap. IV. D I S Q^U I S I T I O N S. 19 would pafs their bills. The wretched CafliVtans gave up the point, and voted their tyrant, whom they ought to have deftroyed, almofthalf a million fterling. Such is the inertia of mankind ». The cortes of P^n^^/g*!^/ have long fince ft^ld to the crovsrn their part in the legifiature. Their govern- ment, which was once free and parhamentary, is now unmixed defpotifm, and their cortes like the parlia- ments of France^, The ceremony of giving Don Alonzo^ I. of Portugal the kingdom, by the public approbation of the people, A. D, 1140, exhibited a glorious fpirit in both king and people c. The Helvetic confederacy is the moft confiderablc republican or parliamentary government, after the Venetian^. The Swifs cantons are not, properly fpeaking, a republic, but an union of feveral repub- lics. But they have a common aflVmbly, in which all matters interefting to the whole community are de- bated ; whatever is there determined by the majority, binds the whokj they all agree in making peace, and declaring war ; and the laws and cuftoms, which pre- vail throughout the Swifs cantons, are (excepting the difference in religion between the proteftanc and popifh provinces) nearly the fame^. There are, in- deed, fome differences both in conilitution and admi- niftration. But fo are there differences between the three kingdoms, and the numerous colonies, which compofe the Britijh dominion; nay there are differences between the cuftoms in the feveral counties of Eng^ lancL All this (hews, contrary to a common preju- dice. a Mod. Univ. Hist, xliii. 365. b Ibid. 389. c Ibid, xxil, 25. d Simkri, Helv. Descr. p. 25. c Ibid. 27., 20 POLITICAL BookL dice, that the largeft dominions, as well as the fmalleft, niay be adminiftred in the republican form with as much fuccefs as in the monarchical. The Roman republic took in a much greater extent of dominion than many modern kingdoms put together ; and was, with all its imperfections, as well admini- ilered, to fay the leaft, as moft monarchies have been* But this is matter of fpeculation merely. The diet of Poland is conftitutionally compofed of king, fenate, biihops, and deputies of the landholders of every palatinate. Every owner of three acres of land has a vote for a member. And the majority carries every point. But in the general diet, unani- mity is neceffary. Every palatinate (without regard to the towns in it) fends three members. The indi- gent gentry are always direded by fome perfon of fuperior fortune, influence, or ability. The diet of Poland confifts of an upper and lower houfe. The upper houfe contains the fenate, the fuperior clergy, •and the great officers; the lower the reprefentatives of the palatinates a. An edid by king JageHQn, who reigned in the i6th century, found contrary to his coronation oath, was hewn in pieces before his face by the Pols/b fabres ^, The Polijh nobility will not give up the privilege of eleding their kings, though they always eledt the hereditary fucceffor^. By this they imprefs their Kings with the idea of obligation to their fubjeds; and at the fame lime, the heir to the crown is properly educated. « * When a Mod. Ukiv. Hist, xxxiv. lo. b Ibid. 523. C Siauijl. Krzij^ano'wiCf PoLO*r, Descr. p. 27, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 2i « When liberty began to dawn (fays Voltaire) ^ about jl. D. 1300, the ftates general oi France, the parlia- ment of England, the ftates of Arragon and Hungary, and the diets of the German enmpire were all nearly on the fame foot, as to the privileges and confequence of the third cftate. [We have feen fome difference arife fince the above period. Let Britain take care, left fhe come into the condition, into which thofe ftates are fallen.] France (fays the fame author) b was once governed as England is now. The kings aflembled the ftates. In the year 1355, they made their king ^ohn fign a charter much like the Magna Charfa oi England, There was fcarce an abfolute prince in Europe, about the 13th century. But the nobles were tyrants, and the feudal tenures univerfal^ In ftiort, to ufe the words of the great Alg, Sidney^, In Germany^ France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, Scotland, England, and generally all the nations, that have lived under the gothic polity, this ftipreme power has been in their general afTemblie? under the name of diets, cortes, fenates, parlia- ments, &c. a Ess. svR. THisT. 11. 189. blbid.i28« c' Mod. Univ. Hist, XLiii. 521. i On Gov, p. 378. BOOK 22 POLITICAL Book II. B O O K 11, Of Parliaments. CHAR I. Parliaments irregular and deficient, i , By Eftablijh- ment. 2, By Jhu/e. By 'Ejiablifloment they are an inadequate Reprefentation oj the People, and their Period is too long. By Abufe they are corrupt. PARLIAMENTS in England have been of very fludluating importance in different ages. Jt v/as long before they got to what might be called a bearing. And even nows there is in them infinitely more wrong than right, as will too mani- feftly appear by what follows. Parliaments are irregular and deficient, i, by efla- blifhment; and 2, by abufe. When I diftinguifli between the irregularities and deficiencies in our par- liaments by eftablidiment, and by abule, I mean by the former fuch irregularities and deficiencies as are known and avowed, as their too great length, their being an inadequate reprefentation, &c. By the lat- ter, I mean thofe which have infer fibly crept in, and prevail through connivance, as corruption at eledions, and in the houfe, &c. It is juftly remarked by Mv.Hume, That whatever, in government, is publicly allowed at any particular period. Chap. I. DISQ^UISITIONSe 23 period, may be faid to be conftitutional at that period, elpecially (it may be added) if it has been regu- larly and openly introduced and eflablifhed by appro- bation of the majority of thofe, who have the power of eftablilhing it. The lengthening of parliaments from annual to triennial, and from triennial to leptennial, is undoubt- edly an abufe (of which more hereafter) but being avowedly effected at firft, and allowed lince, this abufe becomes conftitutional. But the buying of boroughs, and of votes in the houfe of commons, was never fairly eftablifhed, nor openly avowed as a regular proceeding, and is there- fore a mere abufe, and not a conftitutional error. Almoft all political eftablifliments have been the creatures of chance rather than of wifdom* There are few inftances of a people forming for themfelves a conftitutipn from the foundation. Therefore it is impofllble to fay what would be the effed of a perfedt commonwealth , there being no example of fuch a pha^nomenon. The common courfe of thofe matters has been, that either a people have emigrated from an old cftablifhed government, and have wrough t into their new fyftem of politics the errors and deficiencies, which had crept into the old ; or a few wife and good men have undertaken to repair and patch up a crazy conftitution ; and then, like Soloriy they found them- felves obliged to be content with as good a confti- tion as the people would bear, inftead of fuch an one as a wife legiflator could frame. And in eftablifhing this conftitution, they have been obliged to yield to the violence of party, and the blindnefs of prejudice, and to fuffer various particulars to be eftabliflied con« trary to their own better judgment. So that the. machine 24 POLITICAL Book 11? machine of government being puftied one way by one party, and the contrary by another, is at laft puftied into a bog, or fet on the edge of a precipice, and left out of the perpendicular, like the hanging tower of Fifry to be propped and fhored up by poTterity. This is in part the cafe of our own conftitution, efpeci- ally with refpedt to the commons houfc of parliament. If there be in a fhip at lea ten leaks, to flop nine of them will not put the crew in a ftate of fafety ; though they muft perhaps be flopped one after another^ they muft all be. flopped, elfe the confequence is obvious; Recipient inimicum imhrenti Sec. VlRC. There are feveral frightful leaks in the great veflcl of the Britijh ftate, which, if they be not all ftopped, muft fink it. The grievance^ requiring redrefs, which refpecft parliament, are chiefly thefe : i. By eftabliftimcnt they are in no refpedt a reprefentation of the property of the people. 2. Their period is, like wife by efta- blifhment, of an enormous length. 3. They are, by abufc, corrupt, or fallen under an undue influence both as to the eledlion of members, and their voting in the houfe. CHAP. II. Inadequate Reprefentation, its Dijadv ant ages* WHEN our anceftors firft propofed govern- ment by reprefentation, it is certain, they intended adequate reprefentation; for no ether deferves the name, or anfwers the end. [ Every Chap. n. DISQUISITIONS. 25 * Every Englijhman (fays Sir Thomas Smiths) is intended to be prefent in parliament, either in perlon, or by procuration and attorney, of what preeminence, ftate, dignity, or quality foever he be, from the prince to the loweft perfon oi England, And the confent of the parliament is taken to be every man's con fen t'. In a free ftate (fays judge Blackjlone^) every man, who is fuppofed a free agent* (that is, not through poverty, abfolutely dependent on the will of another) ought to be, in fome meafure, his own governor, and therefore a branch, at leaft, of the legiflative power ought to refide in the whole body of the people*. It is evident, that inadequate reprefentation in par- liament is utterly inconfiftent with the idea oi Jree government. For a people governed contrary to their inclination, or by perfons, to whom they have given no commiffion for that purpofe, are, in the propereft: fenfe of the phrafe, an enjlaved people , if ever there was an enflaved people. ' // (ft ejjentiel de fixer, &c. It is neceirary'( fays the excellent Mc«/^j'///>« c) < to fix the number of citi- zens who arc to vote ; otherwife it is uncertain vs^hether the people, or only a part of the people, have given their lenfe/ (We know full well, that it is but a very fmall part of the people of £;/^/^;2^whofc votes fill the houfe of reprefentatives, and that the votes of both eledors and members are mod barefacedly influenced.) * At Sparta, -the fenfe of the people was colleded from a fuffrage of 10,000. At Rome, this Vol. I. E was a Com. Wealth of Eng. 37. h Blackji, CoMM. 1. 158. C Monte/q, V ESPR, DES. LOIX. I, IJ. 26 POLITICAL Book II. was negleded j which was one great caufe of its ruin. To compare great things with fniall, could the Eaji India company be faid to be tftablifibed on a proper toot, \i ico proprietors, whofe flock amount- ed in all to 5,000/. had the power of chufing the court of diredors againll the votes of 5000 proprietors, whofe ftock was worth 5,000,000/, and if the court of directors, when chofen, poiTeffed abfolate power v/ithout a peal, and thought them- felves refponfible to no fet of men upon earth ? Or if a friendly focicty confiding of 100 members found that the whole power of the fociety was en- groffcd by 3 members 5 and that the others could obtain nothing they wanted, or in the manner they wiilied to have it ; could this fociety be, with any fhadow of propriety, called free ? That parliamen- tary reprefentation on its prefent foot, is as incon- fiftent with liberty, will appear but too clearly in the fequel. That 2i part of the people, 2^ fmall part of the peo- ple, and the moft needy and dependent part of the people, (hould engrofs the power of eleding legifla- tors, and deprive the majority, and the independent part of the people of their right, which is, to chufe legiflators for themfelves and theminorify and depen- dent part of the people, is the grofTeft injuflice that can be imagined. Every government, to have a reafonable expec- tation of permanency, ought to be founded in truths iujiice^ and the reajon of things. Our admirable con- ftitution, the envy of Europe^ is founded in injujiice. Eight hundred individuals rule all, themfelves accoun- table to none. Of thefe about 300 are born rulers, whether Chap. IL D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S. 27 whether qualified or not. Of the others, a great many are [aid to be eleded by a handful of beggars inftead of the number and property, who have the right to be the eledlors. And of thefe preten led electors, the greatefl part are obliged to chuf;^ the perfon nonninated by fome lord, or by the minifter. Inftead of the power's returning annually into the hands of the people, or, to fpeak properly of the boroughs, the lengthening of parliament to fepten- nial, has deprived them of fix parts in kvtn of their power -y and if the power returned annually, as it ought, all the people would ftill have reafon to com- plain, but the handful^ who vote the rjiembers into the houfe. In confequence of the inadequate ftate of reprefcn- tation, the fenfe of the people may be grolly mif- apprehended, or mifreprefented, and it may turn out to be of very little confequence, that members were willing to obey the inftrudtions of their conftiuents \ becaufe that would not be obeying the general fenfe of the people. For the people are not their confti- tuents. The people of England are the innumerable multitude which fills, like one continued city, a great part of MiddlefeXy Kent and Surry ; the countlefs inhabitants of the vail: ridings of Torkjhire, the mul- titudes, who fwarm in the cities and great towns of Brijloh Ltverpioly Manchejier^ Birmingham , Eljy and others; (ovnt of which places have no repre- fentatives at all, and the reft are unequally repre- fented. Tlieie places comprehend the greateft part of the people. Whereas the inftrudions would be fent from the hungry boroughs of Corn^wal, Devon^ fiire, Sec, In (hort, .the fenfe of the conftituents would be, at beft, only the fenfe of a fev/ thou- fands ; whereas it ou^ht to be that of federal hun- dreds 28 POLITICAL Book L dreds of thQufands, as will be very clearly made out by and by. * Neither in Scotland nov England (fays Rapin^yiM are refolutions of parliament to be always confider^P as the fenfe of the nation. It is a defedt of tl|e conilitution of both houfes, that the mtm-. ers of parliament rec^iive no inftrudions from their el^dors. The mement they sre met, they become matters and fovereigns of thofe by whom they are chofen, and palm upon the nation their own decifions for thofe of the public, though they are often contrary uO the fentiments and interefts of the people they reprefent. Inilances arc fo frequent, that I need not ftay to prove what I advance/ ' It muft not be imagined (fays he b) that then,' (in the times of He7try VII I.) * any more than at this day, whatever the parliament did was agreeable to the general opinion of the nation. The reprcfentative was chofen as at prefent, without any inftrudion con- cerning the points to be debated in parliament, nay without the people's knowing ar^y thing of them. Thus the houfe of commons had, as I may fay, an unlimited power to determine by a majority of votes, with the concurrence of the lords and aflent of the king, what they deemed proper for the welfare of the kingdom.' [In our times (the prefent always ex- cepted) what they deem proper for the welfare of the j'jnto>] * There was no neceffity therefore, in order 10 obtain what the court defired, of having the con- fent of the pec pie, but only the majority of voices in both houfes. Hence it is eafy to conceive, that the court ufed all imaginable means to caufe fuch mem- bers to be eleded, as were in their fentiments. This a Rapifi, II. 583. b Ibid. 11. 9. Chap. IL DISQUISITIONS. 29 This is now, and ever will be pradifed, till fome cure is found for this inconvenience. I call it an in- ^Irfvenience, becaufe it happens fometimes that the jfaniament paflcs ads contrary to the general opinion of the nation/ Under a whig miniftry (fays the fame author^) we fee a whig parliament chofen, under a tory miniftry a tory parliament. ' It has frequently happened, that the refolutions of the lower houfe have been diredtly con- trary to the fentiments of the people, whom they reprefented. So it is not the people, or commons of England \h2ii (hare the legiflative power with the king and peers ; but the reprefeatatives, who enjoy a pri- vilege, which belongs only to the people in gene- ral, to whom however they are not accountable for their condud. All they can fuffer, if they have aded in parliament contrary to the fenle of their county, or borough, is not to be eleded again b/ Parliament under Henry VIII. confirmed the de- molition of the papal power over England^ and the diflblution of the religious houfes; und^r: Edward Y I. demolifhed popery; under Mary, fet it up again; under Elizabeth, overthrew it a lecond time. So we have ittn parliament ftamp the Americans^ then un- ftamp them, and then tax them in a new manner. Parliament has not, in thefe fudden doines and un- doings, followed the fenfe of the people. The un- fteady people are not fo unfteady as this comes to. In former times, parliament was too much overawed by the authority of kings: in latter times, too much fwayed by mimjlerial iwAntnct', and all this in con- fequence^of its being in no rcfped a juft and accoun- table reprefentative of the people. ' In a Rapin, II, 806, b Ibid. 30 POLITICAL Book IL * In former gges' (fays Mr. Cornwall, in the houfe, A. D. 1685.) ' the cornj lexion of this houfe might have been depended un as 2 true reprefenta* tion of the inclinations of the people-, but by what- ever magic art it has been brought about, the cafe is now diredlly contrary. The complexion of this aflembly is always the fame with that of our mini-- Jlers. We adopt all their mealures. We applaud every ftep of their conduct. We are angry with thofc they happen to be angry with. We enquire when they fet us on ; and we ftop when they fay. You have gone far enough. Sir, we have had for many years part a courfe of moft excellent minillers, or this houfe has by fome ma-zic art been rendered blind to their failings. I fay fome m?gic art, for if by any art we have been rendered remiis in our duty, it muft have been by fome art of the Devil permitted by God Almighty for the punifhment of our fins; and if fo, I hope he will difpell the enchantment, before we have blindly run ourfelves into irrecovera- ble perdition.' The nation in general difapproved of the proceed- ings of the tory commons, A, £). 1701, and the juftices of peace, grand jury, freeholders, &c. of Kent prefcnted a petition, lamenting the divifions in the kingdom, and the reflexions call upon the king (by the commons) recommending union, attention to the fenfe of the people, fupplies, &c. The houfe votes it fcandalous, infolent, feditious, tending to deftroy the conftitution of parliament, and to fubvert the eftablifhed government of thefe realms. They ordered the gentlemen, who prefented it, to be taken into a ^/;w. Deb, Com, 11, 192, Chap. II. D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S. 31 intocuftody* One efcaped. It was apprehended that force would be ufed to refcue the others. The houfe orders them to the gatehoufe, and addreffes the king to iffuc his proclamation for apprehending Colepepper again, and for putting out of the commiffion ot the peace and lieutenancy fuch of the petitioners as were in them. Then the legion letter was fent to the fpeaker, which begun thus, * Gentlemen, it were to be wi{hed you were men of that temper, and pof- feffcd of fo much honour, as to bear with the truth, though it be againft you, efpccially from us, who have fo much right to tell it 10 you : But fince even petitions to you from your mafters (for inch are the people who chufe you (are fo haughtily received as with the committing the authors to ille- gal cuftody 5 you mult give us leave to give you this fair notice of your mifbehaviour. If you think fit to redify your errors, you will do well, and poflibly may hear no more of us ^ but if not, affure yourfelves the nation will not long hide their reient- ments. And though there are no ftated proceed- ings to bring you to your duty, yet the great law of reafon lays, and all nations allow, that whatever power is above law, is burdenfome and tyrannical, and may be reduced by extra-judicial methods. You are not above the people's refentment ; they that made you members may reduce you to the fame rank from whence they chofe you, and may give you a tafte of their abufed kindnefs in terms you may not be pleafed with, &c. a* The imprifoning of the Kentijh petitioners was afterwards condemned in parliament. Yet the com- mons a Deb, Coi*. hi. 142. ^«r«. Hist, own Times, hi. 381, 32 POLITICAL BookU. mons condemned the petition itfelf, and refolved, that to affert, that the houfe of commons is not the only reprefentative of the commons of England^ or that the commons have no power of commitment, but over their own members, or to refled on the proceedings of the houfe, or of any member in the houfe, are high violations of the privileges of the houfe of com- mons a. All this is the heigth of defpotifm, and is indeed inconfiftent with itfelf. Queen A?ine, in her anfwer to the parliament's addrefs, A.D, 17 14, fays, Sheefteems the addrefs and approbation of the peace of Utrecht, the undoubted voice of her people' But the lords in their firft addrefs to George 1. fay, * It was by no means to be imputed to the nation in general/ And the commons in Icfs than a year afterwards, fald, * As that diftionour cannot in jufticebe imputed to the whole nation, &cc.' All this fliews that a parliament may have one intereft, and the nation another. This could not be, if par- liaments were really what it is pretended they are b. * The treaty of Utrechf (fays the duke of Argyle c, in the houfe of peers, A. D. 1739) * was approved of by a majority in both houfes of parliament. 1 remem- ber, I then difapproved of it, and gave my fenti- ments very freely in this houfe againft it; and I remember the reward I met with for fo doing. That very treaty was in a following parliament, io highly difapproved of, that fome of thofe who had the chief hand in making it, were puniflied by parliament; and others had perhaps been more feverely punifhed if they had not fled from juftice. This my lords, may perhaps be the fate of the convention in fome future a Tind, CoNTiN. I. 503. b Ibid. 11. 356. c Deb. Lords, vi. 332. Chap. II. D I S QJLT I S I T I O N S. 33 future parliament, though the father of it feems now extremely fond of his child : for I cannot but look upon his niajefty's fpeech and the addrefs now pro- pofed as a fecond approbation of that convention. I mufl think them deiigned as a new triumph over thole that oppofed it, which can give no great joy to the nation, whatever it may do to the father of the convention ; and therefore I wiih that in order to make his country rejoice as well as himfelf, he would hereafter take as much care to triumph over thofe that oppofe it.' When the bill for fearching houfes in queft of failors was before the comm.ons, A. D. J 739, it was found to be very unpopular, and the people of Glocef" terjhire petitioned againft it in a very high ftyle, * That it would, as the petitioners apprehend, impofe hardfliips upon the people too heavy to be borne, and excite difcontents in the minds of his majefty's fub- je^s ; would fubvert all the rights and privileges of a Britoriy and overturn Magna Charta itfelf, the bafis on which they are built; and by thefe means deftroy that very liberty, for the prefervation of which the prefent royal family was eftablifhed upon the throne of Great Britain \ for which reafons fuch a law could never be obeyed, or much blood would be (hed in confequence of it.' The houfe took fuch offence at this petition, that they voted, 196 to 144, it (hould not lie upon their tabled. Hear Mr. Pitt on thisfubjeft, A. D. 1741. ' The misfortune is, that gentlemen who are in office, feldom converfe with any but fuch as are in office, and fuch men, let them think what they will. Vol. I, . F always a Deb. I^ords, vi. 289, 34 POLITICAL Book II. always applaud the condudl of their fuperiors ; con- fequently, gentlemen who are in the adminiftration, or in any office under it, can rarely know what is the voice of the people. The voice of this, houfe was formerly, I fhall grant, and always ought to be the voice of the people. - If new parliaments were more frequent, and few placemen and no penfioners admitted, it would be fo ftill; but if long parliaments be continued, and a corrupt influence (hould pre- vail, not only at elections, but in this houfe, the voice of the houfe will generally be very difl^erent, aiay often dire<£lly contrary to the voi?e of the peopled So that gentlemen thought 30 years ago, and ta the fame purpofe, a few years fince, on the ftamp- a6t, he charged the houfe of commons with an unli- mited compliance with the demands of the minifliry. In the cafe of AJhby and Whiter the refolutions of the commons were diredly contrary to the fenfe of the people. The people's univerfal opinion v^as, that the commons took too much upon them ; and that any perfon may, and ought to appeal to the courts of juftice and the law of the land, when bethinks him- felf deprived of his right as an eledor; the refolu- tions of a houfe of commons being unfteady and vague, while the law of the land is notorious and per- manent. Of which more hereafter. We have, in our own times, feen a moft remark- able inftance of difagreement between the fenfe of. the people, and that of parliament. We have {^zn par- liament repeatedly expel Mr. Wilkes, And we have feen the people fo highly offended at this proceeding, that a Deb. Com, xii i. 172, Chap. IL DISQUISITIONS. 3*5 that 60,000 of them have petitioned the king to diffolve this parliament. In confequence of which numerous petitions, it was to be expected, that feme notice would be taken in the king's, that is the minifter's fpeech, next cnfuing. Inftead of which (fo low, is the people's im-. portance funk, and fo little regard (hewn to their opi- nion) the laughter of all Europe was excited by a few frivolous paragraphs about a pretended ficknefs among the horned cattle, of which no body had heard any thing before as then exilling in England, nor has any one fince. It was moved in the houfe of commons, that, in their addrefs, in anfwer to the above profound fpeech, the houfe fhould declare their intention of enquiring into the caufes of the prefent difcontents. Several of the courtly members gravely denied that there was any difcontent in the kingdom,^ though they knew that 60,000 had fubfcribed petitions for a diffolution of parliament. They might have argued more plaufibly, that there was no parliament then exifting. For it will appear prefently^ that a tenth part of the above number fends in the majority of the houfe. And if the voluntary petition of 60,000 deferves no regard, furely the bought votes of 5000 ought to go for nothing. Others of the oppofers of the motion faid. The affair did not come regularly before them ; as if they had declared, that the houle of commons, the grand inqueft of the nation, the reprefentatives of the people of England, are not obliged to enquire into a matter of fuch confequence in the opinion of the people, that 60,0:0 of them had thought it neceffary to complain to the fovereign; or as if they fo wholly difregarded the opinion often times the number of the elecliors of the majority of their houfe, concerning their own conduct^ that they did not think it worth while to enquire what ^ had 36 POLITICAL Book II. had fo grievbufly offended fo great a number of their conftituents, as to provoke them to the unufual mea- fure of petitioning the king for their diflblution. Others of the courtly gentlemen, in imitation of Walpole^ faid, the petitioners were bafe-born. But furely they could not be more bale -born, than the beggars, who fend in the majority of the houfe of commons. The minifterial party, however, carried it againft the motion^. CHAP. IIL What would be adequate Parliamentary Reprefentation. FIVE millions, according to the eftimate of my incomparable friend Dr. Price^ and our beft modern calculators, is neared to the true num- ber of the people oi England. The males between : 6 and 56 in 5 millions are 1,250,000, or a fourth part of the whole. As youth at 16 are of an age too im- mature to be capable of voting, fo are many on the contrary capable of voting beyond the age of 56 5 ancl one fnay be fuppofed to make up for the other. It is commonly ihfifted on, that pcrfons in fervitude to others, and thofe who receive ahiis, ought not to be admitted to vote for members of parliament, becaufe it is fuppoled, that their votes will be influenced by thofe, on whom they depend. But the objedion from influence would fall to the ground, if the ftate were on a right foot, and parlia^ ment ....^ ___ a See Lo.vd. Mac. 1770, p. 32. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 37 ment free from court-influence. Suppofing half the conftitution in diforder, it is not eafy to determine what would be beft for the other half. My purpofe is, to point out all the defeds. And if the people will corred all I (hall point out, I will then anfwer, that all iTiall go well ; but not if they amend by halves. — To return, — Every man has what may be called property, and unalienable property, Every man has a life, a per- fonal liberty, a charader, a right to his earnings, a right to a religious profeffion and worfliip according to his conlcience, &c. and many men, who are in a ftate of dependence upon others, and who receive charity, have wives and children, in whom they have a right. Thus the poor are in danger of being in- jured by the government in a variety of ways. But, according to the commonly received dodrine, that fervants, and thofe who receive alms, have no right to vote for members of parliament/aa immenfe mul- titude of the people are utterly deprived of all power in determining who fhall be the protedors of their lives, their perfonal liberty, their little property (which though fingly confidcred is of fmall value; yet is upon the whole a ver)^^reat objed) and the chaftity of their wives and daughters, &c. What is particularly hard upon the poor in this cafe is, that though they have no (hare in determining who ihall be the lawgivers of thieir country, they have a very heavy ihare in raifing the taxes which fupport government. The taxes on malt, beer, leather, foap, candles, and other articles, which are paid chiefly by the poor, who are allowed iiovotes for members of parliament, amount to as much as a heavy land-tax. The landed in terefl: would com- plain grievoufly, if they had no power.pf eleding re- "^refentatives. And it is an eftablilhed maxim in free ftates. 38 POLITICAL Bookir. ftates, that whoever contributes to the expences of go- vernment ought to be fatisfied concerning the applica- tion of the money contributed by them ; coniequently ought to have a fliare in eledling thofe, who have the power of applying their money. Nor has the receiv- ing of alms been always held a fufficient reafon for refufing the privilege of voting, as appears by the following; * Refolved, A, B. 1690, That the free men of the port oi Sandwich, inhabiting within the fald borough, (although they receive almsjh^ve a right to vote in eledting barons to ferve in parliament, a Query, Whether there be not other inftances of pcr^ fons receiving alms, having a right to vote for mem* bers. But, giving up the point, concerning the right of the poor to vote for members of parliament, the prc^ fent ilate of parliamentary reprefentation will (till ap- pear to be inadequate beyond all proportion. Of the 1,250,000, thoj Ivhole number of males \n Engkndy we may well fupjfofe that at lead one third, or about 416,000 are houfekeepers, and independent on alms Divide this number by 513, the number of members for England, the quotient is 799 and a fradion, the round number is 800, which fhews, that no member of parliament ought to carry his eledion againft a compe- titor by fewer than 401 votes, that being a majority of 800, who have the right of vot'ng, exclufive cf the poor and dependent If wc allow them the privilege of chufing reprefentatives, which I fee no argument againft, the number will be much greater, viz. about 1200, a majority of which is 601. Mr. a Bohuns Right of Elect, p. 257. from the Journal of the Hous5 OF Com, Chap* IV. DISQUISITIONS. 39 Mr. Pojilethwayte reckons 639,000 taxable perfons in England y excluding Wales ^, And every perfon, who pays tax, ought to have a vote. Calculators did formerly reckon above 6,ooo,oqo of fouls in England and Wales, And Dr. Price fliev/s, that there is great reafon to apprehend (with much concern I write it) that ' we have loft a fourth part of our people/ Suppofing Poftlethwayte\ number of taxable peribns in England and Wales together to be 630^000; divid- ing this number by 513 (hews, that no member ought 'to be voted into the houfe by fewer than the majority of 1200; for 1200 have a right, and 601 ought to be the fnialieft number of votes adtually given to him who gains his eledtion againft a competitor. Or if we calculate by counties, the prefent ftate of reprefentation will appear enormoufly abfurd. The moft adequate plan for forming an aflembly of repre- fentatives, would be, for every county, including the cities, boroughs, cinque ports, or univerfities it hap- pens to contain, to fend in a proportion of the ri'> anfwering to its contribution to the public expencc. Were that the plan, we fhould, in the fame manner, fee no member fent into the houfe by fewer than feve- ral hundreds of voters. Of which hereafter. CHAP. IV. View of the prefent State of Parliamentary Reprefen- tation. L ET #ie reader judgefor himfelf of the monftrous irregularity of parliamentary reprefentation, from the following view of it by the learned and a Brit, true Sy5T« 313. 40 POLITICAL Book II. and indefatigably laborious Brown Willis^ Efq; in his NoTiT. Parliam. In the following extrad', I have ftated the majority as the only eledtors in each place ; which they really are, the votes of the minority being inefficient, I have given to Walling for dy for inftance, 76, the majo- rity of 150 eledlors, which latter is the whole number of voters in that borough; fo that no member for Walling ford can be eleded by more than 76 efficient votes; and he, who has 76 votes, is as efFedually cleded as if he had the wnole 150. And I have com- puted the number of votes, which eledl the majority of the houfe, as the mdjontyistht Jamey to all intents and purpofes of legiflation, with the whole 558, nem. con. Wallingford fends 2 members chofen by 76, the majority of 150. Agmondejham 2 — * — — — i6. Wendover 2 -r- — • — Marlow __ 2 — — - — Lejkeard 2 — -— — Lejiwithiel 2 — — — 'Iruro 2 — ' — — Bodmin 2 — — — Belfion 2 — — — Saltajh 2 — — — Camelfcrd 2 — — — Wejilaw 2 — - — — Grampoiind — — 2 — — — Carried over . 26 509. The right of eledion at Grampoundh in'ftie corpora* tionof ninemen, and burgeffes made by them, which burgefies, therefore, are not to be accounted as free elec- tors, being made for the purpofe of the eledion. This is the cafe in other places, which I have not noted. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. Brought over Eaftlow Penryn Trego ney Boffiney St. Ives Fowey St. Germalns St. Michael Newport St. Mavves Kellington W Cockermouth Totnefs Plimpton Honyton Taviftock Alhburton Clifton, Devonlhire Bereafton Tiverton Pool, Dorfetfhire Lyme, ditto. Bridport Wareham Corfe-Caftle Maldon, Eflex Harwich Weobly, Hereford (li. Huntingdon Queenborough, Kent Newton, Lancafhire 26 fends 2 Members chofen by 2 ■— 2 ~- 2 — 2 •- 2 — 2 - 2 - 2 •■ 2 - 2 - 41 500 25 SI 51 II 76 26 26 31 16 lOI 54 lOl lOI 56 101 50 36 14 51 26 61 76 71 14 J7 43 lOI 36 Carried over Vol. I. 88 G 2019 42 POLITICAL Book II, 2019 101 2 46 lOI 41 17 Brought over SS ^'^g^^ Tends 2 members chcfen by Clithero - Bofton, Lincolnfhire ■ 2 Grimfby 2 Thetford, Norfolk 2 CciUJe Rifing 2 16 Brackley, ISForthampt. 2 17 Higham Ferrers 1 ■ ^i Morpeth, Nerthumberl. • 2 loi Eaft Retford, Nottingh, 2 ■ 75 Banbury, Oxfordfhire i ^ 10 Wenlock Magna, Salop. — 2 rj liifhop's Caftle 2 51 Bath Somsrfctihire , 2 — ^— 17 Minchead 2 81 Ilchefter 2 — • 61 Melborne * — - 2 , 26 Winchefter 2 51 Southampton ■— 2 • c^i Yarmouth, Wight 2 26 Petersfield z 73 Newport, Wight ■ 2 13 Stockbridge — — 2 ■ 26 Newton, Wight ■ 2 ■ ' i The lord of this borough appoints a mnyor and twelve burgefTtrs, who chufe the members. Chriflchurch, HampQi. 2 *- 7 Here hkewife the corporation of 13 make the bur- gefles as they pleafe. Therefore the corporation only are to be reckoned the*eledors. carried over 138 3136 Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 43 Brought over 138 31,5 Lymington fends 2 members chofen by 41 WJiitelaurch 2 2 1 The freeholders are the eledors, who cannot be above 40, as there are but loo houies in the town. Andover ■ 2 > Yet there are 600 houfes in the town, Dunwich Orford 13 21 43 2 loi St. Edmondfoury 2 20 Bletchingley, Surry 2 — 46 Ryegate 2 . loi Aldborough — 2 Eye Gattpn ■ 2 Ha lie mere 2 Horiliam , 2 Midharll 2 I z ■31 33 5.6 New Shoreham 2 56 Bramber 2 8 Willis {-x-p, there are not above 20 houfes, and that the members sre ekcted by the burgh-holders. Eafl: Grinlled 2 i.q Arundel Suffolk . 2 . ^.^ Appleby, Wertmoreland * 2 ■ * 51 New Sarum — 2 ■ 2^ Wikon ^. 2 41 Downton • 2 • 31 Hindon — 2 31 Heytefbury 2 26 WeHbury 2 26 C^lne 2 -^ 1 8 Carried over 390 A^^^ 44 POLITICAL Book U. Brought over 190 4085 Chippenham fends 2 members chofen by 76 Malmfbury *^ 2 7 Cricklade 2 81 Bedwin 2 ' 41 Ludgerfhal ■ 2 ^" 3^ Old Sarunj ^ 2 i * Here is but one houfe/ {^ys Willis, A, D. 1750. I havi been told that now there is no houfe. I was therefore going to charge the two Old Sarum fena- tors to nobody. But as W^i/lis fays, the lord of the borough appoints a bailiff and fix burgeffes, to whom he give his conge d'clire. I have called them ifis re- prefentatives. And furely he, and the lord of the bo- rough ofl<^ewfon, in the iHq of fFight, ought to be contented with the reprefentation they have in parlia- ment. Bewdley , ^- — » 8 I flate Bewdley at 8, the majority of 14, as the other 20 are appointed by the 14, Knarefborough, Yorklh. ^ 26 Scarborouo-h 2 20 is Rippon 2 loi Heydon 2 42 Boroughbridge 2 33 New Makon — — 2 -' 5 ' Thirfkc 2 23 Aldborough ■ 2 3* This tovtm and Boroughbridge are both in one pa- ri(h, the only fingle parifli in £72^/^ that fends 4 inembers. No^rth Allcrton 2 9' KaliingG, cinq, port 2 '°' Carried over 224 4^°^ Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 45 Brought over 224 4861 Hythe, cinq, port fends 2 members chofen by 26 New Romney, ditto. ■ 2 • 17 Rye —2 51 Winchelfea ■ 2 21 Seaford, cinq, port » 2 ■ 21 Beaumaurice, Wales « i » ■ 13 Montgomery • i — -^ —• 41 Steyning ■ 2 '— — - — — — 41 Devifes ■ 2 ' 72 The corporation confifts of 36, who maike what burgeffes they pleafe. They being probably at the command of the corporation, are hardly to be ac- counted free eleiftors. Let us, however add 36 to the corporation, which will make the majority of eledlcrs 72. Wotton BafTet — 2 j6 Shaftelbary ■ 2 < ■ 151 Marlborough . 2 ■ 2 The members are elected by the corporation only, which are a mayor and two baihfFs. Droitwich . 2 — • 21 Newark ■- 2 — «— 151 Buckingham ' 2 ■ 7 Barnftaple 2 1 5 1 254 5723 From this extrad we fee, that 2 ^4 members areadtu- ally eledled by 5723 votes; now the moll: namerous meeting of the commons ever known, was on occaiion of the debate about Walpole, A.D.IJ4.1. There were then 502 in the houfe. Therefore 254 comes very near a majority of the houfe, or the whole a5fing and efficient number. And the greateft part of thele illuf- trious 46 POLITICAL Book II. trious, 5723, who have the power of conftituting lawgivers over the property of the naticrij are them- -felves perfons of no property. In North Britain the number cf fouls is about 1,5000,000. The males between 16 and 56 are 300,000. Allowing one third part to be their own. mafters, and to be above receiving charity, no Scotch member ought to be eledled by fewer than a majority of 2000 votes. But there are many inftances of mem- bers eleded in North Britain by almoll: as fmall a number as in England, The truth of the matter is, that in North Britain, though the country be nothing as to riches, compared with England, yet there are fewer beggars. Ahiicn: all are houfekeepers, though a great number of thofe houfes are wretched hovels. So that almofl all adult males ought to be voters in North Britain. Lord Talbot S in his fpeech in the houfe of peers, A^ D. 1739, fuppofes, that 50,000 eled the majo- iiiy cf the houfe. And he jullly exclaims againft that nua-iber, as utterly difproportionate, which it undoubt- edly is, if the due number be 416,000 or 639,000. What v/ould his lordihip have faid, had he known that little more than a tenth part of his 50,000 fend in the majority of our law-makers ? Taking the whole reprefentative for South and North Britain, the members for counties are only i^^i of the 558, of which 131,42 are for Scotland zvA Wales, b. The members, therefore, for the boroughs and cinque ports, which ought not to be one in ten, compared with thofe for the counties, are 382, above four times as many. So that for one member, who may a Deb. Lords, vi. 345, k Deb. Com, xi 11. 13* Chap. IV, DISQUISITIONS. 47 may be fuppofed to come fairly into the houfe, four (if we except a f:vv for the great cities) are fent by the poored of the people, dired'cd by court-influence. We have feen above, p. 38, that, dividing the right of voting as it ought to be, no member fliould be elected by fewer than the majority of 800 votes. But we find, that not one member of all thefe 254 is eleded by a number fo high as 300 5 and a multi- tude by a number below 20. If we take the places, where a majority of the elec- tors comes below 20^ it is fiiameful what a propor- fltion of the ^3 is fent into the houfe by a handful, ^nd' that handful moftly people in low circumftances, and therefore obnoxious to bribery, or under the power of their fuperiors. Lestwithiel fends 2 members chofen by 13 Truro* • 2 — > 14 Bodmin ^ 2 > 19 Saltafh 2 15 Camelford ■ 2 — 10 Boffiney e~- *z n St. Michael . — 2 > 14 St. Mawes > 2 16 Tiverton ' 2 ■ 14 Maldon 2 14 Harwich • — 2 17 Thetford 2 — • 1 7 Brackley ■ ^^— > 2 — 17 Banbury < 2- 11 Bath — 2 . 17 Newport, Wight . . 2 > 13 Newton, ditto. — — — • 2 ■■ i Andover » 2 '->- 13 Carried over 36 246 48 POLITICAL Book II. Brought over 36 246 Gatton fends 2 members chofen by 11 Bramber > 2 — 8 Eaft Grin (lead 2 . 19 Calne 2 iS Malm (bury ■ 2 . 7 Old Sarum ■ ' 2 — — — l Bewdley - > 2 18 New Romney ■ 2 ■ 17 Marlborough 2 — 2 Buckingham 2 — — 7 Here we fee 56 members (about a ninth part of the whole for England J are fent into the houfe of com- mons by 364 votes, which number ought not to fend in one member. For no member ought to be eleded by fewer than the majority of 800, upon the moil m.oderate calculation, according to Dr. Pricey in order to give 410,000 voters their due and equally diilributed fliare of legiflative power, without which equal diftribution the majority of the men of property are enflaved to the handful of beggars, who, by eieding the majority of the houfe of commons, have fo great an overbalance of power over them, as to be able to carry every point in diredt oppofition to their opinion, and to iheir intereft. Here we fee (mojijiriifn horrendum^ ingens !J two peribns, the lord of the pitiful town of Newton^ in the ifle of Wight y and him of Old Sammy Wiltjhirey where there is not a houfe, fend in as many members as the ineftimable weahh of the city of London^ in which the livery, who are the legal cledors, are 8,000 ^ and the perfons, who ought to have votes are Chap. IV. D I S CLU I S I T I O N S. 49 are probably .0.000. and upwards. Here t|,^ndi. viduals have equal weight in the flate with 30,000 1 The following counties, A, D. 1693 to 1697 on an average, paid annually as follows, each refpec- tively {q many parts in 513 of the land-tax and fub- fidy ; and lent members as follows ^. Land-tax, SubUdy, Members. Cumberland — I '— I ~ 6, Borfet — 9 _ 6 — %o, Weftmoreland — I — I — 4. Cornwal — ^ 8. — 5 — 44' Middlefex — 80 - l^ 8, According to this eftimate, Middlefex^ with its towns, contributes of land-tax and fubfidy together 265 parts 0^513. Therefore Middlefex ought to be reprefented by 265 members. And Cornwal contri- butes of land-tax and fubfidy together 13 parts of 513* Therefore Cornwal ought to fend 13 members. Men of large property ought likewife to have more votes, than thofe, who have lefs to fecure. Property ought in all ftates to have its proportional weight and confequence. In the Ea/i India aft of 1773, which was heavily complained of for its injuftice, there is yet one very equitable regulation, and worthy of imitation, viz. That every proprietor of 3000/. flock fhall have two votes J of 6000/. 3 5 and of ^ 0,000/. 4 votes at elec- tions of diredors ^. The Britijh government, therefore, taking it ac- cording to its avowed ftate, is neither abfolute mo- narchy nor limited monarchy, nor ariftocracy, nor democracy, nor a mixture of monarchy, ariftocracy Vol. I. H and a Pojikthwayte^i D i c t . Word P a r l . b Whiteh, Ev. Post, June 16, 1773. so POLITICAL Book XL and democracy ; but may be called a ptochocracy (the reader will pardon a new word) or government of beggars. For a few beggarly boroughs do avow- edly eled the moft important part of the government, the part which commands the purfe. It is true this is only the oftenfible flate of things, -.yhe Britijh government is really ajuntocracy (I doubt the reader will now think I prefume upon his good nature) or government by a minifter and his crew. For the court direds the beggars whom to chufe. Is this the univerfally admired and univerfally envied Britijh conftitution ? How much more proper would a petition have been, from the friends of liberty to the king, to fet himfelf at the head of a plan for refloring indepen^ dency to parhament, than petitioning him to dif- Jblve that which was then fitting. What point could have been gained by that meafure ? It is a handful of beggars, bribed, or awed, by the court, gr the grandees, that fends the majority of the members into the houfe. Would not they have fent back tht fame men ? Did they dare to fend any ethers ? If it be faid, that the difiblution of the parliament then fitting would have redreffed all grievances, it muft follow, that a new parliament would ; but how many mm parliaments have we feen fince the revolution ? Yet we have now ftanding armies, feptennial parliaments, rotten boroughs, placemen in the houfe, excifes, &c. Though 1 have not the leaft idea of wifhing fo great a change in the conftitution, as would exclude king and lords from parliament 3 yet I may, I think, be allowed juft to mention, that the great power by our conftitution vefted in a frnall number of indivi- duals, which will always make an inequality, and an unbalancing, ought to make us the more dcfirous of Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 51 of reducing, if poflible, one of our three eflates at leaft, to fomewhat a little neater to adequate, than it is at prefent. But of this more hereafter. Reprefentation in the houfe of commons is inade- quate in other refpeds befides thofe already mentioned. In antient times, when parliaments were firft efta« bllOied, there was no property, but that of land. Therefore all powers, and all honours, were heaped on the landed men. The confequence was, that the landed intereft was too well reprefented, to the detri- ment (in our times) of the mercantile and monied. This is an occalion of various evils. For many of our country-gentlemen are but bad judges of the im- portance of the mercantile intereil, and do not wifely confult it in their bills and ads. Of this kind are the game- ad:, the dog-adt, and taxes on every neceflary of life, which give our rivals in trade a great advan- tage over us. And minifters, to curry favour with the houfe of commjus, are tempted to burden com- merce with taxes for the fake of eaiing the landed intereft. See the art of Walpole ^ to this purpofe, by propofing to eafe the land of one fliilling in the pound, and laying a duty on fait for three years, to make up the deficiency. It was objeded to this propofal, That the falt-duty was always reckoned a grievous burden upon the manufaduring poor, and was therefore taken off; and that it was a flrange paradox, that the landed gentlemen were poorer than the poor^ and therefore in more need of relief from a heavy tax. It is the overbalance of the power in the hands of the landed men, that has produced the bounty on exporta- tion of corn (of which more fully hereafter) W'hich increafcs the manutadurer's expencc of living, and dif- a Des. Com. vii. 285* 52 POLITICAL Book II. difcourages the exportation of our manufadlureSi This is, in the end, hurtful to the landed Intereft. But {hort-fighted and ieififli men do not fee it in that light i nor will feem to underftand, that the land-tax, while nominally three fhiilings in the pound, is not really nine-pence. The time was, when land in England might have been purchafed for a ^cth part of its prefent value. What has given it the 49 parts additional worth ? Can any one imagine, the diffe- rence is owing to any thing, but our trade and manu- factures ? ji. D, 1373, a parliament being cdled, it was ex- prefsly mentioned in the writ, that from every burgh there (hould be fent two burgeffes, * the moft difcreet and fufficient, who had the greateil (kill in fhip^ ping and merchandizing ^/ There was a claufe in the eledion bill in king Williams time for rendering merchants eligible into parliament, making oath, that they were worth50oo/.^ * When the young nobility and gentry (fays Dave- nantj employ their time and thoughts carefully to in- fped: and confider the kingdom's foreign traffic, they will evidently fee how much their landed intereft de- pends upon it ; they will find that as trade brought land from 12 to 25, the general rental from 6 to 14 millions, and the kingdom's capital from 72 to 252 millions, reckoning lands, tenements, hereditaments, and perfonal eftates, 18 years purchafe at a medium 5 fo it may bring land from 25 to 30 years purchafe, andlands, tenements, hereditaments, &c, from 18 to 26 years purchafe, the general rental from 14 millions to 28 millions, and the kingdom's capital from 252 to a Brady^ in, 296. b Deb. Com. hi. 70. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 53 to above 1000 millions, if by induftry and prudent management it can be rendered more extenfivc. But the mutual dependance between land and trade, v/e hope, has been fufficiently made out in the feries of thefe difcourfes *.' It was owing to a want of merqhants in the houfe, that the bill for reftraining paper-credit in America was brought in. And it was no fmall difgrace to the houfe, that there were petitions againft it prefented from moft of the agents for the colonies, as an impru- dent and hurtful fcheme. Pojilethwayfey in his Dict. OF CoMM. and Brit, true Syst. has made many remarks on the advantage of merchants in the houle of commons ; to whom 1 muft refer the reader. Is not an ariftocracy a government in the hands of a few, or of one clafs, or one intereft, excluding the body of the people of property from their due weight in government ? Is not our houfe of peers wholly, and our houfe of commons chiefly filled with men, whofe property is land ? Is not therefore the government of this mercantile and manufaduring country in the hands of the landed interefl: to the exclufion of the mercantile and manufadural ? Doe| not then the go- vernment of this country tend too much to ariftocracy ? The eldefl: fons of Scotch peers are declared incapa- ble of fitting in the houfe of commons W But the fons of Englijh peers may fit, fo that ten individuals out of one family may be legiflators. Is not this too ariftocratical ? It is faid, property in land is more capable of being •proved, than in merchandize, manufadlures, or flocks. But this is frivolous , for any man, though poflTeflTed of a Davm^ ii. Si. b Deb. Com. iv. 1051 54 [POLITICAL Book IL of an oftenfible land-eftate, may be in debt to more than the value of his eftate j and where is then his qualification ? The intercft of merchants is fo much the intereft of the nation, that there can hardly be too many mer- chants in parliament. The Lcfidon members almoft always vote on the fide of liberty. Ic is cbjeded, that each merchant will probably vote in parliament for what is moft for the advantage of his own parti- cular branch. True. Therefore let a confiderable number of merchants always have feats in the houfe, and then all different interefts will be confulted. It has likewife been argued, that merchants are bad members, becaufe they are liable to be influenced in favour of the court by government contrads. But here again comes in my obfervation concerning par^ tial reformations. Correcfl all the other abufes, and court-influence will become impcilible. Then will appear the advantage of merchants in the houfe of commons. Of all which more hereafter. As to the monied intereft, if the public debts are not to be paid, or fome fubltantlal fecurity found for them, it would be very proper, that the monied intereft (as fuch) ftiould have reprefentation in par- liament, Elfe what fecurity have we, that a profli- gate court will not (hut up the exchequer, as Charles II. did, and obtain, by corrupt means, the fandion of parliament for the mcafure? It is indeed alkdgtd, that the mercantile, manufadural, and monied intc- ''refts are reprefented by the members for the cities, and boroughs. But this is nothing to the purpofe. Becaufe the qualification required is always to be in land. ChapiV. DISQ^UISITIONS. 55 CHAP. V. How parliamentary reprefentation came to be thus inadequate. REprefentation in the commons houfe of parlia- ment came to be thus out of all proportion inadequate, in much the fame manner a» cities come to be built in defience of all plan or regu- larity by every land-proprietor's humouring his own caprice in building upon his own ground. Our kings and our queens gave and took away the privilege of fending members, as pleated their fancy without all regard to judice, or proportion. Mr. Carter alkdges, that the lawyers, in the puritan times, in order to flrengthen their own party, fearchcd old records, and found, that many towns of the king's demefne had been fummoned once or twice, by Edward I. to fend reprefentatives ; and on this founded a pretence, that thefe were in all times parliament-towns. * Thus (fays he) the puri- tans got the afcendency in the houfe ; and thus was an unreafonable difproportion in the reprefentation of the kingdom introduced to the infinite prejudice of the conftitution.' Mr. Carte fliews, that the mode of reprefentation cftablifhed in antient times was tolerably adequate; but * that the cafe is now vaftly altered. There is no longer any juft or reafonable proportion in the reprefentation. For, whilft all the landed intereft is reprefcnted by 92 members, and the trading or mo- nied a Quoted Parl. Hist, xxk 212. 56 POLITICAL Book IL nied intereft^ by about igo deputies of citiee and great towns, there are above 300 reprefentatives of fmall, inconfiderable, and many of thefe beggarly boroughs, who by a majority of 3 to 2, are able to difpofe of the property of all the landed and opulent men in the kingdom in defpite of their unanimous diffent. Thefe have long been confidered as the rot- ten part of our conftiution, and being venal as well as poor, they have been the chief fource of the cor- ruption complained of in modern parliaments.' • Foreigners, who know and refled on this inequa- lity in our reprefentation, which they cannot recon- cile to common fenfe, ftand amazed at hearing us brag of the excellency of our conftitution, while it labours under fo fundamental a defed, and are apt to doubt, whether the fenfe of parlianrient is really the fenfe of the nation, &c. According io Borlafe^ author of theNATURAL His- tory OF CoRNWAL, only 5 boroughs of that county fcnt 10 members, and the county 2, 23 Edw, L and Lejiwitbiel fent 2 more, 33 Edw. I. Thus it remained, excepting one change, to 6 Edw. VI. when 7 other boroughs were allowed to fend 2 members each, i Mary, another was added, and 4 and 5 of the fame reign, another, i Eliz. another > 5 of the fame reign, 2 others; 13 of the fame queen, 2 others 3 and 27, another; in all 21 boroughs, which. a This is not juft. For the members fent by cities and great towns are commonly landed gentlemen, as much as the others, and do not confider themfelves as particularly obliged to take care of the trading, muchl^fs of the monied intcreft. b Parl, Hist. xxi. 213. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 57 which, with the county, make up 44 members. The caufe of this partiality for Cornwall, he thinks, was that dutchy's being in the crown, and yielding a greater royal revenue, than any other county, all which was very convenient for our kings and queens, as the places were poor, and confequently dependent. So that pro- bably the very defign of giving this privilege to thefe paltry boroughs was, to obtain for the court an uadue influence in parliament. And ought they then to be allowed a privilege, unjuft in itfelf and given with un- juft views ? Towns came to be burghs (that is, pri- vileged within themfelves, and freed from certain taxes and tallages) by charters of lords or kings ^ It was^ originally left to the flierift of each county to name the burghs, which (liould fend members b. The oldeft returns extant of knights, citizens, and bar- gefles, are 26 Edward I, 'diz. 2 knights for Wilt" fjirCy 2 citizens for New Sariim^ 2 burgefles for DountOftj : 2 iov Devizes. 2 for Chippenham^ z for Malmejhiiry^. But afterwards, 12 Edw. IlL there were returned only 2 knights for the county, 2 citizens for Sammy 2 for Wilton^ 2 for Dounton^ and 2 for Merleberg^ \_Marlborough^,'] Brady men- tions many inftances of places dilcontinuing to fend members, and then beginning again, and difcontinu- ing again, for 100 to 300 years, &c. And, which is extraordinary, the returning oflicer would often return^ * Nulla ejl alia, &c. There are no more cities, nor burghs in my bailywick,' though more cities and burghs in the fame bailywick, or county, had formerly lent members^. He meant, ' There is no other city Vol. L I or a Brady, i. Of Burghs, 43, b Ibid. 52. c Ibid. 52. d Ibid. t Ibid, et pafT. 58 POLITICAL Book II. or burgh, fit to fend members ;' for the flierifF, at his pleafure, often fpared the decayed burghs the ex- pence of fending members, though there was a law, 5 Rich. II. c. 4. for punifhing fheriffs, who failed in this refpedt. The fherifFs,- in their returns, ftill J extant, often mention, that there are no other ^ places in the county, now able to fend members ^. There is no inftance {(zys Braiiy^ J of any burgh*s complaining of its not being reprefented. But there are inftances of their petitioning to be excufed fending members. Mr, IVillis thinks, there were before Edw. VL about 130 cities and boroughs, in all, that returned members to parliament S and that the original num- ber was not confiderably increafed till the time of Henry VIII. but continued from the middle of Ed- ward III. much the fame, (not 30 new boroughs being created between Edw, I. Sind Edw. VI.) excepting that fome boroughs intermitted (ending for f. me time as 50, 100, to 400 years, and afterwards begun again. in feveral parliaments, as 1 8 Edw. III. &c, the re- cords fay, ' In hoc pari, &c. In this parliament there were no briefs [or writs] fent to any city or burgh, but to the counties only ^.' There were likewile councils, or parliaments, in which v/ere only mem- bers from trading towns, and no knights of fiiiies^ There were 17 places made bu;ghs, wdth privilege of ^ fending members, by Henry VI ^. The cinque ports are now 8 5 though the very name fhews, that they were originally but 58. Frynne fays Wales fent 48 members, temp. Edward II. But Henry VIII. fummoned 2. Brady y i. Of BuRGHS, 52 et pafT. b Ibid 59. c Not. Parl. i. Pref. vii. d Ibid. xlii. € Ibid. ix. f Ibid. xiv. g Ibid. Chap. V D I S QJJI S I T I O N S. 59 fummoned only 12 knights and 12 burgefles^. Some trading places fent reprefentatives, upon occalional fucnmonfcs to councils for regulating trade. Mr. Willis likewife gives a lift of burghs, which formerly returned members, and * which if reftored (fays heb) would conftitute a parliament near half as pumcrous, as the reprefentative of burghs was before Edward YV The county-palatine oi Chejler, and city of the fame, fent no members before Edward VJ. c. Nor Durham county- palatine and city befor 25 Car. II. ^ The fmall boroughs, to which the privilege of fend- ing members had been granted for the fupport of mi- nifterial influence, and corruption, were deprived of their right of eledion,' A. X). 1654, under the ufur- pation of Lromwell ^ In former times, the king's learned council, the civilians, mafters in chancery, were fummoned to attend parliament, but without voices, as now the judges; and the bifhops were to bring with them * their dean and chapter, their arch- deacun, and all the clergy, \tQtumque c/erum] of their diocefe, by their reprefentatives [prccuratores'\ to agree [ad confentiendum] to the things which ihall be ordained ^.' This laft \ad confentiendum'] feems to imply, that all thefe holy men had fufFrage in par- liament. But lord Coke exprefsly affirms the con- trary, and indeed it is not probable that they had, though they v/ere in thofe times held in high venera- tion. There were 33 abbots fummoned to parliament 4 Edward HI. and in the parliament writs 6 £^- ward III. 23 others, befides 4 priors, and the mafter of the order of S^niplin^ham, who were not ufually in parliament,. a Not. Parl. i, Pref. xv. b Ibid. xxx. c Ibid. I. 197. ^ Ibid. ii. 510. e Maca^l., Hist. v. 140. f C^i^'s Instit. v«.4* 6o POLITICAL Book II. parliament. [I have forgot, in copying this out, to (et down from whence I took it.] ' Four knights for every county, and two men for every city, burgh, and market-town, were fummonded to parliament,' A* -D. 1283. temp. Edward I. a Near the end of Edward I. writs were iiTued cut for all the counties, excepting C Be/hire and Durham^. A. D. 1446, 24 Henry VI. there were 74 knights in parliament from 37 counties 3 one of which is Wigorn^ and feveral counties are left out. There were 200 burgeffes^ fo that the whole houfe of commons confifted of 274 members, now 513, iot England. [I have forgot, in extracting this paragraph, to mark from whence I took it.] According to Black/tone S there were only '^co members in the commons houfe of parliament in the time of Henry VI. ^ Therefore the number of the houfe commons is almoft doubled in about 300 years by our kings and queens giving privileges of eledion to new places. | There was in the time of Henry V. a debate about ' the furrender of corporations. Bceda (Q^.) and ISIewbury furrendered their corporations to the king. It was queftloned. Whether a corporation can fur- render its charter, which is robbing pofterity. And the commons called upon thofe towns to fend mem- ^ bers, notwithftanding the furrender. The houfe 1j however excufed their fending members on their pkading inability, and * they fent none fince^.* An adt pafled 1690, to declare the right and freedom of cledion for the cinque-ports. Before this bill the wardens of the cinque-ports claimed a right of nomi- nating a Brady^ ui. lo. b Parl. Hist. i. 131. c CoMM. I, 174. d Dri3, Lords, i 398. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 6i nating to each cinque-port one perfon to ferve as baron or member of parliament a. * In Henry Vlllth's firft parliament there were 148 counties and boroughs, which fent members ; and the whole number of the commons wafr'298. £)«r- iam and Chejifr were not in the lift. The 6 boroughs of Cornwal, and the county, probably fent only 14 members, where now they fend 44. No members ihtn iqt;,^TFeJiminJier, Wiltjhire^ with its cities and boroughs, fent 34. Henry g2iVQy or reftored, privi- lege of fending members to 14 counties, chiefly Welch, and to 17 towns in England and PTales, and to Calais in France ; in all 32 counties and boroughs, which fent to parliament 38 members. Edward Vl. gave privilege to 22 boroughs (no counties) and they fent 44 members. Queen Mary, to 14 boroughs, which fent 25 members. Elizabeth to 31 boroughs, which fent 62 members.- James I. to 14 boroughs, which fent 27 members. [I have forgot to mark whence I took this paragraph.] February 15, 1640, The commons ordered that Ccckermouth (ho'ald be re- flored to its former privilege of fending members^. November 26, That the towns of Ajldperton and Hontton (hould likewife fend members <=. Oakhamp- ton had no members iince 7 Edward II. It was re- ftored at the beginning of this parliament. Weably had fent no members fince Edward I. It was reftored 1640. Milborn-port fent none fince 35 Edward 1^ 'till required in 1040. The commons, in the fame year, ordered that Malton, Alkrtony and Seaford fhould be reftored to their former privileges. Undor James II. the power of electing members of parliament was in many places transferred from the inhabitants a Tind. CoNTiN* 1. 132, b Commons JouRN. XXIII. c Ibid, xxvo 62 POLITICAL Book IL inhabitants in general to the magiftrates; becaufe they were likely to be more within the reach of bribery a. The borough of Stockbridge, A, D. 1689, for bribery, narrowly efcaped being disfranchifed, and incapacitated for ever for fending members, and ia- ftead of its 2 members, an addition was propofed to be made of 2 more knights of the (hire for the county of Southampton ^. CHAP. VL Evil of the Boroughs having fo dijproportionatea Shart in Parliamentary Reprefeniation, MEMBERS of parliament have the properties, liberties, and lives of the nation in their hands, and hold themfelves accountable to no man, orfet of men, forthe lav/stheymake. Ought thetruftees of fo great a charge to be men capable of giving or re- ceiving ba(e bribes ? Members of parliament ought to be men of good natural parts, education, and charadter, found reafoners, graceful fpeakcrs, knowing in the three interefts, viz, ttie landed, the commercial, and the monicd, in general hiftory, law, and politics, and in the hiftory, laws, and politics of Bri/ai?^^ learned in human nature, and mafters of the fpirit and difpo- fition of the inhabitants of the three kingdoms, and of the colonies. Is it to be conceived, that the inha- bitants of a fet of miferable Corni/h boroughs are judges of fuch high accomplifhments as thefe ? Were eledion of members of parliament upon its proper foot, every county. a Humeri Hist. Stuarts, ii. 404. b Bohuuh Right of Election, p. 275. Chap* VI. DISQUISITIONS. 63 county, including its cities and towns, would eledt a fet of gentlemen to be its reprefentatives. This would concentre the wifdom of the whole county, and not leave it, as at prefent, in the power of a doxen filly fellows to fet up a lawmaker, capable or inca- pable, over their country. Here I muft hint to the reader, that, though I have ftated the accompliihments of a member pretty high, I am fenfible, that lower, with integrity, will fuffice, or at lead would, if parliament were upon the proper foot as to independency. But the lamentable part of the cafe is at prefent, that by far the greateft part of our eledors are wholly incapable of diftinguifliing, and muft be fuppofed often to chufe the worft qualified of the candidates, and rejedt the beft. We often fee, before a general eledlion, many flam- ing harangues addreffcd to the people, ihewing them the importance of chufing proper perfons for fo mo- mentous a truft. I have wondered in myfelf how any man of fenfe could wafte his paper and ink Co fruitlefsly as in giving people advice, which no man, who knows human nature, can expert them to take. The plain Englijh of thofe harangues is as follows. Illuftrious beggars of the CorniJJo boroughs ! Your country expedts of you at the approaching eledion, what every confiderate perfon muft conclude to be wholly out of your reach, viz. That you will wifely and honeftly confider the importance of the truft repofed in you, of fending into the legiflative aflTembly of the nation fo great a proportion of the members. It is expeded, that you are well qualified, without having ever had the means for being. qualified to judge of the fitnefs of candidates; that you, who have neither knowledge of books, nor of the world, fliould 64 POLITICAL Book II. fliould judge unerringly of the capacities and difpo- fitions of perfons, who offer themfelves as candidates for your favour. It is likewife expcded, illuftrious beggars, that you, whofe circuaiftances are, in the moft miferable degree, dependent, (hould be, in your principles and difpofitions, independent patriots. As we require a qualification in members of parliament, of feveral hundreds a year, that they may be above temptation, To we expedt of you, who are in conti- nual want, that you defy temptation. Do not, pa-* triotic cledors, regard the threats of your landlords, when they tell you, they will turn you out of your dwelling. Remember what you never learned in Horace^ Dulce ct decorum eft pro patrla mori. It requires no fortitude above whatever grofs unprm^ cipled fellow is matter of, to die in a ditch for your country, with her wives and children about you. * Legiflation (fays Blackjtone^) is the greateft ad of luperiority, that can be exercifed by one being over another.' How few then can be fuppofed qualified for fuch a momentous truft ! But we put this truft in .the hands of any man, however worihlefs, or inca- pable, who is able and willing to layout a few thou- fands in the purchafc of a borough. James I. before a general eledion, direds, * that there be not chofen any perfons banqueroutes, or outlawed j but men of knov/n good behaviour, and fufficient livelihood, — nothing being more abfurd in any commonwealth, than to permit thole to have free voices for law-making, who, by their own ads, are exempted from the laws protedion^.* none i aCoMM. I. 46. b Parl. Hist. v. 7, Chap. VI. D I S QU I S IT I O N S, 65 None were to be eligible to parliament in Cromwffs time, but perfons of known integrity, fearing God and of good converfation ; no common fcoffer or re- viler of Religion ; none who denies the fcripture to be the word of God ; no common profaner of the Lord's day ; no profefled fwearer or curfer 3 no drunkard, haunter of taverns, ale-houfes, or brothels, nor that fhall hereafter drink healths, or be guilty of adultery, fornication, extortion, bribery, perjury, forgery, &c\ Here was fuch an exclufion-bill, as, if it had been put in force in our times, would have left St. Sfep/je?i*s Chapel miferably depopulated. But how {hould the houfe be filled with proper members by improper eledors ? The lords rejeded, ^. D. 1702, after a fe- cond reading, a bill to provide, that no perfon becho- fen a member of the commons, who has not a fuffi- cient real eftate. A great many lords protefted againfl: the rejed:ion of fo good a bill -, becaule the defign of it was, to prevent foreigners, and men of no property, from having the power of taxing the property of Eng^ UJhmen^. But men of no property have now the pow- er of taxing the property of Englijhmen. For the mem- bers for the boroughs are four times as numerous as thofe for the counties. There was much debating in the houfe of com- mons, A. Z). 1770, upon a bill for fetdingwhat of- fences fhould be punifhed by incapacitation to fit in the houfe. If what judge Blackjione affirms, as above, be unqueftionably trut^, it is a matter of fupreme confequence, that only men of unqueftionable charaC'OB ters be legiflators. For my part, I ihould think a law Vol. I. K for a Parl. Hist. xx. 386 b Deb. Lords, 11. 48. 66 POLITICAL Book II. for incapacitating every man of an ambiguous cha- rader, highly proper and necefTary. We know how exadt in that refpedl the antient heathens were. And it were a {hame, that the proftffors of the pureft of all religions fhould be more lax in principle then they. But how is it to be expeded, that any particular re- garding eledions (houldbe properly managed by fuch weak and influenced men as thofe, who fend in the majority of the houfe ? *Kingsmaymakelords,andcorporations, which cor- porations may fend their burgefles to parliament/ fays iV. Bacon \ The annotator obferves, on this, * Tho' the King can make corporations, yet he cannot give them a right to be reprefentcd in parliament with- out the commons aflent.' I believe Henry VIII. and his termagant daughter did notafk the confent of the houfe of commons, when they gave to fo many places the power offending members to parliament. And if not, according to this author, thofe places have no legal right to fend members. The miferable village of BcJJiney was made a free borough neither by king nor queen, but by Richard earl of Corn- wal, brother to Henry III. it fent members for the firfl time under Edward VI. ^ Surely we have no occafion to be encumbered by this paltry place, and its venal members. If a king's brother, if even a fheriff of the county, S can give privilege of fending members, furely a king can take away that mock privilege. Or if kings, and brothers of kings can give privilege to paltry boroughs in one age, then kings a Disc.Gov.Engl. Fart ii. p. 76. b Deb. CoM^ xiii. 50. c See above, p. 58. Chap. VI. D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S, 67 kins^s and their brothers can, In another more enlight- ened age, give privilege to refpedable counties and great cities, to fend up that number of reprefentatives, which is found to be adequate to their refpedive contributions to the public expcnce. Our good king George III. (whom God preferve !) has as good a right, at leaft in foro confcientia^ to give London 100 additional members, to give Brifiol 20 additional, 20 to the county of Tork, &c,^s our Maries, our Elizabethsy and our Henries, had to give a fet of rot- ten boroughs the privilege of lending three times their adequate number. If a king has power in the 15th or 16th century, to do wrong, furely a king has power in the i8th to redrefs that wrong. Suppofe, for the experiment's fake, the cities of London and Wejlminjier^ and county of Middlefex-y {hould join in a decent petition to the legiflature, requefting, that the exceffive nnmber of members, which reprefents the county of Cornwall tnay be transferred to the fervice of the ineftimable opulent -metropolitan cities and county, and their miferably inadequate reprefentation to the inconliderable county of Cornwall; or, in other words, that London and Wefiminfler^ and Middlefex may, for the future, be re- prefented by 4]. members (not half the adequate num" ber) and Cornwal hy lo. Suppofe Cornwal to peti- tion, that nothing may be changed. Here would be two counter petitions before the legiflature ; one, of the mod refpedable property, that fends repre- fentatives to parliament, requefting what they have an undoubted title to^ the other of a comparatively inconfidcrable property, iniifting to keep what un- doubtedly they have no right to, have obtained ia a furreptitious manner, and have kept a great deal too long, 68 POLITICAL Book II. long. Would the legiflature liften to the latter, and rejed the former ? "James I. forbids fending members * from fuch ruinous places, as have not fufficient refyantes [inha- bitants] to make fuch choice ». Were -he privilege of election taken from the bo- roughs, there would be lefs occafion for a place-bill. For large bodies of the independent people would not eled, or re-eled place-men. ' Moft of the great counties and chief cities chofe men who were zealous for the king and government, A. D, 1701, but the rotten parts of our conftitution, as an eminent author ftyles the fmall boroughs, were in many places wrought on to chufe bad men ^Z * Before bribery, or meat, drink, infinuation, and artifice prompted to the mean and poor forts of burgef- fes a right, which anticntly they never dreamed of, there were no contefts between them and the commu- nities or commonalties, that is, the governing part of cities and burghs, about the eledtion of citizens and burgefTes to reprefent them in parliament, feeing, when they received wages, it was a burden to thofe, who chofe and fent them. And it is not eafily to be imagined, that poor and ordinary men would con- tend for a burthen, or a trouble.-— —There was then no flriving for votes, or making parties to be eleded c.' No invention could have been thought of more fa- vourable to court-iniiuence in parliament, than giv- ing fo great importance to the beggarly boroughs. They are the creatures of the court. That is, they receive their privilege from kings ; and the burgage tenures a Parl. Hist. v. 7. b Tind, Contin. I. 497. c Brady, I. Of BuR^HS, 75. Chap. VI. DISQUISITIONS. 69 tenures in them generally belong to men of fortune, who have power to oblige the inhabitants of thefe burgage-houfes to eledt whom they pleafe. And the court having great funds at its difpofal, ambitious and avaritious men are thereby drawn to the court-fide in promoting the election of courtly men. But above all, the eafinefs of bribing a fmall handful of voters, who have the privilege of fending two members, is ruinous to the independency of the houfe of commons. In the year 1742, there came before the lords a bill for quieting corporations, occafioned by an appeal to them from the violence ufed by Walpole^ in order to compel the eledtion of fome of his creatures for Wey- mouth, That arch-corrupter had endeavoured to in- timidate the corporation by threatening their charter. A minifter cannot by any fuch means influence a county, or a great city, ' Many of our boroughs (fays my lord Chejterfield in fpeaking on that fubjed) are now fo much the creatures of the crown, that they are generally called court-boroughs, and very properly they are called fo. For our minifters for the time being have always the nomination of their re- prefentatives, and make' fuch an arbitrary ufe of it, that they often order them to chufe gentlemen, whom they never faw, nor heard of, perhaps, till they faw their names on the miniftcr's order for chufing them. Thefe orders they always pundlually obey, and would, I fuppofe, obey them, were the perfon named in them the minifter's footman, then adually wearing his livery. For they have, we know, chofen men, who have but very lately thrown the livery off from their backs; but never can throw it off from their minds ^Z March a Deb. Lords, viii. 529, 70 POLITICAL BookIL March i8, 1742, a bill for reeulating eleclions for cities, and boroughs, was put off for a monrh ^. The author of Faction Detected by Facts, thus ac- counts for the lols of this popular bill : * The true rea- fon why this bill was not pafled was one, which equally affeded all parties, and which will everlaftingly pre- vent an effectual bill of this kfnd j and this arifes from the various rights of eledion, which are fo numerous, that they diftradt and confound the dif- ferent interefts of gentlemen, which, to fpeak fairly on all fides, induces them, by one plaufible pre- tence or other, for their private regard, to oppofe or to propofe, fo many different claufes, that iuch bills become at laft impracticable and unpalatable ta all._The burgage-tenures too, which gendemen will neither part with, nor can tell how to regulate, arc another invincible obftrudtion ; and the powers and the penalties create farther difficulties, wliich no human wifdom has yet b.en able to furmount/ The plain Englijh of all this is, that a majority of the members of both houfes were, thirty years ago (not in our golden days) fo fordidly felfifli in their dif-- pofitions, that rather than lofe a trifling privilege or profit, they would fuffer their country to fink in a quick- fand of corruption. It is to be hoped, that this Ihocking account of the ftate of patriotifin thirty years ago, was not true. But however the truth may have been, it is particularly remarkable, that an author, who wrote on purpofe to fhew, that the clamour of the people was groundlefs, fhould incautioufly confefs, that the majority of the legiflature was fo execrably corrupt, a Deb. Com. xiv 258, Chap. VI. DISQUISITION S^ -^i corrupt, that there was great and weighty ground fcr clamour. Lord North and Grey was againfl: the union, be- caufe Scotland was to have twice the number of re- prefentatives, and to pay only half the tax paid by WaleSy though Wales was as poor, and much lefs ia extent. hovA Hallifax anfwered, that C omwal d\i not pay above one fifth of what Glocejlerjldire did, and fent five times as many members^. A ftate or commonwealth, favs Milton^ * is a fo- ciety fufiicient of itfelf in all things conducible to well-being and commodious life/ Will this defini-* tion anfwer to Britain as parliaments now are ? whert all depends on a fet of men authorifed by a very fmall minority both as to nun^bers and property ? It is a common maxim in politics, that in every ftate there muft be fome wherean ahfolute andirrefifti- ble power over the people. But this is to be rightly underftood, or it will lead to miftakes. In a monar- chy, as France^ the whole power is in the king againft all other voice. This is proper tyranny. At Venice it is in the nobles exciufively. This is proper ariftocracy, or oligarchy. In Holland (excepting fome errors and deviations) the whole power is in the ftates, that is, or fhould be, the people; but it does not defcend low enough, and leaves the bourgeoifie confiderably enflaved. In England the whole power is in king, lords, and commons. Therefore in monar- chies the peopley the chief objedt, have no ftiare of power. In oligarchies the people have as little. In republics the people have a lliare of power. But in our mixed government the people are fwallowed up in king, lords, and commons. To fay, therefore, that thera ft DfiB. Lords, ii, 173. b Eikoncl. 135. 72 POLITICAL Book II, there mufl: be in every country an abfolute power fomewhere over the people, and in which they are to have no (hare, is making the people mere beads of burden, inftead of what they are, viz. the original of power, the objed of government, and laft refource. Our courtly people, therefore, to quiet our minds on this fubjedl, tell us, we have a very great ihare in governing ourfelves, as wc eledt our law-makers. We have kQn^ what this amounts to. And if any Eng- lijhman is fatisfied with the view 1 have given of parliamentary reprefentation, I can only fay, he is thankful for fmall mercies. There will be occafion to exhibit much more on this fubject in the following chapters on Corruption^ &c. CHAP. VII. Inadequate Reprefentation univ erf ally complained of. Propofals by various Perfom for redrejfmg this Irregularity. THE monftrous inequality of parliamentary repre- fentation has not cfcaped unobferved. And there have been attempts made to reform it. « To whatgrofs abfurdities, (fays Mr. Locked) the following of cuftom, when reafon has left it, may lead, we may be fatisfied, when we fee the bare name of a town, of which there remains not fo much as the ruins, where fcarce fo much houfing as a fheep-cot, or more inhabitants than a (hepherd, are to be found, fend as many reprefentativcs to the grand affembly of law- makers, as a whole county numerous in people, and powerful in riches.' He afterwards (hews (contrary to a On Government, chap. xiii. § 157. Chap. VII. DISQUISITIONS. 7^ to the common objedlion, That this deviation mud not be correded, becaufe fuch corredlon would pro- duce a violation of the conftitution) that rertoring adequate reprefentation, would be precifely what is wanted toward eftabilfhing the conftitution on its true and original principles. * This irregularity of repre- fentation ftrangers ftand amazed at, and every one muft confefs, needs a remedy, though moft think it hard to find one, becaufe the conftitution of the legillativc being the original and fupreme ad of the fociety antecedent to all pofitive laws in it, and, depending wholly upon the people, no inferior power can alter it ; and therefore the people, when the legiflative is once conftituted, having, in fuch a government as we have been fpeaking of, no power to adt, as long as that government ftands ; this inconvenience is thought incapable af a remedy. Salus fopuli fuprema lex, is certainly fo juft and fundamental a rule, that who fmcerely follows it cannot dangeroufly err. If therefore the executive, who has the power of convoking the legiflative, obferving rather the true proportion, than the fafliion of reprefentation, regulates, not by old cuftom, but true proportion, the number of members in all places, that have a right to be diftindly reprefented, which no part of the people, however incorporated^ can pretend to, but in proportion to the affiftance it- affords to the public; it cannot be judged to have fet up a new legiflative, but to have reftored the old and true one, and to have redlified the diforders, which the fucceflion of time had infenfibly, as well as inevitably introduced. For it being the intereft, as well as the intention of the people, to have a fair and equal reprefentative, whoever brings it neareft to that, is an undoubted friend to, and eftablifher ofe Vol. I. L the I|74 POLITICAL Book IL the government, and cannot mifs the confent and approbation of the community. Prerogative being nothing but a power in the hands of the prince to provide for the public good in fuch cafes, which depending upon unforefeen and uncertain occurrences certain and unalterable laws could not fafely diredl ; whatfoever (ball be done manifeftly for the good of the people, and eftablifliing the government on its true foundation, is, and always will be, true and juft prerogative. The power of ereding new cor- porations, and therewith new reprefentatives, carries with it a fuppofition, that, in time, the meafures of reprefentation might vary, and thofe places have a juft right to be reprtfented, which before had none, and by the fame reafon, thofe ceafc to have a right, and become too inconfiderable for fuch a privilege, which before had it. It is not a change from the prefent ftate, which perhaps corruption, or decay, has intro- duced, that makes an inroad upon government j but its tendency to injure and opprefs the people, and to fet up one part, or party, with a diftindtion from, and unequal fubje, that when this triennial bill was under confideration, queen Mary defired lord Bellamonf, her treafurer, to oppofe it. He refufed. He was defired only to be neutral. He proved, on the contrary, very adive in promoting the bill. The queen difmiffed him from his poft. He retired to privacy and frugality. The queen, overcome by his obilinate virtue, offered him" a penfion. He declined it, faying. He had no right to a reward, as he didno fervice. It is wonderful, that George I. fhould fo eafily obtain the repeal of fo favourite an ad. A ftrong claufe was added by the lords to the bill of rights, excluding effectually all popifh fucceffors to the throne. Faffed eajlly by the commons, which looks as if the tory and popirti par- ties had not been fo ftrong in the houfe and kingdom as thofe who brought in the feptennial bill pretended. This was A. D* 1689, and feptennial parliaments were efiablifhed A. D. 1716^. It is hardly to be ima- gined that there ihould be more danger from Jaco- bitifm in 1716 than in 1689, thevery year after y^/;2.^j's abdication. All this lljews how flimzy the pretences are for what is big with fo much evil. So Julius Cafar a Tind. Con tin. i. 260 b Hist. Parl. Engl. 272. c 7/W, CoNTiN, 1. 55. 92 POLITICAL BookllL Cafarv^^% appointed,'by the fenate and people of Ro7ne, didator for 6 months. He made himfelf perpetual dictator. All the world qondemns this tyrannical pro- ceeding. The houfe of commons, 2 George I. was eleded, as ufual, for three years. They eledted them- felvej^ for four yeaft more, without leave of their con- ftiruents, given, or even aflced 1 O ! but the danger of a Jacobite parliament, if a new eledlion was brought on ! True. And in the fame manner Cajar^ in his civil war, tells us, he feared Pompeys tyranny -, if he himfelf refigned the didatorial power. Some authors tell us, the feptennial adl was made on purpofe to fave an odius miniftry, who dreaded a new and in- corrupt parliament. Thirty lords (even lords !) pro- tefted againft the feptennial a(ft. And Mr. Snell told the houfe of commons, they might as well make them- felves perpetual at once, as continue thcmfelves one month beyond the time, for which they were eledled. It was a Angular modefty in the lords to origi- nate in their houfe an adt relating to the commons. Therefore lord Guernfey moved the commons, to throw it out of the houfe, without reading it. It was anfwerd. That the triennial adt had originated in the houfe of peers. [But if they were allowed to make a fahfary propofal concerning what they had nothing to do with, it does not follow, that they are to be lujffered to go out of their way to do mijchief\\ Carried 276 to 156 for a fecond reading, the Tuefday after. Petitions were fent from many towns againft it. And when this fclf-prclonged parliament (which, fays the author of the Use and Abuse of Parlia- ment b, * went farther in impoverifliing and cnflav- a I)eb. Com. vi. 68. b i . 25 1 , Chap. IL DISQUISITIONS. 93 ing their fellow-fubjeds, than all their predeceflbrs from the reftoration/) came at laft to be diffolved, the cities of London and Wefiminjler^ with bells, bon- fires, illuminations, and every other demonftration of joy, celebrated its demife, as a deliverance from their worft enemies. The motion for repealing the feptennial ad, A, D, 1742, was oppofcd by Pultftey and Sandys, (I fup- pofe the patriots were afraid a new parliament might not be fo flaunch againftSir Robert.) Rejeded, 204 againft j 84. The propofal was made by Sir John Barnard, which gives me a better opinion of him, than of Pultney and Sandys^. A, D. ly^it a motion was made for annual par- liaments b. PafTed in the negative 145 to 115. Therefore 113 thought it right. Let not then the propofal of an»iual parliaments be thought romantic. A motion was made, A, D. 1747, for leave to bring in *a bill for ihortening the term and duration of future parliaments : * a meafure truly patriotic, a* gainft which no fubftantial argument could be pro- duced, although the motion was rejeded by the ma- jority, on the pretence that whilfl: the nation was en- gaged in fuch a dangerous and expenfive war, it would be improper to think of introducing fuch an alteration in the form of government^/ This was fetting common fenfe upon its head. The danger ot' the times is the very beft reafon for making falutary alterations, and aboliihing dangerous abufes. Parliament was diffolved at the end of the 6th fef- lion, 1747, for a whimfical reafon, according to fome, viz. a Deb. Com. xiii. 219. b Jim, Deb, Com, u. I"'63. c Ibid, v, 221. 94 POLITICAL Book III. viz. becaufethe Dutch were in doubt, whether Britain would perfevere in her Ichemes, which were tsvour- able to them, if the fame parHament continued to fit. I (hould have thought the danger of a change of coun- fels was in cafe of a change of parhament ^, Some faid, as above obfcrved, it was done to fliorten the time, and lefi'en themifchiefsof eledioneering. The king in his fpeech pretends that he diffolved the par- liament to fhew his intire confidence in the affedions of his people, and that he did not depend merely on a particular fet of men in the houfe of commons ^. Thus it appears that parliaments were originally renewed every year^ and that a parliament and a fcflion were the fame thing. That they held on in this way with little variation, to the times of Henry Vlll, That annual parliaments were reflored under Philip and Mary. That they were made triennial,, j4. D. 1640. That in the time of the troubles under Charles I. they were very irregular, and protraded to an enormous lengthy the houfe of peers abolifhed, and the rump, or remainder of the commons, kicked out by Crom- weL That under Charles \l. A, D. 1664, the trien- nial bill was repealed, and the period ot parliaments left to the arbitrary pleafure of the prince. That his long, or penfioned parliament met, A D. 1661, and fat above 18 years. That the period of parliament was reduced back to triennial 6 William III. A. D. i694<=. And that, A, D. 1710, 2 George I. they were protradled to leptennial, at v^•hIch period they have continued ever fince, in fpite of innumerable remonflrances againfl a grievance fo univerfally conrr fefTed, and fo notorioufly mlfchievous. Of which more fully elfewhere. a y^/w. Deb. Com. III. 52. b Ibid. 54. e Stat, AT Large, iv. 675. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 95 CHAP. III. Example of fever al Nat ions j who have Jhewn a fear of inveterate Power, SOME few nations have (hevi'n fome fmall degree of apprh^nfion from power continued in she fame hands, knowing, that there can be no hberty, unlefs they, who make the laws, be well 'aflured that they fli all come, by and by, to be fubjedl to their own laws. Ariftotle^ mentions, as the chief caufe of the fub- verfion of free ftates, their deviating from the princi- ples, on which they were originally conftituted. He, tells us, the Thurians had a falutary law, by which the fame perfon could not be twice pr^tor without an intermifiion of five years. They fufFered this law to be abrogated. Their flate, from that fatal time, declined to its ruin ^ The Athenians finding that their kings, trufting to the perpetuity of their power, began to ftretch prero- gative, abolifhed the regal office, and fet up archons, who were ro reign ; o years, and then to be (ubjedts. But the people finding even this period [which is not much beyond that of our parliaments] too long, changed their plan of government, and appointed 9 archonsy to reign one year^. The Athenian epijlates, the chief of the />ry^^;?^j-, was in office only one day, and never more than once ^ The 10 cofmi, or fupreme magiftrates of the Creta?2s, were annual »; All a Pol IT. v. 8. ' b IbiJ. c U6^. Emm. De Rep. Athen. i. i6. d Ant. ^fhyf. De Rep. Athen, 251. c Ubb, Emm. u. 6^^ 96 POLITICAL Book II. All the ma^-flrates of ihe Mtdiam were annual a. The ki'-^g and people oi Epiriis^ during the age of their liberty, were accuftomed to meet once in the year, the king to renew his coronation oath, and the people their allegiance b. The Carthaginian fu-ffeteSf or chief magiftrates, held their power only one year ^, Ijivy tells us, that the Carthaginians found two years too long a period for their praetors to have power. They therefore made that office annual. The Corin- thian prytanes were annual magiftrates ^. 1 hree brothers having enjoyed the confulfhip feven years fucceffivly, a regulation was made, that neither conful nor tribune (hould be in office above one year ^. In England^ a great family com- mands the eledlions of members for one or feveral boroughs, from generation to generation. Iht Ro- mans never chofe a didator, but in extreme danger, and when expeditious meafures alone could favc the ftate, and only for fix months. They appointed feve-^ ral times a dictator to drive an expiatory nail into the wall oi Jupiter\ temple. But he held his office only .one day. i he wi e Romans would truft power no longer than wts neceifary. The authors of the Ant. Univ. Hist, give the following account of the office of didtator amoiig the Romans ; 'This fupreme officer was called didator, either becaufe he was diclus^ that is named by the conful, or from his didtatiug and commanding what (hould be done. No one could be created didtator till he had been conful. The time aligned for the duration of the office was the fpace of fix months. . As to the perpetual didla- tatorfliips a Ubb. Emm. ii. 251. b Ibid. 11. 276, c Ibid. II. 4. d Ibid. 11 102. e Ant. Univ, Hist. xi. 466. Chap. III. DISCLUIS IT IONS. 97 torfhips oiSylla m^^ulius Ccefar, they were notorious ufurpations, and violations of the laws of their coun- try. The didtator was not allowed to march out of Italy, left he (hould take advantage of the diftancc of the place to attempt fomething againft the com- mon liberty. He was always to march on foot> except in cafe of a tedious and fudden expedition, and then he formally afked leave of the people to ride. In all other things his power was abfolute and uncon- trouied. He might proclaim war, levy forces, lead them out, diftand them, &c. without confulting the fenate. He could punifli as he pleaffed ; and from his judgment lay no appeal. To mak§ his authori- ty more aweful, he had always twenty-four fafcea with axes carried before him, if we believe Plutarch, and Polybius. Livy afcribes the firft rife of this cuf- tom to Sylla. ' The authority of all other magiftrates ceafed, or was fubordinate to him. He had the naming of the general of the horfe, who was wholly at his command. When his authority expired, he was not obliged to give an account of any thing he had doi^e during his adminiftration/ [And we know accordingly what tyrants the didators proved.] In Ihort, the didatorfhip was a kind of abfolute monar- chy, though not durable, and was looked upon as the only refuge of the commonwealth in time of danger, till Sylla and Ccefar converting it into a tyran- ny, rendered the name of didator odious, infomuch that, upon the fall of the latter, a decree paffed in the fenate, forbidding tht ufe of that dignity^upon any account whatfoever for the future,' The greater the power is, fays Livy, the fhorter ought to be the time of holding it. Nothing is more advantageous for a ftate., fays Seneca, than that great power be (hort. When the Carthaginian ]nAgts were Vol. I. O found 98 POLITICAL Book III. found to have made a bad ufe of their power, which was for life, Hamita I obtained a regulation, reducing it to annual. The Romans, in their beft times, jealous of thofe who aflumed power, had almoft condemned Maraus to dea^h for alTuming the title of proprastor given him by .the army, but without authority of the fenate, though he had juft then gained a glorious vidory in Spain ^. Cidro in his book, De Legib. fays, the follow- ing was an exprefs law among the Romam, ' Eundem magiflratuniy &c. Let no man bear the fame office in the repub\|c twice without an interval of lo years between/ It is true the people often broke through this wife regulation, and fufFered power to be too often, and to continue too long, in the fame perfon, or family, as in the cafe of Riitii Cenforius created cenfor twice together, and of Fabiuss fon made con- ful, after that authority had been often conferred on the father, fo that he himfelf declared againft the peo- ple's partiality for his family- * The lad Roman decemmriy though chofen by their country but for a year, prolonged their term by their own adt, and retained the power they had ufurped, till the people forced it out of their hands, and puniflied them feverely for their ufurpation. Their memory ftands branded in hiftory with all the infamy it deferves; while the names of Valerius and HoratiuSy under whofe condua: the people recovered their right of eleding annual magiftrates, are celebrated by their hiftorians with all the praifes that gratitude can yield, or merit claim, monuments more lafting than brafs or marble^.' ^inc-^ a Ant. Univ. Hist. xii. 295 b Prep. Fragm. Polyb. xvk Chap. Iir. DISQUISITIONS. 99 ^ninSlius forefaw the bad confequences of faffering power to continue long in the fame hands. There- fore he refufed to be continued in the conlulfhip be- yond his year. In confequence of too long a conti- nuance of power in the fame hands, Sylla and Marhis attached to themfelves the army in fuch a manner as grievoiifly difturbed, and Ca/ar as ruined Rome. Aguftm, at the point of death, gave his will to his collegue in the confulfhip. And fome fuppofed, he intended to reftorc the republican government. But recovering he went on as before, like prefump- tuous finners, who efcaping from illnefs, foon forget their fick-bed repentance ». Observe the confequence of a contrary condudl. The Romam in their degenerate times became fearlefs of the lofs of liberty. Though 5)'& foretold, that 'Julius would be found to have many Mariufes within him ; though Ccefar openly bribed for the office of pontifex maximuSy or chief prieft, or, if you pleafe, pope of Rome ; though he defended Cat aline the con- fpirator and his crew, (with whom he wasaccafed of being an accomplice)till a bandofequeftriansdrewthsir fwords upon him, and har" almoll killed him 5 though he was accufed of a confpiracy with Crajjiis^ P, Sulla ^ and Autronius^ to murder thole fenators, who oppofed their ambitious views, and to feize the confuKhip for Craffus, and the command of the horfe for himfelf ; though he was accufed of another plot with Pijo ; though he behaved fo ill in his pr^torfliip, that the fenators thought it neceffary to take his office from him ; though he refufed to abdicate in obedience to the decree of the fathers, till he faw, that he would be driven from the bench by force 5 though he treated BibuluSf a Ant. Univ. Hist. ziii. 496. loo POLITICAL BookllL Bibulusy his collegue in the confulfliip, with fuch rudenels that he forced that meek fpirited man to re- tire, after which he reigned alone as abfolutely as any tjrant, imprifoning the beft men of Rome, as Cato, and others, whenever they oppofed his tyranny; though Julius^ J fay, thus gave innumerable proofs of that lawlels ambition, which afterwards overthrew the liberties of his country, yet the too credulous people advanced this apparently dangerous citizen to the higheft honours, and, giving him the province of Gaul for five years, and the command of the army, with their own hands put into his the fword with which he ftabbed liberty to the heart. Even after the conful Marcellus faithfully warned the fenate, that it was hazarding all that was valuable, to continue him in his command ; and that it was abfolutely neceflary for the public fafety, that the formidable army (hould be dilbanded ; there were ftill Romans (degenerate Ro" mam !) treacherous enough, and flavifh enough, to fupport the man who, they knew, or ought to have known, was laying meafures for^fubduing their coun- try ^ The people of Taprobane^ fuppofed to be Ceylon m India, chofe for their king a perfon who had no children, and if he happened to#have children after- wards, they depofed him, left the crown (hould be- come hereditary, and power become inveterate in one family b. The officer, who had in his cuftody the feals, and keys of the citadel and treafury, held his place but one day. The antient brave and free Arrogoniamy juftly fearing the encroachment of kingly power, appointed a magiftrate called, in modern times, ihcjujhzia of Arragout a SuETON. IN. Jul. §. 28, 29, b Akt. Univ. Hist. xx. 103. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. loi Arragon^ who was to come between the king and the people, and to whom the fubjecfls might appeal, when injured by the king. This magiftraie was to be the ableft lawyer in the country. And a king, who op- pofed his explanation of the fenfe of the law, was to be looked upon as a lawlefs tyrant. Bat about A. D. 1467, they^^//^;/^ himfelf was found to have abufed his power. The Arragonians therefore found it ne* ceffary to put his decifions under the examination of 17 nlen chofen out of the four orders of the king- dom ^ It may, I believe, be fafely affirmed, that all the free ftates of antiquity, in their free times, made a point of giving no longer than annual autho- rity to their magiftrates. * At Venice, A.D. 1298, an adl paflcd in the great council, which till then was annually chofen by the people, That all thofe of which it was that year com- pofed, or who had been members of it for the four iaft years, fliould, upon their obtaining twelve voices in the council of forty, be themfelves, and their pof- terity for ever after, members of it ; and that all the other citizens fliould be for ever excluded from the adminiftration of public affairs. From this time the people of Venice^ like all others under the fame cir- cumftances, have found how dangerous it is to be ufeiefs, and that to have no fliare in the government is to be a prey to thofe who have ^.' The Floreniines, oSended at the long continuance of power in the Medici family, infifted that it was neceffary ' to reftore the conftitution to its firft prin- ciples, by reftoring the magiftrates to their regular functions in the government J.' No a De Laett Hisp. Descr. 127, b Pref. Fragm. PoLYB. xvi. c Mod, Univ. Hist, xxxvi. 307. 102 POLITICAL BookllL No prefident could be chofen at Florence in lefs than three years from his iaft fervice^. By this means pofts of honour were attainable by moft of the citi- zens, and no man or party could become inveterate in power, and refponfibility was flill in view. The Florentines ordered, about the beginning of the 1 6th century, that the office of gonfalonier or chief magiftrate fhould from that time be annual, and that the council (hould be enlarged by the ad- dition of all who had gone through the gre^t offices of ftate, either at home or abroad ; the number be- fore was but 18 ^. Power fhould be widely diftafed, and continually (hifting from hand to hand. Cardinal Rkkelieu, in his Testam. Polit. con- demns the cuftom in FraJice^ of appointing the gover- nors of provinces for life^. At Venice the doge, not being an abfolute fovereign, has not power to take off, or put on his ducal crown when he pleafes. The configlieriy or counfellors of Venice^ are chofen for 8 months. The capi di qua- ranta, or heads of the courts of 40 judges, are cho- fen by the fenate for two months. I Iiq favii del con-^ figlio, or fages of the council, ferve 3 months \ the favit di terra jirma, or fages of the continent, 6 months. ¥\yjt javii agli ordini, or fages of order, are likewife chofen by ballot in the fenate for 6 months each^. The khalif Omar would not nominate his fon for his fucceffor, nor even fuffer him to have a vote for the fucceffor. It was enough, he faid, for one tami^ \y to have one in the important office of khalifa. a Mob. Univ. Hist, xxxvi. 45. b Ibid. 433. c 5, Pierre, Ouvr. Polit. xv|. 25. d Cok'i Mem, i6. e Mod. Univ. Hist. i. 516. Chap, III. DISQ^UISITIONS. 103 A doge oi Lucca cannot be re-eledted in lefs than 7 years. The lenators are eleded every two months. The great council of 130 nobles and jo burghers hold their places 2 years. Their police is very atten- tive to the fuppreffion of luxury, a ' There is, fays my honoured friend Mr. Bofwel^ in the government of Corfica a gradual progreflion of pow^er flowing from ih^ people ^ which they can dif- pofe of, and refuoie at their pleafure at the end of every year ; Co that no magiftrate, or fervant of the public, of whatever degree, will venture, for fo fhort a time, to encroach upon hisconftituents, know- ing, that he muil foon g\VQ2in account of hi§ admini- ftration, and if he (hould augment the authority of his office, he knows, he is only wreathing a yoke for his own neck, as he is immediately to return to the lituadon of an ordinary fubjed:. ^ . When the throne of Poland becomes vacant, the primate archbifcop of Gnefna, obtains a greater power than the king had j but this gives no jealoufy, becaufe he has no time, before a king be chofen, to make himfclf formidable c. The Farmefam ufed to change their podefta twice a year ^ The diredors of the Dutch Eajl-lndia company are obliged every third year, to give an account to the ftates general of their whole proceedings e. A noble ftand was made by the citizens oi Dublin^, for obtaining a limitation of the period of their par- liaments. a Mod. Univ, Hist, xliii. 44^, b BoJ^eW Account of Corsica, p. 154, c Mod. Univ. Hist, xliii. 526. d Ibid. XXXVII. 124. e Ibid. x. 571. f See Whitehall Even. Post, May 27, 1766. I04 POLITICAL Book III. liaments. They have accordingly, viz, A. D, 1768, obtained a reftridtion of them to eight years, borne of the candidates they obliged to fwear, that they would vote for this abridgment, before they eledted them. C H A P. IV. Example of the Englifli in feme Inftances, /hews an Apprehenfion of danger from inveterate Power, EVEN the "Englijhy who are defcribed by a hu- morous auihor, as a people of great faith and little wit, that is, fore thought^ have occafi- onally (hewn fume litde fear A the mifchief to be ex- peded from power inveterating in the fame hands. * For the general government oF the country, the antient Saxons [our anceftors] ordained 12 noblemen chofen from among others for their worthinefs and fufficiency. Thefe in the time of peace, rode their feveral circuits, to lee juftice, and good cuftoms ob- ferved, and they often ot cuurfe, at appointed times, met altogether to coniult and give order in publick affairs 5 but ever in time of war one of thefe twelve was chofen to be king, and to remain fo long only as the war lafted j and that being ended, his name and dignity of king alfo ceafed, and he became as before ; and this cuftom continued among them until the time of their wars with the emperor Charles the Great. At which time, Wittekind, one of thefe twelve, a nobleman of Angria in Wejlphalia^ bore over the reft the name and authority of king ; and he being after- ward, by means of the faid emperor, converted to the faith Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS, 105 faith of Chrift, had by him his mutable title of king turned into ihc enduring title and honouL' of duke, and the eleven others were in a like manner by the faid empeior advanced to the honourable titles of carls and lords, with eftablifliment for the conti- nual remaining of thefe titles, and dignities unto them, and their heirs : of whofe defcents are fince iflued, the greateft princes in Germany^* The 24 barons, v/ho were to redrefs grievances ia the tifne of Henry III. proved 24 tyrants ; the confe- quence of trufting power in the hands of 2ifew. Ac- cordingly the knights of the fliircs were obliged to curb the tyranny of the reforming barons. Enadled 1 Henry V. that no (herifFbe again flierifT in lefs than three years ^. By i Henry V. cap, 4, * fherifFs bailiffs fhall not be in the fame ofrice in three years after c/ By 28 Edimrd III. * no fheriffllia!! continue in his ofRce above one year ^* And by I Rich. II. ' none that hath been (herifF, fhall be fo again within three years <=.' Enatfled, A, D. 1^4^^^ that * to prevent oppreffion and exadlions, no man fhall be (heriffor under-flierifF af a county, above one year at moft, on pain of forfeiting zoo I! ^ Our anceftors were cautious of allowing power to remain too long even in the hands of fearchers,gaugers, aulnegers [public meafurers of manufadturcs,] cufto- mers [cuftom-houfe-officers] &c, g ' A fearcher, gan- ger, ^c. fhall have no affured eftate in his office.' In the commiflion for the admiralty and navy, it was provided, that no chairman continue in office above a Vol. I. P fortnight a Verjiegan*s Engl. Antiq. 62. b Parl, Hist. ii. 132. t Stat. AT Large, I. 450. • d Ibid. 266. e Ibid. 314. i Rapin, 1.569, g S€€ 17 Rich, ii.cap. 5. Stat, at La^ige, i. 387. io6 [POLITICAL Book III; fortnight together, and all commanders to take their turns ^. Even the king-killing parliament were fenfiblc of the evil of too long parliaments. * To prevent the many inconveniencies apparently arifing from the long continuance of the fame perfons in fupreme authority, refolved. That this prefent parliament diffolve upon, or before the laft day of April, 1649/ And their felf- denying ordinance (hews that the general opinion of thofe times was for a place*bill. And the fame of adequate reprefentation b. CHAP, V. Senfe of Mankind on inveterate Tower ; or Arguments for Jliort Parliaments. I Will throw together in this chapter fome of the beft arguments for fliort parliaments, that have occured to rfie in the courfe of my reading. I hope the reader will excufe any deficiencies he may find in the -arrangement of them. To take the charader of man from hiftory, he is a creature capable of any thing the moft infer- nally cruel and horrid, when aduated by intereft, or what is uiore powerful than intereft, paffion, and not in immediate fear of puni(hment from his fellow- creatures I for damnation lies out of fight. Who would truft fuch a mifchievous monkey with fuper- fluous power ? Simia quamfimilis turpifjima beftia nobis ! Ovid, The love of power is natural ; it is infatiable ; it is whetted, not cloyed, by pofleflion. All men pofleffed of a Parl Hist. XXII. 65. b Ibid xviii,526. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 107 of power may be expeded to endeavour to prolong it beyond the due time, and to encreafe it beyond the due bounds; neither of which can be attempted with- out danger to liberty. Therefore government (by fuch frail and imperfed: creatures as men) is impoflible without continual danger to liberty \ Yet we find that men in all ages and nations have fliewn an afto- nifliing credulity in their faithlefs fellow-creatures ; they have hoped againft hope ; they have believed a- gainfl: the fight of their own eyes. Were any foreigner of good underftanding to be afked, what he thought would, be the confequence of our commons being eleded by fo fmall a number of the people, and of their fitting for fcven years, he would anfwer, that without a reformation of thefe irregula- rities, the Britijh government mud unavoidably run into an ariftocracy, or tyranny of a few, the mod odius of all forms of government. Yet the good people of Ef2glanJ dctp very found ; and foreigners ad- mire and envy our form of government. The truth is, that neither foreigners uo^ EngliJJj confider much befides the theory of our conftitution. They admire what itought to be, and would be, if we had the true fpirit of it, while they have reafon to execrate it as it is in OLir times, and to look forward with horror on what it is like to end in, * We know by infinite examples and experience, fays the excellent GordoUy that men poffeflfed of power rather than part with it, will do any thing, even the word and the blacked, to keep it ^ and fcarce ever any man upon earth went out of it as long as he could carry every thing his own way in it i St See Bolinghr,'B^-gvi, Hist. £ngl» 9. £o8 POLITICAL BookllL it; and only when he could not, he refigned j I doubt that there is not one exception in the world to this rule J and thsit Dioclejan, Charles the Vth, and even Syl/a, laid down their power out of pique and difcontcnr, and from oppofition and difappoint- ment ; this feems certain, that the good of the world or of their people, was not one of their motives either for continuing in power, or for quitting it. It is the nature of power to be ever incroaching, and converting every extraordinary power, granted at particular times, and upon particular occaiions, into an ordinary power to be ufed at all times, and when there is no occafion j nor does it ever part willingly with any advantage. From this fpirit it is, that oc- cafional commiffions have grown fometimes perpe- tual; that three years have been improved into feven, and one into twenty ; and that when the people have done with their magiftrates, their magiftrates will not have done with the.people^/ It is juftly oblerved by judge Blackjlone^ that the greateft fuperiority any man can obtain over another, is to make laws, by which he fhall be bound. And furely the greater the power, the greater danger of its becoming inveterate in the fame hands. A wife people will not fuffer combinations of great families. The monopally of power is the moft dan- gerous of all monopolies. An Athenian was banifhed by the ofxracifm, if 6000 citizens all of at lead 60 years of age agreed, that it was necelTary. Nor was it inflidled or fuffered as z punijhmenty but was un- dcrftood as a wife precaution^ for the good of the whole, againft the exorbitant popularity, and dan- gerous power of a few, a Cato's Lett, iv, 82. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. ,09 No body is willing to part with power, and all arc for increafing what they have. The prince of Orange (afterwards king William III. ) fliews great anxiety about James lid's being limited. * It was, he faid, of bad example, and fubjeds might think of limit- ing proteftant kings, if they begun with ptjpifh.a' The following, to the end of this paragraph, is chiefly abridgedfromREAsoNSFOR annualParliaments* * For the amending, ftrengthening, and preferving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently/ Words of the acfl for declaring the rights of the fabjedt at the beginning of the revolution. Frequent parlia- ments muft mean frequent ele£iions ^ for frequent meet- ings of parliament without new elections would be an evil, rather than an advantage. Alfred^ ordered, * that parliament fhould meet twice a year or oftener/ There are ftatutes three times in the reign of Ed^ ward III. * that parliament ihouid be held once a year or oftener,' To the fame purpofe, in the time oiRich, W. Prorogations of parliament were then unkown. They began under Henry VI. Little ufed till Hen. VIII. Will III. was blamed for fo many officers in parliament. The king has power to chufe his officers and fervants ; but the fervants and reprcfentatives of the people ought not to be. the king^ fervants : who can ferve too mafters ? If votes are purchafed by places, and members are more than reimburfed their own fliares of the public taxes, they become interefted to load the people, in order to fill their own pockets. Accordingly let it beconfidercd what a load might now be taken off from the people by annihilating ufelefs places and corrupt penfions. A man a Dalrymp. Mem. II. 3O7. b MiRP.OR OF Justices, chap, i, feft. no POLITICAL Book III. A man may at one time be fit for being a reprefen- tative, who is not (o at another. He may go into the houfe in independent circumftances. In three years, extravagance learned at Londo?i may beggar him. Were parliaments annual, the chance of this would be as I to 7. By a few mens monopolizing legiflativc power, 6 times the number 558, or 3,348 are in every parliament excluded from practically learning parlia- mentary knowledge, and underftanding the interefts of their country, befides their being excluded from what they have an equal natural right to, with the 5j;8, who were chofen, i. e. vi^ho bought their feats. Short parliaments would give the people an oppor- tunity of knowing more of the ftate of things both at home and abroad, than long ones. 558 gentlemen do not know fo much as feven times that number, or three times that number. Long parliaments are par- ticularly favourable to corruption, A virtuous man could not be debauched in a year's fitting in St. Ste^ phens chapel. Nef7io repentefuit iiirptjimus. Vice is a monfter of fuch frightful mein, &c. Pope. Length of parliaments deftroys all refponfibility, makes our delegates our maftcrs, and ereds them into an auguft affembly, whom we muft not approach but in the humble guife of petition. Short parliaments would be clear of fufpicion, and nothing would more promote confidence between king and people than free- dom from fufpicion of court influence. If our kings are indifferent about the people's confidence, we are in the cafe of the people oi France, whom the king cart plunder at will. Can the people be free from fufpicion, when they fee fome hundreds of placemen in the houfe ? They muft be a nation of ideots, if they were. With Chap.V. DISQUISITIONS, m With what honeft views can the court defire long parliaments ? Parliamentary flavery is flower, but lurer than quo warrantos, and the other oppreffive ads of tyranny, which alarm the people and defeat them- felves. So Cha. 11. had almoft ruined all by his long penfioned parliament, whofe very length qualified it for penfioning. All wife nations, and all good princes have approved of frequent meetings with their parliaments . and diets. Our Edwards and Henries often put a flop to the courfe of their vidories to meet parliament. The Spaniards were peculiarly cautious about the frequency of their ilate meetings. Their Sanchos, Henries, Ferdinands, and Charles's were very careful of this. Under Charles, who was particularly exadt in this refpeft, the Spanijh monarchy was moil flourifliing. His fon Philip purfued a contrary plan of encroachment on the people, and firfl: eclipfed the glory of the monarchy. In France, under Clovis, Pepin, Charlemagne, Capet, and his fucccflbrs for ages, the meetings of the ftates were cherifhed. Lewis XI. and moft of his fucceflbrs have promoted the contrary fcheme of government, without the people. The confequences have been continual infurredions, tu- mults, and leagues. The fubjeds have often returned with intereft on the heads of their ambitious princes, the damages they have fuffered at their hands, which has reduced the kingdom to extreme diftrefs. The ftruggles of the parliament of Paris, and people of France, during the minority of this prefent king, to recover their loft liberties, fhew the precarious ftate of defpotic monarchs. When Germany was expofed to unfpeakable miferies from the Hungarians, Sclavo-^ nians. Vandals and Danes, the remedy was eftablifli- ing frequent and annual diets by the golden bull, HnderC/6^r/^jIV, wherein the imperial cities and Hanfe towns 112 POLITICAL BobkllL towns took care to fend hew deputies tc^very new diet, left they fliould be bribed by the imperial mini- fters. Holland, and Switzerland, though improve- able in many points, are very careful on this head, and by the frequency of the affemblies of their ftates, have been fecure* Harrington labours to (hew, that all well-con- dudled ftates have avoided the error offufFering power to continue too-Jong- in the fame hands, And he quotes Machiavely who afcribes the ruin of the Roman commonwealth, to the want of an agrarian law, and the damage, which accrued from the prolongation of power in the fame hands a. Dr. South gave out his text, * The word of the Devil, which 1 would recommend to your ferious attention at this time, is written in the lid chapter ofjolf, and the 4th verfe, " All that a man hath will he give for his life," &c. The iacobites moved, j4. D. 1693, for a place-bill, and fhort parliaments. And there were men, who, in the apoftle Paul's time, preached Chriji from contention. But truth is truths if the Devil had fpokc it, and chriftianity is a good religion, though fome have preached it from conten- tion. So a place- bill, and ftiort parliaments are falu- tary meafures, though the Jacobites propofed theni frcm party-views. The former was paffed by the commons, but rejeded by the lords ; the latter paffed both houfcs, but was denied the royal affent. The lords threw out the bill for incapacitating placemen from fitting in the houfc, becaufe it would feem too great a reftraint on the people's liberty of choice. But this is a frivolous objedion. For as the law ftands now, the people arc rejtrained from chufing perfons ft Oceana, p. 318. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 113 perfons unqualified as to fortune, and thofe who hold certain pkces ; and all the evil is, that the people are not more reftrained in their choice of impr jper perfons. * Ads of parliament derogatory from the power of fubfequent parliameiits, bind not/ fays Blackfione », Therefore (hort parlianrieats are (Vf>abie, It is irnpof- fible, in many cafes, to forefee what tlie efted and operation of an adi: of parliament will prove. And if a bad law mull: continue in force feven years (the fame parliament will not perhaps like to repeal its own law) the fubjeds may be heavy fufferc^rs. The length of parliaments dejeds the fpirits of the few patriots who are ftill left. At tne fitting doiva of a new parliament they lofe all hope of redreis, for many years. And the depreilioa of their coarage is the triumph of the court, and i;ives them cpportu-^ nity for rivetting the chain. If our parliaments were annual, it niight be as well, that our miniftrles, and the reft of the execu- tive, were more permanent. For an honeft parlia- ment (and an annual parliament, wiih exclufion by rotation, could have no intereft to be otherthan honeft) would oblige the executive to ad according to juftice, and the public intereft, which would fecure the pub- lic fafety. The reducing our parliaments to indepen- dency on the court, would confound the enemies of this country. For it would fliew the world, that the court had no indired defigns. And no nation can hope to injure Britain^ if her government is true to her. Walpoky A. D. ^JIS* when the houfe was moved about fhortening parliaments faid. It would be dan- gerous ; for th it it would make the government demo- cratical by giving fadious men too much game to Vol. 1. Q_ play a CoMM. I. 90. 114 POLITICAL Book III, play. This was truly Walpolian^ that is jefuitieal, reafoning. In whofe hands ought the power to be ? In thofe of a corrupt court ? will it be fafer there than in the hands of the original proprietors, I mean tht people? Is the court likely to confult the people's intereri with more diligence and fidelity than the peo- ple themlelves ? The court may be rich, though the nation be ruined. But if the nation be ruined, what is to become cf the people ? The unembarraffed modefty of a thorough-paced courtier flicks at nothing. Pelham formally fets him- feif a to prove (in oppofition to the fenfe of all that ever thought, fpoke, or wrore upon government) that * it is an advantage of our conftitution, that a perfon, may be in a flation of power his whole life, becaufe the attachment of the people to their king and royal family, will always prevent any bad efFedts from his ambition, and the. controuj of a mafler, or fovereign,' [however ill-difpofed, or however mif^led, the fove- reign may be] ' as well as of two houfes of parlia- ment/ [however corrupt the parliament may be] will always prevent his being guilty cf very enor- mous pradices, or will, at all times, even when he is in the zenith of his power, be able to difcover and punifli them, if he fhould.' But wife founders of ftates have generally thought prevention preferable to punifliment 3 and have, therefore, made regulations for preventing the continuance of power too long in the fame hands. And in fpite of their utmoft precau- tion, wicked minifters have often efcaped. It is obferved, that the members are particularly careful of their condudl toward the end of a parlia- ment, with a view to their being re- eleded. Does not a D^B^ Com. xii, &6. Chap.V. DISQ^UISITIONS. 115 not this (hew the advantage of fhort parliaments, and the frequent return of power into the hands of the people ? If it be faid, upon the plan of exclufion by rotation, and an efFedlual place-bill, gentlemen would not want to be re-cleded, and therefore the fliorten- ing of parliaments would not make them at all the more careful of their conducS ; this is confeffing all that is wanted, vi«. That, if parliaments were upon a right foot, there would be no byafs upon the minds of the members, to draw them away from their coun- try's intereft ; which they would naturally purfue, becaufe their own is involved in it. The place-bill has been repeatedly pafTed by the commons in confideration of an approaching general eledion, which fhews plainly the advantage of ihort parliaments a. A motion was made, ^. D. 1713, to addrefs the queen that (he would defire the duke of Lorrain to remove the pretender out of his dominions. Sir JViU Ham Whitlocke obferved, that there was fuch an addrefs preiented to Cromwel about the removing of Charles Stuart out of France y who was afterwards reftored to the throne. Being near the end of a parliament, and the members fearing for their eledtion, it was refolved nem. con ^. This iLews the advantage of (hort parlia- ments. For the jacobite intereft was at that time thought to h^Jirong in the houfe. In the Z)d"y^;?/7j/r^ inftrudtions, A. D. 1741, which were admired for their concifencfs and fenle, is the following, * reftore triennial parliaments, the beft fecurity for Britijh liberty ?.' 'In a See Rev. Place-Bill, b Deb. Com. v. ^7, c Deb. Com. xiii. 116. Ii6 POLITICAL BookllL * In governments, where the legiflature is one lafting affembly, there is danger, that the mem* bers of fuch affembly think .thf^y have an intereft dif- tins no reprefentative of the people but a houfe, of their (?i£;;2 making. Every eledlion, fuppofing repreftriiation adequate, and places out of the way, throws the government again into the hands of the people, where it muft always be fafe. It is abiurd to alledge, that foreign ftates could not truft us, if our parliaments were fliortened. What more permanent than the French court ? But who trujls the French court ? Let property govern, and all will be fafe, and univerfal confidence will follow. A long parlia- ment made Charles II. indifferent about the affec- tions of his people. The lengthening of parliaments tended to produce fadion in foreign flates, when they faw how eafily the Britijh conftitution might be broke into. It was therefore obferved in the houfe of peers, that to publifli the prevalency of a popifli fadtion in Britainy and to tell foreigners, that the people were not Chap. V. D I SQUI S IT I O N S* 135 not to be trufted with themfelves, v/as confounding all confidence of foreign ftateSfin this natioh. Articles in the lords proteft againfl committing, were, ' That frequent new parliaments are required by the ccnfti- tution of this kingom, and the practice of many ages evidences this to be the conftitution. That long par- liaments naturally increafe corruption. The longer the time, the more worth a corrupt minilter's while to bribe, and the more worth a candidate's to get in- to the houfe/ Thirty lords protcited agasnil: com- mitting the bill, and afterwards 24 agaiaft pafling it* Petitions were prefented to the commons againit it from HaJiingSy Marlborough^ Cambridge ^ and Abing-- don. a In the fame debate in the houfe of peers, the duke oi Devonjhire^ in favour of the bill, laboured to fct forth the inconveniencies attending triennial parlia- ments, that they ferved to produce feuds, animofi- ties, party-divifions, expenfive ele(ftions,* with the other trite fluff commonly urged on that fide of the queftion. On the contrary, lord Abingdon faid, the people looked upon the triennial a(£t, as the great fecurity of their rights and liberties ; that if the bill pafled the commons, it would be looked upon by thofe they reprefented, as a breach of truft. The duke oi Kingjione denied, thelaft part of this affertion, and urged that the bufinefs of the legiflature was to redify old laws,, as well as to make new ones. Lord Paulet faid, he did not think it for the king's fervice, and intereft ; but before they went any farther, they ought to know the fentiments of the people. His lordfhip urged that the bill fhewed a diftrull of the aftedions of the people, without which no king could be fafe or happy j that king William had gained the hearts a 7/W. I, 4^0, 136 POLITICAL Book III. hearts of his people by the triennial aft; and it would look fomewhat ftrange, that the moll: popular of our laws fliould be repealed in a year after the protejiant fucceflion took place. The earl oi Peterborough faid. He wifhed he could give his vote for the bill ; but that he could n(;t be tor a remedy that might caufe a greater evil 5 and that if this prefent parliament continued beyond the time for which they were chofen, he knew not how to exprefs the manner of their exiftence, (unlefs begging leave of the venerable bench, turning to the bifliops) he had recourfe to the diftindion uiedin the Athannfian creed, for they would neither be made nor created^ but proceeding. The earl of Nottingham was againft the bill, becaufe he thought it would rather exalperate, than quiet the minds of the people; and that though he could not affign the true caul'e of the people's diffatisfadion, yet there muft have been fome fecret caufe for itt That he hoped people's difcontent was not fo great, as had been rcprefented; that this bill fcemed to imply that the affections of the people were confined to fo fraall a number as the prefent houfe of commons f that whatever reafons may be given for continuing this parliament for four years longer, would be atleaft as ftrong, (and by the condudt of the miniftry might be made much ftronger) for continuing it ftill longer, and even for perpetuating it ; which would be an ab- ioXnit fubverjion of the third eftate of the realm. He then hinted at thedanger of enlarging the prerogative, and inftanced in the precedent of Henry Vill. who perfuaded his parliament to give him the abbey-lands under pretence that they would bear part of his expences, which would cafe them of taxes, and im- prove Chap, V. DISQ^UISITIONS. 137 prove trade 5 but that foon after he demanded, and obtained, great fubiidies, and rfiade ufe of thole lands to enjlave the people. The duke of Argyle faid, that defigns had been laid to bring in the pretender, long before the king's happy acceffion to the throne ; and that if the confpi- rators had improved the ferment, at the eledti n f the lalt parliament, it was probable their wicked fchemes fur fetting afide the proteftant fucceffion had taken place. The biihop o^ London faid, he was confounded between danger and inconveniences on one fide, and deftrudion on the other. After a debate of five hours the queftion being put, it was carried in the atHrmative, 24. lords protefting againft pafTing the bill, * Becaufe fre- quent parliaments were the fundamental conftitution of the kingdom, Beca-jfe the houfe of commons ought to bechofen by \\\t people \ and when continued tor a longer time, than they were chofen for, they were then chofen by the parliament^ and not by the people. They conceived that the bill, fo far from prevent- ing corruption, would rather increafe it 5 for the longer a parliament was to laft, the more valuable, to corruptors, would be the purchafe. And that all the realons that had been given for long parliaments, might be given for making them perpetual, which would be an ablolute fubverlion of the third eftatc a.* In the famedebate in the houfe of commons the court- members faid, the feptennial bill would ftrengthen the hands of the king ; fettle and maintain the proteitant fuccedion 5 encourage our allies to depend upon us, that what fliall hereafter be ftipulated ihaii be perfoanedj Vol. I. T would a Des. Lords, iii, 27. 138 POLITICAL BookllL would break our parties and divifions, and lay a folid foundation for future happinefs. And (ince the pre- fent parliament have exerted themfelves for the public good, why fhould they not continue longer together, that they may finifh what is fo happily begun ? The oppofiiion denied ' that the people were dif- affcded, faid the parliament, that had done fo great things, were but little more than a year old, and that nobody could imagine that difcontents (if there were any) would laft the remainder of their term, under fo wife, fo unerring, fo pacific an admini- ftration as they then enjoyed. Was the frame of our conftitution to be altered, before our allies would favour us with their friendflhip ? That was an argu- ment very improper to be urged in a Britifh parlia- ment. It was acknowledging, that the king dares not trufl: the people in a new choice. It is a dif- honour to this houfe ^ for it fuppofes that another houfe of commons would adl differently from the prefent, which is to confefs, that this houfe does Eot truly reprefent the people. The truft, they faid, was triennial ; and if it was continued longer, from that inftant they ceafed to be the truftees of the people, from that inftant they afted by an affumed power and ereded a new conftitution j and though it is a received maxim. That the /^//jrc'/;^^ legiflatuie cannot be bounds yet it muft be under, ftcod that it was reftrained from • fubverting the foundations on which itfelf ftcod. And now after above an hundred millions given by the people, in order to preferve their old form of government, a bill is fent from the lords, which if it paffes, muft expofe us again to the greateji of dangers, which is that of a hng parliament. In the penfioued parliament, the Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 139 the means of temptation in the minifter*s hands were not lb great as they now are^ the civil lift nigh double to what it then was; and the depen- dence on the crown greatly enlarged by reafon of the increafe of officers for managing the public funds. What influence thefe may have upon an exhaufied nation, under the terror which 40,000 regular troops carry with them, is eafily foieleen. Can the lords think us fo ungrateful, as to join in the deftrudion of the power that rajfed us 5 and why cannot we con- tent ourfcives with proceeding in the common me^ thods, which the ufage of many ages juftifies V It was refolved however, 284 againft 162, that the bill be committed. What follows is taken from Ilutchefon^ fpeeches on the fame occafion ^ « If we Ihould give our con- fent to the paffing of the bill before us into a law, we (hould be guilty of a moil notorious breach of the truft repofed in us, by thofe who fent us hither, and ihould make a very dangerous ftep towards the undermining of that conftitution, which our ancef- tors have been fo careful to preferve, and thought no expencc either of blood or treafure too much for that purpofe, and under which we do yet enjoy thofe privileges and advantages, which no other nation in the world can at this day boaft of. It mud be agreed, that before the reign of Henry Vill. there was no finale inftance of a prorogation of parliament. That parliaments had only one feffion, and thofe ge- nerally very (hort ones, none of which ever laiied a year. That to prevent the mifchief of long inter- vals of parliament, it was enaded, in the 4th of EdwardWl. a Deb, Com, VI. Append. 1—32, 14© POLITICAL Book III. Edward III. that parliaments (hould be holden an- nually ; and this was confirmed by fubfcqiient ads of parhament. And therefore 1 may venture toaffirrn, that by the antient conftitution, parliaments were to be holden frequently^ and to be of the cominuancc only of one ieffion, and that theie was no nght or power in the crown to prorogue the fanie. I wirf) gentlemen would as generally concur that the other part which I have mentioned, and J think have made appear to hsve been our antient conftitution, is as ablblutely neceffary to ihe prefervation of our li- berties, i mean parliaments of one fefTion, not only frequent parliaments, but frequent new parliaments. The thing indeed appears very evident to me, fo evident that in my opinion our liberties would not be more, nay not fo precarious under an abjolute mo- nach, as with a houfe of commons who had a right to fit either for many years together, or without any limitation of time. For 'tis certain that a prince, who had flood only on the bottom of his own abfj- lutc auihority, fupported by a few minifters, and fome troops, would ftill think himfelf pretty much upon his good behaviour towards the united body of his people ; and would probably be cautious of ex- erting his power in fuch a manner as to give a jufl: provocation to a general revolt, and fetting up another in his flead ; but a prince, with a parliament at his devotion, would be infinitely more terrible, and with much greater fecurity might give a loofe to every ex- travagancy of power; for when the reprefentatives of the people, who are chofen by them to be the guar* dians of their liberties, can be prevailed on, for little advantages to themfelves, to betray their truft, and come Chap.V. DISQUISITIONS. 141 come into all the meafures of a defigning miniflry; 'tis then, indeed, that the liberties of a people are in the moft imminent danger -, and iureiy there is great reafon to apprehend that a houfe of commons might foon become very oblvquiouvs to a minifter, if they were to fit .for a long period, or without limi- tation, and that there were in view no near d<^y of a new election, when the condud. of gentlemen in this place would be inquired into in their refpedive countries. 1 remember very well, what an outcry was raifcd againft the laft parliament, on fufpicion only that a repeal of the triennial adt was intended ; and the; arguments againft it without doors, were then the Very fame with thofe which are now urged a- gainii it withm : what an inconfiltency muft it then appear to fee thofe very gentlemen, who were then the motl zealous oppolers of fuch an attempt, be- come now the moil violent advocates for it ! And will it not alio in fomc meafure affedt their integrity, publicly to own that the arguments they pretended to be then influenced by, had not the leait weight with them; and thai the thing in itfeif was very defirable when there (hould be a good mmiftry and parliament in being, and pernicious only in the then fituation of affairs ? It was not certainly from this confideration that the late miniftry and parliament were diverted from the attempt : they doubtlefs had a very good opinion of themselves, and were confirmed therein by the voice of a great majority of the people ; and which, by a moft ftrange and unaccountable witch- craft, (till continues in their favour ; if 1 may depend upon what feveral who have argued for the bill feem to have agreed to ^.' An a DEBt Com* vi. Append. v« 143 POLITICAL Book III. An attempt was made in the year 1734, for fhorten- ing parliaments. On which occafion Mr. Plumnur fpoke as follows. ' I wifh we would take an example from the crown in one thing. We may obferve, that the crown never gives a place or employment for life^ or for a long term of years, except fuch as cannot be other- wife difpofed of, and the reafon is plain : were thefe places given for life, the grantee would then be out of the power of the crown, and confequently would not have fuch a depeiidance on it, as thofe perfons muft have who enjoy their places duripg pieafure only. In this the crown ads wifely, and I wifti we would follow the example : when i fay we^ I fpeak of the gentlemen prefent, not as members of this houfe, but as a part of the people of Great Bri^ tain: it would certainly be the height of wifdom in the people to keep thofe they truft and employ in their fervice as much in x\\q\v power as poffible. If thofe, the people chufe to reprefent them in this houfe, were to continue in that ftation only during iht pieafure of the people, the repreientatlves would, I believe, have a proper regard for the interefts of the people, and would never think of throwing off all dependance upon them ^.' * As- bribery and corruption, fays Mr. Wynne^ in the fame debate, is a natural conlequence of long parliaments, as it muft always increaie in proportion as the term for the parliament's continuance is pro- longed, 1 am perfuaded^that all thofe who are againft bribery and corruption will join with me in voting for the reftitution of triennial parliaments. It is not aDEB. Com. viii. 175 Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 143 not the expence of an eledlion that country gentle- men are to be afraid of; the moft extravagant enter- tainments, that a ftranger in the country could give, would have but little v^eight, if to thefe he did not add downright bribery ; and even then bribes muft be fo high as to overballance the natural intereft of the country gentlemen, as well as the honefty of the greateft part of theeiedors : as thefe bribes cannot be made fo high for a triennial parliament, as they may for a feptennial, tlicy cannot be fo prevalent antong the eledors ; and therefore a gentleman, who ds- pendb upon nothing but his natural intereft, will always have a better chance for reprefenting his country in a triennial parliament than he can have in one which is to continue for ititw years ; for which reafon I cannot but think that any gentleman who has a mind that his pofteriry fhall depend for their ieats in parliament upon the natural intereft they may have in their refpedive countries, and not upon the frowns or the favours of the minifters for the time being, muft neceffarily be for our retuining to @ur former conftitution in this refpeft. This, Sir, is in my opinion abfolutely neceffary ; and it muft be done foon, otherwife country gentlemen, tired out with contending againft tliofe who purchafe their eledions, perhaps with the "uery money which the country gentlemen are obliged to pay oat of their eftates in public duties and taxes^ will at laft have nothing to do but to fit down and bemoan the fate cf their country : but the complaints will then be to very little purpofe : for the doors of that place where the groans of the people ought to be heard, wili then be Ihut againft them : we may depend on it, that ihofe^who obtain their feats in this houfe by minifterial 144 POLITICAL Book III. minifterral influence, will, while here, be direded in all their proceedings by the lame furt of influence, and by none other ^/ * Ever fince we have h^Afeptennial parliaments, our ele(!tions have been generally attended with diftradtions and confufi ns ; but I cannot allow, that this would be the cafe if they were annual^ or even triennial : and I would gladly aflc gentlemen, if before that time it was ever known that the felicitations and conten- tiort^ about eledions began two years before the chuf- ing of a new pailiament, which is known to be the cafe at prefent over the whole kingdom, and which always muft necefl^arily be the cafe j it being natural for men to contL:nd with more vigour and heat for a poft either of honour or profit, that is to be en- joyed for [even years, than for one that is to be held but for one, or tor three. Then, Sir, as to the bribery and corruption at eledions, I am furc it has very much increafed fince the feptennial law took place. Jt is a natural confcquence of lengthening the time of a parliament's continuance ; a conle- quence fo natural, that I am furprized to find it fo much miftaken as it feems to be by lome gentle- men who hav^ fpoken upon the ether fide of the queft4un. It is certain^ bir, that bribery will never be made ufe of at any eledion, but by a man who has not a fufficient natvralxxwtx^Qi in the place where he declares himlelf a candidate j and by luch we may exped it will always be made ufe of, as far as it can be done with fafety, if the candidate has but the lead hopes ot iucceeding by fuch diihonourabie means. Where there happens a competition, every ckdor has a natural byafs to vote for one man rather thaa a DfiB. Com, viii. 169. Chap.V. DISQJJISITIONS. 145 than another. And every eleilor will vote accord- ing to his natural byafs, if he is not bought off. Whoever endeavours to buy hini off, mud certainly come up to his pricey and this price will be higher or lower according to the eledlor's honour and circum- fiances, and the natural byafs he has for the other can- didate. A great many men may be perhaps bought off with 100 or 1000 guineas, who if /6^^that fum were offered would fpurn it away with an honeft dif- dain. I hope, Sir, there are a great many eledlors in this kingdom, whofe honour upon fuch occa- lionSi is above the power of any fuch corrupt temp- tations : but that there are likewife a great many who may be bought, is a fad which 1 believe no gentleman in this houfe will difpute ; and in this view let us examine the difference between triennial and feptennial parliaments. Give me leave then to fuppofe two gentlemen fet up in oppoiidon to each other for reprefenting one of our little boroughs in parliament; one of them a country gentleman of a great natural intereft in the place ; the other a citi- zen of London^ or a placeman not near equal to him in intereft j but depending entirely upon the money he is able to lay out. Suppofe the citizen or place- man comes to a calculation, and finds that it will coft him at leaft 3000/. to buy the country gentle- man out of his intereft in that borough 3 if the par^ liament were to continue but for three years, he would very probably refolve not to be at fuch an expence, and fo would refrain from being guilty of the crime of corrupting his countrymen ; but when the parliament is to continue for feven years, he may as probably re/blve to be at that charge. Thus by Corruption he may get a feat in this houfe, and it Vol. I, U is 146 POLITICAL Book III. is to be feared that he, who comes in by corruption, will hot walk out with clean hands. Gentlemen are very much miftaken if they imagine that the price of an eledor depends upon the duration of a parliament, or that a man who fells his vote for ICO guineas at an eledtion for a feptcnnial parliament, would fell his vote for the half of that fum, if the parliament to be chofen were to continue only for three years. No, Sir, there are very few of this fort of electors who think of futurity 5 the prefent offer is the temptation, and the only temptation which can be of any weight with them. Befides, they can- not depend upon having the like offer made them at the next eledionj and 50 guineas ready money with an uncertain hope of. having 50 more three years hence, is not furely, fo great a price, as 100 guineas ready down. The natural intereft of the country gentleman, and the honour of the eledors, are what the dealers in corruption have to contend with ^ and againft thefe a fmall price cannot be fo prevalent as one a little higher. Some may perhaps be corrupted by a friiall price ; but certainly the higher it is, the greater will the numbers be that are tempted to yield to it ; and as a man may give a higher price at the eledtion for a feptennial parliament than he can do at one for an annual or triennial, therefore the greater the numbers will be of thofe who yield to his temp- tation, the more he may depend upon corruption ; and the more it is to be depended on, the more general and the more frequent will it certainly be. From hence it appears evident, that the increafe of bribery and corruption is as natural a confequence of feptcnnial parliaments, as any one thing can be con- ceived to be the confequence of another. There is no way, Sir, of eftedually preventing corruption, * but Chap. V. DISQUISJTION8, 147 but by putting it out of the power of any man to corrupt : there is no corrupting any man but by com- ing up to his price ; therefore the only way of put- ting it out of the power of any man to corrupt, is to put it out of the power of any man to come up to the price of any number of eledors; and this can only be done by making our eledtions frequent : the more frequent, the better. It is certain, a gentle-^ man, who enjoys a good penfion for fevcn years, is more able to give a high price, than if he had en- joyed that penfion but for one year or even for three ; and he will more willingly give a high price, when he is thereby to purchafe the continuance of the pen- fion for fcven, than for one, or for three. This, Sir, is fo evident, that I am aftonifhed to hear it contro- verted within thefe walls. If our parliaments were annual, it would be impoffible for place-men or pen-* fioners to fave as much^^^r/y as would be fufficient to bribe country gentlemen out of their intereft, and the eledors out of their honefty, which I am afraid is a pradice now too frequent in qpany parts of this kingdom. How can it otherwife be imagined, the people would chufe perfons they never faw, perfons they, perhaps ne'oer heard of y in oppofition to gentle- men who live in the neighbourhood -^ gendemen who give them daily employment, by buying in their (hops and markets all th^ manufactures and provifions they have ufe for in their families, and gentlemen whofe anceftors have perhaps often rcpreiented that very place in parliament with great honour and uni- verfal approbation ? Sir William Wyjidhaniy in the fame debate, fhews the evil of long parliaments in t?;?^ view as follows. ' Let us fuppofe a gentleman at the head of the ad-* minijtrationy whofe only fafety depends upon cor- rupting 148 POLITICAL Book III. rupting the members of this houfe. This may now be only a fuppofition, but it is certainly fuch a one as may happen ; and if ever it fhould, let us fee whether fuch a minifter might not promife himfelf more fuc- cefs in a feptennial than he could in a triennial par- liament. It is an old maxim, That every man has his price, if you can but come up to it. This I hope does not hold true of every man ; but I am afraid it too generally holds true i and that of a great many it may hold true, is what I believe was never doubted Qi y though I don't know but it may now he dented: however let us fuppofe this diftrefled minifter applying to one of thofe men who has a price, and is a rnember of this houfe. In order to engage this member to vote as he (liall diredl him, he offers him a penfion of jooc/. a year : if it be but a triennial parliament, will not the member immediately con- iider thus within himfelf, if I accept of this penfion, and vote according to diredion, I (hall lofe my cba- raBer in the country -, I (liall lofe my feat in parlia- ment the next el^ion, and my penfion will then of courfc be at an end ; fo that by turning rogue I fhall get but 3000/. This is not worth my while. And fo the minifter muft either offer him perhaps the double of that fum, or otherwife he will probably determine againft being corrupted. JBut if the parliament were feptennial, the fame man might perhaps fay within himfelf, I am now in for feven years. By accepting of this penfion I ihall have at leaft 700c/. This will fet me above contempt -, and If 1 am turned out at next eledion, I do not value it. Til take the money in the mean time. Is it not very natural to fuppofe ail this, Sir ? And does not this evidently (hew that a wicked minifter cannot corrupt a triennial parliament with Chap. V. D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S. 149 with the fame money as he may a feptennial ? Again, fuppofe this minifter applies to a gentleman who has purchafed, and thereby made himfelf member for a borough at the rate of perhaps 1500/. befides travel- ing charges and other li.tde expences : fuppofe the minifter* offers him a penlion of 500/. a year to en- gage his vote ; will not he naturally coniider if it be a triennial parliament, that if he cannot get a higher penfion, he will lofe money by being a mem- ber ; and furely if he be a right burgefs, he will refolve not to fell at all, rather than fell his com- modity for lefs than it coft him 3 and if he finds he cannot fell at all, he will probably give over ftand- ing a candidate again upon fuch a footing ; by which not only he but many others will be induced to give (^wr dealing in corrupting the eleftors at the next eledion. But if it be a feptennial parliament, will he not then probably accept of the 500/. penfion, if he be one of thofe men that has a price ? Will he not conclude, that for 1500/. ^ he may always fecure his eledion, and every parliament will put near 2000/. in his pocket, befides reimburfing him all his charges. After viewing the prefent queftion in this light, is it pofiible, Sir, not to conclude that feptennial par- liaments, as well as the eledions for them, muft al- ways be much more liable to be influenced by cor- ruption, than triennial, or the eledions for them, &c.' Afterwards he goes on as follows : Suppofe, bir, that the generality of the eledors in Bnglarid have virtue enough to v^ithftand a temp- tation of 5 guineas each, but not enough to refift the a All articles are enhanced in their prices. There are no boroughs to be had for 1500/. in our times. 15a POLITICAL BookllL the force of 10 guineas, one with another: ^is it not then much more probable that the gentlemen who deal in corruption may be able to raile as much money once every feven years as will be fufficient to give I o guineas each one with another to the generality of the eledors, than that they will be able to raife fuch a fum once in every three years. And is it not from thence certain, that the virtue of the people in general is in greater danger of being deftroyed by feptennial than by triennial parliaments ? To fup- pofe, Sir, that every man's vote at an election is like a commodity, which muftbe fold at the market- price, is really to fuppofe that no man has any vir- tue at all : for I will aver, that when once a man refolves to fell his vote at any rate, he has then no virtue left -, which I hope is not the cafe of many of our electors; and therefore the only thing we are to apprehend is left fo high a price fhould be offered as may tempt thoufands to fell who had never be- fore any thoughts of carrying fuch a commodity to market. I his, Sir, is the fatal event we arc to dread, and is much more to be dreaded from fepten- nial than from triennial parliaments. If we have therefore any defire to preferve the virtue of our people ', if we have any defire to preferve our confli- tution ; if we have any defire to preferve our liber- ties, our properties, and every thing that can be dear to a free people, we ought to reftore the trien- nial law ', and if that be found too infignificant, we ought to abolifli prorogations, and return to annual eledions.— Afterwards he adds what follows j The crown, either by ill management or by pro- digality and profufenefs to its favourites, has fpent or granted away all its eftates, and the public ex- pence Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS- 351 pence is fo much enlarged, that the crown mud have annual fupplies, and is therefore under a neceffity of having the parliament meet every year; but as new eledionsare always dangerous, as well as trouble- fome to the minifters of ftate, they are for having them as feldom as poflible; fo that the complaint is not now for want of frequent meetings or fijjions of parliament, but againft fiaving the fame parlia- ment continued too long. This is the grievance now complained of; this is what the people -want redrefled ; it is what they have a right to have re- drefled. The members of parliament may for one year be looked on as the real and true reprefenta-» tives of the people ; but when a minifter has i^v^xi years to pradlife upon them, and to feel their pulfes, they may be induced to forget whofe reprefentatives they are; they may throw of all dependance upon their electors, and may become dependants upon the crown, or rather upon the minifter for the time beings' Sir y. St. Aubyn obferved, in the fame debate, that parliaments were generally annual, but never longer than triennial, till Hen. VIII. (an obftinate tyrant, who broke through all the laws of God and man, when they flood in the way of his ambition, avarice, or luft) introduced long parliaments, as proper means for enllaving the nation. Sir John gives an account much too favourable of Ch. lft*s charad:er, and of his hatred to parliaments. C/&. 11. would have laid parliaments afide; but could not. Therefore he con- trived to debauch them. And his long penfioned- parliament will be infamous through all ages. * It was a "D^^^ Com. viii. i93< 15a POLITICAL Book IIL was the mode)/ fays Sir 'Johuy from which, I believe, fome later parliaments have been exadly copied/ At the revolution, the people claimed their anticnt right. The triennial kw was then eftaliflied. The feptennial law was intended only as a prefervative againft a temporary inconvenience. The inconveni- ence being removed, the remedy, which was itfelf an evil, and a violation of the conftitution, ought to be removed, and the conftitution reftored. Long par- liaments become independent on the people, and de- pendent on the court. If the members are to deny all power in the people to inftrudl them, and are to fit feven years together voting as they pleafe, in fpite of the people, how are they a reprefentatlve of the people? And if they may fit feven years, though the people have commiflioned them only for three, why may they not make themfelves perpetual, like the lords, and fet the people afide ? The power of the crown is always increafing. Therefore members ought to come frequently into the power of their con- ftituents, that they may be kept under the conftant awe of adling contrary to their intereft. Dangerous attempts on liberty have been prevented by the ap- proach of a general eledion. Which (hews the ad- vantage of (hort parliaments, which would occafion general elections to be always near. Long parlia- ments are an unjuft exclufion of a great number of gentlemen of property, who ought to have their turn in ferving their country. Frequent new parliaments would be great advantage to our kings. Were par- liaments annual, a king might, in the courfe of 28 years, have the advice of 28 gentlemen, where now he has only that of four. Short pailiaments have always been lefs corrupt than long ones ; becaufe a minifler muft Chap. V. DISQJUISITIONS* 153 muft have time to lay his plans of operation, and ered: his batteries againft the virtue of the members, and men are not immediately debauched. Befides, the fhorter parliaments are, the lefs it is worth a minifter's Vhile to bribe the members, for votes in the houfe ; becaufe the fliorter time his iniquitous fchemes can ftand fecurely if he gains them. And this muft of courfe lejjen the expences, the animofities, and the corrupt proceedings of eledions. Long parliaments Jirji introduced bribery becaufe they were worth pur- chafing at any rate ; country gentlemen who have only their private fortunes to rely upon, and have no mercenary-ends toferve> arc unable to oppofe corrup- tion, efpecially if at any time the public treafure fliall be unfaithfully fquandered away to corrupt their boroughs. * Country gentlemen, indeed, may make fome weak efforts j but as they generally prove un- fuccefsful, and the time of a frefii ft ruggie is at to gresLtzdi/lance, they at laft grow faint in the difpute, give up their country for loft, and retire in dejpair. Defpair naturally produces indolence^ and that is the proper difpofition iovjlavery, Minifters of ftate un- derftand this very well, and are therefore unwilling to awaken the nation out of its lethargy by frequent eledlions. They know that thefpirit of liberty, like every other virtue of the mind, is to be kept alive only by conftant adion; that it is impoflible to en- flave the nation, while it is perpetually upon its guard* Let country gentlemen then, by having frequent op- portunities of exerting themfelves, be kept warm and adtive in their contention for the public good. This will raife that zeal and indignation which will at laft get the better of thefe undue influences, by which the officers of the crown, though unknown to the feveral boroughs, have been able to fupplant country gcntle- VoL. L X * mea 154 POLITICAL Book IIL men of great charader and fortune who live in their neighbourhood. I do not fay this upon idle fpecula- tion only. I live in a country where 'tis too v/ell known, and I will appeal to many gentlemen in the houfe, to mo?e out of it) and who for this very rcafcn are out of it) for the truth of my affertion. It is a fore which has been long eating into the moil vital parts of our conftitution, and 1 hope the time w ill come when you will probe it to the bottom. For if a minifter fhould ever gain a corrupt familiarity with our boroughs, if he iliould keep a regifter of them in his clofet, and by fending down his treafury man- dates fliould procure a fpurious reprefenfation of the people, the offspring of his corruption, who will be at all tintes ready to reconcile and juftify the moft con- tradidory meafures of his adminiftration, and even to vote every crude undigefted dream of their patron into a /^x£; 5 if the maintenance of his power lliculd become the fole object of their attention, and they ihould be guilty of the moft violent breach of parlia- mentary truft, by giving the king a difcretionary li- berty of taxing the people without reftraint or con- troul ; the laft fatal compliment they can pay to the crown \ — if this fliould ever be the unhappy circum- ftance of this nation, the people indeed may complain to the crown, but the doors of that place where their complaints ihould be heard, will be for ever fliut againft them \' In the fame debate. Sir "J. Hinde CottoJi obferved, that the worjl of our laws have been made by fepten- nial parliaments; as the feptennial ad itfelf; the lawr; of treafon, by which a fuppoled traitor might bti tried in any part of the country at the greateft diflance from his » Deb. Com, vui« i\u Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 155 his friends and acquaintance ; the riot-adl ; the S. S. adt; the plague-adl; the excife fcheme) which indeed proved abortive); to which add the fmuggling-ad:, the gin-ad; the marriage-aa: ; the flamp-aa, 6cc; &c. &c. * Long parliaments' (fays Mr. Bromley, in the fame debate) ' have in former reigns proved the unhappy caufe of great calamities to this nation, and have been at all times declared an innovation upon our confti- tutlon. The people looked upon the feptennial bill as a dangerous infringement upon their liberties, not- withftanding the pretence alledged in the preamble to the ad, which feemed at that time to carry feme weight with it. -That in former times proroga- tions were unknown, and that as foon as the bufmefs of a parliament was over, it was diffolved, and a new one called the next year. — That the bill of rights declares, that frequent and 72ew parliamenca tend very much to the happy union and good agreement between king and people.—- That theleptennial ad in its preamble complains of the expence and troubl-a of triennial parliaments, and therefore, very ab- furdiy, inilcad of propofmg wh.it would have pro- duced a cure, viz. the redudjon of parliaments to annualy propofes to aggravate the evil by lengibming their period.— -That the multiplicity of places held by members, is a principal caufe of contefts and expences about eledions.— That long -parliaments are as demonftrably to the people's difadvantage, as it is demonftrably advantageous to have an arirmiiy for 7 years, rather than for one a.' It has been obferved by fome defenders of long par- liaments, that even the long penfioned parliament under Ch, H. became more faithful to the intereft of the a pjss.- Cow. viu^i 137. 156 POLITICAL BookllL the people, and more intradtable to the court, at laft, ■ than at firft. Sir J, Barnard gives a very fatisfadory anfwer to this in the fame "debate a. ^ As to the Jong parliament in king Charles^ time, though they did not toward the end (hew the fame fervile com- pliance that they had done many years before, yet it is plain that the crown thought that parliament Jitter for the purpofes of the court, at that time, than they could expefi any new parliament chofen by the people to be ^ otherwife, as the king had it in his power, he would have certainly diffohed them much fuoner : and if that long parliament really delerved the name ufually given to it, we muft con- clude that their non-compliance at laft was not owing to their virtue, or a want of inclination to receive, but to a want of power in the crown to give. The people were not then accuftomed to bear fuch heavy burdens as they do at prcfent, the reve- nues of the crown were not fo large, nor the pofls and places, at the di.pofal of the crown, fo nume- rous J there was not fuch a formidable ftanding army, to fupport the parliament, in cafe they had gone on in the fame (ervile method. And as the complaints of the people grew loud and clamorous, aa there was little to begot and a great deal to be apprehended, by the continuance cf a fervile compliance with the courts meafures, it is very probable that thefe were the true reafons of that parliament's becoming at laft fo reftive. If the nation was now in the lame ftate it was at that time, I fliould not be half lo much afraid of feptennial parliaments as I think I have now good reafon to be.' Siryl Barnard gives a very good anfwerto the trite and difingenous objedion againft fhort parliaments, which HI ■ II I — — ^M— ^— S|^»M aDfi£, Com. viii. i8i« Chap. V. .DISQUISITIONS. 1 57 which our courtiers are always playing oflF upon us. The animofities, difputes, and divifions about elec- tions, fays he, have been fet in the moft dreadful light, and have been reprefented as fo great an incon- venience, that we ought to run the rifk of having our conjiitution overturned rather than fubmit to it. But, Sir, can* it be imagined that there would be the fame contention for a feat in parliament which was to continue but for one year, or even for three, that there is for one which is to continue for feven ? The example of the city of London plainly flisws us the contrary. As the common- council-men and a great many other officers in the city are cholen annually^ I have had occafion to be often preft:nt at thefe annual eledions, and never could find, that they were attended with any great heats and animo- fities, or with any inconvenience ; for after the elec- tion, is over, the contending parties go home and live in the fame friendfhip they did before. And I am convinced the cafe would be the very fame, if annual eledions for members of this houfe were reflored. The fame man might perhaps be conti- tinued and rechofen every year for many years toge- ther, probably without any difpute or oppofition ; but his being liable every year to be turned out, would be a continual check upon his behaviour, and would make him ftudy the interefts of the peo- ple, inflead of purfuing only fome private and felfidi views of his own. Even as eledions ftand at prefent, there would be no fuch contentions, nor any fuch heats and animofities as we hear of if they were entirely left to gentlemen who have a natural intereft in the place : in fuch cafe, if a candidate found him- felf defeated by fair means only, and merely by the fuperior intereft of his antagonift, it would not raife his 158 POLITICAL Book IIL his indignation ; it would occafion no heats or ani- molities ; he would wait with patience for a new opportunity, and in the mean time would endeavour to recommend himfelf to his country by adls of hof- pitality and benevolence. It is minifters of ftate intermeddling in eleftions ; it is eledion-brokers and fuch dealers in corruption, that occafion all the heats and animofuies we have : for when a gentleman of a great natural intereft in a place fees his electors obliged by power, or bribed by money, to vote againft him, perhaps in favour of an utter ftranger; it cannot but raife his indignation; it may indeed be expedled to raife his utmoft fury and revenge. It is certain. Sir, that if the peo- ple were entirely left to themfelves, they would without much contention always chufe thofe gentle- men, who, by having large properties of their own, might be reafonably fuppofed to be fuch as would take the beft care of the properties of their feljov/ fubjects ; but if the people (hould ever begin to fee their reprefentatives making their feats in parliament places of profit, and bartering their votes and their behaviour ia parliament for ports, places, and pen- fions ; the people will foon follow the example of their reprefentatives, and will infirt upon fharing with them in the profits. Thus, by degrees, the minds of the people will be debauched 5 they will be brought to think, that the felling their votes at eledlions is no crime ; the reprefentatives, who buy their feats, muft* fell their votes; and at laft all regard for the public good will be generally laid afide by all forts of men. The only efFedual method. Sir, of preventing this fatal effedl is to reftore annual eledionsi for then it would be impoffible even Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 159 even for the treafury itfelf, if ever the public money ihould come to be fo mifapplied, to iffue yearly funis of money fufficient to get the better of the natural intereft, which country-gentlemen always have in the places where they and their families have perhaps for many generations refided. The con- fequence of which wil be, that none but country gentlemen, and thofe who have a natural inteieft in the place, will ever appear as candidates. And thus neither the morals of the people will be de- bauched, nor their properties plundered, nor their liberties deftroyed, by thofe eledion-brokers and minifterial .agents, or their candidates, who never can be employed or fet up but for fuch bafe pur- pofes. As for our credit abroad, which it is pre- tended feptennial parliaments very much contribute to, I think it is evident that it has been Jinking ever fmce the feptemiial hw took place 5 which con- firms what was juftly obferved by an honourable gentleman, That the credit of the nation among foreigners does not depend upon the length or lliortnefs of our parliaments, but upon that corref- pondence and confidence which ought always to be kept up between the king and his people. I will not fay, that this decay of our credit abroad has been altogether owing to the feptennial law, but I dare fay, if our parliaments had not been feptennial, they would probably before now have enquired into the conduct of thofe who have been the caufes of this decay 5 and v/hatever reafons the decay of our credit among foreigners may have been owing to, it is now come to fo low an ebb, that we really feem to have almoft none to lofe. And as I think nothing can lo effeflually reftore our credit abroad as the rcftor- l6a POLITICAL Book IIL ing our conftitution at home, I fhall therefore give my vote for the queftion a/ The fenfeof the city of London on long parliaments, is maniteft from the follov^ing inftrudion to their member?, -^. £). 1741. ' When v^c refledl on the danger of entrufting power too long in the fame hands ; when we con- fider how often in former times the liberty of this country has been facrificed and fold by long conti- nued parliaments 5 and that a frequent reccurfe to (heir conftituents, the people, is a certain and ne- ceffary check to bad meafures and worfe intentions ; we require you to prolecute in the mod vigorous manner a repeal of the feptennial acft, and to redore the falutary form of triennial parliaments, as the principal means of fecuring the rights, and fupport- ing the dignity of a free nation ^ / In the debate on the motion for annual parliaments, j4, D. 1744 Mr. Thomas Carew argued as follows; * Sir, the members of this houfe are the great and general inqueft of the nation. We are to take notice of, and to take proper methods for redreffing all the grievances that occur, whether they be fuch as relate to the kingdom in general, or fuch as relate to the particular counties, cities, or boroughs we reprefent. Now as grievances are almoft an- nually occurring, and as fome grievances are the more difficult to be -removed, the longer they con- tinue; therefore it is neceffary we fhould vifit our conftituents at leaft once a year, to know their lenti- ments, and to examine, upon the Ipot, the grie- vances they complain of. But this is not to be expeded, unlefs you make the eledions annual ; for we a.D**. CoMM. VIII. i8i. b Ibid. xiii. 16. Chap. V, DISQUISITIONS. i6i we find by experience that after gentlemen are oncd chofen for a long term of years, they fix their abode in this city, and feldom revifit their conftitaents, till it becomes neceffary for them to go down to follicit their votes at a new eledtion. Nay, fince the eftablifliment of feptennial parliaments, we have often had gentlemen in this houfe who never Jaw the borough that fent them hither, nor knew any thing of its conftitution or intereft 5 perhaps could not recoiled its name, till they looked into the printed lifts of parliament for their own name, and there found they reprefented fuch a borough. An- other part of our bufinefs, Sir, is to reprefent to our fovereign the fentiments of our contiitucnts with regard to the meafures he is advifed by his minifters to purfue, as well as the perfons he employs in the executive part of government. If we ever think of doing this faithfully and fincerely, vve muft vifit tour conftituents at leaft once a year, becaufe every year produces fome new meafure, and every year fome new perfons are introduced into public bufinefs. This I fay is another part of our duty, and when it is faithfully aad fincerely performed, it is of great advantage to the prince upon the throne, becaufe it prevents his being led on in a track of unpopular meafures, till both he and his minifters are .over- whelmed in the torrent of popular refentment, which often happens in arbitrary countries, where the prince is tumbled headlong from his throne, before he knows any thing of his having purfued unpopu- lar or wrong meafures 5 whereas, had he had timely . information, he might have reftored himfelf to the love and affedlion of his fubjeds, by making a juft facrifice of his wicked counfellors to the refentment of his opprefled people. As the prince can have no Vol. I. Y intereft^ i62 POLITICAL Booklfl. intereft, feperate from his people ; his intereft, if he rightly confiders, mufl lead him to gain the love and efteem of his people, and to avoid every thing that may give them difcontent, It is therefore his intereft to have always a houfe of commons, that knows, and will faithfully and fpeedily reprefent to him the complaints and grievances of his people. But this is diredtly oppolite to the intereft of his minifters. In all countries, and in this as much as any other, minifters have an intereft feparate from that of the people. They are for enriching them- felves, their [families, tools and fycophants, at the expence of the people ; and it iS their bufmefs to keep all the avenues to the throne fhut up againft the complaints of the people, left the prince (hould, as every wife one will, facrifice them to his own fecurity. Minifters muft therefore be for having always a houfe of commons, that either does not know, or -will not faithfully reprefent to their fove«- reign, the complaints and grievances of the people 5 and as we are much more affedted with what we fee than with what we hear of, it is the bufinefs of a minifter to prevent the members of this houfe^ if poffible, from ever feeing their conftituents ; becaufe the lefs we are affeded with, the more eafily we may be prevailed on to conceal from our fovereign, or even to mifreprefent to him the complaints of the people. Thus, Sir, it is apparently the intereft of the kingy it is apparently the intereft of the country^ to \i2M^Jldort parliaments and frequent general elec- tions ; but it is apparently the intereft of minijiers, efpecially wicked minifters, to have parliaments as long and general eledtions as feldom as poffible ^Z It a ^/«. Deb. Com. 11. i Chap. V. D I S Q U I S I T I O N S* 163 It was argued by Mr. Carew, in the fame debate, that it would be very imprudent for a private perfon to give a power of attorney for a long time, when he vmghi iov 2i fiort ; that it is equally imprudent for" the people to give parliament a power of attorney for 7 years, when they may reftridt it to three, or to one a. Mr. Sydenham, in the. fame debate, (hews, that long parliaments produce and increafe corruption of manners in the people. That the virtues of both pa- triotic and military courage are overlooked and unre- warded by a corrupt miniftry, and parliajnentary in- tereft, and ufefulnefs in carrying on their dirty fchemes, only taken notice of at court ; [fo that the way to our modern temple of honour is through the temple of corruption.] That the old Engltjh hofpi- tality is deftroyed by gentlemen's taking up their re-' fidence at London, where they are in the way of hang- ing upon the minifter, and waiting at the catch f<3i' places as they fall. That their country feats are thus left defolate, and the land is become a defart. That long parliaments, and confequent corruption, ftrike at the very root of moral honejly. For what is foHciting for a vote, but gravely propofmg to a man to declare himfelf a raJcaH And what is a man without probity, or a woman without chaftity ? Whoever has forfeited his or her charader in thcfe cardinal articles, we na- turally fuppofe capable of every fpecies of vice. That elecftioneering deftroys all frugality and indujiry in the people, and makes them negled: their lawful employments to go a madding; which would not be, if parliaments were fbortcned, hecaufe it would not ♦ be Ahn, Deb, Com, ii. i> l64 POLITICAL Book III; be worth while to make a conteft about an elcdion, ■.&c. Lord Hill/borough, in the debate on the regency- bill, A. £), 175 1> ifi which it was propofed, that the parliament which (hould be fitting at the demife of Geo. II. fhould fit three years after the acceffion of his prefent majefty, fpoke, on that claufe, as follows ; * It is a meafure at no time ehgible ; in the prefent time it may be dangerous. It has been advanced, that parliaments have a power and right to prolong their duration, and that the falus popuili frequently requires it. But I do abfolutely deny that a par- liament has any legal power, or right, to prolong the time limited by law without the confent of the electors, or people^ who fent them to parliament, and whofe reprefentatives they are ; and 1 do fay, and do infift upon i^, that whenever parliaments do take upon themfelves to prolong the time of their duration, fuch prolongation is an injringement of the liberty of the eledors in a moft effential part, and tends to deftroy that freedom which they were chofen to defend. For liberty never was, nor ever will be, preferved, unlefs thofe who have the powers of the people delegated to them be frequently re- moved. It was by the frequent rotation and change of magiftracy in all countries of the world, that free- dom and independency hath been preferved. — It is upon this principle we find the people of England at all times crying out iov frequent parliaments. And I am fure if ever frequent parliaments were neceflary, they are efl'enyally fo in the prefent times a/ In the year 1759, it was moved, that leave be given to bring in*a bill for fliortening the term and ^ dura- a Jbu Deb. Com. 14. 357« Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 165 duration of parliament ^. The motion was rejected, becauie it was a time of war. A frivolous reafon. All times are proper for doing what is proper. If a. nation is at peace, eftablifli that peace, by redrefling grievances. If the times are troublefome, nothing will contribute more to quiet them, than corredling abufes. * It muft be granted') fays a member of the commons on that occafion) * that bribery and corrup- tion in eledions muft always be the neceffary con- fequences of long parliaments, and that if bribery and corruption in eledlions be not put an end to, they will put an end to our conftitution, and efta- blifli in this nation the very word fort of government that was ever in any country efi:abli(hed. For gentlemen will foon find out, if they have not found it out already, that it can fignify nothing to ftand candidates for members of parliament in oppofition to the minifiers for the time being ; becaufe, tho* zfew of them by their popularity, their hofpitality, and their great expence at the time of the eledions, may get themfelves chofen, yet the minijlers, by bribery and corruption, will always procure a ma- jority of their friends to be cleded, or at leaft returned, for the next enfuing parliament, fo that no man, who fets up upon a truly patriotic fcheme, can thereby propofe to do his country any real fervice. And when this comes to be the general opinion, no man, who is governed fingly by a fincere love for his country, will ever think of Handing a candidate at any eledion. On the contrary, fuch men will always avoid being chofen, that they may not expofe thctnfelvds to the refentment of the court, without being aLoND. Mac. M«y, 1759, p. 236. i66 POLITICAL Book III. being thereby able to ferve their country. Contefted elections may fometimes happen 5 but it will never be about who (hdW ferve, but about who (hM/ell, their country. Confequently it is evident, that bribery and corruption at eleciiom muft at laft: bring on bribery and corruption in the houfe. Can we expedl that a corrupt parliament will ever refufe to grant the crown what number of. ftanding/cra^i-, or what public revenue^ the minifters for the time being may pleafe to infifton ? Thus we ihall at laft be brought under that very form of government which was eftablifhed at Rome under their firft emperors, that is to fay, an abfolute monarchy fupported by a cor- rupt parliament and a mercenary armv ; and the hiftory of the Roman empire, from its firft eftablifh- ment to its utter extinction, muft convince us, that it is the very worft form of goverment that ever was invented ^ for from thence we may learn that fuch monarchs as the Roman emperors may facrifice the public intereft to their private paffions more openly, and may commit more whimfical cru- elties under the . form of law, than any arbitrary monarch dare venture upon 3 and that fuch a par- liament will always be more factious under a good prince than under a wicked and tyrannical one 1 becaufe the former will difdain to facrifice the pub- lic fervlce folely to parliamentary merit, or to fquan^ der the public money in bribing the eledors or the members, both which the latter will always do with- out meafure or referve. Such a form of government muft neceffarily be the moft oppreffive upon the poor, the moft inconfiftent with trade and corq- merce, and of the moft pernicious confequence to the religion, morals, and courage of the people. 1 fay Chap.V. DISQ^UISITIONS. 167 I fay firft, that fucha form of government muft be the moft oppreffive upon the poor^ becaufe taxes muft bs impoied for the Tupport of the government; and as the rich muft have always a great influence in parliament, they will in the methods of taxa- tion take as much care as they can of themfelves. Therefore they will chufe to fupply the public reve- nue by taxes upon the necejjaries and conveniences of life, becaufe to every fuch tax a poor man, who lives comfortably by his labour, pays as much as the richeft man in the kingdom. And fuch taxes the minifters of the crown will always be moft fond of, becaufe of the multitude of officers that muft be employed in the colledlion. In the next place I fay that fuch a form of government muft be the moft inconfiftent with trade and commerce, which muft be evident from what I have juft mentioned > for taxes upon the neceflaries and conveniences of life muft raife the price of labour. This muft raife the price of every fort of manufacture ; and this muft diminifli, if not totally prevent, their fale at any foreign market. And, laftly, I fay that fuch a form of government muft be of the moft pernicious con- fequence to the religion, morals, and courage of the people. For as to the religion and morals of the people, it is evident the more profligate the people generally are as t6 every principle of religion, mo- rality, or politics; bribery and corruption will, both in parliament and at eledtions, have the greater and the more certain efFedt. . In fuch a form of government therefore the governing powers will take every method they can contrive for fubduing and rooting out of the human mind every paffion, every affedion, but the defire of fenfual pleafure and its * conftant i68 POLITICAL Book IIL conflant attendant, a boundlefs love of money. In all affemblies the members will harangue and vote not for the fake of gaining efteemor of ferving their country ; but for the fake of raifmg their price ^ in the church the clergy will rfudy and preach, not for the fake of religion, but of getting better bene- fices. At the bar, the lawyers will pkad not for the fake of juftice, but of increafmg the number or the value of their fees 5 and in the wars, either by land or fea, the foldiers will fight not for the fake of glory or the honour of their country, but of plunder or prizes. 1 hus the love of money will become the fole ^(9T7^rw*;?^ principle among the peo- ple ; and whllft the government can, by taxes or othervvife, get money enough to anfwer this popular paflion of its own creating, it will continue abfo- lute and undifturbed ; but the moment it ceafes to be able to do fo, fadion will enfue in their affem- blies, and mutiny in their fleets and armies. Then as to the courage of the people, in fuch a form of government, it is certain that the governing powers will take every poflible method to render the people in general cowardly, undifciplined and unarmed ; becaufe the more they are fo, the more eafily they may be overawed by a mercenary {land- ing armyy the more impoffible it will be for any great and antient family to defehd themfelves by an infurreftion of the people in their favour againft the moft unjuft and cruel oppreflion. Even as to thofe of the (landing army, courage, as well as every other fort of virtuous merit, will be nc- gleded, or at leaft not duly revv'arded ; becaufe all public rewards will, and indeed muft, be applied by the governing powers towards gaining and fecur- Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 169 ing thofe who are rich enough to be aflifling to the government in bribing and corrupting the people at eleBionSi an-1 bafe enough to vote conftandy in parliament as direded by the minifters for the time being/ April 26, 1 77 1, Mr. Sawbridge made a motion for leave to bring in a bill tofliorten the du^-ation of par- liaments. He fliewed, that this branch of the con- ftitution had been eftabliihed by our Saxon ancef^ors, at which time they had only been annual ; that they were fet afide ^40 years by the Normans ; that on their revival they had continued of (hort duration (rhodly annual) till the reign of Hen, VI 11. whofe tyranny was never complete till eftabliihed by that long par- liament ; that the next long parliament was that commqnly fo calkd of 1641. The penfionary par- liament in the reign of Cha» II. was produdtive of the word confeq-'ences to the conftitution; to remedy which the triennial bill was paffed, forbidding parli- ament to fit more than three years. This was over- turned by that breach into the conftitution in the reign of Geo. I. the pafling of ih^Jepiennid bill. Though perhaps the particular necelluus of the times might render fuch an adl at that day ufeful, (a rebellion jufb cruihed, and a pretender to the throne, making it improper to call the people together at that tiiue) yet that neceflity was now at an end, none of thofe dan- gers now hanging over us. That the length of par- liaments gave up that power which the conjlltuents ought to have over their reprefentatives, viz of fre- qu.:nt examination into their condu^ft, and rejedion of them if they thought them unwatlhy. That long parliaments gave an opportunity to an intimacy between the minifters and the members , always dan- gerous and dcftrui^ive to the conftitution; that in Vol. I Z ftiorten- I70 POLITICAL Booklll. {hortening the duration of parliaments lie (hould in- cline to annualy as fubjedl to fewer objedions, in his opinion, than triennial, but that muft be the fubiedl of future debates. Meff. lownfendy Dempjier, 2l/r- 72er^ Barre, &c. fupported this meafure : they fre- quently called on adminijiraiion to (hew any reafons why a bill fhould not be brought in. But to the amazement of mod members, not one word was uttered by them -, the moft contemptuous filence was obferved. On this great national queftion the (hort appeal was to the numbers at the command of the minifter, and the only declared reafons were 105 to Mr. Sawbrtdge, A. D. 1773, moved the houfe of commons again for fhortcning parliament. He ob- ferved, that in xh^^Saxon times, for above 500 years, the period of parliaments was (hort, to the great ad- vantage of the ccnftitution ; that from the Norman invafion to Hen. III. parliaments were cither difcon- tinued, or had loft their former efficiency; that after a ftruggle of half a century, this valuable acquiiition was recovered, and the conftitution brought back to its firft principles; that from thence to Hen. VIIL parliaments were frequent, and their happy confe- quence notorious ; that during the reign ot that arch tyrant, they were for the firft time lengthened, oq which the corruption of our reprefentatives, and the bloody adts of that monflcr of cruelty are the beft comment; that from his demife to the rump par- liament, we were happily freed from the bane of EngUfi liberty, to which fucceded the long penfion- parliament of Ch, II. which is too well known to need any comment ; that after the revolution many^ bravei a Aim: Dsfi, Com, ix, 29s. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 171 brave independent men endeavoured to put It cut of the power of bad princes, or corrupt minifters, to undermine the conftitution, while the forms of it remained, and at length prevailed fo far as to obtain the triennial bill j but all thofe advantages were a- gain loft, A. D. 1716, by the feptennial bill. That he thought it was better the revolution had never hap- pened, than that feptennial parliaments fliould be fixed upon us. He expcded his motion to be oppof- ed by the enthufiaftic fticklers for old cuftoms, and by all minifterial men, &c. The treafury bench, as before, idXfpee'chlefs, The queftion was put. Car» ried againft the motion 133 to 45 », Mr, Oliver J in fupport of Mr. Sawhridgeh motion, obferved, among other particulars, That the king, ac- cording to the original conftitution, has the executive power wholly in his own hands; but xki^x farliament of late years has encroached upon the king's prerogative^ That parliament, inftead of itfelf governing, is ap- pointed to be a check upon government, * to watch over the Ring and the courts of juftice, to guard the rights and privileges of the people, and in their name, and by their direflion^ to grant occafional national fupplies for national purpofes,' — •* That long parliaments tend naturally to make the members forget and negledl the very ends of their inftitution, and to confider themfelves, not as mere delegates and attomies of the people, but as perfons chofen to be the abfolute governors of the country.^ He ob- ferved, that ' parliament, which was appointed to watch over admioiftration, is become itfeif the admi- niftration ^ and that for the faithful (hepherds dogs of qiMM—»^i^— I .. II III I ■ 11 ■ I.I ■ I III I I ... ^ Whit£hall Fv6n. Post, Jan.z6i i^Yh 572 POLITICAL Book III. of former times, we have now, by an unnatural co- pulation, a breed of uohes to guard the flock/ He reafons, he fays, ' not by inference. and probable con- clufions; but from experience/ He then mentions a motion lately made, for inquiry into the condud of the courts of juftice 5 which motion was rejected \ and a late demand of half a million for the civil lift, which was immediately granted, without any inquiry into the caufes of a deficiency, or into the application of fuch prodigious fums. * Whenever a fupply is moved lor, (fays he) however enormous the ium, it is readily granted^ for the adminiftration, who receive the money, fit upon thefe benchts. Whenever an ef- fedual inquiry into the application of money is moved for, it is as readily refufed \ for the adminiftration, who apply it, fit upon thefe benches. 'I'he proceed- dings of the courts of juftice, and the a|.»plication of of public money were formerly the great objeds of parliamentary inquiry. Now parliament ^is only a check upon hackney- coach men, Gf<:/ a A. D, 1771^ the livery of London came to a refolu- tlon, which they ordered to be publifhed, * That they will vote for no candidate at an eledion ot membecyfor the city, till he has figned a foleiun engagement to promote, by every means in his power, either in or out of the houfe, a perpetual ad for fliurtening the duration of parliaments b. At a numerous meeting of freeholders of Middle-^ fexy at Mile-End, A. D. 1773, * Refolved, That it is the opinion of the freeholders of the county of Middlefexy that a return to the antient mode of reprefentation a V^HITEHALL EVEN. PoST, Jan. ^O, l^Jl* b See the News-papers Qi March 11, ^V. Chap. VI. DISQUISITIONS. 173 reprefentation in fhort parliaments, and a bill for the exclufion of placemen and penfioners from the houfe of commons, is the moft likely method of obtaining a redrefs of the various grievances under which the fu^j :d;s of this, kingdom labour ^. A noify declaimer in the houfe of commons, on what is called the patriotic fide, publiflied a thing a few years ago, intituled, if I forget not, Confiderations on the caufes of the prefent Difcontents ; in which he fairly fieclared, he did not thiiik fliortening parlia- ments, or excluding placemen would anfwer. He faid the grievances were only remedied by L know not what public men, who were to be refponfible. But moft people thought this a very grcfs confeffion, that he did not mean the public advantage ; but that he wanted to be one of the pubHc refponfible CHAP. VI. ^ Of Exclufion by Rotation, THE fhortening of parliaments alone^ without exclufion by rotation^ would prove only a pal- liation, not a radical cure.. It would, if I may fo fuddenly change the met^hor, be flopping fome, but not alixh^ leaks. Suppofe parliaments re- duced to annual, might riot a court candidate bribe his eledors with a feventh part of what he now gives for his borough ? And might not the minifter bribe the a Whitehall Even, Post, Thur/day, Jprilzg, 1773. b See Mrs. Macaulaf^ ibrewd Anfwer to this piece. 174 POLITICAL Booklll. the corrupt member's vote in the houfe with afeyenth part oF what he now gives ? I do not farget what is obferved on this by Sir W. Wyndham, in his fpeech above quoted, p. 148. viz. *' That a feventh part of a fum would make fo poor a figure, that it would hardly prove a temptation. That though an eledor might think it worth while to be damned for 20 of 21 guineas, he might grudge to hazard his foul for the fcurvy price of three, as he might die before next cledion ; and that a member, who might be exf edled to fell himfelf to the devil and the minifter for a pen^ ficn of 700/. a year, would defpifc a fingle hundred.' Allowing all this its due weight, it is ftill true' that a member chofen annually for feven years toge- ther, has at the end of the feven years fat as. long in the houfe as if he had been chofen for feven years at cncei and how far rogues might have an underftand^ ing between themfelves, fo as to elude this falutary regulation, an honeft man cannot guefs. It is a com- mon eledtioneering trick in our times, for the can- didate to lend the eledors fmall funis upon their notes of hand ; thofe notes underftood to be void if the elec- tor votes right. Might not the fame game be played between the eledor and the candidate, and between the member and the minifter, if the period of parliament were reduced to annual ? This could certainly not be, if it were certain, that the very next feftion two thirds of the members muft be excluded by rotation ; becaufe whatever was by the corrupt fet voted, might be un- voted the very next feffion, and then — Omnis labor ef- fufus ; the money would be all thrown away ; the prof- pedt of which would effedually prevent the minifter's hazarding it. Befides, it would be impoflib'le to find a fufficient number of places. As the period of parlia- ment Chap. VI. DISQUISITIONS. 175 ment is at prefent, if the minifter can, by all his cor- rupt arts, aided by the hopes and fears of members, influence 255 of the houfc of commons, he is fecure for feven years. But if two thirds of tha houfe were to be changed every y.ear, he muft find means for at- taching to his party yJx7^« times that number, or 1785, in every feven years, which would confiderably clog the progrefs of court-influence in parliament. I men- tion two thirds of the houfe, and not the whole, be- caufe it is pretended by .the court-party, that it is ne- ceflfary to keep in the houfe fome of the great officers of the ftale, and that a whole houfe of unexperienced members would be at a lofs about the forms, &c,» As the fliamefull injj^Jiice done by long parliaments t© gendemen, who have a right to be in authority fome part of their lives, is a ftrong argument againft their continuance ; fo it is to be remembered, that without exclufion by rotation, the mere fhortening of parlia- ments even to annual would not redrefs/i>/i grievance* If the majority of the houfe be not changed every other year, the fame men may be re-eled;ed for 20 years to- getherj and if a place bill fliould be paffed, tricks may be played by riding or fplittlng of places, unlefs a ro- tation bill is like Wife paffed. The city of London^ or county of Tork, cannot be bribed, but their mem- bers may. Therefore there is no fecurity without exclufion by rotation. But with that regulation and the others, bribery might eafily be rendered impraBi^ cable. Harrington DtopokSf that every domeftic officer, ma- giftrate, reprefentative, &c, be excluded from his place of power and truft for a term equal to that of his em- ployment a, and that a third part of the houfe of com- * mons ■■ .».■■■— ■■. .1 ^ — ^■■' • • a Oceana, 537.. 176 POLITICAL Book III. mons be chofen annually ; and a third part, viz. thofe who have fat full three years, give place to the newly eleded. Such a rotation would give all perions of confequence. their turns in the government a. CHAP. VII. Of electing by Ballot. THE electing of members by ballot would like- wife be a check on court influence in parlia- ment. There ought to be no voting vivd voce^ where balloting would better prevent influ- ence, caballing, animofity, or refentmcnt. Therefore all ele6tions/or members of parliament ought, as things are noWy to be by ballot. Courts of diredors, members of the commons in their houfe, and all thofe, who are liable to be called to account for their tranfadtions (which peers, eledlors, jurymen, G?^. are not) ought to vote with an audible voice. But let it be oblerved here, that making parliamen- tary reprefentation adequate would fuperfede the necef- fity of balloting at eledtions. For court-influence, and whatever could byafs el^ors^ would be then utterly cut up by the roots, when many thoufands of votes were necefl!ary to fend in the members for any one county, comprehending its towns. To fet about bribing 401 electors in order to gain one member, or 202, 104 eledors to fecure a majority \n the houfe, a minifter muft be lord of the mines of Potofi. It a OcEANA; 54. Chap. VII. DISQUISITIONS. 177 It is thought by fome authors, that the Athenians chofe their 9 archons by ballot for 160 years a. Their fenateof4oo, and the prytanes were chofen by lot t>. Balloting was ufed in fome cafes at Rome. And when, through the prevalence of corruption, that free manner of voting went into defuetude, it was reftored by the lex Papiria and the lex Gabinia, The Roman fenate did not vote by ballot ; but the people did. Salujl (if he be the author of the Fr agm. TO C^sar) and Cicero^ in Cornel* expreis their wifh, that balloting were ufed in the fenate. Eiedtions of magiftrates being troublefome, caufing heats, and diffenfions among the people of Florence^ it was agreed that the eledtors, who confifted of the prefident and members of the college [(hould have been all people of property] fhould write on tickets, and inclofe in a cheft, the names of iuch citizens, as they thought fit to be in the magiftcacy ; and that when the day of eledlion came, a fet of thofe names ihould be taken out, after (liaking the cheft, and the names firft drawn (hould be the magiftrates eledl, and to continue three years and a half c. This me- thod was kept up at Florence^ while the republican government continued. Aretin difapproves it, but we know not why. At Venice all eledions are made by ballot, and all voting in the great council, the college, the fenate, and all the courts of judicature' is done by ballot, without any miftake, or any fort of confufion, or dif- VoL. I. A a X turbance. zUbb. Emm. De Rep. Ath. l. 24. b Ibid 36, 37. cMoD. Univ. Hist, xxxvi. 77. 178 POLITICAL BookllL turbance, which prevents bribery, fadion, animo- fities, and all bad confequences ^. A motion made in the houfe of commons, A* D. 1707, that alleledion queftions be decided by ballot- ing, was rejeded. To be heard and determined at the bar of the houfe K It was again propofed, A. D. 1708, that queftions concerning cledions (hould (if either competitor de- fired) be decided by ballot. Carried in the negative. I fuppcfe they thought balloting dangerous, when there were fo many Jacobites c. A bill for eleding the Scotch peers by ballot was moved in the houfe of peers, A. D. 1734. Mif- carried. Many lords protefted, becaufe balloting is the freeft manner of eleding, and the moft likely to defeat minifterial influence, which was to be feared in a matter of fuch confequence. The method of voting by ballot, fay they, ap- pears to us infinitely preferable on many accounts -^ for as it is well known, there are feveral alliances among that body of nobility, many of the peers may be put under great difficulties, their alliances draw- ing them one way, and their opinion and inclina- tion another way. It is alfo polfible, that by pen- lions from the crown, or by civil or military pre- ferments, fome of them may lie under obligations to a court, and be reduced to the hard neceffity (under the power of an arbitrary minifter) either of lofmg their employments^ or of voting again ft their nearell relations, and their own opinion alfo. We appre- hend that no eledlion can be called perfedly free, where any number of the electors are under any influence a Cole i> »viem, p. 16. b Deb. Com. iv. 103, c 'Und. CoNTiw. 11. I08r Chap. VIL DISQ^UISITIONS, 179 influence wbatfoever, by which they may be biaffed in the freedom of their choice a/ Judge Blackjlone is againft voting by ballot in the houfe of commons. * becaufc the condudl of every member is fubje(5t to the future cenfure of his con-- flituentSy and therefore (hould be openly fubmitted to their infpedtion ^/ Upon what principle is it then, that the houfe, from time to time, orders the galleries to be cleared ? Is it that their conftituents may not fecy nor knowy nor confequently be able to cenfure their condud in the houfe ? Of which more fully in the fequel. Harrington is for balloting on all occafions c. Balloting is ufed in many cafes, as in the eledions in the India-houfe, the Royal fjciety, vj?c. but it is not pradtifed where, above all, it ought (while things continue on their pref^nt foot) to be ufed, viz. in the eledlion of members of parliament, * It is cuflomary in the borough of himmington in Hampjhir€y to eled by ballot' [the manner of which the writer there defcribes.] * This method I know to be of great advantage where it is made ufe of. It prevents animolity and diftafte, and very much affifts that freedom, which ought to be in elections. No man, in this way, need fear the difobliging of his landlordy cujiomery or benefactor ^. * a Deb. Lords, iv. 220. b Com. i. 181. c See Oceana, p. 85, etfeqq, 537. 4 Statb Tracts, time of K. WilUamj i. i6j. BOOK IV. EjfFefts of the above Irregularities. C H A P. L Members of Parliament no longer hold ihemfehes ref" ponjible to the People, FRO.VI the inadequate ftate of reprefentation in parliament, and the enormous length of their period, have arifen feveral mod fatal confe- quences. The firft I (hall mention is. That mem- bers, being generally eleded by handfuh of perfons, poflefTed of little property, and lefs know le dge^i tht in- tereft of their country, and impowered as law-makers iov /even years, have given up all thought of being accountable to any fet of men upon earth for their proceedings in parliament. And it muft be allowed, that on the piefent ludicrous foot on which repre- fentation ftands, it would be difgracing a gentleman beyond fufFerance, to call him to the.bar of afet of poor unlettered Cernijh burghers, and to expedl him to an- fwer ih^/illy queftions they would put to him concern- ing his condud in thehoufe, of which they cannot be fuppofed competent judges, any more than they are of the qualifications of a legiflator, which (hews the ab- furaiiy of their having the power of making legiflators, not for themfelves only, but for the nation in general. Were parliamentary reprefentation upon its proper foot, no member would be fent into the houfe by a puny Chap, I. POLITICAL Sec. i8i puny burgh ; but all would be county-members, and every member would have, to his admiffion as a law- maker, the fandion of the majority of the inhabitants of a county, comprehending the cities and towns in it» From fuch a refpeBable body as this, it would be an honour to gendemen to receive inftrudions ; and to be refponfible to them, would not be beneath the dignity of any perfon whatever. It is notorious, that the right of conftituents to in- ftrud their members, and the confequent duty of members to obey inftrudions, is' in our times quef- tioned by many, and by many given up. Yet it is certain, firft, that no harm could come from the mem- bers of parliament being obliged to wait for inftruc- tions from their conftituents, fuppofing the confti- tuents what they ought to be, becaufe legijlation is, the leaft of any thing, a matter oi hajie -, and the exe- cutive is not m the parliament. There feems to be a palpable inconfiftency in the courtly dodrine, That the people are wholly unqua- lified iov ]\iAgmg of political matters, and that there- fore their fenfe in petitions, remonftrances, and in- ftrudions, is not to be regarded. If ioy why is the choice of members of parliament left to the people ? Why (hould not the minifiry nominate them at once ? If the people are incapable of judging of politics, they are incapable of judging of the qualifications of members. But to fet this abfurdity in its full light, it is to be obferved, that the courtiers, at the fame time they argue for the incapacity of the people in general^ infilt that the eledion of legiflators is beft trufted to the 7noJl i n capable psLvt of ihc people. Simi- lar to which ingenious reafoning is their pica, when they tell us, * The people are in fault, why do they let i82 . POLITICAL Book IV. let themfelves be bribed by the court ? So every town-rake cries out againft the frailty of women (himfelfthecaufeof the failureof female virtue.) And becaufe the people are liable to be corrupted, our. courtiers infill, that the ciedion of law- makers is beft in the hands of that part of the people who are moji liable to be corrupted. Into fuch abfurdities do men plunge themfelves, when they undertake the defence of what their underftandings and confciences revolt againft ! In the remarkable anfwer of lord Percival^ member for Wefiminjler^ to inftrudions fent him by his con- flituents a, we have that gentleman's notion of the duty of reprefentatives in refpedtof inilrudions. And he fpeaks the fenfe of too many. * Gentlemen, you are welcome upon all occafions, and I lock upon this application as a irefh inftance of your friendfliip — As I never concealed my prin- ciples from you, fo I will never depart fiom them, The only motives that dired: my condud are the pre- fervation of the conftitution of my country, the fecurity of the prefent royal family upon the throne, and the common liberty oi Europe. — — Thefe views I (hall always think infeparable. In the profecu- tion of them, my judgment fometimes may, my heart (hall never fail me. — 1 remember on my part, that to your independent voice, I owe my feat in parliament : — on yours, you will not forget that I ought to be independent there.' [True, my good lord, you ought to be independent on a court ; but not on io,CGO people of property who fent you to parlia- ment on purpofe to do their bufinefs.] When I differ from your fentiments, I Ihall do it with great reluc- tance, ' a Deb. Com. xiv. 30. Chap. I. DISQUISITIONS 183 tance, and then only when I am convinced, that your true intereft mufl: extort it from me.* [Of which true intereft your iordfliip, of your great modefly, holds yourfelf a better judge than the many thoufands who employ you as their .agent. How would your good lordlLip take fuch language from your fteward ? *• In fuch a cafe the crime is equal to flatter popularity,' * [ to do your conftiruents buli- nefs, as they chufe, is to flatter popularity/ ] or to court power. It becomes me to relpedl both ; but it is my duty to follow neither beyond thofe limits, which the circqmftances of time, prudence, necef- fity, and the public fafety can alone determine/ So the French king, or the grand Turk, might be ex- pedled to filence the petitions of their fabjeds, by telling them, that the prince is the only judge of the circumftances, of time, prudence, and neceffity/ Some argue, that members of parliament are not obliged to obey inftru6lions of their conftituents, be« caufe the conftituents do not hear the debateSy and there- fore cannot be fuppofed judges o\ the matter to be voted. But the lords may fend votes by proxy, tho* they do not hear the debates. The very truth is, that the members have no opportunity of being at all better judges of moft matters to be voted in parliament than men of underftanding and reading, who never fat in the houfe. So that the hearing of the debates gives no fuch mighty advantage to the members above the con- ftituents. Befides, there is nothing to hinder a mem- ber's informing his conftituents of the reafons (occur- ring in the courie of the debate) why he intends to vote fo, or fo. If they allow them, all is well. If he votes contrary to their direction, though he means their real intereft, he only fhews himfeif a wrong- headed agent, who will aft according to his own opi- nion i84 POLITICAL Book IV. nion in fplte of his mafters; and ought, befides being immediately /^r;z^^ out of his office, toh^an/wer" able for all damages. The excellent Davenanty ' tis true, lays no great ftrefs on refponfibility in members of parliament. But this is only becaufe in his times they had few examples of parliaments fo corrupted as to come to have an intereft different from that of their conftituents. But in our degenerate times, when we know, that parliaments may be effedtually drawn away from confulting the intereft of their reprefentatives, it isftrange that judge Blackjione ( who writes what I have quoted from him above, p. 179) fhould write as follows: A member of parliament * is not bound, like a de- puty in the United Provinces, to confult with, or take the advice of his conftituents upon any particu- lar point, unlefs he himfelf thinks it proper, or pru- dent fo to do ^/ Suppofe then a majority of the houfe of commmons, corrupted by a villainous court, fhould propofe to lay an exorbitant tax upon the people. Suppofe the majority of the conftituents, and people of England, fhould mftrud the majority of the members againft this tax, could the actt eftabliftiing this tax, paffed in dired: oppofition to the mind of iht people of Eng" lajidj (which judge Blackjione^ dodtrine allows) be faid to be, in any fenfe, conjlitutionaly or par- liamentary, or in any degree more tolerable to a free people, than if the king in council had pretended to impofe the tax ? If the votes of the eledors be the whole andfole foundation of the authority, the members have to fit, and to make laws, can it be con- ' ceived, that the eledors gave this authority on purpofe to plunder themfelves? If a Blackji, Com, j, 159, Chap. L DISQUISITIONS* -iSLj If the members of the houfe of commoas are not obliged to regard the inftrudlions of their conftitu- ents ; the people of this country chufe a fet of def^ pots every feven years, and are as perfc^dl (laves as the Turks, exceptingthefewmonths of a general election. And it is the trumping up of this dodtrine, that gave Voltaire the hint to write, that the Englifh are only free once in kvm years, and then they have not the fenfe to make the proper ufe of their freedom. Pudet h^ec approbria, &€, That a Frenchman fhould have it in his power to turn Englifh liberty thus to ridi- cule, is mortifying enough ; but that an Englijh judge ihould fupport his contempt of our liberty, is lliil more humiliating. But how could the fpirit of liberty be expected to breathe in the works of a gentleman, who fpeaking of the juft vengeance, which a frantic tyrant, the deftroyer of liberty, and butcher of his fubjecSs, brought upon himfelf, ufes fuch expreffion as—* the infamous and unparalleled trial of king Charles i. ^* And again^, the fatal cataftrophe of that pious and unfortunate prince ;' and who apologizes for his rapacious pro- ceedings, by teiling us, ;he gave up the right to ton- nage and poundage (after keeping it for fifteen years, in fpite of the continual remonftrances of parliament) when he found he could keep it no longer ; vvhich the judge calls * giving the nation ample fatisfadion C Let the reader perufe the incomparable lS/[r^,Macaulays hiftory of his horrid reign, or indeed any, even that of his profefled apalogift Clarendon^ and determine whether exempting him.from the guilt of tyranny^ it is poffible to fix it on any pripce that ever difgraced Vol. I B b a throne. a Com. i. 191. b Ibid, p, zio, c Ibid, ii^x i86 POLITICAL Book IV. a throne, or filled a kingdom with con fufion and bloodfhed. As a friend to human nature, I cannot help declaring my opinion, that had he been guilty of no crime befides his offering the Scotch army a bribe of four counties, and the plunder oiLondon^ to invadeEwg-- land^f or had he been guilty of no inftance of tyranny befides his fighting and flaughtering his fubjedls about his over-ftrained prerogative had he had as many heads as the Lernean hydra, he ought to haveJoftthem all. iNor can I, in reading judge Blackliotfe^ Com- mentaries, help lamenting, that a writer, whofe ad- mirable work will be read as long as Englandy its laws, and language remain, fhould be fo fparingly tindured with the true and generous principles of liberty, on the fupport and prevalency of which, the glory cf the Britijh empire depends. CHAP. II. ^he Denial of Refponjibility is a novel Do5irine. THE dodlrine fo much preached of late, by our fpeech-makers and courtly writers, that mem- bers of parliament are not obliged to regard the inftrudions of their conftituents, is a mere inno- vation. In former times their receiving wages fuppo- fed an obligation to do the bufincfs of thofe who paid them, and that they were to do it in the manner their employers chcfe it fhould be done. And their conftant language in the houfc is, * We dare not grant any more fubfidies. Who j^;?/ us hither ? Whofe bufi* nefs are we doing ? How fhall we anjwer this to the people ? Chap. II. disquisitions; ,87 people ? What will i\xt people of England {^y to this ? The very nature of the houfe of commons is changed/ (fays the duke of Buckingham in the houfe of peers,-^. D. 1677,) ' They do not now think they are an affembly of men, that are to return to their own homes, and become private men again (as by the laws of the land and conftitution of parlianrents, they ought to be) but look upon themfelves as a /landing fenate, as men picked out to be legiflators for the reft of their lives ^.* Our anceftors ihewed themfelves to be conjlituents^ by finding, imprifonipg, and incapacitating their iTjembers, when they adcd contrary to their inten- tion. Abfentees were -fined 20/. a large fum in thofc days c. Our members are our mafiers^ and infift on a didatoriai independency on us for 7 years, and to give no account of their conduct at the 7 years end, nor have we any power over them, but that of not re-elecSing them to a new parliament, if they have betrayed us in the laft. Nay, the majority of the members command their own eledion, and fit in parr liarpent, as the peers, for life. And yet we are a Jree people. Well may the neighbouring nations admire fo myflerious a fyftem. Thz abbi Reynel^ thinks, the antient cuftom of the king's giving out, in the fummonfes to parlia- ment, the bufinefs, for which it was to meet, was very ufeful,becaufe the conftituents could then inftrudt their members how to vote ; whereas now, fays he, * the people are obliged to give their reprefentatives an unlimited power, which they ufe as they think proper/ a Parl. Hist. paff. b Deb. Lorbs, i. 189. c PARt. Hist. 1. 396. ix. 2cjS. d P. 275. i8S POLITICAL Book IV. * proper/ The knights hefitated about granting Edw. III. fupplies, till they had the confent of their conftitaents ^. The barons agreed. There is no mention of the burgeffes. They dcfired, that there might be a new parliament fummoned, which might come prepared with authority from their conllituents. The commons did not prefume to grant Rdfw, III.- any tax, till they confulted their confiituents b. The commons, in the time of Rich* II. being defired to grant a fubfidy, foon after Tylers infurredion, an- fwered, that by reafon of the ' evil heats and rancour cf the * people throughout the whole realm, they neither durft, nor would grant any manner of tal- lage c.* Here the fenfe of the refponfibility to the people operated properly. Elfynge^ fays, • When the commons gave their anfwer touching the fubfidy demanded for the wars, they defired leave to return into the country to confer with their neighbours^ promif- ing their endeavours for the fame at next parliament.' * Some of our principal law-books tell us, that in antient times, this houfe has often refufed to agree to propofitions made by the court for this reafon only. That they could not, till they went home, and con^ fulted with their confiituents J The words of Mr. Plummers fpeech on the motion for repealing the fep- tennial adt, A. D. ^734®. * We fhall have little thanks for our labour, when we go homey' faid Wentworth, in the debate in parliament about a faving claufe in the petition of right^. In thofe days, the members confidered what thanks they were likly to have from their conflituents. la a Hume's Hist, ii. 176. b Parl. Hist, hi, 247. c Pari.. Hist, i. 390. d P. 72, c Dee. Com. vnx. 175. f PARL.Hisf, viii. 120. Chap. IL DISQUISITIONS. 189 In ours, they confider what thanks they are likely to have from the treafury. It was enaded i Hen, V. at the petition of the commons, that none, but refidents in the places they reprefented, fhould bfe chofen knights, citizens or bur- geffes a. They had not then invented the refinements of our times, that the members are reprefentatives for the whole kingdom, and from the moment of their eledion, are alike independent on their particular conftituents, and on the whole body of eledors through the kingdom. H, B. (fuppo(ed Bofcawen) in his fpeech on rejec- tion of the exclufion bill, fays, * That thofe who fent us here, may lee, we have done what we can, let us make fuch votes as may be ferviceable to our country. ^.' ' I nave heard, ' (fays Sir i?. Clayton in the debate on the cxclufion-bill, A. D, 1681.) * that it has been an antient ufage, that members have confuked fheir cities, boroughs, and counties in any thing of weight, as well as giving money, before they refolved it. The practice was good, and I wiQi it was continued. We can difcharge our truft no better than in obferv- ing the direcSion of thofe who fent us hither. What the people chufe is right, becaufe they chufe it. He himfelf had been intruded by the city of London. to promote the exclufion-bill. So faid lord Rujfelc. Our conJtituentSy fays Sir Edw, Deering ^^ A. D. 1641.) fent us hither as their trujiees to make and unmake laws. They did not fend us to rule them by arbitrary, difputable, and revocable ordinances* (meaning ordinances of the commons.) The a Eljynget 75. bDsB. Com. ii. 80. C Ibid. LI. 115. d Rap. ii. 3S3. 190 POLITICAL BooklV. Th^ ftyle of former times was, ' The commons defired certain lords to conter with them about their charge ^^ In thofe days the commons thought they had a charge, for which they were anfwerable* Our conilant pradice (fince ^» £). 1681.) of print- ing the votes of the houfe of commons, is an acknow- ledgment of the importance of the people, and the propriety of giving them fatisfadion. The occafioa of firft publifliing the votes was the exclufion bill^. The commons in the time of Ch, I. directed the judges to inform the people in all the counties they fhould come into in their circuits, that they (the com- mons) had abolifhed, or regulated all the oppreflive courts, &c. This (hews, that the commons of thofe times thought themlelves refponfible. c Lord Digbyy member for Dorjet, and Sir J. CoJe^ pepfer, from Kent^ if.' form the houle, A. D, 1640, that they had in charge feven articles of grievances, to which they add fome remarks of their own ^. Do our members make confcience of carrying to the houfe the complaints of their conftituents ? The following phrafes in CromwePs fummonfes to flieriffs for parliament eledions, fhcw, that refpon- fibility was in thofe days thought the duty of mem- bers.— So that the faid knights feveraliy may have full and fufficient power for themfelves, and the people of that county, to do and confent unto thofe things which then and there by common confent of the laid parliament fhall be ordered,' &c» « By the If rain of the Romanjirance ^ of the Commons of England to the houfe of commons^ in the republican times. " 2^ Brady, III. 356. et paff. h Rap, \\. 'jiz. c Parl. Hist. XIV. 474. d Ibid. ix. 125. clbid. XX, 292. f Sommer's Tk ACTS, vi. 256, ^ Chap, 11. DISQUISITIONS. igi times, we fee how this matter appeared to our ancef-- tors oflaft century. We muft defire you to call to your remembrance. that we are ftill the My of the commons of England, you but the reprefentativesj that we have not fo dele- gated the power to you, as to make y^u the gover- nors of us and our eftates. You arc in truth but our procurators to fpeak for us in the great council. T-iat of right we ought to have accefs to thofe, whom we have thus choien, and to the h:)ufe, as there ihall be caufe to impart our defires to yoi?, and you ought not to refuje us. That by mvoWxug our voia^ 'u^ yours y we had no purpofe to make you perpetual delators.' Members of parliament, fays the excell - nt Sydney a , do not adt by a power derived fyom kings, but from thofe who chufe them. And thofe, who give power, do not give an unreferved power. Members of par- liament are therefore accountable to their conjiituenis. It is true, the conftituents do not call them to aa account, otherwife than by not eleding them again, if they have difapproved of their condud. [This proves in fadl a very inadequate punifhment, bccaufe the right of eledlion comes iofeldom into the hands of the people, and becaufe (in all, but the prefent incor- rupt times) by far the greateft part of the members have been impofed upon their conftittlents by power ot hy bribery,'] Many members, he fays afterwards ^, in all agrs, and lometimes the whole body of the commons, have refufed to vote, till they conjulted thofe who Jent them. The houfes have been often adjourned, to give them time to do this ; and if this were done more frequently, or if towns, cities, and counties, had on fome occafions, given inftrudions ' to ^ Disc. Gov^ 423, b Ibid. 424. 192 POLITICAL Book IV, to their deputies, matters would probably have goQe better in parliament than they have often done/ That ftern old patriot, in his XLIVth fecSt. a over- throws the dovftrine of abfolute power delegated to the members of the houfe of commons by their conftitu- ents. He confidcrs members of parliament as the fervants of the public. ' I take^ fays he, what fer- vant I pleafe, and when I have taken him, I muft, according to this dodrine, fufFer him to do what he pleafes. But from whence fhould this neceffity arife ? Why may I not take one to be my groom, another to be my cook, and keep them both to the offices, for which I trx)k them ? And if 1 am free, in my private capacitiy, to regulate my particular affairs according to jny own difcretion, and to allot to each fervant his proper work, why have not I, with my aflbclates tjbe freemen of E?iglandy the like liberty of diredting and limiting the powers of the fervants we employ in our public affairs?' Milton and Locke bring very fubftantial arguments for calling even ktngSy with all their facred majefly, their j«r^ divinOy and th^r impeccability (kings can do no wrong) to account, if they govern in any man- ner inconfiftent with the good of the people. How much more lords, or commons^ who have never even challenged to tJkmfehes any divine atributes ? James J. owned himfelf to be the ^xt2X fervant of the flate. * Who, fays Locke^ (hall be judge, whether his truftce, or his deputy' [are not members of the houfe of commons trujiees and deputies in the flridefl fenfe of the word r ] * ads well, and according to the truft repofed in him, but he, who deputes him, a Disc, Gov. 450, thap. 11. DISQUISITIONS. 193 and mufti by having deputed him, have ftill power to difcard him, whcin he fails in his truft ? If this be reafon in particular cafes of private men, why fhould it be otherwiie in cafes of the greateft moment, where the welfare of millions is concerned ! The qualifications of a member of parliament, according to the author of an excellent tradt pub- liflied in the beginning of this century, intituled, Reasons for annual Parliaments,, are fenfe, courage, and integrity. By fenfe, he means chiefly knowledge of the interefts of England (though clalTi- cal learning and fluency in haranguing are in our times effentially neceffary) commerce, manutaitures, liberty j fecurities and violations of the people, 9nd redrefsj refources for war and peace, and connexions with other ftates, balance of power, &c. Courage againft the encroachments of a court, againft folici- tations, places, preferments, threats, • cabals, &c. Integrity not merely to the whigs, or to the minority, but to the nation. No man ought to be chofen, that will not receive infiru^ion. There are no counties and few towns that do not underftand the intereil of their country enough to give general inflrudtions. * You have a right to inftrutfl your members. It was the cuftom formerly^ to inftrudl all the members, and the nature of deputation (hews* that the cuf- tom was well grounded a.' iV. 5. This was written 1702, when the people were not fo knowing, and confcquently not fo well qualified for inftruding, as now. He infills, that parliament be inftruvfted to pro- mote a militia, and to encourage the uie of firelocks among the populace, to increafe the navy, and reduce our wars to naval wholly. Vol. I. Cc M have a Reasons for annual Parl, 194 POLITICAL Book IV. * I have met, fays queen Anne^ with fo many ex- preffions of joy and latisfadion in all the counties through which I have had occafion to pafs, that I cannot but look upon them, as true meafures of the duty and afFedion of all my fubjcds »/ Queen Anne thought the fenfe of the people might be colleded otherwije than from parliament. The commons an- Iwered, * It is great ccndefcenfion in your majefty to take notice in fo public a manner of the expreffions of joy and fatisfadion/ &c. ^ Thus we fpoil our kings and queens. It was not the leajl condefcenfion* It is the duty of every fovereign to pay the moft pro-^ found iht moft facred attention to the fenfe oiihtpeo^ fle^ for whofc benefit alone he is endowed with power. The colledors of the debates of the commons hold it to be fcarce a difputabie point, * Whether the repre- fentatives of a people are accountable to their con- ftituents, or whether it ought to be deemed an offence to lay the proceedings of our reprefentatives before thofe whom they reprefent ^! * I hope, your indulgence to an old fervant will pardon this omiffion ;' fays Mr. Cookey member for Middle/ex y in his addrefs to the eledors, March 26, 1768. What fort of 2^ fervant muft he be, who is not refponfible to his mafter ? * If parliament* (fays Sir f, Barnard in the debate on the convention, A. D. 1739.) * (hould begin to refufe giving fathfadlion to the people, the people will begin to refufe putting any confidence in par- liaments J and if this fhould ever come to be the cafe, the [parliaments] not only may, biit they ought to be laid ajide. I do not know that the cha- rader a Deb. Com, hi, 203. b Ibid. 204. C Ibid. i. i. Chap.II. DISQUISITIONS. 195 radter of parliament ever received a deeper (lab than it did at the feeming approbation of the convention in lafl: feffions of parliament ; and if we (hould in this fo far fcreen the contrivers of that convention as to refufe to let the people know whether they were to blame or not 5 I fay, if we fhould do this now, that the chief argument advanced laft year in iavouc of that convention appears to have been without foun- dation, it will, I fear, be a mortal blow ^/ We find in our hiftories nothing more frequent than inftrudions from conftituent bodies to their reprefentatives in parliament, which fliews, that the people (whofc opinion, indeed in modern times, is little regarded by their governors, whereas it ought to be followed implicitly) think they have a right to inflrudt, and that their reprefentatives ought to regard their inftrucflions. The city of London fent inftrudions to her mem- bers, 33 Cb. II. requiring them to infift on the paf^ ling of the exclufion-bili. And Sir Rob. Clayton gave it as one reafon in his fpeech on that occafion. That his duty to his eleftors oiligedhim to vote for the bill b, * In many places, it was given^ as an inJlruSiion to members [at the cledion in 1681] to llick to the exclufionc/ And fee the judicious inftrudtions by the borough of Southwarky A. D. 1701, on the treachery of the French king ^. Many places inftrudled their members, A. D, 17 14, particularly Zo;^^i?;^ * We defire and expeSl that you will enquire by whofe counfel, &c. the feparate peace was mide e/ See a Deb. Com. xi. 375. b Ibid. xiv. 7. c Burn,llisT, own Times, ik 136. d Tind, Contin. i. 497, e Ibid i, 415. 196 POLITICAL Book IV. See the very judicious inftrudlions given by the citizens of LWow to their members, A> D. 1741, agair^ft ftanding armies; extenfion of excife laws; fep- tennial parliaments; placemen in the houfe of com- mons 5 recommending ftrid enquiry into the expen- diture of public monies; cautioning againft a difho- nourable peace with Spain, &c. The preamble runs as follows ; * We the citizens of London who have cheerfuHy eledled you to ferve us in parliament, and thereby committed to your trufi the fafety, liberty, properly, and privikges of ourfelves and pofterity, think It our duty, as it is our undoubted rights to acquaint you with what we defire and expe^ frc m you in dijcharge of the great truft we repole in you, and what we take to be your duty as our repreienta- tives/ &c. ^ Tiiere were fent up inftrudions from all parts, in the fame year, for an effedual place and penfion-bill, and for fliort parliaments, and againft a ftanding army, and all needlefs expences, by which taxes were in- creafed b. In the year 1742, the lord mayor and corporation of London inftrudfed their members ^ (on occafion of a difappointment from fome pretended patriots) requir- ing their faithful attention to the profecution of what- ever might give hopes of redrefs. Thefe inftrudions were followed by others to the fame purpofe from Weflmmller, Brijiol, Edinburgh, Tork^ Worcefier^ and other places. The city of London mlirudled their reprefcntatives, A* D» ^7^9i to endeavour to prevent all attempts to the a Deb. Com. xiii. 15. b See the hi (lories of the times. C D£B. (»0M. XIV, 2. Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 1 97 the difadvantage of trial by jury 5 to watch over the obfervance of the Hab as Corpus ad 5 the applicn of the pubUc money to bribery or cledioncering ; to oppofe the dangerous dodrine of conflrudtive treafons, the garbling of petition?, and turning them into accu- fations ; the ufe of military force on prcrtence of keep- ing the peace; to oppofe the indifcriminate demands of minifterson pretence of paying civil iiit debcsj to promote an efFcdual place- bill ; to propofe laws for preventing the influence of peers in elections, and for fubjeding the candidate, as well as the eledor, to the bribery oath ; and to endeavour to obtain fhort parli- ments and eledion by ballot, 6cc. ^ ' The inflru5lions of yt u^ eonjlituents (fays a fenfible writer b) « you (hould always be ready to obey. But you have inverted the maxim of th^ Gofpel, and made the Jervants greater than their mafters. You, who are only deputies and fdSJors, have ufarped a power not only fupcrior to your creators^ but deftrudive of the very rights, by v/hich they exift as freemen, and by which you yourfelves exift as reprefentatives. In the gulph of your privilege you have fwallowed up the birthright of the people, who are ultimately paramount to all the three branches of the legiflature.' [Of as much more confequence, he might have faid, (allowing for dif- ference in property) as 12 millions are more in num- ber than 800 individuals.] 'Had you been as tenacious of your dutyy as of your infereji, you would have firft provided for the fafety of the people's rig^hts, and then entered upon a difcuffion of your own pri- vilege.' Mr; aMAG. of 1769. bLoxfD. Mag. Juy, 1771, p. 334. 198 POLITICAL Book IV. Mr. Beckford, late lord mayor oiLondon^ feems to have had a proper norion of inftrudtions, viz. That they are to be followed implicitlyy after the member has refpcdlfully given his conltituents his opinion of them. * Far be it from me, fays he, to pppofe my •judgment to that of 6000 of my fellow-citizens V ' I ever thought myielf happy* (fays Sir Ellis Cun^ life, in his letter to the mayor *of Liverpool) ' ia * obeying all the commands of my confiituents, whether * of a public or private nature 5* [defiring, on account of ilinefs, to be excufed ferving any longer in parlia- ment^.] * I cannot think it confiftent with the honour and * dignity of this houfe/ (feysMr. Plumer in the debate on the Spanifo war,\/^. D. 1738.) * to give people with-^ * out doors any /hadcw of reafon for fufpedling, that * the refolutions of this houfe a. e didated by our * minifters of ftate \ for, in all our refolutions, we * ought to fpeak our own fenfe, the fenfe of thole w^c * reprefent^ the ll.nfe of the nation^ and not the fenfe * of mini[iers ^Z When king ^7//^»/, A.T>. 1694, refufedthe royal aflent to the lamous biil for free and impartial proceed- ings in parliament, the commons remonftrated, and the committee propofed, among other particulars, to addrefs the following to his majeiiy : * We beg, Sir, « you will be pleafed to confider us as answerable * TO THOSE WE REPRESENT. And it i.^ from y^HJr « gcodnefs we muft expedl arguments to loften to them * in fome meafure the necelTary hardfliips they are ' forced to undergo in this prefent conjundure^^.' a LoND. Mag. 1769. p. 96. b Ibid. 1767. p. 308. c Deb. Com. x. 234. d Ibid, 11. 432. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 199 CHAP. III. Arguments for Refponfibility of Memben to the People. IN the debate upon the motion for repealing the feptennial adl, A. D. 1734, Sir W. Jf'^'ymdham oppofed Sir W* Toung, who had endeavoured to depriciate the neceflity of refponfibility. * The gentleman [meaning Sir William] faid, that we were to have no dependence upon our cGTiJl'ituentsi he went further ; he faid it was a dangerous depen- dance ; nay, he went further ftill, and faid it was more dangerous than a dependance on the crown* This my worthy friend took notice of, and, with his ufual modefty, called it a new docftrine. It is. Sir, not only a new dodrine, but is the moil moo- ftrous, the mod flavifti dodrine was ever heard 5 and fuch a doftrine as I hope no man will ever dare to fupport within thefe walls. I am perfuaded. Sir, the learned gentleman did not mean what the words he happened to make ufe of may feem to import ; for though the people of a county, city, or borough, may be mifled, and may be induced to give inftruc^ tions which are contrary to the true intereft of their country, yet I hope he will allow, that in times paft the crown has been oftener mifled 5 and confe- quently we muft conclude that it is more apt to be mifled in lime to come than we can fuppofe the peo- ple to h^^! Though it fhould be affirmed, that a member of par- liarrient is not refponfible to his own conflituents, yet it would be ftrange to aflfert, that ai/ the members may negledt the remonftrance of all the confl:ituents in England a D£B. Com. viii. 1^9, S06 POLITICAL Book IV. England to the fame purpoffr. In that c^fe, the mem- bers co'jld not bef^i^dto be reprefen^atives of the peo- ple o{ England, but muft be conddtred as a fet ofab- folute defpots, adting for their own private intercft. Bat this is inconfifient with the very idea of eleSiiotiy or of delegated power. And if one member is not re- fponfible, neither is another. It one is refponfible, all are. If revol'jtion-principles are juftifiable, that is> if the people may take the power out of the hands of a king, or government, wheo they abufe it, it follows, that the king and government are in all cafes refponfi- ble to the people^ and thai a riiajcriiy of the people can at any time change the government. This is not de- nying the danger and trouble of revolutions, nor the difficulty of determming what is the fenfe of the ma- jority of the people. Bat if members of parliament are not obliged to regard inftructions from their con- flituents, -"hat is to become of a poor t jwn, or coun- try-place, unable to bear a tax no way grievous to other wealthier places ? 1 he houfe receives no pe^ titions upon money -htlL-y becaule every place either fends a member or members of its own, or is repre- fented by the county-members. But, if the houfe is neither to be informed hy petition nor by injlruBion^ how is it to be informeo ? This leaves an open door for the moft cruel oppreihon. Lord Coke lays, * It is the cuftom of parliament \vhen any new device .is moved for in parliament on the king's behalf for his aid, or the like, '[as a little demand of half a million to pay civil lift debts ' that the commons may anfwer, 1 hey dare not agree to it without conference with ihciv countries. He gives an inftance of this 9 Edw. III. which is applied, by MrJ Pulteney in the debate on the excife-fcheme, A. D. 17 ^Z' ^'^^ ^''' P^^^^^^y a^^s, that the ab- horrence fhewn by the people againft that fcheme, was a fufBcient reason for rejecting it. So Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 20! So far from qucftioning the refponfibility of mem- bers, I (hould think it reafonable and proper to demand an oatb of the members at their taking their feats, be- fides the ufual oaths j I m6an an oath of fidelity to their conftituents, by which they iTiould declare before God and men, that they come into the houfe by the free and uninfluenced choice of a true majority of thofe, who by lawhave the right of choice; and that they will, in all their fpeechesand votes, faithfully and zealoufly purfue their country's good, in ipite of all temptation to the contrary. The moft incorrupt parliament ought not to refufe giving their conftituents all the fecurity in their power. An honeft man does not refufe to give his bond. The moft virtuous are the moft de- lirous of avoiding fufpicion, and the moft anxious a- bout ftanding in a clear light before the world. No fingle man, or fet of men, ought to be trufted with power without account to the people, the origi- nal proprietors of power. * There is not upon earth* (fays the excellent Gordon) * a nation, which having * had unaccountable magiftrates, has not felt them to * be crying and confuming mifchiefs. In truth, where * they are moft limited, it has been often as much as * a whole people could do to reftrain them to their * truft, and to keep them from violence ; and fuch fre- * quently has been their propenfity to be lawlefs, that * nothing but a violent death could cure them of their * violence. This evil has its root in human nature; ^ men will never think they have enough, whilft they * can take more ; nor be content with a part, whea * they can feize the whole a.' The hiftory of mankind for two or three thoufand years backwards (which is as far backwards as hiftory goes) is a fermon upon this text, Nothing more dan-^ D d gerous a Cato'8 Lett. hi. 78, 202 POLITieAL Book IV- gerous than poiver without refponfibilify. But the fpecies refembles an individual. As the fathers expe- rience does not make the fo?i wifer, fo neither does the Kiftory of the fufferings o( former generations teach the Jucceeding to fecure themfelves againft the mif- chiefs of unaccountable power. * When we eled: pcrfons to reprefent us in parlia- * ment (fays a judicious writer ^) we muft not be fup- pofed to depart from the fmalleft right which we have depofited with them. We make a lodgment^ not a gift', VJQ entrufi, hut part with nothing. And, were it poflible, that they fhould attempt to deftroy that conftitution which we had appointed them to maintain, they can no more be held in the rank of reprefentatives than a fadlor, turned pirate, can con- tinue to be called the fador of thofe merchants whofe goods he had plundered, and whofe confidence he had betrayed. The men, whom we thus depute to parliament, are not the bare likenefs or reflexion of us their conftituents; they adtually contain our powers and privileges, and are, as it were, the very perfons of the people they reprefent. We are the parliament in them ; we fpeak and a6t by them. We have, therefore, SirigJbt to know what they zxtfayiitg and doing. And fhould they contradid: our fenfe, or fvverve from our interefts, we have a right to remon- ftrate, inform, and diredl them. By which means, we become the regulators of our own conduft, and the inftitutors of our own laws, and nothing material tan be done but by our authority and confent/ The tyranny of the Eafi India governors ^, who, on account of the diftancc of their fitUation from the feat of government, think themfelves in a manner out of its a LoNDMAG.y^w. 1760, p. 33, b Mod. Univ. Hist, x. 144. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 503 its reach ; fhews how dangerous it is to truft power without refponfibility. A few years ago, the wile juftices of Wejlminjier gave for one night a difcretionary power to the con- iiables to apprehend and fecure all ftreet-walking women. What was the confequence ? Thofc impe- rious brutes took up a number of induftrious wafher- women'going to their bufinefs before day-light, cram- med them into a .place of confinement like the black hole at Calcutta^ in which one, or more, were fairly fuffocated, and found dead next morning. See a Britijh houfe oi commons phmde ring the peo- ple of above half a million to pay court-debts, A. D. 1773, at the fame time examining with great feverity into the plunderings committed in /ijia by the Eq/i India company's lervants; the accuirs and the ac- cufed alike guilty, becaufe 2\\\it fecure y as they ima- gined, from quejlion. Thus the poet of nature repre- sents lady Macbeth encouraging her hufband to murder his fovereign under his own roof, by the confidera- tion, that there was no body who dared to call them to account. In otlier countries, we find a connexion held be- tween reprefentation aind refponfibility. The tribunes of the people, in the times of the commonwealth of Rome^ had no will of their own* They were the mere fpeaking- trumpet of the people. And had the people been regularly formed into dif- trids, in fuch manner as to prevent the corrupt popu- lace of that great city from carrying every point by mobbing, all would have been well. The deputies from the Swijs cantons to the gene- ral diet, receive inftruflions from their conftituents, and think themfelves obliged to conform to them ». The a Simhrif HfiLVt D«5CR, pt ^76, —310, 204 POLITICAL Book IV, The Procuradores, or members for Caftile, in the corte held at Madrid, in the beginning oi Charles Y. excufed ihemfelves from granting the fupplies he de- fired; becaufe they had received no orders from their conffituents i and afterwards receiving cxprefs orders not to do it, they gave Charles a flat denial. 1 he fame was the cuftom in France^ before that country was enflaved. The general aflemblies being laid afide, the fame cuftom is ftill [latter end of the 17th century] ufed in the lefTer aflemblies of the ftates in Languedoc and Bretagne. The fame is obferved by the deputies of the cities of Germany to the diets ^, The deputies or members of the parliament oi Paris, when al! France was like to be ruined by the confu- fions in the minority of Lewis XIV. were afraid to fign a compromiie for reftoring the public quiet, Icfl: their conjiituents (hould not approve of the terms b. Our deputies are not afraid to approve the meafures of the court, though they know them to be the exe^ cration of their corijlituenfs. Before the people of Ireland obtained a limitation of the time of their parliaments, they inftrudted their members, and many places went fo far as to demand of them, before eledion, an oath, that they would vote for the meafurep. The deputies fent by each of the United Provinces to the States General are refponfible only to the refpec- tive provinces which fend them, and not to the States General. In England our members do not hold : themfelves a State Tracts, Time of K. ^///. III. 282. b Mod.Univ. HisT.xxv. 40, c Lond.Mag. 1768, p. 131* d Janicon^ it 78. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 205 themfelves refponfible to their conftituenfsy but to the houfey and the houfe to the prime mini/ier. Thus the people, who ought to be alh are nothing. The faga- cious Dutch have guarded againft the danger of lodging too irrefponfible a power in the hands of their fupremc affembly, or giving their deputies leave to fell them. The States General cannot, without the unanimous confent of all the provinces (who arc too numerous to be bribed) make peace, nor war, nor raife troops, nor make laws affeding the whole republic. Nor can they repeal an antient ftatute or regulation, nor eledt a ftadholder, otherwife than at the rifque of their heads, which they accordingly hazarded for the public good, A. D. i668, when, to check the growing power of Lewis XIV. at the in- ftanceof bir W. Temple^ they figned the triple alliance^ and elecSed the prince of Orange ftadtholder, through fear of danger from flow counfeis a. The people of New Eugland keep up the right of inflruding their members ^. C H A P. IV. Unwarrantable Privileges ajjltmed by the Houfe of Commonsy in confequence of inadequate Reprefenta^ tion^ and too long Parliaments. IN confequence of the inadequate ftate of parlia- mentary reprefentation, the houfe of commons has aflumed fuch a fuperiority over its conrtitu- ents(and indeed, the burgefles of the meaner boroughs, who, as has been feen, have the credit of eleding the majority a Etat. Pres, ^zxjanicofty 1,85. Rap% 11.650, 2o6 POLITICAL Book IV. majority of the houfe, are a fet of very contemptible people, fcarce capable of eleding, or of inftrudiiig) that, delpifing the thought of being anfwerable to them, they arrogate certain privileges, ^^rJ^r granted by the people^ and affume the power of proteding, excluding, expelling their own members, of deciding their own caufes, profecuting, arrefting, imprifoning, reprimanding, and fining their employers at their ar- bitrary pleafure, and according to I know not what lex et ccrifuetucdoparlia?nmti^ which tramples on Mag" naCko.rta. :- J 'he Bill of Rights. Sir WilUciin 'Jones indeed argues ftrongly, that the law of parliament is the law of the land. But in the profectiticn of Clarendon * it being uncertain at fi:ft, which way they fliould proceed, precedents were fearched, and Sir Thomas Littleton reported, that the ccnimittee had found ' various proceedings in different parliaments.' What is then the conjuetudo parlid- menti ? Privilege and pre-emminence of every kind is invi- dious, and odious to the prrople. Whoever wanted to excite the Roman people againft the iena:e, never failed to mention the law forbidding m^arriage between the patricians and plebeians. Even where privilege is bedewed in confequence of merit, it is but aukwardly brooked. * Why muft jirijiides be honoured with the Title of The Juft, more than others ?' faid the Athenian, and voted his banifhment on that ac- count^. All privilege Is a nuifance, whofe extent is 2/«>J;/^'K.7;; becaufe the fubjed is thereby in danger of falling into u?tdeJignedoStnQ^. Butit has alwaysbeen made apointto keep a Deb. Com. i. 104. b Plut, in Ari2t» Corn, iV>/. in iod^ Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. ioj- keep the extent of parliamentary privilege, preroga- tive royal, minifterial power, &c, profound fecrets* Thefe arc the arcana imperii^ in Englijh, tricks of ilate. But does the concealment of what may be dangents to the people, (hew, in government, a paternal ten- dernefs for the people ? And is that government any thing better than a tyrannj^ which fliews a want of paternal tendcrnefs for the people ? The truth is, our minifters chufe to fecure Tifmall convenience to them- felves (the convenience of keeping the people in fear of them) tho' at the rifque oi great lofs to the fubjects. I would wifh (fays James I. in his fpeech, March, 1609^) that the law were written in our vulgar tongue.— -Every fubjedl ought to underitand the law, [and, among other laws, the parliament law] * under which he lives — that the excufc of ignorance may be taken away from thofe, who do not conform them- felves to them.' * In contending for the privilege of parliament, fays a writer on general warrants t>, I defire to be under- ftood to mean, not that infolent abufe of privilege^ which has made its name odious, and its exiftencc intolerable ; by which members of parliament have ufurped a power of making them/ekes ]\iAgts in their own caufe, and avengers of their own quarrels 5 by which the courfe of law 2iTiijuJiice has been obJlruEi- ed, juft debts with-held from many an unhappy cre- ditor, and property detained from its true inheritor^ I beg leave to mark out a diftindtion between the privilege and the prerogative of parliament, defining the one to j||c the exercifc of a tyrannous and opprejivc jurifdidtion over the reft of the fubjeds i the other to confift a Harl Miscel. i. 12. b Aim, 'D^^t Com. vi, 2$S. 20 g POLITICAL Book W. confift in that proteBion which feciares the reprefenta-: tives of the people from the power of the crown. On keeping this privilege facred and inviolate depends the freedom of parliament, and of eonfequence the being of our conftitution.' The only ufe of parliamentary privilege from arreft, is to prevent a tyrant^ or a corrupt courts from im- pri(oning, on pretence of debt, or diftreffing, fuch members as oppofed their meafurcs. But this might have been fufHciently provided againft, without car- rying privilege to fuch an unreafonable length, that there (hould be no time of the year, when a member, and his dependents, fhould be obliged to pay their debts. It is well obferved by an eminent lawyer in his fpeech in parliaments That the privileges of the members of the houfe of commons might be faid to be thofe of the people, if the members of the houfe of commons had no interell different from that of the people, which he afHrms, is the very contrary of the truth. Mark, how fublime the ftyle of the following. * Refolved (by the commons, A. £). 1699) That to affert, that the houfe of commons have no power of commitment, but of their own members, tends to the fubverfion of the conftitution of the houfe of com- mons.' We will allow the houfe of commons to have much higher powers. But let them be powers jit for a houfe of commons to have. Every puny juftice has power of commitment. Again, * Refolved, That to print or publim any books, or libels, refleding upon the proceedings of the houfe of a LoNB, Mag, Jum^ 1771, p. ^§8. Chap. IV. D I S Q U I S I T I O N sS. 209 of commons, or of any member thereof, for, or relating to his fervice therein, is a high violatioa of the rights and privileges of the houfe of com- mons/ This refolution puts an end to all enquiry into the behaviour of our /"r^^^j, and makes itimpotlible for us to call them to account, or to know, whctlier it will be fafe to re-eJe^ them or Aot, There is fomewhat particularly grofs and mean-fpirited in ftoppiag en- quiry. It always fuggefts the idea of fomewhatj^ which will not bear enquiring into. *' 1 care not, fays the honefl: old philofapher, if there were a window in my breaft, that any body might look in and fee what is paffing in my thoughts." Felony, breach of the peace, and trcafon, deprive a member of his privilege \ And the commons lately gave up privilege in cafe of feditious libels. Thus we fee th^vn magnifying privi- lege againfl: xht people, and lowering it in fervile com- plaifance to the couri ; diredly contrary to what the fpirit of liberty would didate. Sir Charles Sedley obfervcs, in hisfpeech, A. Z). 1 699. that when complaint was made, that great part of the revenue remained unaccounted for, in the hands of the receivers, a member anfwered, It could not be helped ; for that thofe receivers were members, and flood upon ihdv privilege^. Nor is it to be wondered that they (hould ; fince every 100,000/. of the pub- lick money kept back, yields 4000 /. a year intereft ; and a great officer of the ftate, whofe department lies among the finances, may keep in his own hands many fuch fums for many years. But this \s pocketing what Vol. I. E c belongs a Blackjl, Com. i. i66. b DsB. Com. hi. 195, 2IO POLITICAL Book IV. belongs to the puMcy and is as honeft as it would be to fteal fixpence a-piece out of 100,000 pockets. There feems to be a finall inconfiftency between the qualification ad and iht privilege of members againft arreft for debt. The former fays. No man (hall be member for a county, if he has not 600 /. a year clear, nor for a city or borough, unlefs he has 300 /. But the privilege fuppofes, that a member may be unable to pay his debts 5 and, in that cafe, provides againft his being arrefted, to the great inconvenience and iofs of thofe, who have trufted members. Now» if it be improper that a needy -xn'aiti be a member of the houfc of commons, why muftthis needy man hepri* vileged againft arrefts ? Why ftiould not the bailiffs have him, and another be eleded in his room ? If it be faid, the arreft may be litigious -y it may be the contrivance of a villainous minifter, to put a friend to liberty out of the way on a critical occafion ; the anfwer is fhort. Let the houfe of commons bail the arrefted member, if they underftand this to be the cafe 5 if not, let him be given up to his creditors. This would equally fecure the member againft minifte- rial tricks, and the creditor againft abufe of privilege. It is criminal in any man to contract debts, which it is improbable he fhould ever be able to pay. It is cri- minal to protedt fuch a debtor. Which dodrine, by the way, condemns all our too daring merchants, bankers, &c, who take whatever credit they can have in confequence of the too eafy credulity of mankind, and extend their adventures, by which only them- felves can be gainers, at the peril of hundreds, who may be undone by them. But a member of parlia- ment, a legiflator, ought not to be fuppofed capable of ever coming into fuch circumftances, as to be liable to arreft for a juft debt j or if he does, he ought to be left Chap. IV. D I S QUI S I T ION S, 211 kft to the fame law with other bankrupts. Where then is the honeft ufe of this parliamentary fcreen ? For it is to beobferved, that privilege fcreens a mem- ber 40 days before and 40 days after the fitting of the houfe, againfl: arreft for the mod jt^Ji debt, and for all forts of offences, that do not come up to felony, breach of the peage, treafon, or feditious libels. -^. i). 1 541, the commons begun privileging from arreft for debt by writ from the fpeaker. In former times, it was done by writ from the chancellor ^. It IS plain, that all the privileges affumed by mem- bers of parliament are not neceffary for the puMcJer^ vice, whatever they may be for their pride -, for they have often been difpenfed with. An ad was made, A. D. 1641, for laying down the privileges of parlia- ment for a feffion, becaufe the citizens complained that they loft money by them \ The freemen and citizens of London^ m their peti- tition to parliament, A, JD. 1646, complain of many members, who ftand upon privilege, and refufe to pay their debts S An order was made, yf. D. 1647, ^^^^ ^^ perfons under authority of parliament, but the members, ftiall have protedion or immunity by reafon of privilege, nor any member be free from adlion or profecution, but obliged to anfwer. Only iki€vc perfom not liable to arreft^ In the year 1647, the commons ordered, that from January 20th of that year, none but members (hould, during that feffion, have protection by privilege of the houfe, in any fuit^ and that the eftates of members be liable a //i«»z^*s Hist. TuD. ii, 249. b Parl. Hist. x. 50. c Ibid, XV. 233. d Ibid," xvi. 486. 212 POLITICAL Book IV, liable for debt, &c. And the fame year, Ae peers gave up thole lords, who by reafon of their offences, had not liberty to fit in parliament, to be profecuted by fuits of law, and likewife their attendents, as if there were no parliament ^. Privilege of members, as to peifon and eftate, was taken off, A. D. i^4.g^. The lord mayor, aldermen, and commons, ^. D, 1646, complained to parliament, that many were fufferers by protedion of privilege ; they complained of jealoufies fomented between parliament and city, and their mayor fufpended 5 define that the debts due by parliament to the city may be put in courfe of pay- ment <=. The Lords anfwer with great acknowledge- ments of the important fervices of the city, which they promife never to forget j and to do every thing in their power for redrcffing the ccmpLints of the citizens, and particularly of the lord mayor, of whom they fpeak very highly. Commons give it a very cold reception. LudloWy in his Memoirs, calls the petition an infulent addrefs, and the commons' anfwer, a declaration that they would preferve their authority and not be dictated to. A ftanding order of the houfe was publiflied, ji. D^ 1709, againft members giving protections^. The commons, A. D. 1678, put a flop to all pro- teftions granted by members to any but menial fer- vants adually in fervice. A great grievance by abufe of privilege «. A good adl was made, A.D. 1701, for explaining parliamentary privilege, which was a great nuifance, obftrud^ a Whitelock^i Mem. 287, 290. b Parl. Hist. xix. 98. c Ibid xiv. 421, d Deb. Com, xit 321. c Ibid, i. ;?76, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 213 obftruding the courfe of juftice, and preventing the demand of juft debts from year to year ; for the lef- fions of parliament being prorogued from period to period, the whole year round was a time of privilege. So natural is it to overftretch power in our own favour. Dodderidge traces privilege for the fervants of members back to b Hen. VI. ^ , A D. \joj^ A/gill, a member, was in debt. His cre- ditors petitioned the houfe, that he may not be defend- ed by privilege from paying ajuft debt. It happened that j^Jgill hdid written a filly pamphlet about the pof- fibility of going to heaven without dying. 1 he houfe took the opportunity of this pamphlet to expel him, on the ftatote of blaiphemy, I fuppofe, without either violating privilege, or fcreening a bad man from pay- ing his juft debts b. Why iliould not all privileges both of lords and commons, be put on this footing, that no member of either houfe be liable to arreft, but with con rent of the houfe, and the houfe always to confent, unlefs when the caufe is litigious or unjufl? When it was moved, that letters of members go free during the fitting of the houfe, Sir Her.eage Finch faid it was a beggarly propofal. The lords left out the provifion, and the commons agreed ^, A. D 1690, Mr. Montague w^s charged in execu- tion for 507 < /. He was at the fame time elected member. The houfe of commons was puzzled, whether he could be received. But they found prece- dents in the preceeding parliament, and that lord Coke, Inst. 3. affirms, that all perfons are eligible, except aliens, minors, and perfons attainted of trcafon or felony. a Pref. b Deb. Com. iv. y. c Parl, Hist, xxiii. 56, 63. 214 POLITICAL Book IV. felony \ It is, however to be remembered, that noblemen, clergymen, women, lunatics, commiffio- ners of cuftcms, and feveral other placemen, are not eligible ; and that a member for a county muft have a qulification of 600 /. a year, and for a city or borough 300/. a year. But the &^/^/6, and univer- fities are exempted from qualifications. Sir Thomas Shirley, a member, was imprifoned for debt in the time of Jam. I. The ferjeant at arms was fent to the Fleet by the houfe to demand him. The warden refufes; The commons fend for the warden, and commit him to the Tower. A difpute arofe, whether the houfe's imprifoning the warden, could indemnify him, in cafe of his prifoner's efcap- ing, during his abfence. Some propofed to fend, and break open the prifon, and bring away Sir T/jomas by force. [A whimfical application, fa rely, of legijla^ //^'^ power.] The fpeaker overruled this motion ^ telling the houfe, that it would be adlionable. Af- ter much debating, they fent for the warden again, and put him into the dungeon called Litde eafe. The warden offers to releafe Sir Thomas if two members will be fecurity for the debt. The houfe refufes. At laft they privately defire the king to order the warden, on his allegiance, to releafe Sir Thomas^. Mr. Ferrers, member for Plymouth, was arrefted for debt. A, D. 1542, going to parliament, and carried to the Counter. The ferjeant of the commons was fent to the Counter to fetch him. The people at the counter r'efifted the ferjeant, who complained to the a Bohun^s Right of Elect. 276. b Parl. Hist, v. 113. Chap. IV. DISQ^UISITIONS. 215 the fheriffs. They took part with their officers^ The ferjeant returned to the houfe, and informed them. The commons refent highly. They rofe, and went to the houfe of lords, to whom they related ths affair. The lords and judges declared the contempt very atrocious, and referred the punifliiiient to the commons, who returned to their houfe, and fent their ferjeant to the flieriffs with his mace, without a writ^ though the chancellor offered them one. In the mean while the flieriffs refolved to change their fcheme, and deliver up Mr. Ferrers to the ferjeant. The commons ordered the Sheriffs to attend them, with the clerks and officers of the Counter. They likewlfe ordered their ferjeant to take into cuftody White^ the perfon who had arrefted him. The fiieriffs and White were fent to the Tower, the clerk of the Counter to a place, in the fame prifon, called Little eafe, and the officer, who arrefted Mr. Ferrers^ and four others, to New- gate, who were not fet at liberty, till the lord mayor petitioned for them ^. Was this conteft fuitabk to the dignity of the houfe of commons ? A battle between the gaolers of the Counter, and the repre- fentatives (fuch they ought to be) of the greatejl ^^O" pie in Europe I It is notorious, that from time immemorial, the houfe of commons has affumed to itfelf a power of trying, condemning, and punifliing, in cafes, where itfelf is the offended party, and often in a very arbi- trary manner, and without due regard to the {landing laws of the land. An affcmbly of reprefentatives cleded in an adequate manner, and holding their power a competent time, and upon the foundation of refponfibility to conftituents, would not have fallen into this error. The 2i6 POLITICAL Book IV. The Mirror of Justice fays, ' Parliaments * were ordered to hear and determine all com- * plaints of wrongful adts done by the king, queen, * or their children, and fome others, againft whom * common right cannot be had elfewhere »/ There- fore offending fubieds are to be tried at laWy and not by parliament. It is not by a power of apprehending and imprifoning, that the dignity of parliament is. to be kept up, any more than the credit of religion by fire and faggot. On the contrary, thefe violences neceffarily bring both into contempt, becaufe they fuppofe, that they are not fufficient for their own fup- port without thefe unnatural helps. Let your religion be rational, and your parliament incorrupt, and they will defy abufe. Who ever heard of the vene- rable court oi ylreopagusy or the more venerable one of the Amphi5isonSy lending cut their ferjeant at arms to apprehend the writers of pamphlets againft them ? It leems ft range, that a part of the hgijlature fhould fhcw fc little r^jpeB lor the laws^ as to fet up its own unknoiim and hafly refolutions as a better rule of con- dudt \i:.x judges, &c. than the known Jolemn ads of the whole parliament. Yet we often i^e them doing fo. Sir Francis Fembertotiy judge of the court of kings' bench, had ever-ruled a plea of an order of the hcufe of commons. A, D. 1689, for arrefting certain perfons, and defended his proceeding 5 for that it was accord- ing to /aw K Rcfolved, That the judgments given by Pemberton, Jones, &c. are illegal, and a violation of the rights of parliament, and that a bill be brought in to rcverfe thole judgments. Another cafe of the fame kind relating to a judgment of the court of king's bench on information againft Williams, fpeaker of the houfe a Dbb. Lords, i. 2<^6, b Deb. Com. 11. 339* Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 217 houfe of commons, for matters done by order of the houfc, was refolved illegal, and againfl: the freedom of parliament, and that a bill be brought in to reverie it^. Pemberton and Jones ^n^^q ex^imined a^ain, and put in cuftody of the lerjeant at arms ^. Judge Berkley was taken ofFof his bench in fVeftmififter-Hall, ^.D.1640, by the uflier of the black rod, to the great terror of his brethren c. In thofe days the houfe of commons was venerable^ as being known to adt according to the general lenfe of i\iQ people. Therefore the people did not grudge them any degree of power. In corrupt times, when the people fee their pretended reprefen- tatives afting conftantly in obedience to a defigning court i they wi(h their ^o^tx retrenched^ though the retrenching of the power of the houfe of commons is not the proper means for redrefling the evil 3 but cut- ting off the communication between it and the court ; of which more in the fequel. The following inftances (hew what power has beeri formerly allowed our parliaments, when the people had a confidence in them. A. D. 1680, Scroggs was impeached of treafon, Greit queftion was made, whether he could be accufed of treafon, or of high crimes and mifdemeaners only. It was argued, that parliament may punifli as treafon any crime tending to the deftrudion of the nation, though not declared to be treafon by 25 Edw. III. Trejilian and his accom- plices were condemned in parliament for crimes not before declared felony, by any promulgated law. Empfom and Dudley the fame. Finch and Berkley were condemned by parliament of treafon for the fame crimes as thoie charged on Scroggs, &cc. The judges Vol. I. F f in a Deb. Com. ii. 339, 341, b Ibid p. 345, cParl. Hist. ix. 94. 2i8 POLITICAL Book IV. in Richard l\.\ time were condemned for giving ex- trajudicial opinions. A knight of Chefiire was con- demned for confpiring the death of the king's uncle. An earl of Northumberland for giving liveries to fo many that they were xhought a little army. None of thefe were declared felony by any previous flatute ^. The commons, however, made a bad ufe of the people's confidence, and began to ufe their power in a tyrannical and oppreffive manner. Accordingly the judicious writer of a piece, entituled,T/6^ Su bje 51 s Right of Petitioning ^ (which was written on occaiion of the commons imprifioning the Kentijh petitioners, A. D. 3701) obfervcs, that great numbers of other fubjedts * had ht^vi imprifoned by them^the fame feffion, to the horror and amazement of all thofe, who knew the rights and liberties of the people of England-, and therefore could not but be concerned to fee them fo miferably infringed 5 and that it was ncccflary, in order to prevent fuch ads of power for the future, to (hew, that they were mere adts of power, and manifefl encroachments on the rights and liberties of the people. He (hews, that the common law was formerly fo tender of, the fubjed's liberty, that it fuf- fered none to be imprifoned, but for violence and breach of the peace. The lords brought in the cuftom of imprifoning 35 Hen, III. by the Stat. Marlbr. for obliging bailiffs, or coiledors of rents, to make up their accounts. Afterwards, 23 Edw. III. it was cnadled, that debtors fhould be compelled by imprif- onment to pay their debts. But if a debtor died in prifon, the debt was paid. And by i Edw. II. no one was to be punifhed for breaking prifon, * foraf- much a Deb. Com. i i. 59. b State Tracts, time of K. Williamt in. 265, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 219 much as one is warranted to do it by the law of nature/ fays the Mirror. By Magna Charfa, ' no free man (hall be taken, or imprifoned, but by judg- ment of his peers, or the law of the land ; which is explained by 25 Edw. III. to be a fecurity againfl imprifonment by petition or fuggeftion to the king or his council, or in any other way than due courfe of law [no mention of a vote of the Houfe of Commons,] It is certain, fays that writer, that men, imprifoned by the commons^ underwent no judgment of their feersy were not committed by any kga/ procefs, or by any law, that we know in this land a.' He infifts, that the commons have no right to imprifon any, but their own members, and that only when abiolutcly neceflary. The members kno\y this power of the ^ houfe, and voluntarily expofe themfelves to it, by ^ going into the houfe; which other fubjedls do not j . but claim the privilege given them by Magna Cbarta. He owns, likewife, that there may be fome pretence for imprifoning perfons not members, when guilty of breach of privilege, or contempt. [In which I think he makes too large a conceffion. J fee not the juftice, nor even the common decency of any fet of men whatever (I am of opinion the two houfes of parliament are but men) punifiiing any offence againfl themfelves. There is no poffibJe cafe, in which 2ijury may not decide.] Confinement by the commons alone^ he obferves, is an encroachment on the Icgiflature, which confifts of king, lords, and commons ^. The commons fending the fubjedls to prifon, even thobgh guilty, is afluming the office of the executive^ which belongs a State Tracts, time of king ^«7//5»;, iii. 267, b Ibid. 268. 220 POLITICAL Book IV. belongs to the king, the commons being of the legijl- lathe only. A power in the commons of imprifoning is a mockery, he thinks, of the people's liberty ; be- caufe a free people ought to be liable to no punifli- ment, but in confequence of fome known {landing law. Judges, andjuftices of the peace have a power of impriioning in confequence of their being impowered by the king to execute the laws, which the commons are not. The commons have no need of a power to puni(h, bccaufe they may apply to the executive whenever a known law is violated, [Even the fovC" raine cannot punilh an offence againft himfelf. The offender is tried, and condemned by indifferent per- fons, 'viz. judges and juries.] The houle of com- mons has no powec to decide concerning />r(9^^r(y j how then, he fays, can it take away perfonal liberty^ which is more valuable ? He fays, the power of im- prifoning was but juft then affumed by the commons,, and could not plead cuftom, or prefcription. Too great a power in •the houfc of commons, he fays, may produce great mifchief many ways; particularly by difgurting the people againft parliamentary govern- ment, and driving them to fuch a proceeding as that cf the DaneSi who, to be free from the tyranny of their lords, made themfelves flaves to their king. When there is reafon, he fays, to fufpcft a great pre- valency of bribery and corruption in the houfe cf commons, it is time for the people to fee to the re- trenching oi iht\r power; [the cutting cfF of court influence^ he fhould have faid] for that a corrupt houfe of commons may be expeded to make them- felves formidable to the people, in order to be of con- fequence to the court, and todeierve the more liberal fay\ No a State Tracts, time of king ^i/Iiam, ill* 270* Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 221 No fet of men empowered only to make laws^ can, without an exprefs commiffion from the people, alter the conllitution, becaufe it is only upon the principles of the conliifutionj that they had their power entrufted to them 5 and the principles of the conftitution will never bear them out in overthrowing the conftitution^ The people^ whofe original and inherent power efta- blifhed the conftitution, may change the conftitution, or empower a fet of men to change it. Writers on the fide of this aflumed boundlefs par- liamentary privilege, by accuftoming themfelves to think of the houfe of commons as the reprefentative of the people, fall into the miftake, that whatever is right for the one is right for the other likewife, and that whatever the p^dfle\ power reaches to, is like- wife within the reach of the aflembly of reprefenta^ fives. And this is, generally fpeaking, true. But there is a diftindion to be made. The people have certain incommunicable powers, which their reprefen- tatives can upon no occafion challenge to themfelves. The people alone can eleSl repreientatives. The whole body of reprefentatives have not in themfelves the power to take into^ to exclude y or to expel from their houfe one fingle member, otherwife than ac- cording to notorious and ftated laws made by the whole legiflative power, and aflented to by the people^ This may be explained by comparing it with the king's power of commitTioningembaffadors for foreign courts ; which power is incommunicahly inherent in him, in fuch manner, that all the embafladors em- ployed by the king cannot by any power of their own lend an embaflador to, or difmifs, or expel one from the moft inconfiderable court. Yet every embaflador, when furniftied with his credentials, has the power of 222. POLITICAL Book IV. of reprefenting the king his mafters's perfon at the court to which he is lent, in all thofc matters and things which enter into the fundlion of an embaffador. Again, the people alone have the power of determin- ing for how long a period they will continue their re- prefentatives in office. The aflembly of reprefenta- tives have not power to continue their own authority one day beyond the time, for which they were elected. If they have, they may, at any time, ere6t themfelves mio peers, and infift on keeping their feats for life. Again, an aflembly of reprefentatives have no power to aflame to themfelves any unprecedented privilege ; but the people have power to confer on their reprefen- tatives what privileges they pleafe, to limit them as they pleafe, and even to new-dfedel the whole go- vernment; In the cafe of a court of diredors, eftabliflied by a trading company, it is univerfally underfliood, that the direftors, when once eftabliflied by. the proprietors, have power to do whatever the proprietors could do for the common advantage of the company, this power being ftill left to the explication and limitation of the proprietors. But, when a direftor dies, orrefigns, the court of directors cannot put another in his place. This is the incommunicable privilege of the proprie- tors. Nor can the directors lengthen, beyond the in- tention of their ^c?^/V2/^;z/5, the time for which they were appointed. Nor can they sflume to themfelves any one power ov privilege, different from thofe given them by the proprietors. Nor can they refufe a duly elected director, nor take in one of their own chufing, nor ^a:/^/ one chofen by the proprietors, otherwife than according to the laws of the company, and the powers orginally repofed in them. Nor can they alter any thing fundamental in the conftitution of the com- pany i Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS, 223 pany j but the proprietors can 5 fo far as to the total diffolution of the incorporate body. Therefore, when Mr. Prynne was threatened by Sir H. Fane and Sir ji. Hafelrig^ to be voted out of the houfe of com- mons, A. D. 1659, he anfwered, « He knew of no one in the houfe who had a right to vote him out, being equally entrujled with themfelves for the whole nation, and thofe he reprefented \' As to the pov/er affumed by the houfe, of fending for perfons, papers, and records, and of reprimanding fining, imprifoning offenders, it has long been que- ftioned, and never rightly eftablifhed. Burnet writes of it as follows ; * The commons could not receive an information upon oath^ nor proceed againft thofe Vfho refufed^. Their right of imprifoning any be- fides their own members, was inquired into, and it was found to be built on no law, nor pra5lice^ older than queen Elizabeth. Several people therefore, when fent for in cuftody of the ferjeant at arms, refufed to attend c/ When the commons, in the third parliament under Ch. II. imprifoned, too arbitrarily, many of theabhor- rers, or court party, the clamour turned againft them, and one St ow el ^ooiio'i the defenfive againft the fer- jeant, when he came to apprehend him, faying, The commons had no law for imprifoning. He got the bet- ter. And the commons, to fave their authority, drop-- ped the matter, and granted Stowel a month to recover frcm an indifpofition, which he had not d. It is manifeftly an irregularity for the houfd of com- mons, which is only d,thirdp^i:t of the legiUature, to take to a Parl. Hist. xxi. 395. b Burnetts Hist, own Times, ii. 121. C Ibid. d Hume' i Hist, Stuarts, ii. 310. 224 POLITICAL Book IV. to itCclf fing/y the executive power. * The houfe of commonshas no more power to admmifter an oath than to cut off a head, ' fays Charles I ^ The power of the houfe ( as being no court oi judicature ( to examine wit- neffes, was queftioned by the lords, A, D, 1732, Though the commons had always claimed that power, yet it was a point ftill in difpute between the two houfes. It was argued, that the commons had dele- gated that power to their committees. That mem- bers, who were juftices of the peace, could adminifter the oath to the witnefles, for which their was pre- cedent. That that houfe was a court of record, and as fuch they certainly had a power to adminifter an oath, in any affair that came properly before them. But being unwilling to have any difpute with the lords, the debate was dropped b. There is no flatute lawy by which a conjlitutional power is given to the houfe of commons to order a paper to be burnt, and the fheriffs to attend and fee it done. That they have ajfumed this power from time immemorial, is un- doubted <^. It was refolved by the commons, A. D, 1689, f that tailing by the court of kings benchy perfons committed by this houfe, is a crime, for which the advifers may juftly be excepted out of the indemnifica- tion ^.' The king's bench goes on, however, the fame year, bailing by Habeas Corpus^ perfons obnoxious to the commons. The commons order the governor of the Tower to bring before them in cuftody of their ferjeant at arms, Sir Thomas Jenner and others, tho' bailed a Parl. Hist. xii. 66. b Deb. Com, vii. 242. c Ibid. 247. d Ibid. 11. 321, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 225 balled before the warrant could reach them. N<5t giving latisfad^lion, on their examination before the houfcj a committee is appointed to prepare a charge againil: them. The governor of the Tov^^cr is ordered to bring before the commons feveral lord^,' and others^. The commons prepare impeachments againtt them. They order feveral others into cuftody a. At the fame time thatthe commons confulted lafety, they puniflied cruelty. They ordered Richard/on, keeper of NtW* gate, to be profecuted for cruehy to his prifoners^. In the affair of the printers in 1770, it v^as argued in the houfe of commons, that the povver of iummon- ing perfons before them, and punilbing for reUifal, is necejfaryiov prefervang the purity of elections 5 becaufe, if every returning ofBcer may proceed as he pleales, and laugh at the houfe of commons, there muli be an end of all due elecflion and return. But we know that tnany matters relating to eledlions are now allowed to be cognizable in the courts of law. Why (hould not all? Why (hould the houfe of commons concern themfclves with any thing, but their great obj.cls\ viz* legiflatiorj, raifmg fupplies, and enquiring into the condudt of w/w//?^rj ? One thing we all kiiow, relating to this affair, viz. That if the comm, ns Would go on with their own bufinefs, and leave the dccifion of elcdlicns, and breaches d chcir own privileges, to the inferior courts^ ma^na-nimoufly de- clining to be judges in their own caufe, and having nothing to do with any man, till he comes to take his feat, and has fatisfied the houfe, that either his eledion was never qucftioned, or it qurftiontd, was legally decided, as any other difference b-tween niaa Vol. I. G g and a Deb. Com, XI. 356, b Ibicl. 3)7» 226 POLITICAL Book IV* and man ; it is, I fay, notorious, that if this was the lexet confuetudo parliamentiy there would be no opportu- nity for the refledions now fo commonly caft upon our houfe of commons, as deciding eledlions too much in favour of the <:6?«r/-candidate, and as taking upon themielves the inconfijlent offices of plamtifs Judges, and juries* Judge Elackjione, in his account of the unknown and unlimited power and privileges of parliament S feems to forget, that the fafety of the people limits all free governments. It is true that the people of Eng" land, not being accuftomed, till lately, to apprehend danger from any quarter, but the throne (tyranny hav- ing been an old trick among kings from iV/>«r^/s time down) have all along encouraged and fupported their parliaments in extending their power, as the only fure bulwark againft regal encroachments. But latter ages have taught us the neceffity of looking out for fecurity zg2iin{i parliamentary encroachments. And, the me- thod is not by leffening the power of parliament, but by Icffening the power of the ccurt over the parliament* For a parliament is not (as a king)naturttlly hoftile to liberty. If ever a parliament comes tooppofe, or in- jure the people, it muft be in confequence of an unna-^ tural influence adting in it. Therefore our modern male-contents feem to be in a wrong purfuit. To re- trench thepower of their reprefentatives, would beleffen- ing their own power. To break through the corrupt in-* fluence of the court over their reprefentatives, would be making them truly their reprefentatives. Take away court-influence, and the 558 will of courfe purfuc the intereft of their country, as any other fet of gentle- men a Com. i 161, et /eq. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 227 men would do, becaufe their own will be involved in it, when they have no places or penfions to indemnify them. At the fame time it cannot be denied, that for a houfe of commons, though ever fo incorrupt and uninfluenced by the court, to be ever grafpingat new privileges, andaflTuming new powers, defcending from the dignity of reprefentatives of the majefty of the people of Britairiy taking upon themfelves the office of the juftices, profecuting, imprifoning, and fining, a fet of printers and bookfellers, depriving the fubjedts of his trial by jury, and employing their time in hunt- ing out fmall offenders, while they (hould be battling the gigantic enemies of liberty and virtue, and plan- ning meafures for making unborn millions happy ; it cannot be denied, I fay, that fuch proceedings as thefe are infinitely beneath the attention of a houfe of commons, though it fliould be granted, that the power of the houfe of commons, being the power ofthQpeo- pky ought not to be limited. All thing are lawful iot them ; but all things are not expedient. The truth of the Aiatter is, That if our houfes of commons had kept to their proper fphere, we fliould never have feen any libels againft them, nor any occafion for profecut^ ing, imprifoning, and fining ; or if there had, the courts of king's bench and common pleas were open. The following paffages from the Magazines Chew how thefe affumptions of the houfe of commons ap- pear to the people. * It is not more known, than lamented, what an authority the houfe of commons has claimed over the liberty of the fubje^^ri, without which every punifhment is irregular 5-— there is no doubt, I fay, that all fuch proceedings as thefe are inconfiftent, not only with juftice and liberty, but with civilization and folice^ and are the very evils complained of under tyrannical governments, and a- mong/avages, not yet regulated by government. * The legiflative authority which has power to abrogate all laws now in being, cannot be tyed to any rules of human prefcription, but there are eternal rules of equity and juftice, right reafon, and con- fcience, and thefe are unalterable, and never to be fwerved from.' Words of Sir Godfrey Copley^ con- cerning the houfe of commons trying Sir John Fen*^ wick for treafon in an unprecedented way. Lord Ghap.IV. DISQUISITI ONS. 231 Lord Coke % and many other writers, make a great matrer of the houfes of parliament being theyi/e? judges of whatever concerns their e^'ze;;^ houfes refpedively, becaufe they are the fupreme court, and no other court can intermeddle with their affairs. And it is, by the fame able writer, and others, taken for granted, that every court is to be Jole judge of its own privileges, and of offences committed againft itlelf. There is no doubt concerning the fupremacy of parliament, and that therefore no inferior court can, of its own authority, claim the decifion of diffe- rences between the houfes, or between one houfe and a fuppofed offender, or offenders againft that houfe. But there is certainly a power in either houfe, to refer to the decifion of others any matter, wherein the houfe is itfelf a party. And it will then become lawful for thofe, to whom the reference is made, to decide, it does not appear to me, that there is any thing humiliating in fubmitting to the decifion, or arbitra- tion, of a let of men, whether in or out of parliament,, or that it neceflarily implies acknowledging a fuperi^ ority in thofe men. In a difpute between the king and a merchant, neither one nor the other thinks himfelf degraded by having the caufe tried by the court of King's Bench, and the point determined by a jury. The caufe muft be tried in that court firft, and cannot come before the lords, but by appeal. And even, when it is finally determined by the lords, is the fove- reign ^i?^r^^^^ by fubmitting to the decifion of his inferiors ?. The lords are as much his inferiors after, as before. What could be nobler, than to fee a man of ft Inst. ?, 15, S3i POLITICAL Book IV, of high rank and larj?e fortune decline to pronounce in a difputc between himfelf and one of his domeftics^ and leaving the matter to arbitration of his other domeftics ? Suppofing the boufe of commons eleded in an ade- quate manner, that is, every member by about 400 men of property, I fay that in fubmitting to their arbitration, a member would fubmit to his undoubted Juperiorsxn every refpedl. If every member fubmits, the hcufe fubmttsto their conjUtuents, And furely it could be no degradation for them to fubmit a point of hdnocr or ceremony, a matter of no national confe-^ quence, to their political creators^ from whom they derive their very exijience as a hcufe. Suppofing it granted, that there is a difficulty either way, viz* Whether parliament takes into its own hands the punifhment of offences againft itfelf, or leaves it to arbitration by others^ will any man pre- tend, that the difficulties are equal on both fides ? Nay, v/i!l not any man acknowledge that in declining to be judges in their own caufe, there is magnani^ mitys as on the contrary (in all private difputes at lean) th«^re is much Jelfiflmefs and arrogance in claim^ ing to decide cur own quarrels. It is ufually faid, there are cujioms of parliament and other courts, which themfehes only underftand. Are then the cuftoms of parliament and other courts only to be explained by algebra, fluxions, or the higher geometry ? Or are thty matters of plain common fenfe ? if they be not, the moii innocent and uprightly-inten- tioned fubjedl may fall into the great and dangerous guilt of offending againft thofe inexplicable cuftbms ar/d privileges, and may find himfelf fuddenly in the fame condition with the unfortunate failor dafhed on unfeen breakers in an open fea, fwallowed up and loft. A. D. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 233 A. jD. 1704, the lords, in their judicial capacity, determined, that a perfon's right to vote for a member might be tried at law, and that the commons have nothing to do with that point, and that, bv their vote to the contrary, they had ilruck at the liberties of the people, the law of England, and the iudicial power of the houfe of lords^. This w^as taking the protection of corrupt returning officers out of the hands of the houfe of commons. Even lord Coke, who magnifies the power of parliament as much as any writer whatever, obferves, that parliaments may do wrong, of which he gives feveral iniiances. He quotes one * mifchievous a6t with a flattering pre- amble t>/ by pretext of which, Empfon and Dudley committed innumerable oppreffions upon the iubjeds, and the adt was accordingly repealed the fi' (t parlia- ment after the death of Hen, VII. in whole time it was made. * A good caveat, fays he, to parliament, to leave all caufes to be meafured by the golden and flraight metwand of the law, ^^pd not by the uncer- tain and crooked cord of dlfcretion/ The popifh party blamed parliament for taking into cuftody fome of the abhorreis. They laid it was a matter which had no relation to privilege of parli- ament, fignifying, that if it had, there had been no harm*^. We now qucflion the dodrine of 2i power in the commons of impnfoning for any thing, but whdiijiips proceedings of the houfe, and is done in the houfe, inltances were brought by Sir IVilnam Joiies, of commitments of perfons not members for taults not breathes oi privilege, 2s for txcrclCmg patents ccn^ Vol. I. H h dcmned a Burnet's Hist, own Timks, hi. 39. b Inst. v. 39. c Deb. Lords, i. 276. 234 POLITICAL Book IV. demned by the commons, and for faults in preaching and catecfdifing, * There would be no end, fays he, of giving inftances of fuch commitments which may be cbferved in almoft every parliament/ This how- ever was all wrong, as fuperfeding law ^, Parlia- ments were liftened to, and thanked for deteding, wicked favourites by 'Edw. I. Hen. II. IV. V. and Elizabeth. The contrary by Hen. III. and Vi. and Edw. II, and Rich, XL This was the proper bufmefs of parliament, the other of the courts of law. . The power of the houfe of commons to fend even their own members (much more other fubjeds) to prifon without tryal by jury, is to the la(l degree dangerous. For a houfe of commons may become, through court-influence, fo generally corrupt, that they may fee it proper to fend every honeft member to the tovvxr, the moment he opens his mouth againft their traiterous meafures, and in favour of his coun- try. This could not be, if every perfon, whether member or not,cfFending,or fuppofed to offend, againft the orders of the houie, were to be tried, before he could be committed, by a jury of thofe, who are in every refped equal to the members, I mean ihtpeopky the conjlitue7its of the members. There is an ad i Jam. I. cap. i6. entitled, * An ad for new execution againft any who (hall be here- after delivered out of prifon, by privilege of parha- ment, and for difchargc of them, out of whofe cuf- tody luch pfifoners {hail be delivered ^' This fhews, that privilege was not originally intended tor oppreffion of the lubjed. But ]\\agc Hales coUeds many inftances of privilege allowed to members and the a Deb. Lo-rds, i, 277, b Hakguu, Mod. Tenekb. Parl. 65. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 235 the fervants of members upon very frivolous pretences, and to the great lofs of their juft creditors^. By 4 Edw. Ill.b it was enadsd, that * though the lords and peers of the reahn m prefence of the king had taken upon them to give judgment in cafes of trea- fon and felony of luch as were no peers of the realm, hereafter no peer (hall be driven to give judgment on any other than their peers according to law ^' Why did not the commons come to the fame refo- lution ? See ^ many inftances of punishments inflided upon perfons not member?, for pretended breach of privilege, which would have come much more decent- ly from the court of King's Bench, even though juftly inflidted, which was not always the cale. Judge Hales fays, both lords and commons inde- pendendy have power of judicature^. Yet he fays an ordinance, or refolution of one houfe, ^ bindeth not in fucceffion ^,' unicfs it afcervi^ards receive the fandion of 'the other branch, or branches of the legiflature. A. D. 1584, Dr. Parry, for fpeaking freely in the houfe againll a bill, was comaiitted to the ferjeant, brought to the bar, and obliged on his knees to con- fefs his fault, and aik pardon, &c. § But by 4 He/2: VIII. cap. 8. it is enadled, * That all fuits, fines, pu- nifliments, corrections^ &c. to be put or had upon any member, for fpeaking, reafoning, or declaring of any matters concerning parliament to be com- menced, or treated of, be utterly void, and of none efFcd.' This ad is declaratory of the antient law and cuftom of parliament ^. — — . 1 : — ? a Hale's Fow, of Parl. 164, b Rot. Parl. No. 6. c Ha/e's Pow. OF Parl. 26. d Ibid. 173. e Ibid. 2<;» f Ibid. 26, 31, g Hake'-oeU Mod. Tenend. Parl. 75. h Hak'% Pow. OF Paul. 8. 236 POLITICAL . Book IV. C H A P. V. Parliamentary Prhikges and Proftcntions have been too generally Jrivolous and unjuji. f I ^O prove that parliamentary privileges and p/o- I fecutions are grievances, J will add here a -*" fev^, out of a great many inftances I had col - leered in the courfe of my reading, of parliamentary "^ profecutions, very much unworthy the -dignity of parliament, which will fhew, that it is not eafy for men going out of their proper fphere to a6t fuitably, nor t J exclude pajjion and prejudice from iheir decifions in their own caufe. In fadt, the liberty and property of free-born Eng-^ lifhmen are things of too facred a nature to lie open to invalion, from the fudden refolutions of any fet of n^en whatever. And yet greater depredations have not been committed, than thofe which the liberty and property of Rnzltfhmen have fuffered, at the hands of kiij^s and minifter?, who have been artful enough to prevail with parliaments (naturally friendly to li- bt rty) 10 become the inftruments of their tyranny. Some members of parliament, in the time of Philip and Mary, A. D. 1555* made a feceflion. Some were indided and fined , others traverfed; but the point was not decided, when the queen died. Mr. Taylor, barrilier at law, a member, was brought on his knees in the houfe, A, D. 1631, for faying, that the parliament had committed murder with the fword of juftice, in* the cafe of Strafford, He was ex^ pelled the houfe, and voted incapable of ever fitting more. He was committed to the Tower during plea- fur e Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 237 fure of the houfe; and afterwards carried to Wind/or to make his recantation ^. In the time of Jam, I. the year not mentioned, a member, for feeming to refledt on another member, as puritanical and fadtious, was called to the bar, and on his knees difcharged the fervice of the houfe, wi'ih an intimation, that his fentence was very merciful, becaufe they might hive imprifoned him befides b. The commons, afraid of Lilburns party and the levellers, made them clofe prifoners in the Tower; but this fevere order was countermanded afterwards c. His printed papers were ordered to be burnt by the hangman ; the fherifFto proted: him: the gentleman ufher of the houfe to learch for papers of the fame kind, and bring them before the houfe ^. * There have been no cafes harder than thofe, in which king, lords, and commons have concurred ; as that oi Croj?2zvelyQ2ix\ oi Effex, who was attainted, and not fufFered to come from the Tower to be heard ^Z Hi7i, Marteriy efq. was difabled. A, D. 1643, and committed to thp Tower by the houfe of commons, for refleding on the king and royal family, but after- wards reflored, and the fentence erafed from the Jour- nals. Several were difabled for having been in tha kings's quarters f. One fufpended for writing a book againft the Trinity, Recants, and is reftored ; but afterwards difabled for the fame offence g. Coningjby expelled for being a monopolift^. Commons ex elude a Hake^'oeU Mod. Ten end. Parl. 8o. b Ibid. 79, c Parl Hist. XIX. 121. d ibid, xv. 25. e DtB. Com. i i. 405. f Parl. Hist. ix. 15, et feq, % Ibid. 27. h Ibid. 28. 238 POLITICAL Book IV. elude all thofe members who voted for treating with the king; it is plain they thought they had power of exclufion and incapacitation. However, the people feetiied pleafed, for there came multitudes of addrefles from all quarters approving of their proceedings ». Cranfieid was fined <;oo /. each to four members whom he had flandered ^. Lord Saville was committed to the Tower, for re- fufing to name the perfon who had written a letter to him, v/hich parliament had thought treacherous c, * An order, A» D. 1647, for feveral members of the hcufe to take fome of the deputies of the ferjeant at arms, and to break open doors, and feize trunks and papers of one captain Vernoriy was much oppofed by fome members, as altogether illegal ^.' Dodtor Cary was brought to the bar of the houfe ci peers ^ A. jD. 1677, and examined concerning a MS. carried by him to the prefs, on the illegality cf the prorogation 5 becaufe he would not anfwer certain interrogatories, he was fined 1000/. and kept in prifon till he paid the money e. Aaron Smith be- ing accufed of feditious words to the fame purpofe, and abfconding, the houfe addrcffed for a proclama- tion to apprehend him, which the king granted ac- cordingly f. Even the punifhments infliftcd by the houfe of peers^ though undoubtedly a courts will not be fub- mitted to without difcontent, when ordered in this arbitrary manner. Sir a Pari. Hist, xviii. 548, b Ibid. XIV. 22. c Ibid, xiii. 509. d TVhitelocke's Mem. 277. e Deb. Lords, i 196. f Ibid. Chap. V; DISQUISITIONS. 239 Sir J. Maynard, A. D. 1647, treats the houfe of lords with contempt. Is fined 5000/. and fent to the Tovvera, Wanted to be tried by 2ijury, Nor will the fubjeds, while a fpark of liberty remains, be re- conciled to any other form of trial. The commons took too much upon them, A. D. 1681, when they paffed the vote, that the laws againft recufants ought to be only put in execution againft papift, and not againft proteftant diffenters. Their defign was right, fo far as they meant to favour prote- ftant diffenters ; but v\o Jingle branch of the legiilature has power to difpenfe with laws made by the united authority of all the three. They are to be regularly repealed by the fame authority which made them^ When the bill to prevent double returns paffed, A> Z). 1695, f^^^^ lords protefted, becaufe the com- mons took too much upon them, when they pretended to fettle the courfe of eledions and returns by their vote, excluding the other houfe, which was making themfelves, contrary to the conftitution and fenfe of the public in all ages, a court of judicature c. 'john Biddie^ a fchool-mafter, v/as examined, A* D» 1654, for an Arian book. The book was burnt by the hands of the hangman. He was committed to the Gate-houfe, without pen, ink, or paper. Seems to have been a man of no depth. He was confined afterwards in Newgate, and then banift^ed to the ifie of Sd/ly d. Parliament, A. D. 1650, takes up the office of criminal judges, and fentences feveral perfons to the pillory for forgery «. A. D. a Parl. Hist, xvi. 517. h Burnetii hi \ ST . own Times, ii. 135. c DtfB. Lords, i. 459 d Parl. Hist, xx. 398. e Ibid, ix. 255, 240 POLITICAL Book iV, A. D. 1 680, one Zherridan, in cuftody of the ferjeant at arms by order of the houfe, had moved for his habeas corpus, Refufed by judge Raymond, becaufe committed by order of the houfe, though moved in hchdXi Li Raymond. ^\v William Jones is againft bail- ing in cafe of commitm: nt by the commons. Says the houfe of commons is a court of itfelf, and part of the higheft court in the nation, fuperior to thofe in Well viinjier hall, and the laws made in it, are to bind the inferior courts, but cannot be underftood to bind them- felves. That it is dangerous to hinder the power of parliament (in thofe days the houfe cf commons was the people). A commitment by the houfe is a judg- ment, and was never allowed to be bailable. If per*- fons committed by the houfe on any account may be bailed, they may be bailed even though committed for breach of privilege, and then the houfe is difarmed of its neceflary power. Thinks it improper to make any refolution, or give any anfwer to the motion in behalf of Raymond; but to leave the judges at their peril to bail perfons committed by the houle ^' ' The higheft court is to govern according to the laws, as well as theloweftb.' The words of the duke of Buckiftgham, 1 66;', 2oC^r.lI.fpeaking of the houfe of peers, directed to the commons in a conference on the affair of Skinner, He goes on, * 1 fuppofe none *will make a quedion, but that every man and every *caufe is to be tried by Magna Charfa, i. e. by his *peers, or according to the law of the land.' As if he had meant, that parliamentary trials SiVtnot accord- ing to Magna Chart a and the law of the land. ' The good old rules of the law are the beft fecu- ritv ; and let not men have lb much caufe to fear, ^ that aDEB.CoM. II. 60. bibid. i. 124, Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 24.1 that the fettlements they make of their eftates fhall be too eafily unfettled, when they are dead, by the power of parHament »/ * Our judges and minifters of juftice, neither caa nor ought, in reverence to the votes of either or both houfes, to break the oath they have taken, for the due and impartial execution of our laws, which by experience have been found to be the beft fupport both of the proteftant intereft and of the peace of the kingdom/ Charles lid's words in his proclamation, A*D. 1681, and apology for diffolving his parliament^ premifles very juft, though ill applied b. In the cafe of lord Banbury, the chief juftice Hok difregardeed a vote of the houfe oi peers 5 and in that of jljhby and White, the courts of law took no notice of a vote of the houfe of commons c. The Lord chief juftice Holt was * very learned in the law, and had on great occaiions ihewed an in- trepid zeal in after ting its authority.' Foi^ he ven- tured on the indignation of both houfes of parliament by turns, when he thought the law was with him ^. Imprifonment by mere order oi council sn^l^^ in the time of Charles I. found to be illegal^ and contrary to Magna Charta, and is likewife inconfiftent with fix ftatutes in favour of liberty made fince «. By the fame rule, imprifonment as a punipment^ infiidted by any order whatever, without \x\2\perpares^ is illegal. This was the very tyranny of the ftar^chamber and high commiflion-courts. Vol. I. I i There a C/^ar/^j lid's Ipeech, 1662. Deb. Com. i. 56. b Deb. Lords. 262. c Jim, Deb, Com. viii. 150. d Tind, Con TIN. I. 156. ^ e Humt'% Hist, Stuarts, i, 151, 242 POLITICAL BooklVo There was an order for a reward of 50 /. Gfc. A. Di 1677, for apprehending Andrew M/^rw/ for piiblifh- ing againfl: the government ^. Shafte/buryy after many months confinement in the Tower, had recourfe to the court of king's bench. Obtains no redrefs. Obliged to a(k pardon of the houfe in terms dictated for him. Releafed after 1 3 months confinemement ^, Several people were taken into cuftody for fpeaking difrefpedfuUy of the houfe, A. D. 1697 c. Charles Cafar, Efq; was committed to the Tower, for faying, * the queen did nothing without a certaia lord, who in the late reign was known to keep a conftant correfpondence with the court of St. Ger-* mains ^, Articles againfl: Sir 'Edward Dertngy A, D. 1642^ were, That he had encouraged a petition derogatory from the authority%f parliament -, in which petition it wasrequefted, that no member fhould be expelled with- out fhewing^^///?; that the fubjeds (hould not be bound by any order of either \iou{t Jingly, particularly that no order concerning the militia from the commonsonly Ihould be binding. All this they declared wicked and feditious ; and his having faid, the delivery of the peti- tion (hould be by 40,000 people, and his ufing means to raife an infurredion for that purpofe ^. Declared a breach of privilege of parliament. He flies from j uftice. Summoned to anfwer before the parliament. Some of the men oi Keiit ccme to the parliament with their pe- tition, though before burnt by the hangman. Some of them were committed, the refl difmifled f. Candles a Deb. Lords, i. 202 b Ibid. c Deb. Com. hi. 72. d 7/W. CONTIN. I. 729, « Parl. Hut. x. 454V f Ibid. 472. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 243 Candles called for, A. JD. 1641, oppofed by the majority. The ferjeant by miftake brings them in. Widdrington and Herbert ^ members, take them away without orders of the houfe: great difturbance enfues. They are called to the bar. Are ordered to kneel. They refufe j and are fent to the Tower a. It was debated, A. D. 1696, whether the mace ihould lie on the table, as ufual, while Sir j^. Fenwkk was under examination before the commons, and whether the flieriffs of Londm could have him in cuftody before the houfe. It was determined, that the mace fliould be held by the ferjeant at arms at the bar by Sir John, He got his trial put oiF on falfe pretences^ for which the commons meant to have him attainted', convifled, and executed, as a traitor for eluding juf- tice J upon the fame principle as people are outlawed, who fly from trial, or bankrupts are made felons, v^ho do nbt appear to be examined, or culprits are preffed to death, who will not plead either guilty, or not guilty. ^ A bill of attainder, a men^ber faid on that occalion, is an extraordinary thing, and never ufed, but upon extraordinary occafions— Parliament may declare that to be a crime, which was deemed no crime before it was committed, and furely they may determine what they will admit as evidence of a crime.* Another faid, ^ It is lodged with the legiflature to judge of thofe crimes, which are (hel- tered from the law ; and he thought never any attain- der was brought in upon a jufler occafion than this b/ It was alledged, that attainders are fufpicious ways of proceeding, and dangerous in corrupt times. They who fpoke for the bill, reprefented the parliament a.s poffefled of a dictatorial power to take care, ne quid detrimenti a Pari.. Hist. ix. 372. b Deb. Com. xii* 33* 244 POLITICAL Book IV. detrimcnti capiat refpublica^ and to convi6l dangerous men upon luch evidence, as to them might feem fa- tisfadory, though not the formal evidence, required by law, and which inferior courts are obliged to fol- low, if all this be true, there is, furely,. the utmoft iieceffity for an incorrupt, for an unfufpeBed parlia- ment. Attainders, it v/as faid by others, were only to be had recourfe to, againft thofe, who were not forth-coming: but Sir John was in thehoufe. The whole was a party-affair between the whigs and the tories, and the former were defirous of mortifying the> latter. Several lords protefted againft his attainder, becaufe bills of attainder againft perfons in prifon, and who are therefore to be tried by law, are of dan- gerous confequence to the fubjeds and conftitution j becaufe the evidence of grand jury-men and petty jury-men, not given before the peers, was admitted, though they difagreed in their teft ; becaufe informa- tion in writing was received, which prevents the wit- nefs being crofs examined ; becaufe Fenwick was caft by one witnefs only, and him a doubtful one; and becaufe Fenwick was not confiderable enough to be proceeded againft in fo extraordinary and irregular a manner, juilifiable only in cafes of great danger. Fenwicky however, was beheaded on Tower-hill, denying to the laft, all concern in the affaffination plot, though he owned himfelf a Jacobite a, Manley^ a member of the cmmons, was fentto the Tower, A. D. 1696, for faying, ' It is not the firft time there has been reafon to repent mens making their court to the government at the .hazard of the people's liberties t>/ Buckley^ a De3, Lords, 1*465. b Deb.Com. iii. 32. Chap.V. DISQUISITIONS. 24^ Buckley^ printer, ordered into cuftody of the fer- jeant for printing Memorial of the States- general, re- fleding on the proceedings of the houfe, 1712^. * Refolved, That the great liberty of the prefs is very prejudicial, &c. That all printing preffes be re- giftercd with the nannes and places of refidence of the owners, and that the authors, printers, and publifhers names be put to every publication/ This, however, did not pafs into a lav^r ; but inftead of it, a hcav5r duty on news-papers and pamphlets, was afterwards propof^ ^. Complaint made to the houfe. A* D. 17 12, q^a preface to fome fermons of Dr. Hoadley, biChop of St. Afaph c. Ordered to be burnt by the hangmaa^. The worft thing in the preface is, the good bifliop's expreffing his apprehenfions, and thofe of all the wife and good of thofe times, concerning the danger ia which the nation was involved from ajacobite miniftry. When the tory parliament of A. D. 1701, impri- foned the Kentijh petitioners, many * thought it to be the greateft outrage upon the people's liberties, alledging, it was their undoubted right to petition -, that it were better to be under the oppreffion of one, than of many. What avails (faid they) the Habeas Corpus adt. It looked (they faid) as if the nation was betrayed, and Englijhmen bought and fold ^.' Certain letters of Mr. Chiversy a member, were complained of, A. D. 1699, i" ^^e houfe of com- mons, as refleding on, and mifreprefenting feveral members. The houfe was io irritated, that it was carried 119 to 83, that he attend the houfe, (though indifpofcd) and not obeying, it was moved, that he be a Deb. Com. iv. 297. b Ibid. 298. c Ibid. 319. d Ibid. 322. 9 See a larger account of this affair in the feqael. 246 POLITICAL Book IV; be brought by the ferjeant at arms. This, however, was over*ruled. But they relolved, That publifhing the names of members, refleding upon them, and mifreprefenting their proceedings in parliament, is a breach of privilege, and deftruftive of the freedam of parliament a. Here follow feveral inftances of punifhments and cenfures inflided by the commons on irregular pro- ceedings in eledions. Dr. Harris^ for preaching a- bout eledions, was called before the houfe of com- mons, and on his knees ordered to confefs hi^ fault, and in the quarter-feflions, and, in his own pulpit be- fore fermon. Ingrey, under- fheriff of Cambridge , for refufmg the poll, was committed to the ferjeant at arms, and was ordered to confefs his fault there, and at the quarter-feffions. The mayor of Arundel for putting the town to great charges, not giving due and general warning, and for packing eledions, was fent for by warrant, and ordered to pay the charges. Sir William Wrey^ and others, deputy lieu- tenants of CorjiwaU for afluming to themfelves a povvxr to make whom they pleafed members, and defaming certain candidates 3 lending for train bands to be at the eledion, and menacing the court, under pretence of the king's pleafure, were committed to the Tower, to acknowledge their offence at the bar, and at the aflize in Cornwal b. Yet feizing and fearch- ing the papers of members of parliament was refoiv- cd to be breach of privilege, A. D. 1641 ^ Mr. (afterwards Sir Richard) Steele, was expelled the houfe, A.D, 1713, for refledlions onthejacobite miniftry a Deb. Com. hi. 104. b Ibid, iii. 317, 318. e Macaul, HiST.Eiici.. iii. 19. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 247 miniftry in his Englijhman and Cri/is^. All the wifeft and beft men in the houfe defended Steele. But he was expelled, becaufe he had infinuated (what no body then alive doubted) that the proteftant fuc- ceffion was in danger from the miniftry. This pro- fecution, however, hurt the minifters greatly, and occafioned a great deal of fearching b. But minifters have great power in bringing vengeance on their ene- mies. And parliaments have been too bufy in hu- mouring the views of minifters. Mazarine boafted (fays cardinal ^/ Pbb» Lords, vj. 16. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 249 printing was difcovered. Lord Talbot anfwered, that then the right way was. That any lord who thought hitilfeif injured, (liould profecuie Whiteheady before a court of juflice, * Let not, fays he, fuch a charge lie againft us, that we "wtvt judges^ 7^0^* and parties. in the fame caufe ^.* Dodiley was, however, taken into culiody of black rod. A paper entitled, Confittutional ^Aeries , was fent, A* D, iJS^y to moft perfons of rank ^'^. and left upon the tables of moft coffce-houfes, iniinuating defigns a- .gainil Frederic prince of Wales, and the proteftant fucceffion. It v^^as ccnfured by both houfes, as mali- cious, falfe, &c. and the king was requeued to give orders for profecuting the author, &c. But no author was ever found out. In the hon. Alex. Murray s tryal, the lame year, (who had been ordered by the commons to come to the bar of their houfe to receive «ppon his knees, his fentence of imprifonment in Newgate for breach .of privilege, &c, Mr. Murray not thinking his crime worthy of a chance of catching the gaol-diftemper, and loiing his life about a matter of privilege, had prudently kept out of the way) in the debate on this affair, I fay, it was obferved, that the commons , in fuch cafes, aflumed a privilege, which the king has not, {viz. of punifhing a fubjeft v/ithout legal trial) excepting in the peculiar cafe of fafpending the Ha- beas Corpus aft, when there is an adtuai rebellion in the country* There was a pamphlet publiflied, giv- ing a full account of his cafe, it was read in the houfe of commons, and the ufual black epithets of malicious, feditious, fcandaious, &c. heaped upon it. Vol. I. K k A noble a Deb. Lords, vi. 23. b Jim, Deb. Com. iv, 218, 219. 2^0 POLITICAL Book IV. A noble duke, who happened to be prefent, was fa afhamcd of the pidure drawn of him in the pamphlet, that he made his efcape out of the houfe. The ' commons addreffed the king to profecute the author, printer, &c. * But an independent Englijh jury brought in a verdid. Not guilty ^J Mr. Wilkes % profecution does not properly belong to this chapter^ having been carried on by ihzfecreta^ ries of Jiate. Of his repeated expulfion by the houfe of commons, infpite of his re-eledion by agreat majo- rity of the freeholders of Middlefex^ fee the fequel.' I will only obfervc here, that in the year 1773, of 352 members, all but 50 were for reveriing the determi- nation of the Middle/ex election by a bill to regulate the rights of eledion ^. The mention of Mr, Wilkes's expulfion and re- eledion, calls up that of Mr. Adamsy a member df the affembly of £^r^^^^^J, who, A. D. 1762, was profecuted, fined, and imprifoned for refifting the iheriff in the execution of his duty. The affembly expelled him. He was re-eleded — re-expelltd. His cledors infifted, that they, and not the affembly were the judges of the fitnefs of perfons to reprefent them j and there was no law, by which Mr. Adams was dif- qualified for a reprefent at ive merely for his having refifted the fheriff, though there was for puniihing him otherwife, which punifliment accordingly he had fuffered. Mr. Ada?ns was then formally difqualified by ad of governor, council, and affembly. He ap- pealed to the king. His difqualification was reverfed. With a declaration, that it was arbitrary, and contrary to the fpirit of the Britifi conftitution c. But this by the a Jim, Deb. Com. v. 6. b Whitehall. Even. Post. Jpr, 24> I773« c JUOND. Mac, 1769. p. 133. Chap, V. DISQUISITIONS. 251 the way. To return : In the cafe of the printers, who publiflied the debates of the houfe of commons* A.D, 1771, and were proceeded againft by that houfe^ it did not appear,, that they had any legal authority for apprehending, or committing j for, though they obtained a royal proclamation againft the offenders, they could not, or, however, did not oblige them to appear before them. On the contrary, the lord mayor and aldermen of London protected the printers, and obliged the perfon, who apprehended them, to find fecui-ities to anfwer for his offence. And the printers continued to publifh the debates. One of the alder- men wrote to the fecrctary of ftate an account of his proceeding. And the accufed printer fent the fpeaker the opinion of council upon the houfe's proceeding and the royal proclamation, viz. That both were illegal, unconftitutional, and void. On that occa- fion, authorities were brought from hiftory and law' injuftification of what was done by the lord mnyor and aldermen in oppofition to the houfe of commons' as follows. Burnet, in his History of his Own Times, re- lates. That the commons fent their fcrjeant to bring before them many of the abhorrers; which broughc their authority for punifhing any others belides their own members, into queftion, becaufe they cannot re-^ ceivc an information upon oath, nor proceed againft thofe, who refufe to appear before them. Many re* fufed to obey their fummons ; it being found, that the pradice was no older than the days of queen Elizabeth. Again, the oath of every alderman obliges him to keep up the franchifes of the city; one of which, granted by Edw. ill. in parliament is, That ^0 fummons,, attachment, or execution be made in the 252 POLITICAL Book IV. the liberty of the city, by any king's officers [confe- quentiy, I fuppofe, much lels by the officers of the lower houfc of parHament] but only by minifters [officers] of the city/ The charter of EJw. IV. gives to the corporation of London, the whole and ex- clufive * executio'n of all warrants, with the return of the fame, by fuch their minifter, or deputy, whom they (ball thereunto ufe.' And by 2 Wt/L and Mary the corporation of London is conjfirmed in all its pri- vileges and franchifes ; of which it is not, on any pretence whatever, to be deprived, &c. ». Why does not the houfe of commons let the peo- ple know their privileges? Why are not thofe privileges eftablifhed by law? When they think themfelves offended, why do they not profecute the offender in a legal and conjlitutional way, which would flop all reflection upon them ? The kings caufes are tried in the courts of juftice by judge and jury, who are indif- ferent perfons. Why is any individual, or any affem- bly of men whatever to htjudge^jury^ 2Lnd executioners in their own caufe ? The lord mayor and alderman Oliver were after- wards committed to the Tower by the houfe of com- mons, who refufed to hear their defence by council. Alderman Wilkes was ordered to attend the houfe, but he fent the fpeaker a dired: refufal, becaufe he was not fummoned as a member, to anfwer in his place. This whole proceeding of the houfe of commons, was condemned hy many both within and without doors. And it may be affirmed, that the people of England will never, while a fpark of the fire of liberty remains, be reconciled to an affumed power in repre^ fentatives LoND. Mag, March, 1771, p. 159. Chap. V. DISQUISITIONS. 2 53 fentatives to imprifon their conjlituents without tryal by>ry It has been faid, ^ How are the cotnmons to obtain the informations neceffary for making laws, or en- quiring into the condud: of minifters, if they cannot .oblige perlons to attend T The anfwer is. They cer- tainly cannot, and therefore ought to have a power of compelling attendance as the courts have. But this has nothing to do with their afluming a power of imprifoning thcfe who do attend, or would if their attendance was required for any other purpofe than that of punijhivg them. In fact, no inconvenience could arife, but, on the contrary, great advantage^ from every court's giving up what the king muft give up, 'viz* The claim of judging and punilhing pre- tended contem.pts, or other offences, againft them" felves. It is a whimfical part of our political oecono- my, that, if any perfon, or body of the fubjeds offends the houfe of commons, they take the matter into their own hands, and puniih with fine and impri- fonment. But if a minifter has offended againft the people, the commons can only impeach him before the upper houfe. The commons themfehes punifh offences againft themfehes 5 which one would rather fuppofc they would refer to others 3 and they refer to others the punifhment of offenders againPc the people, whofe guardians they are, v/hich one would rather fuppofe they would keep in their own hands. The truth is, the proper fundion of the houfe of com- mons is twofold, viz. Inqnifitorial, and legijlative j but they are ever running into the executive, which is no part of their office. It was argued, in defence of the lord mayor, on the fame occafion, That the courts of law have power 254 POLITICAL EooklV. to enquire into the a£ls of the higheji authority. * If the king himfclf exercifes any a^/;7^ ) in the courtsoil'SLWy and let the accufed be tried according to the known laws ofhis country, and be acquitted or condemned by the verdict oi^i jury. All other modes of trial are violations of the confti- tutfon. The colled:5on made by Petyty in his Miscel. Parl. of parliamentary profecutions on account of dilrelpedful fpeeches, makes our anceftors appear mean-fpirited. John fnch-a-one wilhed ihat the devil would tak*e the parliament. Thomas -ixxoh another faid, the parliament was carrying on works of darknefs. A third faid, he was net afraid of the pillory. What then ? Was it not infinitely beneath the magnanimity of a fupreme legiflature to take notice of fuch trifles ? This recals to my memory an old prefentment by an inquefli ' We layen, that John Stevens is a man, we cannot tell what to make of him 5 and he hath books, ' we do not underiland them.' CHAP a Hakcsjvely Mob.Tbnbkd. Parl, 72,, 256 POLITICAL Book IV. CHAP. VL Of excluding the People from the houfe of Commons^ and punijhing thofe who publijh the speeches made there. ANOTHER confequence of the inadequate ftate of parliamentary reprefentation, and of too long parliaments, is a dangerous power affumed by the commons, of clearing their houfe, and excluding their conftituents from the fatisfaction of knowing how their deputies behave themfelves, and whether they confuit the public intercft, or play the game into the hands of the miniftry. Upon the fame principle they found the pradice of punifhing all per- lons, who publiih any fpeeches made in their houfe. As to the hou(e of lords, fuppofing it once granted, that it is wiie to allow any fct of men a power of con- fulting for themfelves, without regard to the public, and putting a negative upon the moft falutary national propofals, if thought by them likely to entrench upon their particular privileges (a point, the proof of which 1 {hould be forry'to have impofed on me) fuppofing, I fay, a houfe of lords upon the foot of the ^ritijh, it follows, that they have a right to exclude all, but peers, from their deleberations ; bccaufe they are do- ing their o-wn bufinefs, and not the public ; they are acting for themfelves^ and are principals, and not deputies. But furely the faithful reprefentatives of the people^ cannot dread the people s knowledge of their proceed- ings in the houfe. An ariitocracy of perfons, whofe intereit may be different from that of the people, a court of iuquifition, or a Venetian council of Ten, might: Chap. VI. DISQUISITIONS. 557 might be expeded to (hut themfelves from the fight of the people, but not a houfe of reprefentatives affem- bled, by the people's order, to do the people's bufmefs. How are the people to know which of their delegates are faithful, and ought to be trufted again, or which otherwife, if they are to be excluded the houfe ? Even in the houfe of peers> this cuflom has been blamed* * It is not, my. lords, faid the earl of CheJIer field on. this fubjed, A. D. 1740, by excluding all iorts of ftrangers that you are to preferve the antient dignity of this aflembly : it is by excluding all manner of quibbling, impertinence, deceit, weaknefs, and cor- ruption. Thefe, I hope, are ftrangers here : I hope your lordfhips will take care never to admit any one of them within thefe walls; but by excluding other ftrangers, when you have nothing of a fecret nature under confideration you will only raife a jealoufy of the dignity of your proceedings 3 and if this jea- louly (hould become general, without doors, you will in vain feek for refpeitt among the people */ There were many flrangers in the gallery of the houfe of peers, on occafion of the enquiry into lord Peterborough's condudl in Spain^ A. D, 17 11. A motion was made to clear the gallery. But the duke oi Buckingham oppoicd it, and they were fuffcred to flay b. The commons, A. D» 1714J having cleared their houfe of all ftrangers, not excepting ^^^ri", it was moved in the houfe of peers, that the houie be cleared ot ail ftrangers, not excepting members of the houle of com- mons. The duke cf Argyle oppofed the iLutting of the houfe of peers, and laid, it was for the honour of Vol. L L i that A Dbb, Lords, yii. 590. b Ibid. 11.283. 258 POLITICAL Book IV.' that auguft affembly, to fliew that they were better bred than the commons ^. Hakeweli^ys^y the commons finding perfons in their houle who had no right to be there, have obliged them to take all oath, that they would kcepfecret what they had heard. • Of right the door of the parh'ament ought not to htfiut^ but to be kept by porters, or king's ferjeants ^t arms, to prevent tumults at the door, by which the parliament might be hindered c/ It was common in former times for the members thcm.felves topublifli their fpeeches made in the houfe. Accordingly there are extant to this day, many of them in pamphlets of thofe times, and in Rnjhworth's^ i^aljon\y and other colleftions. In our times it is punifhable to publiiTi any of their doings, though they do not themfehes publiQi them, and the very gal- lery is cleared, that we may not know which of our deputies \s faithful io us, nor w-hich betrays us. The order of the houfe of commons againft printing the Ipeeches was made, A. D, 1641 ^, in times which Gur courtly men will hardly allow to be of good authority. The order itfelf is not juftifiable upon any principles of iibertyy or of reprejentation^ unlefs the debates were regularly publifhed by the members. For pubiified they ought undoubtedly to be; ii delegates ought to be refporifible to their conjlituents. My lord mayor, theretore, and Mr. alderman Oliver were feverely dealt with in being fent to the Tower, A, D. a Tind. CoNTiN. i. 345. b Hakenxid, MoK>. Ten end. Parl. %S. c Ibid. p. 23 4 Jlm.hiit Com, ix. 274. Chap, VI. DISQ^UI SIT IONS. 259 1 77 1, for defending the prinfers in doing only what ought to have been done by ^\t members. Sir Edward Derwg^ fpeeches were publiihed by bhnfelf, A. D. 1641, * Refolved,That they are againft the privilege of the houfe, and fliall be burnt by the hangman in Weji- minjler, Cbeapfide, and Smithfield ; him -elf difabled during the parliament, and to be imprtfoned in the Tower, during the pleafure of the houib/ He was relealed, however, in a few days a, A, D. i72o,the proprietors of the redeemable funds being difcontented^ petitioned to be heard by council againft a bill then before the houfe. They went in confiderable numbers to the lobby, to wait the event. Thejuftices were ordered to clear the paffages. They read the riot-ad:. On which occafion, fome of the petitioners faid. It feenied to them a ftrange proceed- ing, to treat a fet of peaceable (ubjeds, people oi pro^ pertyy who attended the houfe to complain of griev- ances, as a riotom mob ^ and that the commons firft picked ihtiv pockets, and then (ent them to jail for com- plai?2ir}g. Whatever has been advanced in fupport of printing the Votes and Journals, is equally ftrong agf^inft clear- ing the houfe. The houfe of commons is the people*^ houfe, where the people's deputies meet to do the people's bufinefs. For the people's deputies, therefore, to (hut the people out of their own houfe, is 2i,rebellion ohhcfervafits againfl: their mailers. That the members of parliament are, according to the conjlitution, ier- vants, is manifeft from the notorious fadt of their conftantly receiving wages for mcinycenturies together, which members, accordingly, forfeited by abfence, negled: a Parl. Hist. x. 267, ?6o POLITICAL Book IV- jiegleft, &c. ' Who fent us hither ?* (fays Sir F, JVinntngtcn, in the debate upon this fubjccft, A. D. 3681.) * The privy-council is conftituted by the Jiiing ; but the houfe of commons by the choice of the pecpk. I think it not natural, nor rational, that the people who/ent us hither, fliould not be informed of our adions. a* Suppofe the diredors of the EalU India company were to (hut out the proprietors from their houfe, and then difpoje of their property at their pleafure, defying all rcfponfihility^ how would this be taken h^ the proprietors? The excluding the people from the houfe of commons, and puni(hing the pub-? lifhers of their fpeeches, is precifely the fame in- croachment on the people's rights 5 only fomuch the; more atrocious in confideration of there being no rer gular ^/'/^^/from parliament, whereas there is froni the diredors of a trading company. &\v John Hartop moved, A, D. 168 1, that the votes might continue to be printed ^. A motion for printing the votes, A, D. 1688, paiTed in the nega-? tivec. The votes of the commons were ordered to be printed. A, D. 1690^. The gallery and fpeaker's chamber weie cleared of Jlrangers, on occafion of the profecution of Mr. (afterwards Sir Richard Steele^ AD. 1713 ^ Refoiutions were made, A.D.iy^2f to print the journals of the houfe of commons, which begin with Edw. Vi ^, tothenumber of 30 volumes, 1000 copies 5 which is done accordingly i I know not whether begun at that time, or afterwards. FotA.Dn 1752, * the houfe came to a refolution to print their Journals, which had hitherto been in manufcript.g* There a Deb. Com. ii. 105. b Ibid, 104. c Ibid. 201. ^ Ibid 375. e Ibid. V, 67. f Ibid, xi 11, 264, g ^im> De?. Com. v. 34, Chap. VI. DISQUISITIONS. 261 There was a long debate about printing the pro- ceedings and debates of the houfe, A. D» 1738, in which it was oblerved, that it is a hardship for mem- bers to have their fentiments mifreprefented and falji^ jied in News-papers and Magazines, &c. But Mr. Pulteny iaid, ' ParJiafmnts, when they do any thing a?nilSy will be talked of with the fame freedom as any other fct of men whatever. This parliament, I hope, will never dcferve it ; but, if it did, I fliould be very forry, that any refolutions were entered into, in order to prevent its being reprefented in the prefent, or the next age, in its proper colours. Whatever the other houfe may do, I hope, we Ihall never Jlretch our privilege fo far, as to cramp ^h^ freedom of writing on public affairs a.* There was a pamphlet at this time afcribed to WaU poky which contained a hiilory of queen Anne\ tory parliament. This publication Walpole defended, be- caufe that parliament deferred to be difgraced. But who fliall decide which parliament deferves to be dif- graced^ and which to be honoured. The furc way, in all events, is, to admit as ;;;^;2y ftrangers as the galle- ries will conveniently hold; that the members order genuine copies of their fpeechs to be publifJoed-^ of which authenticity the hearers in the galleries will be able io judge 'y and then no fpurious^ or unauthenticat^ ed publications of fpeeches will be received by the people; becaufe they will certainly chufe to read thofe whofe authenticity is eftabliihed by a cloud of mtneffes. a Deb. Com. x. 278—287, tbz POLITICAL Book IV. CHAP. VIL Of Ahfenfees from the Hjufe^ and Members negleStin^ Parliamentary Btfmefs, ANOTHER evil arifing from the miferably in- adequate ftate of reprefentation and confequent contempt, which members acquire for their conftituents, is, their taking the Hberty of ahfenting themfelves for frivolous or no reafons, and of attend- ing very carelefsly to the bufinefs of the nation, when they come to the houfe. Did a gentleman recolledl, that at his eledion he received an aweful charge from an augufi meeting of 5000 of his countrymen, and gave a folcmn prcmife fealed with the reHgion of an oath to be diligent 2inA faithful in difcharging the mo- mentous truft then committed to him, and did he know, that thofc who employed him, would cenfure him pubhcly, if they found, that he did any body's bcfinefs in parliament but theirs-, he would tremble at the thought of trifling with \o facred a fundion. But when ayouth juft come from 0:v/ir^/, remembers, that he was eledled (as it is called) by a few drunken idiots in a paltry borough ^ and carried round the town in an old oaken chair, and that he has his place as he has his eftate, or that he gave every voitv five guineas ; it is no wonder, that he confiders the whole as a very paltry /^rr^, which he may attend to, or negle^, as he pleafes. It is fuppofed that members of parliament have often done the bufinefs of a corrupt court by feajonably ^\2iy\v.g truant. 1 hofe gentlemen fliew themfelves not abandoned to all fenfe of (liame. When the pub- lic has been betrayed by a villainous vote for an aug- > mentation Chap. VII. DISQUISITIONS. 26^ mentation of the army, or an extenfion of the excife laws, they did not vote worng^ they cry ; they were not there. But niohy were they not there, to vote right, and endeavour to make, others vote right ? Why were tbey not upon duty, taking care of their country^ Ah! if a man loves his young and beauti- ful wif^, and regards his honour, he will not leave her in the hands of a known rake ; or if he loves his money y he will not leave his ftrong box open to a thieviili fervant^. No more will a gentleman, who loves his country y leave her in the hands of unknown perfons, who may betray her. Do gentlemen conii- fider of what confequence a few votes may be ? The oath in favour of paffive obedience and non- refiftence was rejeded by only three votes. The billy A. D. 1692, for totally diiqualifying placemen for fitting in the houfe of commons (the beft bill, furely, as to its objcd, that ever was brought into the houfe) was rejeded by only two votes. The famous amend- ment by the lords to the bill oi Jan. ^7. J702, by which amendment it was made high trealon to attempt to fet afide the proteftant fucceffion in the houfe of Hanover in cafe of queen Anne's leaving no pofterity, was carried by only one vote, 118 to 117^. I have been told, that a member of that parliament, who was infirm and gouty^ but proved faithjul to his country in attending at the hazard of his life^ often mentioned his own proceeding on that occafion with pleafurey and particularly on his death-bed. The ruinous ad in favour of the French trade, A^ D, 1713, was thrown out by only nine votes, viz, 194. againft 185 c. Only 9 true Englijhmen in the houfe ! In a See Cato's Lett. No. i)(), b'DEB. Com. v. Append, no. e Ibid, r, ko. 264 POLITICAL Book iV^ In the end of queen Anne's reignf a placebill wag loft in the houfe of peers for want of one vote, while one of the lords, who had too proxies in his pocket, was buying a penknife. The adt A. D. 1728. by which a fine of 500/. is enadled for afking, or receiving, by himfelf, or ano- ther, money, or other reward, by way of gift, loan, or device, &c. fjr voting, or declining to vote at eledions of members of parliament, was carried by only two votes, I'tz, 91 to 89. The motion A. D. 1741, fof enquiring into the condudl of affairs in Walpoles 20 years reign, was carried in the negative by two votes, 244 to 242. * How often, while iht merits of a conteded eledion have been trying within thefe walls, have the benches been ahnoft empty? But the moment the quejiion approached, how have we feen the members eagarly croud to their feats, and then confidently pronounce upon a fubjedt, on which they had not heard a fyl-- labky but in private from the parties a/ To fuch a mockery have been reduced the moll important of all earthly things, I mean parliaments. After turning them in this manner, to 2.farce^ after laying afide all that was iijeful to the people in them, what ftep are we moft likely to take next, but to lay parliaments them- felves afide ? Our anceftors were fenfible of the evil of abfenting, and therefore they made laws iov punijlmg delinquent members by muld b. So among the Romans, abfen- tees from the fenate, without lufficient caule fhewn, were fineable, and obliged to give fccurity for pay- ment. a Speech of a member, l,o^D, Mag. Ma^t ^77^> P« ^^^* h Parl. Hist, i. 396. Chap. VII. DISQUISITIONS. 265 menta. By 7 Edw» I. ftat. i. ' To all parliaments and treatifes' [treaties, or meetings for public hufi- nefs] * every n>an (hall come without force of arm s^.' See the 5th flat. Rich. II. cap. 4. ' That every one, to whom it appertaineth, fhall, upon futimons, eome to the parliament c.' By 7 Hen. VIII. cap. 16. ^ No knights of (hires, nor burgtfles (liall depart before the end of parliament ^/ [N. B. We (hould fay, before th<: end of ik\^ feffion. But in thofc times every ieflion was a parliament.] The penalty was lofs of wages. A call of the houfe, A D. 1641, with fevere penalties for abfentees. Orders and reib- lutibns for putting the kingdom in a ftate of defence^. A call of both houfes. A, D 1647, 24.0 comm.oners were abfent ^. A fine of 20/. feton thole whole excufe was not allowed by the houfe. * Refolved, A. D. 1709, that fuch members as abfent themfelves with- out leave, be reputed dejerttrs of their truji, and neg^ ledlors of the duty they owe to the houfe and to their country g.' Thus we fee, inadequate reprefentation, and long parliaments produce in our members of parliament a contempt for the people 5 negledt of inftruSions^ and refufal of rejponfibiiity^ put families upon fetting up for legillators iio^n generation \.o generation^ fo that At;/ perfons in one family may be members at the fame time, and it has been found, that individuals have fate 30, 40, and 50 years in the houfe. Inadequate reprefentation is one caufe, why the members cannot be fuppofed even to know the fenfe ot the people, as Vol. I. M m they a C/V. De Legib. III. Luv, 111.38. b Stat, at Large, i. 82. c Ibid. 333, d Ibid. 698. ePARL. Hist. IX. 298. I" Ibid. XVI. 317. g Dbb. Com, IV, 139, 266 POLITICAL BooklV. they are not chofen by the generality of the people ; but by a handful. Inadequate reprefentation deprives the greateft part of the people, both in number and property, of their weight in legiflation, and gives it up, as a monopoly t into the hand& of a few. It is the ori- ginal caufe of the commons affuming exorbitant /?r/- vileges to the difadvantage of the people j of their projicutmg and imprifoning their conftituents ; oi con^ cealing from the people, their creators, the tranJaBiom of their houfe ; of their abfenting thcmfelves and neg^ l0ing the bufinefs of the natim^ &c. Chap. I. DISQUISITIONS. 267 BOOK V. Of Parliamentary Corruption. CHAP. I. Of the Origin y Funds ^ and Materials of Corruption^ TWOweakneffesin hamannature have produced briberj^, corruption, and many other wicked arts y 1 mean, the love of power ^ and the love of money. In antient times men in fuperior fta- tions u^erc drawn into many of their bad praftices by thQ/ormer, The latter is our difeafe, and a louiy difeaie ( I afk the reader's pardon) it is. For if there be a vice incompatible with any degree of magnani^ mityy greedinefs of money is that vice. It is difficult to exclude corruption. Where there is any thing v/orth ftriving about, fuch creatures as men commonly are, will ufe indired: means for at- taining it. 'Undue influence in eleflions for offices prevailed at R&me fo early as the 458ih year from the building of the city a. Which occaiioned the making a law to prohibit canvaffing for votes. But the difficulty of excluding corruption is no rea- fon for giving over all endeavours to aboli(h it ; any more a Ant. Univ. Hist, xii, 44, 114, 268 POLITICAL Book V. more than the difficulty of living a i)irtuous life amidft the various temptations, to which our frail nature is expofed, is a rtafcn for our giving over all endeavours to regulate our eondu<£t by tliC ftridl laws of morality. On the contrary, we mujl refohe to live a lite of vir- tue, however difficult it may be, or we are undone as individuals y and w^e maft root corruption out of the ftate, or we are undone as a nation, Arijlotle^ obferyes, That men in low circumftances did not, in his tme, afpire after places of power and trufl, becaufe they were unprofitable^ and they could not afford to negledt their own private affairs, to at- tend on iht public i and that men ol J or tune only could properly fill thofe employments, becaufe they were under no temptation to plunder their country. In our times, who have no idea of ferving the public for nought i we fee all men, rich and indigent^ ftriving who Ihall obtain the greateft (hare of the public pffices, becaufe they are zW lucrative y and thofe whofe fortunes are the largejiy find them ftill too fmalliov J their extravagance^ which produces the continual Jcramble we fee. The Polijh nobleffc confidcr their votes, for king, in the fame manner as the inhabitants of our rotten boroughs do theirs for members of parliament, that is, as part of \ht\xJortune. But the wickednefs of our eledioneering is tenfold beyond that of the Poles. For it is no great matter who is king of Poland-, becaufe he has no power to do fnijchiej-, whereas our parlia- mentJiasa power lo tranJcendentyi'sLysjudg^Black/lone^ that it is impoffibie to fix its limits. Therefore, to vote for a candidate, who gives a bribe, is felling our country to a man, who has proved hirofelf a knave^ and a PoLiT. V, S. Chap.I. DISQJJISITIONS. 269 and giving him power to do infinite mifchief, for which he is not refponfible or punifhable. Bad minifters, in jur times, thruft themfelves into power chiefly with a defign of filling their pockets^ and advancing their families and friends. And it is much to be lamented, that there is fuch ample oppor^ tunity for them 10 gratify their exorbitant defires. It is univerfally allowed, that a Britijlo miniftry has the difpofal oijeveral millions annually of the public mo- ney. And the reader may judge what opportunity there mull: be for them to chip off fragments and cor- ners from fuch prodigious maffes, without the pub- lic's being ever acquainted with fads in fo particular a manner as to convidi a minift^^r, or his tools, of the plunder they have committed. As parliament is the natural check upon the wicked meafures of kings and courts^ parliaments muft be managed to obtain their connivance at the proceedings of kings and courts. Therefore in former times the court not being poffefTed of the neceflary funds, wheedled^ or bullied them j now they make ufe of (what they think the furer means, liz?) bribing and buying ikizvci. And our miniflers, fince the revolu- luiion, have carried this liberal art fo far, as to ftudy no other fyftem of politics, or government, than find- ing out /rc^^r men for their purpofe, and filling the houfe of commons with them \ and the whole difi:l::r- ence between one miniftry and another, is that one junto has a better knack at managing parliaments than another. The chief materials, by which a minifter keeps up an afcendency in parliament, are, 1. The prodigious fums of pubhc money y of which he has the difpofal. 2. The innumerable places in the cuftoms, exci(e, falt-duty, &c. and in the navy, army and church, the 270 POLITICAL BookV. the greatefl: part of which are at the difpofal of the minifter. Latter tunes have thrown into the minifterial fcale a weight unknown to former ages ; I mean the na^ tional debt. The anixety of the public creditors, the proprietors of the funds, about public credit^ is a powerful caufe of their (hewing a reluBance againft all propofals for falutary alterations^ or rejioratiom. But their reafonings on this fubjed are not founder than it would be for the inhabitant of a crazy building to oppofe all repairs, and to infill, that the beft way for preventing his manfion from coming in ruins upon his head, is to let itfalL Of which more fully hereafter. The revenue of the civil liji, which is nominally 800,000/. per annumy but, by means of a demand from time to time of half a million to pay off its pre- tended deficiencies or debts, is really near a million (in the laft reign it often exceeded a million) mufl throw z prodigious power into the hands of thofe who have the difpofal of it. A million per annum would maintain 200 dukes, at 5000/. a year each, or 250 earls at 4000 a year each, or 1000 gentlemen at 1000/. a year each. It would fupport arts, manufaftures, and commerce to the in- conceivable advantage of the public, &c. But the civil lijl revenue is not reckoned above one third part of what a minifter has in his difpolal. It is not therefore to be wondered, that a minifter has great influence in parliament. If one confiders into how many purfes, of 100 guineas each, the prodigi- ous iuni of three millions may be divided, at firlt glance one . would conclude, that a minifter could give fuch a purfe to every man upon the ifland. The royal prerogative has been greatly curtailed fince 3 Car. I. the date of the petition of right. Star- Chap. I. DISQUISITIONS. 27I Star-chamber, and high.commiffion court aboliflied, with martial law, and the prince's power of levying taxes without parliament > difufe of the foreft laws ; abolition of military tenures, purveyance, and pre- emption ; the eftabiiflimcnt of the habeas corpus 2^Qi\ the ad for frequent parliaments 5 the affertion of the liberties of the people by the bill of rights, and aft of fettlement i the exclufion of certain dependents on the crown from feats in parliament; the independency of the judges; the reftraining of the king's pardon from being pleaded to parliamentary impeachments; the dependency of the crown on parliament,^ by its being ftripped of its antient properties, &;c. — thefe, and other entrenchments on the regal power and pre- rogative would feem fufficient to clip the wings of kings and minifters, and to fecure the ftate againft the innumerable evils of corruption. But what avail thefe feeming enlargements of our liberties, if we con- fider (as even judge Bkckjione^ himfeif, no unreafon- able complainer, obferves) that though the appearance of court* power is taken away, the reality remains, and is perhaps greater than under Jam. 1. only it (hews itfelf now ia the milder and lefs ftartling (hape of influence, inftead of that odious and formidable one, of prerogative; — an influence, however, to con- fiderate minds not the lejs dreaded on account of its apparent gentlenels. Let it be confidereci, that our monarch's revenues being iettled for life, a rapacious and corrupt court (for what do men generally pro- pofe by going into court, but .filling their pockets ? has the difpofing of the greateft part of a million a year, civil liji revenue. Let it be confidered, what a multitude of officers created by, and removeable at the a Com. i. 334, i;^ POLITICAL BbokV; tbepleafure of the court, are employed in raifing lo millions a year in taxes, cuftoms, excifes j commif- fioners, and innumerable officers in every port of the kingdom, nay at every creek into which a fmug- gling boat can be thruft; commiflioners of excife, and their numerous fubalterns, in every inhnd diftridt j poftmafters, and their fcr van ts in every town, and upon every public road 3 commiflioners of ftamps, and diftributors 5 officers of the falt-duty; furvcyors of houfes and windows; receivers ot land-tax 3 mana- gers of lotteries -, commrffioners of hackney-cc^aches ; befides frequent /^m<^W^/opportunities of conferring favours, as by preference in /c?^»j, fubfcriptions, tickets^ remittance ot public money, &c. which attaches thofc moft, whofe attachment is the moft defi) cable to the court, I mean, the opulent, and leading part of the people 5 to which add the prodigious influence the court gains by having the power oi officering ^n army of above forty thoufand men ; to fay nothing of the formidable yir/Tf ot fuch a body of difciplined men againfl: a flock of ffieep, I mean the helplefs people. This dreadful army, the court- fycophants pretend is kept up only from year to year: but it is univerfally looked upon as on a footing equally certain with the army in France. Accordingly gentlemen bring up their fons as regularly to the army, as to the church. Thefe forty thoufand men are paid by the courts raifed by the court, officered. by the court, commanded by the court. Add to all this, that the court muft have innum.erable ways cf misapplying the public money to the purpofes of gaining undue influence, which even the vao^ faithful and upright parliament could not detedL And what then mult be the cafe, if we.fup-* pofe parliament itfelf ( the only conftitutional check on a corrupt court) 2ijharer in the plunder of the people, ^nd Clkp. L DISQUISITIONS. 273 nnd therefore interefled to conceal, or connive at the ravages made by a profligate court. * As we have anjiiudlly increafed our funds and our taxeSf we have annually increalcd t' e power of the CrowHy and thefe funds and taxes being eftabhihed and laid for perpetuity^ or for terms equivak nt to perpetuity in the fenfe here intended, this ^ncreale of power muft not only continue ^ but fiiil increafe, as long as this lyftem of oeconomy fiibfifts. How this increaie of power arifes from the increife of funds and taxes, and the influence of the crown groves in proportion to the burthen on the people, heavier ; hath been explained fo much in the debates on a late deteftable occafion' \}Valpole% excifc fcheme] that the lefs needs to be (aid on the lubjedt here. If we eonfider in the increafe of taxes, firft, the increafe of officers^ by which a vaft number of new dependcints on the crown are ereded in every part of the ki.^gdom, (dependants as numerous, and cer- tainly more prevalent, than all the tenants and wards of the crown were antiently) and, fecondly, the power given to the treafury and other i?iferior oflicers, on account of thefe taxes, which are ac lead; as great and as grievous in this free government of ours, as any that arc exerciled in the moft arbi-^ trary government on the fame occaiions ^ if we coa- fider this alone, we (hall find reafon fuflicient to conclude that, alchough the power of prerogative was more open and more noijy in its operations, yet the poiver thus acquired is more real and may prove more dangerous^ tor this very reafon, becaufe it is more covered and moxcjtlent. 1 hat men began -to fee, very (oon after the revolution, the dan:^er arif- ing from hence to our conftitution, as I faid above, is moll: certain. No lefs than /even adts were made ToL. I. ' N n in 274 POLITICAL ' Book V. in king Williams reign to prevent undue influence en eledions 5 and one cf the adis, as 1 remember, for I have it not before me, is grounded on this tad:, that the officers of the excife had frequently, by threats and pro?mfeSy prevailed on eledors, and abfo- Juiely debarred them of iht freedom of voting. What hath been done, or attempted, fincc that time, ia the fame views, and what hath been done, or at- tempted, both in the reign of king WilL and fince, to prevent an undue influence on the elected, as well as on the ekdlors, I need not recapitulate. They are matters of frefh date, and enough known. Upon the whole, this change in the ftate and pro- perty of the public revenue hath made a change in our conftitution not yet, perhaps, attended to fuf- ficiently ; but fuch an one, however^ as deferves our utmoft attention, fince it gives a power un- known in for?ner times to one of the three ertates, and fince public hberty is not guarded againll: the dangers that m^y ariie from this power, as it was,, and now is more than ever, againft the dangers which arife from the powers formerly poflTefled or claimed by the crown ^/ * That the bufinefs of mod kingdoms has been ill mansged, proceeds from this ; it imports the lower rank of men only, and ih^ people ( whole cries feldom reach the prince, till it is too late, and till all is pad: rem.edy ) that matters fliould he frugally ordered, becaufe taxes muft arife from t/jeir iweat and labour. But the great ones, who heretofore have had the prince's ear and favour, or who hoped to have him in their poffefllon, were fwayed by another fort of intereit 5 they like profufion, as hav- ing a Dissert. ON Parties, 223, Chap. I. DISQUISITIONS. 275 ing had a profpedl to be gainers by it, they can ea(i- ly fet their account even with the ftate ^ z fmall^ charge upon their land is moi e than balanced by a greai place ^ or a large pen/io?i ^/ See the lord keeper Nortlos account of abufes in the condudland difpofal oF the public money in the time of king Ch. II b. Thofe who, in cur times, are the condu(5lors of the fame kind of dirty work, may compare the modern ingenious ways and means with thofe of their worthy predeceffors. Among others, pretended want of money in the treafury, in order to have a pretence for giving an exorbitant price for necefiaries. Lending the crown at 8 per Cent, money which was railed at 5 ajid 6. Paying with the public money, pretending it to be private, and taking intereil. IJepreciating the pub- lic debts and funds, baying them of the holders at half their worth, and afterwards by intereft getting them paid in full. Pretending to give up all power in recommending to places iov a confideration, and then infifting on recommending ftill, and fo getting bcfth ways. Rolling over loifes upon the crown, or public, while the gain was to fink into private poc- kets. A father flopping a large fam in his own hand, which was to have been paid the public creditors. Before he can be brought to account, he dies. Ths money finks into the pocket of his heir. He obtains a pardon of all his father's debts. Grofs frauds in office found out. Then new offices and falaries {u up as checks. The new prove as great knaves as the old, and form a fcheme ofcollufion and mutual under- ftanding. But the public pays for all, and the power of the court is ilrengthened. An old placeman begs leave a Da'-ven, il. 262. b Dalrjmj^, Mem. il. 84. 276 POLITICAL BookV. l?ave to fell. Potkets the money, and by and by, through interefl:, gets a new place gratis. Fxtrava- gant men Iquander their own money in their public employments of embafiadors, governors, &c. and charge the public with more than they have really Ipent, while what they really fpent was ic times more than neceflary. The bufinefs of old offices transferred to new : but the profits of the old flill kept up, though become finecure^. An old fervant of the public retires upon a penfion. He who fuc- ceeds him, by intereft, gets it continued to him. Another gets an addition to his falary, and then tells his place for a -great deal more thin it coft him, and fo an additional load is laid on the public: for the addition mud be continued, becaufe the place was bought. An annual fum is granted by the public for a public ufc, as keeping up a harbour, or the like. A private man, by intereft, gets a grant oi the jobb ; the public concern is neglected, and the public poc- ket picked. Crown lands perpetually begged and given away to firengthen the court intereft. The crown ccnftantly kept in debt, and parliament foli- ci.ted to pay thcfe debts occafioned merely by the voracity of the court. Commanders of fleets oider a fuperfluous quantity of ftores. By coliufion between them and the ft< re-mafters,^ this fuperfluous quantity is iold again to the king, and the money funk in their pockets. Sometimes the ftore-mafters gave receipts fore more than was received into the king^s ftores, and the money was divided among the plunderers. The king's woiks done by the day, whereas it would have been cheaper by the great. Money pretended to be coined gratis. Lifts of large fums newly coined pro- duced. But the contrivance was to make the pieces unequal, and then the too heavy pieces were carried back Chap.I. DISQ^UISITIONS. 277 back to the mint, and the profit funk in private pockets, 6cc. Secret Jervice is a huge cloke thrown over an im- menfe fcene of corruption ; and under this cloke we muft not peep. Our court-men tell us, there mull be large fums expendrrd^ in this way, and thofe, fums cannot be accounted for ; becaufe the Jervices done for ihem muft never be know?!. But we find, that the commons, A. D 170b, addreffcd queen A?2ne for accounts of penfions paid for fecret Jervice to mem- bers of parh'ament, or to any perions in trull for them ; and that ' the queen ordered faid account to 5 be laid before the houje ^! ConiraBs are a great fund of minifterial influence. It is well known, that our miniftry do not accept the moft reafonable oSitv ', but the cffer which is made by thofe, who have the ^xt2,ttQi parliamentary mrereft ; and that in war time, every man, ^Nho JurnijhcS tor the government^ is enriched-, in France the contrary \ which ihews, that we manage our public nioney oiuch worfe than the French miniilry dothcirs. In the late war ic ig notorious, that feveral oiowv purveyors arid commijja- ries got eftatcs lufficient to let ihcm up for earls and dukes. But as Burnet^ fays, ' the regard, that is ihewn to members of parliampnt aniL-ng us, cauies that few abufes can be inquired into, or di [covered. As to lotteries if * a adnifter has i. in his power * to give the fubfcription of 4 or 500 lottery tickets every year to iingle members, he has a.-i annual means of bribing the hcufe without danger of detec* tion c/ It was alledged in the houfe of commons by a Deb. Com. iv. i f9 b Hist, own Times, i i i. 279, C Deb. Com. ix. 282. 278 POLITICAL Book V. by Mr. Seymour, that in the lottery of 1769, 20,000 tickets had been diipofed of to members oi parliament, which fold for near 2/ premium each a. This was a fcramble cf 40,000/ aOiOng the members at one dafh. We need not wonder, that lotteries are a favourite fpccies of ways and means. Mr, Seymour, A. D, 177 1 J moved, that the names of ihe iublcri- bers to the then prefent lottery fliould be laid before the houfe. In a committee on the lottery bill, Mr Cornwal moved for leave to bring in a bill to prevent any members having more than 20 tickets, in his own name ; and that thofe, who had fublcribed for more, ihould refund into the exchequer the fums fo gained by them b. He obferved, that 200 annual tickets put 4C0/. a year into the pocket of a member, which is better than 800/. a year by z place , becaufe it did not expofe him to the expence of being re~ele5iedy nor to expence, or duty, attending the place [for Jome places are not finecures]. CHAP. II. Of Corruption in EkBions. OU R courtly gentlemen labour to perfuade us, that parliamentary corruption has never been that formidable evil our patriots have repre- fented it. Fads are {lubborn. They will fpeak^ and they will not always fpeak as our fleek courtiers W'ould wifh them. If they will fpeak, let then^ fpeak. Magna Veritas, et prcevalebtt. Mini- HJ II ' »^ a Dt£. Com. u> 2^2* b Ibid. 29^. Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 279 Minifterial artifice, for corrupting parliaments, has been applied in too ways, i To over-ruling eleBlom^ and 2, To by offing the votes of members in the hoiife. To {hew the good people oi Britain how their great and weighty concerns are managed, 1 will give a brief acconnt of fome remarkab'e controverted elections, and fads relating to that fubje(fl, which have occurred to me in the courfe of my reading, with reflections. * The duty of a member of parliament* (fays the brave Lucas of Ireland) ' is infinitely the moji impor^^ fa?2t that can devolve upon a fubjedla/ Mr. Locked ranks it among thofe breaches of truft in the exe- cutive m3giilrate, which amount to a dijfolution of government^ 'if he employs the force, treafure, and offices of the fociety to corrupt the reprejentativeSy or openly to pre-engage the eledfors, and prefcribe what manner of perfons fhall be chofen. To regulate candidates and elev5lors, and new model the ways of eledion, what is it, but to cut up t\\Q govern- ment by the roofsy and poifon the very fountain of public fecurity. ' Some call the attendance in parliament a burden, fays Sir Thomas Littleton c. * If i^ be a burden, it is fucli a burden as fome men fpend a great part of their eftates for, as if it was a privilege' In modern times, every body is rufhing into the houfe of commons. In former days, it was a pri- vilege to be exempted from the burden of being eleded, or contributing to the wages of members d. Does not this fad alone demonllrate, that thofe who a LoND. Mag. 1767, p. 565. b On Gov, p. 2.§ 222. c D £ B . Co\? . I u . jS I . d See Ml/)'nge, 79, 58o POLITICAL Book V. who ftrive to get Into the houfe, intend the fiHing of their pockets merely ? It was as much, and more, an honour to be in parliament in former times, than in oQrs ; bu^ it was not \o lucrative . Does any man buy without a view of failing'? And how are the buyers of feats in parliament to re-imburfe them- felves; but out of the plunder cf a wretched and almoft bankrupt nation ? * D — n you and your in- ftrudlions too/ ((aid a worthy member in anlwer to his conftituents recommending to his attention the public interefl) ' 1 have bought you, and 1 will Jell you by G — '. Candidates for feats in the houfe of commons pretend that they lay out their thoufands in electioneering, in order to obtain — not a place or a penfi.>n — but honour y and an opportunity oi feriing their country. But do they ferioufly exped:any man to believe this, who fees them trampling upon honour and honefty, bribing^ gambling, roc king ? Is that honour worthy of the name, which is got by the moft difhonourable means ? Is it ferving our country to debauch our country ? When thole men gee into the affembly of legiflators, what do they for their country ? What ^r/H'^;;^^^ have been redrejfed by the innumerable multitude of mem- bers of parliament, who have, fince the revolution, obtained feats in t'he houie by unwarrantable means ? What greater grievance can be imagined than the con- tinuance of this ruinous pradice ? 1 lay nothing of damnation^ as a conkquence of debauching a whole people, and promoting the intertft of the enemy of mankind in the world j though I might fay, that our bribing candidates ou are now fo univerfally complained of, that it is become highly necefiary for this houfe to come to feme vigorous relolutions again ft it, in order to convince the world that it has not as yet got within thefe walls. It has already, I am afraid, got too firm a footing in fome other parts of our conftitution ; what is now propofed will not, I am afraid, be a fufficient barrier, but I am very fure, if fomething is not very fpeedily done, ill fome effedlual meafures are not foon taken againft that deadly foe to our conftitution, 1 fay, I am fure that in a Giort time corruption will become fo general that no man will be a/raid to corrupt, no man will be ajhamed of being corrupted ^Z In the year 171 1, happened the famous dirty affair of Walpole\ expulfion for alienating 50c/. of the pub- lic a Deb. Com. IV. III. b Ibid. 172. «Ibid. 176. d Deb. Lords, \f, 223. Chap. 11. DISQUISITIONS. 295 lie money (of which more fully elfewhere. ) His feat was declared vacant, * becaufe expelled the houfe for ^ breach of truft, and notorious corruption,- when fecretary at war/ And it was refolved, that * he was and is incapable of being eledcd a member to ferve in parliament.' His antagonift, Taylor, was not allowed to be duly elede'd. The eledion for iLy«« wa? therefore declared void a. It was thought a flretch of power, becauie Walpak was a ftaunch whig, and the taries were at that time very ftrong in the houfe. But they fhewed mpdefty in refufing layigr^ eleded by a minority. We have feen a parliatnerrt proceed in a diiFerent manner in the cafe of Wilke^ zndi Lutterel 'y of which elfewhere. • At the eiedion for the borough of Berealjion in the county oi Devon, A. D, 172 1, Elliot^ a commiffionet of excife,;had taken upon himfelf to be the returning officer, contrary to law, which forbids any perfon belonging to the excife to meddle with elections. A motion made to addrefs the • king to turn him out, was put off. ^ Sir John Cope, A. D. 17^2, charged Sir Francis Page, a baron of the exchequer, with corruptmg the borough of Banbury, in Oxford/hire «.' Page ap- pears clearly to have been guilty 5 but it was carried by a majority of 4,, that he was immaculate d. ' There were feventy one contefted eledions the beginning of this parliament, A. D. 1734^. The houfe of commons made a refolution to hear no more contefted eledions, A. D. 1742. The num- ber was fo great, that the examining them was end- lefs^. So that any man might be a member of that par- ' stDe-b. Com, iv. 27^,- b Ibid. vi. 245. c Ibid. 275. dibid. 278. elbid, ix. x. f Ibid. XIII. 184, 296 Political Book v. parliament without having been either eleded. Or returned. A. jD. 1722, feveral lords protefted on rejecting the bill for fecuring the freedom of eledlion. Becaufe the methods of corruption made ufe of in eledions were grown to an height beyond the example of prc- ceeding times ; as it was a blemifli to the conftitu- tion, it deferved a parliamentary cure ; and becaufe the commons complained of this evil and defired their afliftance, to point out proper remedies, tecaufe a new eledion was coming, and thofe chofen might fitfeven years; and the ieptennial adt took its rife in that houfe. Becaufe it was admitted in the debate, that the public money had been ufed, to influence eledions; and example fet by men in high tffice would fpread its influence through all ranks; and that if gtntlcmen were to get into par- liament by bnbery^ it muft prove fatal to the liberties * of the people.' Lord Sunderland {2aA, he had not intimated that the frefent public money had been ufed to influence elec* tions. What he meant was only in king Charles ^^ and king James's time *. It was ordered, faid proteft fhould be expunged. Some lords proteftcd again ft expunging it; and gave the following reafons. * That they were defirous that their reafonings on the mifchicfs of bribery and corruption, might appear to porterity. That the prac* tice of expunging reafons was not ancient. That expunging many reafons, under one general head, was unfair, and not countenanced but by one pre* cedent on their books b/ Mr a Deb. jLoRDs, III. 227. b Ibid. 23 Chap. 11. DISQUISITIONS. 297 Mr. Hutchefofiy in his fpeech on the bill for fecur- ing freedom of eledions, A. D. 1722 \ has the fol- lowing paflages. * It is too notorious, what attempts are now car- rying on to invade the freedom of your approaching cledions ; in fome places by threats^ to fill and over-awe them with the quartering of troops^ if they do not comply; in others by the corrupt follicita- tions of agents and undertakers empbyed by thofe, who from the incredible fums which are difperled, one muft imagine, have more than private purfes at their command. But what, in God's name, can all this tend to ? What other conftrudtion can any man, in common fenfe, put upon all thefe things, but that there feems to have been formed a defign, by violence and oppreffion, firft to humble you, and to make your necks pliable to- the yoke that is de- fijied for you, and then to finifh the work by tempt- ing the poverty and necefTities of the people to fell thetnfelves into the moft abjedl and deteftable flivery, for that very money, which had been either unnecef- farily raifed, or mercilefly and unjuftly plundered and torn from their very bowels ? And thus you may be in a fair way of being fubdued by your own weapons. Nor can 1 imagine what inducement men can have who run from borough to borough, and purchale their elec- tions at fuch extravagant rates, unlefs it be from a ftrong expedation of being well repaid for their voteSy and of receiving ample recompence and rewards for the fecret /ervices they have covenanted to per- form here. In this fituation it is high time for gen- tlemen to put themfelves upon their guard, and if it be not already too late, to endeavour to put a flop to the courfe of thofe evils, which arc otherwife Vol. 1. CLq liktly a Deb. Com. vi, 272. 298 POLITICAL Book V. likely (o foon to overtake them. It is for thefe purpofes that this bill is now before you, and I hope it either is, or by your affiftance will be made, fuch as may fully anfwer the ends for which you were pleafed to order it to be brought in.' * Wc know, that perfons heretofore have not only bribed the returning officer, but have even indemnified him againfl the whole penalty oi 500/. rather than not get the return, right or wrong, in favour of them- felves j depending, I fuppofe, upon the flrength and partiality of their friends to maintain them at any rate in the unjuftifiable pojjejfion of a jeat here ; this has been pradlifed upon former occafions, and therefore there are always jufl: grounds to fufpedl it will be attempted again. And it is now come to fuch a pafs, that if you were even to double that penalty^ without doing fomething elje^ 1 am afraid it would have little or no effed. But when all ^fe londs of indemnity are declared null and ^void^ when the fecurities uluaily given and taken upon thefe occafions are withdrawn, they may then perhaps be deterredy at leaft from fo barefaced a pradtice of thefe arbitrary and illegal proceedings for the future.' Mr. Hutch^fon afterwards (hews, that the quaiifica- tion-ad was vtry deficient. * What dependence, fays ■ he, for inftance, can you have upon a man who has no more than three hundred pounds a year in land, or perhaps, only an annuity of that value for life, and has at the fame time thirty or forty thoufand pounds in the funds, or an employment of two or three thoufand pounds a year, civil or military, from the crown ? And even that fmall qualification is no otherwife obligatory upon him, than merely to en- able him to fwear to his having it, if it be required | at the time of his eledion \ for though he fells it, or otherwife divejis liimfelf of it immediately after, yet Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 299 yet it remains a doubt^ whether by fo doing he (hall vacate his jeat in parliament. This is certainly fuch an omiffion as requires to be better regulated and explained. There is lixkevvife a faving in that a6t in favour of eldsft fons cf peers, and the fame for thofe of commoners cf fix hundred pounds a year; but I confefs I am at a lofs to find out upon what grounds the latter was inferted, unlefs care had been taken at the fame time to oblige the father or the icn io prove iht pojjejjim of fuch an eftate j for at pre- fent, let the circumftances of the family be what they will, if the eldeft fon can procure himfelf lo be eleBed, I cannot fee but he is i?ititled to a feat here, without any farther examination whatever* This is another defedt fo grofs in your former adt, and opens a back door to fo many perfons, fo entirely contrary to the intent and meaning of it, that it very well jaflifies the repeal of it by this bill, I mean fo far only as it relates to the eldeft fons of commoners ^.' A petition of the right hon. Charles Sackville, com-' monly called earl oiMiddlefex, and the hon. IVilliam Hall Gage, Efq; was prefented to the houfe, A. D. 1747, and read, letting forth, * That at the laft elec- tion of barons to ferve in this prefent parliament for the town and port of Seafordy in the county of Suf-^ fex, the petitioners, together with the right hon. IVilliam Pitt. Efq; and William Hay Efq; were candidates. That on the day before the faid eledlion, a noble peer of this rCilm did invite to, and enter- tain at his houfe mod of the voters of the faid town and port ; and in the room where they were afl^embled, fpake to them one by one, and did iolhcit and a Deb. Com. vi, 272, fccj. 30O POLITICAL Book V. and influence them, with refped to giving their votes at the laid ele^ion ; by means whereof feveral per- fons who had promifed to vote, and would have voted for the petitioners, were prevailed upon by the faid noble peer to vote for the faid Mr. /V//, and Mr. Hoy. Which proceeding the petitioners conceive is an high infringement of the liberties and privileges of the commons of Great-Britain. That on the day of eledion, in order to awe and influence the voters in favour of the fitting members, and deter them from voting for the petitioners, the faid noble peer came into the court, accompanied by other peers of the realm 5 and h^xngfeated near to the returning officer, did continue there until the poll wasclofed; notwith- ftanding the prefcnce of him, and the faid other peers was cbje6ied to by one of the petitioners, and the re- turning officer applied to by him not to take the poll while the laid peers remained prefent in the court. In all which the faid petitioner thought himfelf fully juftified, as he apprehended their prefefice obftruded tht freedom of the eledion, and from the feveral de- clared relolutions of the houfe of commons, was a 'violation of the rights and privileges of the commons of Great-Britain ; and that by thefe and other illegal pradices the petitioners loji a great number of votes, which would otherwife have been given for the pe- titioners : And therefore praying the houfe to take the premifes into confideration, and to grant the pe- titioners fuch relief as to the houfe fhall feem meet. The houfe was moved. That the refolution of the 16th day of this inftant, Novembery That it is an high infringement of the liberties and privileges of the commons of Great-Britain^ for any lord of par- liament, or any lord lieutenant of any county to con^ cern Chap. IT. DISQUISITIONS. 301 cern themfelves in eledion of members to ferve for the commons in parliament, might be read. And the fame was read accordingly. A motion was made, and the queftion being put. That the matter of the faid petition be heard at the b^r of this houfe : Upoa which a debate arofe. In this debate, Mr. Pitf^ one of the fitting members, treated the petition with great contempt y and turned it into a mere^Vy?/ On this occafion, Mr. Potter (ion of the archbi- fhop) fpoke as follows : * Mr. Speaker, 1 rife up to do myfelf juftice: For as I look upon the matter contained in this petition to be of the utmoft impor- tance to the honour of the houfe, and even to the ex- ijience o\ parliament ; and as to my very great amaze- ment, I fee this queftion treated with the greatcft contempt and ridicule by an hon. gentleman, whofe weight may perhaps perfuade a majority to be of his opinion, I think 1 owe it to myielf to declare my fen- timents on this great occalion by fomething more than the vote which lihall give. 1 hope. Sir, things are not yet come to fuch a pais, as to make it necef- fary for any man to go about to prove that the con- ftitution is deftroyed, whenever this houfe (hall lofe ^its independency. After all the noble llruggles made in the houfe by great patriots, after all the laws pafled by the legiflature to preferve that independen- cy, I (hould hope, that out of decency, as well as out of regard to truth, I may be allowed to argue upon that as upon an indubitable maxim. The represen- tatives of the people, when they are chofen to that office, have been faid to be independent, even on their conllituents'y how neceffary then, Sir, is it for this houfe to take care that there be no other improper, or corrupt 302 POLITICAL BookV' corrupt dependency ? But, Sir, if the vitnijlcrs are to be allowed to nominate to the burghs the perfons who rtiall be their reprefentatives, how are we to expedt an independent parliament ? That tnlnifters may endea- vour to fubvertlhis independency, that they may think it even neceflary to their owny?f//r//y, to corrupt par- h'amcnt, we have too much reafcn to know. But, Sir, whatever pains former minifters may have taken for this purtoie, what undue methods foever they may have ufed to gain to themfelves a corrupt majority in this hcufe, I believe hiftory is not able to produce ^.x\ in dance equal to the prefent of a wife and great Jlatefman taking upon himfelf the honourable employ- ment of being an agent at a burgh. It was not enough fignify his commands by his underlings; it was not e- nough to folicit votes in his own perfon. The voters, it feems, could not be trufted out of his prefcnce, and therefore, they were to be attended tvtn to the poll. But, Sir, this great humility and condefcenfion in a minider, would, in former times, have been conftrucd a mod: notorious invalion of the rights of the people, and of the privileges of this houfe. And, Sir, what will the people fay to us ? Or what will they think of our independency, if we are not as jealous of their rights, and as tenacious of our own privileges as any of our predeceffors have been ? What will they think. Sir, if after feeing one parliament diiTolved in a new unprecedented, I had almoft faid an unconftitutional m:^nner, they (hail be told, that the minifters have been nominating their reprefentatives in the next even without the ceremony of a conge d'elire? But, Sir, dill farther ; What will they think, iftheyfliall be told that this proceedi?jg of the minifter has been laid before the houfe of commons, and that the Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 303 the houfe of commons will not, or dare not ceri" fure him ? There have been times when no man was \^\o^^'^K too great to be accountable to this houfe for his condudt j and I could give an inftance even in my own memory of a great and able ftatef- man, whofc long adminiftration was an honour and benefit to his county, and whofe condud: this houfe thought fit to enquire into by the moft fevere fcru- tiny — When I firft heard the petition read at your table, I could hardly believe it poflible that the alle- gations it contained were founded upon truth, I expeded to have heard the friends of the noble perfon who is the objedl of it, boldly denying the charge^ and calling loudly upon the accukrs to juflify it; I was determined not to believe it, unlefs Supported by the ftrongeft proof. But, Sir, how great was my amazement when I heard an honourable gentleman, \W. Pitt, Efq.] * who was privy to the whole tranf- adtion, not only admitting every fadt alledged to be trucy but openly avowing and attempting to juftijy them? ]n what light they may appear to him, Sir, he can beft tell you. But to me it feems moft manifeft, that as the condudt complained of was the greateft injury that could be done to our privileges^ the attempt iojujlify it is the greateft infult upon our underjlanding. In what other light. Sir, can it ap- pear to us, than as the laft and wtmoft effort of one who was determined at any rate to procure a majority in this houfe of perfons attached to himjelfy his own creatures, the tools of his power ? I wifli to God, Sir, nothing may happen to-day to give the people room to fufpedl: that he has been too juccefsJuL What more could he have done ? Or what greater infult is it poffible for him to offer, unlefs he fhould come even 304 POLITICAL BookV. even within the walls of this houfe to diredl our determinations ? After what he has done — I (hould not wonder, Sir, if he did come and take that chair, and tell you, as we were told formerly, that your mace was a bauble, and that you fliould keep it only while you pleale him. Your mace. Sir, is a bauble^ and fo is every other enjign oi authority, unlefs you can preferve your independency, A dependence upon the crown, 6ir, would in the end prove fatal to our liberties ; but a dependence upon the mini/ier^ as it is infinitely more diJJdonourabley is infinitely more dangerous. One might fuppofe. Sir, {omefecurity to a people from the honour of a crowned head, and from the lolid compadls that are made between the people 2iV\di i\\t\v I over eign. I know of no compads that are or can be made between a minifter and the people. I can fuppofe too. Sir, that in fome future time a minifter may arife profligate enough to carry his views fo high as to attempt to make both king zv\A people fubfervient to his own ambition. I can imagine fuch a one. Sir, taking advantage of fome general calamity or time of general confufion, by a corrupt parliamentary influence opprefiing even the king upon his throne, and making the crowned head a prifoner in his clofet. I can imagine him. Sir, fo blown up with folly and felf-conceit, as to become a competitor evenwith thofe who (hall be of royal blood for pofts of dignity or titles of honour; and he may. Sir, (it is hardly poffible indeed) but he may even proltitute the name of the crown to fup- port his pretenfions. This, Sir, I fay is a pidlure which 1 can draw in my own mind of the miferable fitua- tion of this country if ever the parliament fhould become dependent on a minifter. But as this can never happen but in fome time of general infatuation or Chap. II. , DISQUISITIONS. 305 or general corruption, the wifdom and virtue of the prefent age fcarce fccure us from feeing it otherwife than in imagination : but. Sir, whatever I lee, or whatever 1 feel, God forbid that by an adl or vote of mine, I (hould make the way eafy for fuch miferies to overwhelm any future generation. The honour- able gentleman was pleafed to fay that this was a new cafe, and that there was no precedent upon our journals to guide our proceedings : but let it be remembered, that this can never be the cafe again, fince the vote of to-day will remain upon our books an eternal precedent to pofterity, and a law to this houfe for the future. For God's fake then, Sir, let us confider a little what fort of a law we are going to make ; let us remember that if the prefent tranfadlion pafTes uncenfured, and is declared free from guilt, we may hereafter fee every peer of par- liament, every fecretary and other officer of fiate, every chancellor of the exchequer, with his treafury bags under his arm, attendifig and Joli citing ele5iions ; and when they (hall be called upon in this houle to juftify their proceedings, they (hall tell you, they have done nothing but what they had a right to do, and that fuch was the opinion of this wile, this independent, this freely eleded parliament. Sir, I am not one of thofe perfons, who will ever be for extending the privileges of this houfe to any ridicu- lous or romantic degree: if I could but pciiuade myfelf that there was the leaH: room to doubt upon this occafion, I fhould think that humanity obliged me to put the miideft conilructlon. But really. Sir, I think the in/u/t offered to the houfe is of fo jlagrant a nature, I think the prt cedent muft prove fo dangerous to the honour and mdcpen^ Vol. I. R r hncy 3o6 POLITICAL Book V. dency of parliament, I think the confequcnces mufl: be fo deftrudive to the conftitution as to deferve and demand xht ftvere/i animadveriion. The honourable gentlennan was pleafed to a(k. What is the objed of the petition ? Sir, I will tell him what the objed is ; it is ihtfecurity, xh^Jreedom oi parliaments, and pro- teding the privileges of the commons of Great Britain. Surely, Sir, from tkis houfe ihc commons of Greats Britain have a right to exped juftice. Their moft valuable privileges have been trampled upon and /«- Jultfd, and they come now by this petlton to demand ju/iice : Juftice, Sir, they will receive, and I hope ?2ow. But of one thing I am fure^ that, fooner or later, they will have it/ [the petition was difmified by 247 againft 96 ^). The cafe of a double return from the borough of Milborn-Port came under confideration, A, D. 1747. Michael Harvey and Jeffry French, Efqrs. znd Thomas Medlycotr and Charles Churchill, Efqrs. were returned. This being a borough by prefcription, according to the ancient ufage and cuftom thereof, there have always been in it nine capital bailiffs, who hold their refpedive offices by virtue of deputations granted by the proprietors of nine ancient parcels of borough lands. Two of them prefide yearly by rotation as head officers ; and thele two prefiding capital bailiffs may, it they pleafe. (at a court ket, held in OBaber yearly) appoint fubftitutes to execute the menial offices of the borough, who are called fub- bailiffs. This borough difcontinued fending members to parliament for many years ; but was rettored to its ancient privi- leges, 4 Charles 1. Smce which time, it has continued to a -<^//«. Deb. Com. hi. 77. Chap. II. DISQ.UISITIONS. 307 to fend two members to every parliament, and the Sheriff's precept for chufing members is always direct- ed to the bailiffs thereof. For feveral years after the borough was reftored t© its privileges, the two prefidinjy capital bailiffs when prefent, or one of them when the other was abfent, enjoyed the fole right of maiving the return to the (heriff's precept, that is to fay, of returning the members they thought legally chofen. But fince the refloration, thefe nine ancient parcels of borough lands having been all ingrofled, and become the property of two neighbouring gentlemen, by agree- mentbetween themfelves, they, or fome of their friends were generally chofen and returned withoutoppofuion; and as it often happened that neither of the capital prefiding bailiffs were prefent, the return was often made by their fubftitutes, or fub-bailiffs : but fome- times by the capital bailiff or bailiffs, and moft frequently by the baliffs and burgefles of the faid bjrough. Tiiis was the conftitution of the faid borough at the time of the lafleledion, when Thomas Medlycott, Efq; and Wiliiam Bijhop^ were the prefiding capital bailiffs, and one' Arthur Anjly (laid to be a common day-labourer and fervant to the faid nomas Medlycott) was the fub- bailiff appointed by the faid Medlycott. The candidates were Michael Harvey and Jeffry French, Efqrs. on one fide, and the faid Thomas Medlycott and Charles Church- iilf Efqrs. on theoth^r; and when the election v/as over, a return of the too former was made to the fberiff by the faid William Bifpop, which he accepted and annexed to his precept; butlomc days after another return of the two latter was made to the fneriff by the faid Arthur Anjly ^ which he likewife accepted, and an- nexed to his precept, fo that his writ was returned with a double return for the faid borough, and which was the legal return was the queftion, and the only qaeflion that ^o8 POLITICAL Book V. that hv order came to be determined on Thurfday the I ft of December laft. As to the return made by Wil- Ham Bijhopy it wasobjeded, firft. That the fub-baihfFs anr! not the capital bailiffs were'by the cuftomof that borough the returning officers: and fecondly, That the faid William Bifljcp was not properly qualified to ac^, becauie he had not previoufly taken an oath of office. To th firft objedion it was anfwered, that by ihe cuftom of the borough the fub-bailiffs never adted but in the abfence, or by the orders or permif- fion of their principals 5 and when either of the capi- tal bailiffs was prefent, neither of the fub-bailiflfs could ad: as a principal; the capital bailifl?' prefent being then the lole prefiding officer. To the fecond objedion it WMS anfwered, That William Bijhop had taken all the caths reqaifite by law, but that on oath of office was not rtquifite either by law or the cuftom of that bo- roucrh, as had been admitted by the faid Thomas Medlscott himfelf. Then as to the return made by Arthur Anfly, it was objeded, ift. That as he was only a fub-bailiff, and both the capital prefiding bailiffs not only prefent, but ading as prefiding officers, he could not ad as a prefiding officer in any affair whatfoever ^ much lefs in fuch a principal one as that of returning members to parliament. And 2dly, That the return made by the faid Arthur Anfty was void by virtue of a reiolution of that houfe of the 2d oi June^ i^^85, by which it was refolved, That no raayor, bailift', or other officer, to whom the precept ought to be dirtded, is capable of being eled:ed to ferve in parliamenr for the fame borough of which he it> mayor, bailiff, or officer at the time of eledion. And as th - return made by the faid Arthur Anfty muft be luppeftd to be a return made by the faid Thomas Mealycott^ whofe iubititute and fervant he was, ac- cording Chap. ir. DISQUISITIONS. 309 cording to the axiom in law, qui facif per alium facit per fe i therefore by this relolution it ought to be void. To the firft objedlion it was anfwercd, That by the cmlom of the borough the fub-bailiffs were the only proper returning officers, confequently the return made by Arthur Anjly was the only legal re- turn ; and to the 2d it was anfwered. That if the axiom of law were to be applied to the eled:ion for this borough, neither of the two proprietors of the nine ancient parcels of borough lands could ever be chofen or returned as rt^prefentativcs for this borough, becaufe both the capital and fuh-bailiffs are but their deputies; and as this would be inconfiftent with com- mon fcnfe, as well as contrary to the cuftom of the borough, ever fince the above-mentioned refolution, it could not be fuppofed, that the houle thereby in- tended to render the fub- bailiffs of this borough inca- pable of returning either their immediate principals, the capital bailiffs, or their remote principals, the proprietors of thele ancient parcels of borough lands. Upon the whole, the houfe, after having fpent two days in hearing counfel, reading former returns, &c. and examining witneffes, came to a refolution, that the execution of a precept for eledling burgeffes to ferve in parliament for the borough of Milborn Port and the making of the return thereof, are only in the two fub-bailiffs of the faid borough, or in one fu fa- bailiff, if there are not two, [^one fub-bailiff is un- doubtedly more like to be bribed^ than two capital bailiff's^ in confequence of which the clerk of the crown, by order, took off the file the return made by William Bijhop, and the faid Jhomas Medlycott and Charles Churchill^ Efqrs. became thereby the only fitting Members^. The a Aim* Deb. Com. hi. 83. 3IO POLITICAL BookV* ThQ duke of Bedford, in the year 1735, P^^^^^^^d a petition to the lords from the dukes of Hamilton, ^eenjberry and MoJitrofe, and the earls of Dundonaldy Marctmont and ^taivy complairiing, That, at the eledion of the fixteen Scotch peers, feveral undue methods and illegal pradices were ufed, of which they could bring proofs, and praying that the houfe of lords would allow them to be laid before them *. The petitioners were perfons of the higheft rank and moft refped^able perfonal charaders. The matter of their petition was of fupreme confequence, afFeding the very exiftence of the houfe of lords. Some of the court-lords were againft making any enquiry into the matter of it ; fearing, that fome things might come out, which would not be much for their honour. The earl of Chejlerfield and lord Bathurjl faid, it vvas very extraordinary, that any hefi- tation fhould be made in the houfe of lords whether they fhould liften to a complaint of fo high an enor- mity made by perfons of fuch rank. When the matter came before the houfe, the dukes oi Atholz^d Buccleugh obferved, that the terms of the petition were vague and indefinite. It was remarked, that two Scotch peers fpeaking againft the petition was rather indelicate. It was likewife obferved, that the houfe of peers is not, like the courts below, confined to forms ; but may proceed to the general iflue and merits of the caufe in the moft natural way. It was moved, That the petitioning lords fhould be defired to declare, whether they intended to controvert the late eledion b. The petitioning lords declared, they did not intend to controvert the eledion or return of the a Deb. Lorbs, ly. 360. b Ibid. 366. i Chap. ir. DISQUISITIONS. 311 the fixteen peers from Scotland^ but only to lay before the houfe certain proceedings at the election, which they thcuoht dangerous to the conftitution, and which might afFcdt future eledions. A multitude of diffi- culties were ftarted about fuch an enquiry's drawing imputations on certain characters ^ but it was rightly obferved, that the lords would do well to confider, whether throwing impediments in the way of a due enquiry into the matter of the petition, would not draw imputations upon the houfe of peers. The petitioning lords made a renewed application to the houfe of peers, fignifying, befides what they had faid in their firft reprefentation, that they could not, in the matter of their petition, adl both as profecutors and witneffes; that though their informations were fufficiently certain as to the fad, that there had been undue proceedings at the eledion of Scotch peers, yet their informers might not have thought proper to give in names, and may avoid doing fo, till brought before the houfe of peers. Then they added a as fol- lows J * Though the opening the particulars of the fads to be proved may neceffarily produce fuch a difcovery of evidence before examination as is ufually thought dangerous even in courfe of ordinary trials, and may be much more fo in the cafe of a parliamen- tary enquiry : Yet neverthelefs, in confequence of your lordfhip's order, as far as we are able from the nature of the thing, we do humbly acquaint your lordfliip's, that we laid the petition before you upon information that the lift of fixteen peers for Scotland had been framed by peifons in high trufl: under the crown, long previous to the eledion itfelf; and that a D£B. Lords, IV. 395* ^it POLITICAL BookV. that this lift was (hewn to peers as a lift approved of by the crown, and was called the king's liftj from which there was to be no variatieUy unlefs it was to make way for one or two particular peers, on condition that they {hould go along with the meafure. That peers were folicited to vote f )r the lift, called the crown^lift, without the liberty of making any alterations. That endeavours were uled to engage peers to vote for this lift by promife of penfionsy and offices civil and military, to them- felves and near relations ; and by adual promife and offers of fums of money. That fums of money were adtually given to or for the ufe of fome peers to engage them to concur in the voting for this lift. That annual penfions were promifed to be paid to peers, if they concurred in the voting for this lift; fome of them to be on a regular eftablifliment, and others to be paid without any ejlablijhment at all. That about the time of this eledion, numbers of penfions, office (of which fome were nominal J 3iuA releafes of debts owing to the crown, were granted to peers, who concurred in voting for this lift, and to their near relations. That on the day of eledion, a batta- lion of his n\2^y-^y\ forces was drawn up in the Abbey court, at Edinburgh^ and three companies of it were marched from Leith (a place at one mile's dif- tance) to join the reft of the battalion, and kept under arms from nine in the morning till nme at night, when the elediion was endedy contrary to cuftom at eledions, and without any caufe or occa- fion, that your petitioners could forefee, other than the overawing of the eledion. Thefe inftances of undue practices we now humbly mention, which, we hope, will fatisfy your lordlhips, that we have juft Chap. II. D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S. 3:3 juft reafon to pray your lordships to take this mat- ter into your ferious confidcration» and to provide f.ich a remedy as may be efFedual for prefcrving th ■ nght and freedom of elections, this beifig the only right that now remains with the peers of Scotland in lieu of a conflant and hereditary leat in parliament ' All this however, went for nothing with man-' of their good lordfhips. It was not fufficiently /j^rmT^- lar to be taken notice of by the houfe. Direct i>ri» bery was not a fufficiently particular inftance of illegal practices 3 nor were the different fpecies of it, parti-' cularized by the petitioning lords, particular enough* The demurring lords were even (o hard put to i6 POLITICAL Book V. gmify perfons (and tbefe probably of the highejl rank) rii y ffcape by fuch a method ; which impofing^ an iwpoffibility on the intormants, muft, as we appre- h(f.r!, lerve to defeat all parHamentary enquiries, and liiectore could not be, in our opinion, within the intention of the order/ The protefting lords ai;d, « We apprehend, that pinning down the peti- tion in,-; 1' rds to the precife wird$ of the order^ may be attended wth this fatal confequence, that all p'^i iiamentary enquirits may be rendered much more d.jficuU hereatter, uhich may probably give fuch en- c Li; rgrji. ent to coxr u\^i mini/ierSy that they may be pr'-mpied H) make the moft dangerous attempts upon the a72jiitution, and hope to come off with impunity. Such appieiienfions naturally fu^geft the melancholy uPjcdjon that our pofterity may fee the time when fome of thofe lords who fit upon a more precarious f oc than tKe reft of the hqufe, having through mo- tise- of virtue and honour, ^pofed the evil defigns or \i\\\^^ future minifter, for that, and that alone^ may be excluded at an enfuing eledion ; and though the V'hoie v\orld mu' be fenfible of the cauje of their ex- clufK^fi, no remedy may be found, but their cafe may become a lubject of national concern, indignation, a^ui ri .entmc-nt.' It was then moved, that the pe- tiijon Hiould be difmifled. And it was urged (grave- ly \ will iot fay; for I Ihould think hardly even a tv^irt iOrd cou'd (o cffeitually command his counte- n^.ct-) tl at it was a priori^ and ' from the nature of t^/c »ling,' improbable (geometrically demonftrable^ ' 1 V fn uid h^ive faid) * tha any fuch pradlices were .d. ' w ^t af the late clcdion.' Becaufe the elected " , »vcre good men a. If this be not dcmonftration. H a Deb. Lords, iv. 413. Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 317 let the reader judge. It was obferved, on the part of the petition, thatiffuch a petition was dilmiiTed, It would na;urally be concluded. That the houle of peers ' was never to enquire into any illegal prac- tices, if by fuch enquiry an iaipeachment, or any other parliamentary proceeding, might become ne- ceffary for puniftiment/ It was faid, That even * common fame, or a general clamour was not only a foundation for an enquiry, but fuch a foundation as the houfe of peers is obliged, both in honour and duty, to lay hold of;' that the guilty, if any fuch are found and convided, may be brought to condign punifhment ; or, .if otherwife, that the flanderers may be punifhed. * General clamours ought never* to be Contemnedy the ^^i?/>/^ ought to ho. fatisfed. It is one of the chief ends of our meeting in this houfe, and in fuch cafes there is ho way of faiisfying the people, but by a ftrift enquiry ^ and a fevere punijhment upon the guilty ; for guilty petfons there mull: necefiarily be upon all fuch occafions, ^either on one fide or the other.' And if a general clamour is a fufficient caufe for parliamentary enquiry, how much more a petition Uovcijix noblemen formally complaining of /«;2/ry done themfelves and their country'? To'fay nothing of the duke of Hamilton^ \htjirjt nobleman bf the ancient kingdom of Scotland, or of any of the other four, who fubfcribed the petition, the venerable name of the earl oi Stair was alone fufficient to fandlify what- ever it appeared affixed to, and to fecure it from the negled of any, but a fet of men, who had long fet (hame and decency at defiance., The affair of the South Sea directors, and of the charitable corporation, and of the Tork-Buildings com- 71^ POLITICAL BookV, ^ company, were mentioned on the part of the pe- tition, into which an enquiry was made, though as few particulars previoufly fpecified as in the prefent cafe. Thefe were all let on foot in confequence of petitions from the injured, as in the prefent cafe. * But,' (fay the lords on the fide of the petition) * was it ever before defired, or infilled on that the petitioners fhould give particular inftances of the frauds or illegal practices they complained of? Was it ever infifted on that they fliould give the names of the particular perfons they fuppofed to be guilty ? No, my lords, it never was. And (hall the petitioners in the prefent cafe, becaufe they are men of as high quality; and as much injured as any that ever prefent- ed a petition to parliament, becaufe the injury they complain of is of as high and as dangerous a nature as any that was ever complained of to parliament; and becaufe the praftices they complain of are as generally Relieved, and as much exc/Mped againft, as ever any practices were in this or any other nation ; fhall they, I fay, for the/e reafons be obliged to do more than was ever defired of any petitioners ? Shall their petition be reje^ed, unlefs they will fubjed themfelves to the trouble, the expence, and the danger of becoming the adual accufersKii thofe they fufpcdl: to be guilty ?' It was obferved, ' that even in private life, if a gen- tleman fliould relate a fadl, and fay he had it from fuch, authority as he could depend on, it would net be confident with common decency^ to tell him, I can give no credit to what you relate \ nay, 1 will not fo much as be at the pains to enquire into the truth of ir, unUfs you give me year authority. Confidcr, my lords, what are the authorities that can be given. The noble lords the petitioners have told us, that they have i:^rtain Chap. 11. DISQUISITIONS. 319 certain information of undue and illegal pradices made ufe cf towards 'engaging peers to vote for a lift at the laft eleftion. The only authority they can give for this allegation is, that of the perfons who told them fo, and thefe are the very perions they defire to , have examined n your lordjjjifs bar. Surely your lord- fhips would not have them to give you that autho- rity at prefent ; you would not have them now to give you tl^e names of their informers ; that would indeed be a difcovery of evidence, the moft open that ever was made, and more open than was ever defired from any plaintiff in this world. This therefore hnct furely what the nobie lords would have towards affifting them to form a judgment of their own in the prefent cafe ', and yet if this be not what they izant^ I really cannot comprehend what they would have.* ' If .we look back upon all former elcdions in par- liament, (lays a namelefs fpeaker in the debate) wc muft think it very (Trange that the fixteen peers chofen have always been oi 2, minijlerial complexion almoft without exception ; and if the complexion cf any of them altered during the continuance of the parliament, we have always found them left out at the next eledionj nay, upon all changes of minijlers, we have found the eledtion of peers in Scotland take a 72CW and a general turn. This could not, in my opinion, have happened without fomething of a very extraordinary minifterial influence on that election ; and this extraordinary influence cannot be obtained without fome undue methods and illegal pradices ; nay, it is natural to fuppofe, that if he is not a man oi more virtue than minifters ufually have, a minifttr will always make ufe of the power and the favours of the crown which are at his difpofal, to get fuch a fct 220 P O L I T I C A V Book V. fet of peers returned TiOm Scotland 2iS> he (hall approve of; fo that from the nature of the thing, as well as from paft experience, we have all the reafon in the world to believe there have been fome illegal pradices made ufe.of at the lafi eledion ; and as the honour of this houfey as well as the prefer vation of the confti" tution^ is deeply concerned in preventing fuch prac- tices, as fuch practices cannot be prevented by our cr<^/Wry courts of law, an enquiry into this affair is now, 1 think, become abfolutely «fr<^rj//— * C^//^ tQm^ my lords, is of a mighty prevalent nature. Even virtue itfelf owes its refpeB in a great meafure to cuftom 'y ar:d vice^ by being openly and avowedly pradifed, foon comes to difguife itfelf, to conceal its deformity, and at length to aflame the habit of virtue. If minifterial influence, if private and felfijh views fhould once come to be i\iQ Jo le diredtors in voting at the election of the flxteen peers for Scotland^ the prac- tice would foon get even into this houfe itfelf \ and as inferiors are always apt to imitate their fuperiors, it would from thence defcend to every eleBion^ and to every aflTembly in Great Britain. Corruption would then come to be openly and generally avowed ; it would afliime the habit oi virtue ; the facrificing our country^ the facrificing of all the ties of honour ^ friend- fhip, and bloody to any perfonal advantage or prefer- ment, would be called prudence aitd good fen/ky and every contrary behaviour would be called madnefs znd Jolly. Then indeed if there were a man of virtue left in the nation, he might have reafon to cry out with the celebrated Roman pztnot, O virtue I'have followed thee as a real goodj but now I find thou art nothing but an empty name. It was, my lords, the general eorruption he found in his country that led that great Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 321 great man into fuch an expreffion. He died in the de- fence of liberty and virtue ; and with him expired the laft remains of the liberty and virtue of his country j for virtue and liberty always go hand in hand -, where-* ever one is, there likewife is the other, and from every country they take x\\€\v flight together,' It had been faid on this occaiion, that the enquiry propofed by the petitioners would put the nation m a ferment. To this it was replied ^^ ' As to thei putting the nation in 2. ferment , I am fure in the prefent cafe our going upon an enquiry will put the nation into no ferment ; but our refuiing to make any enpuiry will certainly put the whole nation, and particularly Scotland^ into a very great ferment. We ought to confider, my lords, the danger the whole nation was expofed to by a moft unjuft rebellion raifed in that country againft his late majefty ^ but if the peerage of that country fhould find themfelves opprejfed by a minijlery and fhould find that no jujitce is to be expected from this houfey it may raife another rebellion^ or rather an infurreSlion^ in that country j and as they would then have truth and ju/iice on their fide, it would naturally procure them the hearts of all the people of England^ and I am afraid moft of their hands.' The petition being difmifled, a proteft was entered on the journals, in which are the following nervous paflages, viz. * When we confider the firft particular in the anfwer of the lords petitioners, viz. That the lift of fixteen peers for Scotland had been framed by perfons in high truft under the crown, being previous to the eledtion itfelf, and that the lift was (hewn to peers, as a lift ap- Vol. I* T t proved a Deb, Lords, iv, 422, ( 322 POLITICAL Book V. proved of by the crown^ and was called the king*s lift j we are filled with indignation to fee that great name indecently blended with the tricks of miniliers^ and profaned and proftituted to the worfi purpofes, to purpofcs that mull ne.ceffarily tend to the fubyerjion of our conjlitutiony which we know it is his majefty's glory and defiie io preferve. Such a criminal attempt to fcreen or facilitate a minijierial nomination by the interpofition (equally falfe and illegal) of his ma- jefty's name, calls, in our opinion, not only for the ftrideft enquiry and the itvtxt^i punifiment upon the authors oi the fad, if it be proved, or the ajfertors of it, if it be not ; but it is in our opinion no way to be dropt unexamined and unenquired into ; fuch a pre- cedent may in future times encourage the T). 17545 four members for Oxfordjhire were re- turned by the fheriff, inftead of too. Therefore there was no fitting member for the county ^ Any member might have moved the houfe upon this the very firil day of the feffion *, and the Iheriff might have been ordered to attend, and give an account of his proceed- ing. However, no notice was taken till November i8 : So that the houfe was not legally fuch till the county of Oxford w^s reprefented, though it met on the 14th, and did bufinefs. All the four candidates petitioned, vizi lord Parker (now earl of Macclesfield) and Sir Edward Turner on the court fide j and lord Wenman and Sir 'James Dajhwood on that of the oppofition. The friends of the two former moved, that the matter of the petitions fhould be heard immediately; but thofe on the other infifted, that the merits of the return ought to be firft heard and determined <= ; which was certainly reafonable. They therefore moved for the previous quefiion, whether the queftion upon this motion fliould be now put. Becaufe if the privious queftion a Dbb. Com. xiii. 14. \> Aim, Deb. Com. v. 153. clbid. 153. Chap. IL DISQUISITIONS* 337 queftion had been carried in the negative, they would have had an opportunity to move for appointing a fhort day to confider of the return^ and for ordering the high (heriff to attend. But this the court party were againft, and carried their point, that the matter of the petition (hould be heard on the 3d of December following. Afterwards it was moved by the oppofiiion, that the high fheriffftiould attend on the day of hear- ing. But this was carried in the negative a. It appeared, that the (heriff had given a very unfair advantage to the court gentlemen, by allowing them lo make their objedions to all the voters through the whole poll, before the oppoiition-gendemen fhould objed to one individual 5 of which it was impofTible to go through half before the end of the month, when the writ was returnable b. The latter therefore infilled, that they were fairly eleded, becaufe they had an acknowleged majority, which could not be fct afide by fuch an unfinifhed fcrutiny, in which fcrutiny, belides, they had not had an equal chance. It v^as therefore incumbent on the court-gentlemen's counfel to endeavour to overthrow the majority claimed by their antagonifts. It was carried, that the oppofi- tion-couniel fliould proceed to (hew the general merits bf their caufe. They did fo, and propofed to dif- qualify no lefs than 540 voters for the court-gentlemen* Then witnefTes were examined for proving the par- tiality of the (hcrift, and for * proving lord Parker and Sir Edward Turner, and their agents, guilty of bribery 5 for which purpofc, they likewife produced letters, which they proved to be the hand-writing of the faid two gendemen ^Z Nine days were fpent in Vol. I. X X proving a JImiDEB, Com. v, 154. b IbJd. 156* c Ibid. 157. 338 POLITICAL Book V. proving voters on the court-fide difqualified. Lord Parker and Sir Edward Jtmier anfwercd objedions againftthe flierifF, and endeavoured to clear themfelves of the accufation of bribery, which.they retorted upon- their antagonifts. They fpent ten days in endeavouring to clear their voters. Then they propofed to fetafide 522 of the oppofite voters, in which they fpent eleven days. Then the oppofition-counfel fpent nine days in their reply. Many feparate queflions were debated, moft, if not all, of which were determined by a great majority in favour of lord Parker and Sir Edward burner,* the court-gentlemen a. A motion was made by the oppofition. That all copyholders, holding by court-roll, and not at the will of the lord, -have right of voting for county- members. This motion was made on purpofe to have a negative put upon it ; but it was fet afide by the previous queftion. Lord Parker and Sir Edward Turner were declared duly elefted ^. It is a common trick of our minifters to put a mul- titude of perfons upon taking up their freedom in boroughs and cities before an eledion, with a view to their votes, every one of which may be fuppofed to be bought. Corporations have fometimes manfully re- fufed to grant freedoms for fuch purpofes 3 as that of G/(?r^^9^^r did about 1767. I took this fadt from a Magazine, but have not quoted it rightly. The number of petitions complaining of undue ekaions and returns was fo great in the firft feflions of the prefent parliament, that the houfe of commons muft have employed one long feffion only in fettling controverted eledions, without bringing in any one bill, public or private. Therefore they thought it necef- SL Jim, Deb, Com. v. 158, b Ibid, 159, Chap. II. D IS QUI S I T 10 N S. 339? neceflary to put off all thofe petitions to next feflion. How many gentlemen may be fuppofed to have fat and voted during that feflion, who had no right to be there, and whofe illegal votes did in fadl render the acls made in that feflion null and void. See the Magazines, &c. of the times. Could a more folcmn farce be adcd, than that of a certain A, D. which (hall be namelefs, when the magi- flrates of a certain famous city were gravely repri- manded by the fpeaker of the houfe of commons, becaufe they had propofed to their then prefent mem- bers to re-eled them, if they would advance a fum, not to be funk \n prroate pockets, but toward relieving the city from fome of its debts ? How the fpeaker could help laughing in the midft of his fpeech, when he refleded, that at lead two-thirds of the houfe had obtained their feats by more corrupt means, is not eafy to underftand. 1 fliould have been (Irongly tempted, had I been one of thofe reprimanded citizens, to anfwer his reprimand as follows : * None of your grimaces, pray good Mr. fpeaker. You have caught us, and you have pounded us, and there is an end of the matter. But look around you, and think what lungs you muft have to reprimand all who have given and received money for /eats and votes in this houle/ There is nothing new under the fun. There was a conteiled eledion between Mr, ^reitchard and Mr. Bertie in Charles ll's penfioned parliament. It was carried for Bertie, Lord 0' Brian, a relation of the lord treafurers, went to him in triumph with the news, and told him, they had fairly voted 13 more than 21a. So in the late Midd!efex elcdtion the com- mons a State Tracts, time of king /f7///tf.w, ii. 476. 34^ POLITICAL Book V. mens fairjy voted 296 more than 1143. It is true, that Mr. Wilkes was known to have no r^^/ qualifi- cation. For there was at that very time a fubfcription carrying on, to enable him to pay his debts. And (to fay nothing of any objedions againft that gentle- man's chara5ier rendering him unfit to be a legiflar- tor) it was certainly not in character for perfons af- iuming to be the ajfertors of the conftitution, to do fo tinco?iJiitutional 2i thing, as promoting an unqualified perlon's eledion into parliament. At the fame time, this does not juftify the commons in their proceeding on that occafion; upon which 1 will add here, as a comment, the fubftance of a prote,^ by feveral lords, as follows °3 That the proceeding of the houfe of commons on thai: occafion was unconftitutional. That the houfe ought not to make law concerning eledions 9 but on- ly to declare it as it is already made. That eledion is in the hands of the conjiitiientsy not of the houfe. That otherwife the houfe may come to h^Jelf- created, and the ccnfiituents thrown out of all power. That there is no precedent for making expulfion imply in- capacitation. Walpole was re-eledled by the people, after he was expelled by the houfe, which (hews the itrA^ of the people to be, that expulfion does not in- capacitate ; but only gives the people leave to re-eled the expelled pcrfon, if they plcafe. That according to this way of proceeding, eledors may hereafter be obliged to chufe only court-tools, or not chufe at all, if the houfe may expel and incapacitate arbitraily. That if the houfe have, in their own breaft, the power of expulfion and incapacitation, they may, in corrupt times, expel and incapacitate every /6^/^^ man. That the houfe of /^-.^rj, though they ought not to interfere in the proper and exelufive bufinefs of the other Chap. II. DISQUISITIONS. 341 other houfe, yet mufl interfere, when they fee defigns carrying on, for overturning the whole parliaments For the peers cannot make a parliament without a /• 1734) • know well how unequal the contention is between a country gentleman who has nothing but his own ejiate (greatly exhaufted by ^the many taxes he pays) to depend upon, and minifterkl eledtion- mongers fupplied by gentlemen in office, v/ho have for feven years been heaping up money for that pur- pofe, or perhaps have been fupplied even by the public treafure of the nation ; and the fooner this contention begins, the- greater difadvantage the country z, Aim, Deb. Com. ix. 148. b See the News papers of Nov* I773< 344 POLITICAL Book V. country gentleman labours under, the more time thofe tools of corruption have to pracflife upon the eledors, and to difcover where that money may be placed to the beft advantage, which is offered for corrupting the people and overturning the conftitu- tion. From hence it is obvious who have been and who will always be the beginners of fuch con- tentions a. Bohuns Right of Election, a fmall folio, con-^ tains little befides accounts of bribery and corruption at eledions, and he takes in only laft century, when corruption was young. All the while the court has rot the ftiadow, of a pretence for interfering in elec- tions. The people may always be intrufted with the care of their own affairs ; and whoever endeavours to influence them may mif-lead them ; but certainly will not dire(ft them better, than they will direft themfelves. There was an inflance in the eledtion, w^. Z). 1681. * Many places followed the example of hondo?2^ and in moft places the electors treated the candidates, inftead of the common contrary cuftom, or they bore their own charges b/ There was like- wife a parliament in Mr. Pelham\% time, which was reckoned to have been eledted in a very free manner. And 1 find in my common-place- book the following, copied from fome hiftory of the times. ' The court did not meddle in the eledion, A, D. , yet there was a very good parliament chofen.' I have omitted adding my authority. a Deb. Com. VIII. 189. b bid. 11, 99. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 345 CHAP. III. Hiatutes, Refolutions, &c. agai?jjl corrupt proceedings at Eledlions. THERE have been various laws and regulati- ons made to prevent, and punifli corrupt pro- ceedings at eledlions. So early as the time of Edw. II. who was crowned A. D. 1307, we find laws againft foliciting votes and eledions \ See 7 Hen, IV. cap. 15. * The manner of eledtion of knights af (hires for parliament ^.' And ^ * the? penalty on a flierifF for niaking an untrue return of the eledtion of the knights of parliament.* * It was enadted' (fays Elfynge^, fpeaking of this ftatute) * at the petition of the commons, that proclamation be firft made in the next county-court, after the flie- rifF hath received the writ, cf eledtion to be made, &c. that the eleftion be in full county, wherein they fliall proceed freely and indijferentlyi notvvith- ftanding any prayer^ or commandment^ to the con- trary. And four years afterwards a fine of 100 /. was laid on all flierifFs making returns contrary to the above ftatute, and the knight fo elected to lofe his wages. The writ of return to be figned by all the voters/ By. II Hen^ IV. cap. i. the juftices of afllze were to make enquiry and determine concerning irregular clcdlions and returns 3 and to punifli flierifFs, or others offending. Vol. I. Yj^ a Art. Clbr. cap. xiv. Stat. West,m. cap. v. •tat. 7. Hen, iv, b Stat, at Large, i. 438. c Ibid. 442. d 74. Rapin, u 498. ^ 346 POLITICAL Book V. ofFending; And by 6 Hen. VJ, cap. 4, perfons claim- ing to have been duly eleded, and iGberifFs, pleading innocence, may traverfe the fentence, and have trial, and not be punifhable, but upon regular convidion at common law «. By i Hcn\ V. cap. i . ^^ never re- pealed, no man can be member for a fliire, city, or borough, unlefs he has property in it, and unleis it be his ufual refidence. According to thefe ftatutes, net one member in twenty ought to fit in the houfe, who have, of late times, had feats in it. We fee every day, fome old law ^^j/;^/? the /j^^/;/^ trumped up.. Why fhould not ihok \nfavour of liberty be enforced ? By 3 EduK I. cap. 5. * there fhali be no difturbance of free elections ^* Elections here are not to be underftocd of eiedions of members of parliament only. Though eledions for parliament are the chief, and of fuch importance, that infringing their freedom is ckne an irremediable poifon to liberty^. By fundry flatutes of Hen, VL &g. members falfely returned are to lofe their wages, and fheriffs' making falfe returns are fineable ico /. ^ In anticnt times, it is probable, that all the inhabi- tants of counties had privilege of voting for members (in thofe times almofl any body might fit in. parlia- ment in his own right) but this number was thought too unwieldy. Therefore, in the beginning of 7i^;/. VI. the right of voting was limited to landholders of 40 (hillings per ann. and 10 Hen,N\. it, Vv^as determined that the 40 (liillings fhould be freehold. A. D. 1659, under the commonwealth, a bill was " brought a Stat, at Large, i. 49^, 571. b Ibid, ^[ c Ibid. 4^. d Rapin, i. 551. e StaTc AT Large, 1504. et paff. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 347 brought in, by which any perfon giving an entertain- ment to any cledtor, was incapable of fitting in the houfe a. The famous qualification -aa, 1659, difqualifiep, among others, deifis, blafphemers, profaners of the Lord's day, profeflTed curlers and fvvearers, drunkards, and thofe. who have given any conditional prornifs or entertainment, or bribe to eledors, with heavy penali- ty on both memi)er and eledor ^. Reiblved, A. D. 1685, that no mayor can duly return himfelf a b!.irgefs, to ferve in parliament for the borough of which he is mayor, at the time of his eledionc. Relblutions were made, A. D. 1678, againft bri- bery at eledion^ that if any man gives viduals above 10/. value, after the tcHe of ihe writ of eledion, or after a place becomes vacant, any where but in his own houfe, or who makes* any promife or declaration before an election, it ihall be punifhabie as bribery,^ the eledtion void, and the candidate incapable of fitting by that eledion. To be a flandingorder of the houfe ^. It was moved to have enquiry made con- cerning penfions charged on the revenue 3 privy feals iflTued for that purpofe fince 1677; a ted concerning bribery and.corruption in eledtions ; or to carry caufes or bills in parliament e. A. D. 1679, a bill was brought in, that when a member takes a place of profit, a new writ is to be ifiTued f. See the draught of a bill for regulating the abuf^^s a Mace aid. II 1ST. v. 314. b Parl. Hist. XXII, 131. c Deb. Com. ii. 172. <3 Ibid. i. 2S4. c Ibid. 2 8Cv - f 'P-t-^p* II' 70^^ 3f8 POLITICAL Book V. abufcs of eledions, which was twice read, and com- jnitted, by the commons, j^pr.^^ ^^79^ ^"^ after- wards publiflied S forbidding minors, and perfons of no property, or not refident for a year, to vote for members ; forbidding all manner of treating, feafting, bribing, promiffing, &c. on penalty of heavy fines, &c. Bill to regulate eledions paffed, ^. D. 1690,^ Bill for free and impartial eledions paffed, ^. D. 1693. c A bill was brought in, and paffed, ^. D. 1695, for voiding all eledions, where members had been at any expence for yiduals, drink, or money, to procure votes. ' It was very ftridly penned' (fays Burnet ^) * but time muft (hew, whether any evafions can be found out to avoid it. Certainly, if it has the defired effed, it would prove one of the ie/i laws tver made in England -, for abufes in eledions were grown to mod intolerable ^xceffes, which threatened even the ruin of the nation* An ad was paffed, A. D. 1696, by which all returns were to be made according to the laft deter- nMnatibn of the houfe of commons^. The famous bill for regulating eledions was rejeded the fame year by the king. The commons were offended. The qucftion was put * That thp king's advifers were enemies to their country/ Over-ruled by the previous queftion ; but the firft queilion was printed in the votes, and names on both fides ^. By 7 and 8 tVilL III. cap. 3, it is enaded, That candidates alter the ted of the writ, or after a place becomes a Sommeri*% Tracti, i. 6i, b Deb. Com. II. 381. c Ibid. 421. d Hist. OWN TiMEi, in. 222. • 7/W. COKTiN. I. 323. fibid. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 349 becomes vacant, giving or pro7nifing any prefent^ or reward^ to any perfon having vote, for being eledledj (hall be incapable oiferving in parliamenta. And by the fame, cap. 7. falfe and double returns are prohi- bited on penalty b. And by the fame, cap. 25, many regulations are enaded for preventing irregularities at elcdtionsc. And by 10 and i j Will. III. fundry re- gulations are enadled relating to the proceedings of IherifFs, and to returns, &c. ^ An adl was made 7 WilL againft multiplying voices to vote in the eledions of members to fervc in par- liament e And by the fame, no perfon is to give money, promife, or entertainment to a voter, after the place becomes vacant, on pain of incapacitation. Falfe, or double returns, or attempts to procure them are, punifliablc, Unneceffary delay of eledi- ons, adjournment to unufual, or inconvenient places. Splitting of poffeffions, to multiply votes. A mort- gagee, if the equity of redemption is in another, fhall not be qualified, unlefs the mortgagee has been in poffeflion 7 years before the eledion. Candidates refufing to take the oath cancerning their qualifica- tion, are to avoid their, eledions. By the fame ad» fraudulent conveyances, in order to multiply votes at eledions, are forbidden. The fame by 10 AnnCy cap. 23. f The fame is explained, 12 Anne ^ cap. 5.2 And 1 2 Anne^ cap. 25.^ is an ad for making perpetual that of 7 IVilL III. againft fraudulent conveyances. See 9 Ann^ a Stat, at Large, mi 199. bibid. 20T. c Ibid. 234. d Ibid. 4.14. cDeb. Com. iv. 258. CStat. at Large, 17,483. g Ibid. 526. In the fame page, fee an aft for regulating cleftionsin Scotland, h Ibid. 541. 35^ POLITICAL Book IV. 9 AnJie, cap. 5, an afl for fecuring the freedom of parliament, by further qualifying the members to fit in the houfe of commons ^ A bill was brought in ^. D. 171 1, for preventing fraudulent conveyances, iri order to multiply votes ^. An adt againft fraudulent conveyances for multiplying votes, A. D. 171 2, vi'as pafied by the Tories c. The qualification for county members, 600/. a year clear, for boroughs and cities 300 /. v^^as fettled, ^. jD. 1710^. (No qualification required for eldeft fons, and heirs of peers, or lords of parliament, or heirs of gentlemen of 600 /. and 300 /. a year, nor for univerfity members, which is very abfurd ; becaufe no people are more obnoxious to bribery, than heirs to eftates, before they come into pofleffion.) The candidates to make oath, if required by their antago- nifts, of their being worth fo much money before eledion, or if not within three months after, to be certified in chancery, by the fheriff, or under-fheriiF, on forfeiture of 100/. Candidates refufing the oath at eledion time, if demanded, to void thjir eledion^ The adl was blamed on feveral accounts -, among others, becaufe it excluded traders from reprefenting the trading intereft. Inquiry was made, A. D. 1711, concerning falfe conveyances for multiplying votes for county mem- bers, "and a bill ordered in for checking corruption in city and borough cledtions ^. Carried up to the lords g.- A bill aSxAT .atL ARGE, IV. 299. bDEB. Com. IV. 258. c (bid. 399- d Ibid. 187. e Ibid. 189. fibid. 258. g Ibid. 299. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 351 A bill for preventing fraudulent conveyances for mul- tiplying votes, was read the firft time, and ordered a fecond reading, A.D* 1713 ^ Ad: to explain a claufe in the ad; againft fraudulent conveyances and falfe multiplication of votes, and others paffed by commiC- fion, paffed A, I). 1713 ^. An ad paffed for regu- lating eledions in Scotland^, Bill for continuing an ad made in the 7 WilL entitled. An ad to prevent falfe and double returns of members to ferve in parlia- ment, read once, A. D. 1713, and ordered a fecond reading «^. A bill ordered in. A, D. 1713, for limiting the number of officers in the houfoe. A. D. 1713, the houfe in a grand committee, confidered the ad of the ninth year of her majefty's reign, entitled, An ad for fecuring the freedom of parliaments, by the farther qualifying the members to fit in the houfe of commons j and came to the follovi^- ing refolutions. I. That notvvithftanding the oath taken by any candidate on, or after any eledion, his qualifications may be afterwards examined into. II. That the perfon whofe qualification is expreffly ob- jeded to in any petition relating to his eledion, foall within fifteen days after the pedtion read, give to the clerk of the houfe of commons a paper figned by him-^ felf, containing a rental or particular of the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, whereby he makes out his qualification, of which any pecfon concerned mav have a copy. III. That of fuch lands, tenements, or hereditaments, whereof the party hath been in pcf- fcffion for three years before tlis eledion, he fliali ah'b infert in the fame paper, from v/hat perfon, and by what a Dea. Ibid. V. 12. ji Ibid. 53. c Ibid, d Ibid. 49, e Ibid, 4, 352 POLITICAL BookV. what conveyance or aft in law he claims and derives the fame ; and alfo the confideration, if any paid, and the names and places of abode of the witnefTes tofuch conveyance and payment. IV. That if a fitting member fhall think fit to quefticn the qualification of a petitioner, he thall within fifteen days after the petition read, leave notice thereof in writing, with the clerk cf the houfe of commons ; and the petitioner (hall, in fuch cafe/ within fifteen days after fuch no** tice, leave with the faid clerk of the houfe, the like account in writing of his qualification, as is required . from a fitting member^. The bill for fecuring the freedom of eleftions, which pafil'd the houfe of commons, A. D. 1721, and was thrown out by the lords at the fecond read- ing (by collafion, Mr. Gordon fuppofes) was to enad, that the writs be faithfully delivered to the returning cfficer 5 that all contradts to favc returning officers harmlefs for making undue returns of members, be null and void, and both parties fineable 1000/. each, and incapacitated ; that every perfon voting at an eledlion, purge himfelf by oath, before he votes, if required, of all due influence ; fine for refufal 40/. perjury to be punifhed as ufual, and with incapacita- tion befides 5 that any perfon giving any of the pub- lic money to influence an eledion, be fined icoo/. and punifhed wiih incapacitation ; and that all Englijh members, except the eldeft fons of peers, or of per- fcns qualified ior being county- members, and the members for the two univerfities, be obliged before they fit, or vote, to give in to the clerk of the houfe of commons, a particular of his qualification, zs per 9 Anne j aD£B. Com. v. 62. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 353 9 Anney that there (hall be only one elcd:ion-meeting for each eledion \n Scotland, There was a debate on a bill to fecure the freedom of elcdlions, ^. Z), 1722, The bill was rejeded. The only reafon mentioned was, becaufe * feveral claufes in it could not be put in execution, they faid, with- out expofing the mcft innocent perfons to the guilt of perjury ^' By 2 Ge€, II. cap. xxiv. all eledors are, if called upop, to take the bribery oath, difclaiming their hav- ing received, or their expeding any kind of emolu- ment, or advantage, in confideration of their vote. The prefiding officer^orfeits 50 /. if herefufes to ad- minifter the oath, and the returning officen 100 /. for admitting any perfon to poll without taking the oath, if demanded. The returning officer is likewife to purge himfelf by oath, on the common penalty, if convided of perjury, with incapacity of voting ever after. The laft determination of the houfe of com- mons is to decide finally what votes are legal in every city, or burgh. Perfons convided of taking money, or reward, for voting, to be fined 500 /. and incapa- citated forever; if profecuted within 2 years. But offenders difcovering, within one year, others equally guilty, are indemnified b. A bill for regulating eledions was brought in, A, D. 1735, and fome progrefs made in it c. Put off. By 8 Geo. IJ. cap. xxx. no military force to be nearer than two miles to any place, where there is an clec- VoL. I. Z z tion. a Deb. Lords, hi. 227 to 232. b Stat. AT Large, vi. 123. Deb.Com. vii. 43. Deb. Lords, iv. 15. 77/7^. viii. 46, c Deb. Com. ix. 39. 354 POLITICAL Book V. tion a. By 13 Geo. II. (which refers back to 10 ^me, cap. 23.) feveral regulations are made refpefting qua- lification of voters ^. The Duke of Argyk propofed, A. D, 1739, that It (hould be made penal to offer a bribe, as well as to receive it 5 which would have made bribing difficult and dangerous ^. Read a fecond time, A. D. 1739, a bill to prevent collufive qualifications of perfons to vote as freehold- ers ^. Paffed ^. A bill for regulating the proceedings of returning officers at eleftions was ordered in. A, D. 1741. f It was paffed by the commons, 93 to 92, and afterwards engroffed, fent to the lords, and there loiig. Another for difabling penfioners to fit \ was read once i. By 16 Geo, II. cap. 11. regulations are made re- fpedting eledions in North Britain^. By 18 Geo, II. cap. 18. the laws relating to the eledion of knights of the fhire in England are explained and amended \ By 19 Geo, IL cap. 28. various regulations are made refpeding eledions of members for fuch cities as arc counties of themfelves ^, A.D, I742,three bills were ordered into the houfe of commons for regulating eledions ". The fame year the bill for regulating eledions in North Britain paffed o. And another relating to county eledions in England P. Several a Stat, at Large, vii. 50. b Ibid. 372. c Deb. Lords, VI. 398. d Deb. Com. xi. 320. e Ibid. 322. f Ibid. XIII. 271. g Ibid. 135 = h Ibid. i Ibid. 136. k .Stat, at Large, vi ii. 41. 1 Ibid. 154. m Ibid. 217. n Deb. Com. xiv. 195. o Ibid. 212. p Ibid. 218. Chap. III. DISQ^UISITIONS. 355 Several bills for quieting corporations, aftd regu- lating their eledions, were read by the peers, A. D. 1742. a Read a ift time. A, D. 1742, a bill for ex- plaining and amending the eledtion laws, and for reftraining the partiality and regulating the condudt of returning officers ^. Too good a bill to come to a 2d reading. A bill paffed the commons, A, D. 1742, relating to county elecftions in England, to prevent the bad efFeds of partiality in returning officers c. u4, D, 17 ^S* ^^^^ paffed the adl for regulating elec- tions for ftiires in England^. An ad: paffed, A. D, iJSli prohibiting on penalty, all perfons voting at eledions who hold eftates by copy of court roll e. According to law, there mult be no feafting, or other eledioneering work, after the writs are out. Mr. Beckfordy late lord mayor oi London, moved the houfe of commons, for leave to bring in a bill to flop feaft^- ing and eledioncering at all times, and to oblige the candidate to take an oath, that he has not bribed, as well as the eledior, that he has not been bribed. The motion was over-ruled. It was feared. It would pinch too clofe, A. D. 176Q, a motion was made in the houfe of commons for an inftrudion to a committee, that they have power to receive a claufe, or claufes, for reftrain- ing the judges from taking /^'^x, gifts, entertainments, &c. from any city, borough, flieriff, under-fheriffi &c. on their circuits, and from officers in the courts of law. The motion was over-ruled. See 20 Edw, in. ch. I. and 13 and 14 Ch. 11. 21. fed. i, 2. An- other aD'EB. Lords, viil.482, et pajftm, b Ibid. 208, c Deb, Com. xiv. 218. d Aim, Deb. Com. u* 3^3* € Ibid. v. 222. 356 POLITICAL Book V.- other motion was at the fame time made. That it be an inftrudtion to the faid committee, that they have power to receive claufes for reftraining judges, barons, juftices, &c. from interfering otherwife than by giving their cw?i votes in eledlions for membexs of parliament. This motion was hkewife rejedled ^, A, D. 1772^ ^ motion was made for leave to bring in a bill for preventing the grofs abufe of occajional voters in places where all the inhabitants have right of voting. The motion was, through fear of its fuccefs, withdrawn b. EleBions have ht^njiopped to wait the arrival of waggons fiiied with occafional voters. '^'Ix , Hutchejo'nhzd. propofed,^. D, ly 22 fth^it the com - jw/V/fd" for privileges and eledlions befek^^ confifting of 36, and to have power to hear and determine all matters without bringing contefled eledlions before the houfe ^, It was obferved, that this was the practice both before and after Queen E/iz, and was only broken off in the long parliament 1641, when all things went into con- fufioD. The motion was dropped. But, A D, 1770, Mr. Grenville moved the houfe of commons that a remedy fhould be provided for ' the infamous manner in which the houfe evercifed its jurifdiction on elections. That it was the conftant barefaced pro- cedure of every petitioner to folicit the attendance of each member. At firft he would only aflc you to attend to his 7nerits ; but if you promifed that, h« would afk,' ** Well, but will you attend for me ?" — And Mr. Grenville was forry to fay, that even this requeft was too frequently granted on all fides — nay, that a Lond.Mag. Jpril, 1760, p. 177. b Seethe News- Papers of il/<^rr A, 1773, C Dfili. COKI, VI. 2oC. Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 357 that in every eledlion-caufe, a few members were dignified with the appellation of managers-, a very proper appellation for thofe, who immediately after were to be mzAt judges. That it was alfo the cuHiora for the benches to be exceeding thi?jy when the caufe v/as to be triedy but before the quejlion was put, the houfe became exceeding full^ as the member^, who had thus promifed their attendance, looked on nothing more as neceflary than to give their votes. At dinner time, many made no fcruple, though the caufe was not determined, oi pairing off, as it is called; fome paired off for every queflion in ths eledion, others for a day, or a few hours only — Ic was even got to fo notorious a point, that at the be- ginning of every eledion-caufe, fome queftion was brought on, to try their ftrength, as it is calkd, and the party, who are the weakeft in numbers, though often the contrary in merits^ are forced to give up to a cold and fruitlef^ expence. — In (hort, he appealed to the confciences of every gentleman in the houfe, whether any of them would chufe to determine their properly before the houfe of commons, if a jury of porters y or chairmen, could be obtained for that pur- pofe. That he mentioned this as a grievance very proper to be redreffed, and that if the houfe' was of his opinion, he would name a day when he would make a motion for leave to bring in a bill for that purpofe.' The notoriety of the affair made the whole houfe concur in his fentiments, and a day was appointed for a motion to be made — every gentleman who fpoke on the fubjed, adding fome treih rcalons to fhew the neceffity of fuch a motion^. He. ob* ferved, a Ahn. Deb, Com. viii. 240. 358 POLITICAL Book V. iervcd, that when contefted elediions were tried before the houfe, or a committee of the whole houfe,. matters were very fuperficially examined 9 'gentlemen having no particular tie of oath or honour upon them, contented themfelves with giving their vote without examining as they ought, fheltering themfelves under the nurtibcrs who did the fame/ [That is, in plain "Englifby gentlemen, in order to avoid a little trouble, betrayed the intereft of their country, excufing this Ihamelefs pradlce by the numbers who are guilty of it.] He obferved, that in former times, down to the revolution, tryers of petitions were appointed, from among the moft rcfpedlable of the lords. Afterwards petitions were heard by the whole houfe of peers. Then the chancellor taking too much upon him, the houfe «f commons appointed a committee of 200. But in the fpeaker Onjlows time, petitioners were, on account of his known ability and impartiality, defirous of havine their caufes heard before the houfe rather than before a commmittee. But this could not be gene- ral. Therefore Mr. Grenville propofed, that all com- plaints of andue^ elections fhould be tried by a fmall number of the members drawn by ballot, and fworn in the manner of a jury 3 their decifion to be final, exceptiiig in difputes concerning right of election, which Oiould be referred to the houfe, and decided according to prefcription j no member to be twice drawn, but by his own confent, &c. It palTed into a law, to be in force feven years ; and may perhaps be oijbme fervice, though it can do but little toward a radical cure of the evil. For, fuppofing iht generality of a houfe of commons to be under corrupt influence, the majority of any committee drawn from thence by ballot, or any how, will be under the fame influence. Thefe Chap. III. DISQUISITIONS. 359 Thefe partial reformations amufe the people, ^nd by dijappointing their ill-founded expedations, difcourage them againft fuch propofals, as would prove effe6luaL This is the fatal effed: of letting abufes alone io long, till becoming inveterate, and feizing the vitals of the conftitution, they are not to be removed but by me- thods too rough as well as too operofe for the inertia of the people, who will let themfelves be totally en- flaved, rather than engage in fuch a fcheme for re- drefs, as may be attended with fomc difficulty and danger ^ as a corpulent, lethargic patient, who chufes rather to die of a complication, than enter upon a courfe of rough and fearching remedies. CHAP. IV. Of Minijierial Influence in the Houfe. TO endeavour to gain an undue influence over the members of the houfe of commons, is an old trick of our word kings and minifters. It is true, they often carried things with a high hand, fe- cure of what parliament fhould take well or ill. But violent meafures are always dangerous, and it was un- certain how far the people's patience would bear. What was done under the umbrage of parliament had the appearance of juft and conftitutional governmentj and was likely to hold the longeft. 04jr crafty (iatef- men, therefore, chofe to have parliament with them as much as they could. * We think ourfelves fafe, fays Nedham^ becaufe we hd^VQ parliaments y but we do not confider, that we may be as efFe dually ruined by corrupt parliaments as 360 POLITICAL Book V. as by^ambitious tyrants. And corruption long eftab- lifl^ed becomes a part of the conjiitutiofi, and grows more and more difficult to eradicate. We underftand our cbnftitution to be in danger, not only when it is attacked, but as foon as a breach is made, by which it may be attacked ; and we underftand this danger to be greater or lefs in proportion to the breach that is made, and without any regard to the probability or improbability of an attack. This ex- planation of our meaning is the better founded, becaufe the nation hath an undoubted right to pre- ferve the conftitution not only inviolate, but fecure from violaticns ^\ * If (fays Voltaire t") in Holland and 'England, the flates had ccnfifted only of nobles and clergy [with- out an affembly of deputies] the balance of Europe had not been in their hands in the year 1701/ And if the houfe of commons oi England comQS to be, through the influence of corruption, fo enflaved to the court as to have no will of its own, — need I to add the confequence ? If parliaments be good for any thing, icdependent parliaments are alone good for any thing. Suppole a parliament dependent on the court ; and you make it a licenTed tyranny, inftead of a free govern- ment ; a burden and an incumbrance, inftead of an advantage. If eiedions into the houfe, and votes in it, are good for any thing, free elections and votes are alone good for any thing. In an injluenced eledtion, or dilated vote, the influencing minifter is the nomi- nator of the member, and tht fole legiflator. By 2 Geo. il. cap. 24. the laft determination of the houfe of comm^ons is to decide finally what votes ftiall be aDissERT. ON Parties, 215, b Ess. SuR.l'HisT. 11. 187. chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 361 be legal in every city, or burgh. But a corrupt houfe of commons will naturally throw the votes into the hands of the corporation, rather than of the inhabi- tants at lar^e, becaufe it is eafier to bribe a few than many, thi^ power is therefore lodged in wrong hands, confidering the character of our modern houfes of common Si If a refolution of the houfe of commons is thus to determine who has right of voting, furely the inde- pendency of the houfe of commons is a matter of infinite confequence. For a corrupt houfe may, by a refolution, reduce the 5700 voters, who now fend in the majority of the members for Englajid^ to icoo. They may throw the power of fending the members into the hands of the king and council, and deprive the people of even the mockery of chujing reprefenta-^ lives; which is all they have at prefent. * Parliament aria comitia veter^Sy &;c. Parliament has power to repeal old laws, and to eftablifli new ; to make regulations for times prefent and future. Parliament can decide all matters of property ; it cari give legitimacy to the fpurious ; it eftabliflies pub- lic worftiip J appoints weights and meafures y deter- mines the fucceffion to the crown ; decides all con- troverlies without appeal, where there is no law by which to judge; it lays on taxes; it pardons offen- ces ; it fupports the oppreffed and puniflies the oppref- for ; it has power of life and death ; it has, in ibort, the power of doing Whatever could be done by the comitia centuriata, or tribunitiey that is to fay, by the whole people.of Rome ^' Vol. I. A a a The a Thorn. Smith* De Republ. Angl, 167., 362 POLITICAL EookV* The hoiife of ccmmons claims to Itfelf, as we have feen above, many important and intcrefting privi- leges, and runs far into the executive, infliding, in confequence, not of the known laws of the land, but of the undetermined lex et confuetudo parliamenti^ various pains and penalties upon the fubjeds, its creators. It is therefore of great confequence to the people, that this irrefiftable afiembly be as little as poffible obnoxious to every evil byafs and influence. The fyccphants, who furround cur kings, tell them, all is well. Here is a parliament regularly affembled every year. And every thing of confequence is car- ried on according to the letter of the law, and the cuftoms of our anceftors. The fame might have. been faid in the time oi Augyjius, and all the beft of the Reman emperors. There were confuls, fenators, tri- bunes, prstors, as in the republican times. But the efficiency was all in the emperor and his court, and army a. So, in our times (the prefent always excepted) we have iztvi parliaments regularly chofen — by bought votes, and court-influence \ and regu- larly proceeding in the hcufe — according to the orders of the miniflry. A writer b in king Williani^ time dates the matter fairly. ' The corrupting cf parliaments (fays he) defeats all our hopes, poilons us in cur mother's milk, murders us by the hands of our parents, infeds the only cordial, that can preferve our being, makes us acceffary to our own f^e, betrays us by the hands of thofe, whom we chufe to reprcfent us, makes us flavcs to our protedors,' &c. A Httle a Tacit, Ann. paiT. b St. Tracts, time of king William, 11. 646, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 363 A little matter wrong in a thing of fuch confe- qacnce as a parliament, may do great mifchief. A minifterial fpeaker of the houfe of commons may throw the whole debate into the hands of his own party, if a refolution be carried. That the member, to whom the fpeaker points, (hall be heard. And there is nothing to hinder the paffing of fuch a r«folu- tion in a minifterial houfe of commons, Thecuftom has been for the houfe to decide, when a debate arofe, which member was up firft, unlefs they chofe to leave it to the fpeaker. Attempts have lately been made to change this cuftom ^. * Foreign nations fay, and fay truly, that a king of "Englandi in conjundtion with his parliament, is as great and dreadful a prince as any in Europe' Chan- cellor Finch's fpeech at the opening of Charles II. 's third parliament. But this is fuppoiing the parlia- ment honell: to the people ^. * The corruption of governments (fays the czarina c) generally begins by the corruption of its principles.' The principle of government in a free ftate is^ The people's love of their country. The principle of the Britijfj government is, An independent houfe of com- mons. If that be fafe, all is lafe. If that be violated, all is precarious. * Parliament, the fountain of juftice, ought to be preferved pure from corruption, and free from par- tiality, which would add not only luftre, reputation, and honour, but authority to what is done in parliament. All mens eftates and liberties are pre- ferved under the fafe cuftody of parliament. This UiOvetb a Jim, Deb. Com. ix. 233. b Deb. Com. i. 320. c Instr. 190. 364 POLITICAL Book V. moveth us to' be careful of any thing tbat may pre- judice parliament in point of integrity ^/ The leaft appearance of corruption, where all ought to be virgin purity, is execrable. ' In Parli- ament' ( according to the duke of Glocefter and bi(hopof£/>, in their fpeeches lo Rich. 11. In his I2th.year, 2X Eltham, A, JD. 1389, handed down to us by the old hiltorian Knighton b) « all equity ought to (hine forth without the leaft cloud or fha- dow, like the fun in his meridian glory/ &c. The ftate is a (hip, and it fails in a fea of corruption. If there were the fmalleft chink in the vcffcl, corruption would flow in. But we open onr Joweft gun-ports, to let It in freely. • When a private man receives any advantage to betray a truft % one, or a few perfons, may fufFer. If a judge be corrupted, the oppreflion is extended to greater numbers. But when legiflators are bribed, or, which is all one, are tinder any particular en- gagement, that may influence them in their legifla- tive capacity, then it is, that we may exped: injuf- tice to be eftablifhed by law, and all thofe ccnfe- quences which will inevitably follow the fubverfion of the confliitution, as ftanding armies, oppreflive- taxes, and flavcry ; whilft the outward form only of the antient government remains to give them authority «^.' The government o{ England has all the advantages, fays Voltaire ^, of monarchy, ariftocracy, and demo- cracy, but it is liable to their inconvenicncies ; fo that it cannot fubfift, but under a wife prince. He had come a Rap. 1 1. 383. b ?etyt\ MlscEL. Parl. 50. ^ Fletcher y ^6, d Ess. sua I'Hist. ii. 113. Chap. IV. D I S Q^U I S I T 1 0 N S. 365 eome much nearer the truth, if he had faid. It cannot fubfift but with an incorrupt houfe of commons', Suppofe our court fhould take the legiflative pow^r into its own hands, and omit calling a parliament for 7 years together. Should we not fay, * Chaos is come again? What- is the difference to the nation between calling no parliament and calling a fet of bribed flaves the ready tools of the court ? The reader fees, I mean no refledion on the prefent immaculate parliament. * * If the people oi England onct be corrupted in that which is the fountain of their liberties, their own reprefentatives in parliament affembled, they rijuft expc(fl nothing but the Sowings forth of tyranny and mifchief upon them, in and by their very laws, and that which fhould be their chief and only remedy againft all other evils, would by this means become the greateft.caufe and author of them.' Parliament's anfwer, 1650, to a canting manifefto of C/6m£'^ II. in Scotland^, * The high court of parliament is the moil certain and conftant guardian of liberty j but if it be deprived of its ©wn liberty, it is left without life or power to keep the liberty of others. If they fhould bring par- liament to be fubjedl to the king's pleafure, to be correfpondent, as they call it, to ihe king's will, in the midfl; of fuch evil counfellors as are now predomi- nant, there would little or no cure be left, for then all things that are mod mifchievous would feem to be done by law and authority.' Pymmes fpeech at Guildhall b. Our artlefs anceftors, on moft occafions, and par- ticularly in framing the bill of fucceffiun, fliew, that they a Parl, Hist. xix. 379. bibid* xi 1. 292. 366 POLITICAL Book V. they tocH: it for granted, a parliament would never confent to any thing wrong in compliance with the court. ' England flball not go to war on account of any foreign dominion belonging to any future foveraine, without confent of parliament. The foveraine fhall not quit the kingdom without confent of parlia^ ment' &c. ^ Little did they think of a time coming, when confent of parliament might be obtained to any thing the miniftry fhould afk. ^id quifque "vitet nunquam hominifatis Cautum eji in horas. HoR. Yet they feem, at fome periods, to have been jealous of the encroaching difpofition of minifters, and aware of the truth of the doctrine, which this fedion teaches, viz. That corrupt parliaments are flaves to minifters ; for * it has been criminal formerly in a fpeaker * of the houfe of commons to go to court,' fays the author of confiderations on the choice of a fpeaker, &c.b A ate writer fays, he fhall conclude the principle of parliament to be totally corrupted, when he fees too fymptoms, viz. i. A rule of indifcriminate fup- port to all minifters -, becaufe this deftroys the very end of parliament as a controul to minifters, and is a general previous fandion to mifgovernment. 2. The fetting up of any claims adverfe to free eledion j for this tends to fubvert the legal authority, by which they fit/ How much we want of feeing thefe fymp- toms in their perfedion, let the reader judge. It ismiferable to obferve, in reading the Parlia- mentary a Deb. Com. i ii. 130 a Deb. Com. i ii. 130. b St. Tracts, time of king William j ii. 65 Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 367 MENTAR Y HisTORY, the DEBATES of the lords and commons, the Magazines, Registers, 6cc. that the fenfe and the patriotifm are almoft always ( our own virtuous times excepted ) on the fide of the protefting lords, the minority in the houfe of commons, and the writer of the Maqazines or Registers, and againft the proceeding of the houfes, which are oftenefl: wrong headed, or wrong- jntcntioned. Yet our houfes of par- Hament take in grievous dudgeon any reflexion on their wifdom or integrity, and wonder, that the people fhew a want of refpedt for them, though the people fee plainly, that a Magazine- writer has more fenfe, or more integdty, than the majority of the two houfes. Which ftrange phenomenon can only be afcribed to minifterial poifon working in the houfes. * Every body knows, that the antient dread of this nation was of the prerogative. Left our princes ihould, like thofe of France, grow weary cf parliaments, and refolve to govern by will and pleafure. Every body knows likewife, that the reafon of our tender concern for, and attachment to parliaments, was a long eftabliftied perfuafion, — That by their afliftance our grievances would always be rcdreffed ; That un- der their umbrage, our liberties would always be fafe. But even our very princes were originally and con- ftitutionally no more, than the guardians of thefe liberiies ; and if they could be capable cf breach of truft, might not our parliament likewife deviate into the fame crooked road ? If therefore thofe princes, on convidtion that it was not only vain, but a defper- rate undertaking, to wrcftle with parliaments, fliould find it expedient to compromife the affair with them, and agree to divide the commonwealth between them. Would not parliaments themfelves become a grievance 362 POLITICAL Book V. grievance ? Would not our reprefentatives become ouf mafters ? Would not their conftituents become their flaves ? Thus, if the court's governing without a parliament was juftly the objedl of our terror; if its governing witb a parliament was as juftly the objedt of our wirties ; its governing by a parliament would be an infallible method not only to compafs but give fandion to our ruin. With regard to the firft of thefe governments, our terrors have long flum- bered. For while we fo freely give, why fhould the fovereis^n take ? And with regard to the laft — fl/;;^ illie iachrymce — We have in thefe papers proof to demonftration, that from a certain period our parlia- ments have done what they fhould have left undone, and have left undone what they fliould have done : That to the calls of the crown they have always an- fwered ; That to the cries of the people they have been always deaf; That they have purchafed on one hand only to fell on the other; That they have waved their privileges in compliment to the prerogative, and put them to the ftretch, to opprefs and lubdue the fubjed ; That inftead cf redreffing grievances, they have authorized them ; That inftead of profe- cuting malefadors, they have Icreened them ; and that inftead of proteding and defending the rights of their conftituents, they have perfidicully betrayed them. Hence it is manifeft, that the conftitution is every where undermined, and at the firft found of the trumpet, like the walls of Jericho, it will fink at once into a heap of ruins. In vain do we amufe ourfelves with the hope that fome future parha- ment will redify the evils committed or con- nived at by the paft. Had we any chance of work- ing out our own falvation, as it hath been once already Ghap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 369 already obferved, 'tis more than probable we fhould not be trufted with the opportunity. By the fame violence that one parliament, chofen but for three years, could prolong their own fitting for feven, any other may prefume to render themfelves perpetual. Experience (hews us, that the writ of election to a borough, and the coiige d'elire to a dean and chap- ter, already operate in pretty much the, fame 'man- ner \ That thofe in power are always fure of finding or making a majority in both houfes ; That the dic- tates of the privy council, or firft minifter, are uniformly received by that majority as laws ; That the grand fecret of government is to fleece with one hand and corrupt with the other \ and that the fole relic of the people's power, is the glorious privilege to fell themfelves as often as they are favoured with leave to make a new eledion* So fatally true is the maxim of that great ftatefman Burkighy that England can never be undone but by a parliament. In a word, fo great is the influence of the crown become, fo fer- vile the fpirit of our grandees, and fo depraved the hearts of the people, that hope itfelf begins to ficken ; and thofe who are difpofed to go fartheft in the caufe of the commonwealth, are on the point of crying out, *' If the people will be enflaved let them be cnflaved." Let it then be recoUedled in this our day, that even the authority of parliament has a bound : That they are not empowered to fell, but to ferve, their confti- tucnts : That whoever accepts of a truft is anfwerable for the exercife of it : That if the houfe of commons fliould make ever fo lolemn a furrender of the public liberties into any hand whatever, that furrender would be ipfofa5io void : That if the people have reafon to Vol. 1. B b b appre- 370 POLITICAL Book V. apprehend any fuch confpiracy againft themy they have a right not only to put in their proteft, but to renounce the d^td, and refufe obedience : That in fuch a cafe, the delegation they had made would be diffolved : That cofifequently all authority would re- turn into the hands of thofe who gave it 3 and with one united voice they might call on the prerogative to do them juftice by difmiffingfuch unfaithful fervants^ and enabling them to make a new choice »/ So clumfy have our courtiers been as to infift openly on the propriety of minifterial influence in the houfe of commons, as appears by lord Digi/s words in his fpeech againft Walpole^ A. D. 1741. * Sir, It is a new dodlrine in this nation, and abfolutely inconfift- ent with our conftitution to tell us that his majefty may and oughr^ in the difpofal of offices or favours,, to confider gentlemen's behaviour in this houfe. Let his majefty be ever lo well convinced of the wifdom and uprightnefs of his meafures, he ought not to take theleaft notice of what is faid or done by any particu- lar man in this houfe. He is a traitor to our confti- tution that advifes his majefty to do fo ^. Nothing can be imagined more impudent, than the attempt of fome among us, to lull our jealoufy, which needs all the eyes of Argus, afleep, by telling us, it is impoflible, that 800 lords and commons ihould ever take part w th the enemies of their country, or its liberties. Do we not know, that in the four laft years of queen Annes reign, a majority in the houfe of commons, and a very great number in the other, werp a Use and Aeuseof Parl. ii« 714. b Deb. Com. xiii. I98, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 571 were in the interefl: of France and the pretender, and that if that ill-advifed princefs had not dropped at the time (he did, the nation was in the utmoft danger of being facrificed. See all the hiftories of thofe times. The majority of the commons, A, D. 1709, were whigs. In the laft four years they were tories. Such is the influence of the court over the commons ^, For the court interpofes both in the eledions of mem- bers, and in their votes in the houfe. How therefore judge BhckJIone cou]d bring hlmfelf to write the following fcntence, is to me inconceiv- able. ' The check of parliamentary impeachment for improper, or inglorious conduvft, in beginning, condudling, or concluding a national war, is, in general, jufficienty to reftrain the minifters of the crowa from a wanton, or injurious exertion of this great prerogative/ Was the check of parliamentary im- peachment fufficient to reftrain the worthlefs mini- ftries, who condudted and concluded two wars in a moft infamous manner, one in the memory of {oxi\^.^ and the other of many now living, I mean the war?, which were terminated with the difgraceful treaties of Utrecht^ and oi Aix-la-Chapelle'? Hov/ could a man do his coK:^ntry a greater injury, than by thus la- bouring, as the judge does through almoft his whole book, to purfuade, that every thing is right y when there is Jo much requiring redrefs ? ^ As private liberty cannot be deemed fecure under a government, whertin law, the proper and foie feeurity of it, is dependent en will, fo public liberty mud be in danger, whenever a free conftitution, the proper and fole feeurity of it, is dependent en wili-y and a Deb. Com. vi. 6o. 372 POLITICAL Book V. and a free conftitution, like ours, is dependent on will, whenever the will of one eftate can diredl the condudt of all three ^' By the will of one eftate the author means the will of the king, the court, or the miniftry ; which three terms are always, in our Britifi politics, to be confidered as exadtly fynonimous. It is fliocking to an Englijioman to read the account given by a French author cf the ftate of parliamentary corruption in our country. Tell it not in Gath : Publifli it not in the ftreets of Ajkalon, No fooner, fays Reynel^, is parliament met, than the parties are formed ; the canvafling begins, and the cabals clall\ againft one another. Thole who hold thefirft places in the government, endeavour to gain* by the pen- fions, places, and favours, which are in their difpo- ^al, fuch members as they fland in need of. King William faid, If a king ol: England h^d places enough to give, the names of whig and tory would foon be loft. Thofe, who are ncgleded, unite in violently declaiming againft fuch as have fufFered themfelves to be gained, &c. And again S ' The peers, efpecially the bifliops, have not that credit in the nation, which they ought naturally to poffefs ; becaufe it is ima- gined, they are almoft all dependent on the court, either on account of favours received, or hoped for.' * By our cpnftitution,' (fays Sir William Wyndham in the debate upon the ipotion for repealing the fep- tennial ad, A. D. 1734) * the only legal method we have of vindicating our rights and privileges againft the incroachments of ambitious minifters is by par- liament 3 aDissERT. UPON Parties, 216. b Hist. Engl. ParL; 277. c Ibid. 279. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 375 liamcnt; the only way we have of redifying a weak or wicked admlniftratiort is by parliament ^ the only effedual way we have of bringing high and powerful criminals to condign punifhment is by parliament. But if ever it (hould come to be in the power of the adminlftration to have a majority of this houfe depend- ing upon the crown, or to get a majority of fuch men returned as the reprefentative of the people, the par- liament will then ftand us in no ftead ; it can anfwcr none of thefe great purpofes. The whole nation may be convinced of the weaknefs or thewickednefsof thofe in the adminifcration, and yet it may be out of the nation's power in a legal way to get the fools turned out, or the knaves hanged. This misfortune. Sir, can be brought, upon us by nothing but by bribery and corruption, and therefore there is nothing we ought to guard more againit ^/ Afk the king (for the time being) whether he thinks he fhould be in danger of lofmg the crown of thefe realms, if he did not bribe. He will an fwer with indignation, that his throne is edablifhed upon a much furer foundation. Afk the minlHry, whether they think they muft lofe their places, or their heads, but for bribery. They will perhaps anfwer, as their bet- ters did, whenjuftly charged, ' Man, J know not what thou faycft/ Alk the bribing lord, who has half a dozen rotten boroflghs in his fleeve, whether he means, by giving the beggarly perjured voters money, to biafs tbem from electing according to their confcicnces. He will anfwcr, Ke had rather die, than injure his dear country. Afk the bribing can- didate, a Deb. Com. viii, 192. 374 POLITICAL Book V. didate, Whether, knowing himfelf not likely to be chofen for his merit, he means to buy a feat. He will anfvver. He goes into the houfe merely with the view of ferving his country. Afk the venal member. Whether he plunders his country of 500/. a year as a reward for confulting, in every vote, her good. He will anfwer, He votes fpontaneoufly, and vyithout any view to the miniftcr's approbation. Aik the Comijh eledlor how he anfwers to his confcience the felling of his country. He will anfwer. He takes the mo- ney, and votes according to his confcience. Thus, from our kings (who indeed have the leaft hand in the plot) down to our bought borough voters, no one, of either the givers or receivers, can give any account why any thing fhould be given or received. * Thofe men are undoubtedly guilty of treafon, who, being entrufted with the wealth, fecurity, and happinefs of kingdoms, do yet knowingly pervert that truft to the undoing of that people, whom they are obliged, by all the ties of religion, juftice, ho- nour and gratitude, to defend^,' Treafon equally extends to thofe, who would fubvert either houfe of parliament, or the rights and privileges of the people, as to thofe who attempt to deftroy the perfon of the king, or dethrone him. For, what could be more abfurd, than to fuppofe it to be the higheft crime to attempt to deftroy one man ftecaufe this one man is a king J and yet not to fuppofe it the higheft crime to deftroy ih^i people for whofe benefit alone he was made king, and for whofe fake indeed there ever was fuch a thing, as a king, in the world. The a Cato's Lett, i, 74, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS, 375 The great corrupt the people, (fays Mr. Gordoft^) by all manner of waySvrAnd inventions, and then reproach them for being corrupt. A whole nation cannot be bribed ; and if its reprefentatives are, it is not the fault but the misfortune of the nation j and if the corrupt fave themfelves by corrupting others, the people who fuffer by the corruptions of both are to be pitied and not abufed. Nothing can be more fbamelefs and provoking than to bring a nation by execrable frauds and extortions, againft its daily pro- teftations and remonftrances, into a miferabls pafs, and then father all thefe villainies upon the people who would have gladly hanged the authors of them. At Rome the whole people could be entertained^ feafted and bribed ; but it is not fo where the people are too numerous and too far fpread, to be debauched, cajoled and purchafed ; and if any of their leaders are, it is without the people's confent. There is fcarce fuch a thing under the fun as a corrupt people, where the government is uncorrupt; it is that, and that alone which makes them io } and to calumniate them for what they do not leek, but fuffer by, is as great im~ pudence, as it would be to knock a man down, and then rail at him ior hurting himfeif. Thole, who complain of corrupt and wicked mini- fters, and of the mifchiefs they produce, do in fad: (as obferved by Mr. Hume in his IVth Polit. Ess.) moft feverely fatirize the conflitution. For a good conftitution would efFedtually exclude, or defeat, the bad effeds of a corrupt admmiftration^ Is there, or has there been, corruption in parliament ? I (hould wonder a Tracts, i, 338*- 376 POLITICAL Book V. wonder If any man would deny, that corruption ever prevailed in 2l Britifi parljjjwrient. If it has, the con^ flitutron mufi: be iaulty, and wants to be amended. The revolution flopped up only fome, not all the leaks in the veffcl of the ftate. Tindal ovins that the conftitutlon was not fully eftablifhed at the revolution, owing to contefling parties ^. * When the ligiflatlve and executive powers are united, there can be no public liberty ^/ They will be united in England^ whenever parliaments come to be, through the influence of corruption, at the abfolute command of the court. This is the danger of all dangers; the evil of all evils. Nothing can be imagined more cruel, than the dif- appointment an unhappy fubjed: fuffers, when he meets with injuftice precifely where he had a right to expedl redreis, I mean, at law; or when he finds himfelf cppreffed by thofe, whom he looked upon a^ his protedors, I mean, the goverment. * When corruption, fays Davenant c, has feized upon the repreientatives of a people, it is like a chronicle difeafe, hardly to be rooted out. When fervile compliance and flattery come to predominate, things proceed from bad to worfe, till at lafl the government is quite diflolved. Abfolute monarchies are in danger of great convulfions, when one man, their prince, happens to be weak or wicked ; but common wealths, or mixed conftitutions, are fafe till the chief part of the leading men are debauched in principles. However, monarchy has this advantage, that a CoNTiN. I. 56. b Blakjlone'^ Com. i. 146, c 11. 300. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 377 that the one man, their prince, is mortal, and if bad, he may be fuceeeded by a better; but a people tho- roughly corrupted, never returns to right reafon ; and we fee that the depravity of manners, which began in Rome prefently after the fecond Punic war among the nobility and gentry, became every year worfe and worfe, till at laft Ccefar deftroyed the common-wealth. And after his time, under the fucceeding emperors^ every fenate grew more abjedl and complying than the other ; till in procefs of time the old Roman fpirit was utterly extinguidicd, and then that empire by degrees became a prey to barbarous nations.' * Hitherto it has been thought the higheft pitch of profligacy to own, inftead of concealing crimes, and to take pride in them, iqftead of being afhamed of them.^ But in our age men have foared to a pitch flill higher. The firfl is common ; it is the pradiice of numbers, and by their numbers they keep one ano- ther in countenance. But the choice fpirits of thefo days, the men of mode in politics, are far from flop- ping where criminals of all kinds have flopped^ when they have gone even to this point j for generally the mod hardened of the inhabitants of Newgate do not go fo far. The men I fpeak of, contend, that it is not enough to be vicious by pradice and habit, but that it isnecelTary, to be fo by principle. They make them- felves miflionarics of fadion, as well as of corruptions They recommend both ; they deride all fuch as ima- gine it poflible or fit to retain truth, integrity, and a difinterefted regard to the public in public life, and pronounce every man a fool, who is not ready to ad: like a knave ^.* Vol. I. i C c c Corruption ! . a Bolinghr, Id£a of a Patriot Kino, iSi, 378 POLITICAL BookV. Corruption brings a government into contempt not only with the fubjeds, but with foreigners. A> D. ^735> ^" Walpoie\ dirty adminiftration, the French fhewed fuch a contempt for England^ that they pub- lifhed an edi the fpirit that appeared fo generally aiTiOngft them, but a little while before, againft corruption, and in^ favour of thofe bills that have already been feveral times offered to parliament for preventing it/ ^— And afterwards — ' We are not to fuppofe. Sir, that the a LoND. Mac. 1767, p. 452. S82 POLITICAL BookV.' the people have forgot their complaints, becaufe they have not renewed them upon this occafion. They have fo long complained in vain, and have lately been fo much difappointed by thofe upon whom they chiefly relied, that I am afraid, their not renewing their inftrudions to their members, proceeds from their defpair of ever meeting with redrefs from par- liament. But will this remove or diminifli their difcontent? On the contrary, we have more reafon to dread their filence, than we ever had to dread their murmurs ; for mankind refemble, in this, that animal which is their mod faithful fervant ; while they bark they never bite. Have they ceafed com- plaining ? As they have yet received no fatisfadlion, we have, from the nature of mankind, juft reafon to prefume, that they have begun to think of ad-? ing; and this, at fuch a dangerous conjunflure, we ought to prevent, by giving them, as foon as pof- fible, an aflurance that they may expedl redrefs from this feflion of parliament/ — Afterwards he goes on — * The hon. gentleman fays, he fhould be againft the introducing of fuch bills while there is a rebel- lion raging in the kingdom, becaufe he thinks, we may have an opportunity to get them pafled after the rebellion is entirely extinguiflied. If I thought fo, Sir, I Ihould be very willing to have them de- ferred till the next feffion ; but if we do not catch this opportunity, when fome gentleman's perfonal fafety may prevent their oppofition, I am, both from reafon and experience, convinced, we {hall never be able, in a peaceable manner, to get any fuch bill pafTcd into a law. The fet of gentlemen I have mentioned, w^ill always oppofe fuch bilk, becaufe it is their intereft not only to fupport, but to Chap. IV. DISQ^UISITIONS. 383 to propagate corruption j and from experience, I am convinced, that they will always have fo much influence as to get a majority in this houfe for pre- venting any fuch bill's being brought in, or a majority in the other houfe for having it rejeded. This I am the more convinced of, from what the hon. gen- tleman, and a worthy friend of his, have faid againft the amendment. There is a thing called proper or feafonable opportunity, that will always furnifh a man with a pretence for oppoling, when a minifter, thofe bills and motions, which he patronized, when a country gentleman ; and I have now feveral gentle- men in my eye, who, I believe, will always declare themfelves zealous for preventing a corrupt influ- ence in parliament, or at elections, but will never, as long as they continue minifters, or the favourites of minifters, find a feafonable opportuntiy for bring- ing in an effedtual bill for that purpofe. Such gen- tlemen may perhaps confider the dangerons confe- quence of throwing out a popular bill at this jundure, therefore, tho* they know it will breed tnltn a great deal of trouble hereafter, they may for their imme- diate fafety, agree to its being pafl^ed into a law. If they and their friends agree to it, I will engage that no fuch bill fhall occafion any divifion or alter- cation amongfl: us j and we may with the more free- dom embrace this opportunity, becaufe fuch a bill can no way prevent or retard any thing the parlia- ment can do for defeating the rebellion. — After-^ wards he adds — * The people of Britain have been long grumbling : Give them fatisfaftion. Let them fee they have fomething to fight for, I warrant you they will do it. But under an arbitrary govern- ment, whether eftabliflied by force or corruption, the 384 POLITICAL^ BookVi the people have neither liberty nor property ; and in this age I doubt much if they will fight obfti- nately for their religion, even fuppofing they v^ere all convinced of its being at ftake. I therefore hope, Sir, that we fliall in this feffions (come of the rebel- lion what will) pafs foms proper bills for preferving our conftitution and liberties againft corruption ; and if we are refolved to pafs any fuch bills in this feffion, we ought to intimate our refolution in our addrefs upon this occafion, in order to encourage the people to ftand by and fupport the prefent eftablifhment in this time of imminent danger/ — Afterwards he adds — * Does not his majefty tell us that he has called us together, to give him our immediate advice as well as affiftance with regard to the rebellion, ftill continuing in Scotla7id? Can we give him our advice in a more deliberate and authentic manner^ than by framing and paffing fuch bills as we think will beft induce the people to affift him heartily ? We cannot do this immediately, and therefore by way of anfwer to this pOT of his fpeech, we ought to tell him im- mediately, that is to fay by our addrefs, that we will do fo. There is another part of his majefty's fpeech. Sir, which, in my opinion, will ftand with- out any thing like an anfwer, if this amendment be not agreed to. His majefty tells us he queftions not but the rebellion will end in procuring greater ftrength to that excellent conftitution, which it was defigned to fubvert. In anfwer to this, is it not very proper to tell his m.ajefty, that we fliall take care in this feffion to frame fuch bills as, if paflcd into laws, will add ftrength to our excellent conftitution. Is then any thing more proper or neceflary for add- ing ftrength to our conftitution, than that of pre- venting Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 385 venting a corrupt influence in parliament or at elec- tions ? This amendment is therefore not only a proper, but a neceiTary return to that part of his ma- jefty's fpecch : I fay neceflary; Sir, becaufe I think it abfolutely ncceffary for us, in a time of fach danger, to take the firfl: opportunity to affiire the people of their having that grievance redrefled, which ihcy have long and loudly, but vainly hitherto, complained of; and becaufe, without this amendment, not only our addrefs will appear defedive, but we ihali appear deficient in our duty to our fovereign, for there will be, otherwife, not a word of anfwer to this material part of his majefty's fpeech, nor one word of advice, or any thing that looks like it, though his majefly has, in his fpeech, cxprefsly told us, that for this very purpofe he called us together fooner than he intended. And now to conclude, Sir, as the hon. gentleman was pleafed to tell us what the world will think of thole that infift upon this amendment, I fliall beg leave to tell him, what in my opinion the world will think of thofe that oppofe it. The world will, I am fure, generally approve of the amendment, and all will conclude, thaS if it had been agreed to, it would have done great and immediate fervice ; there- fore, every man will (ay that the oppofers of this a- mendment, notwithilanding their open pretences, are, in fecret, friends to corruption -, and that they have a greater regard to the intereft and eafe of thofe who are now, or may hereafter be, our miniflers, than they have to the fecurity of their fovereign, the happinefs of their country, or the liberties of their countrymen \' Vol. I. Ddd Sir Jlm.DzB. Com. ii. 347, :> 86 POLITICAL Book V. Sir Francis Dajkwood on that occafion, propofed, that the following paragraph ihould be inferted in the addrefs of the commons ; ' In order to the firmer eftablifhment of his majefly's throne on the folid and truly glorious bafis of his people's affedions, it fhall be ©ur zealous and fpeedy care to frame fuch bills as (if paffed into laws) may prove moft effec- tual for fecuring to his majefty's faitbfuJ fubjeds the perpetual enjoyment of their undoubted right, to be fv^t'ly and fairly reprelented in parliaments, frequently chofen, and exempted from undue in- fluence of every kind ; for caling their minds in time to come, of iht apprehenfions they might en- tertain of feeing abufes in offices rendered perpetual, without the feafonable interpofition of parliament to reform them ; and for raifing in every true lover of his king and country, the pleafmg hopes of be. holding thefe realms once more reftored to that happy and flourishing ftate which may refled the higheft honour on his majefly'a reign, and caufe pofterity to look back with veneration and gratitude on the fource of their national felicity ^' Many ages have pafled fmce the firft tampering with parliaments. It is not eafy to underftand how a wicked court flhould be able to mif-lead a parliament with- out money, or other baits; but we have inftances of it. In antient times our members of the houfe of commons were very ignorant, poor, and brought up by the priefls with notions of flavifti fubmiflion to their barons or to their kings. The commons, there- fore, too often confcnted to their own deception and enflaving. In more enlightened times our parlia- ^ ments a Jim* De^^ Com, u. 335, Chap. IV. DISOUISITIONS. 387 ments have been fairly bribed with places, penfions, eontradts, lotteries, &c. There was a villainous packed parliament under tiich, IL A. D, 1397. The king had changed all the fherifFs, and put in wretches attached to himfelf. All the public offices were put into the hands of his crea- tures. The king nominated the members for each place, and the placemea fupported the king's nomina- tion. The parliament in 1386, had obtained the removal of the villainous favourites, the earls of Oxford, Suffolk, &c. All the ads of that upright parliament were repealed, and every thing done to advance the prerogative above the laws. • Many brave patriots were put to death, and the barbarous king chofe to be orefent at fomc of thefe horrid fcenes. They give wp all their authority to twelve lords, and fix commoners, the moft devoted to the king's will, * This inftance' (fays Rapin a) ' (liews that it is not impoflibe but that the very parliament, which is defigned to maintain the privileges of the nation, may throw it into flavery, when fuch affemblies are diredled by ^popular factions,' [popular factions are always produced by tninijlerial opprefTion 5 the people of themfelvcs are inclined to be quiet^ ^ or the cabals of an ambitious prince, which, either by running the prerogative down too low,' [prerogative too lov/ is hardly conceivable] * or fcrcwing it up too high, has often produced diforder, and deftroycd all law, inftead of procuring the welfare of the kingdom.' Enquiry was made, A. D. 1550, into the ma- nagement of public money. Few concerned (fays Rapin ^) but v/cre found guilty of fome miidemeanor. 400,000 /• a Act. Reg. ii. 14, 17. b 11. 20. 388 POLITICAL Book V. 400,000/. were fent from Spain (fays Burnet. I have omitted quoting vol, and page) to bribe the parlia- ment to approve of queen Mary% marriage* with Phi- Up. The marriage-bill paffes immediately. And four bills againft heretics in one feffion. Such was the power cf SpaniJ};} gold ^. Philip brings part of the promifed money with him. The money brought from Spain produced fuch effefts, that moft of the reprefentatives only wanted occaficns to fignaJize their zeal for the queen b. Oi James Ift's time it is obferved by Mr. Bume"^^ that * So little fkill, or fo fmali means, had the court in his reign for managing parliaments, that this houfe of commons (hewed rather a ftronger fpirit of liber- ty than the former.' What a leffon does this fen- tence leach ! In our times it is computed ^ that the court has in its difpofal feveral millions a year. If fo, our court has -great * means for managing parlia- ments, and therefore our houfe of commons is not likely to (hcw much of the fpirit gf liberty/ The militia bill paffed the lords, A. D. 1661, by which it is declared, that neither lords ner commons conjundly nor feverally, nor the people feverally or reprelentatively, have any power over the perfon of the Idng, and that the king alone has the power of al: forces by fea and land, and all (hips, fortifica- tions, &c. exclufive of parliament. And that no war can, on any pretence whatever, be raifed againft tl-e king^. At the fame time, an oath is to be taken a Parl. Hist. hi. 302, 308, h Rap. I I. 39, 40. c //&»2 ^Though Riebardll. and many others of our worft kings, down to Charles II. dabbled in corruption, it may yet be faid, that the art of governing by regularly and fyftematically bribing the houfe of commons came in at the revolution. It was firft applied for buying off the Jacobites, and has been going on ever fincc, till the iicting down of the prefent immaculate parlia- ment, (the prefent parliament is always immaculate) and Burmth Hist. evvN Times, ii. ^zz* 400 POLITICAL Book V.' and has of late times been applied to the buying off of a fet of troublefome men, who would otherwife have oppofed the pious dcfigns of the court. That this is the truth, is demonftrable from the court's continuing the pradice almoft a century ; which it certainly would not do, at fuch an enormous expence, if it did not find its account in the proceeding. Votes were for the firft time after the revolution, bought by Sir Jo&n l^revory fpeaker of the houfe of commons, * a bold and dexterous man, fays Burnet % who knew the mod effedual ways of recommending himlelf to every government, and had been in great favour in king Jatnes\ time. Being a tory in prin- ciple, he undertook to manage that party, provided he was furnifhed with fuch fums of money as might purchafe fome votes.' This mifchievous invention has cruelly reduced the value of the revolution to the nation.. Some of the worft evils of Stuart -gov txnmtnt were the following, viz. I. Governing without parliaments. But is there any difference between governing without parliament, and governing parliament itfelf by money ? 2. Raif- ing ihip-money and other taxes without confent of the reprefentativcs of the people. What avails the confent of a fet of bribed reprefentativcs indemnifiii of the general burden by places and penfions ? 3. Corrupting judges. Corrupting the houfe of com- mons is worfe. It is poiloning the fountain-head. 4. Punifliing arbitrarily, and according to no written law. But may not parliaments thoroughly enflaved to a court, be cxpeded to make cruel laws^ yvhenever the court happens to be of a cruel difpofition. And what a Hist, own Times, hi. 57* Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 401 what difference is it to the fubjed whether he is cruelly punifhed by Jefferies's abufe of the laws, or by the dired: injuftice of the law^ the?nfehes, except, that the latter is putting him into a more unchangeably bad fituation than the former. 5. Intimidating the mem- bers by fines, prifons, &c. The evil of thii» pradice conlifts only in its influencing the members to vote againft their country. What difference does it maice to the fubjedts, whether parliament is iniiaenced to their prejudice by fear or by hope ? When the Stuarts intimidated the members, thitt meafure cojl ncthing to the nation. But we are obliged to pay for bribing them, to pay for the very rod, which is to beat our- felves. 6, Laying afide juries. Wc had better lay afide juries, than lay afide the whole efficiency, of par- h'ament. To bribe parliament is to lay afide its whole efficiency, and make it a mere hmb of the court. Befides, a corrupt parliament may be expecfled to enaifl what our courtly lawyers, fome of them of no mean rank, are often preaching up, viz* That juries are only to judge of the fy5i ; the eftabli(hing of which dodrine by parliamenf, would produce precifely the fame effedl as abolifliing juries by ailatute, 7. Levy- ing war againft parliament, A corrupt parliament is government armed againft the people. 8. Seizing the 5 members. A corrupt parliament will feize and imprifon all the incorrupt members, if they find it will anfwer ♦their gracious eads. And a member had bet- ter be imprifoned by a ruffian tyrant^ than perfuaded by a fawning minifter to damn himfeif and ruin hiscoun^ try. 9. Difpenfing with the laws, and making laws without confent of either lords or commons, that is, giving out proclamations, with the force of laws. But; laws made, oj: laws repealed, by a fct cf profligate Vol. 1. F f f court- 402 POLITICAL BookV. court-tools in St. Stephens chapel, are as far from the fenfe of the independent people, as the Stuart's prccla- mations, or difpcnfations. In fad, a corrupt court againft an hneji parliament and a brave people is no- thing near fo formidable as a corrupt court and parlia" ment againft a helplefs people. The former cafe zdm'its of a conjlitvtwnal rcmtdy '^ the latter leads to violence and contsft between government and people. 10. But the Stuarts (hut the exchequer. True. And our bribing minifters have, by doling about the money which fli9uld have paid the national debt, brought public credit to the very precipice of bankruptcy, ir. The Stuarts intended to cftablifli abfolute power in the prince. They did fo. And our bribing courts intend to eftablifh abfolute power in a junto of gran- dees, who rule cle(f\ions, and diredl the members when to fay Aye, and when No. 12. The Stuarts^ intended to re-eftablifti popery ; while our corrupters mean only atheifm. Here I ow^n a difference ; popery being the worft thing in the univerfe, hell only ex- cepted. So that upon the whole, I know of fcarce any evil we have efcaped by Ae revolution, popery excepted, that is not in a fair way of being brought back upon us by corruption. The Stuarts were butch- ers. They attacked the good lady Britannia with, flaughtcring knives. Our genteeler corruptors have endeavoured her deftrudion by poifon held oat to her in a golden cup > or, as a humorous writer (I have forgot who) ftates it, between two thieves, whig and^tory, thq nation is crucified. Suppofe, in two fuits of law, my firft antagonift obliges the judge, by threatening his life, to give fentence againft me, and my fecond bribes him. Am I not equally injured in both^ cafes ? The Stuarts Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 403 Stuarts meant a tyranny by one ; the Walpolians an ariftocracy. Which is worft for England ? The corruption introduced in king Williams time, on pretence of buying off the Jacobites (doing a certain evil, that an uncertain good might come, overthrow- ing the virtue of the peoph-'-^to Jave the nation) was fo openly fcandalous, that honeft Burnet remonftrated to the king upon it, v^ith almoft as much feverity as the old prophet ufed in reproving king D^'u/V for mur- der and adultery. And good reafon he had for ufing feverity. A Dutchmaji comes over to Britain on pre- tence of delivering us from flaveryj and makes it one of his firft works to plunge us into the very vice which has enilaved all the nations of the world, that have ever loft their liberties. When the parliament pafied a bill for incapacitating certain perfons, who might be fuppofed obvious to court influence^ from fitting in parliament, our glorious deliverer refufed the royal affent, which occafioned fome fevere refolu- tions againft the advifers of that refufal, and a motion for a remonftrance to the king upon it. ' When an enquiry was afterwards fet on foot,^ into the venality of parliament, fuch a fcene of iniquity was opened, as made the peniion parliament of Charles IL feem innocent, and the court was then thought to have arrived at the ne plus ultra of corrup- tiofii a.' If king William had been as difinterefled as he ought, and as he pretended, l>e would not have do- fetted members^ nor promoted bribery. No man will dare damnation for the fake of doing good to others^ unlefs he thinks to get, or keep, fome advantage to himfelf. a Use and Abuse of Parl. i. 121. 404 POLITICAL Book V. himfelf. May my foul ftand upon a more fecure foun- dation at the day of reckoning, than thoie of the beft kings. Let the reader judge of this matter by the follow- ing extradl from a writer of thofe times ^. * 20o,ooc/. a year beftowed upon the parliament has already drawn out of the fubjeds pockets more millions than all our kings fmce the conqueft have had from the nation *—* The king has about fix fcore m mbers, whom I can reckon, who are in places, and are thereby fo entirely at his devotion, that though they have mortal feuds, when out of the houfe, though they are violently of oppofite parties in their notions of government, yet they vote as lumpingly as the lawn fleeves, and never divide when the intereft of the family, as they call it, is concern- ed, that is to fay, when any court- projedl is on foot. The houfe is fo officered, that by thofe who have places and penfions, together with their fons, bro- thers, and kinfmen, and thofe, who are fed with the Jiopes of preferment, and the too great Influence, thefe have upon fome honeft miftaken country-gen- tleman, (I call them miftaken, who can be perfuad- ed that an honeft bill can at any time be out of fea- ion) the king can baffle any bill, quafli all grievances, ilifle. accounts, and ratify the articles of Limerick,' — * 1 would tripft an eledted king a great way, if I faw he underiiood eledion to be his title ; if our gener- ofity would engage him to reformation. But when 1 fee, he knows neither his own nor our intereft, that he a A Jhort Jlaie of our condition ^ith relation to the prefent parUatnentn printed, J, D, i6(^S' St. Tracts, time of King William, 1 1. 369. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 405 he hates and nickiiames as commonwealths-men, tfiofe whofe principles made them the authors c>f his greatnefs, and thofe that would have him do the bu- finefs, for which he came, fjr which both he arid we faid he came ; when I Tee him fometimes Iblicit- ing in perfon in the hoafe of lords, and fometimrs by lord Porl/anJ, bcfides what he does by his un:.'.i» officers ; when I hear, he fends commands to feme lords, and bribes to others, and turns out of his place the gallant lord Bel/amount, merely for giving his vote in the houfe of commons according to his confcience, thereby intendmg to terrify othert? ^ wijen I find the money, which the nadon gives to defend our liberties from foreigners, is like to undermiDC them at home; in a word, when I fee neither one houfe nor the other can withftand the power of gold; I fay, when I perceive al! this, I think it is time to look about us*"!.' — * I thought we had called hirn over to call minifters to an account, and to piir. it out of their power to abufe us hereafter unpunifhed. If any fpirit of liberty remains, if we are not deilined to deitrudion, fure the nation will take fbrne way to let the king and both houfcs know, that they expc6t, they fhould not only provide for a campaign in Fl^n^ JerSy but for our fecurity even againftour ownvictor'cs, and fuch laws as may make it worth while to dei^^nd our country ; I fay, worth while to defend it ; fcr ^f we are to be flaves, it is no matter to whom we are lo. • — Since members are retained by him with i'dcii overgrown fees (fuch places and perferments) to be council on his fide ; how can the people hope nicy wi'l a St. Tracts, time of king /ir////^/», 11.369, 370, 4o6 POLITICAL Book V. will be juft in their arbitration ? — If men are to make fortunes by being of our fenate-houfe, we had bett^ ourfelves pay the difburfements of thofe we fend-^ each particular county would find their account in it, whilft they would preferve their members from the temptation of being hired out of their intereft, and consequently would get good laws for what they give.-^If this [bribing of members] continues, God have mercy upon poor England^ for hitherto we have been, and are like ftill, for ought 1 fee, to be paid, for all our expence of blood and treafure, with the fmoke, which Boccalini mentions in his advicee from ParnaJfuSf whereby the enemies of the government have but too great advantage given them to ridicule us for our foolifli credulity/ Thus far this blunt honeft writer. And it muft be owned, that the conftitution has long beqn only no- minally government by king, lords, and commons, but really a tyranny of ambitious and avaritious »?//z//- ters^ who have, in fucceffion, enflaved and blinded their royal mafters, wafted the public money, plunged the nation into inextricable debts and difficulties, mul- tiplied places and penfions, kept up large and expen five armies in time of peace, accumulated excifes, mifap- plied taxes, irritated our colonies, injured commerce,, endangered public credit, debauched the virtue of the people, eftabliflied corruption, as a neceffary engine of government, over- ruled eleflions, defeated the very end of chufing reprefentatives, by debauching the houfe of commons, the people's only Palladium againft regal and minifterial tyranny, into a mereout- Vi7ork of the court, by which means the fenfe of the nation has been, in innumerable inftances, trampled upon Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 407 upon by the pretended reprefentatlves of the people, whole duty is, to follow it implicitly. Thefe are the triumphs of the whigs, our pretended delivers from the Stuarts of tyrannical memory, and from popery, and flavery. Nothing was done at the revolution (fays the au- thor of Dissert, on Parties a) to prevent parlia- mentary corruption. * Pleafed that the open attacks on our conftitution were defeated and prevented, men entertained no thought of the fecret attacks that might be carried on again.ft the independency of par- liaments, as if our dangers could be but of one kind, and could arifc but from one family. Soon after the revolution, indeed, men of all fides and of ail denominations (for it was nofa ^^r/y-caufe, though there were who endeavoured to make it fuch) began to perceive, not only that nothing efFedtual had been done to hinder the undue influence of the crown in eledlions, and an over-ballance of the crea- tures of the court in parliament, but that the means of exercifing fuch an influence at the will of the crown, were unawares and infenfibly increafed and every day increafing. In a word, they began to fee that the foundations were laid of giving as great power to the crown indiredly, as the prerogative, they had formerly dreaded fo much, could give diredl- ly, andofeftablifhing univerfal corruption. The firft hath happened, and w.e pray that the laft never may. King fViliiam\ convention- parliament fhewed ai> unpardonable negligence in taking no fecurity againft kingly encroachments, nor againft parliamentary cor- ruption, nor for certain and annual redrefs of grie- vances. a P. 220. 4o8 POLITICAL Book V. vances, nor for annual parliaments. They compli- raented hioi immcdia^iely (before they had any fecurity that hs would not abufc fo enormous atraft, 2nd with the greateft probabiHty that the example would have b;jd eff-ds) with the fufpenfion of the Habeas Corpus adt, thereby laying at the feet of one individual the liberty of millions *, which was never done in the much more dangerous times of queen Efe^/^^r^, nor in M.onmout}}% rebellion by the tyrant James II. I'hev declared the Iriflo rebels, for adhering to king James, when tliey were liable to be hanged, if they bad ^efifted him, and before the revolution was known in Ireland, They humoured the Dutch demands, in complaifance to thek new Dutch king, to the preju- dice of E;?^/^?^, They'entered blindfold, and ruftied on to a length beyond all reafon and prudence, into Williams views of humbling Fr^/^/<:^ by land- war, and firil entangled us in thofe continental connexions, which have almoft ruined us. Then parliament fet- tled the king's revenue for life. Was that ading like wlk men, who ought ai. ieaft to have read their Bible, which would have told them, that there is no truft to be put in kings, 6lc. Then csme the blcffed contrivance of borrowing, and fpending the principal, to the amount of 4 and 5 millions in one year, in continental wars, and loading the trade of the nation to pay the intereft. Which adn'irable art we have fince* improved to fuch an height, as to raife the natiotial debt to the frightful fum of 140 millions, by which our trade has been loaded Vv^ith a burden ot 5/600,000/. per ann. According to Davenant, there were granted to king IVilliam by parliament, chiefjy for his continental wars. Chap* IV. D IS Q^U I S IT ION S. 409 wars, in the years 1689, 90, and fo on to 1698, no lefs than 43,000,000 /. Parliament overlooked in king William what they feverely refented in his predeceffor, the difpenfing with the laws. King Williamy of his own authority, granted the Irijh rebels conditions, which the laws refufed them. There was undoubtedly at the reftoration, as well as at the revolution, a ftrong difpofition both in parli- ament and people to humour the court. The nation was at thefe two periods juft efcaped from a tempef- tuous fea of inteftine commotions, and getting into a calm harbour, was fo overjoyed as to become almoft wholly thoughtiefs of its danger in trufting kings and courts in fo unlimited a manner. But a great part of thefe parliamentary conceflions were the undoubted efFed: of direct grofs bribery. It was thought, that the beft part of 170,000 /. was given among the members of the houfe of commons by the Eajl India company, A. D, 1695, to obtain a renewal of their exclufive charter, inltead of opening the trade, which was much talked of at that time a. Twelve lords and twenty-four commoners were a commit- tee appointed to fearch into the fcenes of cor- ruption. ' Whenever (fays Legion ^) a houfe of commons {hall part v/nh, expofe, negled, or fuffer to be infringed, the liberties, rights, and peace of the peo- ple they reprefent' [and furely this they do, when they {hew themftlves the abfolute (laves of the court by feconding the views of the miniftry, right or Vol. I. G g g wrong a Burn, Hist own Times, hi. 1991 i^wr^'s Tracts, hi, 124. 4IO POLITICAL BookV. wrong] * thty betray their truft, they violate the ge- neral realbn of iheir being chcfen ; their reprefent- ing power and being ctafes' of courie, and they become, from that time forward, an unlavvful alTem- bly, and may and ought to be depofed and difmifled by the fame laws of nature and right, by which opprefied fubjeds may, and in all ages have depofed tyrannical princes — It cannot be juit, that what our kings have no right to take away, our reprefen- tativfs may give without law, or that the people fliould be obliged to endure the tyranny of 500 ufurpers, more than of one, fince no number nor quality of perfons can make that lawful which in its ov^n nature is not fo.* They afterwards com- plain, that the town of Maidflojie was deprived for two feflions of its privilege cf fending two mem- bers. That at the elections for Weiibicry and Sudbury^ the commons had given the feat to the candidate, who had 16 votes againft 22. They com.plain of freehcldsrs deprived of their right to chufe m.em.bers ; of partiality with refpe(5t to defaulters, punifliing fome and letting others efcape -, of refuming king JVill'^ams grants, while they allowed tbofe of former kings, though much more infamous ; of attempts to extend the prerogative only for the fake of embroil- ing the royal family with the peers. The commons were at that time difaffedted, and the peers feem to have been of a better way of thinking 5 which is very extracrdinary. Sad fcenes of corruption were found, A. D. i69/{« Several contractors for cloathing the army were exa- mined. Refufing to fatisfy the commons, they were committed to the Tower. A bill was ordered in for * punifhing Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 411 puniOiing thole, who liiould refufe to anfwer qaef- tions aited bv the houfe ^, Mr. Cornijh was expelled the houfe of ccminons, ^ D. 1698, for adting as a ccmmiffioner of duties upon vellum, paper, parch men r, 6cc. while a mem- ber, contrary to 5 acd 6 tViUuim \ll, ^ From difcoveries made, A. D, 1695, '^ ^^^- ^^^" pected, that an univerfal corruption had overfpread the nation, court, Cimp, city, and parliamtnt. There was a deftciency cf 294,798/. in the Eajl India com- pany's ftcck, and ibme of the members were fuipected of dabbling ^. To wipe oS lufpicion, a committee of the com.m: ns was appointed to infpsdl the com- pany's book-:, and thofe of the chamberlain cf Lcn- don, It appears that feveral members were bribed, thar the company might obtain a new charter. There Were likewife corrupt pra-ftices among them for pro- curing the orphan's bill ^. A rclolution of the ccm- mocs charged their fpeaker, Trrcor, with corruption for receiving loco guineas frcm the city ci Lends n, after paffing :he orphan's biU ^. He fends the mace to the houfe, and quits his poit. ' Foley is chofen fpeaker in his room. Rcfolutions followed againil fevcrai mem- bers, and a bill for obliging Sir Tbj. Cooke to give an account of monies, which had palled through his hands. The bill was rejected by the lords, and Ccok^ I'uSsred to efcape, on promile, that he would make difcoveries. He brings in a long and bl^ck lilt of thole who hud lingered the money, perlons of noble rank. a Dii. CCM. II. 44S. b ^rc^ir's "Right o? Elect. 265. c Deb. Cou. 11.451. ' d Ibid. 454. e Ibid. jL-^6. 412 POLITICAL BookV. rank, and higher than noble ; which, it was pre- tended, was only in confequence of antient cuftom at the renewing of charters. Sir Jofiah Child depof- cd, that the Eaji India company had propofed to offer the king 50,000/. but that Mr. lyjfen had told them, from lord Portland^ the king would have nothing to do with it a. A member (anonymous) faid. The houfe ought to provide laws, for the future, to pre- vent the members taking money. There were fevere refiedions on the duke of Leeds^. It was propofed to addrefs the king to remove him, or that the houfe fl^ould impeach him. * Such adions as thefe' (a member faid) ' are a blemi(h, if not a fcandal to the revolution itfdf/ Another member alked, « By what law it was a crime to take money at court ?* It was anfwered, * If there was no fuch law, it was time there fhould be one c/ And it might have been added. That it is an article of the oath taken by all privy councellors, that they will avoid corruption ^. * Juftice is not to be fold,' faid another member, ♦ by common law.' [We fhould think that very un- common law in our times, by which a man obtained \\i^\ctgratisy and our miniflers publicly declare, they think it neceffary, that the court have influence in parliainent. Is not that felling juftice?] Another member faid, * There are parliaments to punifli fuch crimes, and it is to be hoped, there will always be.' [Little did that honeft gentleman think the time would come, when upwards of 200 notorious place- men and penfioners would fit in St. Stephen^ chapel without a blufh on their faces.] * Refolved, That Thomas a Deb. Com. II. 465. b Ibid. 466. c Ibid. 467. d Blackji, Com. \» 230* Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 413 Thomas duke of Leeds^ prefident of his majcfty's mod honourable privy council' [a moft honou- rable prefident!] * be impeached of high crimes and mifdemeanours ^.' The duke oi Leeds went to the houfe of con^mons, made a very weak fpeech, denied his receiving any money ; but it appeared af- terwards, that this was a mere equivccadon. 1 he impeachment, however, was fent up to the lords. They acquaint the commons, That they had paffed a bill for imprifoning Sir Tho. Cooke and others, T ::e commons reiblved, ' That to offer money, or other advantage, to a member, for promoting any matter whatfoevcr depending in parliament, is ^ high crime and mifdemeanour, tending to the fubveriion of the Engliflo conftitution t>/ [There ought, therefore, lince that time, to reconcile principles vc^ith pradice, to have been a refolution of the commons, that for a miniftcr to offer, and actually to give money, and places to 200 members, for promoting his fchemcs, and to keep him in his place, is a low cririieand mii- demeanour, 7iot tending to the fubverfion of the Eiig- lijh conftitution.] The commons were going on 10 impeach others \ but were interrupted by Black Rod's calling them to attend the king, who was come to put an end to the feffionsc. [Which (hews a king to be a very convenient implement for the minifter's purpofes.] There were feveral other very reafondble bills before the houfe, which could not be carried through.. And the king's concluding the feffions, while they were fearching into the above horrible fcene of corruption, looks very indifferent on the part a Blackji. Com. i. 467, b Ibid. 47a. c Ibid. 471, 414 POLITICAL Book V. part of our glorious deliverer. He pretended, the fea- Ibn of the year required his going abroad. That par- liament never met again; being diffolved foon aftcr^ Refledions being made againft the miniftry by the tories, A. D. 1690, a commiflion v^as appointed to enquire into the laying out of the public money. A certain number of the commons (the lords declining) were chofen by ballot, with authority to fend for perfons, papers, and records, and to examine upon oath ^. This might be of fervice in thofe times. But in an age, when the majority of the commons are corrupt, the majority of every committee muft be the fame, if the dodtrine of chances may be de- pended upon. At the fame time that France was bribing Charles II.'s parliament, money for the fame purpofe- came over from Spain and the Emperor to gain the mem^ bers to their party c. Prodigious quantities of French gold were brought over A, D. 17C1, fuppofed for bribing parliament. A ftrong party for France in parliament ^. It was refolved, A. D. 1707, that it appears to the houfe that of zg^ig^ EngliJJjmen^ who fliould have been at the battle of Almanza, there were but 8,660. The queen was addreffed to know why ^ She anfwers, that there could no more be fent. But I think it does not appear very clear why they were not. Therefore it a Blackji, Com. i. 471, b Burn. Hist, own Times, hi. 90. c Dalrymp, Mem. ii. iio. d Tind. CoNTiN. 1.439. e Deb. Com. iv. 81. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 415 it was moved to cenfure the negled: of not fending troops in time. But the cenfure was by the court- party over-ruled, and turned into an addrefs of thanlcs for the queen's care of the affairs of Spain. A formidable cfFed of minifterial power in parlia- ment was feen in the fatal peace of Utrecht -, of which queen Annes miniftcrs, in the foUovring Ipeecb, A^D, 1713, celebrate the praifes, and herald forth their triumphs over their country. — * I hope at the next: meeting the affair of commerce will be fo well under- ftood that the advantageous conditions I have ob- tained from France will be made eff*edtual for the benefit of our trade. I cannot part with fo good and fo loyal an houife of commons, without ex- preffing how fenfible I am of the affedion, zeal, and duty, with which you have beliaved yourfelves ; and I think myfelf therefore obliged to take notice of thofc remarkable fervices you have performed. At your firft meeting you found amethpd, without farther charge to my people^ to eafe them of the heavy load of more than nine millions ; and the way of doing it may bring great advantage to the nation. In this feffion you have enabled me to be juft in paying the debts due to my fervants. And as you furniflied fupplies for carrying on the war, lb you have flrengthened my hands in obtaining a peace, Thi^s you have fliewed yourfelves the true reprefentatives of my loyal commons, by the juft regard you have paid t^ the good of your country and my honour : thefe proceedings will, I doubt not, prefc.rve the memory of this parliament to pofterity. My lords and gentle- men^ At my coming to the crown, I found a war prepared for me. God has blefled my arms with many vi(aories, and at laft has enabled me to make them 4i6 POLITICAL Book V. them ufeful by a fafe and honourable peace. I heartily thank you for the affiftance you have given me therein, and I promife myfelf, that, with your concurrence, it will be lading. To this end, I recommend it to you all to make my fubjeds truly fenfible what they gain by the peace, and that you will endeavour to diffipate thofe groundlefs jealoufies which have been fo induftrioufly fomented amongft us, that our unhappy divifions may not weaken, and, in fome lort, endanger the advantages I have obtained for my kingdoms. There are fome (very few, I hope) who will never be fatisfied with any govern- ment ; it is neceflary, therefore, that you fhew your love to your country, by exerting yourfelves to obviate the malice of the ill-minded, and to un- deceive the deluded. Nothing can eftablifh peace at home, nothing can recover the difordcrs that have happened during fo long a war, but a fteady adhering to the conftitution in church and ftate. Such as are true to thefe principles, are only to be relied on -, and, as they have the befl: title to my favour, fo you may depend upon my having no i-ntereft nor aim but vcur advantage, and the fecuring of our religion and liberty. I hope, for the quiet of thefe nations, and the univerfal good, that 1 (hall next winter meet my parliament refolved to acft upon the fame principles, with the fame prudence, and with fuch vigour, as may enable me to fuppcrt the liberties of Europe abroad, and reduce the ipirit of fadtion at home/ It was propolcd, to take the fpeech into con- fideration. Immediately the cry was given for an addrefs of thanks, and no examination. Thy ac- cordingly acknowledge her great cotidefcenfion in let- ting them know their G%m affair, which they had an abfolute Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 417 abfoluter/g'/&/*to know,andto determine as theyplc^kd, as being ihe rcprefcntatives of the great body, the people, the principal objed:. They ' want words to exprefs the fatisfadtion with which they have received all that her majefty was pleated to imp^irt/ * Entire confidence in her.' She anfwers, that they Hiall * find the good efi:ects of their confidence* — la the bleffed peace of Utrecht ^. The bill for the French trade was propofed^ A. JD. 1713, tobeengrofled. The debates held from 3 till near 1 1. Sir ThomasHanmer faid, * he never would be led by any minifter ^, Even fomc of the placemen were againlt the bill. It was carried againft its being engroffed^ 194 againft 185. A frightful number of enemies to Britain and friends to France, fitting in the afiTembly of Briti/h legiflators. By the treaty of Utrecht, Dunkirk was not to be demoliflied till an equivalent for it was put into thsi hands of the French. What that was to be, the court never explained. Cape Breton was left to France, with liberty of drying their filh on Neuofoundland. All French goods were to come into £«^/^Wuponthe fame conditions as thofe of other countries^ though they, will hardly take any of ours In exchange, and though our Porttigueje trade (one of the moft advantageous we then had) and our filk, our linnen, and paper-manu- failures muft have been ruined by admitting the French, and though it was found in former times, that our trade vvitn France was a million a year lo(s to us. All trading people were alarmed. Yet a bill for making the treaty of commerce with France eflfedual was within 9 votes of being eftablilhed by mini- VoL. 1. H h h fterial a Deb. Com, iv. 315, b Ibid, v. 40, 4i8 POLITICAL BookV. fterial influence. This whole affair was carried on in the moft barefaced manner; nothing attempted to fhew the advantage of a commerce with jFr^;^^^, though fo much to demonftrate, that it would prove ruinous to the nation \ Yet we have people among us, who cry. There is no fear that a parliament will purfue an intereft contrary to that of the nation. In the commons' addrefs of thanks to the queen for that hopeful treaty, are the following. * Your majefty's extenfive care hath not only provided for the fecurity, but for the honour of your kingdoms.— The good foundation your majefty has 'laid for the intereft of your people in trade, by what you have done in the treaty of navigation and commerce with France^ gives us hopes of feeing it yet farther im- proved to the advantage of your kingdoms/ They go on requefting that the treaty of commerce may be corn- pleated, &c b. The queen thanks them for the addrefs, which fo fully expreffes their approbation of the trea- ties of peace and commerce with France. It was with no fmall difficulty that fo great advantages in trade, were obtained for my fubjeds/ This cure has coft me an infinite deal of trouble, fays the mock-dodlor. Was this parliament a reprefentation of the people oi England, which approved what the whole people ihewed themfelves fo much againft ? Both houfes addrefs the queen upon the fafe, honour-^ able, and advantageous^ peace of l/Zr^^fo ^ ; by which Engla?id goi ]\x{i nothing but 50 millions debt. They thank her for * delivering the nation from a confuming land war unequally carried on, and become at lalf im- a Burn, iv, 389-403. b Deb. Com. v. 43,, c Ibid, v, 127. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 419 itnpradicable/ She anfwers, that {he looks upon this addrefs as the united voice of her affedtionate and loyal fubjedts. It was the voice of Jacobites, only, and of a parliament enflaved to a Jacobite miniftry, and the miniftry knew' it was fo. Burnet fays, the lords never approved it. See his fpeech prepared to have been delivered in the houfe of peers, in cafe the miniftry had moved for an adl, or an addrefs, ap- proving the peaccp after it was publidied ^. The good bifhop, like a faithful preacher of righteoufnefs, in- veighs heavily againft the perfidy of the court in patching up a peace without the confent and appro- bation of the allies, contrary to the exprefs words of the treaties of alliance, upon which the war was, at the joint expence of the allies, entered into. * Swear- ing deceitfully, fays he ^, is one of the worft cha- raZlers ; and he, who fwears to his own hurt, and changes not, is amongft the beft. It is a maxim of the wifeft of kings, that the throne is eftabiilhed by righteoufnefs. Treaties are of the nature of oaths, and when an oath is alked to confirm a treaty, it is never denied.' He goes on to ilsew, ^ that the popes were the firft inventors of a difpenfing power, by which they taught princes to break through oaths and treaties and mentions feveral ftjocking inftances, very unfit for the imitation of a proicltant court. He fays, if any of the allies were deficient, there ought to have been demands and proteilations, accord- ing to the ufual forjns in fuch cafes ; and that thefe being wanting, he cannot fee, that the public faith, was not broken firft on our fide/ Let a Hist. Own times, iv. 397. b Ibid. 399. 4?o POLITICAL Book \W Let us hear the fenfe of Geo. I/s miniftry on that fatal tranfadion, in his firft fpeech, ji. D. 1715S and the anfwer of the commons. ^ It were to be wi(hed (fays the king) that the un- paralled fucceffes of a war, which was fo wifely and chearfully fupported by this nation, in order to pro- cure a good peace, had been attended with a fuitable conclufion. But it is with concern I muft tell you, that fome conditions, even of this geacc, eflential to the fecurity and trade of Great Britaifjy are not yet duly executed, and the performance of the whole may be looked upon as precarious, &c. A great part of our trade is rendered impradicable, the pub- lic debts are very great, and lurprifingly increafed even fince the fatal ceffation of arms/ &c. And the commons in their addrefs, c^prefs them- felves as follows ; * We are fenfibly touched, not only with the dif-j appointment, but with the reproach brought upon the nation by the unfuitable conclulion of a war, which was carried on at fo yaft an expence, and at- tended with fuch unparalled fuccefl^es. But as that difhonour cannot, with juftice, be imputed to the whole nation, io we firmly hope and believe, that through your majcfty's great wifdom, and the faith- ful endeavours of ycur commons, the reputation of thefc your kingdoms will in due time be vindicated and reftored. We are under aftonifliment to find — that care was not taken [in framing the treaty] to form fuch alliances, as might have rendered that peace not precarious — Your commons are under the deeped a Deb. Com. vi. 10, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 421 deepeft concern, that a great part of our trade is ren- dered impradicable/ &c. So foon were all the lies bafldied between the tory miniftry, and the enflaved parliament, overthrown ! All, all but truth, drops dead-born from the prefs ; Like the laft gazette, or the laft addrefs. Pope. A number of new writs were made out for filling vacancies made by members accepting places ^ Jl, D. 17 1 1. The colledors of the debates have given us an excellent quotation on this fubjedt from Short Hist, of the Parl. by R. W. Efq; as follows. ' It was never known, that days were fet apart for rewarding members of parliament with places and employments. He who looks upon the votes of the lait day of the firrt: feffion, will find almoft nothing done, but new writs ordered in the room of parlia- ment men, who had received their wages for their pad year's fervices. And to fuch a pitch were ihey come at laft, that at the. end of the fecond feffion, when the queen's fpcech was made, and the feffion clofed to all other intents and purpofes, both houfes are ordered to adjourn themfelves for eighteen days, as if fomething extraordinary v/as ftill bcihind, that might require the fitting of the parhament. But when the day comes, nothing is done, but a 2d Wd of /(?y^/ members, preferred, is produced ^ and the vacancies of patriots turned courtiers, are, by new writs, ordered to be filled up; that thefe dutijul members might be ready at the beginning of next feffion, to ferve thofe, who had fo well rewarded their paft fervices.' A motion a Deb. CoL. iv. 223, 4?2 POLITICAL BookV* A motion was made by Pulteney, A. D. 1712, en cccafion of the inadivity of Ormond in Flanders, that the queen be addreffed to dtfire him to exert his ut- moft efforts towards obtaining peace. St. John in the houfe of commons, and Oxford in the houfe of peers (par nobile fratrum I ) give aflurances that all was well. The motion was changed into an addrefs of entire confidence in the queen a. * The fureft way to deftroy this government has always been thought to be, by its own hands, that is by the authority and power of parliament. For this purpofe a confederacy by which the liberties of 'Europe had been fo long fullained agalnft the power of France, w^as broken to pieces by votes obtained in this houfe in the moft extraordinary manner.' hechmere^ fpeech in the houfe of commons. A. D. 1715b. Lord Stanhope^ in his fpeeth in the houfe of peers, A^ D. 17 1 8, Ineers at the duke of Argyle for chang- ing fides, according as he was in or out. The duke anlwers, that he voted with the miniftry, when he thought they were right; and againft them when wrong c. if we could lee our parliaments proceed in thai impartial manner, we fliould have a better opinion of their integrity. On the contrary, in Walpoles times there was a fet of members vv])ofe names never failed to be feen on the court fide of every vote. Lord Chatham in his fpeech on the ftamp-adt pub- lickly accufed a certain aflTembly of an over-ruling in- fluence 3 and added the following : * I know not how it is 5 but we obferve a modefty in the houfe, that does a Deb. Com. iv. 310. b Ibid. vi. 54. c Deb. Lords, hi. 76. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS, 423 does not love to contradid a minifter. I wlfli gen- tlemen would get the better of this modefty. If they do not, perhaps the colledtive body may begin to abate of its refpe * F^^^ vfh^i has been propofed by the two hon. gentlemen, who made and fcconded this motion/ [for an addrefs of thanks and general approbation of all meafures] ' I (hould have concluded, if they had not told me otherwife, that they were acquainted with all the fecrets of the cabinet, and had fee n all the inftrudions fent to our miniftcrs at foreign courts, as well as all the advices received from them ^ for without fuch a thorough, knowledge, no man can, in my opinion, with honour agree to what they have propofed > and what gives me much more concern, I am afraid that fuch a thorough knowledge would be fo far from warranting fuch a plumb approbation of all our foreign affairs, that it would furnifli us with fufHcient rcafons for cenfuring every ftep that has been taken for fome time paft. As to the authority, which it is pretended we have from his majefly's fpeech from the throne,^ every gentleman knows, that in this houfe we are always to look upon that fpeech as the fpeech of the minirter j and I have read of very few minifters whofe affevcrations, though given in the mod religious, as well as folemn manner, I {hould depend upon with refped to any fad relating to their ov/n condud. Nor can I fay that I have more dependence upon the teftimony of our prefcnt minifters, than I could ever have upon that of any other. 1 muft even be fo free as to fay, that what I have heard this day renders me a little more fufpicious of their regard to truth, thaa I ever was heretofore. 1 confels I have as little acquaintance with the affairs of the cabinet as either of the honourable gentlemen, or, I believe, as any gentleman in the kingdom. 1 know nothing of - Gur foreign affairs, but what I have from our public * gazettes^ Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 427 gazettes, and thefe I know are often cooked up in order to deceive ; but fuppofe they were not, and fuppofe we had from this news-paper-knowledge fuf- ficient authority for believing every thing which by this motion we are to profefs we believe, would this be an authority fufficient for this houfe to found any refolution upon ? Is it not inconfiftent with the dig- nity of this houfe and with the uniform pradice of our anceftors to fouhd our refolutions upon any thing but parliamentary knowledge^?' He goes on to fl:iew, that inftead of genera! appro- bati^ of the meafures purfued by the miniflry, there was much room for cenfure ; inflead of congratula- tion, much caufe for condolance. Our (hipping feized by the Spaniards^ our colonies attacked by the French \ the continent of Europe rather embroiled than quieted by our interpofition in their quarrels ; a difgraceful treaty with Spain \ the peace of Alx-la^ Chapelle dilhonourable and precarious ; the nation in- fuliing England every where ; fettling the neutral iflapds in diredt violation of the treaty j imprudent and unprofitable alliances on the continent of Europe, with fubfidies of endlefs expence to Britain^ fee. \x\ Walpole\^ and all fuch dirty times, the conftant endeavour of the oppofition has been to get at fads, proceedings, extrads, papers, &c. and the part of the miniflerial crew, to negative all fuch motions. We*accordingly find, in moft feffions, fix or eight fuch motions quaflied; every one of which was highly reafonable, many of them fuch, that the houfe was obliged to proceed in the dark for want of neceflary papers, which the minifter well knew to be very unfit for a Aim. Deb. Com. iv. 177. POLITICAL Book V*- for public inrpedion. Befides, it is a general rule with all men, who have indired fchemes in view, to conceal as many particulars as they can: for they are aware, that the knowledge of every particular fur- niflies their detedors with an advantage againft them, He knew human nature well, who obferved, that thofe v/hofe deeds are evil, love darknefs rather than light. But fuch ftatefmen give us authority to believe the very worjl of their proceedings. They leave it to our imaginations to paint them as black as we pleafe; and might as well let us know the word ; if it were not for the fear of impeachment, from which uhey are fafe fo long as they can keep legal proof out of our reach, though they leave us no room to doubt of their guilt by their care to conceal their practices from tis. When Sir Geo. Byng% inftrudlons were calffed for by the oppofition, A,T>. 172 1, and the qucftion over- ruled by minifterial influence, feveral lords protefl:ed, * Becaufe not finding any inftance, on fearch of the journals, we believe there is none wherein a motion for admirals inftrudions to be laid before the houfs has been denied \ but on the contrary, there are many precedents of inftrudions of a like nature, and in ftronger cafes, as we conceive, addreffed for by the houfe, and feveral in point for inftrudions given to admirals, particularly to Sir George Rooke, and Sir Cloudejly Shovel -, nor dees it feem to us »t all material, whether the condud of fuch admirals had or had not been blamed before fuch inftrudions were afked for, fince the fight of inftrudions may be previoufly and abfolutely neceflary to inform the houfe whether their condud be blameablc or not. 2. Becaufe we think it highly reafonable that thefe inftruc- Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 429 inftrudtions fhould be laid before this houfe, upon which the adlion of the Bfitifi again ft the Spanijh fleet in the Mediterranean^ was founded, without any previous declaration of war, and even whilft a Britijh minifter, a fecrctary of ftate, was amicably treating at ikf^^r/V, which court might juftly con- clude itfelf fecure from any hoftiie attack during the continuance of fuch negotiations. 3. Bccaufe till we have a fight of thofe inftrudlions, and are able to judge of the reafons, on which they are founded j the war with Spain^ in which that adion of our fleet involved us, does not appear to us fo juftifiable as we could wifli, and yet was plainly prejudicial to the nation in fundry refpeds ; for it occafioned an entire interruption of our moft valu- able commerce with Spain^ at a time when Great Britain needed all the advantages of peace, to extri- cate itfelt from that heavy national debt it lay under j and as it deprived us of the friendfhip oT Spain, not eafily to be retrieved, fo it gave our rivals in trade an opportunity to infinuate themfelvcs into their affec- tions ; and, we conceive, that to the war alone is. owing the ftridl union there is at prefent between the crowns of France and Spain, which it was the intereft of Great Britain to have kept always divided, an union, which in its confcquences may prove fatal to thefe kingdoms. Nor does it appear that Great Britain has had any fruits from this war beyond its being reftored to the fame trade we had with Spain before we began it ^.* A motion. A, D. 1732, for a committee to inquire whether any members fate contrary to law, paffes in the negative ^. xMotion ■'"■' I ' I I .1. . ,., .1 I... I . ..,.., Ill I I im III t. a Pee. Lords, hi. 202, b De-b. Com. vn. 236. 430 POLITICAL Book V. Motion for admitting zdmiral Haddock's inflrudlions to be laid before thehoufe, ^. D. 173 1, pafles in the negative ^. A motion, ^. D. 1739, for an account to be laid before the hpufe of all (hips of war built for govern- ment's fervice. Over-ruled. The people muft have no fatisfadion about the laying out of their money ^. The efcape of the French fleet from Sir J. Morris, J, D. 1744, though he was much fuperior to them, was never enquired into, nor puniflied c. Several lords, ^. D. 1721, move for an addrefs to the king, that lord Carteret\ inflrudions for the court of Siveden, be laid before the houfe. Over-ruled* Several lords protefted. Looked ill, and as if there was fomewhat in them not fit to be fecn. ^ Hor. Walpok fairly oppofes parliamentary enquiries into the condud of minifbrs, as never to be fet on foot, but when there is an abfolute and apparent neceflity for io doing' — [which there is at all times — ]. There was no neceflity, he thought, for any enquiry how the nation came to be, for 20 years together, infulted by a ftate fo much inferior in power as Spain is allowed to be. And he afterwards aW ledges [what every boy of 10 years of age could have confuted] that the enquiry into the condudl of the tory minifl:ry in the end cf queen Anne\ reign, was the caufe of the rebellion in 171 5. That therefore ' all fuch enquiries mufl: be allowed to be of dangerous confequence to the tranquillity of the nation* [or to the minifter, and his crew j witnefs the report of the fecret a Deb. Com. x. i. b IbiU. xi. 281. c Con TIN. Rap, vii i. ^2, dDE». Lord?, 111.190, Chap. IV. D I S QJUI S I T I O N S. 431 fecret committee] * and arc generally fet on foot by perfonal enemies to thofe in the adminiftration ^J Therefore, I fuppofe, if once a leviathan of power gets into the open fea of adminiftration, he is to be allowed to wallow there as long as he pleafes, and no bold hand muft attempt t(S harpoon him. Mr. Waller anfwered him well as follows ; * I fhall readily admit that the rights and privileges of parlia- ment have not of late years been fo much difputed by our minifters as they were formerly, and if it were neceflary I could give a very good reafon for this complaifance on the part of our minifters ; but the acknowledging of our right to enquire, will fignify but little, if it fhould ever come to be in the power of minifters to prevail with a majority of this houfe to put a negative upon every queftion that tends to an enquiry. This, I hope, is not now our cafe: but I muft obferve, that for many years paft cither our minifters have been extremely good^ or our parliaments extremely complaifant, for there has been no regular parliamentary enquiry into the conducft of any one minifter, whilft he continued tg be fo j and if no minifter's condudt is ever to be examined by parliament till after he is given up by the crown, I cannot think that parliamentary en- quiry will ever be of any great fervice to the nation* The hon. gentleman that fpoke laft has been fo good as to acknowledge our right .to enquire into the con- dud of public affairs j but if the arguments he has been pleafcd to make ufe of upon this occafion be al- lowed to be of any weight, I am fure no parliamentary enquiry into a minifter's conducft can ever be fet oa foot. a D6». Com. xi. 334, 432 POLITICAL Book V. foot, becaufe they will be of equal weight againft every future enquiry, and every motion that may tend to enquiry.* The Walpoliam oppofed all motions for enquiries into the condu 448 POLITICAL Book V, to lofe his head for oppofing the fenfe of the nation, though the fenfe of the nation had been wrong. The duke of Argyle obferved, A. D. 1739, in the debate on the penfion-bill, that it was a little extra- ordinary, that the commons (hculd pafs the penfion- bill, and very foon after rejedl a place-bill \ There is.no doubt, but the principle of a place-bill is the fame with that of a penfion-bill ^ and that there could be no reafon given for pafling one, that was not equally good for paffing the other. But this proceed- ing of the commons may be explained by fuppofing, that, when the place-bill was five times pafled by the commons, and thrown out by the lords, there was an underftanding between the houfes, and the com- mons paffed upon the certainty that the lords would rejedl; and that when the commons rejedted, they had not fettled matters with the other houfe. Other- wife we mud look upon them as a fct of drivellers acting upon no principle whatever. * Of late years, (fays Mr. Pulteney ^) gentlemen have been led, I do not know how, into a new me- thod of proceeding in parliament, a method very dif- ferent from what our anceftors did always obferve. In former times the general or particular grievances were firft examined, confidered and redreffed in par- liament before they entered upon the granting of any fupplies; but lately we have been led into a method of granting all the money neceflary for the public fervice among the firft things we do. The malt tax bill, the land tax bill, and fuch bills are now in every feflion the firft things that appear upon the journals of this houfe ; and when thefe things are finiflied, the gentlemen in the adminiftration generally a Deb. Com. vj. 398. h Ibi^« ^i i. 286, Ghap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 449 generally look on the whole bufinefs of the feflion to be over. If this houfe fhould then enter upon any difagreeable enquiries into grievances, we might perhaps be told, that the feafon was too far fpent ; that it was neceffary for gentlemen to return home to mind their private affairs; we might probably be obliged to defer to another feffion what the welfare of this nation required to be determined in the prefent. I hope gentlemen will confider this, and that they will again begin to follow the wife method obferved by our anceftors, and keep fome fecurity in our own hands for our fitting till we have heard and redrefled all the grievances of our fellow fubjeds/ * Whatever we may think, my lords, here at home,' fays lord Carteret, A. D. 1739, * I have good reafon to believe that the frequency of fuch demands' [votes of credit, civil lift debts, &c.] ' and the ready com- pliance they have all met with, renders our confti- tution the common jeft of every man abroad. Our pretences to liberty will, I fear, in a fhort time, be Gome as much the ridicule of foreigners as our late condud; has already rendered our pretences to the holding of the balance of power in Europe, I was confirmed in this opinion by a queftion lately put to me by a French nobleman. He was a man of good fenfe, and yet he one day ferioufly afked me what diflference tiere was between the parliament of Eng- land and the parliaments they have in France, 1 readily anfwered, and I hope I had iome ground for faying, that in France the king makes their laws or edids, and their parliaments muft comply with what- ever the king delires, but in Engla?2d our laws are made by king and parliament, and our parliam^ents m^y refufe to'comoly with whatever the kingde.irc.. Vol. I. M m m To 4SO POLITICAL Book V, To which he as readily replied 3 In ycur late hiftory we read of feveral extraordinary nieflages or demands fent by your king to his parliament, no one of which was ever refufed ; and pray where is the difference between an edid made by the king, and an edicft made by king and parliament, if the parliament never refufes what the king is pleafed to demand; for our parliaments claim the privilege of refufing as well as yours ; and if a trial were to be made, fuch a refufal might perhaps be found as infignificant in England as it now appears to be in France. This I am apt to believe, my lords, is the way of thinking in other countries as well as Fra72ce -, and if a gene- ral vote of credit and confidence fhould once become a fort cf cuftomary compliment from the parliament to the crown, at the end of every feffion, or as often as our minillers may think fit to dcfire it, this may become the way of thinking at home, as well as a- broad. If this {hould ever come to be the cafe, our parliaments will of courfe become defpicable in the eyes of mofl of our own people; and when the form of an ad of parliament begins to be contemned, a prochmation may eafily and fafely be fubftituted in its flead. It w^ould indeed be happy for the nation it were fo, for when a parliament ceafes to be a check upon minifters, it becomes an ufelefs and unneceffary burden upon the people. The reprefentatives of the people in parliament mufl always be paid fome way or other by the people : If their wages are not paid openly and fairly by their refpedive conflituents, as they were formerly, a majority of them may, in future times, be always ready to accept of wages from the admJniftration, which mufl: at laft ccme out of the pockets Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 451 pockets of the people, and will fall with a much greater weight upon them -, at the fame time that it renders their reprefentatives of no ufe to them. There is no way of preventing this, but by putting it out of the power of minifters to pay wages either to the elec- tors or eledled $ and this can be no way 6ox\c, but by ftrialy confining public grants to public fervices, according to the eftimates previoufly delivered into parliament/ « In all cafes' (fays Mr. Sandys m the debate on the Spanip depredations, A, D. 1739 ") ' we ought to diftinguilh carefully between the refped due to the crown ai^d the regard that may be claimed by the minifters of the crown. To the crown we owe a great and a fmcere regard^ but to minifters none, but what they juftly acquire by their condudt. Nay, a regard for the latter may often be mcon- fiftent with that regard which is due to the former. Of late years parliaments have (liewn a much greater refpea to the minifters of the crown, than was ufual in former ages ; and I am under feme appre- henfions that by continuing to ihew the fame refped: for a few years longer, we fhall at laft lofe all that refpcdt which the people of this kingdom ought to have for their parliaments. If this (hould ever happen to be our cafe, which God forbid i our happy con- ftitution would be at an end : Our people could not then be governed by parliaments, or by any fort of civil government. They muft be ruled by a landing army and a military government/ ^ Several lords protefted, A. D. 17 ¥'^ ^2^^"^ '^^- drefling the king on his fpeech, in particular terms ^ * Becaule a Deb. Com. ii. loS. 452 POLITICAL Book V. Becaufe it was the antientcuftom of the lords to pre- fent an immediate general addrefs of thanks only, and to take time to confider the matters contained in the fpeech. That the houfe had then time to form a judgment and to give their advice to the crown. That a fpeech from the throne was juftly confidered as the ad: of miniRers 5 that ecchoing back the par- ticulars of a fpeech was a modern expedient to pro- cure a precipitate approbation of meafures that might not be approved upon better confideration. That an enquiry into the inadion of the laft year^ notwith- ftanding the immenfe expence of maintaining fleets and armies, was the proper bufinefsof that houfe, and would be a means of bringing the war to a happy conclufion, &c, ^' I might very properly infert under this head of minijlerial infuence in the houfe^ the greateft part of two whole articles I have colledted, viz, Minijlers^ and P^f«te/o«,. which together would make a volume, and fhall appear, abridged, in the fequel. But I will only, as a fample, injlar omnium^ give here the fol- lowing charges brought againft Walpole^ that minifter of minifters, that corrupter of corrupters, by the lord Bigby^ A. D. 1 74 1 b. ' That all the titles, honours, penfions, places and other favours of the crown, have for twenty years paft been difpofed of to none butfuch as voted in par- liament or at eledions, according to the diredion of the minifter : That within thefe ten years feveral perfons of high rank and great merit have been dif- mifled from all the offices they held at the pleafure of a Deb. Lords, vii. 480. b Deb. Com, xiii. 198. Chap.IV. DISQUISITIONS. ' 453 of the crown, for no other known or aflignable rea- fon, but becaufe they oppofcd the minifter in parha- ment: That officers in the army and navy, who got thcmfelves feats in this houfe, and voted as they were bid, have gained preferments out of their rank, to the'difappointment of officers of longer feivice and greater merii in their military capacity : Thcfe things are known to all men both within doors and Vv'ithout ; and are of themfelvcs a ftrong prefumption, if not a certain proof, that our minifter had a formed defign to overthrow our conftitution by eftablifiiing a corrupt influence in parliament/ Pelham, in defending Walpok S alledges, that it could not be proved, that he had corrupted the houfe of commons. He challenges any gentleman than in the houfe, to convid Walpok oi reqaefting, or tempt- ing him, or any one elle, to vote againft his con- fci'ence. But if Mr. Sandy had afked Pelham, how it came to pafs, that there were in the houie fome hundreds of placemen ; why places were given to fo m^iny parliament-men, above all others; and why thofe places were taken away, when members voted againft the minifter's meafures ;— what would he have an- fwered ? Had I a fuit at law, and did I publickly fcatter bank-notes among the jurymen, would there be any need of proof, that I meant to biafs them ? Thus clumfily do thefe miniflerial tools endeavour to deceive us in a manner too grois to pafs upon children or idiots. ^ ,r . t • Obferve the modefty of IValpole himfclf in his own defence, ' As for the declamatory excurfions that have a Deb. Com. xii. 84- 454 POLITICAL BookV. have been made about the alarm given to the people by the great number of officers civil and military, we have at prefent, and about the danger our liberties and conllitution may be expofed to by corrupt prac- tices, they may be, and 1 find they are introduced into every debate ; but as it would be an endlefs taflc to anfwer them upon every occafion, all I flmll fay to them upon this is, that we are here in the proper place for enquiring into fuch things: If any gentleman knows of an unneceffary office that has been lately fet up, or an unneceffary officer appoint- ed : If any gentleman knows of any attack that has been lately made or attempted upon our conftitution -, or if any gentleman knows of any corrupt pradices lately introduced, or made ufe of, he may, nay, as a member of this houfe, which is the grand in- queft of the nation, he is in duty bound to take notice of it to the hcufe : But then he ought to be particular : He ought to name the office, or offi- cers, fet up or appointed, the attack that has been attempted, or the corrupt pradice that has been made life of; and he ought to move for an enquiry into what he finds fault with; for by thus declaiming in general, he can do no fervice to his country, he can give the houfe no information, nor corredt any abufe. He does nothing but take up the time of this houfe mod unnecefTarily ; for he cannot expcdl that fuch general declamations, though they may pleafe the galleries, fhould have any influence upon any gentleman, who has the honour of being a member of the houfe; much lefs can he expecft their having fuch an influence in this quefticn, where the vigorous profecution of the war is at ftake, than in any Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 455 any queftion of a different nature, that can come before us ^/ x\ thorough-paced minifter makes no more hefita- tion in carrying on his views at the peril of the nation, than at the rifque of a few pounds eledioneering mo- ney. An Oxford and a BoUngbroke muft keep in place at all adventures. A Walpole muft not relign, be the confequences what they wi 1. * It is neceffary for me to crofs the river,' (fays Alexander to his captains, telling him that it was as much as his life was worth to attempt to pafs the Granicus) ' but it is not ne- ceffary for me to live.' Many inftances of this def- perate tenacioufnefs at the hazard of the nation will appear in the article Minijiers in the fcquel. At prefent I only refer to one or two exhibitions oi JVal-^ polian influence of this kind, in the matters of Hofier and Fernon, &c. In the year 1728, the commons voted the orders given toH^(?r*juft, prudent, and neceffary; while the nation, and all Europe knew, that the unfortu- nate admiral, and his brave men, were facrificed to the villainous fchemcs of a minifter ^. See the lords proteft. c And of the affair of Vernon the authors of the Mod. Univ. Hist, write thus. * The. nation was not at this time deftitute of able naval commanders, but they were unfortunately in the intercft of the minifter, to whom they knew a vigorous war would be difagreeable, and moft of them being members of parliament, had generally voted on his fide. ^' Ver- 710 Uf a Deb. Com. xi. 195. b Use and. Abuse of Parl. 11. 362 c Ibid. 370. d Mod. Univ.. Hist. xli. 41Z- 43^ POLITICAL Book V. non, who was not at that time in parliament, had often fpoke againft the minifter and his pacific fchemes, and declare that he could take Porto Belio with 6 (hips only. Therefore he was taken at his word, the mini- fter probably hoping, that he would have no better fuccefs than Hofier, In the fame manner, there is too much realon to conclude, that the duke of A^^w^r^/f's fendngoutthe unfortunate Byngy A. D. 1756, io ill appointed, and with fo infuflicient a fleet againil the French { if it had not happened, that a fliip or two from Minorca made good ajundion with Mr. Byng^Yns fleet had not been equal in*number with the enemy's) there is, I fay, too much reafon to conclude, that this proceeding was in the confidence that cowardly miniftry had of being fecured by a corrupt parliament. The three following ftrokes oi Walpolian parliamen- tary legerdemain fland together in the Use and ABUSE OF Parl.^ VIZ, the throv/irig out a qualifi- cation avft^ quaihing a motion for a committee to enquire, whether any members fate in the houfe con- trary to law \ and a vote for 'England''^ P^y^^g ^hc deficiencies of a French fubfidy to DetJfnark. Walpole was fo pinched for money to gratify his harpyes, that he had nothing to fpare for war againft Spaiuy which treated Fngland for many years with an infolence, that vv^ouid have ill become the greatelt power in Europe to the meaneft. At laft, w^hen the outcry of the nation forced him into a mockery of war, Porto Bello and too Carraca (liips were taken. Thus one man had it in his power to make this great nation univerfally contemptible -, at the full exertion of a II. 44S. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 457 of whofe force in the late war, all Europe even now ftands aghaft. Such are the direful efFeds of mini* fterial influence in parliament. Accordingly Pelhams chief defence of Walpole\% taken from the approbation given to his meafures by parliament, at the fame time that Pelham knew in his confcience, that parliament was filled with Walpole^ creatures a. In the year 1742, the lords read, a fecond time b, a bill for quieting corporations, by which all enquiry and profecution againft mayors, aldermen, and other officers of towns, and their official proceedings, were to be null and void, unlefs commenced within a cer- tain limited time. This bill was occafioned by an appeal to the lords in confequence of violent means ufed by Walpole to compel the eledlion of fome of his creatures for Weymouth ^. Andfuch was the influence of minifterial power, that the fentence of the inferior court was confirmed, though fo far from being unex- ceptionable, that lord 'Talbot ^ on the occafion, expref- fedhimfelfas follows. * Let us enquire, rny lords, how we (hall dlfchargc the duty of judges by confirming the fentence which is now before us ; let us examine, whether we fhall adl as the guardians of right, and the lad refort of oppreflTed privilege, or whether we fhall not ap- pear inftruments of minifterial tyranny and the mean reporters of the fentence of an inferior court, ^"j confirming this fentence, we fhall not only deprive a magiftrate of his office which he holds by a claim, which has been thoughtjuft for more than a century, and in the exercife of which it appears reafonable to Vol. 1. N n n believe a Deb. Com. xii. 8o. b Deb. Lords, viii. 495. c Ibid. 4S2. 458 POLITICAL Book V. believe that he is difturbed not for miftehaviour, but difcharging his trufi: ; but we ihall entail upon the town and corporation perpetual confufion and diilur- bance, evils which government was infiituted to pre- vent ; we (hall fujecfl them for ever to the authority of men untryed and unexperienced; and by confe- quence to all the mifchiefs of ignorant^ if not cor- rupt adminiftration. This, my lords, is fufficient to determine my judgm&nt 5 and, I hope, it will be of equal weight in that of others. I {hall not wil- lingly.interpret a charter, which is always an aft of royal favour, to the difadvantage of them to whom it was granted y for I never heard of a charter of corruption, or ignorance, or mifery; and iince it is more happy to live without government, than to be governed ill, 1 cannot believe that a charter like this, as it is now interpreted, was ever given. I therefore conclude the judgment erroneous;^ and once more move that it may be reverfed/ The duke of Bedford faid, on this occafion% The abfurdities of this conftruftion' [of the char- ter of the town of JVeymouth] * have already been explained by the noble lord, and are, indeed, fuch as cannot be sggravated, extenuated, or avoided. But by admitting that fenfe of the charter which has been for more than a century received, it is evident, from experience, the only fure teft in fuch cafes, that no inconveniencies will follow. This complaint of the violation of the charter did not arife from any fenfe of inconveniencies which it produced, or of injuries which the inhabitants of that place imagined themfelves to receive from ufur- pation a Dbb» Lords, iriii. 498. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 459 pation or tyranny 5 it was not promoted by any man who thought himfelf unjuftly debarred from autho- rity, or by any body of men excluded from their fharc in the government of the town. The profe- cution, my lords, was the effeft of minifterial re- fentraent ; it was threatened to influence the eledion, and was executed, not to humble the haughtincfs of guilt, but to cruQi the firmnefs of integrity ; to punilh thofe who could not be terrified, and to obtain for thofe the fatisfadion of revenge, who had loft the pleafure of fuccefs. For this purpofe an attorney, that was a ftranger to the borough, was employed to harafs the mayor with a profecution defeated at the affizes, where men of plain fenle were to determine the caufe, but fuccefsful in the court of King's-bench, where law and fubtility were ad- mitted. If fuch proceedings, my lords, (hould re- ceive a fandion from this great affembly, how long can any corporation hope to enjoy its privileges, after having dared to rejeft the overtures of the agents of a minifter ? Of what value will be the immunities which our kings have beftowed upon many cities of this kingdom as rewards ot their loyalty, as encouragements to trade, as rnarks ot honour and diftinaion, or for the more eafy admi- niftration of government ? If profecutions hke this be allowed, it will be at any time in the power ot a fubtle villain to deprive them of their rights, to difturb the exercife of lawful authority, to contound all fubordination, to fill the courts of juft.ce with expenfive fuits, and the whole with P^^P^^'^'^^^"'^ terror. Such, my lords, will be the injuftice ot con- firming this fentence, and fuch the mifenes wmch thatal of injuftice will bring upon us j and th.n:- 46o POLITICAL Book V. fore I fliall continue tooppofe it ; as I hope always to appear an advocate for right, and the happinefs of my country/ Lord Chelierfield in the debate on the fame bill for quieting corporations % expofes, with great humour, the craft of minifters, and minifterial tools, which is the fame with that of lawyers, and churchmen, when any reformation is propofed. ' Suppofe' (fays he) * I were a minifter, and was refolved to overturn the liberties of my country, by getting into my hands the abfolute diredion of our cities and boroughs, with regard to their elcdions, would not I oppole fuch a bill as this ? I certainly would, but bad politician as I am, 1 would not be fo very weak as to oppofe it diredly. No, I would ingenuoufly acknowledge the danger : 1 would acknowledge the neceffity of doing lomething to prevent it: I would mourn over the dangerous ftatc of public liberty ; but then *I would take great care to raife as many objeftions as I could to every regulation propofed for its defence. J would exaggerate every difficulty and inconvenience we might be expofed to by fuch a regulation ^ and if no real dangers of this kind coold be fuggefted, imaginary ones would fupply their place. This, my lords, has always been, and will always be, the method taken by thofe who have defigns agamft our liberties, in order to obftrud fuch regulations as might defeat their defigns.' Lord Chejierfield afterwards obferves, that all the lordsacknowledged the ufefulnefs of fuch a bill, though they leemed unwilling to do any thing in it at pre- ienu If the bill was imperfed, it was natural to * commit a Deb, Lords, viii. 526. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 46 1 commit it for improvement. He apprehends, the houfe may lofe credit by throwing it out. Me ihews, that the bill would not lecure any maglftrate of a cor- poration in ading contrary to juftice and the ftanding laws. That the worft confequence will be an unqua- lified perfon's being chofen a magiftrate, or chofen in an irregular manner. But, if profecution againft him is commenced in due time, the bill would not prot^6t him. * A noble lord,' lays he, * was pleated to call our corporations the creatures of the crown. Too many of them, my lords, are fo : I am tor making them lefsfo; and am therefore for having this bill pafled into a law ; for whatever bad conlequences it may be attended with, 1 am fure they cannot be fo bad as the confequencs of our negleding or delaying to make any regulation for guarding againft or re- moving the danger to which we are at prefent expof- ed. It has been faid, my lords, that no attempts have been lately made upon the freedom of our cor- porations : 'Tis true no fuch violent attempts have been lately made as were made in former reigns ; bat even lately, and but very lately too, the freedom of our corporations has been nibbled at, and that nib- bling has been made fo manifeft by the report I have mentioned, that I am furprifcd to hear the contrary afferted by any lord in this houfe. I muR fuppoie,that fuch lords have never read thatreport, and mull: there- fore recommend it to their ferious perufal 5 tor they wilf thence fee not only that corporations hive been pro- fecuted at the expence of the crown, fjr the neglect of infignificant formalities 5 but that the caafe ot the profecution's being brought, was expr^fsly fneir retu- fing to chufe fuch reprefentatives as the minifter direded. 462 POLITICAL Book V. direded. Was not this an attempt againft the free- dom of our corporations ? My lords, it was an at- tempt not only againft the freedom of that particular corporation, but of all our corporations, becaufe the magiftratesof every corporation in the kingdom will from thence fee the confequence of their being difo- bedient to the commands of a minifter ; and the ex- ample muft neceflarily have moft fatal ejffeca, if we do not, by fome new law, remove or leffen the dread of being expofed to the fame confequence. But fup- pofe we had no fuch manifeft proof: fuppofe no fuch terrifying example had lately been made; from the very nature of the thing, we muft be convinced, that fuch attempts may be made. They have been made by all minifters in time paft. They will be made by all minifters in time to come. It is natural for a minifter to wifli to have his friend chofen to repre- fent any city or borough, rather than one he fufpedts to be his enemy. It is natural for him to make ufe of every method he can fafeiy praftife in favour of his friend's elecftion. Whilft a corporation, or the magiftrates of a corporation, are under apprehenfions of being profecuted, it is natural for them to be fv^ayed by thofc fears. There is no way of prevent- mg this pradice, but by freeing a corporation from any fuch apprehenfions : and as this will, in a great meaiure, be the effed: of the bill now before us, after It has been properly amended in the committee, I hope your lord/hips will agree to the queftion.* The earl of IJ/ay, always faithful to the minifte- rial caufe, laid great ftrefs on the incroachment, the bill would make upon the king's, that is, the mini- iter's royal prerogative 5 but he takes, according to his Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 463 his laudable cuftom, particular care to fhew, that the fubjcdl's liberty was in no danger, and to turn all regard to it into ridicule. * As the neceffity of our having feme fuch bill pafled into a law, has been very much cryed up in this debate ; as this necef- fity has been faid to have been acknowledged by every lord who has fpoke in the debate, 1 muft take this opportunity to declare, that I am very far from being convinced of our being under any fuch necefGty. I do not think the crown has as yet fuch an influence over our cities and boroughs as can be of any dangerous confequence, nor do I think a minifter can with any fafety endeavour to acquire fuch an influence. A minifter may have a perfonal, or a family intereft in two or three boroughs ; he cannot by himfelf alone reprefent them all ; and to the borough where he does not ftand himfelf, it is very natural for him to recommend a friend. That friend may, perhaps, be a gentle- man never before known in the borough ; but this is not peculiar to minifters : for we often find fuch gentlemen chofen by boroughs upon the recommen- dation of thofe who are known to be violent enemies to the- minifter. I, therefore, do not well know what is meant by court boroughs. All boroughs are fo, I believe, and all cities and counties, as well as boroughs. The only difference is, that fome boroughs have their friends in court, and others want to have their friends in court. This, my lords, has always been the chief ground of the dis- pute ; and moft people are apt to think, or at leaft to fay, the country is in danger when their friends happen to be out of court. The cry of the church being in danger, was formerly made the fame ufe ofs 464 POLITICAL Book V. cf ; and when I was young, and attended this houfe behind the throne, I remember to have heard it obierved, as 1 thought very juftly, by the anceftor of a noble lord I have in my eye, that the only reafon he could think of for faying that the church was in danger, was, becaufe the earl of Rochejier was out of court. If a borough therefore chufes a courtier, it is not becaufe it is more a court borough than any other borough, but becaufe its friends happen at that time to be in court; in like manner, when a borough chufes fuch as are againft the court, it is not becaufe it is more a country borough than any other, but becaufe its friends happen then to be out of court 3 and the choice made by the former may as little pro- c^eed from any undue influence, as the choice made by the latter. But every borough that chufes a courtier, or a friend to the minifter, muft, it feems, be a creature of the crown in the fenfe put upon the words by the noble lord who Ipoke laft, in which, I muft fay he made a very bad ufe, to call it by no worfe name, of an exprefTion dropt from a noble lord in this debate. The noble lord happened to fay that all corporations were the creatures of the crown, and when he made ufe of the expreffion, I believe every one of your lordfhips underftood what he meant. He certamlv meant no marc than that all corporations weie created by the crown, which is true 5 but the noble lord who fpoke laft, gave it a turn as if he had meant that all corporations are the Haves of the crown, and ready to receive diredions from the minifters of the crown, which is as far from being true as it is far from being what he meant; for with regard to the eledion of their reprefenta- tives, I know of no way by which a minifter can compel Chap. IV. D I S QJJ I S I T 1 0 N S. 46 5 compel any one of them to chufe the candidates he recommends. I am fure that of threatening a bo- rough with a quo warranto, would be very far from be- ing efFedtual, and it would be very dangerous for any minifter to make ufe of iuch a method j conlequently I cannot as yet fee the neceflity of our paffingany fuch bill as the prefent j and if I did, 1 (hould be for drop- this bill, which I think cannot be fo amended as to be of any ufe, in order to have a bill brought in that might be of fome fervice ^/ It was afterwards ordered, that a new bill (hould be drawn up. Lord Romney i^tpoxi^^ the heads of it, viz, * That a reafonable period of time be fixed, after the expiration of which the rights, franchifes, and liberties of any city, corporation, or borough, in England or Wales, or of any members of any (uch city, corporation, &c. or Of any perfon exercifing any fuch office or franchife, fliail not be called in queftion by informations in nature oi quo warranto, writs of mandamus, or other proceedings for any in- formalixy, irregularity, or defed: in the nomination^ election, admiffion, or fwcaring of the mayor, bai- liffs, or freemen, or of any other officer, or member (by what nam.e foever called) of any fuch city, cor- poration, &c. who rwDw are, or at any time here- after, {hall be in the adlual pcffeffion or exercife of any fuch office or franchife, nor of any forfeiture or difability arifing from fuch informality, irregularity or defedl, unlefs fuch intormaiity, irregularity, or defedl, or fuch forfeiture, or d liability (hail oe taken advantage gf by fome profecution commenced for that purpofe, within a certain time after the com- mencement of the bill. And as to any fuch officer Vol. I. O o o or a Deb. Com. i i. 359. 466 POLITICAL Eook V. or member, as hereafter, within a certain number of years to be limited in the bill, (hail have been ad- n}itted into or Ihall have been in the adual poffeffion or exercife of any iuch office or franchife as aforelaidi every fuch profecution to be carried on with effecft and due diligence 5 and in cafe of affeded or unnecef- fary delay on the pai t of the profecutor, to be dif- mifled with full cofts. Such bill to contain proper provifors to prevent its invalidating any judgment al- ready given, or any charter already granted and ac- ccpt-ed, or any fuit already inflitutcd and flill de- pending ^/ Lord Romney (hewed the ufefulnefs of fuch a bill for defeating the efforts of minifterial power. That members of corporations are commonly men of plain underftandings, not qualified to fearch into the mean- ing of old charters; but willing to follow precedent;^ and therefore their eafes are more pitiable than blame- able, V. hen they happen to proceed in fuch a manner as renders them obnoxious to the letter of the lavv. That the charters themfelves are often, through length of time, and change of circumftances, become unfit to be obferved. That the meaning of corporation- charters may not ahvays be clear atid confident. That it is difficult and expenfive to follcit new charters ; and minifters are not inclinable to favour them, becaufe, like the lawyers, they find their ad- vantage in the fubjecft's uncertainty. That it is a ticklifh affair for a corporation to refign its charter, when it is unknown what fort of one it flial! have in exchange. "iThat therefore it is natural for the mem- bers of corporations to modify their proceedings ac- cording to what they find by experience to be beft, though a Deb. Lords, viii. 535. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 467 though in fo doing they may often gradually deviate from the letter of their charter. That it will be no more than a reafonable indulgence to the fubjedts in a matter, in which the hazard is theirs, and not the government's, to fix a time, after which cuftom and precedent in corporations fhail' pafa into edablifli- ment. One would imagine, this was no fuch mighty matter of grace to confer on the good people. But the minifterial tools have no inclination to give up any degree of power. Therefore lord Cholmondeley, a faithful friend to court^power, oppofed the bill. The houfes agreeing to it, he faid, would be ailing in the dark, confirming pradices, which they did not un- derftand, and fupporting migiftrates, who obtained, and executed their offices, they knew not how, &c. PA ftaunch minifterial man is never for leaving any thing to the people ^ even their own a3ai:s. He v/ill have them always feel, that they have a government. that is, a tyranny, over them.] * 1 am not much in- clined, fays he, to beueve, when 1 fee the law broken, that the law is to be blamed/ [f am forry to difFer from his lordfliip ; but I fhould be very apt to fufped: the wifdom of a law, if I faw it often broken hy fober and regular people, fuch as the mem- bers of corporations commonly are.] Lord Romney faid, the quieting bill would be an cncouragem.-nt to tranfgreffors. It would be confirming to the thief the poffeffion of the goods he had flolen. [But it is remarkable, that his good lordfliip ihould not recoi- led, that by the law, as it mm) ftands, there is a It- mitediimQ, which being elapfed, many offences, more atrocious than violating a borough-charter, are not to be profecuted, or punifhed.] And 468 POLITICAL Book V. And the good lord chancellor Hardwicke (always true to the miniftry) was afraid, the quieting biil might " produce more and greater evils, than thofe it was intended to cure." Whether it was a greater evil for corporations to be fecure againft minifterial moleftation, than their being from time to time un- der profecution, and by that means obliged to bring fome griA to the law-miil, I leave to the reader to decide. In general, we know, that lawyers and churchmen arc always againft reformations. His good lordihip *' muft fuppofc, that the diftemper intended to be cured, or rather prevented, by the bill, was as yet imaginary ^." Good men always believe the beft. Theretore his good lordfhip believed Walpole as inno- cent of molefting corporations, as of patriotifm, or public Ipirit. But his good chancellorfliip feemed in the leqael of his Ipeech, a little to forget his lavv- learning, through zeal againft the bill. * If, fays he, you limit the preicription to a very Jhort time, it will i>e of the moft dangerous confequence; and if y ^a fix it at a njery long term, the bill could have lit- tle or no eff dt.' But what if we fix it at a term neiiher very long, nor very Jhort ? Befides, if his lorcfhip'b reaiomngs be good, the laws, by which (as above ob(crved) a term is fixed, after which pro- fecutions tor greater offences, than making free with a fet of blind old charters granted by the tyrannical StuartSy are let afide ^ are al/ bad^ and his lordfhip ought to have moved for their repeal. But your true minilteria] men, like your true churchmen, never care how inconfiftent they be with themjelves, or with the principles of com?non fenfe ; fo they be orthodox, that a Deb, Lords, viii. 512, Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 469 that is upon the right fide, that is upon the fide of power. He afterwards brings the execrable maxim, nullum tempus occurrit regi, now abolilhed, in lupport of his dodtrinc, and argues, that as no period Hops the king s claim, fo no period ought to tie up the minifter's hands from molefting corporations, who eledt anti-minifterial members a. Then he comes to an important argument indeed. The bill « might be faid to be a fort of encroachment upon the preroga- tives of the crown/ Hinc ill<^ lacrymce I The prero- gatives of the crown are the miniftry's Palladium -y and are of infinitely more confequence (to them) than the quiet of ten thoufand corporations. On this he argues in fuch a manner, that one would really think, he had forgot, that the Britijh government was a limited monarchy. ' As the king (fays he) has the fole right of eftablifliing corporations, he likewife ha^ a right to take care, that the corporation, as well as every officer and magifirate who belongs to it, fliall obferve the rules he has been pleafed to prescribe to them in their charter ; and to limit his power of pro- fecuting for any ncgled, or non-obfervance, to a very ihort term, is an encroachment upon his right: Have our limited kings any right uncontroulable by parliament to eftabliOi, or prefcribe ? His lordfliip {hines afterwards more and more. * 1 muft farther obferve, my lords, that this bill is really a fort of re- peal of thofe laws, which have always been deemed xhtfecurity of our church as by law ellabliflied. When I fay this, every lord mud fuppofe I mean the corpo- ration and tell atls ; for if this bill be paiTed into a law the mod rigid dijfenter might get himfelf chofen an alderman a Deb. Lords, viu. 512, 470 POLITICAL Book V. alderman of hoJidoriy or a magiftrate o*^ fome other city or borough, without taking the oaths, or conform- ing to what is required by law for the purity of our church ; and if he efcapes being profecuted during the time to be Hmited by this bill, he might continue in that magiftracy during life, without ever conform- ing himfelf to the eftablifhed church, for the adt does not requite his conforming after he is elefted j and after the expiration of that time his eledion could not be declared void on account of his not hav- ing conformed within the year preceding his ele head at all times. Lord 5^»^/- w/V^afterwards^putsthehoufeinmind of what curious Walpolian proceedings had been deteded by the fecret committee relating to this very corporation, on a mere mifinterpretation of their charter, or rather a different interpretation of it from the fenfc put upon it by the judges, which fenfe had not been found in it by the perfons who firft obtained it, nor by their fucceffors, for I QO years. a Deb. Lords, viu. S^©- ' b Ibid. 521. 472 POLITICAL Book V. A. D. 1764, it was refolved by the houfe of com- mons, and agreed to by the houfe of lords, ' That privilege of parliament does not extend to the cafe of tvriting and publifliing feditious libels, nor ought to obftrud the ordinary courfe of the laws in the fpeedy and eftedual profecu.tion of fo heinous and dangerous an offence/ Seventeen peers, among which number was (mirabile di6lu! ) one biftiop, pro- tefled, becaufe the dodtrinc was new, unwarrant- able, and unknown to the mod tyrannical times ^ the eftabliflied cuftom being, that privilege of parlia- ment takes place in all cafes, but treafon, felony, breach of the peace, or refufing to obey a writ of Habeas Corpus ; wher-eas the writing or pubiifhing of what may be called (for any thing may be fo called) a feditious libel, is neither treafon, felony, breach of peace, nor difobedience to Habeas Corpus, The protefting peers alledged, that the refoiution was facfificing the freedom of parliament to minifterial power. That the refoiution not only infringed the privilege of parliament but tended to the reftraint of every man's perfonal liberty feeing it afBrms, that all men may be bound to the peace for writing what may be called a feditious libel, by which every man's liberty is furrcndered into the hands of a fecretary of flate, who is hereby impowered to pronounce any writing a feditious libel, and to imprifon any perfon on this account, without council, evidence, or jury, while the perfon opprefTed by power has no redrefs againft the fecretary of flate, as he ads in the capacity of a judge. The protefting lords conclude with the following remarkable words ^ * Privilege was not made to fkreen criminals, but to preferve the very being and life of parliament 5 for when our anceflo/s con- fidered Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 473 fidered that the law had lodged the great powers of arreft, indidment, and information in the crown, they faw the parliament would be undone, if during the time of privilege the royal procefs fliould be admitted in any mifdemeanour whatfoever, therefore they excepted none. Where the abufe of power would be fatal, the power ought never to be given, becaufe redrefs comes too late. A parliament under perpetual terror of imprifonment can neither be free, nor bold, nor honeft ; and if this privilege was once removed, the mod important queftion might be irrecoverably loil, or carried by a fudden irruption of meflengers let loofe againll: the members half an hour before the debate. Laftly, as it has already been obferved, the cafe of fuppofed libels is, above all others, the mod dangerous and alarming to be left open to profecution during the time of privilege. If the feverity of the law touching libels, as it hath fometimes been laid down, be duly weighed, it muft flrike both houfes of parliament with terror and difmay. The repetition of a libel, the delivery of it unread to another, is faid to be a publication, nay, the bare poffeflion of it has been deemed cri- minal, unlcfs it is immediately dedroyed or carried to a magidrate. Every lord of parliament then, who hath done this, who is falfely accufed, nay, who is, though without any information, named in the fecretary of date's warrant, has iod his privi- lege by this refolution, and lies at the mercy of that enemy to learning and liberty, the meflenger of the prefs. For thefe and many other forcible reafons, we hold it highly unbecoming the dignity, gravity, and wifdom ot the houfe of peers, as well as their judice, thus judicially to explain away and dimi- VoL. 1. P p p nifl^ 474 POLITICAL Book V nifh the privilege of their perfons, founded in- the wifdom of ages, declared with precifion in our ftand- ing orders, lo repeatedly confirmed and hitherto preferved inviolable by the fpirit of our anceftors, called to it only by the other houfe On a particular occafion, and to ferve a particular purpofe, ex poft faBoi ex parte, H peiidente lite, in the courts below \' The brave parliament, in which fate the Hampdens and the PymSy would not allow this in thi cafe of the 5 members 5 though the tyrant diredly accufed them of high treafon, which cannot by law plead privilege. Such is the difference betv^xen an inde- pendent parliament and one ridden by a miniflry. But, mem. It was refolved in the houfe of com- mons, A. D. ly 66, * That feizing the papers of the author, or fuppofed author, printer, or publifher of a libel is illegal, and the feizing the papers of a member of parliament on fu<:h pretence is likewife a breach of privilege ^Z And afterwards a bill was ordered in for reftraining the iffuing of warrants for feizing papers, except in the cafes of treafon or felony, under certain regulations. The title of the bill was afterwards altered. It mifcarried in the houfe of lords c. The civil lift was faid to be in debt A, D» 1768, 500,000/, AmelTage was fen t from the king (i. e. the miniflry) fo the houfe of commons, defiring that they woaid make provifion accordingly. It was urged in favour of the demand, that th& king had given up to the nation his fhare of the captures in the late war amounting to 700,000 /. The debates ran high ; but the demand wa^ granted ^, The a y^/v;. Deb. Com. A. D. 1764. bibid. vii. 183. c Jbid- 185, d LoND. Mac, 1769, p. 656. Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 475 The flavifli complaifance of parliament to mini- flerswas confefled in the year 1769, when the mini- ftry fent over to the American governors a pofuive pro- mife, that, on certain conditions, the odious taxing ads fhould be repealed a. Such was the (liamelers fervility of the houfe at that time, that when it was moved by the oppofition to refolve, That diforders had prevailed in feveral of the colonies prejudicial to the commerce of the kingdom, and to the peace of the colonies; That a principal caufe of th^fe difor- ders was the ill-judged and inconfiftent inftrudUons given by perfons in adminiftration to the governors of fome of the provinces in North America-, That direding the diffolution of the aiTemblies of North America^ upon their refufal to comply with certain propofais of government, operated as a menace inju- rious to the deliberative capacity of thofc ailcmblies, and tending to excite difcontent, and produce unjuf- tifiable combinations ; That it was inconfiiient, and tended to expofe his majefty's councils to the contempt of the colonifts, to diffolve the old aflemblies for not difavowing certain combinations, at the fame time, that newaflemblies wereluffcredtofit, wilhcutdifavowingor difcountenancing the fame combinations ; That it was unwarrantable, of dangerous confequence, and a high breach of the privilege of the houfe of commons, for any perfon in adminiftration io p rem ife to the affeni- blies in North America^ the interpofition or infiiience of the king or his fervants with the houfe, in order to a repeal of taxation-ads, or to pledge the faith of the crown to thofe aiTemblies, &:c. when thele refoluti- ons were moved by the oppofition, 1 fay, fuch was the com- a See Aim. Deb. Com. vi i i. 341 • et pajf. 476 POLITICAL Book V. complaifance of the houfe for the miniftry, whofe condudl they would not fufFer to be blamed, that every one of them was reje(fled ; th^ ugh there was not, probably, a man, woman, or child, in Britain who had the leaft doubt of their truth and juftncis^ Again in the year 177 1, the houfe of commons, in a fit of complaifance for the court (if that can be called ajf/, from which the patient is never clear) voted, that a member concerned in a libel fhould have no right to his privilege, thereby putting the guilt of a juft fatire on a corriipt court upon the fame foot with that of felony, or breach of the peace, the only crimes, which before that time deprived a mem- ber of his privilege. By this refolution, it was obferved, * That any member fuppofed to have been concerned in compofing, printing, or publifhing a fuppofed libel might, by a mandate from court, be dragged from his feat ^. And, according to a doc- trine faid to have been taught by certain judges of late, the guilt and puni&ment of this fuppofed libel, were not to come before the jury. They were only to find, whether the accufed had any concern in the . fuppofed libel, and the judges were to pafs fentcnce. The members, who promoted this refolution, ought to have been more lure of the integrity of judges, than is poflible, in the prefent weaknefs of human nature. Thefe were attacks upon the vQxy foundation of liberty. The obfequioufnefs of parliament to tho court, ia the courfe of a few years, was fhamefully grofs. The nation tired out with raifing money to be funk in German a Aim. Deb. Com. viii. 341, b LoNP Mag. Nq'v, p. 536. Chap. IV. D I S QJJ I S I T I O N S. 477 German wars for the defence of Hanover^ forced Mr. PiUy the great oppofer of continental connexions, in- to power, in fpite of Geo, II. who was thought to at- tend more to the intereft of his pitiful electorate, than to that of the Britiflo empire. Then the commons were for holding the purfe- firings tight. The king found means to bring over Mr. Vitt to favour his con- tinental fcheme. Then the commons railed almoft Zo millions per aizn, to fend to Germany, Geo, III. not being fo attached to Germany as his grandfather, was defirous of reftoring peace, and flopping the life- blood-vein of the nation, before it fhould bleed to death. Then the commons were as obfequious to lord Bute's pacific meafures, as they were before to Mr. Pitt's military quixotifm. Grenville thought proper to lay the ftamp-tax on owx American QoXomts, The worthy commons voted it accordingly. Gren-^ villes fucceffor in power thought proper to repeal the American ftamp-atft. The dudile commons repealed it. Their followers thought it neccfl^ry to lay taxes of other kinds upon the colonics. Th;^ oblcquious commons were fUU occafional conformiils. Every fpeech from the throne, I mean, the mini- fter*s throne, at the end of every feffion, is filled with the king's entire approbation of ^7// the proceedings of the feflions^ whilft, if you Icok into the debates and protefts, you fee fuch (hameiul fervility to the mini- ftry, as it is impoflible for any honeft man to approve, fay rather, to avoid execrating. And e-very eccho of every king's fpeech from the houfes celebrates every ftep of his adminiftration to the fkles. Look into the hiftory of every reign, and you fee innumerable ne- gleds and blunders (to fay nothing of corrupt abufes) com.mitted by every fucceeding adminiftration. Thus do 478 POLITICAL Book V. do our fuperiors endeavour to perfuade us, by their words, that they are gods, while their adions fhew them to be generally very filly, and very worthlefs mortals. In the year 1770, there were as many compli- ments bandied between the court, and parliament, as ever. Yet at that time, almoft every part of the Britijh empire was known to be diffatisfied ; the peo- ple of England enraged againft their reprefentatives, and petitioning the king for a new parliament 3 the people of Ireland offended on account of the proroga- tion of their parliament, beca'ufe they would fupport the conftitutional manner of taxation, and the colo- nifls provoked by our legiflature's taxing them as a teft of their obedience. Ixi that fame year, Sir George Savile, no party- brawler, faid in the houfe of commons, * This houfe bath betrayed the rights of the people/ Sir Jl/ex. Gilmour called him to order. General Conway faid the words were reprehenfible. That it was infulting parliament, and that members had been fent to the Tovi^er for fuch words, but as he believed they were fpcken in anger^ he only {hould wifli that for the future the gentleman would be more cautious. Sir George Savile replied, he had not fpoke in anger 5 that he never ufed any other words, when he mentioned the proceedings of the houfe upon the Middlefex elec- tion J and that he would always ufe the fame words, whenever the fame queftion was in agitation. Mr. ferj. Glynn defended the words. He cbferved, that they were the only words in our language proper to exprefs the idea of the thing ; that if Ipoken of a thing that did not exift, no one would be more ready to vindicate the honour of parliament, in calling to account Chap. IV. DISQUISITIONS. 479 account the member who fpoke them ; but if they were founded on truth, it could not be the votes of a majority which could make them culpable. He then obferved a good deal on what had been faid the day before by a member, (M. T, DeGrey, brother to the attorney general, who abufed the petitioners in gene- ral, calling them bafe born mechanics, and mere rab- ble, not fit to petition the throne) that he was forry to find fome gentlemen fuppofed there was one law for gentlenien, and another for their inferiors. That the law knew nothing of gentlemen ; that we, who reprefented, were chofen by, and derived our powers from thofe bafe born men ; and that their privileges ought to be the care of the houfe, for on them de- pended our own, — our conftitution. Mr. Edmund Burke^ likewife, with great fpirit, defended Sir George Savilky and called upon the miniftry to puni(h Sir George^ if the accufation was falfe ; and faid, * That if a falfe and unjuft charge had been made, the gen- tleman who made it oght to be fent to the Tower :' but added, * that the minifters were confcious of the truth of the affertion, and therefore in a tame and cowardly- manner crouched under it.' He laid, the people abhorred the prefent miniftry, and alkcd the fpeaker if the chair did not tremble under him. Towards the conclufion of the debate, S'lv George Savile ftood up again and declared, that he was as cool as before; more fo he could not be ; and added from S/jake/peare, *' Bring me to the teft, and I the matter will re-word, which madnefs would gambol from 3" therefore, * (landing up in my place as member for the county of Torky I do declare, that the houfe of commons, has betrayed the rights of the nation/ No notice was taken of the words ^. If ^ Aim* Deb. Com. viii, 177. 480 POLITICAL BookV. If opinion be the great engine, by which the few are able to govern the many, what (hall we (ay of the wifdom of thofc governors, who by the pradice of every foul and fordid art, and by openly fliewing a total negledt of the public intcrefl, teach the people to look upon their fupcri.ors as their worft enemies, or as clumfy blockheads, who do not know the firft principles of their own pofeflion ? However it is come to pafs, the fadt is certain, that in no age, or nation, ever was the people's opinion of their governors at a lower ebb, than has been lately feen in a certain country. In former times, when the charaders of (latefmen were attacked in print, the writers ufcd caution, and either defcribed them by their behaviour, in fuch a manner as to point them out without naming them, or if they were more par- ticular, at moft they only put initials and (inals. Now our political and fatirical v*^riters make no hefitation in calling our higheft charaders to their faces, and with sheir names printed at full length, rogues, and whores, corruptors, plunderers, and enemies of their country. This I acknowledge to be utterly inconfiftent with decency. But (lill it marks ftrongly the lentiments of the people. i\nd it muft likewife be owned, that a great deal of the invedive, that is thrown out in times of general diffatisfadion, is always aggravated, and often wholly groundleis. But had our governors kept up a condud venerable for integrity, and amiable for difinterefled attachment to the public good, the people would never have thought of treating them in a manner fo openly difrefpedfiil. Even the grofs- t minded mob, when wroaght up to the highe(l rage, would avoid throwing dirt upon a Socrates, a CatOy or a Hampden. Chap. IV. D I S Q U I S I T I O N S. 481 Turn pietate gravem ac msritis Ji forte viriim quern Afpexereyjilent^ arreBifqite auribus adjiant, ViRG. There is (to borrow the thought of our inimitable Shakefpeare concerning kings) fuch a majefty hems in a man of worth, as flander dares not to look upon. Montefquieu obferves from Polybiusy that the Cartha- ginian magiflrates had loft: their authority about the time of the fecond Funic war. Polybius gives no rea- fon for this. But Livy accounts for it. Hannibal^ he fays, when he returned home, found, that the magi- flrates had been guilty of grofs embezzlements of the public money. Was it to be wondered, that they loft: their authority a? Corrupt parliaments will ever be odious to all, but thofe who earn the wages of corrup- tion. All kinds of duplicity are odious to the people. The prince of Conde, and duke of Orleans^ pretended (to pleafe the parliament of Paris) to be the impla- cable enemies of Mazarine^ while they were carrying on a treaty with him at St, Germaim en Laye^ diredly contrary to the firft article of their inftrudlions from the parliament. Mazarine A^it0.s them. They lofe both court and city. ^ ' The people have already oppofed us by their ma- «giftrates,' (fays an eminent lawyer in the houfe of commons, on the lord mayor's protecting the prin- ters againft the ferjeant of the houfe of cominons, A. D. 1770, ^) ' and they will oppole us farther by their juries; though, were we as much refpeded Vol. I. Qj q as aL'EspR. DEs Loix. i. 185. b Mod. Univ. Hist. xxv. 54. c LoND. MhQ, March, 1771, p. 244. 4*2 POLITICAL Book V. as we arc defpifed, as univerfally efteemed as wc are detefted, the eftablifhment of a tyranny in ourfelves' [the affumed power of imprifoning their conftituents for fuppofed breach of privilege] * who are appointed for no purpofc, but to repel it in others, would ex- pofe us to the aborrence of every good Englijhman^ Wc [the houfe of commons] are fufficiently ob- noxious, fufficiently deteftable to the nation already ; and if we have no regard for the city magiftrates, we fhould at leaft have fome little confideration for our- felves/ Speech of Sir Geo-. Saville on the motion for fending the lord mayor and alderman Oliver to the Tower for protedling the printers againft the ferjeant gf the houfe of commons, A. D. 1770. ^ « Since I had the honour' [fays a fpeaker on the 6me occalion] * I fhould fay, the diflhonour, of fitting in this houfe, I have been witnefs to many ftrange, many infamous tranfadions. — What can be your intention in attacking all honour and virtue? Do you raean to bring all men to a level with your- felves, and to extirpate all honour and independence ? Perhaps you imagine, a vote will fettle the whole controverfy. Alas ! you are not aware, that the manner, in which your vote is procured, is a fecret to no man. Liften. For if you are not totally callous, if your confciences are not feared, I will fpeak daggers to your fouls, and wake you to all the hells of guilty recoUeftion. I will follow you w^ith whips and (lings, through every maze of your unexampled turpitude, and plant thorns under the rofe of minifterial approbation.' — ' You have flagrantly a LcNu. Mac. March, 1/7 1 j p. l8i. Chap. IV. D I S Q^U I S I T 1 0 N S. 483 flagrantly violated juftice, and the law of the land, and opened a door for anarchy and confufion. After affuming an arbitrary dominion over law and juftice, you iflue orders, warrants, and proclama- tions, againft every opponent, and fend prifoners to your Baftile all thofe, who have the courao^e and virtue to defend the freedom of their country. But it is in vain, that you hope by fear and terror to extinguifh the native BritiJI: fire. The more facri- fies, the more martyrs you make, the more nume- rous the fons of liberty will become. They will multiply like the hydra, and hurl vengeance on your heads. Let others ad as they will ; while I have a tongue, or an arm, they fliali be free. And that I may not be a witnefs of thefe monftrous proceedings, I will leave the houfe ; nor do I doubt, but every in- dependent, every honeft man, every friend to E?igland will follow me. Thefe walls are unholy, baleful, deadly, while a proftitute majority holds the bok of parliamentary power, and hurls its vengeance only upon the virtuous. To yourfelves, therfore, I con- fign you. Enjoy your pandemonium^.' All the gentlemen in the oppoiition rofe, as one man, and left the houfe. When the duke oi Richmond, A. D. 1773, moved, that a meflage be fent to the houfe of commons, requefting them to communicate to the lords the re- ports, and other materials, upon which they had pro- ceeded in paffing the Eaji Lidia bill, the motion was rejeded. Their lordfhips knew which v/ay they were to vote, without feeing any materials. But the diredtors of that great trading corpor-ation do not heii- tate a LoND, Mag. July 1771 p. 334, 484 POLITICAL BookV. tate to foretel, that the bill will be the utter ruin of the company^. The fame bill was carried in the houfe of commons, 131 againft 21. How deep the politics of the times were, may be judged by the following : yf. D. 1773, it was, in the compafs of only a fortnight, refolved in the houfe of commons, that all acquifitions made by military force, belong to the Jiate. That to appropriate fuch acquifitions is illegaL That great fums have been^ by fuch means, obtciined from fovereign princes in India \hy \oxd. Clive\. And, that lord Clive^ for his fervices in India had deferved the prefcnts he received, which were ufual. Reconcile thefe refolutions who can — to any thing, but minifterial influence. A. D. 1 771* * Mr, C. Fox vindicated the fending of lifts from the treafury to their friends, direding for whom ihey (hould ballot, as neceffary for admi- niftration on all occafions b.' Hear the fenfe of the city of London on the flavifli complaifance of parliament to minilters. ' Reprefen- tatives of the people are effential %o the making of laws ; and there is a time when it is demonftrable that* [the] ' men' [who fit in the houfe of commons] ceafe to be reprefentatives. That time is now ar- rived. The prefent houfe of commons does not re- prefent the people c/ A remoniirance from the city was agreed on, March 1 1 , 1773 ^, complaining of the negledt of the former, ' Our reprefentatives, who were chofen to be the guardians a See the News-Papers and Magazines of the year, b u^lm, Des. Com^ jx. 306 c City's REiwoNSTR.to the king, jtlT>, 1770. d Sec the News-Papers of that date. Chap. IV. D ISQUISITIONS. 485 guardians of our rights, have invaded our moft facred privileges.' They mention the Middlefex cledion, theimprifoningof thelord mayor, and aldcrmanO/z'yfr, for * nor obeying the illegal mandates of an arbitrary houfe of commons, and violating the iolemn oat'.is they had taken for the prefcTvation of ihe I'rancnifss of the capital. We recal (fay they) ip your majefty's remembrance with horror, that unparalleled ad: of tyranny, the erafing a judicial record, in order to flop the courfe of juftice, to introduce a lyftcm of pov/cr againft right/ 6cc. They pray a diflblution oi par- liament, and a removal of bad miniftcrs. So much for a brief chronological dedudion of minifterial and corrupt influence in parliament, in- tended to fliev7 thenecefTity of a redrefs of this mofl ruinous of all grievances. From a due confideration of what this firll: volume alone exhibits, w^hich is but a fmali part of tho public abufes of the times, every thoughtful reader will fee great reafon for fears and apprehenfions. The time to prevent public diforders is, Now, before the diior- ders begin. The beginning of the public diforders, we have reafon to apprehend, will be, a diminution of the value of Stocks. It is the intereff of every man in the BritiJJj empire to prevent this diminution. The tneans of preventing it are, Affociations for fup- port of public credit. A model for thefe affociations we have by looking back to the tranfadions of tiie year 1745. Public credit cannot fink, if the nation unites in lupporting it 5 and the time for this union is NOW, before it begins to totter. Should it even be found, (which God forbid) that the ufual ways and means are likely, through failure cf commerce, &c. to come fl:iort of a fufficiency for paying the public crcdito.s 486 POLITICAL, &c: Book V. creditors their full dividend, England has ftill great refources untouched, as taxing all legacies left by others than parents, hulbands and wives, introducing by degrees Sir Matth. Deckers method of taxation, and leffening by degrees the number of our prefent tax-gatherers, reducing the devouring army, taxing faddle-horfes, and other articles of luxury, and all public diverfions, reducing the enormous number, and retrenching the exorbitant incomes of places, &c. of all vi^hich more fully hereafter. May a beam of celeftial light direded by that effica- cious voice, which of old faid. Let there be light \ irradiate the mind of Him, whom Divine Providence hath placed fupreme in the government of this great empire; that he may fee the things, which belong to his and the nation's peace, before they be for ever hid from his eyes. And when, guided by that hea- venly light, he fets himielf at the head of a plan for reforming thefe, and the other abufes, which are the difgrace, and naturally tend to bring on the ruin of the ftate, may he find his people willing to fecond thofe views, the execution of which will obtain for him the moft illuftrious of all titles, 'uiz^ Father of his country 3 and will make Britain the glory of all lands. End of the First Volume, May 30th. 1775. AMERICAN EDITI0N5, lately publifhed and fold by ROBERT BELL, next Door to St. Paul's Church, in Third-Sirect, Philadelphia. COMMENTARIES on the Laws of England, in Four Books, by Sir William Blackllone, Knt. one of his Majefty's Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, Four Volumes. Bound, 3 1. 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