ARTES LIBRARY 1837 SCIENTIA VERITAS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PLURIBUS UNUM : TUE BO SQUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM CIRCUMSPICE THIS BOOK FORMS PART OF THE ORIGINAL LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BOUGHT IN EUROPE 1838 TO 1839 BY ASA GRAY LETTERS TO THE PEERS OF SCOTLAND. BY THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE. DUBLIN: Printed by William Porter, FOR P. BYRNE, J. MOORE, AND G. FOLINGSBY. $795 INTRODUCTION. THERE HERE is no fubject which has more exerciſed the ingenuity of thoſe who have thus intruded on the public, than the fram- ing of what might appear an adequate apo- logy for the prefumption it exhibits. I am perfectly confcious that ambition of applauſe is the motive to which fuch an at- tempt will be generally attributed, and that in the mind of moſt, its failure, as in fimilar cafes, will be attended with a degree of con- tempt proportionable to the fuppofed exor- bitance of the expectation of the man who prefumes to addrefs them; and I can affure you, that my experience of the extent of the goodnature and indulgence of men on theſe fubjects, and the little practice I have had of arranging or ftating my thoughts in writ- B ing, [ 2 ] ing, would have prevented me from addref fing theſe letters to you, and ftill more, from fubjecting them to the public eye, at any other period than in times fuch as thofe in which we live. But whilft the induſtry with which calum. nies have been circulated, renders, in my apprehenfion, an explanation of my motives to you neceffary; an attempt by a plain and fimple ſtatement to bring back to the recol- lection of the nation the various fteps by which folly, art, and mifmanagement have combined to miſlead the public mind, and to fink the country into its preſent ſtate of calamity, cannot be diſadvantageous to them; and if it exhibits in its imperfections a proof of my want of ability, I fhall in my own mind feel ample compenfation, if it produces in yours the conviction that I am ready to hazard any thing rather than that my public conduct ſhould not ftand fairly in your efti mation. The impreffion which fine words make is one thing, and the conviction of reafon ano- 3 1 ther ; [ 3 ] ther; I have no habits of compofition, and if I had, I have not vanity fufficient to fup- pofe that I could miſlead you into an appro- bation of that which appeared to myſelf cul- pable. But, convinced of the rectitude of my conduct, it is not by art I wiſh to court your approbation, but by reafon to command it; and in attempting to effect this, I look forward with confidence, that the ftrength of the caſe, brought under view at a moment when pre- judice has in fome degree fubfided, will fink in your minds the imperfections of the ftate- ment. In relying on the nature of the times as an apology for my intrufion, I mean not to al- lude to any of thofe misfortunes, fo often dwelt upon, which are the univerſal atten- dants of warfare; nor to thoſe themes of complaint which, though often true, have been generally malicioufly regarded as the refort of diſappointed politicians. The ſcenes of unparalleled difafters, that have followed one another with unprecedented rapidity, appropriate in the minds of all, characters iftic calamities to the times; and there are none B 2 [4] none who have attended to the periodical publications of the day, who muſt not have obferved, that a ſyſtem of ſcandalous infi- nuation and difgraceful calumny has been carried on by men fuppoſed to be under the influence of Government, and who have un- doubtedly by them been ſcreened from the juftice of their country*, as novel in itſelf, as * The following libel, amongst many others, appeared about a year ago, in a paper called The True Briton. * "How filently the rogues of London have paffed over the « ſwindling and fraudulous tricks of the conventional rogues "of Paris! They have not applauded the meafures of con- fifcating the property of ftrangers in the public funds in France, and they dare not condemn it. In the one cafe "they would be hooted at, and ſpurned by every honeſt man "in the kingdom; and in the fecond, they would loſe their "falaries; and which by the by they are likely to do very "foon; for Danton has publicly declared that no confidence "is to be placed in the English at Paris, who call themſelves "the victims of the British Government; and that they "ought all to be impriſoned. Lord Kenyon appears to be "of the fame opinion in fome caſes that have come before "him; and the Traitors, who would have facrificed their "country to France, are now very properly puniſhed by be- "ing renounced by both. O ye Priestleys! Ye Frofts! "Ye Stones! Ye Paines! Ye Sir Robert Smiths! and ye "Lauderdales! What fay you to this opinion of Danton, " and the loſs of your property?—You have neither character k nor [ 5 ] as it is difgraceful to the age. If therefore a ſenſe of the firſt, which is now pretty ge- nerally felt, can vindicate in your minds the attempt I am about to make, I fhould flatter myſelf that none can abstain from fympa- thizing with the defire I feel, by fair and "C nor confideration in France or England:-deſpiſed in the "latter, and ſpurned by the former, where will ye feek re- "fuge ?" Upon applying to the Attorney General for proof of the publication, I was by him with great civility and attention informed, that he had no authority over the officers employed to purchaſe the newſpapers; he referred me however to the Treaſury, and ſtated, with that certainty which his idea of juſtice and propriety fuggefted, his conviction that I would there get that which on a fimilar application had been grant- ed to others. But after a long evafive correſpondence with the Secretary of the Treaſury, though he acknowledged its having been granted in feveral cafes, fome of which he nam- ed, I found I could not even learn from him the mode in which my application fhould be made, In this dilemma I wrote to Mr. Pitt himſelf, and, by his directions, laid my requeſt before the Board in the ſhape of a Memorial, which was by them immediately negatived.—The whole correfpondence is now in my poffeffion. I perfectly well know the affiduity with which the report has been circulated, of my poffeffing property in Frances and even encouraged by thoſe who I believe muſt have been as much convinced of the falfehood of it as myſelf. plain [ 6 ] ! plain explanation, of doing away the effect which may have been unjustly produced by the laſt. Various are the modes to which the art and ambition of Minifters have reforted, as means of obtaining or retaining their fitua- tions. But it was referved for this Admini- ſtration to endeavour to fecure their ill-got power, by coupling the exiſtence of the go- vernment of the country, with their own ex- iftence in office; to treat, with unparalleled preſumption, oppofition to them, even if conducted by means formerly practifed by themſelves*, as rebellion againſt the ſtate; to hold out the continuance of their mea- fures as the only fecurity for the government of the country, and the moment of their downfall as the fure æra of a revolution. To eſtabliſh this belief through the medium of their own fuperior merit or management, * See the Preamble to the Duke of Richmond's Bill, and his Letter to Lieutenant Colonel Sharman; the Refolutions at the Thatched Houſe Tavern, where Mr. Pitt was pre- fent; and his Speeches on Reform. has [ 7 ] has long appeared, even to themſelves, im- practicable;—but they have ſtooped, by ca- lumny and infinuation, to endeavour to create. a mifrepreſentation of the motives of others, and thus have looked to the diffidence which, by art, they could create in the minds of the public, of the principles of their op- ponents, as the fource of that ſecurity which the knowledge of their own merits made them defpair of acquiring, by attempting to eſtabliſh a confidence in themſelves. It is to do away any impreffion which their induſtry in this purfuit may have made, that, in the following letters, I wiſh to dif cloſe to you the real motives that have ac- tuated a man who, on the fubject of the prefent war, has been a uniform oppofer of their meaſures; to unveil to you the dif- guiſed motives of thoſe who have contri- buted to involve the nation in it; and to ex- hibit to you that feries of unfyftematic mif- management, which, as it will account for the calamities that are paft, will teach you what you have to expect in future. By [ 8 ] By theſe means I hope, if it has been any where fucceſsfully eſtabliſhed, to diflodge the prejudice, that there is any thing in common betwixt the power and the mea- fures of thoſe who now manage the affairs of the country, and the exiſtence of our happy Conſtitution. The attempt is that which ought to be as grateful to the Sovereign as to his People; for if the love of the Conftitution, univer- fally prevalent, makes the public voice anxi- ouſly expreſs its defire of perpetuating the bleffings which from it they derive, the So- vereign and his Family have under it too deep a ſtake, I truſt in God too permanent a one, to wiſh to ſee its exiſtence coupled, even in idea, with that of any adminiftra- tion; far lefs with that of an adminiftration who by their meaſures have brought them. felves into fuch a fituation, that they can neither advance without ruin, nor retreat without difgrace. 4 LET. LETTER S, &c. LETTER I. As the numerous publications that have at various periods appeared, on the origin and progrefs of the French Revolution, are admitted by all to have contributed much to the amusement and information of the pub- lic; fo it must alfo be acknowledged, that this important ſubject has been generally treated with a degree of talent that has juft- ly created a well-founded opinion of the capacity, and an admiration of the inge- nuity, of thoſe who have in this country entered at large into the confideration of it No man can entertain a higher refpect than I do [ 10 ] I do for the uncommon difplay of abilities that has been exhibited on this occafion; I ſhould indeed conceive any wiſh to detract from their merit as a mark of my own want of taſte and judgment. I muſt however ac- knowledge, that I cannot reflect on the man- ner in which it has been difcuffed, or the point of view in which it has almoſt been univerfally held out to our attention, with- out lofing in a confiderable degree the plea- fure I derived from perufing them. It might reaſonably have been ſuppoſed that a great and fudden convulfion in a neighbouring kingdom would, in the first inftance, have led to an inveftigation of the conſequences it was likely to produce to our own country, and to the confideration of the line of conduct which it was prudent and proper for us to purfue; and it would have perhaps been fortunate, if, inftead of launch- ing into the wide fea of its univerfal opera- tion, they had limited themſelves to the nar- row view of its effects in our national fecu-, rity; if, inſtead of inveftigating its connec- tion [ 11 ] tion with the general interefts of man, and the ſtate of happineſs or miſery it was likely to diffuſe over the world, the writers of this country had confined themfelves more im- mediately to its connection with the interefts of Engliſhmen, and the profperity of this nation. The fubject, even in this point of view, feemed to furniſh ample ground for fpeculation. The deftruction of a govern- ment whoſe monarchs and ſtateſmen had ſo often difturbed the tranquillity of this coun- try, and facrificed the peace of Europe to that reſtleſs ſpirit of ambition and political· intrigue, with which experience had taught us that they had for upwards of a century. been uniformly animated, was in itſelf deep- ly interefting, and the confequences of it to us could not fail to appear to all fufficiently: important. But, dazzled with the greatneſs of the fcene, and the magnitude of the queftions agitated in the exalted imaginations of thoſe who have treated on the fubject, the narrow views of national intereſt and national fecu- rity [ L 12 ] rity have been eclipfed. Every queftion re- lative to the organization of the internal go- vernment of France has been confidered as intimately connected with the general in- terefts of mankind, and the immediate hap- pineſs of the univerſe. Loft to the recollec- tion of all national feeling, or perhaps look- ing with contempt on the poffeffion of it,— as citizens of the world, they have stepped forward to the conteft; with all the prejudices of citizens of France they have generally terminated in conducting it. An admirer however of that wiſdomn which diftinguiſhed the conduct of M. de Vergennes, who, at the commencement of our conteft with America, anxiouſly courted the attention of the learned and ingenuous of his country, to the inveftigation of the confequences that were likely to refult to France and Spain from the ſtruggle; and left us to diſcuſs amongſt ourſelves the abſtract queſtions concerning the due limits of that filial affection which might be expected from a colony, or the extent of that right of taxa- tion [ 13 ] tion for which we contended;-it will be my object in this letter, alone to draw your attention to the Revolution of France, as it has affected the political fituation of this country. A uniform opponent of that ſyſtem of conduct which has been adopted, I fhall, by purſuing this inquiry, have an opportunity of diſplaying to you the real grounds on which I have acted-of fubjecting to your view the motives which, in the difcuffion of the important queftions that have prefented themſelves for decifion, have regulated my conduct—and I fhall have thus the fatisfac- tion of thinking, that, if I fhould unfortu- nately meet with your difapprobation, that diſapprobation will arife from a fair differ- ence of opinion, and not from any prejudice created by thofe libellous infinuations, with which it is the faſhion of the day to affail thoſe who wiſh to build their opinions upon the found foundation of reafon uninfluenced by temporary alarms, or who have not yet learned to make their public conduct uni- formly 1 [ 14 ] formly fubfervient to their private views of intereft. The Revolution in France, whilft no one yet ſeemed alive to the idea that the imme- diate intereſts of this country would be af- fected by it, had attracted the attention of all-by the difcerning in France it had long, from the fituation of that country, been forefeen; but in this-where we were not likely to derive any information from the intercourfe of our Government with its Court, who were interefted to conceal the fituation; nor from our travellers, who in general affociated with the Clergy and No- bility, a clafs of men that appear to have remained blind to their fituation to the laft -it came upon us by ſurpriſe: and if the event itſelf was unexpected, the mode in which it was conducted was no lefs fo. The energy and vigour diſplayed in the proceed- ings of the States General, the refolution and firmness which diftinguifhed their mea- fures, contrafted with that levity and frivo- lity which the nation had formerly exhi * bited, T 15 1 ·bited, and which we had long conceived to be the chief feature in their character, whilf it augmented the furpriſe, naturally added to the intereft which was univerſally felt in the ſtruggle; and there exifted none who did not fee with aftoniſhment-many who viewed with admiration-the great and ani- mated exertions of a people contending for what all, of neceffity, regarded as the ob ject of the greateſt importance that could occupy the mind of man. Whilft it thus gratified by its novelty, and intereſted the fpeculations of thoſe who had made the mind of man, the progrefs of fo ciety, and the nature of government, the fubject of abſtract inveſtigation-it afforded to the politician, who confidered only the fituation of this country, matter of joy and exultation. The extinction of a govern- ment, whoſe reſtleſs ſpirit of intrigue, whoſe continued love of warfare, whatever might be the character of the monarch on the throne, or the ftateſmen that furrounded him, promiſed to the nations of Europe the enjoyment 1 [ 16 ] enjoyment of more peace and tranquillity than they had hitherto poffeffed; to us, in particular, the benefits that feemed likely to attend it were great. We daily felt the ad- vantages of the increaſe of our capital, arif- ing from that transfer of moveable property which always has, and which always will take place, from a country in a ſtate of re- volution, to that country the tranquillity of whoſe government feems to afford the greateſt proſpect of fecurity. In the circum- ftances which attended the internal arrange- ments in which France was engaged, we faw what we thought conftituted the impof- fibility of any attack being made on her part for years: in anticipating the peace and tran. quillity we were likely thus to enjoy, we be- gan to perceive the rapid diminution of that national debt with which we were loaded, and which forms the only check upon the enterpriſing ſpirit of the nation in antici- pating that which the other nations of Eu. rope were likely to enjoy, we faw the ex- tenfion of our commerce by the increafed demand of our manufactures, upon which we [ 17 ] we knew our wealth, our proſperity, and our importance as a nation, ultimately to depend. Our hopes of fecurity refted not alone upon the deftruction of the old government of France: the hatred and deteftation in which all the principles that had actuated it: were held by thofe who feemed to fucceed to the management of the government of that country, afford us well-grounded hopes that innovations would not be confined to arrangements in her interior government; it in a degree confirmed the reaſonable ex- pectation, which we formed, of feeing a change in that fyftem which he had long. purfued in her intercourfe with foreign na- tions, not lefs beneficial to herſelf, than it was likely to be to the reft of Europe. 4 The language too which upon all occa- fions fhe uſed, the fentiments which at firft diſtinguiſhed all her public acts, as they fpoke an averfion to hoftilities, a defire of cultivating the arts of peace, tended not a C little [ 18 ] ? little to eſtabliſh that opinion of the advan- tage to be derived from the change, which general reafoning had taught us to think we were likely to enjoy. Such were the happy profpects entertain- ed by almoſt all;-by thoſe who judged from the documents that were in the hands of every one-by thoſe whofe fituation might be fuppofed to give them acceſs to prefer- able fources of information-by the philofo- pher, who, in his clofet, viewed with plea- fure the advantages which mankind were likely to derive from the exiſtence of a free government, over a people who had long laboured under the preffure of laws and re- gulations, with which the vicious ambition, the folly and the ignorance of its old govern- ment had loaded it--as well as by the prac tical politician, who, in the fenate, an- nounced with eagerness the advantages which we as a nation were likely to derive from the change; and whilft in the pulpit we heard it employ the eloquence of Dr. Price, in the Houfe of Commons it com- manded [ 19 ] manded the exertions of Mr. Pitt, who, al- luding to it in his memorable ſpeech on the finances of the country, in February 1792, declared, "That unquestionably there never "was a time when, from the fituation of "Europe, we might more reaſonably expect « fifteen years of peace than we may at the "prefent moment." With what aftoniſhment will he, who at a future period reads the hiſtory of the day, fee, within a few pages, all theſe profpects of peace and fecurity vanifh before his eye! -With what aftonifhment muft every one retrace in his recollection, that though it is little more than two years fince the decla ration was made, this country has been en- gaged, for near a year and a half, in one of the most expenfive and difaftrous wars of which our hiſtory affords us any recollec- tion-has been with induftry employed, by remonftrances, intrigues and fubfidies, in endeavouring to engage every European power in the conflict and in purfuing a fyftem that none ever held out more ftrong- C 2 ly [ 20 ] ly as deftructive to our interefts, than thoſe who have been the promoters and conduc- tors of it! That it has been entered into with the ap- probation of the public, is a thing which cannot be difputed; but it ought always to be recollected, that as national character is moulded and framed from the form of the government under which we live as the penſiveneſs or levity which diftinguishes in- dividuals, the nature of the inveſtigations in which they are led to occupy their minds, the characteristics of the refults which they are induced to form, depend much on the government and inftitutions under which they live-fo it is in the power of all of all go. vernments to communicate temporary im- preffions, and in general for a time to guide the minds of the people over whom they prefide; and perhaps there has been no pe- riod when more pains were taken, by alarms, by miſrepreſentation and defamation, to af fect the public mind, and reconcile it to the fyftem which has been purfued. T Taught [ 21 ] Taught to value the bleffings of peace, by the experience of the benefit during theſe Faſt ten years we have derived from it, by the unparalleled fituation and profperity we had attained; ftill alive to the recollection of the calamities which had attended a per- ſeverance in the American war, and the ruin in which by it we had well nigh been in- volved; having imbibed pretty generally, from the ſpeculations of the enlightened age in which we live, an opinion that hardly any fuccefs, or the attainment of any object we could imagine to ourſelves, could com- penſate to us as a nation for the certain cala- mities of war; viewing, in the interruption of our commerce, in the expence in which we inevitably muſt be involved, certain and fure misfortunes which no acquifition of fo- reign territory could counterbalance or re- pay; it was no light and trivial reaſon, it was no moderate fermentation of opinion, that could have infured a patient hearing for any one who propofed to involve us in hoftilities; and nothing fhort of the hope of being able to convince the nation that it was neceffary [ 22 ] neceffary for its exiſtence, ſeemed to afford any proſpect of its being univerfally relifhed To produce theſe effects no exertion was neglected, by every infinuation and manage. ment. The belief was impreffed on our minds, that the balance of power in Europe, for which we had fo often contended, was deſtroyed; that our allies, whom we were in honour and intereft bound to defend, were about to be facrificed to a degree of ambition, of the extent of which, even the recollection of Lewis the Fourteenth could furnish us with no idea; and laftly, that that conftitution under which we enjoyed happineſs and proſperity, and which almoſt all equally agreed in admiring, was about to be undermined. The horrors committed by the French, whilft the preffure of external foes, and the real grounds from which they had originated, were kept out of fight, were anxiouſly brought forward to rouſe the paſ fions, and by prejudice to bar in our thoughts every idea of the poffibility of treating. By our fears and our hopes we were [ 23 ] were alternately affailed and flattered; and the number of vifionary republicans in this country, ready to co-operate in the deſtructi- on of our conftitution, were reprefented to us as alone to be equalled by the number of imaginary royalifts in France, who were ready to join us upon our first appearance in the field; and whilft the confideration of the ſtrength, of the great military fkill and experience of the powers with whom we were about to co-operate, flattered us, on the Continent, with fpeedy and fplendid fuccefs to be attained at no very immode- rate expence, we were taught to look for- ward with avidity to the profpect of mer- cantile advantage, which the deſtruction of the naval power of France, and the poffeffion of her colonies would afford. Such were the opinions that induſtry and power combined fuccefsfully to propagate; and it became the creed of all, that as war was the fure means of extending our confe- quence and importance abroad, ſo at home it was the only one of fecuring peace and tranquillity, [ 24 ] tranquillity, and of preferving that conftitu- tion which we had all fuch an intereft in maintaining; in the prefervation of peace, in the idea of obtaining redreſs or fecurity by treaty, were every where diſcovered the feeds of external calamity, and of internal convulfion.-To doubt, to hefitate, far more to advance an opinion to the contrary, was to ſubject yourſelf to the charge, and even in the ideas of many to furniſh proof complete, of connections with the enemies. of the country abroad, and with fecret fo menters of fedition at home. Time, and experience have now, in a de- gree, difpelled all thofe confufed conceptions of imaginary fuccefs, which fo univerfally floated in the minds of the people of this country; the events on the Continent; the enormity of the expence already with cer tainty anticipated; the extent of the taxes which must be laid on; the confideration of the lofs of property and restraint of liberty, which accumulation of taxes always, pro- duces, have roufed pretty generally doubts of the expediency of war; but in the mouths of [ 25 ] of almoſt all, if not in their minds, peace is ftill ftigmatized as likely to be productive of every poffible evil; and the real calami- ties which we fee and feel from war, are dogmatically reprefented as likely to be ex- ceeded by thoſe which we imagine will at- tend, or which, perhaps as a facrifice to our confiftency, we obftinately attribute to peace. Before this change took place, to have attempted any explanation of my motives, any vindication of my conduct, with hopes of fuccefs, would have been fooliſh and ab- furd; nay, even now I am diffident whether the advocate for peace-he who fees in war no poffible advantage, and every fpecies of calamity; he who from experience regards our perfeverance in it as the fure method of nouriſhing and creating internal fedition and convulfion; as the undoubted means of degrading us as a nation, and finking our relative confequence amongst the powers of Europe-can flatter himfelf with meeting amongſt the public many who will perufe with an impartial eye what he may be dif pofed [ 26 ] pofed to ftate; or who will not reft ſatisfied, when the nature of the attempt here dawns upon them, with anticipating the abſurdity of his arguments, and prejudging the wick- ednefs of his conclufion. From you, however, whofe partiality I have experienced, whofe liberality of fenti inent I know, I truft for favour, and flatter myfelf I indulge no ill-grounded expectation, in hoping that I fhall be enabled to engage your attention to a fhort inveſtigation into the nature of the Revolution in France, and a confideration of the effects which the line of conduct we have purfued, and are pur- fuing in confequence of it, has had upon this country; as well as to what probably would have been the confequence of our fteadily endeavouring to perſevere in that fyftem of neutrality which we adopted on the first appearance of it, and that predilec- tion for peace which at that time manifefted itſelf in our conduct. In doing this it is my intention in this letter, to confider the nation as without party, and to view them 3 as [27] 1 as if with unanimity they had adopted the one or the other line. It has been in general the happineſs of thoſe who ſpeculate upon, and ſtill more of thoſe who are called to conduct the affairs of a great nation, that events, however im- portant and extraordinary in themſelves, are feldom fo completely iffolated; fo wide of the ufual range of fpeculation, or unlike any thing that the page of hiftory records," as to deprive us in the inveſtigations that lead to the forming of thofe opinions ne- ceffary for the regulation of our conduct, of that benefit which we acquire from the ex- perience of others; of that fureft of all guidances which we derive from avoiding the errors, and adopting that which has proved itſelf by events to be the wisdom of thoſe who have preceded us. There arc, however, many things which diftinguifa the French Revolution; perhaps fome that form the moft remarkable and important features of it, fo novel in themſelves, fo un- like any thing with which the hiftory of man [ 28 ] man renders us familiar, as to force the po litician, in meaſuring the fteps that it is fit to purſue, to have recourſe exclufively to general principles, without which, undoubt- edly, the application of the ſkill of no one can be perfect, and which, aided by practi- cal experience, is what alone enables him to come to fure and definite conclufions. Many are the convulfions, numerous in- deed are the revolutions, with which the an- nals of the world make us converfant ;-acts of perfonal oppreffion of individuals; the ambition of chiefs; the ſtruggles of contend- ing parties; the jealoufies of the various or- ders in the community; the proud oppref- fions of elated monarchs, with all their con- fequences, have but too often extended their baneful influence over the different nations with which hiſtory has rendered us acquainted. We all recollect the events that followed the violated chaſtity of Lucretia ; the judicial murder of a Horne and an Eg- mont, and the firm and. noble refiftance made to acts of extortion by a Hampden. We ** [ 29 ] We cannot forget the generous ftruggles for liberty which diſtinguiſh the hiſtory of our own country, and the ultimate expulfion of its monarchs. But in vain fhall we confult our memories, in vain fhall we attempt in retracing hiſtory, to diſcover the features of a nation that had exifted for centuries under a form of government, in which we had been taught to believe that it had long ha- bitually prided itself; where, without any inftance of immediate active oppreffion that drew forth refiftance; without without any act of tyranny on the part of the monarch; nay, with a general belief, even in his enemies, of his goodnefs; without any ſtruggle amongst the different orders of the ftate; all feemed to agree in the neceffity of ſuch alterations as virtually amounted to a diffo, lution of its exifting government. Yet he who looks at the fituation of France, who reads with attention the numerous addreffes. of its parliaments, the accounts of the en- thuſiaſm with which they were received by the people, who examines the propofitions entertained by the Nobility in the Affembly 1. of [ 30 ] 1 } 0 of the Notables, and the Addreſs propofed by the Biſhop of Blois, which was agreed to and prefented by the Clergy, cannot ab- ftain from admitting, that all orders of the community feemed to affent to this propofi- tion. Nay, the fchemes of innovation, to the extent of alteration of what had long been its practical conftitution, fucceffively brought forward by its Minifters, fhewed a convic- tion, even on the part of thofe who ma- naged the government, of the neceffity of a change. The Affemblée des Notables of M. de Calonne, the Cours Plenier of M M. de Brienne and Lamoignon, the calling to. gether the States General by M. Neckar, were all fucceffive proofs of the opinion of thofe minifters. And the Court, in the edict for affembling the States General, which gave to the Tiers Etats a number equal to the other two orders, feemed not only to pronounce the neceffity of the extinction of the government that exifted in practice, but to declare the inadequacy (to the fituation of the times) of thoſe checks and inftitutions, which exifted in France at a former period. There [ 31 ] There were few who confidered its lin gering exiſtence, that did not forefee in the calling together the States General, the death warrant of the exifting government of France, and who did not look to the pe- riod of their meeting, as fubftantially the moment of its diffolution. There was none who did not perceive, foon after they were affembled, that the practical government of the country, which had long exifted, and under which the character of the nation had been formed, and the habits of indivi duals contracted, was annihilated; who did not view with aſtoniſhment the little refift- ance with which its diffolution was effect- ed; who could regard in any other light, than as in a manner the operation of magic, the deftruction of that Baftille which had been for ages the dread of France; the de- fection of that army, whofe attachment to their monarch had been the theme of the world; and the affumption of the powers of government by a National Affembly, of the exiſtence of which the hiftory of their country furniſhes not the moſt remote precedent. New [ 32 ] New and extraordinary as this phænome- non may appear, unaccountable as at firft fight it may feem, we may trace its origin to circumſtances from whence it muſt have naturally proceeded, to caufes however, which being themſelves novel in their na- ture, never could exhibit their effects till the age in which we live. / The fyftem of providing for the extraor- dinary expences of a government, by mort- gaging the public revenues, is an invention of a modern date ;-the treaſures feized by Julius in Rome, during the civil wars; thofe poffeffed by the different Grecian re- publics; the immenfe fums amaffed by the fucceffors of Alexander, fufficiently fhew the prudent practice of antiquity, in pro- viding in the time of peace and tranquillity for thoſe expences which might be neceffary in the moment of public exigency. 4 From ancient hiftory, we can therefore derive no experience of the confequences which attend carrying to excefs that finding fyftem J [ 33 ] ſyſtem firſt introduced by fome of the mo- dern Italian ftates, and which in this cen- tury has been carried by our own, as well as other European nations, to fo alarming an extent. In modern times, the confequences of it had been the ſubject of much ingenious fpeculation amongst the learned, but we poſſeſſed no practical experience that could make us acquainted with the extent of the evils with which it might be connected ;—the rapid progrefs of commerce and manufac- tures, the increaſing profperity and accu- mulated wealth which attended them amongſt the nations that carried this fyftem the furtheft, had enabled them, by a gra- dual increaſe of taxes, to palliate the mif. chiefs that ſeemed to flow from it, and in a degree to arreſt the diſorder in its progrefs. We had witneffed, indeed, many of the evils connected with its flighter fymptoms, even on our own robuſt conſtitution; but the fatal effects of the more advanced ftages of the diforder upon the weakly frame of the French government, prefented a new ſcene to our view. The eyes of all had been long D opened [ 34 ] opened to the fallacy of that fanciful fophif- try, that faw in public incumbrances, the riches and the wealth of the people who contracted them, that viewed them as ufeful engines for promoting the commerce and profperity of the nation in which they ex- ifted; but the extent of the evil, the ulti- inate confequences, which it was likely to produce, could be accurately limited or de- fined in the ſpeculation of none. Even the experience of what had happened under one form of government, if it had exiſted, would have afforded no conclufion, that could have enabled us, with preciſion, to in- fer what might be the event in another. For if on the one hand it appeared clear that the ſyſtem might be continued, and the load of debt augmented, as long as the ingenuity of the financier could render palatable, or, the government enforce the payment of thoſe taxes which it made neceffary; fo, on the other, it was obvious that the extent of his fkill muft of neceffity be regulated by the opulence or poverty of the community, over whofe affairs he prefided; and, that the power [ 35 ] power to enforce, muft depend upon the nature of the inftitutions and government of that country in which the fyftem was adopted.- "Our popular government," fays Mr. Hume, "perhaps will render it diffi- "cult or dangerous for a minifter to venture "on ſo deſperate an expedient as that of "a voluntary bankruptcy. And though "the Houſe of Lords be altogether com- CC poſed of proprietors of land, and the "Houſe of Commons chiefly; and confe- "quently neither of them can be fuppofed "to have great property in the funds; yet, "the connection of the members may be "ſo great with the proprietors, as to render "them more tenacious of public faith, than "prudence, policy, or even juftice, ftrictly "ſpeaking, requires; and perhaps too, our A tr foreign enemies may be fo politic as to "difcover that our fafety lies in defpair, "and may not therefore fhew the danger, CC open and barefaced, till it be inevitable. "The balance of power in Europe, our "grand-fathers, our fathers, and we, have "all deemed too unequal to be preſerved without D 2 [ 36 ] 7 "without our attention and affiftance :-but "our children, weary of the struggle, and CC 66 fettered with incumbrances, may fit down fecure, and fee their neighbours oppreffed "and conquered, till at last they themselves, " and their creditors, lie both at the mercy of "the conqueror; and this, properly enough, "be denominated the violent death of our public credit." 66 But in making this conjecture, Mr. Hume could alone have reference to a government in which the nature of its political inftitu- tions had led to the burthens being equally fpread over all, and in which the refources had been, by that means, fairly exhauſted. Had he contemplated a nation, where the financier was hampered with privileges, and hemmed in on all fides with abfurd exemptions, whofe government and poli- tical inftitutions were fo weakened with the monopolies and privileges with which it was infeparably interwoven, as not to pof fefs vigour and energy within itſelf to get rid of them, however confcious the whole com- [ 37 ] community avowed themſelves of the necef- fity of it; then he would probably have form- ed to himſelf a very different conclufion. He would have ſeen the government of fuch a country, not as likely to fall a prey to fo- reign enemies; he would not have viewed it at the feet of a conqueror, but he would have deſcribed it as likely to fall a facrifice to the belief of its incapacity which uni- formly pervaded the community. If in the evils attending this new fyftem of providing for the wants of the ſtate, we can trace the cauſe of this extraordinary event, our wonder and ſurpriſe at the faci- lity and eafe with which it was effected will alfo in a degree vanish; when we con- fider the enormity of the evil under which France laboured, and which its government had myſteriouſly concealed till the annual extent of the defalcation of the revenue was fo great, that the dread of the increaſing difficulties which it forefaw, could on the one hand no longer permit it to palliate; and on the other, in its cramped, weak, and [ 38 ] 1 and enervated fate, it was equally unfit to meet the creditor with a refuſal, or the pub- lic with a demand. He whofe habits of vice and diffipation have brought ruin upon himſelf, when re- duced to diftrefs, may take to the highway; but in attempting to get forcibly the pittance with which he means to purchaſe his daily bread, a ftruggle will enfue: the merchant whoſe fuppofed opulence has fecured an ex- tenfive credit, though he may have long known the fituation of his affairs, though he may have forefeen that he was about to in- volve hundreds in ruin, when the hour of bankruptcy comes, difappears from the Ex- change, and is permitted quietly to retreat. The neceffities of the court of Charles the Firſt, to adminifter to its momentary ex- pences, induced them to attempt forcibly the levying of illegal exactions; hiftory in- forms us of the ſtruggle that enfued. The neceffities of the court of Lewis the Six- teenth, occafioned by the embarraſſment in a great [ 39 ] a great and complicated fyftem of finance in which it was involved, when the hour of reckoning came, exhibited to mankind a ftriking proof that the Exchange is not the moſt important fituation from whence, in the moment of fimilar calamity, a quiet and peaceable retreat may be made. Betwixt the affairs of individuals and national con- cerns, there is always fome reſemblance, fome analogy, to be traced. Though the cauſes are various to which you may attribute the fcenes that imme- diately followed the diffolution of the old government ;-though that love of liberty which inftantly fhone forth and difcovered itſelf, and which feemed to guide at firſt all their proceedings, may be traced as arifing from the general diffufion of knowledge which prevailed, from the habits of admir- ing the effects of freedom, which even the Court itſelf had endeavoured to excite, when in America, as in Holland, it pro- tected the cauſe of democracy; and from writings on the fubject, which, during that period, [ 40 ] period, had been not only permitted but encouraged;-yet it is to the operation of the exceſs of this funding fyftem on the vicious frame of the French Monarchy, which you may exclufively attribute the diffolution of the old government, and its perfect incapacity to proceed. For if we were for a moment to fancy that greater energy had been difplayed in its defence, that the armed force which furrounded Paris had been brought to act, and that the Affembly had by their means been difmiff- ed, there is no one who can think, that, when it had difgufted the people at large, perhaps embrued its hands in their blood, government would have poffeffed influence fufficient to extricate itſelf from difficulties which it antecedently had not courage to face. There is no one can reafonably conjecture that this would have had any other effect than retarding the hour of the calamity, or perhaps accelerating thofe fcenes of horror which [ 41 ] which mankind have fince had fo much rea- fon to regret. France now exhibited a new ſcene to the eyes of mankind, the firft great victim to the raſh and improvident management of this modern fyftem of Finance. We faw, not in an infant nation, but among a peo- ple, who, in fpite of the drawback under which they had laboured from the nature of their government, had ftood the foremoſt in civilization, and in the cultivation of the arts and ſciences, every trace of its govern. ment deſtroyed. We faw all the political inftitutions of a nation palfied and annihi- lated, who are well defcribed by a modern Philofopher, when he fays, "The French 6C are the only people, except the Greeks, "who have been at once Philofophers, "Poets, Orators, Hiftorians, Painters, Ar- "chitects, Sculptors, and Muficians. With "regard to the Stage they had excelled even "the Greeks, who far excelled the English; " and in common life they have in a great "meaſure perfected that Art, the moſt uſe- " ful [ 42 ] "ful and agreeable of any, l'Art de vivre, "the Art of Society and Converfation.' The buſy ſcenes in which the people of France were of neceffity about to be engaged, were but too likely to carry them on in the progrefs, naturally dictated by the fituation in which the diffolution of the old govern- ment left them. But the fpeculation of what was likely to enfue did not alone concern them; it required not much forefight to diſcover how much it was interefting to the reft of the world-how much, in particular, it was interefting to us, who had long been accuſtomed to confider that country as a ri- val. It was a fubject that demanded the utmoſt attention, as it required the moſt enlarged talents in our ftatefmen.-It called for the exerciſe of thofe talents which qualify men for taking a lead in the uncommon and more important fituations of fociety; there was here no precedent that could be called in, no official experience that could aid or affift; "for, 1 1 [ 43 ] "for, when the high roads are broken up "and the waters out, when a new and trou ❝bled ſcene is opened, and the file affords "no precedent; then it is that a greater knowledge of mankind is requifite than "office ever gave, or than office ever can give." CC ઃઃ In purſuing this inveſtigation, the path was not however barren; there were many things that tended to aid and affiſt the mind; -for though deprived of any experience of a nation, which directly or even remotely reſembled in its fituation that of France, the confideration of the manners, of the habits, and of the character of the different claffes of individuals that formed the community, feemed to preſent to us grounds on which to build our fpeculations. France, indeed, had loft its government; but the people of France had not, could not, fhake off thofe different modifications of character which under it they had acquired. We ftill faw diſtinctly remaining the various claffes [ 44 ] claffes of the community to which the na- ture of the old inftitutions had given riſe; we ſtill ſaw exifting in each the habits, the diſtinguiſhing characteriſtics, with which the vice or the weakneſs of the ancient go- vernment had ftamped them. We faw in the nobility and clergy that were uſed to furround the throne, a clafs of men corrupted and debaſed by the mode in which they had been educated; by the manner in which they had lived; whofe fortunes had fallen a victim to the enormous extravagance encouraged by the Court, and who had been fubfequently maintained in their luxurious habits by the corrupt prófu- fion of it; and in that defcription of thoſe two orders, who, remote from the Court, lived in the different provinces, we beheld men practiced in the exercife of that little village-tyranny, which their fuperiority had authorized; accuſtomed to enjoy thoſe ex- emptions and privileges on which they ha- bitually prided themſelves, and which taught them [ 45 ] them to regard thoſe beneath them as almoft a different clafs of beings We ſaw in thoſe who compoſed the dif- ferent Parliaments a proud magiftracy, who, though their ambition and the neceffities of the ftate had led them every where to op. poſe the fiſcal oppreffions of the Court, loved the confequence they enjoyed, and looked with fatisfaction at that exclufive privilege of adminiftering juftice or injuſtice over his people which they had purchaſed from the Sovereign. * In the Cahiers of the nobility, at the time of the States General, we find them fteadily demanding, that all their feudal rights ſhould be confirmed: that the carrying of arms ſhould be strictly prohibited to every body, but noblemen: that the infamous arrangements of the militia fhould remain on its old footing: that breaking up parks, and inclofing commons, fhould be prohibited: that the nobility alone fhould be eligible to enter into the army, church, &c. that lettres de cachet fhould continue: that the prefs fhould not be free and in fine, that there fhould be no free corn trade. Thoſe of the clergy maintain that the liberty of the preſs ought rather to be reftrained than extended: that the laws againſt it ſhould be renewed and executed: that ad- miffion into religious orders fhould be, as formerly, at fixteen years of age that lettres de cachet are uſeful, and even ne- ceffary. They folicit to prohibit all divifion of commons, and to revoke the edict allowing incloſures. In [ 46 ] In the middling orders of fociety we faw many, who had acquired affluence by the commerce in which they had been engaged, averfe to the old fyftem, from the reftraints which, by its improvident laws, they had laboured under in the conduct of their pro- feffion, as well as from a recollection of the little perfonal eftimation in which, un- der it, they were held.-In this clafs we alfo found the difciples of Voltaire, Rouffeau, Mably, Turgot, and the economiſts, a fet of men, the pupils of thofe who had en- lightened the world with their fpeculations; amongſt whom the principles of political economy had been long better underſtood, and more thoroughly digefted, than they were in any other nation; who had by their various publications tinged the mind of the whole community with an idea of liberty which their habits rendered them incapable of digefting. In the lower orders, which bore in num- bers an infinitely greater proportion to the others than it happily does in this country where [ 47 ] where property is diffufed, we faw human nature in an abject fituation indeed! a peo- ple devoid of all property, who looked alone. to the labour of their hands for their daily fupport, and who were in many inftances robbed of a great proportion of the pittance they could earn, that no encroachments might be made upon the exemptions and privileges of the other orders, in providing for the wants of the ftate, and the luxuriant corruption of its court; a people rendered in their nature cruel, by the habitual want of feeling they had experienced on the part of their fuperiors; and favage, from the oppreffion to which their minds had fo long been trained *. Such * Though I could give many inftances of the mifery of the lower orders in France from my own knowledge, and refer to eloquent paffages in the works of the writers of that country, defcriptive of the fad fituation to which they were reduced, I chooſe to confine myſelf to the following extracts from the works of Mr. Arthur Young, which, as they were recommended by Mr. Reeves and his affociation, may be ſuppoſed to furniſh that increaſed conviction the mind feels when it extracts a fact from an unwilling witneſs. Country- [ لا 48 ] Such were the component parts of this great nation, who faw proftrate at their feet, from Country-labour being 76 per cent. cheaper in France than in England, it may be inferred, that all thoſe claffes which depend on labour, and are the moſt numerous in fociety, are 76 per cent. lefs at their eaſe (if I may uſe the expreffion), worfe fed, worfe cloathed, and worſe ſupported both in fick- neſs and in health, than the fame claffes in England, notwith- ftanding the immenfe quantity of precious metals, and the impofing appearance of wealth in France. Walking up a long hill to eaſe my mare, I was joined by a poor woman, who complained of the times, and that it was a fad country; on my demanding her reafons, fhe faid, her huſband had but a morfel of land, one cow, and a poor little horfe, yet he had a franchar (42lb.) of wheat, and three chickens, to pay as a quit-rent to one feigneur; and four franchar of oats, one chicken, and I f. to pay to another, befide very heavy tailles and other taxes. She had ſeven children, and the cow's milk helped to make the foup. It was faid at prefent, that fomething was to be done by fome great folks for fuch poor ones, but he did not know who or how; but God fend us better, car les tailles & les droits nous écrafent. This woman at no great diſtance might have been taken for fixty or ſeventy, her figure was fo bent, and her face fo furrowed and hardened by labour; but ſhe ſaid, fhe was only twenty-eight. An Engliſhman, who has not tra- velled, cannot imagine the figure made by infinitely the greater part of the country women in France; it ſpeaks, at first fight, hard and fevere labour; I am inclined to think, that they work harder than the men, and this, united with the more miferable labour of bringing a new race of flaves into [ 49 ] from the cauſes I have detailed, without any great or proportionable exertion of their own, all the laws and inſtitutions under which they had lived. What into the world, deftroys abfolutely all fymmetry of perſon, and every feminine appearance. To what are we to attri- bute this difference in the manners of the lower people in the two kingdoms? To Government. The murder of a Seigneur, or a chateau in flames, is re- corded in every newſpaper; the rank of the perfon who fuf- fers, attracts notice; but where do we find the regiſter of that Seigneur's oppreffion of his peaſantry, and his exactions of feudal fervices, from thofe whofe children were dying around them for want of bread? Where do we find the minutes that affigned theſe ſtarving wretches to fome vile petty-fogger, to be fleeced by impofitions, and a mockery of juftice, in the feigneurial courts? Who gives us the awards of the intendant and his fub-delegues, which took off the taxes of a man of faſhion, and laid them with accumulated weight on the poor, who were fo unfortunate as to be his neighbours? Who has dwelt fufficiently upon explaining all the ramification of defpotifm, regal, ariftocratical, and ecclefiaftical, pervading the whole mafs of the people; reach- ing, like a circulating fluid, the moſt diftant capillary tubes of poverty and wretchednefs? In thefe cafes, the fufferers are too ignoble to be known, and the mafs too indifcriminate to be pitied. What are we to think of demanding, as a favour, the per- miffion de nettoyer fes grains, de faucher les prés ar- tificiels, & d'enlever fes chanmes fans égard pour la perdrix E [ 50 ] 4 What was to happen no one could accu- rately predict, it would have required the gift où tout autre gibier ?"—An Engliſh reader will ſcarcely un- derſtand it, without being told, that there were numerous edicts for preſerving the game, which prohibited weeding and hoeing, left the young partridges fhould be diſturbed; fteeping feed, left it fhould injure the game; manuring with night ſoil, leſt the flavour of the partridges fhould be injured by feeding on the corn fo produced; mowing hay, &c. be- fore a certain time, fo late as to ſpoil many crops; and taking away the ſtubble, which would deprive the birds of ſhelter. / BERRY.-Argentan.-They pay rent for a cottage 20 livres, get their fuel in the woods; their tailles 15 to 24 fous: as much for capitation, and do fix days labour in the roads. ST. GEORGE.-They eat buck-wheat made in very thin cakes without leaven. PELLECOY.-Poor women picking weeds into their aprons to feed their cows with, and fomething like this I have remarked, more or lefs, all the way from Calais; it conveys an idea of poverty and want of employment. FALAISE.-Live very badly, much of the bread is bar- ley and buck-wheat, and many have nothing elſe but this and water, unleſs cyder happens to be very cheap; their fuel what wood they can freal. MORLAIX to BREST.-The people of the country are all dreffed in great trowfers like breeches, many of them. with [51] gift of prophecy, and far exceeds the narrow bounds of the intellect of man. To have foreſeen the eſtabliſhment of the Conftitu- tion of 1789;-the Revolution that enfued in Auguſt 1792;—the attempt to eſtabliſh a republic, and to conduct the government by means of the intellectual powers alternately operating on the paffions and the reaſon of man;—the ſubſequent dominion of anarchy, the cruelties that attended it ;-and the ex- tent of the emigrations that during thefe different changes would take place, was im- poffible. But an analyſis of the elements of which this fociety was formed, might have con- vinced any one, that to the debaſed minds of many incapable of bearing the fad reverſe of fortune, of viewing the fcenes which with naked legs, and moft with wooden fhoes; the women feemed from their perfons and features to be harder worked. than horſes. LYONS. A room for a manufacturer 200 to 300 livres, and houſe rent of all forts very dear; 20,000 people are now (1790) ftarving: yet charities of all forts do not amount to leſs than a million of livres a year. E 2 brought [ 52 ] brought to their recollection their former power and fplendour, emigration would na- turally prefent itſelf as a refource ;-that if a government was to be formed by the joint efforts of the nobility and clergy that re- mained, and the middling orders whom the fcene had brought forward, it would natu- rally partake of a limited monarchy; that as the influence of name and nobility gradu- ally diſappeared, the efforts of the middling orders, from their averfion to any thing that approximated to the ancient fyftem, as well as from the nature of the opinions which in theory they had been accuftomed to hold, would make them relifh, and induce their leaders to attempt the eſtabliſhing a repub- lic; and that, laftly, habituated to nothing but change, the paffions and ambition of the lower orders, broke loofe from all reftraint, fhould produce fomething like that extraor- dinary ſcene of which we have all been wit neffes. The progrefs was natural, and, even if there had been no interference of external force, it [ 53 ] it feemed to flow from the nature and cha. racter of thoſe who were unfortunately con- cerned, and the fituation in which they were left. To anticipate the ſcenes of hor- ror, which of neceffity muſt have enfued in this laſt ſtage of the bufinefs, was that from which moft would naturally revolt, but there were none who forced themſelves to it that could reaſonably doubt of the extent to which they would arrive.-The uninformed man who never faw power exercifed, but with a view to the benefit of him who pof- feffed it;-when he acquires it, regards it naturally as the privilege to play the tyrant. The cruelties and oppreffions of men broke loofe from the chains of power, are always in proportion to the weight of the chains with which they have been loaded. A mob in London generally terminates with the breaking of a few windows, or at moft, with the deftruction of a few houfes. An infur- rection amongst the negroes in the Weſt Indies ends in the murder of the flave-dri- vers, too often in that of the planter's whole family. } We [ 54 ] We ought not, we cannot juftly, afcribe to the new ſyſtem thofe fcenes which have fo often difgufted us; to contemplate it is a taſk fhocking to humanity; but conftrained to it, the difcerning eye diſcovers alone the natural confequences of the vicious abfurdity of the old fyftem. Its enormities afford a ftandard by which you may accurately com- menfurate the fad extent of the oppreffion over the poor, which under the ancient mo- narchy of France was exercifed. It is this reaſoning, it is this analyfis of the cauſes of the French Revolution, and of the horrors it has occafioned. It is the re- flection, that there exifted in our finance the utmoſt profperity, and with good ma- nagement no chance of their getting into that ſtate of diſorder which produced the Revolution in France, that has always convinced me that there could be no natu- ral tendency to a fimilar fituation in this country. It [ 55 ] It is the conviction, that at all events the fcenes of that unrelenting love of blood that attended it, which feemed to be the legiti- mate offspring of its government, of thoſe racks and Baſtiles that it looked to, to fup- port its power, never could be generated un- der the influence of the mild fpirit of our Laws, and the wife regulation of our Con- fitution, which quieted all alarms in my mind upon that fubject. It is this mode of confidering the fubject, however, that has long convinced me of the progreffive tendency that things had in France to the fituation in which they now are; and that would have led me-if I had thought that we could ever have a right to interfere in the internal regulations of ano- ther government, if I could have loft fight of that right which exifts in every commu- nity to form laws and inftitutions for its in- terior regulation, that principle upon which the independence of nations refts-if ever I could have forefeen the moment when views of expediency would have ſanctioned the in- terference [ 56 ] 1 terference of this country for fuch a purpoſe, -to applaud the wifdom of thoſe who wiſh- ed to call us into the field at an early period, to criticiſe the folly of thofe who put off in- terfering, till the moment in which this country took a part. To deftroy it at its birth might have been, perhaps, an eaſy, if a defirable tafk; we know what it is to cope with it when its giant ftrength has reached to maturity. But the fyftem which this country wifely at first purfued, permitted it not to think that it could have a right, that the time could ever arrive when it would be expedi- ent, to interfere. In the most authentic and folemn mode in which the opinions of thoſe who conducted the government could be declared, in his Majefty's fpeeches from the Throne, we had the happineſs to ſee the right of interference difclaimed; the expediency of it reprobat- ed; the profpect of our continuing in peace held out with fatisfaction; and the hope of the [ 57 ] F A the general peace of Europe, wifely ſtated to us as a commercial nation, as if it deeply con- cerned our interefts. In its increafing riches the country felt the benefit of this conduct; in the happineſs which they enjoyed, the people felt the bleffings of it; in the tenden- cy which it had to preferve in the minds of foreign powers that idea of confequence we had acquired by our ftruggle againſt fo ma- ny nations during the latter period of the American war, mankind faw the policy of it; the nation univerfally marked it with their approbation, and they were apparently as unanimous for maintaining it as ever they have been for the war-in reality much more fo. That fyftem has been however abandon- ed; and, at a late period, we have been plunged into a war, the object of which, as the fermentation of the public opinion feem- ed likely to ſympathize with it, has fuccef- fively been ſtated:-firſt, to be the fecurity of Holland, the maintenance of treaties re- lative to the navigation of the Scheldt, and the [ 58 ] the repeal of the decree of the 19th Novem- ber;-next, compenſation for the paſt, and fecurity for the future; and laftly, the de- ftruction of that fyftem of government or anarchy that prevails in France: and this is now held out as neceffary even to inſure our exiſtence as a people. any Had we continued to confine ourfelves to of the two firft objects, I ſhould have here thought it neceffary, before calling your at- tention to the probable confequences which would have reſulted from perfevering in that fyftem in which we firft embarked, or from adopting that fyftem which we are now purſuing, to have ſtated to you ſome ideas concerning the origin of the war. The first blow fufficiently denotes the first act of ag. greffion; but it by no means points out who, in the fpirit of the law of nations, is the aggreffor. When I confider, however, that we have now embarked for the avowed pur- pofe of faving ourselves, by deftroying the prevalent fyftem in France; when I learn from that confideration, that as felf-prefer- vation [ 59 ] ++ vation neceffarily calls forth activity, war muft at all events have inevitably been re- folved upon in the breafts of thoſe who could entertain this idea; and that we ſhould of courſe have been now in the fame fitua- tion whatever line of conduct France had purfued, unleſs ſhe had given up that fyf tem of interior management which it is our object to deftroy, I ſhould think I was en- gaging you in an irrelevant and unprofitable enquiry. In ftating to you the advantages that would have attended our having remained at peace, I fhall be cautious to fay nothing that reafon does not authorize; I will not give ſcope to my imagination; I feel the ftrength of my argument too much to think it requires it; I ſhould weaken it in my own eſtimation by riſking the chance of raiſing fufpicions in your minds were I to indulge it. And I cannot but feel, that it would be unfair to arraign the judgment of thoſe who have brought on the war, by fuppofing that it was practicable for them to foreſee the unfortunate [ 60 ] ' unfortunate events that have enfued, or the enormous expence into which we have been led. I will do them the juſtice to ſay, that I do not believe there exift many individu- als, who, if they could have foreſeen all that has happened, and viewed the profpects which we now poffefs, would have given way either to views of intereſt or feelings of alarm, to fuch a degree as to prevent their fupporting the motion of Mr. Fox on the 18th December, 1792, which might have happily fecured to the country a chance of accommodating the then fubfifting diffe- rences. 1 At the time we embarked in the war, we had experience of the advantages which our trade and commerce had derived from peace, and of the national profperity that had enfu- ed from our perfeverance in it. And if the impoverished ſtate of the people of thoſe countries, who had antecedently engaged in hoftilities, had diminiſhed in certain inflan- ces the demand for our manufactures in ſome of thoſe markets to which they uſed to be carried, 1 [ 61 ] carried, whilft it exhibited to our eyes a pic- ture of the confequences attending war, from which we might have benefited, the eſtima- tion in which we were held afforded a rea- ſonable proſpect of our being able, by medi- ation, to check the evil if it became impor- tant; and by reftoring peace to Europe, to ſtop the growth of that habit of the love of military glory and enterpriſe, which was en- twined with the exiſtence of the monarchy of France, though under the new fyftem it had not as yet had time thoroughly to take root. If unfortunately we had not fucceed- ed in immediately reftoring general peace, we had at all events the advantage, from the neglect which had pervaded the commerce of other countries, in confequence of the confufion in which they were involved, of, in a manner, monopolizing the trade of Eu- rope. If the fale of fome of our manufac- tures was likely to be reduced, it was proba- ble that in others it would be much aug- mented; the demand for the pottery of Staffordſhire might have been diminiſhed; but the looms of Yorkſhire and Lancaſhire, and [ 62 ] and the furnaces of Birmingham, were, from the fituation of Europe, fure of increaſed em- ployment; and the receipts of the country, on the whole, were likely to be much ex- tended. If hoftilities were perfevered in by the other powers of Europe, we had the prof- pect of at leaſt enjoying that fatisfaction which would arife from feeing our riches and our refources increafing, and our debts diminiſhing; whilft thofe of our rival were laviſhed in unproductive expenditure, and her people lofing the habits of productive labour. The nature of the warfare in which France was engaged, as it involved her in great expence, and furniſhed no employment for her navy, held out no ill-grounded hope of a general neglect in her marine depart- ment; and the extinction of her commerce annihilating in a degree the nurſery for her feamen, taught us to flatter ourſelves, that by perfevering in peace we ſhould ſee our only rival on the fea gradually loſe the means and the habit of diſplaying her ſtrength on that element, and offered to us at once the pleafing and the proud profpect of being able to [63] to maintain the dominion of the ocean with increaſed certainty and diminiſhed expence. When the hour of general peace arrived, we had, by purſuing this line, the happineſs to foreſee that the increaſe of our capital, the diminution of our debt, and confequently of our taxes-the habits of induftry which we muſt have acquired, the improvement in machinery, which time, ingenuity, and en- terpriſe infure, would have enabled us to maintain our commercial fuperiority, and to meet in every market in the world our old rival, even though from the diminution and equalization of her taxes, from the additional energy of her new government, and from the enjoyment of liberty ever propitious to commerce, ſhe ſhould ſtart with advantages the effects of which we had not heretofore experienced. And by thus increafing our induſtry and opulence, by extending our commerce, we were led with certainty to an- ticipate its effects in raifing our importance abroad, whilft, by the wealth and happineſs enjoyed at home, it was equally certain fun- damentally 4 [ 64 ] For damentally to eſtabliſh the love of our con- ftitution in the heart of every man. "Perifh our commerce, let our conftitution « furvive*!” involves a paradox that it. would be treating your underſtandings with contempt to inveftigate. If, in contemplating our profpects in re- maining at peace, this pleafing picture pre- fented itſelf to our eye; in viewing the pro- bable events and confequences of warfare, we faw all thoſe calamities which ufually attend that fituation, and which to us, who depend fo much on our manufactures and our com- merce, is more dreadful than it can be to any other nation. We had a fure and certain profpect of the increaſe of our national debt, which had been augmented during the American war to a fum that at the moment feemed to threaten us with deftruction-to a fum which threw ridicule on the limited ideas of thoſe who * A fentiment advanced by authority in the Houſe of Commons. had • [.65 ] had antecedently ſpeculated on the fubject and taught man to doubt whether the world was not as yet too much in its infancy to fur- nifh materials, on which to build our rea- foning on matters of political economy.- We had indeed been enabled, by the in- creafe of opulence which we derived from the induſtry and ingenuity of our manufac- turers, as well as from the aid and affiftance to labour, and the variety of its effects, which the ingenious application of mecha- nifm and chemistry in the conduct of our manufactures had fortunately for this coun- try produced, to diſcharge during peace the intereft of our enormous debt, and even to make provifion for the reduction of it.—But all were convinced of the diſadvantage under which we laboured, in having fo large a part of our wealth employed in unproductive ufes; and there were none who did not look forward with alarm, who did not dread the confequences of thus burying any larger pro- portion of our productive capital. * Hume's Effay on Public Credit, Note annexed to it. F We [66] We could not but foreſee the temporary diminution of our trade, from the natural tendency that war has, both abroad and at home, to diminish the demand for our ma nufactures; and the diſadvantage that would arife from diverting the hands and the ha- bits of fo many of our induſtrious manu- facturers from productive to unproductive labour, could not for a moment eſcape our obfervation. But before we became enamoured of, and ultimately refolved upon, this fyftem, the circumftances of the times, the fituation of the nation with which we were going to conteft, led naturally to anticipate in the preſent warfare, the hour of more than uſual calamity. 5 We faw that we were about to engage in an unequal conteft. Ours was a government that, in eftimating its refources, could not totally lofe fight of the happineſs and pro- fperity of the people over which it ruled.- Theirs was a government that found refour- ces [ 67 ] ces in robbery and murder, whofe means of expenditure were alone to be eſtimated by the extent of the property of the nation, and the number of whoſe warriors could alone be limited in our imaginations by the num ber of which the community confifted. Our military experience, and that of our allies, the circumftance of almoft all thofe having retired from France who poffeffed experience in the art of war, gave us indeed a reaſonable ground to expect a temporary fuccefs. But whilft reafon, general princi- ple and experience, taught us to ridicule the idea that courage belonged peculiarly to any nation, or was exclufively the effect of any particular climate;-it was difficult to fee why fuperiority of capital, and the extended application of labour arifing from the num- ber of hands they could command, fhould not in war, as in other trades, enfure fuccefs*. When *The following extract of a letter from the Duke of York, publiſhed in the Gazette fince this was written, ſeem s ftrongly to confirm this opinion: F 2 « The セ ​[ 68 ] When we viewed the affertion made on plaufible and good grounds, in Sir James Stuart's Political Oeconomy, how much rea- fon had we to be alarmed! 66 "Were any prince in Europe, whofe fub- jects I fhall fuppofe may amount to fix "millions of inhabitants, one half employ- "ed in agriculture, the other half employed « in trade and induſtry, or living upon a "revenue already acquired; were ſuch a prince, I fay, fuppofed to have authority fufficient to engage his people to adopt a "new plan of economy, calculated to fe- CC "The hazard of an action with fuch a very great difpa- "rity of numbers, could not but become a matter of the "moſt ſerious confideration; and, after the moſt mature "deliberation, I did not think myfelf at liberty to riſk, in "fo unequal a conteft, his Majefty's troops, or thoſe of "his allies ferving with them. I had the utmoſt reliance "on their courage and difcipline, and I had no doubt but "that theſe would have enabled me to refift the firft efforts "of the enemy; but it could fcarcely be expected that even "by the utmost exertion, of thefe qualities they would be "able to withstand the reiterated attacks, which the vaſt fuperiority of the enemy would enable them to make, and which we know, from experience, is a general principle "upon which they a&." ( 66 cure A [ 69 ] "cure them againſt the defigns of a power- «ful neighbour, who, I fhall fuppofe, has "formed ſchemes of invading and ſubduing "them: let him engage the whole proprie- "tors of lands to renounce their feveral pof- "feffions; or, if that fuppofition fhould ap- 66 pear too abfurd, let him contract debts to "the value of the whole property of the na- ❝tion; let the land tax be impofed at twen- "ty fhillings in the pound, and then let " him become bankrupt to his creditors.- "Let the income of all the lands be collect- "ed throughout the country for the uſe of "the State; let all the luxurious arts be pro- "fcribed; and let thofe employed in them be formed, under the command of the for- "mer land proprietors, into a body of regu- "lar troops, officers and foldiers, provided "with every thing neceffary for their main- "tenance, and that of their wives and fa- 66 milies, at the public expence. Let me CC carry the fuppofition further. Let every « fuperfluity be cut off; let the peaſants be "enflaved, and obliged to labour the ground ❝ with no view of profit to themſelves, but ' 6 for [ 40 ] «for fimple fubfiftence; let the ufe of gold "and filver be profcribed, and let all theſe the prefent Minifters can with honour ex tricate themſelves or their country from the unheard-of and unfurmountable calamities in which we are involved. The profperity of the country might perhaps under different men, and by purfuing different meaſures, ftill be preſerved; but for Minifters to undo every thing they have done, to unfay all they have afferted for theſe laſt two years, is impracticable; to difentangle themſelves from the trammels of their own toils, fim- ply impoffible. Of any change, however, there is at preſent no appearance; with a ſupe- rior degree of art and ſubtilty the Miniſters have made common caufe between themſelves and the country; they have hitherto fuc- ceeded in dragging both into the fame laby- rinth, and the future condition of this once powerful kingdom is now only to be learnt by an inveſtigation of thofe principles that are moſt likely to actuate the conduct of its Minifters. This confideration then is of the graveſt import, and it becomes us much, feriouſly to [181] to reflect upon the different motives that will probably influence the various fprings that are likely to give elafticity to the future operations of the component parts of the prefent adminiſtration. That terror of innovation, and dread of the extenfion of French principles, have from the beginning of the prefent conteft uniformly guided the policy of Burlington- Houfe and its adherents, is a fact that I pre- fume no one will attempt to controvert. Fear then is evidently the caufe from which they have acted. The effect it has produced is the war with France. And it of courſe: naturally follows, that, as with the fucceffes: of France the original caufe will increafe,. fo, as their fears gain ftrength, their avidi-: ty for war muft proportionably augment; a: dreadful fituation indeed, placing us in this fingular dilemma, that, when peace becomes: indifpenfably neceffary, then fhall our exe- cutive government be moft fixed in their: determination to continue the war; when the ability no longer exifts of carrying it on at [ 182 ] at all, then ſhall we refolve to carry it on with the greateſt vigour. As fear acts upon individuals, ſo muſt this political terror ulti- mately act upon the ſtate; for if in attempt. ing to eſcape a danger we frequently plunge headlong into it, fo, upon their own princi- ples, if they perſevere in their prefent con- duct, what they regard as the means of their fafety muft become the agent of their deftruction. Fatal, however, as the operation of this principle muſt ever prove, by it they have. been folely guided, and, true to their fears alone, they firft deferted every former con- nexion, and at length have involved them- felves in a fituation where the affertion of any conftitutional principle would be in itſelf nugatory and ridiculous. So long as they gave an independent fupport to government, they might, with confiftency, refift any meaſure they conceived to have an unconfti- tutional tendency. Their fupport of the war might be uniform, and their regard to conftitutional principles at the fame time maintained; [183] maintained; but from the moment they went into office, they at once placed them. felves in the power of the Minifter. To ſtrengthen his hands, to enable him to car- ry on the war with additional vigour, they came into place; to refign upon their own grounds afterwards is impoffible, in as much as by weakening the executive government they act against their only remaining prin- ciple for which all others have already been abandoned. To affect independence would therefore be abfurd. They cannot be blind to their fituation; they muſt feel that the Minifter ftill holds in his hands the power- ful means by which he forced them with humiliation into office, and that a repetition of its exertion muſt at any time reduce them to paffive obedience, In the profecution of the war alone, they can have a voice; in every other point, on every other fubject, the mandate of Mr. Pitt muſt be the rule of their conduct, ; But is this mere fpeculation? Do we not already fee a complete proof of this poſition in [ 184 ] in the difficulty they have found of carrying through the ftipulations they made previous to accepting office? It is needlefs to enter into the pitiful negotiation for perfonal honours to be conferred on himſelf or friends thefe, if the Duke of Portland could condeſcend to bargain for, at a moment of fuch magnitude, the Minifter would na- turally and readily grant; it jarred not with his interefts, it flattered perhaps his hopes of expoling them.-But let us attend to the great point his Grace is faid to have ftipu-. lated for-the government of Ireland. That he fhould feel it defirable and fitting, in the moment of deferting his own political friends in England, to demand a fimilar facrifice from Mr. Pitt of his friends in Ireland, is not aftoniſhing: that he who had yielded the uncontrouled fway in Great Britain to the Minifter, fhould wiſh to pof- fefs fimilar power in Ireland, is moſt na- tural; and that he underſtood it to be given up to him, is moſt certain. How far this ftipulation will ever be com pletely carried into effect, it is impoffible to foreſee: [ 185 ] farefee but as the negotiations concerning it have, for months paft, exhibited one of the most ridiculous and difgufting fcenes that has, even in the prefent æra, marked the hiftory of the country*, fo the ultimate- ly conceding a reluctant half fhews in the frongeſt point of view the complete ca- * It has not been the leaft entertaining of the many fin- gular occurrences that now daily happen, to have obſerved the progrefs of this difference betwixt the Duke of Port- land and Mr. Pitt. Their adherents on both fides have with equal obftinacy afferted, on the one hand that the origi- nal ftipulation was acquiefced in, and the certainty of refig- nation, unleſs it is carried into effect, has been publicly avowed on the other, that the whole has proceeded from miftake, and the Minifter's correfpondence with Lord Weftmorland is brought forward to cheer the hopes of his adherents in Ireland. We have feen Mr. Secretary Douglas making arrangements for refuming his ſituation, at the mo- ment another perſon was accepting his place from the Duke of Portland; we have feen Earl Fitzwilliam preparing to go, Lord Weftmorland determined to ftay. It is now, how- ever, confidently faid, that Lord Fitzwilliam is to go, and that Mr. Pitt has preferved his friends in their fituations; an arrangement as little calculated to fatisfy expectant Chan- cellors, &c. at Burlington-Houſe, as it is to afford a permà- nent ſecurity for any fubftantial change of principle in the government of Ireland.-Is it to be fuppofed that Lord Fitzwilliam can have any real confidence in Lord Fitzgibbon and his friends, or that Mr. Burne and Mr. Keogh can ever receive any boon, however defirable in itſelf, with compla cency from that quarter ? pacity [186] pacity of the adherents of Burlington-Houfe now to demand or enforce any thing. From this quarter, then, the country have nothing to expect; in vain do they look for any profpect of a reſtoration of tranquillity; theperation of alarm is their only fource of action, and the effect of that operation neceffarily involves a difregard and ne- glect of every other principle and opinion whatſoever. In contemplating the Miniſter, and the probable line the motives that have regu- lated his conduct will induce him to purſue, our hopes are equally gloomy. Guided more, as I have ſtated at length in my laft letter, by perfonal motives than any other cauſe, and having fucceeded beyond his moft fanguine expectation in the object of his folicitude; having divided the party he dreaded; having placed himſelf at the head of that ariftocracy he originally trampled on, and in fome degree deferted the caufe of thofe who originally contributed to placing 1 187 ] placing him in power; is it to be imagined he will eafily forego what he has taken fuch pains to acquire, or that he will foon re- linquish what he has purchaſed at fo dear a rate? To effect his original purpofe, he facri- ficed the peace of the kingdom; and to re. tain the perſonal benefit he derived from it, a continuation of the facrifice is neceffary. Great as the price is that one party pays to him, he too muft yield fomewhat to them. If they facrifice to him the conftitution, he muſt concede to them the peace of the coun- try. Such is exactly the tenor of their bond -the country between both is totally for- gotten; and to gratify the inordinate ambi- tion of one party, to quiet the feminine dreads of another, the obvious interefts of the community are to be neglected, our beft blood and laſt treaſure expended, and the fad calamities of lengthened war heaped on this devoted nation. But to this line of conduct other confide- rations muſt equally lead the Miniſter and his [ 188 ] his friends; for, fimilar as the conteft is in many other points to the American, in this it is moſt fatally alike--that at the com. mencement of both we equally out-ſtepped every fair and confiderate bound of diſcre- tiòn, by declaring at once the only terms on which peace could be re-eſtabliſhed. There, unconditional fubmiffion was to be infifted on; here, the overturning of the Jacobin government is afferted. I ſpeak not now of the fupreme folly of the idea in either inftance; but I fhould have thought that the experience of the fatal confequences that attended the practice of it on the former oc- cafion, would have rendered the adoption of it on the latter impoffible. , In the grave hour of confidering the pro bable iffue of uncertain war, calmnefs and refolution mark the conduct of a wife Mi- nifter; he elevates not his own expectation, or that of his country, beyond the well founded hopes arifing from preſent vi. gour and immediate exertion; in them he fees the only fource and fure road to return- ing [ 189 ] ing tranquillity and an advantageous peace; he afferts not what muft depend on accident, but endeavours to act fo as to come up to the expectation of the moſt fanguine. In- temperance and paffion for no part of his character, they give no fway to his conduct: unfortunately however for us, whether through miſtaken policy or weakneſs, thefe have now for two wars been our fole guides. In both, the Miniſters began where they ought to have concluded; in both, they looked not for fuccefs as generating an end, but ftated the end to which they were to bring their fuccefs; and in both, they, un- happily for the country, early pledged their perfonal character and reputation to points probably impoffible to be attained, and cer- tainly at all events out of the power of man to infure. The conqueft of France, or the counter- acting by arms the declared will of twenty- five millions of men in a ſtate of revolu- tionary enthuſiaſm, might have appalled the boldeft politicians. They, however, in proportion [ { 190 ] proportion to the magnitude of the object, inftead of caution, one would conceive from their conduct, have judged raffinefs necef- fary. Pledges were to be made-hopes held out to delude and deceive the people, who ultimately, through the vice of the Govern- ment and the arts of the Minifter, dragged in to fupport his chimerical ideas, irritated by declamation, and maddened by an appeal to the paffions, brought themſelves to ima gine they faw, in the greatnefs of the at- tempt, a fure proof of the talents of the projector-in the vaftnefs of the idea, a cer- tainty of genius adequate to its completion. Miferably indeed have they been deceived: our ability to carry it on-our Minifter's adequacy to conducting it, are now before the public. But the melancholy folly of this our original conduct cannot now be got the better of. Whatever may be our fituation, our pride and our honour ftill urge us for- ward; our Minifter's character and reputa- tion are at stake; and, to fave our own and his crédit, whatever may now be our opi nion of the impoffibility of fuceefs, new treaſure 3 + [191] 1 treafure is to be fpent, and more blood fpilt. When in the mind of every thinking man the American war was defperate, what, from the fituation in which Lord North had placed himſelf and the public, was the con- fequence? New expectation was to be raif- ed, and different meaſures purfued. This General was to be facrificed, and fome new plan to be adopted. The public hopes were by theſe means flattered; the people found a temporary relief from the confcioufnefs of their own follies; till at laft experience taught them this fatal leffon, that all Gene rals were alike, that every plan was equally ruinous, the original attempt was in the eye- of reafon ridiculous, and every ſubſequent effort proved but the truth of that which wiſdom ought at firft to have taught them. At prefent, too fatal a reſemblance appears; from fimilar caufes fimilar effects are en- fuing. Generals may be changed, meaſures- may be varied; but the ultimate end of the fatal delufion will too furely be found in aggravated 2 They [ 192 ] aggravated diſappointment and additional failure. To carry it on, however, is for Mr. Pitt's perfonal character neceſſary; in him every feeling muft lead to the defperate profecu-: tion of it: he knows that nothing fhort of ruin can apologize for his treating; and even to the ruin of his country he muſt now look for the prefervation of his character and his continuance in power. But let us not, even in this laft ftage of calamity, flatter ourſelves;-in his confci- ous incapacity to treat, we may anticipate with melancholy certainty the fure caufe of protracted hoftility: the habit of facrificing principle to convenience may indeed induce the Miniſter to make a piece of miferable patch-work of his character; but he, and thofe connected with him, muft fee that every confideration of policy and wifdom precludes the poffibility of his treating with fuccefs. The inftant he makes the attempt by analyfing his political character as a man, and 1 [ 193 ] and his conduct as a minifter, the whole of our fituation will ftand unveiled to our enemy. They muſt know that neceffity, not choice, dictates the meafure. They muft feel that want of ability to carry on the war, and not a wifh to re-eftabliſh tranquil- lity, leads to the propofal; they muſt ſee that fear of them, and not love of peace, actuates his conduct. In the very propofal they will beft difcern the extent of their victories; in the paft language and condu&t of minifters they will alone be able to form a commenfurate view of their prefent ftrength, and our humiliation. It would be laying the country at the feet of France, and ftating in the plaineft characters, that any terms must be accepted, becaufe no re- fiftance could any longer be made. But we cannot fuppofe the French ſo blind in their difcernments, as not to have mark- ed the political character of the man: it re- quires not their ingenuity to diſcover that the depth of his neceffitous fubmiffion will be proportionate to the extent of his origi- O nal [194] 1 nal arrogance and folly. Can we believe for a moment, that they are fo loft to the re- membrance of even his recent policy, as not to obferve, that in the conduct of the wary Empreſs of the North there is a rule and a guide laid down for their adoption? In treating with him, will they not imagine that it is but to refufe, and new conceffions must be made? that it is only to deny, and fresh fubmiffion must enfue? The facrifice of character, and of what he ſtated to be the intereft of the nation, to her, will infure the conceffion of our deareft interefts to them; and if in the year 1791, to preferve his place, the Minifter made light of the honour of his country-when he attempts to treat, in the fituation to which he has now reduced us, he will learn the confe- quence of fuch conduct, by the folid and ca- lamitous facrifices he will be obliged to make-facrifices not made more to neceffity, than to his paft and prefent impolicy and ambition. It will unfortunately, however, not be even neceffary for them to look back to this memorable event; it is the nature of man [ 195 ] man to demand what he conceives would have been aſked; and in the fubmiffions that Mr. Pitt would have forced upon France, we may form a competent judgment of the terms that he will have it in his power to make. Whether then we confider the Minifters in a body, or look at their ſeparate views as dictating their general conduct, there ap- pears not in either cafe the fmalleft chance of peace; and when we reflect on the futi- lity of the grounds on which they and their adherents maintain the neceffity of war, as it convinces us of their determination to perfevere, ſo it fhews equally the perfonal motives and views that actuate them. In the preſent ſtate of things, to hold out even a remote chance of ultimate fuccefs is totally impoffible. With whom are you to treat? is therefore the great point to which they refort-wifely, I grant, for their pur- pofes-though its folution is eafily forced back upon themſelves by the fimple quef- O 2 tion, [ 196 ] tion, With whom are you at war? And if there are any to whom this can appear not completely conclufive, let them for a mo- ment reflect For what we are at war. Avowedly for the deftruction of the Jacobin government of France. The very acknow- ledgment of our object is then a complete anſwer to the queftion. If we once confefs that we cannot obtain our end, it involves the natural conclufion, that the diffolution of a government being the end, and it hav- ing failed, a government remains with whom we may treat. But our object is ftated to be, to deſtroy, not to form a government. Looking then, if we can, to a fucceſsful ter- mination, the fact will whimfically be, that when we have attained the object of our purfuit, then, and then only, fhall we be exactly in the fituation in which it is now ftated to be impracticable for us to treat; and the only time we fhall have nothing to treat with at all, will be the very mo- ment when, according to the ſtatement of Minifters, peace ought to be made-their object in the war being attained. Beyond [ 197 ] Beyond this doctrine of deftroying the prefent government, Minitters have rever yet ventured to go: nor for their purpofes was it ncceffary; for it must be obvious to every one, if they were to fucceed in that object, peace could not be made till a new government was formed;-in its formation, they who deftroyed the laft muft of courfe have a leading fhare: and thus, had they fucceeded, at the very clofe of the war, though Minifters from the firft never dared to avow their original and true object, it would have ultimately refulted as the natu- ral confequence of the meaſures they pur- fued. The farce of overturning a govern- ment would have been dropped to the ground, and the plan of forcing a govern- ment on a people ftruggling for freedom in their idea, and determined to be free, would ftand forward in all its original and native deformity. But the diſguſt naturally excited in every generous bofom by many of the recent fcenes in France, a horror at thoſe who were the actors [ 198 ] actors on that bloody theatre, and an ap- prehenfion of a diminution of our dignity as a people, ſhould we treat with a Jacobin Banditti, as it is called, as they contributed to involve us, have, I am well aware, come much in aid of this ftrange and abfurd dif- ficulty. How far our own conduct may have in part occafioned the very ſcenes we deplore, and the very horrors we deprecate, I have avoided entering upon; but I ſhould wiſh thoſe in whom humanity takes fuch a lead, who feel fo much for the diftreffes of a foreign country, to look a little to our domeftic fituation; to confider to what a continuation of the ftruggle muſt tend; to think of the effect of increaſing burthens; to reflect on the lofs morality muſt fuffer; to contemplate the gloomy fcenes the Continent daily exhibits; and then let them decide, whether a fpirit of hatred and revenge against the French Government fhould in wifdem induce us to be cruel to ourfelves; and whether a deteftation of their barbarity fhould in prudence guide us to ultimate mifery, and poffibly to final ruin. To [ 199 ] To thofe dignified perfons who may wiſh to facrifice every folid benefit to falſe pride, let me be permitted to put this common queftion-With whom did you treat in the American war? And they muſt anſwer with me,-With profcribed Rebels and a vagabond Congress. Let them go a little further back, and they will find (pride and arrogance yielding to neceffity and policy) the haughty and infolent bigot of Spain, at the very mo- ment of canonizing the nrurderer of one of the greatest and beft Princes Europe ever faw, forego the object of his early ambition by a virtual declaration of the independence of the United Provinces. Let them reflect that, in both thofe memorable inftances, the language was the fame; ideas fimilar to thoſe of the preſent day at both periods pre- vailed. Let experience be their guide, and let them then determine, whether, to fup- port a ftandard of ideal confequence, they are willing to hazard the continuation of the miſeries of war, and the bloodſhed of thouſands. But this unfurmountable bar to peace has always appeared to me to origi- nate [200] F nate from a very different, though obvious caufe. Whenever fuccefs became doubtful, the mind was naturally led to look forward to peace; the oftenfible difficulty, With whom can you treat? was then artfully brought forward, but in reality only as a veil to the real confideration of Who in this country can treat with advantage to the nation, and honour to themselves? Here at once you find a folution of all their clamour-an ex- planation of the whole of the difficulty.- To keep back this laft confideration, the firft muſt be rendered in the minds of the people unconquerable. When once you get over it, the anxiety for peace will be aug- mented by the road to it becoming appa. rent; but either the character and confiften- cy or the power of the Minifter muft be annihilated. To preferve both will then be impoffible; for if the wifh of the people be once with energy expreffed, and he refufes to treat, there is an end of the laft. If he conſents to make peace, he bids adieu to the firſt one of them he muſt give up. But extinguiſh from the memory of all, the paft [ 201} paſt promiſes and pledges; blot from the recollection of the public, the conduct Mr. Pitt and his adherents have adopted; enable them to treat, referving their places and power, with that fcanty pittance of con- fiftency and character ftill neceffary for public men; give them but the moſt dif. tant opportunity of anfwering the queſtion, Who can treat? by faying, We can; the weight of the firft difficulty will in their eftimation inſtantly fink to the ground; this formidable bar to our happineſs will difap- pear; and thoſe who in the hour of arro- gance were ever readieft to calumniate and revile, would, in the moment of ultimate misfortune, be the firft to acknowledge and to treat with the prefent government of France. In further fupport of this doctrine, a doubt of the exiſting rulers in that country treat- ing with you is conftantly infinuated ; a point that in all fimilar fituations muſt ever remain doubtful till the experiment be made. And why it fhould not now fucceed as [202] as well as in any former war, I own I am at a lofs to fee. That they have anxioufly courted peace fince hoftilities commenced, the public are aware of; and that they would not now treat we have no reaſon to ſuppoſe, unleſs, judging of them by our- felves, we conceive them to be guided by fimilar prejudices, by the fame averfion to our government that we have profeffed to theirs; and by like intereſted motives on the part of thoſe who take the lead in the ma- nagement of their affairs. But even allowing it to be true, it can be no reaſon for not making the attempt: -by that, if made with dignity, we can fuf- fer no lofs. It may indeed be humiliating to make peace on difgraceful terms; but it never can be difgraceful to offer peace on honourable terms. If it fails, all doubt of the right in the conteſt is at an end; it gives us the aid of certain juftice and neceffity, and the very failure will give new ftrength to our meaſures-new vigour to our arms. 4 But [203] But this fuppofition of averfion to peace is in fact another mode of diverting the mind from the impoffibility of the prefent Minifters' offering to treat. It is not the rea- fon of the thing, but the neceffity of fupport- ing it for their own purpoſes, that leads them to urge this prepofterous doubt. Not only therefore the feparate and unit- ed interefts of the Minifters, but the very difficulties they ftart, muft lead us to the melancholy conviction, that it is their def perate determination to profecute the war to the laſt extremity. To continue it with fuccefs under the prefent circumftances of things, cannot, I am convinced, be fup- ported by any confiderate or reflecting per- fon. It is a dream perhaps referved for the warm and juvenile imagination of thoſe who have fo frequently anticipated the glory of the Allies in the capture of Paris. With them however I fhall not contend. If they can bring themſelves ftill to credit the poffi- bility of our carrying on the conteft with a chance of advantage, their inveterate obfti- nacy [ 204 ] t nacy may be a matter of aftoniſhment to fome: but it muft ultimately be a fubject of grief to all, that, in a time of imminent dan- ger and public diftrefs, the raſh and ill-di- gefted chimeras of fuch politicians fhould, for a moment, from their perſonal connec- tions, and the fupport they have met with in Parliament, be fufpected to bear any affinity to the matured judgment of the reſponſible Minifters of the country. Of the people whatever may be the fenti- ments, they will now be but flowly and with difficulty expreffed. Accuftomed for years to have a ftrong party in the country ready to fupport their interefts and to forward their views, in its diffolution they have found, to their coft, the lofs of their own energy and of their own ftrength. They muft naturally be diffident in proportion to the weakneſs of thoſe who fupport them; and when they look on one hand to the ap- parent ftrength of Minifters, on the other to the defperate domeftic ufes made of it, neceffity and prudence equally lead them to [ 205 ] to be filent. From the ſmall but fteady and concentrated body of men who in either Houſe of Parliament ftill venture to oppofe the meaſures of the Minifter, little can be immediately hoped for. Theirs indeed is a difficult tafk. Influence, corruption, ca. lumny, fear, prejudice, and pride, are all acting against them in their fulleft vigour, and to the greatest extent. Steady, perfe- vering, and determined, they will no doubt ſhew themſelves to their purpoſe; but re- mote and diftant is the cure they unaided by the public voice can adminifter. There appears therefore no where any cheering gleam of immediate hope, that flat- ters us with a poffible ceffation of the pre- fent calamities, or gives a profpect of return- ing tranquillity. When we inveſtigate the feelings and view the conduct of his Ma- jefty's prefent Minifters, we unfortunately fee with great certainty, that nothing but a continuation of hoftilities is to be expected: in them, honour, intereft and prejudice com- bine to puſh on the conteft. 1 For [ 206 ] For this then we must make up our minds, and it is moſt neceffary we fhould arm our- felves with fortitude and refolution. Every man muft feel, that by this perfeverance we rifk our own fate; that in endeavouring to overturn the anarchy of France we hazard the fair form of our own conftitution. Every one muſt be convinced, that the efforts of France are alone to be repelled by means equally powerful. We may turn the com- mander in chief of our army into an aucti- oneer of military commiffions, and fo add to our number when we diminiſh the real ftrength of our eſtabliſhment; we may levy the annual ſupply, by entailing beggary and wretchedneſs on our pofterity; we may go on debauching the morals of the country by turning the minds of the induſtrious to military purſuits; we may continue to en- courage unconftitutional benevolences; we may go on addreſſing the Crown, and pro- mifing fupport; our Minifters may vent their impotent Philippics in parliament, and mutilated Gazettes may be fent forth to cheer the finking fpirits of the country. But let [ 207 ] let us not deceive ourfelves. Such and other ordinary means will be as impotent, as un- availing. The military character of all Eu- rope already lies proftrate at the feet of French Enthufiafm, and till we employ means fi- milar to thoſe they have adopted reſiſtance will be uſeleſs. To repel their armies, fimi- lar armies must be found; to refift their force, fimilar force must be produced. Let us therefore not completely fhut our eyes to our real fituation. If war is to be profe- cuted, to make it fucceſsful French means muſt be purſued. Let us not talk of our Con- ftitution; for before we can act on equal terms with them it muſt be in fubftance de- ſtroyed; every man muft by compulfion be- come a foldier; every fhilling of individual property muſt become public ftock; our lives and fortunes must be in a ſtate of re- quifition; and the Britiſh Cabinet muft be- come a Committee of Public Safety. From fuch efforts only are we to look for fuccefs; but to fuch, thank God! even Mr. Pitt cannot refort. But are we ftill to be dragged [ 208 ] dragged on, every military judge in Europe having declared the impoffibility of fuccefs? Deſerted by many of thoſe powers origi- nally moft fanguine in the caufe, are we to continue parrying in the beft manner we can the fatal blows of our enemies; con- foling ourſelves in the ultimate reflection, that a branch of the fea divides us from the Continent; and lofing fight of Holland, that miferable country we have ruined with our protection? In this undoubtedly our Mini- fers may perfevere; but if they do, we can- not but fufpect they look for their fafety to the approach of the melancholy period when all other confiderations must be fet afide, when all political prejudices muſt be forgot, when the preſervation of our own country muſt be our fole object; when, to protect our fortunes and families, every exertion muft be made, every human means employed.- Should this melancholy but not improbable. fituation occur, I am completely ready to grant it is no time to fart difficulties with whom you will act, or to enter into confi. derations of former political conduct. We muft [ 209 ] ! muſt all act, and act together; but to learn who is then fitteft to guide the laſt and def- perate efforts of our country, we muſt necef- farily turn our eyes to the paft conduct of Minifters in their military capacity, and from that determine how far they are to be trufted at a moment when infufficiency or neglect. muſt end in fealing the fate of this power ful kingdom. If no part of our prefent fi tuation be owing to their miſconduct; if all our failures have been the natural reſult of obvious caufes; if they have been all along the wife and watchful but unfortunate fer- vants of the public; in that cafe I am ready to allow, at a moment ſuch as I have ftated they ought particularly to be ſupport- ed. But if any part of this fituation arifes from their neglect, if it originates from their folly or want of forefight, we ſhould be com- mitting the worſt of ſuicides any longer to confide in them. And as this is a point of much and deep import to our future prefer- vation, I hope I may be pardoned if I ſub- mit to you, with the diffidence due by one not verfant in military affairs, a fhort view of their paſt military conduct. P } There [ 210 ] There is no failing fo great, and at the fame time poffibly fo common in this coun- try, as the inclination we generally feel to undervalue the character of our enemies. The principle from which this feeling ariſes, however much in itſelf commendable, has, in its effects, unfortunately but too often proved fatal to our military fuccefs; and of this the American war is a true but melan- choly example. It then actuated alike the army and the fenate, our minifters and our generals, our councils and our executive operations. It has recorded in hiſtory the Britiſh parliament applauding the abſurdity of overcoming a continent with a handful of grenadiers *. It occafioned the attack at Bunker's Hill; for to take a fair military advantage of the rebels was, by our generals there, reckoned impolitic and unneceffary †. It * Vide General Grant's fpeech in the Houſe of Com mons. + It must be generally known that the works at Bunker's Hill were thrown up in one night, on a peninfula. The poffeffion of the pafs naturally enfured the furrender of the troops occupying that poft, in the courſe of two days at far- theft; : [ 211 ] ; It then uniformly guided all our councils and not even the firſt and fevere leffon we received at Bofton could hinder us from attempting the diſaſtrous attack of Charles- town, the ſubſequent expedition under Ge- neral Burgoyne, or the laſt and decifive en- terpriſe of the Marquis Cornwallis. The hiſtory of that war is a recital of expedients to remedy unforeſeen events; the hiſtory of the government of that day is a tale of ac- cumulated diſappointment proceeding from unfair and arrogant expectation. The mi- nifters and their generals raifed an imagina- ry ſtandard of the energy of the people against whom they were to act; and their plans were formed againſt this phantom of their own creation, and not againſt that theft; and the circumftance of our being enabled to attack it with the tide in our favour, by means of the very boats we afterwards landed from, gave the moſt complete ſecurity to the attempt. But the appearance of management was fup- pofed to convey the idea of fear. An inhabitant of America, even behind works, and fighting for liberty, never could be imagined to refift our regular troops. They were attacked in their ſtrongeſt point, and the event is matter of public no- toriety. Ра great, [212] great, powerful, and temperate continent with which they were contending. Recent as this example is; deeply as we felt the effects of that fyftem of acting; much as it has been deprecated by fome of the heads of the prefent government, I can- not help thinking that the whole of the con- duct of the preſent war ariſes from the fame fountain; that under-rating our enemies'' military character and exertions has been the fource of all our calamities; that judging of them by an imaginary and not a real ftand- ard has been the caufe of all our failures ; and that eſtimating the ftrength and refources of the French, not by what they really were, but by what we wifhed them to be, has been the origin of all our difficulties, and of our prefent ruinous fituation. In vain may we turn round for any femblance of fyftem or plan fince the beginning of the war; in vain may we look for any appear- ance of calm deliberation and fyftematic energy in the cabinet:-of hurry and confu- fion we have fufficient proofs; of inadequate expedients [213] expedients to remedy unforefeen difafters, examples fufficient; but of fyftem or of plan, the bread and ſtaff of war, not a veftige is to be ſeen. The fituation of the French in Holland at the commencement of the war, might, I am ready to grant, render an immediate exerti- on for the relief of that country neceffary ; and the exigency of the cafe might fairly be allowed to preclude any poffibility of con- certing a fixed and fettled plan for the enfu ing campaign. Aid was accordingly fent, too trifling indeed to enfure any thing but ruin, had it been the only hope of our ally: fhortly after, however, and moft fortunately, the victorious arms of Clairfayt and the Prince of Cobourg drove the French within the limits of their own territory; which was in fact, to us, the fair and legitimate end of one war, and the fubfequent operations the commencement of another. The confideration of what was the fureft and ſpeedieft mode of making a folid im. preffion [ 214 ] preffion in the interior of France, muft at this period have become the fole object of military inveſtigation in the cabinet; the neceffity of defence was at an end, and of- fenfive meaſures to be immediately adopted. Here a variety of points were to be taken into view. The nature of our continental connections was of importance to be confi- dered; the real fituation of our enemy, and the exact means we had to apply to any given end, were equally points moſt care- fully to be attended to. The number of our alliances at this time muft, I prefume, have folely depended on our wish to extend them. All the ftates of Europe faw with jealouſy, moſt with horror, and not a few with fear, the changes that had lately taken place in France; and when they contemplated the military array of Au- ftria and Pruffia in the field, to declare po- fitively against her was by them too gene- rally, at that time, confidered as merely giv- ing way to their feelings, and partaking of certain fuccefs. The ſtate of our enemy, too, certainly [ 215 ] certainly held out profpects flattering in the highest degree to our wiſhes. The fate of the unfortunate Louis had already marked the downfall of the timid but enlightened Briffotin miniftry; every day they were drawing nearer to their end; and the vio- lence of their adverfaries for a time appa- rently precluded all appearance of union and combination. The feeds of civil war were fpread throughout France, and daily fcenes of carnage and murder were for months ex- hibited in the richeft plains of that delight- ful climate. Their army too was completely diforganized; the defpondency of defeat had fucceeded to the animation of victory; their favourite General had proved himſelf a trai- tor to their caufe; all confidence and energy was completely annihilated; even the ap- pearance of an army, in the field hardly any where exifted. Our own means, it muſt be allowed, were, as they always have been at the commencement of every war, inade, ´quate to any very extenſive ſcale of operati- on; but if our troops were few in numbers, they were ftill formidable from the difci- pline [ 216 ] pline of the men, and the experience of our officers. Under thefe circumftances two dif ferent ſyſtems might have been adopted ; the one, to join the Britiſh army to that of Prince Cobourg, which already with our fubfidized mercenaries was about to act on the northern frontier of France; the other, to have, in conjunction with our fleet, em- ployed the whole of our force on the coaft of France. The experience of paft wars ought, one naturally would have imagined, to have made in favour of the laft; much and feri- ous alarm had frequently been given to the French government by expeditions of the kind; and the neceffity of protecting their own fhore has frequently tended to ftop the progreſs of their fucceſsful arms, even in the centre of Germany. The internal con- vulfions in France feemed to point out the obvious propriety of this line of acting: nor could it be imagined that thoſe only would forget to give due weight to this leading point, who were conftantly cheering the hopes [ 217 ] hopes of the country by inflammatory de- clamation on this head. Yet fuch feems really to have been the cafe. What ought to have ftimulated Minifters to an invafion of France had no weight; and, inftead of attempting thus to give energy to the opini- on of the difaffected, they appear to have come to the refolution of defpifing all opi- nion, even when in their favour, and of truſting to the defperate iffue of arms only for their fuccefs. The ſmallneſs of the bo- dy of Engliſh troops has been ſtated as a reafon for the line they adopted; the infuf- ficiency of the national force, at that peri- od, to any great undertaking formed their principal defence. But it is clear that this is entirely a question of a comparative na- ture, and here the very ſmallneſs of the force appears to make againſt their po- fition. That a limited ſervice can only be ex- pected from a ſmall body, muſt be granted; but it is alfo obvious, that in an army of a certain magnitude the addition of a ſmall corps [ 218 ] corps is hardly perceptible; whereas a ſmall corps acting ſeparately, and with appropri ate energy, has frequently rendered effential fervice even to the large army.-The quefti- on therefore feems to ftand thus: Whether the ſmall force that could be provided was of greateſt uſe by joining the large army of the Prince de Cobourg? or, Whether, by acting feparately with our fleet, it would not in fact have given greater ftrength to that very army? Whether ten thouſand men hovering or landing on the coaft of France, would not have forwarded that General's views more than they did by acting with him? and, Whether, above all, it would not only have aided his views, but would have tended, if any thing could, to produce a revolution of opinion, from which prin- cipally early peace was to be looked for, out of which chiefly returning tranquillity was to be expected?—I would aſk too, which way our troops, excellent as I allow them to be, were likely to act with greateſt effect, under the protecting influence of our com- manding navy, or as a corps in a German army? 3 [219] army? Whether as an Engliſh army com- manded by Engliſh generals, and acting folely for Britiſh interefts, or as a German corps acting for interefts by them little un- derſtood, and poffibly lefs relifhed? Whe- ther, in ſhort, from our own troops moft was naturally to be expected, when the fruits of their victories were to benefit their country, and their laurels to adorn the fon of their Sovereign; or when the benefit of their labours was to be fhared by Ger- man ftates, and divided among German defpots? All theſe confiderations had, however, no effect at this period on the Britiſh Cabinet: a different mode of procedure was adopted, different meaſures purfued; the moment for fuch an undertaking was for ever loft and though at a future period, and under lefs fa- vourable circumftances, we have been told (with what truth is now pretty clear) the at- tempt was to be made-ftill, at the time when alone it held out a rational proſpect of fuccefs, no fuch meaſure was adopted. It [220] It indeed may be matter of well-grounded doubt, whether the rapid fuccefs of the Prince of Cobourg in driving the enemy within their own dominion had not elated the expectation of Minifters to an extent that rendered in their minds all plan and fyftem totally unneceffary; and whether they did not refolve to follow that General's foot- ſteps, as the fure road to eafy conqueſt, and to certain fame. Their tone and manner at the time ftrongly corroborate this idea; nor will the reflecting part of the community hereafter be much aſtoniſhed at the military inefficiency of thofe Minifters, who could have the folly and frontlefs audacity to ſtate at the beginning of their career, that the fact of the embarkation of 1900 men of the guards had given a turn to the fituation of Europe But whether it was occafioned by the ef * It was broadly afferted, by high authority, in both Houfes of Parliament, that the landing of the Guards had been attended with the effect I have mentioned; but the fact is, the original victory of the Auftrians took place previ- ous to their difembarkation. fect [ 221 ] 1 fect of ill-founded expectation of immediate fuccefs, or whether it proceeded from what I fhall ever conceive a moft fatal error in a matured plan, we know the truth to be, that the British force in Holland, reinforced from England, joined the allied army, and the offenfive campaign againft France foon open- ed by the blockade of Condé, and the fiege of Valenciennes. How far this ought to have been made the leading object of the campaign, and whether Lifle would not have been a preferable point of attack, involves a mere military queſtion of detail, into which I ſhall not prefume to enter. The army had been directed to act in con- junction with the Auftrian force. If any blame lay in the conduct of that force (which I am far from afferting), it belonged to the executive officers exclufively, and can- not in any fairneſs be attributed to our Mi- nifters. Our object, however; fuch as it was, com- pletely fucceeded. The allied army remained united [ 222 ] 1 united and compact, nor was it long before the gallantry of our own troops, headed by the Duke of York, in pufhing the fiege of Valenciennes, and the military ſkill diſplay- ed by the Prince de Cobourg in fruſtrating all the feeble attempt made to throw fuccour into either place, gave us poffeffion of both theſe important towns. But here unfortunately ended, by an im mediate change of the fyftem previouſly adopted, not only the fuccefs of the cam- paign, but of the war in Europe. Hitherto it had appeared to the military officers en- trufted with the command of the army, that acting together in one large compact body was the only line by which either fecurity or fuccefs could be relied on. They had adopted it at a time when the French army was diforganifed and difaffected; nor can it for a moment be fuppofed, that, in propor- tion as their opponents acquired additional ftrength from their increafing numbers, and freſh confidence in new generals, they ſhould deviate [223] deviate from the precautionary wiſdom of their former policy. We must therefore look to fome other quarter for this fatal change; and we are naturally led to turn our eyes to the Cabinet of that country which was to derive the ex- clufive benefit of the meaſure. It was now the conduct of our Minifters began to ap- pear in its true colour. Infatuated with paſt fuccefs, there was no undertaking too def perate for them to hazard, no fcheme too daring for them to undertake. The matur- ed experience of the commanders was difre- garded, and to the raſhneſs of their ſpecu- lations was the fuccefs of the war, and the ſafety of our army, to be facrificed. They even thought all common official exertion to give effect to the ruinous meaſures they were concerting, completely unneceffary; and though they must have felt that in pro- portion to the celerity of the execution the brilliancy of the fcheme would appear; though the neceffary ftores for the fiege were meant to be furniſhed by themſelves; yet [ 224 ] yet they were as flow in their preparations to give it effect at home, as they were rafh in enforcing its execution abroad. The con- fequence of fuch conduct at the time was eafily forefeen the fate of the expedition againft Dunkirk was early predicted *. Their plan was, however, by the com- mander reluctantly adopted; the allied ar- my divided; and, after delays of various kinds, as unpardonable in the executive as in the deliberative character of our Mini- fters, the events enfued which are of too painful a nature for me to infift upon. It is not in hiftory to afford a ftronger inftance of the principle I originally laid down. A complete mifunderſtanding of the force and energy of their enemy, the under- valuing their means and exertion, muſt have led to the deftructive attempt. They have in their defence held out the idea of being overpowered by a mafs, but the fact does * I myſelf heard the officer to whom this country during the preſent war probably owes moft, on feeing the nature of the pofition the Duke of York was under the neceffity of taking, from the inadequacy of his force, predict the event. not [ 225 ] not bear them out*. No troops acted againſt them that they had not grounds to fear might be brought into the field for that purpoſe. They have attempted too to af fert, that even the failure at Dunkirk in- * The original decree of rifing in a maſs was preſented to the Convention the 23d of Auguft; the defeat of the co- vering army at Dunkirk took place the 6th of September. Between theſe two periods it is evidently impoffible it could have been carried into execution, fo as to produce any effect. But the doctrine of mafs is a general apology for all our dif- afters. How far it is in itſelf true, I have always had fome doubts. That their armies are numerous we well know; that they have fought with fuccefs we have all to déplore; but on the long run, I rather apprehend, it will be found that thoſe furious and undifciplined hordes of Sans Culottes are fimply large, alert and diſciplined armies, and that their fury is the effect of courage combined with a love of, and a fenfe of duty to, their country. Allowing it however, to be fo, there is furely nothing in it we ought not to have expected. When we view the enthuſiaſm they have dif played on every occafion; when we confider their general feeling as a people, and their conviction of the nature of the conteft in which they were embarked; that they ſhould give their money, and offer their lives, cannot be aftoniſhing. They were only offering a part to preſerve the reft; they were riſking their lives for what alone ren- ders exiſtence eſtimable. To conceive it involuntary is abfurd, and is contradicted by their uniform conduct in the field, by our total want of intelligence, by their conduct when prifones, by every practical inftance that can be ad- duced. Q fured [ 226 1 fured fuccefs at Quefnoy and on the Rhine; an idea that cannot require much refutation: for I ſhould humbly conceive no perfon, but a blind and implicit adherer even to the folly of Minifters, will be found abfurd enough to affert it to be a military principle, or even a pofition that common ſenſe can endure, that, inſtead of acting on one point in one large body, and againſt one given object, with nearly a certainty of fuccefs, it is wife by dividing our force to attempt two, and to fecure the fuccefs of one by the cala- mities of defeat in the other. Yet fuch was preciſely our conduct. Acting in one firm body, as at Valenciennes, againſt either Quefnoy or Dunkirk, the fuccefs of the al- lies muſt have been morally certain; acting againſt both it became obviouſly doubtful. The rafh, nay deſperate, attempt was made; the hopes of the campaign were completely blaſted; and when the intemperance of the times will again allow calm reaſon to take her natural fway, mankind at large will join in pitying the ignorance, and defpifing the folly, of that Adminiſtration which could for [227] for a moment adopt as a plan, againſt the moft powerful military nation in the uni- verfe, the generally dangerous and com- monly ruinous expedient of acting by de- tachment in ſeparate corps*. But let us now trace their conduct in the South, where Toulon, having in common with almoſt every other large mercantile and fea-port town refifted the power and deprecated the principles of Robeſpierre and his faction, and having witneffed the dread- ful example made of other cities, at length refolved to feek for fuccour and protection even in the arms of their enemies. They had entered into a treaty with Lord Hood, *It has been generally imagined this plan originated with the Lord Chancellor, whofe deep legal knowledge must be prefumed from his fituation, but of whofe military talents doubts may be fairly entertained. I cannot help regretting, however, that he did not upon this occafion apply to our army abroad, what he muſt have been well acquainted with, the governing principle of his politics at home; for, if in the divifion of their opponents Minifters have ever found the fource of their own power, he might have naturally con- cluded, that in the divifion of our army he was laying the foundation of the power and victories of the French. which 228 1 { which put him in poffeffion of the place; and the French fleet in the Mediterranean, that had ſo long ſwept the coaſts of Italy, had by the fame agreement fallen into his hands. That the Minifters here could have no previous conception of the poffibility of fuch an event happening, is diftinctly feen from the circumftance of the equipment of the fleet, in which no military officer of any rank was to be found. Their conduct is therefore only to be confidered in the con- equent fteps they adopted after they had heard of the ceffion of that important place, and this, in a military point of view, reſolves itſelf into a very ſmall compaſs indeed.— The only queftion that could ariſe, was, whether it ought to be defended or evacuat- ed; and this muſt evidently have depended upon whether they could furnish the means of an adequate defence. The melancholy events that ſubſequently occurred there, explained at once to us their fyftem of acting; and the conſideration of the force they might have applied to the de- fence [229]. fence of that town will evidently fhew the folly of their conduct. The defence was in- ſtantly decided on, and the means they look- ed to apparently fuch as they could draw from Gibraltar, from Italy, or from Spain; for though the uſual alertneſs in Government was immediately difplayed in creating ap- pointments and wafting public treaſure, yet not a ſingle regiment of Britiſh infantry was fent from England for the protection of the place. The want of men was here however held out as an apology; and certainly it is a valid one, if true. But the want of men, though fubftantial after they had determined to defend it, ought to have come into the original ſcale of confideration in deciding upon attempting the defence. Of men, and good men however, there was in reality no want. The army which has fince rendered fuch effential fervice to their country under Sir Charles Grey, and which now unfortu nately lives but in the memory of its victors, was ready to act and at hand. To defend this new acquifition in the Mediterranean, they would not at the time give up a project- ed [ 230 ] ed ſcheme of conqueft in the Weſt Indies; and though to the plan of invading France, where they had then no footing, they at laft facrificed this laft enterprife, ftill they would not ſend a man to Toulon, notwithſtanding our faith was pledged to its fupport, and every tie of policy and honour alike called upon us to defend it vigorouſly, or to eva- cuate it totally. In chooſing a middle line, they fhewed a want of energy in their military capacity, a want of all regard to faith in their political. In the motley confufion of their mixed gar- rifon the fate of the place foon became ob- vious; the lofs of it was a natural confe- quence of their meaſures; and the inade- quacy and feeblenefs of the conduct of Mi- nifters, is the only point that ought to ex- cite the aſtoniſhment of the public on the occafion. Here again it is obvious how much they under-rated the character and fituation of their enemy; a fact ftill further illuftrated by [231] by the unaccountable folly of 2000 men having attempted the capture of Martinico in the West Indies-an undertaking that met with the fate its original rafhneſs richly merited. Such was the conduct of our Minifters in the first campaign; failure uniformly at- tended all their meaſures, difafter purſued every ſtep they adopted; and though few could be found of their moft fanguine ad- herents to defend their paft conduct, ftill moſt looked forward in hopes that the ex- perience they had acquired would ſerve as a wholefome leffon in future; and that paft errors would have fo far proved ufeful, as to have obviated the poffibility in times to come of fimilar principles occafioning fimi- lar difafters. The prefent campaign then here comes under confideration; and fortunate it would indeed be for the country, could we any where abferve the happy effects of dear- bought experience; or could we any how trace in providence, forefight, vigour, and energy, [ 232 ] ! energy, the juft return for that unlimited confidence repoſed in Government by the nation at large. The hiftory of this year, as far as relates to the war in Europe, is of a nature far too melancholy to be much or long dwelt on. It is a tale of difafters un- paralleled in hiftory-it is an accumulation of misfortune beyond the precedent of former days. In this inveſtigation only one point appears to implicate the conduct and cha- racter of Minifters; with the late events they could have no immediate interference; theſe were but military exertions to ward off impending ruin; and, from the capture of Ypres to the prefent hour, the hiftory of the campaign is but the journal of a flight. Previous however to the furrender of that place, it becomes a moft ferious matter of difcuffion, how far the Minifters afforded that aid it was their duty to have furniſhed to the allied army; and whether it was not in their power to have prevented much of 3 the [ 233 ] the fubfequent difafter, by early and vigo rous meaſures. The pofition occupied by the French at Menin and Courtray, at the very opening of the campaign, at once prefented a formi. dable bar to the poffibility of carrying on offenfive operations till theſe places were re- taken. They were accordingly attacked, but without fuccefs. The French in return endeavoured to turn the pofition of the Al- lies at Tournay; and though they failed to the extent of their expectation, yet the im- preffion they left that day in the minds of their opponents, was of a nature not eafily to be effaced *. In this fituation of things then, it was obvious, though the neceffity of the ſervice was imminent, that the chance of fuccefs was infinitely doubtful with the force then in the field. To ftrengthen that army, I muft prefume, was therefore the *The account given by ſome of the oldeſt officers in the Auſtrian ſervice defcribes this action as exceeding in fury, obftinacy, and weight of fire, any they had ever known in the whole courfe of their fervice againſt the late King of Pruffia. duty 234 ] duty of Minifters-to ftrengthen it ere re- peated defeat and diſaſter had rendered even every poffible reinforcement but an increaſ ed and fure prey to the fuperiority of the enemy. Had Lord Moira's army been fent to reinforce Clairfayt previous to his re- peated defeats, the relieving of Ypres might have been poffibly effected: by poftponing the fending that corps till the first and great iffue before that place was completely de- cided, they rendered it of no real uſe. Let me not here be underſtood pofitively to ftate, that reinforcing General Clairfayt with Earl Moira's corps would have en- abled him to force the covering army at Ypres. This is a military point, refting on documents and knowledge I cannot be fuppoſed to poffefs: all I mean to ſay is, that in point of common fenfe, if that army was ever to ferve on the northern frontier, it ought to have been ſent with a view to prevent, and not with a certainty of ſharing difafter. As it was, its orders. were indeed fingular. No view of affifting General [ 235 ] General Clairfayt, no wiſh to give aid to the Duke of York, no idea of fuccouring the army, led it to Flanders; but the or- ders of Minifters to the commander re- ftricted him to the defence of Oftend-a place notoricufly untenable by a garrifon, to be defended only by an army in the field. Happily however for our cauſe, the exceellent officer to whom this corps was trufted, by acting from the preffure of the moment, preſerved to England a gallant body of troops, now forming part of the ar- my which has of late been retreating from poſt to poft in Holland, at the fiat of Gene- ral Pichegru; exhibiting on the one hand the ultimate effects of the original military inefficiency of the Minifters, and on the other the deplorable depth of calamity into which a nation may be plunged, when led to fupport meafures adopted not from a ma- tured and well digeſted confideration of means and force, but from opinions refting on the baſis of prefumptuous ignorance, ge- nerated not by wiſdom and providence, but arifing [236] وا arifing out of folly, vanity, and want of fore- fight*. Where or how this will end, it is not for me to decide; let it be determined by thoſe who in the capture of the Low Countries, previous to our embarking in the war, faw the deftruction of Great Britain; who in the ruin of the Bank of Amfterdam faw the fate of the Bank of England f. There are now but few other military points which remain to be noticed. The fate of Lord Moira's army has already been *It has been much the faſhion to introduce the chance of war as an apology for our fituation and a fcreen to our Minifters. In a narrow fcale of military operation it may at times be with propriety urged, but in the extended ex- perience of two years it neither can nor ought to be admit- ted into our confideration. Thofe too who urge it will do well to remember, that this chance of war, if fo applied, is the greateſt of all equalizers; it levels all diftinctions of character and merit; it applies equally to fuccefs and difaf- ters; it alike accounts for the glories of Lord Chatham's adminiftration, and the difgrace of our arms in the preſent. + The language held by Mr. Burke and his affociates to urge us on to war. ftated. [ 237 ] tated. It is not improbable it was origin- ally affembled, more with an intention to amuſe the public mind, than from any ſe- rious plan of its ever being employed. From the gallantry of the troops, much; and from the character and talents of the commander, every thing was fairly to be expected: but it remains for the ingenuity of the preſent Government to explain the grounds on which for fix months that corps remained perfectly inactive; we being in complete poffeffion of the fea, and Minifters daily vaunting (with what truth is of little confe- quence) the certainty of internal convulfion in France. In the expedition to the Weſt Indies, fuc- cefsful as it has fortunately proved, we may again trace the fteadineſs with which they have conftantly adhered to their fatal prin- ciples. It originally confifted of ten thou fand men when it failed it had been re- duced to half that number. With this ina- dequate force however, the ability, the en- terpriſing ſpirit and indefatigable activity of 1 Sir [ 238 ] Sir Charles Grey effected the whole of the object; he put us in poffeffion of all the French Weft India Iſlands: but in this fitu- ation, though they acknowledged the im portance of the conqueft, they had neither forefight to difcern the probability, nor energy to counteract the poffibility, of France attempting to repoffefs herſelf of thoſe im- portant iſlands. A handful of men got eaſy repoffeffion of the greateſt part of Guada loupe. Instead of being re-inforced from home, our Commander in Chief faw him- felf completely forgotten; and at a period when it was neceffary to act with vigour, he found himſelf charged with the defence of all our poffeffions, with a force noto- riouſly inſufficient for the fafety of one of the islands. In the Mediterranean we have indeed, at the expence of maintaining for months on that fervice a fquadron that might other- * It is upon no light or trivial authority I think I can affert that Minifters had intelligence of this expedition foon after its failing from France, though no fteps were taken in confequence. wiſe [ 239 ] wife have been more uſefully employed, added the kingdom of Corfica to the Crown of Great Britain: but how far the military provifion of Minifters was adequate to the attempt, is to be aſcertained by the conduct of the Commander in Chief*. To the gal- lantry of our officers and men we here, as on many other occafions, owe much; to the providence and forefight of the Minifters, nothing. In their management of the navy it is unneceffary for my purpoſe to trace much of their conduct: it explains itſelf, and de- monſtrates its proceeding from the fame prin- ciples which have actuated them throughout. Here even the indolence of office could not communicate inactivity to our gallant of- ficers and brave feamen. Where they have been enabled to act, thank God! they have yet fucceeded, and have fortunately for us * General Dundas is fuppofed to have refigned the com- mand in confequence of a difpute with Lord Hood, who, when he ſubſequently applied to the acting commander for military force, was refuſed, on the ground of the inadequacy of his numbers. fill [240] ftill maintained Britiſh fuperiority on its favourite element. It has not been their fault, if our trade has met with an inade. quate protection. To them the blame can- not be attributed, that (in fight of our own coaſt, under the eye of the Miniſter when at the refidence attached to the office he has obtained from a confiding and deluded coun- try) no fhip was to be found to keep French gun-boats within the harbour of Dunkirk. That no naval protection was afforded to either our American or Eaft India poffef- fions, lies not at their door. That all the French fleets have arrived with fafety in their own ports; that they have been fup- plied with falt-petre from India, corn from America, and naval ftores from the Baltic, cannot be charged againſt our officers and feamen. } That Lord Howe was under the neceffity of engaging an enemy fuperior in numbers, by which the French American fleet got fafely into Breft, was not the fault of this gallant officer. His was indeed the well- earned [ 241 ] earned merit of the victory; he needs not the aid of external decoration to make him the admiration of every Engliſhman. But it remains for the Minifter to give a fatis- factory account to the public how theſe things have happened; to inform us why a number of Engliſh veffels, which it is con- fiderably within bounds to ftate as amount- ing to upwards of 800, are now riding in French ports; how it comes that upwards of 12,000 Britiſh feamen are now groaning in French gaols; and how it happens, that at this moment the French are providing for the enſuing naval campaign with ftores cap- tured from Great Britain. I have now, as ſhortly as the nature of the fubject would admit, endeavoured to fhew the deftructive and erroneous policy that has influenced the military conduct of Minifters: a line ftill more completely to be ascertained by a concife view of their conduct to neutral nations; not as it regards its juftice or iniquity, but as it tends to elu- cidate the true principles on which they R have [ 242 ] have acted. It would be foreign to my pre fent purpoſe, wiſhing only to form an accu- rate idea of the future confidence which ought to be extended to Minifters in the hour of calamity, by a reference to their paſt, to enter into a difcuffion on any gene- ral principle of their policy: indeed it would not only be unneceffary, but impoffible. No principle to which we may refer can for a moment be ſuppoſed to have influenc- ed them, becauſe every different meaſure the ingenuity of man could have adopted has by them at various periods been uſed. Let us look round the Powers of the ci- vilifed world, and there cannot be found, from thofe of the greateſt importance in the general fcale to thofe of the leaſt confe- quence, a fingle State that has not fince the beginning of the conteft been infulted by in- folent and dictatorial mandates in the hour of fuppofed fuperiority, and which fubfe- quently has not had an opportunity of tho- roughly underſtanding the character of Ad- miniſtration, by the change of language they have [243] have in the moment of calamity adopted. Not fatisfied with aiming at the demolition of the government of France, they ftruck at the freedom of action of every independent and neutral State in Europe. If France has attempted to diffeminate in any public man- ner her Jacobin principles, they have in a more ftriking mode endeavoured to main- tain doctrines relative to neutral powers, the moſt arbitrary that ever difgraced the annals of tyranny; they have gone beyond even the junto of tyrants with whom they have been acting; and, to the aftoniſhment of the world, we have feen Britiſh ambaffa- dors outstripping in violence the agents of defpotifm. On examining the conduct of France in the year 1792, we may find much to blame in their treatment of the Italian Powers. Their fleet commanded the Mediterranean, and their meaſures originated from the un- principled uſe they made of that ſuperiority. Their infulting mandates were conveyed to the King of Naples by a grenadier, and neceffity R 2 [ 244 J neceffity forced him to acquiefce in their wifhes. In the enfuing year the Britiſh fleet obtained fimilar poffeffion of that fea, and the very reprobated conduct of the French became the example we followed. The Grand Duke of Tufcany was infulted, and the tyrannical exertion of fuperior force compelled him to fubmit. The republic of Genoa, becauſe weak, was oppreffed; the laws of neutral nations were totally difre- garded; the confequence of our power was the certainty of oppreffion. In the North our conduct has been dictated by fimilar motives; with this fingle difference, that, in proportion to the fuperior power of the Northern Courts, our commands have been put in a lower tone: but the fpirit is the fame, our fyftem of acting exactly fimilar. If we look to America, a uniformity of conduct will appear; and though every well- wiſher to his country muft join with me in fincerely hoping the exifting differences with that Continent may be happily accom- modated, yet I may venture to affert, with- out ..ཏ༔ [245] out contradiction, that defirable event muſt be the produce of American moderation, and not of Britiſh juftice or equity*. tr * If the conduct of France at Naples was unjuſtifiable, what ſhall we ſay to an Ambaſſador of Great Britain at the Court of Tuscany (acting of courſe only up to his orders) infulting the Grand Duke, by ftating in a memorial to all the foreign Miniſters, bearing date May 23, 1793, " that the "meaſures taken with regard to the French nation folely and "entirely originated from the inftigations and councils of a ❝fingle perſon, whoſe aſcendency and power over the mind "of his Royal Highneſs could not from his tendereſt infancy "to the prefent moment, be eradicated." And fubfequent- "ly on the 5th of October, « The undersigned is obliged "to declare, in order that his Royal Highnefs the Grand "Duke may be informed of it, that Admiral Lord Hood has "ordered an Engliſh fquadron, in conjunction with a detach- "ment from the Spanish feet, to fet fail for Leghorn, there " to act according to the part which his Royal Highneſs may. “take. The unjuſt and notorious partiality of Tufcany in "favour of the French, and the vast feizure of corn and ef- "fects belonging to merchants of Toulon at Leghorn, at a "time when the armies of their Britannic and Spanish Ma- "jefties had occafion for the fame articles, evidently prove "the injury which enfues from fuch a neutrality for the ope- "rations of the Allies.. In confequence Admiral Lord Hood "declares, in the name of the King his mafter, that if, "within the space of twelve hours after the reprefentations "of the undersigned, his Royal Highnefs the Grand Duke ❝ does not refolve to fend away M. de la Flotte and his adhe- rents from Tufcany, the fquadron will act offenfively against the port and city of Leghorn. «The 1 [246] The character of thoſe who have thus managed the interefts of their country dif plays itſelf in their conduct in a ſtronger way than I fhall venture to ſtate it; but when we attend farther to dates, and find we af certain the hour of violence and oppreffion by a reference to our fuccefs or failure, where can a doubt remain that their judgment has all along been formed by a falſe criterion, their meaſures directed by an erroneous policy? • Nay, even to thofe of the French for whom they were fighting they have ex- "The unhappy confequences of this proceeding can alone "be imputed to thoſe who have had the audacity to give per- «fidious advice, and to make falſe repreſentations upon the preſent ſtate of affairs-they alone will have to anſwer for "all that may happen henceforward." << The papers in reſpect to Genoa and the North are too vo- luminous to be here inferted; they are however exactly of a fimilar nature. Sweden and Denmark have at length eman- cipated themſelves from our violence by a ſerious armament; and America, after having borne (with a degree of patience exhibited only in a climate where the pureſt patriotifm reigns, and the immortal Waſhington governs) all our tyrannical proceedings, has infifted at length upon an unequivocal ex- planation of points that both for the honour and intereſt of this country ought long ago to have been ſettled. tended [247] tended the full conviction of their baneful meaſures. They never could fee expeditions aimed at their foreign poffeffions, without obferving, on the one hand, an applicati on of our force completely foreign from the avowed purpoſe of the war, and originating from a miſtaken idea of the refources of France; and, on the other, a treacherous defign of difmembering and ruining what Miniſters affected to fupport. If the fend- ing an army to the Weft Indies weakened the force you could apply at home againſt France, the taking poffeffion of thoſe iſlands gave ftill greater ftrength to the rulers at Paris. If, to join the kingdom of Corfica to the Crown of Great Britain, confiderable force was fimilarly mifapplied, the very con queft of that iſland has confirmed the revo lutionary government in France, We have betrayed even the intereſts of our friends; and the Emigrants muft view with diſguſt, while the Jacobins contemplate with joy, the iniquity of our proceedings. In fhort, the policy of Pilnitz has univerfal- ly 3 رحمة [ 248 ] } ly been ours: the fides Punica is the faith of our minifters.-We have conducted our- felves on a falfe opinion of our ſtrength, and of French weakneſs; we have aimed at pri- vate advantage more than general good; we have ruined only our friends, and have added to the ſtrength and energy of our enemy. The confequence of all this, how- ever unfortunate, is but perfectly natural; and as we now fee the original crufaders hiding their diminiſhed heads in their Ger- man poffeffions, fo are we with our allies, the Dutch, left almoſt fingly in the conteft; ftriking examples of the truth of that ap- proved maxim-That in unprincipled pur- fuits there can be no concert; between Powers purſuing fuch ends there can be no confidence*. From *The authenticity of the following letter, I am well aware, from the nature of its contents, and the high authority it gives to the military doctrines I have ftated, will be at- tempted to be held out as a fiction. It must eafily, however, occur to every confiderate perfon, that great impropriety might attend my diſcloſing the channel through which it fell into my hands. This I must therefore decline doing; but I may with fafety affirm, from a variety of circumſtances, 1 that [ 249 ] From this retrofpect of the conduct of the prefent Adminiſtration; from judging by that I have every reafon to fuppofe it genuine that a man can have. The original is in French; and, in the tranflation, lan- guage is a good deal facrificed to preciſion. Copy of a Letter from the DUKE of BRUNSWICK to the KING of PRUSSIA. "The motives, Sire, which make me defire my recall from the army are founded upon the unhappy experience, "that the want of connection, the diftruft, the egotism, the Spirit of cabal, have diſconcerted the meaſures adopted CC during the two laft campaigns, and ftill diſconcert the "meaſures taken by the Combined Armies. Oppreffed by "the misfortune of being involved, by the errors of others, « in the unfortunate fituation wherein I find myfelf, I feel << very fenfibly that the world judges of military characters "by their fucceffes, without examining caufes. Raifing "the ficge or the blockade of Landau, will make an epoch «in the hiſtory of this unfortunate war; and I have the "misfortune of being implicated in it. The reproach will "fall upon me, and the innocent will be confounded with "the guilty. Notwithſtanding all misfortunes, I would not "have given way to my inclination of laying at your Majeſty's "feet my defire of relinquishing a career which has been "the principal ftudy of my life: but when one has loft one's « trouble, one's labour and efforts; when the objects of the campaign are loft, and there is no hope that a third cam- paign may offer a more favourable iffue; what part re- << "mains [ 250 ] } by the fureft of all criterions, the experi- ence of the paft; thinking as I do of the motives CL "mains to be taken by the man the most attached to, the "moſt zealous for, your Majefty's interefts and your cauſe, "but that of avoiding further difafters? The fame reaſons ( now divide the Powors which have hitherto divided them: "The movements of the armies will fuffer from it, as they << have hitherto done: Their motions will be retarded and «embarraffed, and the delay of re-establiſhing the Pruffian "army, politically neceffary, will become perhaps the fource "of a train of misfortunes for next campaign, the confe- quences of which are not to be calculated. It is not war " which I object to: It is not war which I wish to avoid; " but it is diſhonour which I fear in my fituation, where the «faults of other Generals would fall upon me, and where I "could neither act according to my principles, nor accord- "ing to my profpects. Your Majeſty will perhaps remem- "ber what I had the honour to reprefent to you the day you ત quitted Efcheveiler: I expofed all my embarraffments, my troubles and my misfortunes; I exerted all my efforts "to prevent any inconveniency: Unfortunately the event "has proved the infufficiency thereof; it is therefore only "the intimate perfuafion I have of the impoffibility I am in (c 66 to effect what is right, which dictates to me the meaſure "of requeſting your Majefty to appoint a fucceffor to me "as foon as poffible. This meafure, however afflicting to me, is nevertheless a confequence of thofe forrowful re- "flections I have made upon my fituation. Prudence re- quires I fhould retire, and honour advifes it. When a "great nation like that of France is conducted by the terror “of puniſhments, and by enthuſiaſm, an unanimous fentiment, and the fame principle, ought to prevail in the meaſures of CC "the 1 [ 251 ] motives that have influenced them, it would be to betray my duty, and violate the truft repofed in me, were I, in any fituation to which either their paſt or preſent infatuation may drive the country, to give to them that confidence which ought, I am ready to grant, to be extended to Government in the clofing fcenes of this deplorable tragedy. To act unanimoufly, may, from the nature of our fituation, be defirable; but to act with thoſe whofe çonduct is beſt explained by the neceffity of that fituation, is com- pletely impoffible. In the fame line of op- pofition I have hitherto adopted I muſt ftill continue-It is a line that may not have met << C6 "the coalefced Powers. But when, instead thereof, each ❝ army acts ſeparately and alone of its own accord, without any fixed plan, without unanimity, and without principles, "the confequences are fuch as we have feen at Dunkirk, at raifing the blockade of Maubeuge, at the storming of "Lyons, at the deftruction of Toulon, and at the raiſing of "the blockade of Landau. Heaven preſerve your Majeſty "from great misfortunes! but every thing is to be feared, if "confidence, harmony, uniformity of fentiment, of principles, "and of actions, do not take place of the oppofite fentiments «which have been the fource of all misfortunes for two "years past. My best wishes always attend your Majefty, and your glory will be my happineſs. Oppenheim, Jan. 6, 1794.” with [ 252 ] 1 with your approbation, becauſe your view of the fubject may have been different; but it is at leaſt one, which in my mode of con- fidering it I have confcientiouſly followed, to which I muft invariably adhere, and to which too I am led by a comparative view of the enlarged policy and enlightened un- derſtanding of that perfon who originally ftepped forward, in defiance of calumny, and in defpite of temporary unpopularity, to fave his country from this maſs of cala- mity. It would ill become me, who confi- der the friendſhip of Mr. Fox as the honour of my private life, and a feady adherence to his political principles to be the fole merit of my public character, to ftate to you what might be conceived to arife from perſonal predilection, or a partial political opinion. I feel no heſitation however in referring it to your own wiſdom to decide, in calling, upon every individual, from the prince to the peasant, to determine, after a due confi- deration of the refpective conduct of the prefent Miniſtry, and of that great ſtateſman, whether the talents requifite to fave the country are to be found in the enlightened wiſdom, ( 253 ) wiſdom, in the capacious mind and the prophetic ſpirit of Mr. Fox, or in the mi- ferable policy, the time-ferving expedients and wretched fubterfuges of the prefent Cabinet. I have now endeavoured to lay before you the fources of my political action at an æra that may truly be faid to be not only big with the fate of this country but of the civi- lized world. I have attempted to explain the grounds on which the Revolution in France happened; to eſtabliſh that the dead- ly malady of funding was the diforder, an annual deficit of nearly three millions the complaint; and that in the diffolution of the patient an awful and tremendous leffon to furrounding kingdoms is given; a con- vincing proof that in public communities, as in individual inftances, "the paths of glory lead but to the grave." I have at tempted to point out to you, that the vari ous component parts of the old regime in France naturally led by progreffive fteps to the fituation in which they now ftand; and a reference to the paft experience of hiftory, a knowledge + [ 254 ] a knowledge of the fufferings they at pre- fent endure, might not improbably lead us to conjecture, that independent of our inter- ference a revulfion may happen, when in. dividual fecurity will be eftabliſhed, and property duly protected. It has been my wiſh to repel the libellous infinuation of the probability of a fimilar revolution happening in this country. Unleſs the oppreffion of the government be as great, and our financial refources as ex- hauſted, the pofition is abfurd. I have en- deavoured to fhew, that no wife policy led us to depart from our original ſyſtem of neutrality, that private intrigue occafioned it, and that public calamity has attended it. I have attempted to explain the evils attend- ing the fchifm artfully created in the Whig party, and endeavoured to eſtabliſh the im- policy of in future confiding in Miniſters, by a reference to their paſt conduct. One fubject I have however carefully avoided entering on. The management of the interior policy at home forms indeed a ftriking ( 255 ] ftriking feature in the hiftory of the prefent day. We have feen the mild practice of the Britiſh law departed from; obfolete ftatutes reforted to for temporary purpoſes; and temporary conftructions attempted to be given to known and defined laws; much of the friendly intercourfe and relation that ſubſiſted between the wealthy and the indi- gent (the beſt cement to the ſtability of our conſtitution) broken down; the fympathetic ſpirit of confidence and affection that reign- ed in the breafts of all, annihilated. A ſyſtem of espionage* has ſpread abroad a univerfal feeling of jealoufy and doubt: the affertion of conſpiracy has divided and dif- jointed the beſt energies of our country. The character of the nation has been ca- lumniated, the ſpirit of the people belied and blafphemed. On this however at the preſent moment it might be improper to dwell. The impending trials will deter- mine much. Thank God the lives of our *It is moft fingular, that to deſcribe the fyftem of the prefent day, we are obliged to have recourfe to a French term. To ſuch a ſyſtem Englishmen have been fo little ac- cuſtomed, that there is not even a word in their language to convey the idea. countrymen, [ 256 ] countrymen, and our beft interefts, are finally to be confided to the folid judg ment and impartial decifion of an Engliſh Jury. I have now completed my original inten- tion and if I have defeated the calumnious infinuations that have been thrown out; if I have fhewn plainly and intelligibly the principles I have acted upon, my object is effected. If my language has been ſtrong, it appears to me to fuit the nature of the times. I entertain no perfonal animofity againſt any man; political conduct is the only fource of my attack. I look not for ap- plauſe, neither do I apprehend cenfure; for I know my purpofe to be honeſt, and the execution muft neceffarily be fuch as might reaſonably be expected from one who has now certainly for the firft time, moſt probably for the laſt, endeavoured to attract the attention of his conftituents or his countrymen. London, Nov. 1ft, 1794- FINI S. ( ) IV. The new Conftitution of France. V. The Conduct of its Engliſh admirers juftified. With this reply to Mr. Burke, will be mingled fome ftri&tures on the late publication of Mr. Calonne. That minifter, who has for fome time exhibited to the eyes of indignant Europe, the fpectacle of an exiled robber living in the moft fplendid impunity, has with an effrontery that beggars invective, affumed in his work the tone of afflicted patriotifm, and delivers his polluted Phi- lippics as the oracles of perfecuted virtue. His work is more methodical than that of his coadjutor, Mr. Burke. * Of his financial cal- culations it may be remarked, that in a work profeffedly popular they afford the ftrongest pre- fumption of fraud. Their extent and intricacy feem contrived to extort affent from public indo- lence, for men will rather believe than examine them. His inferences are fo outrageoufly incredi- ble, that most men of fenfe will think it more fafe to trust their own plain conclufions than to enter fuch a labyrinth of financial fophiftry. The only part of his production that here de- mands reply, is that which relates to general poli- tical queſtions; and remarks on what he has offered concerning them will naturally find a place under the correfponding fections of the reply to Mr. Burke. Its moſt important view is neither literary nor argu- mentative. It appeals to judgments more decifive than thoſe of criticifm, and aims at wielding wea pons more formidable than thofe of logic. 66 *It cannot be denied that the production of Mr. Calonne is, eloquent, able," and certainly very inftructive" in what regards his own character and defigns. But it contains one in- ftance of historical ignorance fo egregious, that I cannot refift quoting it-In his long difcuffion of the pretenfions of the Affembly to the title of a National Convention, he deduces the origin of that word from Scotland, where he informs us, p. 328, * În lui donna le nom de Convention Ecoffoife, le refultat de fes deliberations fut appellé Covenant & ceux qui l'avoient foufcrit ou qui y adheroient Covenanters ! !” It (vi) T f * It is the manifefto of a counter revolution, and its obvious object is to inflame every paffion and in- tereft, real or fuppofed, that has received any fhock in the eſtabliſhment of freedom. He probes the bleeding wounds of the princes, the nobility, the priesthood, and the great judicial aristocracy. He adjures one body by its dignity degraded, another by its inheritance plundered, and a third by its au- thority deſtroyed, to repair to the holy banner of his philanthropic crufade. Confident in the pro- tection of all the Monarchs of Europe, whom he alarms for the fecurity of their thrones, and having inſured the moderation of a fanatical rabble, by giving out among them the favage war-whoop of atheiſm, he already fancies himſelf in full march to Paris, not there to re-inftate the depofed defpotifm (he diſclaims the purpofe, and who would not truft fuch virtuous difvowals) but at the head of this army of priests, nobles, mercenaries, and fanatics, to dictate as the tutelar genius of France, the eſta- bliſhment, without commotion or carnage, of a juſt and temperate freedom, equally hoftile to the views of kingly or popular tyrants. Crufades were an effervefcence of chivalry, and the modern St. Francis has a knight for the conduct of theſe crufaders, who will convince Mr. Burke that the age of chivalry is not paft, nor the glory of Europe gone for ever. The Comte d'Artois*, that fcyon worthy of Henry the Great, the rival of the Bayards and Sidneys, the new model of French Knighthood, is to iffue from Turin with ten thou- fand cavaliers for the delivery of the peerleſs and immaculate Antonietta of Auftria, from the durance vile in which ſhe has fo long been immured in the Thuilleries, from the fwords of the difcourteous knights of Paris, and the fpells of the fable wizards of democracy. * Ce digne rejeton du grand Henri-Calonne, p. 413. Un nouveau modele de la Chelaverie Francoife. Ibid. p. 414. VINDICIE GALLICE. DEFENCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ITS ENGLISH ADMIRERS AGAINST THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE; INCLUDING SOME STRICTURES ON THE LATE PRODUCTION OF MONS. DE CALONNE. By JAMES MACKINTOSH. DUBLIN: PRINTED BY W. CORBET, Før R. CROSS, G. BURNET, P. WOGAN, P. BYRNE, J. MOORE, A. GRUEBER, W. JONES, R. WHITE, J. RICE, R. M'ALLISTER, M,DCC,XCI, 1 } ADVERTISEMENT. HAD I foreſeen the fize to which the following Volume was to grow, or the obftacles that were to retard its completion, I Should probably have ſhrunk from the undertaking; and perhaps I may now be ſuprofed to owe an apology for offering it to the Public, after the able and masterly Publications to which this controverfy has given occafion. Many parts of it bear internal marks of having been written Some months ago, by allufions to circumftances which are now changed; but as they did not affect the reasoning, I was not folici- tous to alter them. For the lateness of its appearance, I find a confolation in the knowledge, that refpectable Works on the fame fubject are still expected by the Public; and the number of my fellow-labourers only fuggefts the reflection-that too many minds cannot be employed on a controverfy fo immenfe as to prefent the most various afpects to diffe- rent underſtandings, and Jo important, that the more correct ſtatement of one fact, or the more fuccefsful illuflration of one argument, will at leaſt reſcue a book from the imputation of having been written in wain. Little Ealing, Middlefex, April 26, 1791. : INTRODUCTION. - TH HE late opinions of Mr. Burke furniſhed more matter of aftoniſhment to thofe who had dif tantly obſerved, than to thoſe who had correctly ex- amined the fyftem of his former political life. An abhorrence for abftract politics, a predilection for aristocracy, and a dread of innovation, have ever been among the moſt facred articles of his public creed. It was not likely that at his age he fhould abandon to the invafion of audacious novelties, opis nions which he had received fo early, and maintained fo long, which had been fortified by the applaufe of the great, and the affent of the wife, which he had dictated to ſo many illuftrious pupils, and fupported againſt fo many diftinguiſhed opponents. Men who early attain eminence, repofe in their firft creed. They neglect the progrefs of the human mind fub- fequent to its adoption, and when, as in the prefent cafe, it has burft forth into action, they regard it as a tranfient madneſs, worthy only of pity or de- rifion. They miſtake it for a mountain torrent that will pafs away with the ftorm that gave it birth. They know not that it is the ſtream of human opi- nion in omne volubilis avum, which the acceffion of every day will fwell, which is deftined to ſweep into the fame oblivion, the refiftance of learned fophiftry and of powerful oppreffion. But there ſtill remained ample matter of aſtoniſh- ment in the Philippic of Mr. Burke. He might de- plore the fanguinary exceffes-he might deride the vifionary policy that feemed to him to tarniſh the luftre of the Revolution, but it was hard to have fuppofed that he fhould have exhauſted againſt it every epithet of contumely and opprobrium, that language can furniſh to indignation; that the rage of his declamation fhould not for one moment have been A 2 C (ii) been fufpended, that his heart fhould not betray one faint glow of triumph, at the fplendid and glorious delivery of fo great a people. All was invective— the authors, and admirers of the Revolution-every man who did not execrate it, even his own moft enlightened and accompliſhed friends, were devoted to odium and ignominy. This fpeech did not ſtoop to argument-the whole was dogmatical and authoritative; the caufe feemed decided without difcuffion; the anathema fulminated before trial. But the ground of the opinions of this famous fpeech, which, if we may believe a foreign journaliſt, will form an epoch in the hiftory of the eccentricities of the human mind, was impatiently expected in a work foon after announced. The name of the author, the importance of the fubject, and the fingularity of his opinions, all contributed to inflame the public curiofity, which though it lan- guiſhed in a ſubſequent delay, has been revived by the appearance, and will be rewarded by the perufal of the work. It is certainly in every refpect a performance, of which to form a correct eftimate, would prove one of the moſt arduous efforts of critical ſkill. "We fcarcely can praiſe it, or blame it too much." Ar- gument every where dextrous and fpecious, fome. times grave and profound, cloathed in the moſt rich and various imagery, and aided by the moſt pathetic and pictureſque defcription, fpeaks the opulence and the powers of that mind, of which age has neither dimmed the difcernment nor enfeebled the fancy, neither repreffed the ardour, nor narrowed the range. Virulent encomiums on urbanity and inflam- matory harangues against violence; homilies of moral and religious myfticifm, better adapted to the amuſement than to the conviction of an incredulous age, are ingredients of inferior zeft and relifh. Of the fenate and people of France, his language is fuch as might have been expected to a country which 1 (iii) i which his fancy has peopled only with plots, and affaffinations, and maffacres, and all the brood of dire chimeras which are the offspring of a prolific ima- gination, goaded by the agonies of ardent and de- luded fenfibility. The glimpfes of benevolence, which eradiate this gloom of invective, arife only from generous illufion, from mifguided and mif placed compaffion-his eloquence is not at leifure to deplore the fate of beggared citizens, and fa- mifhed peaſants, the victims of fufpended induftry, and languiſhing commerce. The fenfibility which ſeems ſcared by the homely miſeries of the vulgar, is attracted only by the fplendid forrows of royalty, and agonies at the flendereft pang that affails the heart of fottiſhnefs or proftitution, if they are placed by fortune on a throne. To the Engliſh friends of French freedom, his language is contemptuous, illiberal, and fcurrilous in the extreme. In one of the ebbings of his fer- vour, he is difpofed not to diſpute "their good in- tentions." But he abounds in intemperate fallies, in ungenerous infinuations, which wisdom ought to have checked, as ebullitions of paffion, which ge- nius ought to have difdained, as weapons of con- troverfy. The arrangement of his work, is as fingular as the matter. Availing himſelf of all the privileges of epiftolary effufion, in their utmoſt latitude and laxity, he interrupts, difmiffes, and refumes argu- ment at pleaſure. His fubject is as extenfive as political fcience-his allufions and excurfions reach almoſt every region of human knowledge. It muſt be confeffed, that in this mifcellaneous and deful- tory warfare, the fuperiority of a man of genius over common men is infinite. He can cover the moft ignominious retreat by a brilliant allufion. He can parade his arguments with mafterly gene- ralfhip, where they are ftrong. He can efcape from an untenable pofition into a fplendid declamation. He (iv) He can fap the moft impregnable conviction by pathos, and put to flight a hot of fyllogifms with a ineer. Abfolved from the laws of vulgar method, he can advance a groupe of magnificent horrors to make a breach in our hearts, through which the molt undifciplined rabble of arguments may enter in triumph. Analytis and method, like the difcipline and ar- mour of modern nations, correct in fome meaſure the inequalities of controverfial dexterity, and level on the intellectual field the giant and the dwarf. Let us then analyfe the production of Mr. Burke, and dimifling what is extraneous and ornamental, we fhall difcover certain leading topics relevant to the point at ifflue. The natural order of theſe topics will dictate the method of reply. Mr. Burke, availing himſelf of the indefinite and equivocal term, Revolution, has reprobated that tranfaction in toto, The first quef tion, therefore, that arifes, is regarding the general expediency and necefity of a Revolution in France. This is followed in their order by the difcuflion of the compofition and conduct of the National Affembly, of the popular exceffes which attended the Revolution, and the new Conflitution that is to refult from it. The conduct of its English admirers forms the left topic, though it is with rhetorical invertion first treated by Mr. Burke, as if the pro- priety of approbation fhould be determined be- fore difcuffing the merit or demerit of what was approved. In purfuance of this analyfis, the fol lowing fections will comprife the fubftance of our refutation. Se&. I. The General Expediency and Neceffity of a Revolution in France. II. The Compofition and Character of the National Ambly confidered. III. The Popular Excoffes which attended, or fol- lowed the Revolution. IV. The { VINDICIÆ GALLICÆ, &c. &c. SECTION. I. The General Expediency and Neceffity of a Revolution I've in France. The T is afferted in many paffages* of Mr. Burke's work, though no where with that precifion which the importance of the affertion demanded, that the French Revolution was not only in its parts reprehenfible, but in the whole was abfurd, inexpe- dient, and unjuft; yet he has no where exactly in- formed us what he underſtands by the term. French Revolution, in its moſt popular fenfe, per- haps, would be underſtood in England to confift of thofe fplendid events that formed the prominent portion of its exterior, the Parifian revolt, the cap- ture of the Baftile, and the fubmiffion of the King. But thefe memorable events, though they ftrengthened and accelerated, could not conftitute a Political Revolution. It muſt have a change of Government, but even limited to that meaning, it is ftill equivocal and wide. It is capable of three fenfes. The King's recog- nition of the rights of the States General to a fhare in the legislation, was a change in the actual go- vernment of France, where the whole legiſlative and Page 187, 200, 243, and many other paffages. B executive ( 2 ) executive power had without the fhadow of inter ruption for nearly two centuries been enjoyed by the Crown; in that ſenſe the meeting of the States- General was the Revolution, and the 5th of May was its æra. The union of the three orders into one affembly was a moft important change in the forms and ſpirit of the legislature. This too may be called the Revolution, and the 23d of June will be its æra. This body thus united are forming a new Conftitution. This may be alfo called a Revolution, becauſe it is of all the political changes the moſt important, and its epoch will be deter- mined by the conclufion of the labours of the Na- tional affembly. Thus equivocal is the import of Mr. Burke's expreffions. To extricate them from this ambiguity, a rapid furvey of thefe events will be neceffary. It will prove too the faireft, and moſt forcible confu- tation of his arguments. It will beſt demonſtrate the neceffity, and juftice of all the fucceffive changes in the Conſtitution of France, which formed the mixed maſs, called the Revolution. It will difcri- minate legislative acts from popular exceffes, and diſtinguiſh tranfient confufion from future eſtabliſh- ment. It will evince the futility and fallacy of attri- buting to the confpiracy of individuals, or bodies, a Revolution which, whether it be beneficial or in- jurious, was operated only by general cauſes, where the moſt confpicuous individual produced little real effect. The Conftitution of France reſembled in the earlier ſtages of its progrefs, that of the other Gothic governments of Europe. The hiftory of its de- cline, and the caufes of its extinction are abun dantly known. Its infancy and youth were like thofe of the English government. The Champ de Mars, and the Wittenagemot, the tumultuous affem- blies of rude conquerors, were in both countries melted ( 3 ) melted down into repreſentative bodies. But the downfall of the feudal ariftocracy happening in France, before Commerce had elevated any other clafs of citizens into importance, its power de- volved on the Crown. From the conclufion of the fifteenth century the powers of the States-General had almoft dwindled into formalities. Their mo- mentary re-appearance under Henry III. and Louis XIII. ferved only to illuftrate their infignificance. Their total difufe ſpeedily fucceeded. The intrufion of any popular voice was not likely to be tolerated in the reign of Louis XIV. a reign which has been ſo often celebrated as the zenith of warlike and literary ſplendor, but which has always appeared to me to be the confummation of what- ever is afflicting and degrading in the hiftory of the human race. Talent feemed, in that reign, robbed of the conſcious elevation, of the erect and manly part, which is its nobleſt aſſociate and its fureſt indication. The mild purity of Fenelon* the lofty ſpirit of Boffuet, the mafculine mind of Boileau, the fublime fervor of Corneille, were confounded by the contagion of ignominious and indifcriminate fervility. It feemed as if the "re- preſentative majefty" of the genius and intellect of man were proftrated before the fhrine of a fan- guinary and diffolute tyrant, who practifed the corruption of Courts without their mildneſs, and incurred the guilt of wars without their glory. His higheſt praife is to have fupported the ſtage-trick of Royalty with effect; and it is furely difficult to conceive any character more odious and deſpicable, than that of a puny libertine, who, under the frown of a ftrumpet, or a monk, iffues the mandate that is to murder ſo many virtuous citizens, to defolate * "And Cambray, worthy of a happier doom, "The virtuous flave of Louis and of ROME.” В 2 fo ( 4 ) fo many happy and peaceful hamlets, to wring fo many agonizing tears from widows and orphans. Heroifm has a ſplendour that almoſt atones for its exceffes; but what fhall we think of the wretch, who, without hazarding his own life, from the luxurious and daftardly fecurity in which he wal- lows at Verfailles, iffues, with the utmoft coolness. and calmneſs, his orders to butcher the Proteſtants of his own kingdom, or to lay in afhes the villages of the Palatinate? On the recollection of fuch ſcenes, as a ſcholar, I blufh for the proſtitution of letters; as a man, I bluſh for the patience of hu- manity. But the defpotifm of this reign was pregnant with the great events which have fignalized our age. It foſtered that literature which was one day deftined to deſtroy it. Its profligate conquefts have even- tually proved the acquifitions of humanity; and the ufurpations of Louis XIV. have ferved only to add a large portion to the great body of freemen. The ſpirit of its policy was inherited by the fucceed- ing reign. The rage of conqueft, repreffed for a while by the torpid defpotifm of Fleury, burſt forth with renovated violence in the latter part of the reign of Louis XV. France, exhaufted alike by the misfortunes of one war and the victories of another, groaned under a weight of impoft and debt, which it was equally difficult to remedy or to endure. The profligate expedients were exhauſted with which fucceffive Minifters had attempted to avert the great crifis, in which the credit and power of the Government muſt perish. The wife and benevolent adminiftration of M. Turgot, though long enough for his glory, was too fhort, and perhaps too carly, for thofe falutary and grand reforms which his genius had conceived, and his virtue would have effected. The afpect of purity and talent ſpread a natural alarm among the minions ( 5 ) minions of a Court, and they eaſily fucceeded in the expulfion of fuch rare and obnoxious intruders. The magnificent ambition of M. de Vergennes, the brilliant, profuſe and rapacious career of M. de Calonne, the feeble and irrefolute violence of M. de Brienne, all contributed their fhare to fwell this financial embarraffment. The deficit, or inferiority of the revenue to the expenditure, at length rofe to the enormous fum of 115 millions of livres, or about 4,750,000l. annually*. This was a difproportion between income and expenſe with which no Go- vernment, and no individual, could long continue to exiſt. In this exigency there was no expedient left, but to guarantee the ruined credit of bankrupt defpotifm by the fanction of the national voice. The States General were a dangerous mode of col- lecting it. Recourfe was therefore had to the affembly of the Notables, a mode well known in the hiſtory of France, in which the King fummoned a number of individuals, felected, at his difcretion, from the maſs, to adviſe him in great emergencies. They were little better than a popular Privy Coun- cil. They were neither recognized nor protected by the law. Their precarious and fubordinate exift- ence hung on the nod of defpotifm. They were called together by M. Calonne, who has now the inconfiftent arrogance to boaft of the ſchemes which he laid before them, as a model of the Affembly whom he traduces. He propofed, it is true, the equalization of impoft, and the abolition of For this we have the authority of M. de Calonne himſelf. See his late publication, page 56. This was the account pre- fented to the Notables in April, 1787. He, indeed, makes fome deductions on account of part of this deficit being expirable. But this is of no confequence to our purpofe, which is to view the in- fluence of the prefent urgency, the political, not the financial ſtate of the queſtion. the (6) the pecuniary exemptions of the nobility and clergy; and the difference between his fyftem and that of the Affembly, is only in what makes the fole diſtinction in human actions-its end. He would have deſtroyed the privileged orders, as obftacles to defpotifm. They have deftroyed them, as de- rogations from freedom. The object of his plans was to facilitate Fifcal oppreffion. The motive of theirs is to fortify general liberty. They have levelled all Frenchmen as men-he would have le- velled them all as flaves. The affembly of the Notables, however, foon gave a memorable proof, how dangerous all public meetings of men, even without legal powers of con- troul, are to the permanence of defpotifm. They had been affembled by M. Calonne to admire the plauſibility and ſplendour of his fpeculations, and to veil the extent, and atrocity of his rapine. But the fallacy of the one, and the profligacy of the other, were detected with equal eafe. Illuftrious and accompliſhed orators, who have fince found a nobler fphere for their talents, in a more free and powerful Affembly, expofed this plunderer to the Notables. Detefted by the Nobles and Cler- gy, of whofe privileges he had fuggefted the aboli- tion; undermined in the favour of the Queen by his attack on one of her favourites (Bretcuil); expof- ed to the fury of the people, and dreading the terrors of judicial profecution, he fpeedily fought refuge in England, without the recollection of one virtue, or the applaufe of one party, to con- fole his retreat*. Thus did the Notables deftroy their creator. Little appeared to be done to a fuperficial obferver; but to a diſcerning eye, ALL was done; for the dethroned authority of Public opinion was reftored. Hiſtoire de la Revolution en 1789, &c. tom i. p. 18 & 19. The ( 7 ) The fucceeding Minifters, uninftructed by the ex- ample of their predeceffors, by the deftruction of Public credit, and the fermentation of the popular mind, hazarded meaſures of a ſtill more prepofter- ous and hazardous defcription. The ufurpation of fome ſhare in the Sovereignty by the Parliament of Paris, had become popular and venerable, becauſe its tendency was ufeful, and its excercife ufually virtuous, That body had, as it is well known, claimed a right, which, in fact, amounted to a ne- gative on all the acts of the King. They con- tended, that their regiſtering his Edicts was necef- fary to give them force. They would, in tha cafe, have poffeffed the fame fhare of legiflation with the King of England, It is unneceſſary to defcant on the hiſtorical fallacy, and political inexpediency, of doctrines, which fhould veſt in a narrow Aristocracy of Lawyers, who had bought their places, fuch extenfive powers. It cannot be denied that their reſiſtance had often proved falutary, and was fome feeble check on the capricious wantonnefs of defpotic exaction. But the temerity of the Minifter now affigned them a more important part. They refufed to regifter two Edicts for the creation of impofts. They averred, that the power of impofing taxes was vefted only in the National Reprefentatives, and they claimed the immediate convocation of the States General of the kingdom. The Miniſter baniſhed them to Troyes. But he foon found how much the French were changed from that abject and frivolous people, which had fo often endured the exile of its Magif- trates. Paris exhibited the tumult and clamour of a London mob. The Cabinet, which could neither advance nor recede with fafety, had recourfe to the expedient of a compulfory regiſtration. The Duke of Orleans, and the Magiftrates who protefted againft this exe- crable ( 8 ) crable mockery, were exiled or imprisoned. But all thefe hacknied expedients of defpotifm were in vain. Theſe ſtruggles, which merit notice only as they il- luftrate the progreffive energy of Public opinion, were followed by events ftill lefs equivocal. Lettres de Cachet were iffued againſt M. M. d'Eprefmenil & Goeftard. They took refuge in the fanctuary of juf- tice, and the Parliament pronounced them under the fafeguard of the law and the King. A deputation was fent to Verſailles, to intreat his Majefty to liſten to fage counfels. Paris expected, with impatient folicitude, the refult of this deputation; when to- wards midnight, a body of 2000 troops marched to the palace where the Parliament were feated, and their Commander, entering into the Court of Peers, demanded his victims. A loud and unanimous ac- clamation replied, "We are all d'Eprefmenil & Goe- Atard!" Thefe Magiſtrates furrendered themſelves, and the fatellite of defpotifm led them off in triumph, amid the execrations of an indignant and awakening people. Thefe fpectacles were not without their effect. The fpirit of reſiſtance ſpread daily over France. The intermediate commiflion of the States of Bre- tagne, the States of Dauphine, and many other public bodies, began to aflume a new and menacing tone. The Cabinet diffolved in its own feebleneſs, and M. Necker was recalled. That Minifter, up- right probably, and not illiberal, but narrow, pufi- lanimous, and entangled by the habits of detail* in which he had been reared, poffeffed not that erect *The late celebrated Dr. Adam Smyth always held this opi- nion of Necker, whom he had known intimately when a Fanker in France. He predicted the fall of his fame when his talents fhould be brought to the teft, and always emphatically faid, "He is but a man of detail." At a time when the commercial abilities of Mr. Eden, the preſent Lord Auckland, were the theme of pro- fuſe eulogy, Dr. Sinith characterized him in the fame words. and ( 9 ) and intrepid fpirit, thofe enlarged and original views, which adapt themſelves to new combinations of cir- cumftances, and fway in the great convulfions of human affairs. Accuſtomed to the tranquil accu- racy of commercial, or the elegant amufements of literature, he was "called on to ride in the whirl- wind, and direct the ftorm." He feemed fuperior to his privacy while he was limited to it, and would have been adjudged by history equal to his eleva- tion, had he never been elevated. The reputation of few men, it is true, has been expoſed to fo fevere a teft; and a generous obferver will be difpofed to fcrutinize lefs rigidly the claims of a Statefman, who has retired with the applaufe of no party, who is de- tefted by the Ariftocracy as the inftrument of their ruin, and deſpiſed by the Democratic Leaders for pufillanimous and fluctuating policy. But had the character of M. Necker poffeffed more originality or decifion, it could have had little influence on the fate of France. The minds of men had received an impulfe. Individual aid and indi- vidual oppofition were equally vain. His views, no doubt, extended only to palliation, but he was in- volved in a ſtream of opinions and events, of which no force could refift the current, and no wiſdom adequately predict the termination. He is repre- fented by M. Calonne as the Lord Sunderland of Louis XVI. feducing the King to deftroy his own power. But he had neither genius or boldnefs for fuch defigns. To return to our rapid furvey.-The Autumn of 1788 was peculiarly diftinguifhed by the enligh- tened and intereſted patriotiſm of the States of Dau- phine. They furniſhed, in many reſpects, a model for the future Senate of France. Like them they deliberated amid the terrors of miniſterial vengeance and military execution. They annihilated the ab- furd and destructive diftinction of orders, and the three ( 10 ) (10 three eftates were melted into a Provincial Affem- bly; and they declared, that the right of impofing taxes refided ultimately in the States General of France. They voted a deputation to the King to folicit the convocation of that affembly. They were emulouſly imitated by all the Provinces that ftill re- tained the fhadow of Provincial States. The States of Languedoc, of Velay, and Vivarois, the Tiers Etat of Provence, and all the municipalities of Bre- tagne, adopted fimilar refolutions. In Provence and Bretagne, where the Nobles and Clergy, trembling for their privileges, and the Parliaments for their ju- rifdiction, attempted a feeble reſiſtance, the fermen- tation was peculiarly ftrong. Some eſtimate of the fervor of Public fentiment may be formed from the reception of the Count de Mirabeau in his native Province, where the Burgeffes of Aix affigned him a body-guard, where the Citizens of Marfeilles crowned him in the theatre, and where, under all the terrors of defpotifm, he received as numerous and tumultuous proofs of attachment, as ever were bestowed on a favourite by the enthufiafm of the moſt free people. M. Caraman, the Governor of Provence, was even reduced to implore his interpo- fition with the populace, to appeafe and prevent their exceffes. The conteft in Bretagne was more violent and fanguinary. It had preferved its independence more than any of thofe Provinces which had been united to the Crown of France. The Nobles and Clergy poffefied almoft the whole power of the States, and their obftinacy was fo great, that their Deputies did not take their feats in the National Af- fembly till an advanced period of its proceedings. The return of M. Necker, and the recall of the exiled Magiſtrates, reftored a momentary calm. The perfonal reputation of the Minifter for probity re- animated the credit of France. But the finances. were too irremediably embarraffed for palliatives;' and ( II ) and the faſcinating idea of the States General, pre- fented to the Public imagination by the unwary zeal of the Parliament, awakened recollections of ancient freedom, and profpects of future fplendor, which the virtue or popularity of no Minifter could baniſh. The convocation of that body was refolved.-But many difficulties, refpecting the mode of electing and conftituting it, remained, which a fecond Affem- bly of Notables was fummoned to decide. The Third Eftate demanded repreſentatives equal to thofe of the other two orders jointly. They re- quired that the number ſhould be regulated by the population of the diftricts, and that the three Or- ders fhould vote in one Affembly. All the Com- mittees into which the Notables were divided, ex- cept that of which MONSIEUR was Prefident, de- cided againſt the Third Eftate in every one of theſe particulars. They were ftrenuously fupported by the Parliament of Paris, who, too late fenfible of the fuicide into which they had been betrayed, laboured to render the Affembly impotent, when they were unable to prevent its meeting. But their efforts were in vain. M. Necker, whether actuated by re- ſpect for juſtice, or ambition of popularity, or yield- ing to the irreſiſtible torrent of Public fentiment, advifed the King to adopt the propofitions of the Third Eftate in the two firft particulars, and to leave the laſt to be decided by the States General them- felves. Letters Patent were accordingly iffued on the 24th of January, 1789, for affembling the States Gene- ral*, to which were annexed regulations for the de- tail of their elections. In the conftituent Affemblies of the feveral Provinces, Bailliages, and Conftabu- *Lettre du Roi pour la convocation des Etats Generaux & re- glement pour l'execution des lettres de convocation, donné le 24 Janvier, 1789. laries ( 12 ) laries of the kingdom, the progrefs of the Public mind became ſtill more evident. The Clergy and Nobility ought not to be denied the praiſe of having emulouſly facrificed their pecuniary privileges. The inftructions to the Reprefentatives breathed every where a ſpirit of freedom as ardent, though not fo liberal and enlightened, as that which has fince pre- fided in the deliberations of the National Affembly. Paris was eminently confpicuous. The union of ta- lent, the rapid communication of thought, and the frequency of thoſe numerous affemblies, where men learn their force, and compare their wrongs*, ever make a great capital, the heart that circulates emo- tion and opinion to the extremities of an empire. No fooner had the convocation of the States General been announced, than the batteries of the prefs were opened. Pamphlet fucceeded pamphlet, furpaffing each other in boldnefs and elevation; and the ad- vance of Paris to light and freedom was greater in three months than it had been in almoſt as many centuries. Doctrines † were univerfally received in May, which in January would have been deemed treafon. able, and which in March were derided as the vi- fions of a few deluded fanatics. It was amid this rapid diffufion of light, and in- creafing fervor of Public fentiment, that the States General of France affembled at Verſailles on the 5th * Conferre injurias & interpretando ascendere. Tac. + The principles of freedom had long been underſtood, per- haps better than in any country of the world, by the philofophers of France. It was as natural that they fhould have been more di- ligently cultivated in that kingdom than in England, as that the feience of medicine fhould be leſs underſtood and valued among fimple and vigorous, than among luxurious and enfeebled nations. But the progrefs which we have noticed was among the lefs in- Aructed part of fociety. of ( 13 ) of May, 1789; a day which will probably be ac- counted by poſterity one of the most memorable in the annals of the human race. Any detail of the pa- rade and ceremonial of their Affembly would be to- tally foreign to our purpofe, which is not to narrate events, but to feize their ſpirit, and to mark their in- fluence on the political progrefs from which the Re- volution was to arife. The preliminary operation neceſſary to conſtitute the Affembly, gave rife to the firſt great question-The mode of authenticating the commiffions of the Deputies. It was contended, by the Clergy and Nobles, that, according to ancient ufage, each Order ſhould ſeparately fcrutinize and authenticate the commiffions of its own Deputies. It was argued by the Commons, that, on general principles, all Orders, having an equal intereft in the purity of the national reprefentative, had an equal right to take cognizance of the authenticity of the commiffions of all the members who compofe it, and therefore to fcrutinize them in common. To the authority of precedent it was anſwered, that it would eſtabliſh too much; for in the ancient States, their examination of powers was fubordinate to the revi- fion of Royal Commiffaries, a fubjection too degrad- ing and injurious for the free and vigilant fpirit of an enlightened age. This controverfy involved ano- ther of more magnitude and importance. If the Or- ders united in this fcrutiny, they were likely to con- tinue in one Affembly, the feparate voices of the two firft Orders would be annihilated, and the im- portance of the Nobility and Clergy reduced to that of their individual fuffrages. This great Revolution was obviouſly meditated by the leaders of the commons.-They were feconded in the Chamber of the Nobleffe by a minority emi- nently diſtinguiſhed for rank, character, and talent. The obfcure and uſeful portion of the Clergy were, from their fituation, acceffible to popular fentiment, and ( 14 ) and naturally coalefced with the Commons. Many who favoured the divifion of the Legiſlature in the ordinary arrangements of Government, were con- vinced that the grand and radical reforms, which the fituation of France demanded, could only be effected by its union as one affembly*. So many prejudices were to be vanquished, fo many difficulties to be furmounted, fuch obftinate habits to be extirpated, and fo formidable a power to be refifted, that there was an obvious neceffity to concentrate the force of the reforming body. In a great Revolution, every expedient ought to facilitate change. In an eſta- bliſhed Government, every thing ought to render it difficult. Hence the divifion of a Legiſlature, which in an eſtabliſhed Government may give a beneficial ſtability to the laws, muft, in a moment of Revolu- tion, be proportionably injurious, by fortifying abuſe and unnerving reform. In a Revolution, the enemies of freedom are external, and all powers are therefore to be united. Under an eſtabliſhment her enemies are internal, and power therefore is to be divided. But befides this general confideration, the ſtate of France furniſhed others of more local and temporary 66 * "Il n'eſt pas douteux que pour aujourd'hui, que pour cette premier tenue une CHAMBRE UNIQUE n'ait été préferable " & peut-être neceffaire. Il y avoit tant de difficultés à furmon- ter, tant de prejuges à vaincre, tant de facrifices à faire, de fi "vieilles habitudes à deraciner, une puiflance fi forte à contenir, "" "Ce no- en un mot, tant à detruire & preſque tout a creer. "vel ordre de chofes que vous avez fait, eclore, tout cela vous. en êtes bien furs n'a jamais pu naitre que de la reunion de "toutes les perfonnes, de tous les fentiments, & de tous les "cœurs."-Difcourfe de M. Lally Tolendahl à l'Aſſemblée Nationale, 31 Aout, 1789, dans fes Pieces Fuftificatifs, p. 105-6-This paffage is in more than one refpect remarkable. It fully evinces the conviction of the Author, that changes were neceffary, great enough to deferve the name of a Revolution; "and, confidering the reſpect of Mr. BURKE for his authority, ought to have weight with him. cogency ( 15 ) cogency. The States General, acting by feparate Orders, were a body from which no fubftantial re- form could be hoped. The two firft Orders were intereſted in the perpetuity of every abufe that was to be reformed. Their poffeffion of two equal and independant voices muft have rendered the exerti- ons of the Commons impotent and nugatory, and a collufion between the Affembly and the Crown, would probably have limited its illufive reforms to fome forry palliatives, the price of financial diſembar- raffment. The ftate of a nation lulled into compla- cent fervitude by fuch petty conceffions, is far more hopeleſs than that of thofe who groan under the moſt galling yoke of defpotiſm, and the condition of France would have been more irremediable than ever. Such reafonings produced an univerfal con- viction, that the queftion, whether the States Gene- ral was to vote individually, or in Orders, was a queſtion, whether they were or were not to produce any important benefit. Guided by thefe views, and animated by Public fupport, the Commons ad- hered inflexibly to their principle of incorporating the three Orders. They adopted a provifory orga- nization, but ſtudiouſly declined whatever might ſeem to fuppofe legal exiftence, or to arrogate con- ftitutional powers. The Nobles, lefs politic or timid, declared themfelves a legally conftituted Order, and proceeded to difcufs the great objects of their convocation. The Clergy affected to pre- ferve a mediatorical character, and to conciliate the difcordant claims of the two hoftile Orders. Commons, faithful to their fyftem, remained in a wife and maſterly inactivity, which tacitly reproach- ed the arrogant affumption of the Nobles, while it left no pretext. to calumniate their own conduct, gave time for the growth of popular fervor, and dif- treffed the Court by the delay of financial aid. Several conciliatory plans were propofed by the Mi- The nifter, t ( 16 ) nifter, and rejected by the haughtinefs of the Nobi- lity and the policy of the Commons. Thus paffed the period between the 5th of May and the 12th June, when the popular leaders, ani- mated by public fupport, and conſcious of the ma- turity of their ſchemes, affumed a more refolute tone. The Third eftate commenced the fcrutiny of com- miflions, fummoned the Nobles and Clergy to repair to the Hall of the States-General, and refolved that the abfence of the Deputies of fome diſtricts and claffes of citizens could not preclude them, who formed the reprefentatives of ninety-fix hundred parts of the nation, from conftituting themſelves into a National Affembly. Thefe decifive meaſures betrayed the defigns of the Court, and fully illuftrated that bounty and li- berality for which Lewis XVI. has been fo idly cele- brated. That feeble Prince, whofe public character varied with every fluctuation in his cabinet, the in- ftrument alike of the ambition of Vergennes, the prodigality of Calonne, and the oftentatious popula rity of Necker, had hitherto yielded to the embar- raffment of the finances, and the clamor of the peo- ple. The cabal that retained its afcendant over his mind, permitted conceffions which they hoped to make vain, and flattered themſelves with fruftrating, by the conteſt of ſtruggling Orders, all idea of ſub- ftantial reform. No fooner did the Affembly betray any ſymptom of activity and vigor, than their alarms became confpicuous in the Royal conduct. The Comte d'Artois, and the other Princes of the Blood, publiſhed the boldeft manifeftoes againſt the Affem- bly; the credit of M. Necker at Court every day de- clined; the Royalifts in the Chamber of the No- bleffe ſpoke of nothing lefs than an impeachment of the Commons for high treafon, and an immediate diffolution of the States; a vaſt military force and a tremendous 1 ( 17 ) tremendous artillery was collected from all parts of the kingdom towards Verfailles and Paris, and in thefe menacing and inaufpicious circumftances, the meeting of the States General was prohibited by the King's order till a Royal Seffion, which was deftin- ed for the 22d, but held on the 23d of June. The Commons, on repairing to their Hall on the 20th, found it inveſted with foldiers, and themſelves ex- cluded from it by the point of the bayonet. They were fummoned by their Prefident to a Tennis-court, where they were reduced to hold their affembly, and which they illuftrated as the ſcene of their una- nimous and memorable oath, never to feparate till they had atchieved the regeneration of France. 'The Royal Seffion thus announced, correfponded with the new tone of the Court. Its exterior was marked by the gloomy and ferocious haughtinefs of defpotifm. The Royal puppet was now evidently moved by different perfons from thoſe who had prompted its ſpeech at the opening of the States. He probably ſpoke both with the fame ſpirit and the ſame heart, and felt as little firmnefs under the cloak of arrogance, as he had been confcious of fenfibility amid his profeffions of affection. He was probably as feeble in the one as he had been cold in the other; but his language is fome criterion of the fyftem of his prompters. This fpeech was diflinguifhed by infulting conde- fcenfion and oftentatious menace. He ſpoke not as the Chief of a free nation to its Sovereign Legiſla- ture, but as a Sultan to his Divan. He annulled and prefcribed deliberations at pleaſure. He affected to reprefent his will as the rule of their conduct, and his bounty as the fource of their freedom. Nor was the matter of his harangue lefs injurious than its manner was offenfive. Inftead of containing any conceffion important to Public liberty, it indicated a relapfe into a more lofty defpotiſm than had before marked C ( 18 ) 1 marked his pretenfions. Tithes, feudal, and feig. norial rights, he confecrated as the moft inviolable property; and of Lettres de Cachet themfelves, by recommending the regulation, he obviously con- demned the abolition. The diftinction of Orders he confidered as effential to the Conftitution of the kingdom, and their union as only legitimate by his permiffion. He concluded with commanding them to feparate, and to affemble on the next day, in the Halls of their reſpective Orders. The Commons, however, inflexibly adhering to their principles, and conceiving themfelves conftitut- ed as a National Aſſembly, treated theſe threats and injunctions with equal neglect. They remained af- fembled in the Hall which the other Orders had quitted, in obedience to the Royal command, and when the Marquis de Breze, the King's Maſter of Ceremonies, reminded them of his Majeſty's orders, he was anſwered by M. Bailli, with Spartan energy, "The Nation affembled has no ORDERS to receive. They proceeded to pafs refolutions declaratory of adherence to their former decrees, and of the perfo- nal inviolability of the members. The Royal Sef fion, which the Ariftocratic party had expected with ſuch triumph and confidence, proved the fevereit blow to their caufe. Forty-nine members of the Nobility, at the head of whom was the Duke of Or- leans, repaired on the 26th of June to the Affem- bly. * The popular enthufiafin was enflamed to fuch a degree, that alarms were either felt, or affected, for the fafety of the King, if the union of Orders was delayed. This union was accordingly refolved on, and the Duke of Luxemburg, prefident of the * It deferves remark, that in this number were Noblemen who have ever been confidered as of the moderate party-Of theſe may be mentioned M. M. Lally Virieu, and Clermont Tonnerre, none of whom certainly can be accufed of democratic enthuſiaſm. Nobility, ( 19 ) Nobility, was authorized by his Majefty to announce to his Order the requeſt and even command of the King, to unite themſelves with the other Orders. He remonſtrated with the King on the fatal confequen- ces of this ſtep. The Nobility, he remarked, were not fighting their own battles, but thofe of the Crown. The fupport of the Monarchy was infepa- rably connected with the divifion of the States Ge- neral. Divided, that body was ſubject to the Crown -united, its authority was fovereign, and its force irreſiſtible.* The King was not, however, fhaken by theſe confiderations, and on the following day, in an official letter to the Preſidents of the Nobility and Clergy, he notified his pleaſure. A gloomy and reluctant obedience was yielded to this mandate, and the union of the National Repreſentatives at length promiſed ſome hope to France. But the general ſyſtem of the Government formed a fufpicious and tremendous contraft with this ap- plauded conceffion. New hordes of foreign merce- naries were fummoned to the blockade of Paris and Verfailles, from the remoteſt Provinces; an immenfe train of artillery was difpofed in all the avenues of theſe cities; and feventy thouſand men already in- veſted the Legiſlature and Capital of France, when the laſt blow was hazarded againſt the public hopes, by the ignominious banifhment of M. Necker. Events followed the most unexampled and memora- ble in the annals of mankind, which hiftory will re- cord and immortalize, but on which the object of the political reafoner is only to fpeculate. France was on the brink of civil war. The Provinces were * Theſe remarks of M. de Luxemburg are equivalent to a thouſand defences of the Revolutionifts against Mr. Burke. They unanswerably prove that the divifion of Orders was fupported only as neceffary to palfy the efforts of the Legiflature against the Defpotifm. C 2 ready ( 20 ) ready to march immenfe bodies to the refcue of their Repreſentatives. The Courtiers and their minions, Frinces and Princeffes, male and female favourites, crowded to the camps with which they had inveſted Verlailles, and ftimulated the ferocious cruelty of their mercenaries, by careffes, by largeffes, and by promifes. Mean time the people of Paris revolted, the French foldiery felt that they were citizens, and the fabric of Defpotifm fell to the ground. Theſe foldiers, whom pofterity will celebrate for patriotic heroiſm, are ftigmatized by Mr. Burke as "baſe hireling deferters," who fold their King for an increaſe of pay*. This pofition he every where afferts or infinuates; but nothing feems more falfe. Had the defection been confined to Paris, there might have been fome fpecioufnefs in the accufa- tion. The Exchequer of a faction might have been equal to the corruption of the guards. The activity of intrigue might have feduced by promife, the troops cantoned in the neighbourhood of the capital. But what policy, or fortune, could pervade by their agents, or donatives, an army of 150,000 men, dif- perfed over fo great a monarchy as France. The fpirit of refiftance to uncivic commands broke forth at once in every part of the empire. The garrifons of the cities of Rennes, Bourdeaux, Lyons, and Grenoble, refufed almoft at the fame moment, to re- fift the virtuous infurre&ion of their fellow citizens. No largeffes could have traduced, no intrigues could have reached ſo vaft and divided a body. Nothing but ſympathy with the national ſpirit could have pro- *Mr. Burke is fan&tioned in this opinion by an authority not the molt refpectable, that of his late countryman Count Dalton, Commander of the Auftrian troops in the Netherlands. In Sep- tember, 1789, he addreffed the Regiment de Ligne, at Bruffels, in thefe terms, J'efpere que vous n'imiterez jamais ces laches Francois qui ont abandonné leur Souverain.” : duced ( 21 ) duced their noble difobedience. The remark of Mr. Hume, is here moſt applicable, that what depends on a few may be often attributed to chance (fecret ircumstances) but that the actions of great bodies muft ever be afcribed to general caufes. It was the apprehenfion of Montefquieu, that the fpirit of in- creafing armies would terminate in converting Eu- rope into an immenfe camp, in changing our artizans and cultivators into military favages, and reviving the age of Attilla and Genghis. Events are our pre- ceptors, and France has taught us that this evil con- tains in itfelf its own remedy and limit. A domef- ic army cannot be increaſed without increafing the number of its ties with the people, and of the chan- nels by which popular fentiment may enter it. Eve- ry man that is added to the army is a new link that unites it to the nation. If all citizens were com- pelled to become foldiers, all foldiers muſt of necef- fity adopt the feelings of citizens, and the defpots cannot increaſe their army without admitting into it a greater number of men intereſted to deſtroy them. A fmall army may have fentiments different from the great body of the people, and no intereſt in com- mon with them, but a numerous foldiery cannot. This is the barrier which nature has oppofed to the increaſe of armies. They cannot be numerous enough to enflave the people, without becoming the people itſelf. The effects of this truth have been hi- therto confpicuous only in the military defection of France, becauſe the enlightened fenfe of general in- tereft has been ſo infinitely more diffuſed in that na- tion than in any other defpotic monarchy of Europe. But they muſt be felt by all. An elaborate difci- pline may for a while in Germany debafe and bru- talize foldiers too much to receive any impreffions from their fellow men-artificial and local inflituti- ons are, however, too feeble to refift the energy of natural caufes. The conftitution of man furvives the ( 22 ) ? the tranfient faſhions of defpotifm, and the hiftory of the next century will probably evince on how frail and tottering a bafis the military tyrannies of Europe ftand. The pretended feduction of the French troops by the promiſe of increafed pay, is in every view con- tradicted by facts. This increaſe of pay did not originate in the affembly. It was not therefore any part of their policy-It was preſcribed to them by the inftructions of their conftituents, before the meeting of the States.* It could not therefore be the project of any cabal of demagogues to feduce the army; it was the decifive and unanimous voice of the nation, and if there was any confpiracy, it muſt have been that of the people. What had the dema- gogues to offer. The foldiery knew that the States muft, in obedience to their inftructions, increaſe their pay. That therefore was no temptation to fell their King, for of that they felt themſelves already fecure, as the national voice had preſcribed it. It was in fact a neceffary part of the fyftem which was to raiſe the army to a body of reſpectable citizens, from a gang of mendicant ruffians. It muft infallibly operate to limit the increaſe of armies in the north. This influence has been al- ready felt in the Netherlands, which fortune feems to have reſtored to Leopold, that they might furniſh a ſchool of revolt to German foldiers. The Auftrian troops have there murmured at their comparative in- digence, and ſupported their plea for increaſe of pay by the example of France. The fame example muſt operate on the other armies of Europe. The folici- tations of armed petitioners muſt be heard. The * I appeal to M. Calonne, as an authority beyond fufpicion on this fubject-See his Summary of the Cahiers, or Inftructions. Art. 73.-" L'Augmentation de la Paie du Soldat." Calonne, P. 390. indigent ( 23 ) indigent defpots of Germany and the North will feel a limit to their military rage, in the ſcantinefs of their Exchequer. They will be compelled to reduce the number, and increaſe the pay of their armies, and a new barrier will be oppofed to the progrefs of that depopulation and barbarifin, which philofophers had dreaded from the rapid encreaſe of military force. Theſe remarks on the ſpirit which actuated the French army in their unexampled, mifconceiv- ed, and calumniated conduct, are peculiarly impor- tant, as they ſerve to illuftrate a principle, which cannot too frequently be prefented to view, that in the French Revolution all is attributed to general caufes influencing the whole body of the people, and almoſt nothing to the fchemes and the afcendant of individuals. But to return to our rapid ſketch. It was at the moment of the Pariſian revolt, and of the defection of the army, that the whole power of France de- volved on the National Affembly. It is at that mo- ment, therefore, that the difcuffion commences, whether that body ought to have re-eſtabliſhed and reformed the Government which events had fubvert- ed, or proceeded to the eſtabliſhment of a new Con- ftitution, on the general principles of reafon and freedom. The arm of the ancient Government had been palfied, and its power reduced to formality, by events over which the Affembly poffeffed no con- troul. It was theirs to decide, not whether the mo- narchy was to be fubverted, for that had been al- ready effected, but whether from its ruins fragments were to be collected for the re-conftruction of the political edifice. They had been affembled as an ordinary Legiſla- ture under exiſting laws. They were transformed by theſe events into a NATIONAL CONVENTION, and vefted with powers to organize a Government. It is in vain that their adverfaries conteft this affer- tion (24) 1 tion, by appealing to the deficiency of forms*. It is in vain to demand the legal inftrument that chang- ed their Conſtitution, and extended their powers. Accurate forms in the conveyance of power are pre- fcribed by the wifdom of law, in the regular admini- ftration of States. But great Revolutions are too immenfe for technical formality. All the fan&ion that can be hoped for in fuch events, is the voice of the people, however informally and irregularly ex- preffed. This cannot be pretended to have been wanting in France. Every other fpecies of autho- rity was annihilated by popular acts, but that of the States General. On them, therefore, devolved the duty of exerciſing their unlimited † truſt, according t *This circumftance is fhortly stated by Mr. Burke. “I can never confider this Affembly as any thing elſe than a voluntary afſociation of men, who have availed themſelves of circumſtances to ſeize upon the power of the State.They do not hold the authority they exerciſe under any Conftitutional law of the State. They have departed from the inftructions of the people that fent them, &c." Burke, p. 242-3. The fame argument is treated by M. Calonne, in an expanded memorial of 44 pages, againſt the pretenfions of the Affembly to be a convention, with much una- vailing ingenuity and labour.-See his work from p. 314 to 358. A diftinction made by Mr. Burke between the abfira and moral competency of a Legiflature (p. 27) has been much extoll- ed by his admirers. To me it feems only a novel and objectiona- ble mode of diftinguishing between a rght and the expediency of ufing it. But the mode of illuftrating the distinction is far more pernicious than a mere novelty of phrafe. This moral competence is fubject, fays our author, "to faith, juftice, and fixed fundamental policy Thus illuftrated, the diftinction appears liable to a dou- ble objection. It is falfe that the abfract competence of a Legilla- ture extends to the violation of faith and juftice. It is falfe that its moral competence does not extend to the moft fundamental po- licy, and thus to confound fundamental policy with faith and juftice, for the fake of ftigmatizing innovators, is to ftab the vi- tals of morality. There is only one maxim of policy truly fun- damental the good of the governed and the itability of that maxim, rightly underflood, demonftrates the mutability of all po- licy that is fubordinate to it. to ( 25 ) to their beſt views of general intereft. Their enemies have, even in their invectives, confeffed the fubfe- quent adherence of the people, for they have inveigh- ed againſt it as the infatuation of a dire fanaticifm. The authority of the Affembly was then first con- ferred on it by Public confidence, and its acts have been fince ratified by Public approbation. Nothing can betray a difpofition to puny and technical fophif try more ſtrongly, than to obferve with M. Calonne, that this ratification, to be valid, ought to have been made by France, not in her new organization of municipalities, but in her ancient divifion of Baillia- ges and Provinces. The fame individuals act in both forms. The approbation of the men legitimates the Government. It is of no importance, whether they are affembled as Bailliages, or as municipalities. If this latitude of informality, this fubjection of laws to their principle, and of Government to its fource, are not permitted in Revolutions, how are we to juſtify the affumed authority of the Engliſh Conven- tion of 1688? "" They did not hold the authority they exerciſed under any conſtitutional law of the "State." They were not even legally elected, as the French aſſembly muſt be confeſſed to have been. An evident, though irregular ratification by the people, alone legitimated their acts. Yet they poffeffed, by the confeffion of Mr. Burke, an authority only limit- ed by prudence and virtue. Had the people of Eng- land given inftructions to the Members of that Con- vention, its ultimate meaſures would probably have departed as much from them as the French Aflembly have deviated from thofe of their conftituents, and the public acquiefcence in the deviation would, in all likelihood, have been the fame. • It will be confeffed by any man who has confi- dered the public temper of England, at the landing of William, that the majority of thofe inftructions would not have proceeded to the depofition of James. ( 26 ) James. The firſt aſpect of theſe great changes per- plex and intimidate men too much for juft views and bold refolutions. It is by the progrefs of events, that their hopes are emboldened, and their views enlarged. This influence was felt in France. The people in an advanced period of the Revolution, virtually recalled the inftructions by which the feeblenefs of their political infancy had limited the power of their Reprefentatives, in fanctioning acts which contra- dicted them. The formality of inftructions was indeed wanting in England, but the change of pub- lic fentiment, from the opening of the Convention to its ultimate decifion, was as remarkable as the contraft which has been fo oftentatiouſly diſplayed by M. Calonne, between the decrees of the National Affembly and the firſt inſtructions of their conftitu- ents. Thus feeble are the objections againſt the autho- rity of the Affembly. The We now reſume the confideration of its exerciſe, and proceed to enquire whether they ought to have reformed, or deftroyed their Government. general queftion of innovation is an exhauſted com- mon-place, to which the genius of Mr. Burke has been able to add nothing but fplendor and felicity of illuſtration. It has long been fo notoriouſly of this nature, that it is placed by Lord Bacon among the Sportive conteſts which are to exercife rhetorical ſkill. No man will fupport the extreme on either fide. Perpetual change and immutable eftabliſh- ment are equally indefenfible. To defcend there- fore from thefe barren generalities to a more near view of the queftion, let us ftate it more precifely. Was the Civil Order in France corrigible, or was it neceſſary to deſtroy it? Not to mention the extirpa- tion of the feudal fyftem, and the abrogation of the civil and criminal code, we have firft to confider the ( 27 ) the deſtruction of the three great corporations of the Nobility, the Church and the Parliaments. Theſe three Ariftocracies were the pillars which in fact formed the Government of France. The quef- tion then of reforming or destroying theſe bodies is fundamental. There is one general principle appli- cable to them all adopted by the French Legiſlators. —that the exiſtence of Orders is repugnant to the princi- ples of the focial union. An Order is a legal rank, a body of men combined and endowed with privi- leges by law.There are two kinds of inequa- lity, the one perſonal-that of talent and virtue, the fource of whatever is excellent and admirable in fociety-the other that of fortune, which muſt exiſt becauſe property alone can ſtimulate to labour; and labour, if it were not neceffary to the exiſtence, would be indifpenfible to the happineſs of man. But though it be neceffary, yet in its excefs it is the great malady of civil fociety. The accumulation of that power which is conferrred by wealth in the hands of the few, is the perpetual fource of oppreffion and neglect to the mafs of mankind. The power of the wealthy is farther concentrated by their tendency to combination, from which, number, difperfion, indi- gence and ignorance equally preclude the poor. The wealthy are formed into bodies by their pro- feffions, their different degrees of opulence (called ranks,) their knowledge, and their ſmall number.- They neceffarily in all countries adminifter govern- ment, for they alone have ſkill and leifure for its functions. Thus circumftanced, nothing can be more evident than their inevitable preponderance in the political fcale. The preference of partial to ge- neral intereſts is however the greateſt of all public evils. It fhould therefore have been the object of all laws to reprefs this malady, but it has been their perpetual tendency to aggravate it. Not content with the inevitable inequality of fortune, they have fuperadded (28 ( 28 ) 1 fuperadded to it honorary and political diftinctions, Not content with the inevitable tendency of the wealthy to combine, they have embodied them in claffes. They have fortified thofe confpiracies againſt the general intereft, which they ought to have refifted, though they could not difarm. Laws, it is faid, cannot equalize men. No. But ought they for that reafon to aggravate the inequality which they cannot cure? Laws cannot infpire un- mixed Patriotiſm-But ought they for that reaſon to foment that corporation ſpirit which is its moſt fatal enemy? All profeffional combinations, faid Mr. Burke, in one of his late fpeeches in Parliament, are dangerous in a free State. Arguing on the fame principle, the National Affembly have proceeded further. They have conceived that the laws ought to create no inequality or combination, to recognize all only in their capacity of citizens, and to offer no affiftance to the natural preponderance of partial over general intereſt. But befides the general fource of hoftility to Or- ders, the particular circumftances of France pre- fented other objections, which it is neceffary to con- fider more in detail. per- It is in the first place to be remarked, that all the bodies and inftitutions of the kingdom participated the ſpirit of the ancient Government, and in that view were incapable of alliance with a free Confti- tution. They were tainted by the defpotifm of which they were members or inftruments. Abfo- lute monarchies like every other confiftent and manent government, affimilate every thing to their own genius. The Nobility, the Priefthood, the Judicial Ariftocracy, were unfit to be members of a free government, becauſe their corporate charac- ter had been formed under arbitrary eſtabliſhments. To have preferved thefe great corporations, would be to have retained the feeds of reviving defpotifm in ( 29 ) in the bofom of freedom. This remark may merit the attention of Mr. Burke, as illuftrating an im- portant difference between the French and English Revolutions. The Clergy, the Peerage, and Judi- catures of England, had in fome degree, the fenti- ments infpired by a Government in which freedom had been eclipfed, but not extinguifhed-They were therefore qualified to partake of a more ftable and improved liberty. But the cafe of France was diffe- rent. Thefe bodies had there imbibed every fenti- ment, and adopted every habit under arbitrary pow- er. Their prefervation in England, and their de- ftruction in France, may in this view be juftified on fimilar grounds. It is abfurd to regard the Orders as remnants of that free conftitution which France, in common with the other Gothic nations of Eu- rope, once enjoyed. Nothing remained of theſe ancient Orders, but the name. The Nobility were no longer thoſe haughty and powerful Barons, who enflaved the people and dictated to the King. The ecclefiaftics were no longer that Priesthood, before whom, in a benighted and fuperftitious age, all civil power was impotent and mute. They have both dwindled into dependents on the crown. Still lefs do the opulent and enlightened Commons of France refemble its fervile and beggared populace in the fixteenth century. Two hundred years of uninter- rupted exercife had legitimated abfolute authority as much as preſcription can confecrate ufurpation. The ancient French Conftitution was therefore no farther a model than that of any foreign nation, which was to be judged of alone by its utility, and poffeffed in no reſpect the authority of eſtabliſhment. It had been fucceeded by another Government, and if France were to recur to a period antecedent to her fervitude, for legiſlative models, fhe might as well afcend to the era of Clovis or Charlemagne, as be regulated by the precedents of Henry III. or Anne of ( 30 ) of Auftria. All thefe forms of government exifted only historically. Thefe obfervations include all the Orders. Let us confider each of them fucceffively. The devotion of the Nobility of France to the Monarch was infpir- ed equally by their fentiments, their intereſts, and their habits. "The feudal and chivalrous ſpirit of fealty," fo long the prevailing paffion of Europe, was ftill nouriſhed in their bofoms by the military fentiments from which it firft arofe. The majority of them had ſtill no profeffion but war, no hope but in Royal favor. The youthful and indigent filled the camps; the more opulent and mature par- took the ſplendor and bounty of the Court: B t they were equally dependents on the Crown. To the plenitude of the Royal power were attached thoſe immenfe and magnificent privileges, which divided France into diſtinct nations; which exhi- bited a Nobility monopolizing the rewards and offices of the State, and a people degraded to politi- cal belotifm.* Men do not cordially refign fuch pri- vileges, nor quickly difmifs the fentiments which they have inſpired. The oftentatious facrifice of pecuniary exemptions in a moment of general fer- mentation, is a wretched criteron of their genuine feelings. They affected to beſtow as a gift, what they would have been fpeedily compelled to aban- don as an ufurpation, and they hoped by the facri- fice of a part, to purchaſe fecurity for the reit. They have been moft justly stated to be a band of political janiffaries, far more valuable to a Sultan than mercenaries, becaufe attached to him by un- changeable intereſt and indelible ſentiment. Whe- ther any reform could have extracted from this body a proportion which might have entered into * I fay political in contradiſtinction to level, for in the latter fenfe the affertion would have been untrue. the ( 31 ) the new conftitution, is a queftion which we fhall confider when that political ſyſtem comes under our review. Their exiſtence, as a member of the Legif- lature, is a queftion diftinct from their prefervation as a ſeparate Order, or great corporation in the State. A fenate of Nobles might have been eſtab- lifhed, though the Order of the Nobility had been deſtroyed, and England would have then been exactly copied.—But it is of the Order that we now ſpeak, for we are now confidering the deftruction of the old, not the formation of the new Government. The fuppreffion of Nobility has been in England moft abfurdly confounded with the prohibition of titles. The union of the Orders in one Affembly was the firſt ſtep towards the deftruction of a legif lative Nobility. The abolition of their feudal rights, in the memorable feffion of the 4th of Au- guft, 1789, may be regarded as the fecond. They retained after theſe meaſures no diftinction but what was purely nominal, and it remained to be deter- mined what place they were to occupy in the new Conftitution. That queftion was decided by the decree of the 22d of December, in the fame year, which enacted, that the Electoral affemblies were to be compofed without any regard to rank, and that citizens of all Orders were to vote in them in- difcriminately. The diſtinction of Orders was de- ftroyed by this decree, the Nobility were to form no part of the new Conftitution, and they were ftrip- ped of all that they had enjoyed under the old Go- vernment, but their titles. Hitherto all had paffed unnoticed, but no fooner did the affembly, faithful to its principles, proceed to extirpate the external ſigns of ranks, which they no longer tolerated, than all Europe refounded with clamours againſt their Utopian and levelling mad- nefs. The incredible* decree of the 19th of June, * So called by M. Calonne. 1790, ( 32 ) 1790, for the fuppreffion of titles, is the object of all theſe invectives, yet without that meaſure the Af- fembly would certainly have been guilty of the groffeft inconfiftency and abfurdity. An untitled Nobility forming a member of the State, had been exemplified in fome Commonwealths of antiquity. Such were the Patricians in Rome. But a titled Nobility, without legal privileges, or political exift- ence, would have been a monfter new in the annals of legiſlative abfurdity. The power was poffelfed without the bauble by the Roman Ariftocracy. The bauble would have been reverenced, while the pow- er was trampled on, if titles had been fpared in France. A titled Nobility, is the moft undifputed progeny of feudal barbarifm. Titles had in all na- tions denoted offices, it was referved for Gothic Eu- rope to attach them to ranks, yet this conduct of our remote anceſtors admits explanation, for with them offices were hereditary, and hence the titles denoting them became hereditary too. But we, who have rejected hereditary office, retain an ufage to which it gave rife, and which it alone could juftify. So egregiouſly is this recent origin of titled Nobi- lity mifconceived, that it has been even pretended to be neceffary to the order and exiſtence of fociety: A narrow and arrogant bigotry, which would limit all political remark to the Gothic States of Europe, or eftablifh general principles on events that occupy fo fhort a period of hiſtory and manners, that have been adopted by fo flender a portion of the human race. A titled Nobility, was equally unknown to the fplendid Monarchies of Afia, and to the manly fimplicity of the ancient Commonwealths.* It arofe from * Ariftocratic bodies did indeed exit in the ancient world, but titles were unknown. Though they poffeffed political privi- leges, yet as they did not affect the manners, they had not the fame inevitable tendency to taint the public character as titular diftinc- tions. ( 33 ) << from the peculiar circumftances of modern Europe, and yet its neceffity is now erected on the baſis of univerfal experience, as if thefe other renowned and poliſhed States were effaced from the records of hif tory, and banished from the fociety of nations. Nobility is the Corinthian capital of poliſhed ſtates." The auguft fabric of fociety is deformed and encumbered by fuch Gothic ornaments. The maffy Doric that ſuſtains it is Labour, and the fplendid va- riety of arts and talents that folace and embellifh life, form the decorations of its Corinthian and Ionic capitals. Other motives befides the extirpation of feudality, diſpoſed the French Legiſlature to the fuppreffion of titles. To give ftability to a popular Govern- ment, a democratic character muſt be formed, and democratic fentiments infpired. The fentiment of equality which titular diftinctions have, perhaps, more than any other caufe, extinguiſhed in Europe, and without which democratic forms are impotent and fhort-lived, was to be revived: a free Govern- ment was to be eſtabliſhed, by carrying the ſpirit of equality and freedom into the feelings, the manners, the moſt familiar intercourfe of men. The badges of inequality, which were perpetually inſpiring fen- timents adverſe to the ſpirit of Government, were therefore deſtroyed: Diſtinctions, which only ferved to unfit the Nobility for obedience, and the people for freedom; to keep alive the difcontent of the one, and to perpetuate the fervility of the other; to de- prive the one of the moderation that finks them into citizens, and to rob the other of the ſpirit that exalts them into free men. A fignal example can alone tions. Theſe bodies too being in general open to property, or office, they are in no refpect to be compared to the Nobles of Eu- rope. They might affect the forms of free Government as much, but they did in the fame proportion injure the Spirit of Freedom. D difpel ( 34 ) difpel inveterate prejudices. Thus thought our an- ceſtors at the Revolution, when they deviated from the fucceffion, to deftroy the prejudice of its fanc- tity. Thus alfo did the Legiflators of France feel, when by the abolition of titles, they gave a mortal blow to the flavifh prejudice which unfitted their country for freedom. It was a practical affertion of that equality which had been confecrated in the De- claration of Rights, but which no abftract affertion could have conveyed into the ſpirits and the hearts of men. It proceeded on the principle that the fecurity of a Revolution of Government, can only arife from a revolution of character. To theſe reaſonings it has been oppofed, that he- reditary diftinctions are the moral treafure of a State, by which it excites and rewards public virtue and public fervice, which, without national injury or burden, operates with refiftlefs force on generous minds. To this I anfwer, that of perfonal diftincti- ons, this defcription is moft true, but that this moral treafury of honour, is in fact impoverished by the improvident profufion that has made them heredi- tary. The poffeffion of honours by the multitude, who have inherited but not acquired them, en- groffes and depreciates theſe incentives and rewards of virtue. Were they purely perfonal, their value would be doubly enhanced, as the poffeffers would be fewer while the diftinction was more honourable. Perſonal diftinctions then every wife State will che- rifh as its fureft and nobleft refource, but of heredi- tary title, at leaſt in the circumstances of France, the abolition feems to have been juft and politic. The fate of the Church, the fecond great corpo- ration that fuftained the French defpotilm, has pe- culiarly provoked the indignation of Mr. Burke. The diffolution of the Church as a body, the re- fumption of its territorial revenues, and the new organization of the Priesthood, appear to him to be dictated ས འ་ན་ (35) dictated by the union of robbery and irreligion, to glut the rapacity of ſtock-jobbers, and to gratify the hoftility of Atheiſts. All the outrages and pro- fcriptions of ancient or modern tyrants vanifh, in his opinion, in the compariſon with this confifcation of the property of the Gallican Church. Principles had, it is true, been on this fubject explored, and reaſons had been urged by men of genius, which vulgar men deemed irreſiſtible. But with theſe reafons Mr. Burke will not deign to combat. "You do not imagine, Sir," fays he to his correfpondent "that I am going to compliment this miferable de- fcription of perfons with any long difcuffion?"* What immediately follows this contemptuous paffage is fo outrageouſly offenfive to candor and urbanity, that an honourable adverfary will difdain to avail him- felf of it. The paffage itſelf, however, demands a paufe. It alludes to an opinion of which I trust Mr. Burke did not know the origin. That the church- lands were national property, was not firſt afferted among the Jacobites, or in the Palais Royale. The author of that opinion, the maſter of that wretched deſcription of perfons, whom Mr. Burke difdains to encounter, was one whom he might have combated with glory, with confidence of triumph in victory, * The Abbé Maury, who is not lefs remarkable for the fury of cloquent declamation, than for the inept parade of hiftorical erudition, attempted in the debate on this fubject to trace the opinion higher. Bafe lawyers, according to him, had infinuated it to the Roman Emperors, and againſt it was pointed the maxim of the civil law. “Omnia tenes Cæfar imperio fed non dominio.” Lewis XIV. and Louis XV. had been, if we may believe him, both affailed by this Machiavelian doctrine, and both had repulfed it with magnanimous indignation. The learned Abbé committed only one mistake. The defpots of Rome and France had indeed been poifoned with the idea that they were the im- mediate proprietors of their fubjects' eftates. That opinion is execrable and flagitious, and it is not, as we ſhall fee, the doc, trine of the French Legislature. D 2 and ( 36 ) އ and without fear of ſhame in defeat. The author of that opinion was TURGOT! a name now too high to be exalted by eulogy, or depreffed by invective. -That benevolent and philofophic Stateſman deli- vered it in the article Fondation of the Encyclopedie, as the calm and difintereſted opinion of a ſcholar, at a moment when he could have no view to palliate rapacity, or prompt irreligion. It was no doctrine contrived for the occafion by the agents of tyranny; it was a principle difcovered in pure and harmleſs fpeculation, by one of the beft and wifeft of men. I adduce the authority of Turgot, not to oppofe the arguments (if there had been any) but to counteract the infinuations of Mr. Burke. The authority of his aſſertions form a prejudice, which is thus to be removed before we can hope for a fair audience at the bar of reaſon. If he infinuates the flagitioufnefs of theſe opinions by the fuppofed vileneſs of their origin, it cannot be unfit to pave the way for their reception, by affigning them a more illuftrious pe- digree. But difmiffing the genealogy of doctrines, let us examine their intrinfic value, and liften to no voice but that of truth. "Are the lands occupied by the Church the PROPERTY of its Members? Various con- fiderations prefent themſelves, which may elucidate the fubject. I. It has not hitherto been fuppofed that any clafs of Public fervants are proprietors. They are falaried by the State for the performance of certain duties. Judges are paid for the diſtribu- tion of juflice; Kings for execution of the laws; Soldiers, where there is a mercenary army, for pub- lic defence; and Prieſts, where there is an eſtabliſh- ed religion, for public inftruction. The mode of * “Ils font ou falariés, ou mendians, ou voleurs." They are ei- ther falaried, or beggars, or robbers was the expreffion of M Mirabeau refpecting the Pricfthood. their ( 37 ) their payment is indifferent to the queftion. It is ge- nerally in rude ages by land and in cultivated pe riods by money. But a territorial penfion is no more property than a pecuniary one. The right of the State to regulate the falaries of thofe fervants whom it pays in money, has not been difputed. But if it has choſen to provide the revenue of a certain portion of land for the falary of another class of fervants, where- fore is its right more diſputable, to refume that land, and to eſtabliſh a new mode of payment? In the early hiftory of Europe, before fiefs became hereditary, great landed eftates were beftowed by the Sovereign, on condition of military fervice. By a fimilar te- nure did the Church hold its lands. No man can prove, that becauſe the State has entrusted its eccle- fiaftical fervants with a portion of land, as the fource and fecurity of their penfions, they are in any reſpect more the proprietors of it, than the other fervants of the State are of that portion of the Revenue from which they are paid. II. The lands of the Church poffefs not the moft fimple and indiſpenfible requifites of property. They are not even pretended to be held for the benefit of thoſe who enjoy them. This is the obvious crite- rion between private property and a penfion for pub- lic fervice. The deftination of the firft is avowedly the comfort and happineſs of the individual who en- joys it; as he is conceived to be the fole judge of this happineſs, he poffeffes the moft unlimited rights of enjoyment, alienation, and even abufe: But the lands of the Church, deftined for the fupport of pub- lic fervants, exhibited none of the characters of pro- perty-They were inalienable, becauſe it would have been not lefs abfurd for the Priesthood to have exercifed fuch authority over theſe lands, than it would for feamen to claim the property of a fleet which they manned, or foldiers that of a fortrefs they garrifoned. III. It ( 38 ) III. It is confeffed that no individual Prieft was a proprietor, and it is not denied that his utmoft claim was limited to a poffeflion for life of his fi pend. If all the Priefts, taken individually, were not proprietors, the Priesthood, as a body, cannot claim any fuch right. For what is a body, but an ag- gregate of individuals, and what new right can be conveyed by a mere change of name?-Nothing can fo forcibly illuftrate this argument as the cafe of other corporations. They are voluntary affociations of men for their own benefit. Every member of them is an abfolute ſharer in their property, it is therefore alienated and inherited. Corporate property is here as facred as individual, becaufe in the ultimate ana- tyfis it is the fame. But the Prielthood is a corpo. ration, endowed by the country, and deſtined for the benefit of other men. It is hence that the members have no ſeparate, nor the body any collective, right of property. They are only entrufted with the admi- niftration of the lands from which their falaries are paid.* IV. It is from this laft circumftance that their le gal ſemblance of property arifes. In charters, bonds, and all other proceedings of law, they are treated with the fame formalities as real property." They are identified," fays Mr. Burke," with the mafs of private property;" and it muſt be confeffed, that if we are to limit our view to forms, this language iś correct. But the repugnance of theſe formalities to legal truth, proceeded from a very obvious caufe. If eftates are vefted in the Clergy, to them moft un- queftionably ought to be entrusted the protection of theſe eſtates in all contefts at law, and actions for that purpoſe can only be maintained with facility, This admits a familiar illuftration. If a land-holder chufes to pay his fteward for the collection of his rents, by permitting him to poffefs a farm gratis, is he conceived to have refigned his property in the farm? The cafe is precifely fimilar. } fimplicity, ( 39 () 39 fimplicity, and effect, by the ficlion of their being proprietors.-Nor is this the only cafe in which the pirit and the forms of law are at variance refpecting property. Scotland, where lands ftill are held by feudal tenures, will afford us a remarkable example. There, if we extend our views no further than légal forms, the fuperior is to be regarded as the propri- etor, while the real proprietor appears to be only a tenant for life. Such is the language of the charter by which he obtains a legal right to his eftate. In this cafe, the vaffal is formally ſtript of the property which he in fact enjoys. In the other, the Church is formally inveſted with a property, to which in rea- lity it had no claim. The argument of preſcription will appear to be altogether untenable, for prefcription implies a certain period during which the rights of pro- perty had been exerciſed, but in the cafe before us they never were exercifed, becauſe they never could be ſuppoſed to exift. It muſt be proved that thefe pof- feffions were of the nature of property, before it can follow that they are protected by prefcription, and to plead it is to take for granted the queftion in difpute, If they never were property, no length of time can change their nature.* V. When *There are perfons who may not relish the mode of reafon- ing here adopted. They contend that property, being the crea- ture of civil fociety, may be refumed by that Public will which created it; and on this principle they justify the National Affem- bly of France. But fuch a juftification is adverfe to the princi- ples of that Affembly; for they have confecrated it as one of the firſt maxims of their Declaration of Rights, that the State cannot violate property, except in cafes of urgent neceflity, and on con- dition of previous indemnification. This defence too will not juftify their ſelection of Church property, in preference of all others, for refumption. It certainly ought in this view to have fallen equally on all citizens. The principle is befides falfe in the extreme to which it is affumed. Property is, indeed, in fame fenfe, created by an act of the Public will; but it is by one of thofe fundamental acts which conftitute fociety-Theory proves it ( 40 ) I V. When the Britiſh Iſlands, the Dutch Repub- lic, the German and Scandinavian States, reformed their ecclefiaftical eſtabliſhments, the howl of facri- lege was the only armour by which the Church at- tempted to protect its pretended property. The age was too tumultuous and unlettered for difcuffions of abſtract juriſprudence. The clamour of facrilege feems, however, to have fallen into early contempt. The Treaty of Weftphalia fecularized many of the moft opulent benefices of Germany, under the me- diation and guarantee of the firft Catholic Powers of Europe. In our own Ifland, on the abolition of epifcopacy in Scotland at the Revolution, the reve- nues of the Church peaceably devolved on the So- vereign, and he devoted a portion of them to the fupport of the new eſtabliſhment. When, at a ftill later period, the Jefuits were fuppreffed in moft Ca- tholic Monarchies, the wealth of that formidable and opulent body was every where feized by the Sovereign, In all thefe memorable examples, no traces are to be difcovered of the pretended property of the Church.-The falaries of a claſs of Public fer- vants are, in all thefe cafes, refumed by the State, when it ceafes to deem their fervice, or the mode of it, uſeful. It is in none of them claimed as pro- perty. That claim, now fo forcibly urged by M, Calonne, was probably little reſpected by him, when he lent his agency to the deftruction of the Jefuits it to be effential to the focial ftate. Experience proves that ir bas, in fome degree, exifted in every age and nation of the world. But thofe public acts, which form and endow corpora- tions, are fubfequent and fubordinate. They are only ordinary expedients of legiflation. The property of individuals is efta- bliſhed on a general principle, which feems coeval with civil foci- ety itſelf. But bodies are inftruments fabricated by the Legifla- tor for a specific purpofe, which ought to be preferved while they are beneficial, amended when they are impaired, and rejected when they become ufelefs or injurious. with ( 41 ) with fuch peculiar activity and rancor. The facred- nefs of their property could not ftrongly imprefs him, when he was inftrumental in degrading the members of that accompliſhed Society, the glory of Catholic Europe, from their fuperb endowments, to ſcanty and beggarly penfions. In all thefe con- teſts, the inviolability of Church poffeffions was a principle that never made its appearance. A mur- mur of facrilege might, indeed, be heard among the fanatical or intereſted few. But the religious horror in which the Priesthood had enveloped its robberies, had long been difpelled, and it was re- ferved for Mr. Burke to renew that cry of facrilege, which, in the darkneſs of the fixteenth century, had refounded in vain. No man can be expected to op- pofe arguments to epithets. When a definition of facrilege is given, confiftent with good logic and plain Englifh, it will be time enough to difcufs it. Till that definition (with the Greek Calends) comes, I fhould as foon difpute about the meaning of facri- lege as about that of herefy or witchcraft. it VI. The whole fubject is indeed fo evident, that little diverfity of opinion could have arifen, if the queſtion of church property had not been confound- ed with that of the prefent incumbents. The dif- tination, though neither ftated by Mr. Burke nor M. Calonne, is extremely fimple. The State is the proprietor of the Church revenues, but its faith, may be faid, is pledged to thofe who have enter- ed into the Church, for the continuance of thofe incomes, for which they abandoned all other pur- fuits. The right of the State to arrange at its plea- fure the revenues of any future Priefts may be con- felfed, while a doubt may be entertained, whether it is competent to change the fortune of thofe to whom it has folemnly promiſed a certain income for life. But thefe diftinct fubjects have been con- founded, that fympathy with fuffering individuals might ( 42 ) might influence opinion on a general queftion, that feeling for the degradation of the hierarchy might fupply the place of argument to eſtabliſh the pro- perty of the Church. To confider this fubject dif- tinctly it cannot be denied, that the mildeft, the moft equitable, and the moft ufual expedient of po- fifhed States in periods of emergency, is the reduc- tion of the falaries of their fervants, and the fuppreffion of fuperfluous places. This and no more has been done. regarding the Church of France, Civil, naval, andi military fervants of the State are fubject to fuch rear trenchments in a moment of difficulty. They often cannot be effected without a wound to individuals* neither can the reform of a civil office, nor the re- duction of a regiment: But all men who enter into the public fervice muft do fo with the implied condi- tion of fubjecting their emoluments, and even their official exiftence, to the exigencies of the State. The great grievance of fuch derangements is the ſhock they give to family fettlements. This is precluded by the compulfory celibacy of the Romish Church; and when the debts of the Clergy are incorporated with thofe of the State, and their fubfiftence inſured by moderate incomes, though fenfibility may, in the leaft retrenchment, find fomewhat to lament, juftice will, in the whole of thefe arrangements, difcover little to condemn. To the individual members of the Church of France, whofe hopes and enjoyments have been abridged by this refumption, no virtuous mind will refufe the tribute of its fympathy and its regrets. Every man of humanity muft wifh, that Public exigencies had permitted the French Legifla ture to fpare the income of preſent incumbents, and more especially of thefe whom they ftill continued in the difcharge of active functions. But thefe fen- *This is precifely the cafe of " damnum abſque injuriq.” timents ( 43 ) (43 timents imply no forrow at the downfall of a great Corporation, the determined and implacable enemy of freedom; at the converfion of an immenfe Public property to national ufe, nor at the reduction of a fervile and imperious Priesthood to humble utility, as the moral and religious inftructors of mankind. The attainment of theſe great objects confole us for the portion of evil that was, perhaps, infeparable from them, and will be juftly admired by a pofterity too remote to be moved by thefe minute afflictions, or to be affected by any thing but their general fplendor. The enlightened obferver of an age thus diftant will contemplate with peculiar aftoniſhment, the rife, progrefs, decay, and downfall * of fpiri- tual power in Chriftian Europe. It will attract his attention as an appearance, which ftands alone in hif- tory. Its connexion in all ftages of its progrefs with the civil power will peculiarly occupy his mind. He will remark the unprefuming humility by which it gradually gained the favour, and divided the of the magiftrate; the haughty and defpotic tone in which it afterwards gave law to Sovereigns and fub- jects; the zeal with which, in the first defperate moments of decline, it armed the people againſt the Magiftrate, and aimed at re-establishing fpiritual defpotifm on the ruins of civil order, and the afylum which it at laſt found against the hoftilities of rea- fon, in the prerogatives of temporal defpotifm, of which it had fo long been the implacable foe. power The first and laft of thefe periods will prove, that the Priesthood are fervilely devoted when they are weak. The fecond and third, that they are danger- * Did we not dread the ridicule of political prediction, it would not ſeem difficult to affign its period.-Church power (unlefs fome Revolution, aufpicious to Frieftcraft, fhould re- plunge Europe in ignorance) will certainly not furvive the nine- eenth century. oufy (44) oufly ambitious when ftrong. In a ftate of fecble- nefs, they are dangerous to liberty; poffeffed of power, they are dangerous to Civil Government it- felf. But the laft period of their progrefs will appear peculiarly connected with the ſtate of France. There was no protection for the opulence and exiftence * of the European Prieſthood in an enlightened period. but the Throne. It formed the only bulwark against the inroads of reafon; for the fuperftition which once formed their power was gone. Around the Throne therefore they rallied. To the Mo- narch they transferred the devotion which had for- merly attached them to the Church, and the fierce- nefs of Prieftly zeal was fucceeded in their bofoms by the more peaceful fentiments of a courtly and poliſhed fervility. Such is, in a greater or lefs de- grec, the prefent condition of the Church in every nation of Europe; yet France has been reproached for the diffolution of fuch a body. It might as well be maintained, that, in her conquefts over defpotifm, fhe ought to have fpared the ftrongeſt fortreffes and moft faithful troops of her adverfary. Such, in truth, were the corporations of the Nobility and the Church. The National Affembly enfured perma nence to their eftablishments, by dismantling the fortreffes, and difbanding the troops of their van. quifhed foe. In the few remarks that are here made on the Nobility and Clergy of France, we confine ourfelves ftri&ly to their political and collective character. Mr. Burke, on the contrary, has grounded his eloquent apology purely on their individual and moral charac- This however is totally irrelative to the quef tion, for we are not difcuffing what place they ought to occupy in fociety as individuals, but as a body. ter. *I always understand their corporate exiftence. We ( 45 ) We are not confidering the demerit of citizens whom it is fit to punifh, but the fpirit of a body which it is politic to diffolve. We are not con- tending that the Nobility and Clergy were in their private capacity bad citizens, but that they were members of corporations which could not be pre- ferved with fecurity to public freedom. The Judicial Ariftocracy formed by the Parlia- ments, feems ftill lefs fufceptible of union with a free Government. Their fpirit and claims were equally incompatible with liberty. They had im- bibed a fpirit congenial to the authority under which they had acted, and ſuitable to the arbitrary genius of the laws which they had difpenfed. They re- tained thoſe ambiguous and indefinite claims to a ſhare in the legillation, which the fluctuations of power in the kingdom had in fome degree counte- nanced. The ſpirit of a corporation was from the fmallneſs of their numbers more concentrated and vi- gorous in them than in the Nobles and Clergy, and whatever aristocratic zeal is laid to the charge of the Nobility, is imputable with tenfold force to the ennobled Magiftrates, who regarded their recent ho- nors with an enthufiafin of vanity, infpired by that bigoted veneration for rank, which is the perpetual character of upftarts. A free people could not form its tribunals of men who pretended to any controul on the Legiſlature. Courts of Juftice, in which feats were legally purchafed, had too long been en- dured: Judges, who regarded the right of difpen- fing juſtice as a marketable commodity, could nei- ther be fit organs of equitable laws, nor fuitable ma- giftrates for a free State. It is vain to urge with Mr. Burke the paſt ſervices of thefe judicial bodies. It is not to be denied that Montefqieu is correct, when he ftates, that under bad Governments one abuſe often limits another. The ufurped authority of the Parlia- ments formed, it is true, fome bulwark againft the ca- price of the Court. But when the abufc is deftroyed, why ( 46 ) > why preferve the remedial evil? Superftition certainly alleviates the defpotifm of Turkey; but if a rational Government could be erected in that empire, it might with confidence difciaim the aid of the Koran, and defpife the remonftrances of the Mufti. To fuch eſtabliſhments, let us pay the tribute of gratitude for paſt benefit; but when their utility no longer exifts, let then be canonized by death, that their admirers may be indulged in all the plenitude of pofthumous veneration. .. The three Ariftocracies, Military, Saccrdotal, and Judicial, may be confidered as having formed the French Government. They have appeared, ſo far as we have confidered them, incorrigible. All attempts to improve them would have been little better than (to uſe the words of Mr. Burke) " mean reparations on mighty ruins." They were not perverted by the accidental depravity of their mem- bers. They were not infected by any tranfient paf fion, which new circumstances would extirpate. The fault was in the effence of the inftitutions themſelves, which were irreconcileable with a free Government. But it is objected, thefe inftitutions. might have been gradually reformed. The fpirit of Freedom would have filently entered. The pro- progreffive wiſdom of an enlightened nation would have remedied, in procefs of time, their defects, without convulfion. To this argument I confidently anfwer, that thefe inftitutions would have defroyed LIBERTY, before Li- berty bad corrected their SPIRIT. Power vegetates with more vigor after thefe gentle prunings. A flender reform amufes and lulls the people; the po- pular enthufiafm fubfides, and the moment of effec- tual reform is irretrievably loft. No important po- * See Mr. Burke's Reflexions, p. 245-52. litical ( 47 ) litical improvement was ever obtained in a period of tranquility. The corrupt intereft of the gover- nors is fo ftrong, and the cry of the people fo feeble, that it were vain to expect it. If the effervefcence of the popular mind is fuffered to paſs away without effect, it would be abfurd to expect from languor what enthuſiaſm has not obtained. If radical re- form is not, at fuch a moment, procured, all partial changes are evaded and defeated in the tranquility which fucceeds.* The gradual reform that arifes from the prefiding principle exhibited in the fpeci- ous theory of Mr. Burke, is belied by the experi- ence of all ages. Whatever excellence, whatever freedom is diſcoverable in Governments, has been infuſed into them by the fhock of a revolution, and their fubfequent progrefs has been only the accumu- lation of abuſe. It is hence that the moſt enlight- ened politicians have recognized the neceflity of frequently recalling Governments to their first principles; a truth equally fuggefted to the penetrating intelle& of Machiavel, by his experience of the Florentine democracy, and by his reſearch into the hiſtory of ancient Commonwealths.-Whatever is good ought to be purſued at the moment it is attainable. The public voice, irrefiftible in a period of convulfion, is contemned with impunity, when dictated by that lethargy into which nations are lulled by the tran- quil courſe of their ordinary affairs. The ardor of reform languiſhes in unfupported tedioufnefs. It periſhes in an impotent ftruggle with adverfaries, who receive new ftrength from the progrefs of the * to enunciate a MORAL MAXIM founded on general interest, which prohibits any attack on theſe pof feffions. In this primary and radical fenfe, all rights, natural as well as civil, arife from expe- diency. But the moment the moral edifice is reared, its balis is hid from the eye for ever. The moment theſe maxims, which are founded on an utility that is paramount and perpetual, are embodied and con- fecrated, they ceafe to yield to partial and fubordi- nate expediency. It then becomes the perfection of virtue to confider, not whether an action be uſeful, but whether it be right. The fame neceffity for the fubftitution of general maxims exifts in politics as in morals. Thefe pre- ciſe and inflexible principles, which yield neither to the feductions of paffion, nor the fuggeftions of in- tereft, ought to be the guide of Public as well as pri- vate morals.—Acting according to the natural rights of men, is only another expreffion for acting accord- ing to thofe GENERAL MAXIMS of focial morals which preſcribe what is right and fit in human intercourſe. We have proved that the focial compact does not alter thefe maxims, or deftroy thefe rights, and it inconteftibly follows, from the fame principles which guide all morality, that no expediency can juſtify their infraction. The inflexibility of general principles is, indeed, perhaps more neceffary in political morals than in any other claſs of actions. If the confideration of expediency be admitted, the queſtion recurs, who are to judge of it? They are never the many whofe intereſt is at ftake: They cannot judge, and no ap, peal to them is hazarded. They are the few, whofe intereft is linked to the perpetuity of oppreffion and abufe. Surely that Judge ought to be bound down by the ſtricteft rules, who is undeniably interefted in the decifion; and he would fcarcely be efteemed a wife Legiflator who fhould veft in the next heir to a lunatic a difcretionary power to judge of his fanity OF ( 102 ) 1 or derangement. Far more neceffary then is the obedience to general principles, and the maintenance of natural rights, in politics than in the morality of common life. The moment that the flendereſt in- fraction of theſe rights is permitted for motives of con- venience, the bulwark of all upright politics is loft. If a ſmall convenience will juftify a little infraction, a greater pretended convenience will expiate a bolder violation. The Rubicon is paft. Tyrants never feek in vain for fophifts. Pretences are multiplied without difficulty and without end. Nothing, there- fore, but an inflexible adherence to the principles of general right can preferve the purity, confiftency, and ſtability of a free State. We have thus vindicated the firft theoretical principle of French legiſlation. The doctrine of an abfolute furrender of natural rights by civil and ſo- cial man, has appeared to be deduced, from inade- quate premifes; and to conduct to abfurd conclu- fions, to fanctify the moft atrocious defpotifm, to outrage the moſt avowed convictions of men, and, finally, to be abandoned, as hopeleſsly untenable, by its author. The existence and perfection of theſe rights being proved, the first duty of law-givers and magiftrates is to affert and protect them. Moft wifely and aufpiciouſly then did France commencé her regenerating labours with a folemn declaration of theſe facred, inalienable, and impreſcriptible rights-a declaration which must be to the citizen the monitor of his duties as well as the oracle of his rights, by a perpetual recurrence to which the de- viations of the magiftrate are to be checked, the tendency of power to abuſe corrected, and every political propofition (being compared with the enil of fociety) correctly and difpaffionately eftimated. Thefe declarations of the rights of men originated from the juvenile vigor of reafon and freedom in the new world, where the human mind was unincum- bered with that vaft mafs of ufage and prejudice, which ( 103 ) which fo many ages of ignorance had accumulated, to load and deform fociety in Europe. France learned this, among other leffons, from America; and it is perhaps the only expedient that can be de- viſed by human wifdom to keep alive the Public vigilance against the ufurpation of partial interefts, by perpetually prefenting the general right and the general intereft to the Public eye. Thus far I truft will be found correct the fcientific principle which has been the Polar Star, by the light of which the National Affembly of France has hitherto navigated the veffel of the State amid fo many tempefts howl- ing deſtruction around them on every fide. There remains a much more extenfive and com- plicated enquiry, the confideration of their political inftitutions. As it is impoffible to examine all, we muſt limit our remarks to the moſt important. To ſpeak then generally of their Conftitution, it is a preliminary remark, that the application of the word DEMOCRACY to it is fallacious and illufive.-If that word, indeed, be taken in its etymological fenfe, as the power of the people, it is a Democracy, and fo is all legitimate Government. But if it be taken in its hiftorical fenfe, it is not fo, for it does not re- femble thofe Governments which have been called Democracies in ancient or modern times. In the ancient Democracies there was neither reprefen- tation nor divifion of powers. The rabble legif- lated, judged and exercifed every political autho- rity. I do not mean to deny that in Athens, the Democracy of which hiftory has tranfmitted to us the most monuments, there did exift fome feeble controls. But it has been well remarked, that a multitude, if it was compofed of NEWTONS, muft be a mob. Their will muſt be equally unwife, un- jult, and irreſiſtible. The authority of a corrupt and tumultuous populace has indeed by the beft writers of antiquity been regarded rather as an och- Jocracy than a democracy, as the defpotifm of the rabble, دیا ( 104 ) rabble, not the dominion of the people. It is a de- generate democracy. It is a febrile paroxyfm of the focial body which muſt ſpeedily terminate in conva- lefcence or diffolution. The new conſtitution of France is almoft directly the reverſe of thefe forms. It veſts the legislative authority in the Reprefentatives of the people, the executive in an hereditary Firft Magiſtrate, and the judicial in Judges periodically elected, unconnected either with the Legiflature or with the executive Magiftrate. To confound fuch a conftitution with the democracies of antiquity, for the purpofe of quoting hiſtorical and experimental evidence againft it, is to recur to the most paltry and fhallow arts of fophiſtry.—In difcuffing it, on the preſent occafion the firſt queſtion that arifes regards the mode of conftituting the Legiflature, and the first divifion of this queſtion, which confiders the right of fuffrage, is of primary importance in Commonwealths. Here I moſt cordially agree with Mr. Burke in reprobating the impotent and prepofterous qualifica tion by which the Affembly have disfranchifed every citizen who does not pay a direct contribution equi- valent to the price of three days labour. Nothing can be more evident than its inefficacy for any pur- pofe but the diſplay of inconfiftency, and the vio- lation of juftice. But thefe remarks were made at the moment of diſcuſſion in France, and the plan + was combated in the Affembly with all the force of reafon and eloquence by the moſt confpicuous leaders of the popular party. M. M. Mirabeau, Target, and Petion, more particularly, diftinguifhed themſelves by their oppofition. But the more timid *P. 257~~~8. # + For the hiftory of this decree, the 27th and 29th days of October, 1789, ſee the Procès verbaux of theſe days. See alfo the Fournal de Paris, No. 301, & Les Revolutions de Paris, No. 17, P. 73, & feq. Thefe authorities amply corroborate the affertions of the text. and (105) and prejudiced members of the democratic party fhrunk from fo bold an innovation in political fyf tems, as JUSTICE. They fluctuated between their principles and their prejudices, and the fruggle terminated in an illufive compromife, the conftant refource of feeble and temporizing characters. They were content that little practical evil fould in fact be produced. Their views were not fufficiently enlarged and exalted to perceive, that the INVIOLA- BILITY OF PRINCIPLES is the Palladium of virtue and of freedom. The members of this defcription de not, indeed, form the majority of their party; but the Ariftocratic minority, anxious for whatever might difhonour or embarrass the Affembly, eagerly coalefced with them, and ftained the infant Confti- tution with this abfurd ufurpation. An enlightened and refpectable antagoniſt of Mr. Burke has attempted the defence of this meaſure. In a letter to Earl Stanhope, p. 78-9, it is con- ended, that the fpirit of this regulation accords exactly with the principles of natural juftice, be- caufe, even in an unfocial ſtate, the pauper has a claim only on charity, and he who produces no- thing has no right to fhare in the regulation of what is produced by the induſtry of others. But whatever be the juſtice of disfranchifing the unproductive poor, the argument is, in point of fact, totally mifapplied. Domeſtic fervants are excluded by the decree of the Affembly, though they fubfift as evi- dently on the produce of their own labour as any other clafs of men in fociety; and to them therefore the argument of our acute and ingenious writer is totally inapplicable*. But it is the confolation of *It has been very juftly remarked, that even on the idea of taxation, all men have equal rights of election. For the nan who is too poor to pay a direct contribution to the State, ftill pays a tax in the increafed view, of his food and cloaths. It is befides to be obferved, that life and liberty are more facred than property, and that the right of fuffrage is the only shield that can guard them, * the ( 106 ) 1 the confiftent friends of freedom, that this abufe muſt be ſhort-lived. The fpirit of reafon and liberty, which has atchieved fuch mighty victories, cannot long be refifted by this puny foe. The number of primary electors is at prefent fo great, and the importance of their fingle votes fo propor- tionally little, that their intereſt in reſiſting the ex- tenfion of the right of fuffrage is infignificantly fmall. Thus much have I ſpoken of the monopoly of the rights of fuffrage with the ardor of anxious affection, and the freedom of liberal admiration. The moment is too ferious for compliment, and I leave untouched to the partizans of defpotifm, their monopoly of blind and fervile applaufe. I muft avow, with the fame franknefs, equal difapprobation of the elements of territory and con- tribution which enter into the proportion of Repre- fentatives deputed by the various portions of the kingdom. Territorial or financial repreſentation *, is a monstrous relic of ancient prejudice. Land or money cannot be reprefented. Men only can be repreſented, and population alone ought to regulate the number of Reprefentatives which any diſtrict delegates. The next confideration that preſents itſelf is, the nature of thofe bodies into which the citizens of France are to be organized for the performance of their political functions.-In this important part of the fubject, Mr. Burke has committed fome funda- mental errors. It is more amply, more dexterously, * Montefquieu, I think, mentions a federative Republic in Lycia, where the proportion of Reprefentatives deputed by each State was in a ratio compounded of its population and contribu tion. There might be fome plaufibility in this inftitution among confederated independent States, but it is grofsly abfurd in a Commonwealth, which is vitally ONE. In fuch a ftate, the contribution of all being proportioned to their capacity, it is relatively to the contributors EQUAL, and if it can confer any political claims, they muft derive from it equal rights, I and ( 107 ) and more correctly treated by Ch. de Calonne, of whofe work this difcuffion forms the moft interefting part. The Affemblies, into which the people of France are divided, are of four kinds.--Primary, Munici- pål, Electoral, and Adminiftrative. To the Municipalities belong the care of preferving the police, and collecting the revenue within their jurifdiction. An accurate idea of their nature and object may be formed by fuppofing the country of England uniformly divided, and governed, like its cities and towns by magiftracies and popular election. The Primary Affemblies, the firft elements of the Commonwealth, are formed by all the citizens, who pay a direct contribution, equal to the price of three days labour, which may be averaged at half a crown English. Their functions are purely electoral. They fend Repreſentatives directly to the Affembly of the Department, in the proportion of one to every hundred active citizens. This they do not through the medium of the diſtrict, as was originally propofed by the Conftitutional Cornmittee, and has been erroneouſly ſtated by Mr. Burke. They fend, indeed, Reprefentatives to the Affembly of the district, but it is the object of that Affembly not to depute electors to the department, but to elect the adminiftrators of the district itſelf. The Electoral Affemblies of the Departments, formed by the immediate delegates of the people in their primary Affemblies, elect the Members of the Legiflature, the Judges, the Adminiſtrators, and the Bishop of the Department. * The Adminiftrators are every where the organs and inftruments of the Executive Power. As the provinces of France, under her ancient Govern- ment were ruled by Governors, Intendants, &c. ap- * Every Department is an Epifcopal Şee. pointed ( 108 ) 1 pointed by the Crown, fo they are now governed by theſe adminiſtrative bodies, who are choſen by the Electoral Affemblies of the Departments. Such is the rude outline of that elaborate organi- zation, which the French Legiflature have formed., Details are not neceffary to my purpofe; and I the more chearfully abftain from them, becaufe I know that they will be ſpeedily laid before the Public by a perfon far more competent to deliver them with preciſion, and illuftrated with a very correct and in- genious chart of the New Conftitution of France. Against the arrangement of thefe Aflemblies, many fubtle and fpecious objections are urged, both by Mr. Burke and the exiled Minifter of France. The first and most formidable is, "the "fuppofed tendency of it to difmember France "into a body of confederated Republics." To this objection there are ſeveral unanfwerable replies. But before I ftate them, it is neceſſary to make one diftinction. Thefe feveral bodies are, in a certain fenfe independent, in what regards fubordinate and interior regulation. But they are not independent in the fenfe which the objection fuppofes, that of poffeffing a ſeparate will from that of the nation, or influencing, but by their reprefentatives, the gene, ral fyftem of the State. Nay, it may be demon- ftrated that the Legiflators of France have folici- toufly provided more elaborate precautions againſt this difmemberment than have been adopted by any recorded Government. The firft circumftance which is adverfe to it is the minuteness of the parts into which the kingdom is di- vided. They are too ſmall to poffefs a feparate force. As elements of the focial order, as particles of a great political body, they are fomething; but as infulated States, they would be impotent. Had France been moulded into great maffes, each of them might have been ftrong enough to claim a fe- parate will; but divided as he is, no body of citi- zens (109) zens is conſcious of fufficient ftrength to feel their fentiments of any importance, but as conftituent parts of the general will. Survey the Adminiftra- tive, the Primary, and the Electoral Affemblies, and nothing will be more evident than their impo- tence in individuality. The Municipalities, furely, are not likely to arrogate independence. A 48000th part of the kingdom has not energy fufficient for feparate exiſtence, nor can a hope arife in the Affem- bly of fuch a flender community influencing, in a direct and dictatorial manner, the counfels of a great State. Even the Electoral Affemblies of the Departments do not, as we fhall afterwards fhew, poffefs force enough to become independent confe- derated republics. Another circumſtance, powerfully hoftile to this difmemberment, is the deftruction of the ancient provincial divifion of the kingdom. In no part of Mr. Burke's work have his arguments been chofen with fuch infelicity of felection as in what regards this fubject. He has not only erred, but his error is the precife reverſe of truth. He reprefents as the harbinger of difcord what is, in fact, the inftrument of union. He mistakes the cement of the edifice for a fource of inftability and a principle of repul- fion. France was, under the ancient Government, an union of Provinces acquired at various times, and on different conditions, differing in conftitution, laws, language, manners, privileges, jurifdiction, and revenue. It had the exterior of a fimple Mo- narchy, but it was in reality an aggregate of inde- pendent States. The Monarch was in one place King of Navarre, in another Duke of Britanny, in a third Count of Provence, in a fourth Dauphin of Vienne. Under thefe various denominations, he poffeffed, at leaſt nominally, different degrees of power, and he certainly exerciſed it under different forms. The mafs compofed of thefe heterogeneous and difcordant elements, was held together by the compreffing i ( 110 ) compreffing force of defpotifm. When that com- preffion was withdrawn, the provinces muſt have refumed their ancient independence, perhaps in a form more abfolute than as members of a federative Republic. Every thing tended to infpire provincial, and to extinguifh national patriotifm. The inhabi- tants of Bretagne, or Guinne, felt themfelves linked together by ancient habitudes, by congenial preju- dices, by fimilar manners, by the relics of their Conftitution, and the common name of their coun- try; but their character as members of the French Empire, could only remind them of long and ig- nominious fubjection to a tyranny, of which they had only felt the ftrength in exaction, and bleffed the lenity in neglect. Thefe caufes muſt have formed the provinces into independent Republics, and the deftruction of their provincial exiſtence was indifpenfible to the prevention of this difmem- berment. It is impoffible to deny, that men united by no previous habitude (whatever may be faid of the policy of the union in other refpects) are lefs qualified for that union of will and force, which produces an independent Republic, than provincials on whom every circumftance tended to confer local and partial attraction, and a repulfion to the com- mon center of the national fyftem. Nothing could have been more inevitable than the independence of thoſe great provinces which had never been moulded and organized into one Empire; and we may boldly pronounce, in direct oppofition to Mr. Burke, that the new divifion of the kingdom was the only expedient that could have prevented its dismemberment into a confederacy of fovereign Republics. The folicitous and elaborate divifion of powers, is another expedient of infallible operation, to pre- ferve the unity of the body politic. The Municipa- lities are limited to minute and local Adminiſtration. The Primary Affemblies folely to elections. The Affemblies ( 111 ) Affemblies of the Diſtrict to objects of adminiftration and control of a fuperior claſs; and the Affemblies of the Departments, where this may be the most appre- hended, poffefs functions purely electoral. They elect Judges, Legiflators, Adminiftrators, and Mi- nifters of Religion, but they are to exert no autho- rity legislative, adminiftrative, or judicial. In any other capacity but that of executing their electoral functions, in voting an addrefs, an inftruction, or a cenfure, they are only fimple citizens *. But whatever danger might be apprehended from the affumption of powers by thefe formidable Affemblies, the depofitaries of fuch extenfive elec- toral powers are precluded by another circumftance, which totally difqualifies and unnerves them for any purpoſe but that for which they are created by the Conſtitution. They are biennially renewed, and their fugitive nature makes fyftematic ufurpation hopeleſs. What power, indeed, could they poffefs of dictating to the National Affembly +, or what inte- reft could the members of that Affembly have in obeying the mandates of thoſe who held as fugitive and precarious a power as their own; not one of * Compare thefe remarks with the reafoning of M. Calonne under the head, "Que faut il penfer de l'etabliffement perpetuel de "83 Affemblées, compofées chacune de plus 600 citoyens, chargées "de choix des Legiflateurs Supremes, du choix des Adminiftrateurs "Provinciaux, du choix des Juges, du choix des Principaux Mi- niftres du Culte, & ayant en confequence le droit de ſe mettre en "activité toutes fois & quantes ?" The objection which we are combating is ſtated with great precifion by M. de Calonne, fron p. 358 to p. 372 of his work. The difcuffion must be maturely weighed by every reader who would fathom the legiſlation of France. * + I do not mean that their voice will not be there reſpected. That would be to fuppofe the Legiflature as infolently corrupt as that of a neighbouring Government of pretended freedom. I only mean to affert, that they cannot poffefs fuch a power as will enable them to dictate inftructions to their Reprefentatives as authoritatively as Sovereigns do their Embaffadors; which is the idea of a confederated Republic. whom ( 112 ) whom might, at the next election, have a fuffrage to beftow? The fame probability gives the pro- vincial Adminiſtrators that portion of independence which the Conſtitution demands. By a ftill ftronger reafon, the Judges, who are elected for fix years, muft feel themfelves independent of conftituents whom three elections may fo radically and com- pletely change. Thefe circumftances then, the mi- nutenefs of the divifions, the diffolution of provin- cial ties, the elaborate diftribution of powers, and the fugitive conftitution of the Electoral Affemblies feem to form an infuperable barrier againſt the af- fumption of fuch powers by any of the bodies into which France is organized, as would tend to pro- duce the federal form. Thus the firft great argu- ment of Mr. BURKE and M. DE CALONNE feems to be refuted in principles, if not in the expanſion of detail. pe- The next objection that is to be confidered is culiar to Mr. Burke. The fubordination of elections has been regarded by the admirers of the French law-givers as a mafter-piece of legislative wifdom. It feemed as great an improvement on reprefenta- tive Government, as reprefentation itſelf was on pure Democracy. No extent of territory is too great for a popular Goverment thus organized; and as the Primary Affemblies may be divided to any degree of minutenefs, the moft perfect order is re- concileable with the wideft diffufion of political right. Democracies were fuppofed by philofophers to be neceffarily fmall, and therefore feeble; to de- mand numerous Affemblies, and to be therefore venal and tumultuous. Yet this great difcovery, which gives force and order in fo high a degree to popular Governments, is condemnel and derided by Mr. Burke. An immediate connexion between the reprefentative and the primary conftituent, he confiders as effential to the idea of reprefentation. As the electors in the Primary Affemblies do not immediately ( 113 ) immediately elect their law-givers, he regards their rights of fuffrage as nominal and illufory*. It will in the firſt inſtance be remarked, from the ſtatement which has already been given, that in ftating three interpofed elections between the primary electors and the Legiſlature, Mr. Burke has committed a moſt important error in point of fact. The original plan of the Conſtitutional Committee was indeed agree- able to the ſtatement of Mr. Burke. The Primary Affemblies were to elect Deputies to the diſtrict, the diſtrict to the Department, and the Department to the National Affembly. But this plan was forcibly and fuccefsfully combated. It was repreſented as tending to introduce a vicious complexity into the Government, and, by making the channel through which the national will paffes into its public acts fo circuitous, to enfeeble its energy under pretence of breaking its violence. It was accordingly radically changed. The ſeries of three elections was ftill pre- ſerved for the choice of provincial Adminiſtrators, but the electoral Affemblies in the Departments, who are the immediate conftituents of the Legiflature, are directly choſen by the Primary Affemblies, in the proportion of one elector to every hundred active citizens t. But * P. 270-2. "For what are thefe Primary Electors compli- "mented, or rather mocked with a choice?They can never "know any thing of the qualities of him that is to ferve them, nor has he any obligation to ferve them." CC ↑ For a charge of fuch fundamental inaccuracy against Mr. Burke, the Public will moft juftly and naturally expect the high- eft evidence. I do therefore boldly appeal to the Decret, fur la Nouvelle Divifion du Royaume, Art. 17-to the Procès Verbal of the Affembly for the 22d Dec. 1789. If this evidence demanded any collateral aid, the authority of M. Calonne (which it is re- markable that M. Burke fhould have overlooked, corroborates it moft amply. "On ordonne que chacune de ces Affemblées (Pri- maires) noinmera un ELECTEUR a raifon de 100 citoyens I (C actifs.” A (( 114 114 ) But to return to the general queſtion, which is perhaps not much affected by thefe details, I profefs I fee no reaſon why the right of election is not as fufceptible of delegation as any other civil function, why a citizen may not as well delegate the right of choofing law-givers, as that of making laws. Such a gradation of elections, fays Mr. Burke, excludes reſponſibility and ſubſtantial election, fince the pri- mary electors neither can know, nor bring to ac- count the members of the Affembly. Σ This argument has (confidering the peculiar fyf- tem of Mr. Burke) appeared to me to be the moſt fingular and inconfiftent that he has urged in his work. Reprefentation itſelf muft be confeffed to be an infringement on the moſt perfect liberty, for the beſt organized fyftem cannot preclude the poſ- fibility of a variance between the popular and the reprefentative will. Refponfibility, ſtrictly and ri- goroufly ſpeaking, it can rarely admit, for the fe- crets of political fraud are fo impenetrable, and the line which ſeparates corrupt decifion from erro- neous judgment fo indifcernibly minute, that the cafes where the Deputies could be made properly reſponſible are too few to be named as exceptions. Their difmiffion is all the puniſhment that can be in- flicted, and all that the beſt Conſtitution can attain is a high probability of unifon between the conftituent and his deputy. This feems attained in the arrange- ments of France. The electors of the Departements are fo numerous, and fo popularly elected, that there is the higheſt probability of their being actuated in their elections, and re-elections by the fentiments C actifs."Calonne, p. 360. "Ces cinquante mille ELECTEURS • (des Departements) choifis de deux ans en deux ans parles As- SEMBLEES PRIMAIRES." Id. ibid. The Ex-Minifter, indeed, is rarely to be detected in any departure from the folicitous ac- curacy of profeffional detail. of ( 115 ) of the Primary Affemblies. They have too many points of contact with the general maſs to have an infulated opinion, and too fugitive an exiſtence to have a ſeparate intereft. It is befides to be re- marked, that they come immediately from among the people, with all its opinions, and predilections, and enmities to their elective functions; and it is furely improbable, that, too ſhortly united for the acquiſition of a corporation fpirit, they ſhould have any will or voice but that of their conftituents. This is true of thoſe cafes where the merits or demerits of candidates may be fuppofed to have reached the Pri- mary Affemblies. In thofe far more numerous cafes, where they are too obfcure to obtain that notice, but by the polluted medium of a popular canvaſs, this delegation is ſtill more evidently wife. The pea- fant, or artizan, who is primary elector, knows in- timately men among his equals, or immediate fupe- riors, who have information and honefty enough to chufe a good reprefentative. But among this clafs (the only one which he can know fufficiently to judge) he rarely meets with any who have genius, leifure, and ambition for that fituation themſelves. Of the candidates to be electors in the Departement, he is a difintereſted, deliberate, and competent judge. "But were he to be complimented, or rather "mocked," with the direct right of electing to the legiſlative body, he muft, in the tumult, venality, and intoxication of an election mob, give his fuf- frage without any poffible juſt knowledge of the fituation, character, and conduct of the candidates. So unfortunately falſe, indeed, ſeems the opinion of Mr. Burke, that this arrangement in the French Conſtitution is the only one that fubftantially, and in good faith, provides for the exercife of deliberate difcrimination in the conſtituent. The hierarchy of elections was obtruded on France. by neceffity. Had they rejected it, they had only the alternative of tumultuous electoral Affemblies, I 2 or ( 116 ) or a tumultuous Legislature. If the primary elec- toral Affemblies were to be fo divided as to avoid tumult, their deputies would be ſo numerous as to make the National Aſſembly a mob. If the number of electoral Affemblies were reduced according to the number of deputies that ought to conflitute the Legiſlature, each of them would be numerous enough, on the other hand, to be alfo a mob. I cannot perceive that peculiar unfitneſs which is hinted at by Mr. Burke in the right of perfonal choice to be delegated. It is in the practice of all States delegated to great officers, who are entruſted with the power of nominating their fubordinate agents. It is in the moft ordinary affairs of com- mon life delegated, when our ultimate repreſentatives are too remote from us to be within the ſphere of our obfervation. It is remarkable that M. Calonne, addreffing his work to a people enlightened by the mafterly dif cuffions to which thefe fubjects have given rife, has not, in all the fervor of his zeal to criminate the new inftitutions, hazarded this objection. This is not the only inftance in which the Ex-Minifter has fhewn more refpect to the nation whom he ad- dreffes, than Mr. Burke has paid to the intellect and information of the Engliſh Publict. tr Thus any "Of all the powers to be delegated by thofe who have "real means of judging, that moft peculiarly unfit is what relates to a perfonal choice". Burke, p. 271. + Though it may, perhaps, be foreign to the purpoſe, I can- not help thinking one remark on this topic interefting. It will illuftrate the difference of opinion between even the Ariftocratic party in France and the rulers of England.--M. Calonne* right- ly ſtates it to be the unanimous inftruction of France to her repre- fentatives, to enact the equal admiffibility of ALL citizens to public employ!-England adheres to the Teft Act!-The ar- rangements of M. Necker for elections to the States General, and the ſcheme of M. M. Mounier and Lally Tolendahl for the new *M. Calonne, p. 383. Conftitution, ( 117 ) Thus much of the elements that are to generate the Legiſlative body. Concerning that body, thus con- ftituted, various queſtions remain. Its unity or di- vifion will admit of much difpute, and it will be deemed of the greateſt moment by the zealous ad- mirers of the English Conftitution, to determine, whether any femblance of its legiflative organiza- tion could have been attained by France, if good, or ought to have been purfued by her, if attainable. Nothing has been allerted with more confidence by Mr. Burke than the facility with which the frag- ments of the long fubverted liberty of France might have been formed into a Britiſh Conftitution*. But of this general pofition he has neither explained the mode, nor defined the limitations. Nothing is more Conftitution, included a reprefentation of the people nearly exact. Yet the idea of it is regarded with horror in England !-The higheſt Aristocrates of France approach more nearly to the creed of general liberty than the most popular politicians of England, of which thefe two circumftances are fignal proofs. To place this opinion in a ſtronger point of light, I have col- lected the principal paffages in which it is announced or infinuat- ed. ་་ "In your OLD STATES you poffeffed that variety of "parts, correfponding with the various defcriptions of which your community was happily compofed." Burke p. 50. "If "diffident of yourfelves, and not clearly the almoft obliterated "Conftitution of your anceſtors, feeing you had looked to your neighbours in this land, who had kept alive the principles and "models of the old common law of Europe, meliorated and adapted to the prefent ftate." Id. p. 53. Have they never "heard of a Monarchy directed by laws, controled and balanced "by the great hereditary wealth and hereditary dignity of a na- tion, and both again controled by a judicious check from the reafon and feeling of the people at large, acting by a fuitable "and permanent organ?" Id. p. 184. And in the fame page he reprefents France as a nation which had "it in its choice to "obtain fuch a Government with eaſe, or rather confirm it when actually poffeffed."- "I muft think fuch a Government well de- " ferved to have its excellencies heightened, its faults corrected, "and its capacities improved into a Britiſh Conftitution." Id. p. 295. The preciſe queſtion at iffue is, whether the ancient Go- vernment of France poffeffed capacities which could have been improved into a British Conftitution. (C t favourable ( 118 ) favourable to the popularity of a work than theſe lofty generalities which are light enough to pafs into vulgar currency, and to become the maxims of a popular creed. Touched by definition, they be- come too ſimple and precife for eloquence, too cold and abſtract for popularity. But exhibited as they are by Mr. Burke, they gratify the pride and indo- lence of the people, who are thus taught to fpeak what gains applaufe, without any effort of intellect, and impoſes filence, without any labour of confuta- tion; what may be acquired without being ftudied, and uttered without being understood. Of this nature are theſe vague and confident affertions, which without furniſhing any definite idea, afford a ready jargon for vulgar prejudice, flattering to na- tional vanity, and fanctioned by a diftinguifhed name. It is neceffary to enquire with more precifion in what manner France could have affimilated the re- mains of her ancient Conftitution to that of the En- glish Legiſlature. Three modes only feem conceiv able. The prefervation of the three Orders diftinct. The union of the Clergy and Nobility in one upper Chamber, or fome mode of felecting from thefe two Orders a body like the Houfe of Lords in England. Unleſs the infinuations of Mr. Burke point to one or other of theſe ſchemes, I cannot divine their meaning. The firſt mode (the three Orders fitting in ſeparate houſes with equal privileges) would nei- ther have been congenial in ſpirit nor fimilar in form to the Conftitution of England. To convert the convocation into an integrant and co-ordinant Member of our Legiflature, would give it fome femblance of this ftructure. But it would be a faint one. It would be neceſſary to arm our Clergy with an immenſe maſs of property, rendered fill more formidable by the concentration of great portions in the hands of a few, to conftitute it in effect the fame body with the Nobility, by granting them the monopoly of great benefices, and to beftow on this clerico- ( 119 ) clerico-military aristocracy, in its two fhapes of Prieſthood and Nobility, two ſeparate and indepen- dent voices in Legiſlation. This double body from its neceffary dependance on the King, muft necef farily have in both forms become the organ of his voice. The Monarch would thus poffefs three ne- gatives, one avowed and diſuſed, two latent and in perpetual activity on the fingle voice which impotent and illufive formality had yielded to the third Eſtate. Such and much more muft the Parliament of Eng- land become before it could in any reſpect refem- ble the divifion of the French Legiſlature according to thoſe ancient Orders which formed the Gothic affemblies of Europe. So monftrous did the ar- rangement appear, that even under the reign of Defpotifm, the ſecond plan was propofed by M. Calonne*—that the Clergy and Nobility fhould form an Upper Houſe to exercife conjointly with the King and the Commons the Legiſlative Autho- rity. It admits however of the clearest proof that fuch a Conftitution would have been diametrically oppofite in its fpirit and principles to the Engliſh Government. This will at once be evident from the different defcription of the body of Nobles in France and England. In England they are a finall body, united to the mafs of the people by innume- rable points of contact, receiving from it perpetual new infufions, and returning to it, undiftinguifhed and unprivileged, the majority of their children. In France they formed an immenfe infulated cast, fepa- rated from fociety by every barrier that prejudice or * See his Lettre au Roi 9th February 1789. See alſo Sur l'Etat de France, &c. p. 167 It was alfo, as we are informed by M. Calonne, fuggefted in the Cabiers of the Nobility of Metz and Montargis. It is worthy of incidental remark, that the propofi- tion of ſuch radical changes even by the Nobility is an incontef tible evidence of the general conviction that a revolution or total change to the Government was neceffary. It is therefore an un- answerable reply to Mr. Burke and Mr. Calonne. policy ( 120 ) policy could raife, receiving few plebeian acceffions, and precluded, by the indelible character of nobility, the equal patrimony of all their children, from the poffibility of their moft remote defcendants being reftored to the general mafs. The Nobles of Eng- land are a Senate of 200. The Nobleffe of France were a tribe of 200,000. Nobility is in England only hereditary, fo far as its profeffed object, the fupport of a hereditary Senate demands. It is therefore defcendible only to one heir. Nobility in France was as widely inheritable as its real purpoſe, the maintenance of a privileged caft, preſcribed. It was therefore neceffarily defcendible to all male children. There are other points of contraft ftill more im- portant. The Nobleffe of France were at once for- midable from their immenfe body of property, and dependent from the indigence of their Patrician rabble of cadets, whom honour inſpired with fervi- lity, and fervility excluded from the path to inde- pendence. They in fact poffeffed fo large a portion of the landed property, as to be juftly, and almoft exclufively confidered as the landed intereft of the kingdom. To this formidable property was added the revenues of the Church, monopolized by their children. The younger branches of theſe opulent families had in general no patrimony but their ho- nours and their fword. They were therefore re- duced to ſeek fortune and diftinction in military dependence on the Crown. If they were generous, the habits of military fervice devoted them from loyalty: If they were prudent, the hope of military promotion devoted them from intereft to the King. -How immenfe therefore and irrefiftible would the Royal influence have been in elections, where the majority of the voters were the fervants and crea- tures of the Crown? What would be thought in England of a Houfe of Lords, which, while it reprefented or contained the whole landed intereſt of ( 121 ) of the kingdom, fhould neceffarily have a majority of its members feptennially or triennially nominated by the King. Yet it would ftill yield to the French Upper Houfe of M. Calonne; for the monied and commercial interefts of England, which would con- tinue to be reprefented by the Commons, are im- portant and formidable, but in France they are comparatively infignificant. It would have been a Government where the Ariftocracy could have been ftrong only against the people, impotent againſt the Crown. This fecond arrangement then is equally repugnant to the theory of the British Conftitution as the firft. There remains only fome mode of felec- tion of a body from amidst the Nobility and Clergy to form an Upper Houfe, and to this there are in- fuperable objections. Had the right of thus forming a branch of the Legislature by a fingle act of prero- gative been given to the King, it muſt have ftrengthened his influence to a degree terrible at any period, but fatal in the moment of political re- form. Had any mode of election by the provinces, or the Legiſlature, been adopted, or if they had been inveſted with any control on the nomination of the Crown, the new dignity would have been fought with an activity of corruption and intrigue, of which, in fuch a national convulfion, it is impof- fible to eſtimate the danger. No general principle of felection, ſuch as that of opulence or antiquity, would have remedied the evil, for the excluded and degraded Nobles would feel the principle, that nobility is the equal and inalienable patrimony of all. By the abolition of nobility, no nobleman was degraded, for to degrade is to lower from a rank that continues to exiſt in Society. No man can be degraded when the rank he poffeffed no longer exifts. But had the rank of nobility remained in the mode of which we have been fpeaking, the great body of the Nobles would indeed in a proper and penal fenfe, have been degraded. The new dignity A ( 122 ) dignity of their former Peers would have kept alive the memory of what they once poffeffed, and pro- voked them to enterprizes far more fatal than re- fentment of an indignity that is at leaft broken by diviſion, and impartially inflicted on the greateft and moſt obſcure. So evident indeed was the impoffibility of what Mr. Burke fuppofes attainable with fuch eaſe, that no party in the Affembly fuggefted the imitation of the English model. The fyftem of his oracles in French politics*, M. M. Lally and Mounier ap- proached more near to the Conftitution of the American States. They propofed a Senate to be chofen for life by the King, from a certain number of candidates to be offered to his choice by the provinces t. This Senate was to enjoy an abfolute negative on legiflative acts, and to form the great national court for the trial of Public delinquents. In effect, fuch a body would have formed a far more vigorous Ariftocracy than the English Peerage. The latter body only preferves its dignity by a wife difuſe of its power. Potentia ad impotentiam abufi would otherwiſe be defcriptive of their fate. But the Senate of M. Mounier would be an Aristocracy moderated and legalized, which, becauſe it appeared to have lefs independence, would in fact be em- boldened to exert more. Deriving their rights equally with the Lower Houfe from the people, and vefted with a more dignified and extenfive truft, *"De quelle manière fera compofe le Senat? Sera-t-il formé "de ce qu'on appelle aujourd'hui la Nobleffe & le Clergé? "NON SANS DOUTE. Ce feroit perpetuer cette feparation "d'Ordres, cette efprit de corporation qui eft le plus grand "ennemi de l'efprit Public." Pièces Juftificatifs de M Lally Tolendahl, p. 121. c ተ Après avoir examinè & balançé tous les inconveniens de chaque parti peut-être trouvera-t-on que faire nommer les "Senateurs par le Koi, fur la prefentation des provinces, & ne "les faire nommer qu'à vie feroit encore le moyen le plus pro- pre à concilier tous les intcrêts." Id. p. 124. they ( 123 ) they would neither fhrink from the conflict with the Commons nor the King. The permanence of their authority muſt give them a fuperiority over the former. The fpecioufnefs of their caufe over the latter; and it ſeems probable, that they must have terminated in fubjugating both. Thofe who fuppofe that a Senate for life might not be infected by the corporation ſpirit, may confider the ancient judica- tures of France, who were as keenly actuated by that ſpirit as any body of hereditary Nobles that ever exiſted. But to quit the details of theſe ſyſtems-a quef- tion ariſes for our confideration of a more general and more difficult nature-Whether a fimple repre- fentative Legiſlature, or a Conſtitution of mutual control, be the best form of Government* ?-To examine this queſtion at length is inconfiftent with the objects and limits of the prefent publication (which already grows infenfibly beyond its intended fize) but a few general principles may be hinted, on which the decifion of the queftion perhaps chiefly depends. 1. It will not be controverted, that the object of a repreſentative Legiflature is to collect the general will. To accord with this principle, there must be the fame unity in the reprefentative as in the original WILL.-That will is ONE. It cannot therefore, with- out folecifm, be doubly reprefented. The focial body ſuppoſes a perfect unity, and no man's will can have Two difcordant organs. Any abfolute † negative oppoſed to the national will, decifively ſpoken by its Reprefentatives, is radically null, as an ufurpation of popular fovereignty. Thus far * This queftion, tranflated into familiar language, may perhaps be thus expreffed,-" Whether the vigilance of the master, or the squabbles of the fervants, be the beft fecurity for faithful fer- vice ? + The fufpenfive veto vefted in the French King, is only an appeal to the people on the condue of their Reprefentatives. 'The voice of the people clearly ſpoken, the negative ccafes. does ( 124 ) does the abſtract principle of a Reprefentative Go- vernment condemn the divifion of the Legislature. 2. All bodies poffeffed of effectual control have a tendency to that great evil, which all laws have hitherto foftered, though it be the end of legiflation to reprefs, the preponderance of partial intereſts. The fpirit of corporation infallibly feizes every Pub- lic body, and the creation of every new affembly creates a new, dextrous, and vigilant enemy to the general intereft. This alone is a fufficient objection to a controling Senate. Such a body would be moſt peculiary acceffible to this contagious fpirit. A re- prefentative body itſelf can only be preferved from it by thoſe frequent elections which break combi- nations, and infufe into it new portions of popular fentiments. Let us grant that a popular affembly may fometimes be precipitated into unwife decifion by the feductions of eloquence, or the rage of fac- tion. Let us grant that a controling Senate might remedy this evil, but let us recollect, that it is better the Public intereſt ſhould be occaſionally mistaken than fyftematically oppoſed. 3. It is perhaps fufceptible of proof, that theſe Governments of balance and control have never ex- ifted but in the viſion of theoriſts. The faireft ex- ample will be the Conftitution of England. If it can be proved that the two members of the Legislature, who are pretended to control each other, are ruled by the fame class of men, the control muſt be granted to be imaginary. That oppofition of intereft, which is fuppofed to preclude all confpiracy against the people, can no longer exift. That this is the fate of England, the moft fuperficial obfervation muſt evince. The great proprietors, titled and untitled, poffefs the whole force of both Houfes of Parlia- inent that is not immediately dependent on the Crown. The Peers have a great influence in the Houfe of Commons. All political parties are formed by a confederacy of the members of both Houfes. The ( 125 ) The Court party, by the influence of the Crown, acting equally in both, fupported by a part of the independent Ariftocracy. The oppofition by the remainder of the Ariftocracy, whether Commoners or Lords. Here is every iymptom of collufion: No veſtige of control. The only cafe, indeed, where it would arife, is where the intereft of the Peerage is diftinct from that of the other great proprietors. But theſe ſeparate interefts are few and paltry, and have eſtabliſhed fo feeble a check, that the hiftory of England will not afford one undifputed example of pretended control. The rejection of the Peerage Bill of George the Firſt is urged with great triumph by De Lolme. There it ſeems the Commons rejected the bill, purely actuated by their fears, that the Ariftocracy would acquire a ftrength from a limitation on the number of Peers, deſtructive of that balance of power which forms the Conftitution. It is unfortunate that poli- tical theoriſts do not confult the history as well as the letter of legiſlative proceedings. It is a matter of perfect notoriety, that the rejection of that bill was occafioned by the feceffion of Sir Robert (then Mr.) Walpole from the Cabinet, and the oppofition of him and his party to it was merely as a minifterial meaſure. The debate was not guided by any ge- neral legiſlative principles. It was fimply an expe- riment on the ſtrength of two parties contending for power. The reader will, no doubt, feel a high re- verence for the Conftitutional principles of that Par- liament, when he is informed that to it we owe the Septennial Act! In fact, if fuch a check exifted in much greater force, it would be of little importance to the general queſtion. "Through a diverfity of members and interefts," if we may believe Mr. Burke, 66 GE- "NERAL LIBERTY had as many fecurities as there were feparate views in the feveral Orders." And if by GENERAL LIBERTY be understood that of the collective C6 ( 126 ) collective body of thefe Orders, the poſition is un- deniable. But if it means what it ought to mean, the liberty of mankind, nothing can be more falſe. The higher clafs in fociety, whatever be their names, of Nobles, Biſhops, Judges, or poffeffors of landed and commercial wealth, have ever been united by a common view, far more powerful than thofe petty repugnancies of intereft to which this variety of de- ſcription may give rife. Whatever may be the little conflicts of ecclefiaftical with fecular, of commercial with landed opulence, they have one common in- tereft to preſerve the elevated place to which the fo- cial order has raifed them. There was never, or will be, in civilized fociety, but two grand intereſts, that of the RICH and that of the Poor. The dif ferences of intereſt among the ſeveral claffes of the rich will be ever too flender to preclude their confpi- racy againſt mankind. In the mean time, the pri- vileges of their ſeveral ORDERS will be guarded, and Mr. Burke will decide that GENERAL LIBERTY is fecure! It is thus that a Poliſh Palatine harangues in the Diet on the liberty of Poland, without a bluſh at the recollection of his bondfmen.-It is thus that the Affembly of Jamaica, amid the flavery and fale of MEN, profanely appeal to the principles of free- dom. It is thus that Antiquity, with her pretended political philofophy, cannot boaft one philofopher who queftioned the juftice of fervitude, nor with all her pretended Public virtue, one philanthropist who deplored the mifery of flaves. } One circumftance more remains concerning the Legiſlature the exclufion of the King's Minifters from feats in it. This felf-denying Ordinance I muſt unequivocally difapprove.-I regard all disfranchiſe- ment as equally unjuft in its principle, deftructive in its example, and impotent for its pretended purpofe. The prefence of Minifters in the Affembly would have been of great utility in a view of bufinefs, and perhaps, by giving publicity to their opinions, fa- vourable ( 127 ) vourable on the whole to Public Liberty. To ex- clude them from the Legiſlature, is to devote them to the purpoſes of the Crown, by giving them no interest in the Conftitution. The fair and open in- fluence of Minifters was never formidable. It is only that indirect and ſecret influence which this ex- clufion will perhaps enable them to practife with more impunity and fuccefs. It is alſo to be obſerved, that it is equivalent to an exclufion of all men of ſu- perior talent from the Cabinet. The object of liberal ambition will be a fat in the Supreme Affembly; and no man of genius will accept, much lefs purſue, branded and degraded offices, which baniſh him from the natural ſphere of his powers. Of the PLAN of JUDICATURE formed by the Af- fembly, I have not yet prefumed to form a decided opinion. It certainly approaches to an experiment, whether a code of laws can be formed fufficiently fimple and intelligible to fupercede the neceffity of lawyers by profeffion *. Of all the attempts of the Affembly, the complicated relations of civilized fo- ciety feem to render this the most problematical. They have not, however, concluded this part of their labours, and the feebleneſs attributed to the elective judicatures of the Departments may probably be remedied by the dignity and force with which they will inveft the two high national tribunals (La Cour de Caffation & la Haute Cour Nationale) which they are about to organize. On the ſubject of the EXECUTIVE MAGISTRACY, there is a preliminary remark, which the advocates as well as the enemies of the Revolution have too much neglected. The affembly have been accufed of violating their own principles by the affumption *The fexennial election of the judges is ftrongly and ably op- pofed by M. Calome. p 294, chiefly on the principle, that the itability of judicial offices is the only inducement to men to devote their lives to legal study, which alone can form good magiftrates. of ( 128 ) of executive powers, and their advocates have plead- ed guilty to the charge. It has been forgotten that they had a double function to perform. They were not only to erect a new Conftitution, but they were to guard it from deftruction. Hence a neceffary affumption of executive powers in the crifis of a Revolution. Had fuperftitious tenderneſs for the principle confined them to theoretical erections, which the breath of power was every day deſtroying, they would indeed have merited thofe epithets of vifionaries and enthufiafts with which they have been loaded. To judge, therefore, of the future executive magistracy of France by its prefent ftate, is abfurd. We muſt not, as has been justly obſerved, miſtake for the new political edifice what is only the fcaffolding neceffary to its erection. The pow- ers of the firft magiftrate are not to be eſtimated by the debility to which the convulfions of the moment have reduced them, but by the provifions of the fu- ture Conftitution. The portion of power with which the King of France is invefted, is certainly as much as pure theory demands for the executive magiftrate. An organ to collect the Public will, and a hand to exe- cute it, are the only neceffary conftituents of the focial union. The popular reprefentative forms the firft; the executive officer the fecond. To the point where this principle would have conducted them, the French have not ventured to proceed. It has been afferted by Mr. Burke, that the French King has no negative on laws.-This, however, is not true. The minority who oppofed any fpecies of negative in the Crown was only 100, when 800 members were prefent in the Affembly. The King poffeffes the power of withholding his affent to a propofed law for two fucceffive Affemblies. If it is propoſed by the third, his affent, indeed, becomes neceffary. This ſpecies of fufpenfive veto is with great fpeciouſneſs and ingenuity contended by M. Necker ( 129 ) Necker to be more efficient than the obfolete nega- tive of the Engliſh Princes*. A mild and limited ne- gative may, he remarked, be exerciſed without dan- ger or odium, while a prerogative, like the abſolute veto, muſt fink into impotence from its invidious magnitude. It is too great to be exerciſed, and muft, as it has in England, be tacitly abandoned by difufe. Is not that negative really efficient, which is only to yield to the national voice, ſpoken after four years deliberation, and in two fucceffive elec- tions of Repreſentatives?—What Monarch of a free State, I will be bold to aſk, could with decency or impunity oppoſe a negative the moſt unlimited in law, to the Public fentiment, thus explicitly and conſtantly expreffed? The moft abfolute veto muſt, if the people perfift, prove eventually fufpenfive. A ſuſpenſive veto is therefore equivalent to an abfo- lute one, and being of lefs invidious exercife, con- fers more real power. "The power of remon- ftrancet," fays Mr. Burke," which was anciently "veſted in the Parliament of Paris, is now abfurdly "entruſted to the executive magiftrate." One might have fuppofed that this was a power of re- monftrance like that of the Parliament of Paris to the Legiſlature. It is however, as we have feen, a power of a very different defcription, a power of remonftrating to the people against their Reprefen- tatives, the only fhare in legiflation (whether it be nominally abfolute, or nominally limited) that a Rapport fait au Roi dans fon Confeil, par le premier Mini- ftre des Finances, à Verfailles, le 11 Sept. 1789. + The negative poffeffed by the King of France is precifely double of that which is entrufted to the Affembly. He may op- pofe his will to that of his whole people for four years, or the term of two Legiſlatures, while the oppofition of the Affembly to the general voice can only exift for two years, when a new election annihilates them. So inconfiderately has this prerogative been re- prefented as nominal. The whole of this argument is in fome ineafure ad hominem, for I myſelf am dubious about the utility of any fpecies of Royal vero, abfolute or fufpenfive. K free ( 130 ) free Government can entruſt to its fupreme magif- trate*. + On the Prerogative of WAR and PEACE, Mr. Burke has fhortly, and M. Calonne at great length, arraigned the fyftem of the Affembly. In the Conftitution of France, war is to be de- clared by a decree of the Legiſlature, on the propo- fition of the King. He poffeffes exclufively the initiative. It cannot originate with any member of the Legiſlature. The firſt remark ſuggeſted by this arrangement is, that the difference between it and the theory of the Engliſh Conftitution is purely no- minal. That theory fuppofes an independent Houſe of Commons, a rigorous reſponſibility, and a REAL power of impeachment. Were theſe in any reſpect realized, it is perfectly obvious, that a decifion for war muſt in every cafe depend on the deliberation of the Legiſlature. No Minifter would hazard hofti- lities without the fanction of a body who held the fword fufpended over his head; and as this theory ſuppoſes the Houfe of Commons perfectly unin- fluenced by the Crown, the ultimate decifion could in no refpect depend on the executive magiftrate, and no power remains to him but the initiative. The forms, indeed, in the majority of cafes, aim at a femblance of the theory. A Royal meffage an- nounces imminent hoſtilities, and a Parliamentary addreſs of promiſed ſupport, re-echoes the meffage. It is this addrefs alone which emboldens and autho- rizes the Cabinet to proceed in their meafures. The Royal meffage correfponds to the French initia- tive; and if the purity of our practice bore any proportion to the fpeciouſneſs of our theory, the addrefs would be a decree of the Legiflature, adopt- ing the propofition of the King. No man therefore, who is a fincere and enlightened admirer of the + Burke, p. 295-6. * P. 301. Calonne, p. 170-200. English ( 131 ) 1 Engliſh Conftitution, as it ought, and is pretended to exift, can confiftently reprobate an arrangement which differs from it only in the moſt frivolous cir- cumſtances. To fpeak of our practical Government would be an outrage on common ſenſe. There no trace of thoſe difcordant powers which are ſuppoſed in our theoretical Conftitution remains. The moſt beautiful fimplicity prevails. The fame influence determines the executive and legiſlative power. The fame Cabinet makes war in the name of the King, and fanctions it in the name of the Parliament. But France, deftitute of the cement which united thefe jarring powers, was reduced to imitate our theory inftead of our practice. Her Exchequer was too ruinoufly beggared for adopting this admirable ſyſtem. Suppoſing however, but not granting, that this formidable prerogative was more abridged in France than it is by the theory of our Government, the ex- pediency of the limitation remains to be confidered. The chief objections are its tendency to favour the growth of foreign factions, and to derogate from the promptitude fo neceffary to military fuccefs. To both theſe objections there is one general anfwer. They proceed on the fuppofition of the frequency of wars. They both fuppofe, that France will retain part of that political fyftem which ſhe has difclaimed. But if the adheres with good faith to her declarations, war muſt become to her fo rare an occurrence, that the objections become infignificant. Foreign Pow- ers have no temptation to purchaſe factions in a State which does not interpofe in foreign politics; and a wife nation, which regards victorious war as not lefs fatally intoxicating to the victors, than widely de- ftructive to the vanquished, will not furrender their probability of peace from the dread of defeat, nor purchaſe the hope of victory by provifions for faci- litating war. France, after having renounced for ever the idea of conqueft, can, indeed, have no fource K 2 ( 132 ) fource of probable hoftility but her colonies. Colo- nial poffeffions have been fo unanfwerably demon- ftrated to be commercially ufelefs, and politically ruinous, that the conviction of philofophers cannot fail of having, in due time, its effect on the minds of enlightened Europe, and delivering the French Empire from this cumbrous and deftructive appen- dage. But even were the exploded villainy that has obtained the name of politics to be re-adopted in France, the objections would fill be feeble. The firſt, which muſt be confeffed to have a fpecious and formidable air, feems evidently to be founded on the hiftory of Sweden and Poland, and on ſome facts in that of the Dutch republic. It is a remarkable example of thofe loofe and remote analogies by which fophifts corrupt and abufe hiftory. Peculiar circumftances in the fituation of thefe Sates difpofed them to be the feat of foreign factions. It did not arife from war being decided by public bodies, for if it had, it muſt have exiſted in ancient Rome and Carthage-in modern Venice, and Switzerland, in the republican Parliament of England, and in the Congreſs of the United States of America.-Hol- land too, in her better and more vigorous days, was perfectly exempt from this evil.-No traces of it appear in her hiflory till the age of Charles II. and Louis XIV. when divided between jealouſy of the commerce of England and dread of the con- quefts of France, fhe threw herſelf into the arms of the Houſe of Orange, and forced the partizans of freedom into a reliance on French fupport. In more recent periods, domeftic convulfions have more fa- tally diſplayed her debilities, and too clearly evinced, that of that fplendor which the gained from the igno- rant indolence of the world, the now only retains the fhadow, by the indulgence and courtefy of Eu- rope. The cafe of Sweden is with the utmost facility explicable. An indigent and martial people, whe- ther ( 133 ) ther it be governed by one or many defpots, will ever be fold by its tyrants to the enterprizes of opu. lent ambition; and recent facts have proved, that a change in the Government of Sweden has not change ed the ftipendiary ſpirit of its military fyftem. Po- land is an example ftill lefs relevant. There an in- dependent anarchy of defpots naturally league them. felves variouſly with foreign Powers. Yet Ruffian force has done more than Ruffian gold; and Po- land has fuffered ftill more from feeblenefs than venality. No analogy can be fuppofed to exift be- tween thefe cafes and that of France. I hazard the iffue of the difcuffion on one plain point. All the Powers of Europe could not expend money enough to form and maintain a faction in their intereft in France. Let us fuppofe it poffible that the Legiſla- ture of this vaſt and opulent kingdom could once be corrupted; but let us recollect, that a ſeries of Le- giflatures, collected by the most extenfively popular election, are to be in fucceffion purchaſed, to obtain any permanent afcendant, and it will be evident, that Potofi would be unequal to the attempt. If we confider, that their deliberations are conducted un- der the detecting eye of a vigilant and enlightened people, the growth of foreign factions will appear ftill more chimerical. All the States which have been quoted were poor, therefore cheaply corrupt- ed; their Government was an Ariftocracy, and was therefore only to be once bought; the people were ignorant, and could therefore be fold by their Governors with impunity. The reverfe of thefe cir- cumftances will fave France, as they have faved England, from this "worst of evils. Their wealth makes the attempt difficult; their difcern- ment makes it hazardous; their fhort truft of power renders the object worthlefs, and its permanence impoffible. That fubjecting the decifion of war to the deliberations of a popular affembly will, in a great meafure, derogate from its energy, and un- "" nerve ( 134 ) nerve it for all deftructive purpoſes, I am not diſpof- ed to deny. France muft, however, when her con- flitution is cemented, be, in a defenſive view, invin- cible; and if her Government is unfitted for aggref- fion, it is little wonder that the Affembly ſhould have made no proviſion for a caſe which their principles do not fuppofe. This is the laſt important arrangement reſpecting the executive power which Mr. Burke has confidered, and it conducts us to a fubject of infinite delicacy and difficulty, which has afforded no ſmall triumph to the enemies of the Revolution-THE ORGANI- ZATION OF THE ARMY. It muit be confeffed, that to conciliate an army of a hundred and fifty thou- fand men, a navy of a hundred fhips of the line, and a frontier guarded by a hundred fortreffes, with the exiſtence of a free Government, is a tremendous. problem. It cannot be denied, that hiſtory affords no example in which fuch a Public force has not re- coiled on the State, and become the ready inftru- ment of military ufurpation. And if the State of France were not perfectly unexampled, and to which theſe hiſtorical arguments are not therefore applicable or pertinent, the inference would be ine- vitable. An army, with the fentiments and habits which it is the ſyſtem of modern Europe to inſpire, is not only hoftile to freedom, but incompatible with it. A body of men poffeffed of the whole force of a State, and ſyſtematically diveſted of every civil fentiment, is a monfter that no rational polity can tolerate, and every circumftance clearly fhews it to be the object of French legiflation to deſtroy it not as a body of armed citizens-but as an ARMY. This is wifely, and gradually to be effected. Two grand operations conduct to it-arming the people and unfoldiering the army The firſt of theſe meaſures, * *To ufe the language of M. Calonne, "armant le peuple G popularifant l'armée? the ( 135 ) the formation of the municipal army, certainly makes the nation independent of its military fervants. Aa army of four millions can never be coerced by one of a hundred and fifty thouſand; neither can they have a ſeparate ſentiment from the body of the nation, for they are the fame. Whence the horror of Mr. Burke at thus arming the nation, under the title of a municipal army, has arifen, it is even dif ficult to conjecture. Has it ceafed to be true, that the defence of a free State is only to be committed to its citizens? Are the long oppofition to a ftand- ing army in England, its tardy and jealous admiffion, and the perpetual clamour (at length illufively gra- tified) for a militia, to be exploded, as the grofs and uncourtly fentiments of our unenlightened an- ceſtors? The affembly have put arms into the hands of the citizens, and by that means have for ever precluded both their own defpotiſm and the ufur- pation of the army. They muſt rule," fays Mr. Burke," by an army. by an army." If that be their fyftem, their policy is ſtill more wretched than he has re- prefented it. For they fyftematically ftrengthen thoſe who are to be governed, while they fyftema- tically enfeeble their engine of Government. They fortify the people, and weaken the army. They reduce themſelves and their army to dependence on the nation, whom alone they ftrengthen and arm. A Military Democracy, if it means a deliberative body of foldiers, is the most execrable of tyrannies; but if it be underſtood to denote a popular Govern- ment, where every citizen is diſciplined and armed, it muſt then be pronounced to be the only free Go- vernment which retains within itſelf the means of prefervation. << The profeffed foldiers, rendered impotent to any dangerous purpoſe by the ftrength of the municipal army, are by many other circumſtances invited to throw off thoſe abject and murderous habits which form the perfection of a modern foldier. In other States ( 136 ) States the foldiery were in general disfranchifed. They were too poor to be citizens. But in France a great part may enjoy the full rights of citizens. They are not then likely to facrifice their fuperior to their inferior capacity, or to elevate their military importance by committing political fuicide. They feel themſelves fervile as foldiers, they are conſcious of being fovereign as citizens. That diffufion of political knowledge among them, which is ridiculed and reprobated by Mr. Burke, is the only remedy that could have fortified them againſt the ſeduction of an afpiring Commander. That alone will teach them, that in lending themſelves to his views, they ſubmit themſelves to his yoke; that to deſtroy the liberty of others, they muft facrifice their own. They have, indeed, gigantic ftrength, and they may cruſh their fellow-citizens, by dragging down the focial edifice, but they muft themſelves be over- whelmed by its fall. THE DESPOTISM OF ARMIES IS THE SLAVERY OF SOLDIERS. An army cannot be ſtrong enough to tyrannize, that is not itſelf ce- mented by the moſt abſolute interior tyranny. The diffuſion of theſe great truths will perpetuate, as they have produced, a revolution in the character of the French foldiery. They will therefore, in the fenſe of defpotic difciplinarians, ceaſe to be an army; and while the foldiers affume the fentiments of ci- tizens, and the citizens acquire the difcipline of fol- diers, the military character will be diffufed, and the military profeffion annihilated. Military fer- vices will be the duty of all citizens, and the trade of none *. To this object their ſyſtem evidently 1 and * Again I must encounter the derifion of Mr. Burke, by quot- ing the ill-fated citizen of Geneva, whofe life was embittered by the cold friendship of a Philofopher, and whofe memory is profcribed by the alarmed enthuſiaſm of an Orator. I fhall pre- fume to recommend to the peruſal of every reader his tract enti- tled, "Confiderations fur le Gouvernement de Pologne, &c." more efpecially 1 137 ) ( [ and inevitably tends. If a feparate body of citizens, as an army, is deemed neceffary, it will probably be formed by rotation. A certain period of military fervice will be exacted from every citizen, and may, as in ancient Republics, be made a neceffary quali- fication for the purſuit of civil honours. In the pre- fent ſtate of France, the national guard is a fufficient bulwark againſt the army, fhould it relapfe into its ancient habits; and in its future ftate, no body fuf- ceptible of fuch dangerous habits feems likely to exift. "Gallos quoque in bellis floruiffe audivimus, indeed be the fentiment of our children. may glory of heroiſm, and the ſplendor of conqueft, have long enough been the patrimony of that great na- tion. It is time that it ſhould feek a new glory, and a new fplendor, under the ſhade of freedom, in cul- tivating the arts of peace, and extending the hap- pinefs of humanity. The SECTION V. English Admirers vindicated. T is thus that Mr. Burke has ſpoken of the men and meaſures of a foreign nation, where patri- otifm could neither excufe his prepoffeflion nor afpe- rity, where no duty or feeling ought to preclude him from adopting the feelings of a difinterefted pofterity, and affuming the difpaffionate tone of a philofopher and a hiftorian. What wonder then eſpecially what regards the military fyftem. Oeuvres de Rouffeau, Geneve, 1782, tome ii. p. 381-397. It may be proper to re- mark, that my other citations from Rouffeau are from the fame edition. that ( 138 ) that he ſhould wanton ftill lefs temperately in all the eloquence and virulence of an advocate againſt fellow-citizens, to whom he attributes the flagitious purpoſe of ſtimulating England to the imitation of fuch enormities. The Revolution and Conftitu- tional Societies, and Dr. Price, whom he regards as their oracle and guide, are the grand objects of his hoftility. For them no contumely is too deba- fing, no invective is too intemperate, no imputation too foul. Joy at the downfall of defpotifm is the indelible crime, for which no virtue can compen- fate, and no puniſhment can atone. An incon- fiftency betrays itfelf not unfrequently in literary quarrels. He affects to deſpiſe thoſe whom he ap- pears to dread. His anger exalts thofe whom his ridicule would vilify; and on thofe whom at one moment he derides as too contemptible for refent- ment, he at another confers a criminal eminence, as too audacious for contempt. Their voice is now the importunate chink of the meagre fhrivelled in- fects of the hour, now the hollow murmur, omi- nous of convulfions and earthquakes, that are to lay the fabric of fociety in ruins. To provoke againſt the doctrines and perfons of thofe unfortu- nate Societies this ftorm of execration and derifion, it was not fufficient that the French Revolution thould be traduced, every record of English policy and law is to be diſtorted. The Revolution of 1688 is confeffed to have efta- blifhed principles by thofe who lament that it has not reformed inftitutions. It has fanctified the the- ory, if it has not inſured the practice of a free Go- vernment. It eſtabliſhed, by a memorable prece- dent, the right of the people of England to revoke abufed power, to frame the Government, and be- flow the Crown. There was a time, indeed, when fome wretched followers of Filmer and Blackwood lifted their heads in oppofition. But more than half a century had withdrawn them from Public contempt ( 139 ) 139) contempt to the amnesty and oblivion which their innoxious ſtupidity had purchaſed. It was reſerved for the latter end of the eigh- teenth century to conftrue theſe innocent and ob- vious inferences into libels on the Conſtitution and the laws. Dr. Price had afferted (I prefume with- out fear of contradiction) that the Houfe of Hano- ver owes the Crown of England to the choice of their people, that the Revolution had eſtabliſhed our right "to chooſe our own Governors, to "cafhier them for miſconduct, and to frame a Go- "vernment for ourfelves." The firft propofition, fays Mr. Burke, is either falfe or nugatory. If it imports that England is an elective Monarchy, "it is an unfounded, dangerous, illegal, and un- "conftitutional pofition." + If it alludes to the election of his Majefty's anceſtors to the Throne, it no more legalizes the Government of England than that of other nations, where the founders of dynaſties have generally founded their claims on fome fort of election. The firſt member of this di- lemma merits no reply. The people may certainly, as they have done, chufe hereditary rather than elective Monarchy. They may elect a race inftead of an individual. Their right is in all theſe cafes equally unimpaired. It will be in vain to compare the pretended elections in which a Council of Ba- rons, or an army of mercenaries, have impoſed ufurpers on enſlaved and benighted kingdoms, with the folemn, deliberate, national choice of 1688. It is, indeed, often expedient to fanction theſe defici- ent titles by fubfequent acquiefcence. It is not among the projected innovations of France to revive the claims of any of the pofterity of Pharamond and Clovis, and to arraign the ufurpations of Pepin or Hugh Capet. Public tranquility thus demands a veil to be drawn over the fuccefsful crimes through * Page 17 + P. 19. } t which ( 140 ) which Kings have fo often waded to the throne. But wherefore fhould we not exult, that the Su. preme Magistracy of England is free from this blot; that as a direct emanation from the fovereignty of the people, it is as legitimate in its origin as in its adminiftration. Thus understood, the pofition of Dr. Price is neither falfe nor nugatory. It is not nugatory, for it honourably diſtinguiſhes the Eng- lif Monarchy among the Governments of the world; and if it be falfe, the whole hiftory of our Revolution must be a legend. The fact was fhortly, that the Frince of Orange was elected King of England, in contempt of the claims, not only of the exiled Monarch and his fon, but of the Princeffes Mary and Anne, the undifputed Progeny of James II. The title of William III. was then clearly not fucceffion; and the Houfe of Commons ordered Dr. Burnet's tract to be burnt by the hands of the hang- man for maintaining that it was conqueft. There remains only election, for theſe three claims to Roy- alty are all that are known among men. It is futile to urge, that the Convention deviated only flenderly from the order of fucceffion. The deviation was indeed flight, but it deftroyed the principle, and eſtabliſhed their right to deviate; the point at iffue. The principle that juſtified the elevation of William III. and the preference of the pofterity of Sophia of Hanover to thofe of Henricita of Orleans, would equally, in point of right, have vindicated the election of Chancellor Jefferies or Colonel Kirk. The choice was, like every other choice, to be guided by views of policy and prudence, but it was a choice ftill. From theſe views arofe that repugnance between the conduct and the language of the Revolutionifts, of which Mr. Burke has availed hinfelf. Their conduct was manly and fyftematic. Their language was conciliating and equivocal. They kept mea- fures with prejudice which they deemed neceffary to ( 141 ) .. to the order of fociety. They impofed on the groffnefs of the popular underſtanding, by a fort of compromiſe between the Conftitution and the ab- dicated family. " They drew a politic well-wrought "veil," to ufe the expreffions of Mr. Burke, over the glorious ſcene which they had acted. They affected to preferve a femblance of fucceffion, to recur for the objects of their election to the pofterity of Charles and James, that refpect and loyalty might with lefs violence to Public fentiment attach to the new Sovereign. Had a Jacobite been permitted freedom of fpeech in the Parliaments of William III. he might thus have arraigned the Act of Settlement "Is the language of your ftatutes to be at eternal "war with truth?-Not long ago you profaned the "forms of devotion by a thankſgiving, which either 66 66 means nothing, or infinuates a lie. You thanked "Heaven for the prefervation of a King and Queen "on the throne of their anceſtors; an expreffion "which either was fingly meant of their defcent, "which was frivolous, or infinuated their heredi- "tary right, which was falfe.-With the fame " contempt for confiftency and truth, we are this day called upon to fettle the Crown of England "on a Princefs of Germany, " becaufe" fhe is the grand-daughter of James the Firft. If that be, "as the phrafeology infinuates, the true and fole "reafon of the choice, confiftency demands that "the words after "excellent" fhould be omitted, "and in their place be inferted "Victor Amadeus, "Duke of Savoy, married to the daughter of the "moft excellent Princeſs Henrietta, late Duchefs ' of Orleans, daughter of our late Sovereign Lord "Charles I. of glorious memory."-Do homage "to loyalty in your actions, or abjure it in your "words-avow the grounds of your conduct, and your manlineſs will be refpected by thoſe who "deteft your rebellion." What reply Lord Somers, or Mr. Burke, could have devifed to this Philippic, re I know ( 142 ) I know not, unless they confeffed that the authors of the Revolution had one language for novices and another for adepts. Whether this conduct was the fruit of caution and confummate wifdom, or of a narrow, arrogant, and daftardly policy, which re- garded the human race as only to be governed by being duped, it is ufelefs to enquire, and might be preſumptuous to determine. But it certainly was not to be expected, that any controverſy ſhould have arifen by confounding their principles with their pre- With the latter, the pofition of Dr. Price has no connexion; from the former, it is an infalli- ble inference. texts. The next doctrine of this obnoxious fermon that provokes the indignation of Mr. Burke is, that the Revolution has eſtabliſhed "our right to caſhier . our Governors for miſconduct.". Here a plain man could have foreſeen ſcarcely any diverſity of opinion. To contend that the depofition of a King for the abuſe of his powers did not eſtabliſh a prin- ciple in favour of the like depofition, when the like abuſe fhould again occur, is certainly one of the moſt arduous enterprizes that ever the heroifm of paradox encountered. He has, however, not ne- glected the means of retreat. "No Government, he tells us," could ftand a moment, if it could be "blown down with any thing fo looſe and indefinite "as opinion of misconduct. One might fuppofe, from the dextrous levity with which the word mif- conduct is introduced, that the partizans of Demo- cracy had maintained the expediency of depofing Kings for every frivolous and venial faul, of revolt- ing againſt a Monarch for the choice of his titled or untitled valets, for removing his footmen, or his Lords of the Bedchamber.-It would have been candid in Mr. Burke not to have diffembled what he muſt know, that by misconduct was meant that precife fpecies of mifconduct for which James II. was (143) was dethroned—A CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE LIBERTY OF HIS COUNTRY. Nothing can be more weak than to urge the Con- ftitutional irrefponfibility of Kings or Parliaments. The law can never ſuppoſe them refponfible, becauſe their reſponſibility ſuppoſes the diffolution of fociety, which is the annihilation of law. In the Govern- ments which have hitherto exifted, the power of the magiſtrate is the only article in the focial compact. Deſtroy it, and fociety is diffolved. A legal provi- fion for the refponfibility of Kings would infer, that the authority of laws could co-exift with their de- ſtruction. It is becaufe they cannot be legally and conſtitutionally, that they must be morally and rationally reſponſible. It is becauſe there are no remedies to be found within the pale of fociety, that we are to ſeek them in nature, and throw our parchment chains in the face of our oppreffors. Nɔ man can deduce a precedent of law from the Revo- lution, for law cannot exift in the diffolution of Government. A precedent of reaſon and juſtice only can be eſtabliſhed on it; and perhaps the friends of freedom merit the mifreprefentation with which they have been oppofed, for truſting their cauſe to fuch frail and frivolous auxiliaries, and for feeking in the profligate practices of men what is to be found in the facred rights of Nature. The fyftem of lawyers is indeed widely different. They can only appeal to ufage, precedents, authorities, and ftatutes. They difplay their elaborate frivolity, their perfidious friendfhip, in difgracing freedom with the fantaſtic honour of a pedigree. A pleader at the Old Bailey, who would attempt to aggravate the guilt of a robber, or a murderer, by proving that King John, or King Alfred, punifhed robbery and murder, would only provoke derifion. A man who fhould pretend that the reafon why we had right to property is, becaufe our anceſtors enjoyed that right 400 years ago, would be juftiy con- temned. 1 (144) Į temned. Yet fo little is plain fenfe heard in the myſterious nonfenfe which is the cloak of political fraud, that the Cokes, the Blackftones, and Burkes, fpeak as if our right to freedom depended on its poffeffion by our anceſtors. In the common cafes of morality we would blufh at fuch an abfurdity. No man would juftify murder by its antiquity, or ftigmatize benevolence for being novel. The ge- nealogift who fhould emblazon the one as coeval with Cain, or ftigmatize the other as upftart with Howard, would be difclaimed even by the moſt frantic partizan of Ariftocracy. This Gothic trans- fer of genealogy to truth and juftice is peculiar to politics. The exiſtence of robbery in one age makes its vindication in the next; and the cham- pions of freedom have abandoned the ſtrong hold of right for precedent, which, when the most favoura- ble, is, as might be expected from the ages which furnish it, feeble, fluctuating, partial, and equivo- cal. It is not becauſe we have been free, but becauſe we have a right to be free, that we ought to demand freedom. Juftice and liberty have neither birth nor race, youth nor age. It would be the fame abfurdity to affert, that we have a right to freedom, becauſe the Englishmen of Alfred's reign were free, as that three and three are fix, becauſe they were ſo in the camp of Genghis Khan. Let us hear no more of this ignoble and ignominious pedigree of freedom. Let us hear no more of her Saxon, Daniſh, or Norman ancestors. Let the immortal daughter of Reafon, of Justice, and of God, be no longer confounded with the fpurious abortions that have ufurped her name. But, fays Mr. Burke, we do not contend that right as created by antiquarian reſearch. We are far from contending that poffeffion legitimates ty- ranny, or that fact ought to be confounded with right. But, (to ftrip Mr. Burke's eulogies on En- glith wifdom of their declamatory appendage) the impreffion ( 145 ) impreffion of antiquity endears and ennobles free- dom, and fortifies it by rendering it auguft and ve- nerable in the popular mind. The illufion is ufeful. The expediency of political impofture is the whole force of the argument. A principle odious and ſuſpected to the friends of freedom, as the grand bulwark of fecular and ſpiritual defpotifm in the world. To pronounce that men are only to be go- verned by delufion is to libel the human under- ftanding, and to confecrate the frauds that have ele- vated Defpots and Muftis, Pontiffs and Sultans, on the ruin of degraded and oppreffed humanity. But the doctrine is as falfe as it is odious. Primary po- litical truths are few and fimple. It is eafy to make them underſtood, and to transfer to Government the fame enlightened felf-intereft that prefides in the other concerns of life. It may be made to be reſpected, not becauſe it is ancient, or becauſe it is facred, not becauſe it has been eſtabliſhed by Barons, or applauded by Prieſts, but becauſe it is uſeful. Men may eaſily be inftructed to maintain rights which it is their intereft to maintain, and duties which it is their intereft to perform. This is the only principle of authority that does not violate juſtice and infult humanity. It is alfo the only one which can poffefs ftability. The various faſhions of prejudice and factious fentiment which have been the bafis of Governments, are fhort-lived things. The illufions of chivalry, and the illufions of fuper- flition, which give ſplendor or fanctity to Govern- ment, are in their turn fucceeded by new modes of opinion and new fyftems of manners. Reafon alone, and natural fentiment, are the denizens of every nation, and the cotemporaries of every age. A conviction of the utility of Government affords the only ſtable and honourable fecurity for obedi- ence. Our anceſtors at the Revolution, it is true, were. far from feeling the full force of thefe fublime truths, L nor ( 146 ) nor was the Public mind of Europe, in the feven- teenth century, fufficiently enlightened and matured for the grand enterprizes of legiſlation. The ſci- ence which teaches the rights of man, the eloquence that kindles the fpirit of freedom, had for ages been buried with the other monuments of the wiſdom and relics of the genius of antiquity. But the revival of letters first unlocked only to a few, the facred fountain. The neceffary labours of criticiſm and lexicography occupied the earlier ſcholars, and fome time elapfed before the fpirit of antiquity was tranf- fuſed into its admirers. The firft man of that peri- od who united elegant learning to original and maf- culine thought was Buchanan, and he too feems to have been the firft fcholar who caught from the an- cients the noble flame of republican enthuſiaſm. This praife is merited by his neglected, though in- comparable tract, De Jure Regni, in which the principles of popular politics, and the maxims of a free Government, are delivered with a precifion, and enforced with an energy, which no former age had equalled, and no fucceeding has furpaffed. But the fubfequent progrefs of the human mind was flow. The profound views of Harrington were de- rided as the ravings of a vifionary; and who can wonder, that the frantic loyalty which depreffed Paradife Loft, fhould involve in ignominy the elo- quent apology of Milton for the people of England againſt a feeble and venal pedant. Sidney, "by ancient learning to the enlightened love of anci- "ent freedom warmed," taught the principles which he had fealed with his blood; and Locke, whoſe praiſe is lefs that of being bold and original, than of being temperate, found, lucid, and methodi- cal, deferves the immortal honour of having fyfte- matized, and rendered popular the doctrines of civil and religious liberty. In Ireland, Molyneux, the friend of Locke, produced the "Cafe of Ireland," a production of which it is fufficient praife to fay, that ( 147 ) that it was ordered to be burnt by a defpotic Parlia ment; and in Scotland, Andrew Fletcher, the ſcho- lar of Algernon Sidney, maintained the cauſe of his deferted country with the force of ancient elo- quence and the dignity of ancient virtue. Such is a rapid enumeration of thoſe who had before, or near the Revolution, contributed to the diffuſion of political light. But their number was fmall, their writings were unpopular, their dogmas were profcribed. The habits of reading had only then begun to teach the great body of mankind, whom the arrogance of rank and letters have igno- minously confounded under the denomination of the vulgar. Many cauſes too contributed to form a powerful Tory intereft in England. The remnant of that Gothic fentiment, the extinction of which Mr. Burke fo pathetically deplores, which engrafted loyalty on a point of honour in military attachment, formed one part, which may be called the Toryifm of Chivalry. Doctrines, almoſt now too much for- gotten for derifion, of a divine right in Kings, were then ſupported and revered. This may be called the Toryifm of Superftition. And a third fpecies arofe from the great transfer of property into an upſtart commercial intereſt which drove the ancient gentry of England, for protection againſt its inroads, behind the Throne. This may be called the Toryifm of landed Aristocracy*. Religious prejudices, out- * Principle is refpectable, even in its miftakes, and thefe To- ries of the last century were a party of principle. There were accordingly among them men of the moſt elevated and untainted bonor. Who will refufe that praife to Clarendon and South- ampton, Ormond and Montrofe. But Toryiſm, as a party of principle, cannot now exift in England; for the principles in which we have ſeen it to be founded, exilt no more. The Go- thic fentiment is effaced, the fuperftition is exploded, and the landed and commercial interefts are completely intermixed. The Toryiſm of the preſent day can only arife from a corrupt or abject heart. L 2 rages ( 148 ) rages on natural fentiment, which any artificial fyftem is too feeble to withſtand, and the ftream of events which bore them along to extremities which no man could have forefeen, involved the Tories in the Revolution, and made it a truly national act. But their repugnance to every fhadow of innova- tion was invincible. Something the Whigs may be fuppofed to have conceded for the fake of concilia- tion, but few even of their leaders, it is probable had grand and liberal views. What indeed could have been expected from the delegates of a nation, in which a few years before, the Univerſity of Oxford, repreſenting the national learning and wifdom, had, in a folemn decree offered their congratulations to Sir George Mackenzie (infamous for the abufe of brilliancy and accompliſhment for the moſt fervile and profligate purpoſes) as having confuted the abominable doctrines of Buchanan and Milton, and demonſtrated the divine right of Kings to tyrannize and opprefs mankind! It muſt be evident, that a people which could thus, by the organ of its moſt learned body, proftrate its reafon before fuch execrable abfurdities, was too young legiflation. Hence the abfurd debates in the Con- vention about the palliative phrafes of abdicate, defert, &c. which were better cut fhort by the Parliament of Scotland, when they uſed the correct and manly expreffion, that James II. had FORFEITED THE THRONE. Hence we find the Revolutionifts perpetually belying their political conduct by their legal phrafeology.-Hence their impotent and illu- five reforms. Hence their neglect of forefight for * in * This progrefs of Royal influence from a difputed fucceffion has, in fact, most fatally taken place. The Proteftant fucceffion was the fuppofed means of preferving our liberties, and to that means the end has been moft deplorably facrificed. The Whigs, the fincere, though timid and partial friends of freedom, were forced to cling to the Throne as the anchor of liberty. To pre- ferve it from utter fhipwreck, they were forced to yield fome- thing ( 149 ) (149 149) in not providing bulwarks against the natural ten- dency of a difputed fucceflion to accelerate moft rapidly the progrefs of Royal influence, by render- ing it neceffary to ftrengthen fo much the poffeffor of the Crown against the pretender to it, and thus partially facrificing freedom to the very means of preferving it. 66 But to elucidate the queftion more fully, "let us liften to the genuine oracles of Revolution policy;" not to the equivocal and palliative language of their ftatutes, but to the unreftrained effufion of fentiment in that memorable conference between the Lords and Commons, on Tuefday the 5th of February, 1688, which terminated in efta- bliſhing the prefent Government of England. The Tories yielding to the torrent, in the perfonal exclu- fion of James II. refolved to embarrafs the Whigs, by urging that the declaration of the abdication and vacancy of the throne, was a change of the Go- vernment, pro hac vice, into an elective Monarchy, The inference is irrefiftible, and it must be con- feffed, that though the Whigs were the better citi- zens, the Tories were the more correct logicians. It is in this conference that we fee the Whig leaders compelled to difclofe fo much of thofe principles, which tendernefs for prejudice, and reverence for uſage, had influenced them to diffemble. It is here that we fhall diſcover ſparks kindled in the colliſion of debate, fufficient to enlighten the "politic gloom" in which they had enveloped their meaſures. If there be any names venerable among the con- ftitutional lawyers of England, they are thofe of thing to its pretectors. Hence a national debt, a feptennial Parliament, and a ſtanding army. The avowed reaſon of the two laft was Jacobitifin. Hence the unnatural coalition between Whiggifin and Kings during the reigns of the two firft Princes of the Houfe of Hanover, which the pupillage of Leiceſter- houſe fo totally broke. Lord ( 150 ) Lord Somers and Mr. Serjeant Maynard. They were both confpicuous managers for the Commons in this conference, and the language of both will more than fanctify the inferences of Dr. Price, and the creed of the Revolution Society. My Lord Nottingham, who conducted the conference on the part of the Tories, in a manner moſt honourable to his dexterity and acutenefs, demanded of the Ma- nagers for the Commons, "Whether they mean "the Throne to be fo vacant as to null the fuc- "ceffion in the hereditary line, and fo all the heirs to be cut off? which we (the Lords) fay, will "make the Crown elective." Maynard, whoſe ar- gument always breathed much of the old republican fpirit, replied with force and plainnefs, "It is not that the Commons do ſay the Crown of England " is ALWAYS AND PERPETUALLY ELECTIVE, but "it is neceffary there be a ſupply where there is a "defect." It is impoffible to miſtake the import of theſe words. Nothing can be more evident, than that by the mode of denying that the Crown was ALWAYS AND PERPETUALLY ELECTIVE, he con- feffes that it was for the then exigency elective. In purſuance of his argument, he uſes a compariſon ftrongly illuſtrative of his belief in dogmas anathe- matized by Mr. Burke, "If two of us make a "mutual agreement to help and defend each other 66 from any one that fhould affault us in a journey, "and he that is with me turns upon me, and breaks my head, he hath undoubtedly abdicated my af- fiſtance, and revolted." Sentiments more cor- rect, or irreverent of the Kingly office, are not to be found in the moſt profane evangelift that dif graces the Democratic canon. It is not unworthy of incidental remark, that there were then perfons who felt as great horror at novelties, which have fince been univerſally received, as Mr. Burke now feels at the "rights of men." The Earl of Cla- rendon, in his ſtrictures on the ſpeech of Mr. So- mers, ( 151 ) mers, faid "I may fay thus much in general, that "this breaking the original contract is a language "that has not long been uſed in this place; nor "known in any of our law-books, or Public re- "cords. It is fprung up but as taken from fome "late authors, and thofe none of the beſt received!" -This language one might have fuppofed to be that of Mr. Burke. It is not however his; it is that of a Jacobite Lord of the 17th century! Every fyftem of pofitive law*" fays our phi- lofopher, "ought to be regarded as a more or lefs * Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, page 433, of the edition published 1768. [ 17 ] imperfect attempt towards a fyftem of natural ju- rifprudence, or towards an enumeration of the parti- cular rules of justice. As the violation of juftice is what men will never fubmit to from one ano- ther, the public magiftrate is under a neceffity of employing the power of the commonwealth to en- force the practice of this virtue. Without this precaution civil fociety would become a ſcene of bloodſhed and diſorder, every man revenging hun- felf at his own hand whenever he fancied he was injured. To prevent the confufion which would attend upon every man's doing juftice to himself, the magiftrate, in all governments that have ac- quired any confiderable authority, undertakes to do juſtice to all, and promiſes to hear and to redreis every complaint of injury. In all well-governed ſtates too, not only Judges are appointed for de- termining the controverfies of individuals, but rules are prefcribed for regulating the decifions of thofe Judges; and thefe rules are in general intended to coincide with thofe of natural justice. It does not, indeed, always happen that they do ſo in every in- ftance. Sometimes, what is called the conftitution of the ftate, that is, the intereft of the government, fometimes the intereft of particular orders of men, who tyrannize the government, and warp the po- fitive laws of the country from what natural juftice would prefcribe. In fome countries the rudenels and barbarifm of the people hinder the natural fen- timents of juftice from arriving at that accuracy and preciſion which, in more civilifed nations, they na- turally attain to. Their laws are like their man- ners, grofs, rude, and undiftinguishing. In other countries, the unfortunate conftitution of their G [ 18 ] 1 rate. courts of judicature hinders any regular fyftem of jurifprudence from ever eftabliſhing itſelf among them, though the improved manners of the peo- ple may be fuch as would admit of the moft accu- In no country do the deciſions of poſitive law coincide exactly, in every cafe, with the rules which the natural fenfe of justice would dictate. Syf- tems of pofitive law, therefore, though they deferve the greateſt authority as the records of the fenti- ments of mankind in different ages and nations, yet can never be regarded as accurate fyftems of the rules of natural justice. "It might have been expected that the reafon- ings of lawyers upon the different imperfections and improvements of the laws of different coun- tries, fhould have given occafion to an enquiry into what were the natural rules of justice, independent of all pofitive inftitution. It might have been ex- pected, that theſe reaſonings should have led them to aim at establishing a fyftem of what might properly be called natural jurifprudence, or a theory of the 86- neral principles robich ought to run through, and be the foundation of, the lares of all nations. But tho' the reafonings of lawyers did produce fomething of this kind, and though no man has treated fyftema- tically of the laws of any particular country, with- out intermixing in his work many obfervations of this fort, it was very late in the world before any fuch general fyftem was thought of, or before the philofophy of law was treated of by itſelf, and without regard to the particular inftitutions of any one nation. In none of the antient moralifts do we find an attempt towards a particular enumera- tion of the rules of juftice. Cicero 'in his Offices, } is pag f [ 19 ] and Ariſtotle in his Ethics, treat of juftice in the fame general manner in which they treat of all the other virtues. In the laws of Cicero and Plato, where we might naturally have expected fome at- tempts towards an enumeration of thoſe rules of na- tural equity, which ought to be enforced by the poſi- tive laws of every country, there is, however, no- thing of this kind. Their laws are laws of police, not of juftice. Grotius feems to have been the firſt who attempted to give the world any thing like a fyftem of thoſe principles which ought to run through, and be the foundation of, the laws of all na- tions; and his treatife of the laws of war and peace, with all its imperfections, is, perhaps, at this day, the moſt compleat work that has yet been given upon this fubject. I fhall in another difcourfe en- deavour to give an account of the general princi- ples of law and government, and of the different revolutions they have undergone in the different ages and periods of ſociety, not only in what con- cerns juftice, but in what concerns police, revenue, and arms, and whatever elſe is the object of law. I fhall not, therefore, at prefent enter into any farther detail concerning the hiftory of jurifpru- dence." Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens, by the National Affembly of France. "The repreſentatives of the people of France, formed into a National Affembly, confidering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human rights, are the fole caufe of public misfortunes and corruptions of government, have refolved to fet forth, in a folemn [ 20 ] t declaration, theſe natural, imprefcriptible, and una- lienable rights that this declaration being con- ftantly preſent to the minds of the members of the body focial, they may be ever kept attentive to their rights and their duties: that the acts of the legiflative and executive powers of government be- ing capable of being every moment compared with the end of political inftitutions, may be more reſpect- ed: and alſo, that the future claims of the citizens, being directed by fimple and inconteftible princi- ples, may always tend to the maintenance of the conftitution, and the general happineſs. “For thefe reaſons the National Affembly doth recognize and declare, in the prefence of the Su- preme Belag, and with the hope of his bleffing and favour, the following facred rights of men and of citizens : 66 T I. Men are born, and always continue, free, and equal in refpect of their rights. Civil diftinc- tions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility. i. The end of all political affociations is, the prefervation of the natural and imprefcriptible rights of men; and thefe rights are liberty, property, fe- curity, and reiitance of oppreffion. "III. The nation is effentially the fource of all Sovereignty; nor can any individual, or any body. of men, be entitled to any authority which is not exprefsly derived from it. IV. Political liberty confifts in the power of doing whatever does not injure another. The cxer- cife of the natural rights of every man has no other Emits than thoſt, which are neceffary to fecure to every other man the free exercife of the fame rights; and thefe lunits are determinable only by the law. [ 21 ] $ "V. The law ought to prohibit only actions hurtful to fociety. What is not prohibited by the law fhould not be hindered; nor fhould any one be compelled to that which the law does not re- quire. "VI. The law is an expreffion of the will of the community. All citizens have a right to con- cur, either perfonally, or by their reprefentatives, in its formation. It should be the fame to all, whe- ther it protects or punishes; and all being equal in its fight, are equally eligible to all honours, places, and employments, according to their different abilities, without any other diftinction than that created by their virtues and talents. "VII. No man fhould be accufed, arrefted, or held in confinement, except in cafes determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has preſcribed. All who promote, folicit, execute, or cauſe to be executed, arbitrary orders, ought to be puniſhed; and every citizen called upon, or appre- hended by virtue of the law, aught immediately to obey, and renders himſelf culpable by reſiſtance. VIII. The law ought to impofe no other pe- nalties but fuch as are abfolutely and evidently ne- ceffary; and no one ought to be punished, but in virtue of a law promulgated before the offence, and legally applied. "IX. Every man being prefumed innocent till he has been convicted, whenever his detention be- comes indifpenfible, all rigour to him, more than is neceffary to fecure his perfon, ought to be pro- vided againſt by the law. "X. No man ought to be molefted on account of bis opinions, not even on account of his religious A [ 22 ] opinions, provided his avowal of them does not diſturb the public order eſtabliſhed by the laws. "XI. The unreftrained communication of thoughts and opinions being one of the most precious rights of man, every citizen may ſpeak, write, and publifh freely, provided he is refponfible for the abufe of this liberty in cafes determined by the law. "XII. A public force being neceffary to give fe- curity to the rights of men and of citizens, that force is inftituted for the benefit of the community, and not for the particular benefit of the perfons with whom it is entruſted. "XIII. A common contribution being neceffary for the fupport of the public force, and for defray- ing the other expences of Government, it ought to be divided equally among the members of the com- munity according to their abilities. "XIV. Every citizen has a right, either by himfelf, or his reprefentative, to a free voice in de- termining the neceffity of public contributions, the appropriation of them, and their amount, mode of affeffment, and duration. XV. Every community has a right to demand of all its agents, an account of their conduct. "XVI. Every community, in which a fepara-. tion of powers and a fecurity of rights are not pro- vided for, wants a conftitution, "XVII. The right to property being inviolate and facred, no one ought to be deprived of it, ex- cept in cafes of evident public neceffity, legally af certained, and on condition of a previous juft in- demnity.' 29. I have fubjoined the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens to the liberal fenti- [ 23 ] ments of our Engliſh Philofopher, publiſhed nearly thirty years before, to prove that the generous and beneficent attempt to realize the natural rights of man is merely an execution of what he had con-. ceived. This Declaration, like our Bill of Rights, in many of its articles, condemns the abufes of their former Government. They, however, had the wisdom to go farther, to lay their foundations in acknowledged truths, which, thus folemnly re- corded, might afford governors and people an eter- ∙nal monument of their duties. Were I difpofed to multiply quotations, it would not be difficult to produce authorities from the wri- ters on our laws, in vindication of almoſt every article in this Declaration, refpecting the private rights of individual citizens. The better mode will be, to felect for difcuffion the controverted parts. Among the articles, which refpect the rights of individuals, certainly the moſt important deviation from our eſtabliſhed laws, is that maxim, derived from eternal principles of juftice, that "all being equal in its fight, are equally eligible to all honours, places, and employments, according to their diffe- rent abilities, without any other diftinction than that created by their virtues and talents.' "" Difabilities and profcriptions of particular bodies of men, as thefe never can be the puniſhment of a crime, muſt ever be unjuſt to the individual; muſt provoke his hatred of the power that inflicts the in- jury; muft in the prevailing party nouriſh a ſpirit of tyranny, for ever growing by indulgence; and muft therefore have a neceffary tendency to deſtroy the peace and order of fociety. Were the conftitu- tion of any ftate fo far perfected, that legiſlation [ 24 ] fhould always proceed on general principles of equal juftice, the laws will in fuch ftate be regarded, not as a burden, but a benefit; not a weapon of hoftility and outrage, but as a cementing benevo- lent principle uniting all hearts in their defence. Each man will feel an intereft in the obedience of others, and no individual will henceforth violate the laws without perfonal difgrace, and provoking the juft indignation of all. An intelligent mind, abftracted from the hiftory of human follies and human crimes, would difcover in religion a new fecurity for this reign of univerfal peace. The firft idea prefented, muſt be an awful impreffion of the power and wifdom of the Great Author of all-created being. A contemplation of his works muft develope the benevolence with which they were framed; and the general laws of the phyfical and moral world muſt teach, that all are equal in his fight. Of the natural rights which God has given to man, the most perfect is the freedom of his own mind. This he cannot renounce, though he may difguife. He cannot abandon, though he may belie his confcience, and deceive mankind. Of all the employments in which the powers of the human mind can be engaged, the worfhip of the Divine Being is peculiarly that, in which hypocrify is folly added to guilt-is peculi- arly that which always must belong exclusively to the individual. As it regards another life, it can effect none but him. As it indirectly affects the affairs of this life, its operation depends folely on the fince- rity with which it forms the heart and internal ha- bits of the individual. If his devotions be fincere and rational, he can hope only to merit the favour [ 25 ] of the Deity by the difcharge of his moral duties to his fellow creatures, with whom he is deſtined to act. Accordingly we find, that in all religions, which are not mere fyftems of prieſtcraft, the fun- damental principles are the fame. They all enjoin the performance of the fame duties. How far any religion ſhall produce a real effect, muſt depend on the fincerity with which the particular religioniſt humbles himfelf before his God. The utmoſt ef- forts of others, except by inſtruction, can avail no- thing. Happily for mankind the truths which concern his duty are too obvious to create a difference of opinion. When, indeed, man wonders beyond theſe limits into the airy regions of metaphyfical fubtlety, where prieſts have dogmatiſed, and the gaping multitude obeyed, in thinking minds opini- ons continually diverge, until as great a variety prevails in the fentiments as in the faces of man- kind. Amidſt this variety the wifh of the indivi- dual to render his fervice moft acceptable to the Deity, is a ſubject on which a philofopher would expect mutual forbearance, even greater than in the moſt abſtract ſpeculative ſcience. It exclusively af- fects the individual worſhipper alone, and the moſt unbounded exercife of private judgment is duty. Yet ftrange as it may feem in a religion, whoſe fundamental principle is to love our neighbour as ourfelves, and whofe author has explained neigh- bour to mean man without diftinction of nation, of language, or religion, intolerance of unimportant fpeculative dogmas, idle modes of worship and of faith, have convulfed every Chriftian kingdom, and deluged the earth with blood. Its ferocious afpect, D } [ 26 ] indeed, has foftened, as reafon and knowledge dif fufed their influence, but the malignant fpirit yet lurks in tefts, which the prevailing temper of the age forbids the Magiftrate to execute, fufficient, however, to engender difcord, and occafionally def- troy the houſes of our fellow citizens. That fociety can have no poffible intereft in tefts, this fingle confideration demonftrates. To thofe, who are fo unfortunate as not to comprehend or believe the relation in which man, as a moral being, ftands to his Creator, all tefts are vain. They can- not heſitate to fubfcribe any dogmas, or perform any ceremonies, which convenience may require. Thofe, on the other hand, whofe minds are aw- fully impreffed with this great truth, find in that opinion alone all the function which religion can poſſi- bly give to the difcharge of focial duties. To fuch, tefts are uſeleſs. But are tefts, therefore, inno- cent? Their hiſtory proves, that they have origi-. nated in the worft paffions of the human heart, are to this day upheld by the fame ſpirit; and their ne- ceflary effects fpeak them fubverfive of the very foundations of all true religion and virtue. The teſt act originated in that horror of popery, which pervaded the kingdom in the reign of Charles the Second; which, taught our anceſtors to apprehend a general mallacre from a feeble race, imbued, in- deed, with a fooliſh fuperftition, but who formed not one hundredth part of the nation; which poi- foned the very fountains of public fecurity by falfe plots and confpiracies, murdering harmlefs citizens under the maſk and forms of juftice; which made that infamous perjured yillain, Titus Oates, a penfi- oner at the Revolution; which depofited the laft re- [ 27 ] mains of its baneful influence in the outrages of Lord George Gordon's mob, deftroying our houſes, and vomiting forth the contents of our priſons on the peaceful inhabitants of this great metropolis. The adverſe and equally fenfeleſs yell of danger to the church firſt provoked the oppofite paffion by the perfecutions of Laud, aided by the Courts of High Commiffion and Star-chamber; fupported the abfurd tyranny of Charles; upheld for a time the more foo- lifh bigotry and greater violence of his brother; made a Saint of Sacheverel for preaching the impi- ous and contemptible nonfenfe of paffive obedience and non-reſiſtance; and at length difgraced the na- tion in the eyes of enlightened Europe, by exciting an illiterate ignorant mob to deſtroy the houſe of a philofopher, who is an honor to his country, of a man whom the virtuous muft love, and to involve in the fame ruin many worthy and induftrious citi- zens, who prefumed to worſhip God in the manner they deem moſt acceptable to the divine nature. One party, indeed, Diffenters included, though difgraced by their fanaticifm, directed their cla- mours againſt Popery to a noble object, the ad- vancement of the civil liberties, and confequent happineſs of mankind. They refifted the tyranny of the Stuarts; were the active friends of the Re- volution; fecured the fucceffion to the Houfe of Brunſwick; and preferved the Crown to the anceſ tors of his prefent Majefty. Above all, thefe men firſt learnt to apply their reafonings on civil to religious liberty; and have amply redeemed thei paft follies by the juft and liberal fentiments they now maintain. On the other hand, King-craft and prieſt-craft yet continue to difgrace their ad- Ir- [ 28 ] 1 faries, who, in their ridiculous pretended zeal for uniformity of doctrine, which hypocrites alone can profefs, lofe fight of all their duties, and harden their hearts againſt the common charities, without which religion is a lie, and its rites a folemn moc- kery of their God. A Right Reverend Prelate founds the trump of civil difcord; and while an ignorant multitude purſue without mercy, and plunder without remorfe, pious paftors from their pulpits infult the juftice of their country in the pre- fence of her Judges, by treating the outrage of banditti as a wholefome fupplement to her laws. I, who can laugh at fone dogmas of our church, and fubmit to her difcipline, may venture to fug- geft, that the folly of this profcriptive ſpirit can be equalled only by its guilt. Why should the Church, by prophaning the moft folemn rites of her religion, to qualify an Excifeman, expofe her- felf to the derifion and contempt of enemies, whoſe numbers the cannot diminish? Why irritate, why fimulate a numerous intelligent body of Diffenters to inveſtigate her errors and expofe her defects ? Can a Diffenter poffibly behold the laws of his country, excluding him from the common rights of citizenſhip, treating the acceptance of an office in the management of our common concern, as the moft atrocious crime to be punished with all the confequences of outlawry? Can a Diffenter feel fuch outrage and not abhor the unnatural, the ab- turd injustice? There is a fophiftry in our paffions which cafily perfuades us to believe it is our duty to deftroy, what we cannot but deteft and abhor. While, therefore, teft laws fubfift, all who diffent from the Church will labour its overthrow. Even 77 [ 29 ] I, a churchman and friend to establishment, do not heſitate to ſay, if the Clergy will combine their fafety with injuftice to others, let eſtabliſhments pe- rifh. Eſtabliſhments are uſeful; juſtice is neceſſary to the well-being of ſociety. So abfurdly do fome men reaſon, that this tem per of Diffenters thus provoked and created has been urged as an argument for upholding the caufe. The Clergy, forgetting the precepts of the meek author of their religion, claim a merit in abftaining from more active perfecution, take praiſe that they do not re-light the fires of Smithfield, and with the language of charity in their mouths, but with the moſt unchriſtian rancour in their hearts, reprefent profcription from the common rights of citizenship as no injury. They affect to juſtify injuſtice: and in their turn to complain, that their indulgence to tender confciences is ill received, and that thofe who are not contented with their permiffion to live unmo- lefted in our common country, prove themfelves unworthy the rights of citizens. In private life, were an individual to hold the fame language, were he to fay to his equal, " I do you no injury; I have neither murdered your father, nor robbed your houfe; I have only turned you out of every public meeting in the parish." Were he abfurdly to juf- tify his violence, by alledging the manifeft anger and refentment of his adverfary, a dark room and ftrait waistcoat would be the fole reply to fuch ridi- culous madneſs. Yet the abfurdity of our preſent teft laws is fomewhat greater. While they irritate and provoke the Diffenters by an exclufion from all offices of honor or profit, they admit them as elec- tors, admit them cren to fit in both Houfes of Par- ( [ 30 ] liament, where alone their refentment can attempt a change. The real motive for preferving thefe laws is not a regard for the interefts of ſociety, yet leſs for the interefts of religion; nor is the motive to be found in a zeal for the eftablishments of our Church. Some eſtabliſhment may reſt on the broad baſis of public utility. A precarious provifion for the Clergy has a natural tendency to degrade religion in the perfons of its Minifters; lefs, indeed, than a per- verfion of its precepts, or a prophanation of its rites. The Clergy of the National religion ought, there- fore, to be placed in a fituation, whenever they de- ferve to command refpect. It were, perhaps, dif- ficult to reconcile to enlightened reafon all the ar- rangements of our national Church: but poffeffion is title, which none can impeach, who cannot de- monftrate advantages more than fufficient to com- penfate the neceffary evils of a change. If teſt laws degrade religion by a proftitution of its rites, deftroy it by a fubverfion of its precepts, and en- danger the Church eſtabliſhment without a rational motive, what can fupport them? According to Biſhop Warburton, the eſtabliſhed Church in any country is the natural ølly of the civil government and "the great preliminary or fundamental article of alliance is this: that the Church fhall apply all its influence in the fervice of the State, and the State thall fupport and protect the Church." According to this notable fyftem all governments are a confpi- racy of profligate Statelinen and corrupt Priefts gainst the common rights of mankind. Of fuch a fyftem teft laws are a moft ufcful part: they enable Priefts and Statefinen to inflame the minds of men [ 31 ] But againſt each other by groundlefs diftinctions-the very terms of which the multitude cannot compré- hend to preclude all union from a fenfe of com- mon intereft; and thus advance the profit of a few on the plunder, and oppreffion of the many. the fun of freedom has riſen on the world to difpel theſe clouds of ignorance. The nation will unite in a common caufe: and if fuch confpirators fhall then remain, their falfehood, hypocrify, and fraud, will incur the fcorn and deteftation of mankind. ment. The principle of juftice, extending its equal pro- tection to every member of the community, fpeaks. the plain language of univerſal peace. To confider public inſtitutions as deriving all their claim to fup- port from their public utility, has a neceffary ten- dency to unite all men in the cauſe of just govern- Yet for maintaining thefe doctrines have I been ſtigmatifed as wifhing to become the leader of a mob. With thoſe who cannot reafon, I appeal to my paſt conduct. In the year 1780 it was my lot to fit in Parliament when Lord George Gordon affembled his myrmidons. Generally voting againſt Government, then engaged in the American war, I had no particular call of duty to be forward in its defence: yet for my activity in refifting that ban- ditti, affembled in the lobby to awe the Houfe of Commons, I had the honor to be included in the fame profcription with Sir George Saville; and my humble habitation would probably have fhared the fate of his, had not the Irish Students of the Law, perfect ftrangers to me, with a generous fpirit cha- rácteristic of the nation, offered their protection. Our meaſures for refiftance, at firit derided, taught others to confult their own fafety; and we were foon invited to concur in a common defence. } [ 32 ] 1 pa- The friends of civil and religious liberty muft ever be friends of order. Their fole power is the voice of truth, which can be heard only in a calm. The temple of their worship can alone ariſe from the ſober reaſon of mankind, directed by a ſenſe of common intereſt. Government, on the contrary, love an occafional riot, which, with the affiftance of the military, is eafily fuppreffed; in the mean time it alarms the votaries of a fordid luxury; makes them crouch for protection; and teaches them tiently to endure evils impofed by the hand of power. Accordingly, for more than a month pre- ceding the 14th of July, all the daily prints, in the intereft of the Treaſury, laboured to excite a tu- mult: yet in the numerous places where the French Revolution was celebrated, among its friends thus irritated and infulted, not a fymptom of ill will to any human being has appeared. In Birmingham, on the other hand, the fenfelefs yell of danger to the Church refounded; and an ignorant multitude were taught to difplay their zeal for a meek and holy religion, by conflagrations raiſed in the houſes of their fellow citizens. Even after this event, doubtless fome breach of order, Government have abounded in tenderness and mercy. To let loose the rigors of juſtice, might have been a cruel facri- fice of their friends *. * It were improper to fufpect any part of the Clergy of wishing this calamity: yet the Chriflian charity of many could not refrain their cxultation 1.1 the calamity' fell on thofe who, doubtlefs, were "finners beyond all the Galileans." One inftance in which the zeal of the Church was oppofed to good works deferves to be recorded. At Warwick fome ungodly Diffenters had admitted into their Sunday fchool certain children, whom the Church ſchools had rejected. They cloathed theſe children, and initructed them, not in controverfial Divinity, but in the rudiments of Chriflianity. It was even proved, that thefe [ 33 ] When reaſoning men behold theſe things they are more firmly convinced, that a ſenſe of univer- fal juſtice can alone eſtabliſh permanent order and peace-that a rigid adherence to general principles in legiſlation can alone fecure imperfect beings from the feduction of prejudice or paffion; and thence infer the wifdom of France in this folemn declaration of right, that the law fhould "be the fame to all, whether it protects or punishes; and all being equal in its fight, are equally eligible to all honours, places, and employments, according to their different abilities, without any other dif- tinction than that created by their virtues and ta- lents. "" "That the nation is effentially the ſource of fo- vereignty," is the principle of public law, againſt which the whole artillery of your eloquence has been levelled. Yet this I affirm to be the funda- mental principle of the Britiſh conſtitution; and that whoever denies it, cannot maintain the title of his preſent Majefty to the Throne of thefe king- doms. That, in fact, his title originated in the act of the PEOPLE, not organized in any legal form, wicked Diffenters fometimes had given money to the children moſt di- ligent in their learning, and to the whole company a dinner every Sun- day. This feduction from the Church created alarm. A worthy Cler- gyman required them to fhut up their fchool, and doublefs; in the ex- ceſs of his zeal, hinted-" fome dreadful confequences" of their ob- ftinacy," a meeting-houſe and dwellings of their own that may poffibly in their turn be deftroyed." Four more reverend Churchmen, withi other wife men of Gotham, affembled, and gravely voted, that he “had ſupported the character of a confcientious and good Chriftian, and that the thanks of this meeting are due to him for his upright and judicious conduct." It is but juftice to add, that Dr. Cornwallis, Bifhop of Litchfield and Coventry, interpofed in a manner highly becoming his ftation. * E * [ 34 ] L nor convened by any legal authority, feems to me beyond all controverfy. The hiftory of the Revo- lation you have endeavoured to pervert. A fimple narrative confutes you. King James, who by law could do no wrong, becaufe by law his agents and inftruments were alone refponfible, and who, upon principles of natural justice, could not forfeit for his fon, fled from the kingdom, and carried with him his fon. The Prince of Orange refuſed to act upon the addrefs of the Peers convened under lord Hallifax, but called together a reprefentative of the PEOPLE, acknowledged by no lare, nor analogous to any affembly that had ever exifted. He convened not the Members of Parliament who had fat under James, the Second-not the Members of any one Parliament that had fat under Charles-but all the Members who had fat in any Parliament of Charlès the Second, before the fubverfion of charters; and to theſe were added the Mayor, Aldermen, and fifty. Members of the Common Council of the city of Lon don. This affembly invested the Prince of Orange with authority to convene a Parliament; and under this authority the fubfequent fettlement was made, which has given to the Houfe of Brunſwick their title to the Throne of theſe kingdoms. It is plain that this affembly was convened by a Prince who had no pretence of himself to exercife authority within thefe kingdoms-no claim but his recent merits in delivering the people from arbitrary power -no title but to their gratitude and accordingly a grateful fenfe of his merits rendering him the object of their choice, the nation vefted in him the fole ex- ercife of the Royal authority during his life, in ex- clufion even of his wife, the Princeſs Mary, as well + རྩམ་པ [35] as of other branches of the royal Family. The Nation in this fettlement were certainly not go verned by caprice, but by a rational fober choice. The then preſent ſettlement in the Prince of Orange, was a meaſure of prefent convenience; the fubfe- quent limitations followed the line of legal fuccef- ſion, as far as was judged confiftent with the religion and liberties of the country. The late king, his fon, and all Papifts, were for ever excluded. When we ſpeak of a right in the nation, we do not mean a right to be found in the ftatute book, or defined by any exifting law, for we are ſpeaking of a right paramount, the fource and origin of all law; but if no right to change the fucceffion to the Crown refides in the People, his prefent Ma- jeſty is an ufurper, and we are all rebels againſt our lawful Sovereign. From the Revolution (not to go higher) no perfon legally entitled to convene a Parliament has appeared, confequently no Parlia ment has exiſted; for I prefume you are not wil«, ling to revive the Republican fraud of the King's authority, fignified by the two Houfes of Parliament. In defiance, however, of the fenfelefs jargon of Tories and Jacobites, his Majefty's title ftands on a rock of adamant. His title originated from the PEOPLE, exercifing a right which the God of na ture has given, and that title has been uniformly fanctioned by their confent. To rejoice at the overthrow of defpatifm, and the erection of a free conftitution, does not require a nice difcrimination of the cafes, in which an exer- cife of this right is confiftent with morol duty. No man ever contended that a nation, any more than the individuals of which it is compofed, are ex- [ 36 ] empt from moral reftraints. Deriving their being and their rights from God, all are accountable to God for their conduct; but as no Theocracy exiſts, and as the delegated divine right of Kings is ex- ploded, we infer, that Britiſh Kings, deriving their authority from the people, are accountable to the peo- ple; and steadily appeal to the Revolution as deci- fiye evidence of this truth-a truth which no friend to the Houfe of Brunfwick can poffibly deny. If the language of the old Whigs, in contradic- tion to the plain fact of their conduct, was accom- modated to the prejudices of their allies the Tories, who concurred in the Revolution-if they wished not to expofe their recent eſtabliſhment to the at- tack of theſe prejudices-if, notwithstanding all their care, two rebellions were excited by thefe pre- judices in favour of the exiled family, and againft the family of his prefent Majefty, now that the danger is paft, to enlighten the people becomes a duty. In our anceſtors this language of prejudice might be a pious fraud. In us the fame language is falfehood without a motive, and folly without excufe. : peo- The error of your reaſoning is manifeſt. It pro- ceeds on this facrifice to prejudice, and the confe- quent inaccuracy in the language of the Whigs at the Revolution but it fubverts the principles on which they afted. Thus to difprove the right of the ple, you tranſcribe the language of the convention Parliament, which derived its exilence from the will of the nation, Spoken by an organ unknown to our laws, by a repreſentation of the people, ex- tremely diffimilar in its conftitution to an ordinary Houfe of Commons. In the fame manner you re- [ 37 ] 3 In fer to the language of the act of fſettiement, which you ſay veſts by recognition in their Majefty's all the legal prerogatives of the Crown, though the firſt object of that act was to veft the fole exercife of thefe prerogatives in King William, who had ne pretence of title but the choice of the nation. like manner you exult † in the legiſlative ejacula- tion, at "the marvellous providence and merciful goodneſs of God to this nation, to preferve their faid Majeſties Regal perfons moſt happily to reign over us on the Throne of their anceſtors;" though the act was made to overturn the legal fucceffion, and to confer the Crown on their Majefties, who confeffedly had no previous title. And laftly, to fum up this notable argument, and filence all ob- jections, you give us the language of this act, in which Lords and Commons, in the name of the People, "fubmit themfelves and their heirs and pofterity for ever," as a complete abdication of all future right of change in their poſterity; though you confefs this to be a tranfcript of an act of their ancestors, which by this very inftrument they them- felves had overthrown by which inftrument they had poftponed to King William two Princeffes prior in the line of fucceffion, Proteftants, refident within the kingdom, againſt whom there was no excep tion:-by which inftrument they had abfolutely cut off, not only King James, a tyrant and bigot, but likewiſe his innocent infant fon, from an appre- henfion, that he might be hereafter educated in prin- ciples, civil and religious, adverſe to the liberties of the country by which inftrument they had even- Reflections, p. 25. † p. 24. [ 38 ] } + tually transferred the Crown to the Princefs Sophia, in preference to others prior in the legal courſe of fucceffion; and had on this limitation engrafted a new condition refpecting the religion and marriage of even her pofterity. By fuch reaſoning an ef tate, conveyed to a man and his heirs for ever, would become the unalienable property of thoſe heirs in eternal fucceffion. The fole difference is this that an eftate, being held for the benefit of the individual, is at his difpofal. All magiftracy being held folely for the benefit of the nation, the nation alone have the right to determine how and by whom it fhall be exercifed. It is a vain attempt to puz- zle a plain fubject, by involving it in moral dif- tinctions, which only regard the exercife of the right. A man who fhould diſinherit a worthy fon in favour of a worthleſs ſtranger, would act à moſt immoral part; but his right to difpofe of his.pro- perty could not be queftioned. So a nation which fhould change their government, without an ade- quate motive, without a rational profpect of ad- vancing the public happinefs, would likewife act a moft immoral part; but their right to judge for themfelves, though not fo familiar in the exercife, is alike unquestionable. This diftinction between a right and its exercife is perfectly familiar in the wri¬ ters on the laws of nations; and almoft all the ac- knowledged rights of nations, in their intercourfe with each other, ftand on this diftinction.*. 1- To illuftrate this reafoning in its full extent, would be to tran- fcribe volumes—it is fufficient to fuggeft the idea to thofe converfant with writers on public law. In a moral view the right of war, in any nation, is a right to profecute the demands of juftice; which, in a moral view, the adverſe nation can have no right to withhold. All the fubfidiary 、 [ 39 ] You have not pushed this argument from the language of public acts as far as fair logical deduc- tion will warrant. Should fome wicked modern Whig affirm, which he might do without appre- henfion of cenfure, that, to prevent abuſes in the executive power of the Crown, and to keep Kings and Minifters within the bounds of law, formed under our preſent conftitution, the moſt important duty of Parliament, how triumphantly might you appeal, not to the obfolete language of the laft cen- tury, but to the language of the prefent exifting Houfe of Commons, whofe firft act was to proftrate themſelves before the Throne, and humbly receive from the grace and favour of his Majefty that pre- tended natural right, freedom of ſpeech? How can that affembly be inſtituted for the purpoſe of con- trol, who cannot even debate the ſubject of this pretended duty, without the permiffion of the Sove- reign? When a man, gifted like Mr. Burke, con-- defcends to employ fuch reaſoning, he demonſtrates the neceffity of reforming abfurd inftitutions, and rendering the language of laws confiftent with the theory and principles of a free Government. How artfully do you confound diſtinct ideas in the following paffage:"The conftitution of a * rights attributed to nations are the means of profecuting this original right of juflice, confequently muft arife from it, and can only belong to one of the contending nations. Yet, according to the received maxims of the law of nations, not only neutral, but even the contending nations, at tribute thefe derivative rights to both; becauſe to decide whofe caufe is juft, would be to arrogate a fuperiority, which annihilates the indepen- dence, and confequently the exiſtence of the nation. The fame reafon ing applies with greater force to a whole community as contraſted with any of its parts. * Appeal, p. 118. [ 40 ] country being once fettled upon fome fome compact, tacit or expreffed, there is no power exifting of force to alter it without the breach of the covenant, or the confent of all parties. Such is the nature of a contract." And in another part of your work you inform us, that, independent of civil inftitutions, no right of a majority can exiſt-ſo that the confent of every individual citizen, upon your reaſoning, is required. Speaking of an exprefs contract, or a contract properly fo called, your argument is cor- rectly true. When any number of men have pledged their faith for the performance of certain ftipulations, nothing fhort of the confent of every individual can abfolve the reft from the obligation, becauſe the intent of an exprefs or proper contract is, to define what each fhall do for the benefit of others. -and the obfervance of faith is a moral duty, with which I am not difpofed to play the cafuift. Exclude, therefore, all exceptions. Admit the nature of a contract to be indiffoluble without a breach of covenant, or the confent of every indi- vidual. Upon this principle, how will you juſtify any change in the conftitution, even the moft mi- nute; for every part of a contract is equally birid- ing, equally indiffoluble, without confent? How will you defend your favourite Parliament, which, elected for three years, fraudulently prolonged their power to ſeven? Has the fubfequent acquiefcence, the confent of the people, legalized this ufurpation ? You, who reprobate the departure of the National Affembly from the letter of the cahiers, though their actual exercife of power has been uniformly applauded by a whole nation, cannot advance this argument of fubfequent confent. Certainly the [ 41 ] confent of the Britiſh appears far more equivocal than that of the French nation. Formally and diftinctly it never has been given-tacitly, under terror of punishment, if they prefumed to refiſt. Poffibly you may fay, that by the contract eſtabliſh- ing our Government, the confent of every indivi- dual is bound up, and involved in the confent of Parliament. This is the ground I fhould have choſen to prove, that all contract on the fubject of Government is impoffible. In every government there muft be a fupreme legiflative power. Whe- ther this fupreme power be veſted in a Parliament, a Senate, or an individual, the argument is the fame; for we are examining the fuppofed foun- dation of all Government. A contract of fubmiffion to the will of this fupreme power is affumed. This would be a contract of a nature, fuch as the Courts of Juftice, in no civilized nation, ever admitted. To affirm it is palpaple nonfenfe. It would be an engagement, binding only on one party, which the other might vary at pleafure; becaufe, in the exer- cife of legiflation, the Prince, or the Senate, or the Parliament, in whom the power might be vefted, could prefcribe the rule of their own conduct. It would be an engagement on the part of the people to fubmit to the unlimited pleafure or caprice of others-a fituation in which man, as a moral being accountable to God for his conduct, cannot place himfelf. To talk of a contract between the Magiftrate and People, in moſt of the exifting Monarchies, where the will of the Prince is the meafure, and a military. force the means of compelling obedience, is to in- fult the common fenfe of mankind. Our Monar- F | [ 42 ] 舅 ​chy, indeed, forms a fignal exception to this ob- fervation; but for exulting as a Briton in this honor- able diftinction, you have loaded Dr. Price with the fouleſt abufe. I am willing, however, to give you all the benefit which this honorable diſtinction affords. In our Government, no contract exifts. By the term original contract, in the famous vote of the convention Parliament, our ancestors could only mean an obligation inferable from the relations in which Governors and People are claced-fimilar to the obligations quafi ex contrattu of the civil law te • or as they are more incorrectly denominated in our law, implied contracts duties inferable from natural justice. That the term original contract was employed in this fenfe, is evident from no re- ference being made to any specific compact (for none exiſted), and from the vague and indefinite terms in which the breach of this original contract is charged, " an endeavour to fubvert the conftitu- tion, and a violation of the fundamental laws.' What are fundamental laws? What is an endea- vour to fubvert the conftitution? What it a people. be fo unfortunate as to have no conſtitution of go- vernment, but are fubject to the defpotic will of one man? Where are fuch a people to learn their civil duties? Where! but in thofe reprobated rights of nature which our Engliſh philofopher has taught us, ought to run through, and be the foundation of, the laws of all nations?" Where! but in thoſe moral obligations, which reafon is able to deduce from the relations in which we are placed by the hand of the Creator? Where! but from thoſe principles to learn the nature and true end of Go- vernment, and aided by the experience of all ages the diffempers of Parliament were the diffempers of his own time; and the remedy for Parliamentary dif orders can never be compleated in Parliament-nay fcarcely begin there." Read the deliberate writings of the accufed, and pronounce the verdict. Mr. Burke is not more fortunate in the authorities to which he refers. Who can diffent from his eulogy on the Prefident Montefquieu? *Think of a gen nius not born in every country, or every time; a man gifted by nature with a penetrating aquiline eye;' with judgment prepared by the most extensive erudition; with an Herculean robustness of mind, and nerves noi to be broken with labonr; a man who could spend twenty years in one parfuit. Think of a man like the univerfal patriarch in Milton (who had drawn up before him, in prophetic vifion, the whole ferics of ge- nerations who were to iffie from his loins) a man cá- pable of placing in review, after having brought to- gether, from the Eaft, the Weft, the North, and the South, from the coarseness of the rudejt barbarifm to the most refined and fubtle civilization, all the fchemes of Government which had ever prevailed among man- kind, weighing, meaſuring, collating, and comparing them all, joining fact with theory, and calling into council, upon all this infinite affemblage of things, all the speculations which have fatigued the understand- ings of profound reafoners in all times! Let us then confider, that all these were fo many preparatory ſleps to qualify a man, and fuch a man, tinctured with no national prejudice, with no domeftic affection, to ad- mire, and bold out to the admiration of mankind, the Conflitution of England! and shall we, English men, revoke to fuch a fuit?No. Let Montefquieu be judge, and Burke the patriot be the witnefs to ftaté * Appeal, p. 115. ! [ 75 ] 1 the facts. I then affirm the decifion is with me in every litigated point. The reader will be fo good as to recal to his me- mory thofe paffages I have tranfcribed from the writings of Mr. Burke. Let him even qualify and reftrain them by the moft temporate conftruction; and then collect from Mr. Burke the actual fate of the Government of this country. On the laws which conſtitute the freedom of the individual fubject, we are agreed; for Montefquieu diftinguishes between the freedom of the conftitution and the freedom of the fubject. "The fubject may be free, and not the conftitution *." The freedom of the ſubject, according to this writer, may arife" from morals, cuſtoms, or received examples, and civil laws may favour it :" but "on the goodneſs of criminal laws the liberty of the fubject principally depends †.' On this head, when the right and duty of Juries, in cafes of libels, fhall be eſtabliſhed, we can have no controverfy. The adminiſtration of juftice is among the found parts of our Conftitution. In the beautiful review of the Engliſh Conftitu- tion, to which Mr. Burke alludes, Montefquieu expreſsly declares," All the inhabitants of the feve- ral districts ought to have a right of voting at the election of a reprefentative, except fuch as are in fo mean a condition as to be deemed to have no will of their own.' What more do we require? Or what does Mr. Burke with peculiar ardor refift? Mon- teſquieu thinks the liberty of the Conftitution de- pends on the fundamental laws, which diftribute the legiflative and executive powers.. "When the >> legiflative and executive powers are united in the fame perfon, or in the fame body of Magiftrates, there can be no liberty; becauſe apprehenfions may Spirit of Fawe, B. 12, c. 1. † B. 12, c. 2. † B. 11, c. 6. [ 76 ] 7 f “ If,” arife, that the fame Monarch or Senate may enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner." Again: "But if there were no Monarch, and the executive power was committed to a cer- tain number of perſons ſelected from the legiſlative body, there would be an end of liberty; becauſe the faine perfons would actually fometimes have, and would moreover always be able to have, a fhare in botn," The legislative power vefted in a correct repreſentation of the people, the executive power in an hereditary Monarch, with a compleat fepara- tion of the legislative and executive powers, form the bafis of the French Conftitution; while in England the choice of the Sovereign is limited, in fact, to the leaders of contending factions in Parliament; and our monumental debt attefts the folly of uniting in the fame perfons the refponfible character of Minif ters, and the effective power of controul. fays Montefquieu, the Prince were to have a fhere in the legiflation by the power of refolving, liberty would be loft." Again: "Were the exe- cutive power to ordain the raifing of public money, otherwife than by giving its confent, liberty would be at an end, because it would become legislative in the most important point of legiflation." not the whole effective power of raifing public mo- ney refide in the Minifters of the Crown? What edicts of taxation have our Parliaments refufed to regifter? or when did they even name a Committee to infpect the public accounts, that the lift was not prepared by the Minifter? Have not the prefent Parliament voted more than Soo,oool. per annum additional taxes, almoft without the compliment of a debate? Yet when the Spaniſh Convention was concluded, when the fubject had paffed into Does [ 77 ] hiftory, did they not refufe to inveſtigate how far the expenditure of four millions was neceffary? Montefquieu fortels the ruin of our freedom. "As all human things must have an end; the ftate we are fpeaking of will lofe its liberty, it will perish. Have not Rome, Sparta, and Carthage, perished? It will periſh when the legislative power jhall be more cor- rupted than the executive." How near that calami- tous period approaches, let the writings of Mr. Burke atteft! With thefe warnings, fhall the difci- ples of Montefquieu neglect to reclaim their rights? That great man beheld, even in his time, the rapid advance of this fatal corruption, when he added, "It is not my buſineſs to inquire whether the En- gliſh actually enjoy this liberty or not: it is fufficient for my purpoſe that it is eſtabliſhed by their laws, and I inquire no farther." He then faw our practice widely diverging from the theory of our Gonftituti- on. We have now "difcovered, that * the forms of a free, and the ends of an arbitrary Government, were things not altogether incompatible, >> In the much agitated queftion on the revolt of the French foldiery, the authority of Montefquieu is on the fide of freedom. "To prevent † the executive power from being able to opprefs, it is requifite that the armies, with which it is entruſted, fhould confift of the people, and have the fame fpirit as the people: and he recommends, as the means of preferving the fame fpirit in the armies, that "the foldiers fhould live in common with the rest of the people; and no ſeparate camp, barracks, or fortrefs, fhould be fuffer- ed." Without this participation of the fame fpirit our Revolution of 1688 had been defeated; and the * Caufe of prefent Difcontents, p. 12. Spinit of Laws, b. 11. ch. 6. 2 [ 78 ] * defpotifm of France had continued to infult and op- prefs the French nation to embroil by its intrigues all the kingdoms of Europe. Thoſe who do not know Mr. Burke might fuf- pect that his beautiful eulogy on the Polish Revolu- tion was introduced for the gratification of one re- mark. The genius of this faction is eaſily dif cerned, by obferving with what a different eye they have viewed the late foreign Revolutions. Two have paffed before them that of France, and that of Poland." Mr. Burke knew that this faction had recognized in the change from an elective to an be- reditary monarchy the foundations laid of public order; but could it poffibly efcape the fagacity of Mr. Burke, that Poland was a country juft emer- ging, by this Revolution, from the barbarifm of feudal anarchy ? a country in which the first rights of humanity had not been even acknowledged! Where the cultivators of the foil paffed as part of the eftate! Where a few years only had elapfed, fince the murder of a peafant by his Lord had been con- demned by the laws! And does Mr. Burke ſeriouſly propofe fuch a people an example to the enlightened citizens of London and of Paris? As well might we feek the inftitutes of government in the wilds of America, or learn from its naked favages the philo fophy of laws. Situated as Poland is in the midft of Europe, this defcription does not exclude knowledge, and learn ing, and cultivated talents, from many of the diflin guifhed Members of its Diet. Pre-eminent among thefe appears that exalted character the reigning King, whom Mr. Burke, with equal truth and feli- city, defcribes" from an heroic love of his country, Appeal, p. 210. [79] exerting himfelf with all the toil, the dexterity, the management, the intrigue, in favour of a family of ftrangers, with which ambitious men labour for the aggrandifement of their own." Happy Prince, worthy to begin with fpendor, or to clofe with glory a race of Patriots and of Kings; and to leave "A name which every wind to heaven would bear, "Which men to tell, and angels joy to hear." But is Mr. Burke really ignorant, that this patriot King maintains a conftant correfpondence with Pa- ris, reprefents himſelf as a fellow labourer in the fame caufe with the French Patriots, and laments that his own country is not ripe to receive inftitu- tions which they have eſtabliſhed? I am not one of thoſe "who juſtify the frequent interruptions which at length wholly difabled Mr. Bur ke from proceeding;" but to tell us what he would have proved, and to lament the interruption, is perfectly puerile, the language of a peevith nind finking under the weaknefs of his caufe. Mr. Burke has been in the conftant habit of printing his fpeeches. Let him print this intended fpeech. The friends of truth will rejoice to learn their errors even from him, and will forget the calumnies with which they have been loaded. "Let him teach us, what can be the origin of human rights, if they be not derived from nature. Let him inftruct us, how Govern- ment can be better directed to promote the happi- neſs of mankind, than by an equal protection of theſe rights in every member of the community; or how to diſcriminate between the moft lawleſs defpo- tifm, and the moft legitimate legiflation, otherwiſe than by the utility of its inftitutions adapted to this end. We are confcious of no crime when we re- joice in the facrifice of Gothic prejudices, at the thrine of reafon, by a great and enlightened nation; [ 80 ] and we wait with anxious expectation the refult of this grand experiment of fcientific legiflation. We cannot easily believe, that all the theories, which philofophy has eſtabliſhed, are falfe, or the convic- tions of our own underftandings delufive. We fuf, pect that thofe who rail with paffion, cannot demon- firate by argument; and we difcover, in the inte- refted clamours of the known enemies of mankind, an involuntary homage to the caufe of freedom. In our own country we are aware, that many partial oppreffions, inconfiftent with the rights de- rived to all from the Great Author of Nature, de- mand correction; and we hope fome benefit froin the meritorious labours of individuals to enlighten on thefe fubjects the public mind. Yet we think that the firft and most important object is to obtain an organ, by which the public mind may fpeak in legiflation. We flatter ourfelves that, this obtained, every other abufe will be gradually and temperately done away away by by the increafing knowledge of the age. An Houfe of Commons fairly elected by the great body of the people, whofe Members shall frequently return to the cominion mafs, and removed from the temptation of converting a public trust to private benefit, is that organ, of the public will which the acknowledged principles of our Government pre- feribe, and which none can oppofe but thole who have been accuftonted to feek, dader the fpecious pictext of public duty, the fordid gratification of private avarice ór ambition. Theſe opponents are numerous and mighty-a firm, determined band, who can alone be fubdued by an equally firm and equally determined union of all the friends of a free government, deriving its energy from the public will, and directed to the common happinels of a whole people... ΑΝ ADDRESS TO THE People of Great Britain. X AN ADDRESS TO THE People of Great Britain. BY R. WATSON, LORD BISHOP OF LANDAFF. SEVENTH EDITION. London: PRINTED FOR R. FAULDER, NEW BOND STREET, BY COOPER AND GRAHAM, WILD COURT, LINCOLN's-INN FIELDS. [Price One Shilling.] 1798. AN ADDRESS TO THE People of Great Britain, &c. &c. My fellow-countrymen, THE fentiments which I fhall, in this ad- drefs, take the liberty of ftating to you on ſome intereſting points, will, I hope, meet with your candid attention; if not from their worth, from the confideration that they are the fentiments of an independent man. I am neither the friend or enemy of any party in the ftate; and am fo far an impracticable man, that on all public queſtions of import- ance I will follow the dictates of my own indi- vidual judgement. No favour which I could receive from this or from any adminiſtration would induce me to ſupport meaſures which I diſliked; nor will any neglect I may expe- B [ 2 ] rience impel me to oppoſe meaſures which I approve. A new ſyſtem of finance has this year been introduced; and I fairly own it has my approbation as far as it goes. It has given great difcontent to many; but it has given none to me. I lament, as every man muſt do, the neceffity of impofing fo heavy a bur- then on the community; and, with a family of eight children, I fhall feel its preffure as much as moft men: but I am fo far from cenſuring the minifter for having done fo much, that I fincerely with he had done a great deal more. In the prefent fituation of Great Britain, and of Europe, palliatives are of no ufe, half-meafures cannot fave us. Inſtead of calling for a tenth of a man's in- come, I wiſh the minifter had called for a tenth or for fuch other portion of every man's whole property as would have enabled him not merely to make a temporary proviſion for the war, but to have paid off, in a few years, the whole or the greateſt part of the national debt. [ 3 ] A million a year has been wifely fet apart for the reduction of the debt; and had we continued at peace, its operation would have been beneficially felt in a few years: but, in our prefent circumftances, and with an ex- pectation of the recurrency of war at ſhort periods, it is not one, two or three millions a year, that can preferve us from bank- ruptcy. We had better ftruggle to effect the extinction of the debt in five years than in fifty, though our exertion, during the ſhorter period, fhould be proportionably greater. A nation is but a collection of individuals united into one body for mutual benefit; and a national debt is a debt belonging to every individual, in proportion to the property he poffeffes; and every individual may be juſtly called upon for his quota towards the liqui- dation of it. No man, relatively fpeaking, will be either richer or poorer by this pay- ment being generally made, for riches and poverty are relative terms: and when all the members of a community are proportionably reduced, the relation between the individuals, as to the quantum of each man's property, B 2 [ 4 ] remaining unaltered, the individuals them- felves will feel no elevation or depreffion in the fcale of fociety. When all the founda- tions of a great building fink uniformly, the fymmetry of the parts is not injured; the preffure on each member remains as it was; no rupture is made: the building will not be fo lofty, but it may ftand on a better bottom. It does not require an oracle to inform us (though an oracle has ſaid it) that riches have been the ruin of every country; they baniſh the fimplicity of manners, they corrupt the morals, of a people, and they invite invaders. If we pay the national debt, we may not live quite fo luxurioufly as we have done; but this change will be no detriment either to our virtue as men, or to our fafety as mem- bers of fociety. I confider the property of men united in ſociety ſo far to belong to the ſtate, that any portion of it may be justly called for by the legiſlature, for the promotion of the common good; and it is then moſt equitably called for, when all individuals, poffeffing property of any kind, contribute in proportion to their [ 5 ] poffeffions. This is a principle fo obviouſly juſt, that it is attended to as much as poffible in every fcheme of finance; and it would be the univer- fal rule of taxation, in every country, could the property of individuals be exactly afcertained. Much objection is made to the obliging men to diſcover the amount of their property; but I have never heard a fufficient reaſon in fup- port of the objection. I can ſee a reaſon why merchants, tradefmen, contractors, money- jobbers, who deal in large fpeculations on credit, and without an adequate capital, ſhould be unwilling to diſcloſe their property; but I do not fo clearly fee what miſchief would ariſe to the community if they were obliged to do it. The value of every man's landed property is eafily known; the value of his monied property in the funds is known; and his monied property in mortgages and bonds might as eaſily be known, if an act of parlia- ment was paffed, rendering no mortgage or bond legal which was not regiſtered. The greateſt difficulty would be in afcertaining the value of ſtock in trade: but a jury of t B 3 [ 6 ] neighbours co-operating with the probity of merchants and manufacturers, and that regard for character which generally diſtinguiſhes men in buſineſs, would fettle that point. I have lately converfed with a variety of men, in different ftations, and in different parts of the kingdom, aud have ſcarcely met with one among the landed gentry, and with none among the manufacturers, tradefmen, farmers, and artificers of the country, who has not declared that he had much rather pay his portion of the principal of the na- tional debt, than be harraffed with the taxes deſtined for the payment of the intereſt of it. This is true patriotiſm, and good fenſe; and were we in our prefent circumftances to diſcharge the whole, or the greateſt part of the national debt, all Europe would admire our magnanimity; and France herſelf would tremble at the idea of fubjugating fo high- fpirited a people. The minifter, I am perfuaded, is too en- lightened not to have confidered this fubject; and objections may have occurred to him, A [7] which have not occurred to me. I have ventured to ſtate it for general confideration; that it may not be quite new, if we ſhould at length be compelled to have recourſe to fuch an expedient. There would be fome difficulty in afcertaining every man's pro- perty; but where there is a willing mind to remove difficulties, they are feldom infur- mountable. The modifications which the bill for increafing the affeffed taxes has un- dergone, are numerous, and in general judi- cious; and are a proof that the moſt per- plexing difficulties yield to impartial and de- liberative wiſdom. One modification has not been noticed; at leaft, I have not feen it ftated in fo clear a manner as it might be ſtated; and I will mention it, as not undeferving attention, if the buſineſs fhould ever be refumed in ano- ther form.-Permanent income arifes either from the rent of land, or from the intereft of money, or from an annuity. The annuitants are very numerous in the kingdom. Poffef- fors of entailed eftates, widows with join- tures, the biſhops and clergy, the judges and B 4 [ 8 ] poffeffors of patent places during life, the officers of the army and navy, and and many others under different denominations, fupport themſelves upon property terminating with their lives. The lives of poffeffors of annui- ties may, taking the old and the young to- gether, be worth twelve years purchaſe. An annuitant then, who has an income of 100l. and no other property, is worth 1200l.; fo that in paying a tenth of his income, he pays an hundred and twentieth part of his whole property. A perfon poffeffed of an income of 100l. arifing from a property of 2000l. let out at an intereſt of 51. per cent. in paying a tenth of his income, pays a two hundredth part of his property. A perfon poffeffing an income of 100l. ariſing from land, in paying a tenth of his income, pays (eftimating land at thirty years purchaſe) a three hundredth part of his property. Men under thefe dif- ferent deſcriptions pay equally, though their properties are unequal in the proportion of fix, ten, and fifteen. Much objection alfo has on all hands been made to the touching of the funds by taxation: [ 9 ] but I own that I do not fee any fufficient reaſon why property in the funds may not be as juſtly as any other property fubject to the diípofal of the legiflature. I make this ob- fervation with perfect impartiality; for a con- fiderable part of the little property I poffefs is in the funds. Parliament has pledged the nation to the payment of the intereft of the money which has been borrowed, till the principal is paid off; but when the debt is become fo great, that the rental of the king- dom will ſcarcely pay the intereft of it, I do not fee any breach of contract, any want of equity, in the legiflature of the country fay- ing to the public creditor-the poffeffors of land are giving up a tenth or a twentieth part of all they are worth for the public fervice; the poffeffors of houſes, of ſtock in trade, of mortgages and bonds, are doing the fame thing-what reafon can be given why you ſhould be exempted? You plead the faith of Parliament.-Be it fo! Parliament preferves its faith with you; for if Parliament fhould with one hand pay you your principal, it might lay hold of it with the other, and make you as liable as other men poffeffing money, [ 10 ] ↑ to pay your proportion; and does it not come to the fame thing, whether your whole prin- cipal is paid, and a portion of it is taken back again, or whether your principal is dimi- niſhed by that portion, and you receive the ftipulated intereſt, till the remainder is dif charged? Frederick II. in fpeaking of France about twenty years ago, obferved, that there were three things which hindered France from re-affuming that afcendancy in the affairs of Europe which fhe had poffeffed from the time of Henry IV.-the enormity of her debt- exhauſted reſources-and taxes multiplied in an exceffive manner. The two laft are the offspring of the firft; but the monarch's ob- fervation is applicable to every other nation under the fame circumftances, and to our- felves as well as to others. If we pay our debt by judicious inftallments, we ſhall nei- ther run the risk of the government being bro- ken up, as it was in France, by the difcontents of the people, and an inability to go on; nor fhall we cripple our commerce by the high price of labour and provifions; nor fhall [ 11 I I ] we be depopulated by emigrations to America or France; but we fhall preferve the impor- tance we poffefs in Europe, and renovate the ftrength and vigour of the body politic. But I will not detain you longer on this point, there is another, of great importance, to which I wiſh to turn your attention. Whatever doubts I formerly entertained, or (notwithſtanding all I have read or heard on the fubject) may ftill entertain, either on the juſtice or the neceffity of commencing this war in which we are engaged, I enter- tain none on the prefent neceffity and juſtice of continuing it. Under whatever circum- ſtances the war was begun, it is now become juft; fince the enemy has refuſed to treat, on equitable terms, for the reftoration of peace. Under whatever circumftances of expediency or inexpediency the war was commenced, its continuance is now become neceffary; for what neceffity can be greater than that which arifes from the enemy having threatened us with deftruction as a nation ? [ 12 ] Here I may, probably, be told that, allow- ing the war to be juft, it is ftill not neceffary, but perfectly inexpedient. I 1 may have it rung in my ears that the French are an over- match for us, that it is better to fubmit at once to the moſt ignominious terms of peace than to fee another Brennus weighing out the bullion of the Bank, and infulting the mifery of the nation with a 66 woe to the van- quifhed." I admit the conclufion of the al- ternative to be jut, but I do not admit the truth of the principle from which it is derived —I do not admit that the French are an over- match for us. I am far enough from affecting knowledge in military matters; but every man knows that men and money are the finews of war, and that victory in the field is achieved by the valour of troops and the fkill of commanders. Now in which of theſe four particulars is France our fuperior? You will anfwer at once, ſhe is fuperior in the number of men. The po- pulation, I know, of the two countries has been generally eſtimated in the proportion of [ 13 ] three to one but though this fhould be ad- mitted to have been the true proportion of the population, and of the men capable of bearing arms, in the beginning of the war, I think it is not the true proportion at pre- fent. Both countries have loft great num- bers; but France, inftead of lofing three times, has, I apprehend, loſt above ten times as many men as we have done; fo that the proportion of men capable of bearing arms remaining in France, compared with what Great Britain can furnish, does not, I am perfuaded, exceed that of two to one. were there even a bridge over the channel, France durft not make an incurfion with half her numbers. She knows how ready her neighbours would be to revenge the injuries they have ſuſtained,-how ready her own citizens would be to regain the bleffings they have loft, could they once fee all her forces occupied in a diftant country. France, I re- peat it, were there even a bridge from Calais to Dover, could not fend into the field as many men as we could oppoſe againſt her. And, But, it may be urged, all the men in France [ 14 ] are foldiers-No; fome are left to till the ground, fome to fuftain the languors of her commerce, fome to periſh in priſon, deploring the mifery of their country. So many, I ac- knowledge, are become foldiers in France, that we muſt, in a great degree, imitate her example. Every man who can be ſpared from the agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of the country, muſt become a foldier, if we mean to face the enemy in a proper manner, if empire or fervitude are to be fairly fought for. As to money, I need not enter into any comparative difcuffion on that head. France has no means within herſelf of providing for her armies-She intends to fend them into this country either that fhe may pay them, as fhe has done in Italy, by plunder, or, in the true fpirit of defpair, cancel her debts, by facrificing the perfons of her foldiers. With reſpect to the valour of the French troops, I have nothing to object. I know it is a favourite opinion with many, that the French are now what their anceſtors were in [ 15 ] the time of Cæfar; "that in the first onfet 66 they are more than men, but in the fecond "leſs than women." But it appears to me, I must confefs, that in this war the French have ſuſtained with courage many onſets : praife is due to the galantry even of an enemy. But if I ere afked, whether an equal number of Engliſhmen would beat thefe conquerors of italy, I would anſwer, as an Engliſh ambaffador anfwered a King of Pruffia, when, at a review of his forces, he aſked the ambaffador, "whether he 66 thought that an equal number of Engliſh- "men could beat his Pruffians."-" I can- "not tell, (replied the ambaffador) whether 66 an equal number would beat them; but I '' am certain half the number would try."- I have the firmeft confidence that fifty thou- fand Engliſhmen, fighting for their wives and children, for their liberty and property, as individuals, for the independence and confti- tution of their country, would, without he- fitation, attack an hundred thoufand French- men. As to the relative ſkill of the commanders, it would ill become me to give any opinion } [ 16 ] upon that point. If I were to admit that the French generals are not inferior to our own in martial ability, yet in the local knowledge of the country, and in the correctnefs and fidelity of the information they will receive, ours will certainly have the advantage. But if the French are not our fuperiors, either in men or money, in the valour of their foldiers, or the fkill of their commanders, what have we to apprehend, fhould we be forced to fight them on our own ground? A thouſand evils, no doubt, attend a country becoming the feat of war, to which we are ftrangers, and to which, through the good providence of God, and the energy of our navy, we ſhall long, I truft, continue ftran- gers. But ſhould the matter happen other- wife, fhould the enemy, by any untoward accident, land their forces, I fee no reafon why we ſhould deſpair of our country, if we are only faithful to ourſelves, if, forgetting, all party animofity, we ftand collected as one man againſt them. Many honeft men, I am fenfible, have [ 17 ] been alarmed into a belief, that were the French to invade this country, they would be joined by great numbers of diſcontented men. This is not my opinion. That they would be joined by a few of the worst men in the country, by thieves and robbers, and outcafts of fociety, is probable enough; but that any individual, poffeffing either property or character, that any refpectable body of men, would ſo far indulge their diſcontents, as to ruin their country and themſelves, in gratifying their refentment, is what nothing but experience can convince me of. I have heard of a Diffenter in Yorkshire, (a man of great wealth and eſtimation), who, on the laft rejection of the petition for the repeal of the teft-act, declared that he would go all lengths to carry his point---but I con- fider this declaration as made during the irri- tation of the moment, and as oppofite to the general principles of that body of men. The Diffenters have on trying occafions fhewn their attachment to the houſe of Brunſwick and the principles of the revolution; and I fhould think myſelf guilty of calumny, if I C [ 18 ] fhould ſay that they had in any degree aban- doned either their attachment or their prin- ciples, or were diſpoſed to join the invaders of their country. There is another fet of men whom it feems the faſhion of the day to reprefent as enemies of the ftate, to ftigmatize as re- publicans, levellers, jacobins. But vul- gar traduction of character, party-coloured repreſentation of principle, make no im- preffion on my mind; nor ought they to make any impreffion on yours. The moſt reſpectable of thoſe who are anxious for the reform of parliament have not, in my judge- ment, any views hoftile to the conſtitution, They may, perhaps, be miſtaken in believ- ing an effectual reform practicable, without a revolution; but few of them, I am per- fuaded, would be difpofed to attain their ob- ject with ſuch a confequence accompanying it; and fewer ftill would wish to make the experiment under the aufpices of a French invader. There may be fome real republicans in the [ 19 ] kingdom; their number, I am convinced, is extremely fmall; and they are, probably, republicans more in theory than practice; they are, probably, of the fame fentiments with the late Dr. Price, who, being aſked a few months before his death, whether he really wiſhed to ſee a republic eſtabliſhed in England, anfwered in the negative. 66 " He preferred," (he faid,) " a republican "to a monarchical form of government, "when the conftitution was to be formed 66 anew, as in America; but, in old efta- "bliſhed governments, fuch as England, he thought the introduction of a republic "would coft more than it was worth, would "be attended with more mifchief than ad- vantage." 66 I have a firm perfuafion that the French will find themſelves difappointed, if they expect to be fupported in their expedition by the diſcontented in this country. They have already made a trial; the event of it ſhould lower their confidence; the Welch, of all denominations, ruſhed upon their Gal- lic enemies, with the impetuofity of ancient C 2 [ 20 ] Britons; they difcomfited them in a mo- ment; they covered them with fhame, and led them into captivity. The common peo- ple in this fortunate iſland, enjoy more li- berty, more confequence, more comfort of every kind, than the common people of any other country; and they are not infenfible of their felicity; they will never erect the tree of liberty. They know it by its fruit; the bit- ter fruit of flavery, of contempt, oppreſſion and poverty to themfelves, and probably to their pofterity. If Ireland is the object of invafion, France may flatter herſelf, perhaps, with the expec- tation of being more favourably received there than in Great Britain: but I truft ſhe will be equally diſappointed in both countries. I mean not to enter into the politics of Ire- land; but, confidering her as a fifter king- dom, I cannot wholly omit adverting to her fituation. I look upon England and Ireland as two bodies which are grown together, with different members and organs of fenfe, but [ 21 ] nouriſhed by the circulation of the fame blood: whilft they continue united they will live and profper; but if they fuffer them- felves to be ſeparated by the force or cunning of an enemy; if they quarrel and tear them- felves afunder, both will inftantly perish. Would to God, that there were equity and moderation enough among the nations of the earth, to ſuffer ſmall ſtates to enjoy their independence; but the hiftory of the world is little elſe than the hiſtory of great ſtates facrificing ſmall ones to their avarice or am- bition; and the prefent defigus of France, throughout Europe, confirm the obfervation. If Ireland fo far liftens to her refentment (however it has originated) againſt this king- dom; if ſhe ſo far indulges her chagrin against her own legiflature, as to feek for redreſs by throwing herfelf into the arms of France, fhe will be undone, her freedom will be loft, fhe will be funk in the fcale of nations; inftead of flouriſhing under the pro- tection of a fifter that loves her, the will be fettered as a flave to the feet of the greateſt defpot that ever afflicted human kind-to the feet of French democracy. c 3 [ 22 ] Let the mal-contents in every nation of Europe look at Holland, and at Belgium. Holland was an hive of bees; her fons flew on the wings of the wind to every corner of the globe, and returned laden with the fweets. of every climate. Belgium was a garden of herbs, the oxen were ftrong to labour, the fields were thickly covered with the abund- ance of the harveſt.-Unhappy Dutchmen! You will ſtill toil, but not for your own comfort; you will ftill collect honey, but not for yourſelves; France will feize the hive as often as your induſtry ſhall have filled it. Ill-judging Belgians! you will no longer eat in fecurity the fruits of your own grounds; France will find occafion, or will make oc- cafion, to participate largely in your riches; it will be more truly faid of yourſelves than of your oxen, ૮. you plough the fields, but not for your own profit!" France threatens us with the payment of what the calls a debt of indemnification; and the longer we refift her efforts to fubdue us, the larger fhe fays this debt will become; and the tells us, that all Europe knows that [ 23 ] this debt muſt be paid one time or other- And does the think that this flouriſh will frighten us? It ought to move our contempt, it ought to fire us with indignation, and, above all, it ought to inftruct every man amongſt us what we are to expect, if through fupineness, cowardice, or divifion, we fuffer her mad attempt to prove fuccefsful. She may not murder or carry into flavery the in- habitants of the land; but under the pre- tence of indemnification, he will demand millions upon tens of millions; he will beg- gar every man of property; and reduce the lower orders to the condition of her own pea- fants and artificers-black bread, onions, and water. France wishes to feparate the people from the throne; the inveighs, in harth language, againſt the King, and the cabinet of Saint James'; and fpeaks fairly to the people of the land. But the people of the land are too wife to give heed to her profeffions of kindnefs. If there be a people in Europe on whom ſuch practices are loft, it is ourselves. All our people are far better educated, have far uíter C 4 [ 24 ] notions of government, far more fhrewdnefs in detecting the defigus of thofe who would miſlead them, than the people of any other country have, not excepting Swifferland it- felf. There is no caufe to fear that French hypocrify ſhould be fuperior to Britiſh faga- city. Let France approach us with the cou- rage of a lion, or with the cunning of a fox, we are equally prepared to meet her; we can refift her arms, and we can expofe her ar- tifice. France reproaches us with being the ty- rants of the ocean; and we all remember the armed neutrality, which was entered into by the maritime ftates of Europe during the American war. It originated, as was faid, from our affuming a dominion on the feas, which the law of nations did not allow. I cannot enter into the difcuffion of this quef- tion here; and it is lefs neceffary to do it any where, as it has been ably difcuffed many years ago. I fincerely hope the accufation againſt us is not juſt; for no tyranny either can be, or ought to be lafting? I am an utter enemy to all dominion founded in mere # [ 25 ] power, unaccompanied with a juft regard to the rights of individuals or nations. Conti- nental ſtates, however, ought to make fome allowance for our zeal in claiming, and our energy in maintaining, a fuperiority at ſea; our infular ſituation gives us a right which they cannot plead; they have fortreffes for their defence againſt their enemies; but fleets are the fortreffes of Great Britain. We wish to preſerve our fuperiority at ſea for our own advantage, but other nations are not unintereſted in our doing it. If by the ✰ voluntary affiſtance of Spain and Holland, by the conftrained concurrence of what was Ve- nice, by the improvident acquiefcence of Ruffia, Sweden, Denmark, and the other naval powers of Europe or America, the tri- dent of the ocean (for fome one nation muſt poffefs it) fhould be transferred from Great Britain to France, they will all have cauſe to lament its having exchanged its maſter. They may at prefent think otherwife, and be pleaſed with the profpect of our humilia- tion (I ſpeak not this as if I thought that humiliation would happen, for no man has · [ 26 ] 1 an Ligher confidence in our navy than I have) but I fpeak it with a prophetic warn- ing to thofe nations, that they may fee the error of their politics before it becomes im- poffible to retrieve it. If France becomes as great by fea as ſhe is become by land, Eu- will have no hope, but that her chains may be light. rope The channels of commerce, were they open alike to the enterprize of all nations, are fo numerous and copious in the four quar- ters of the globe, that the induſtry of all the manufacturers in Europe might be fully em- ployed in fupplying them. America is dou- bling her numbers, and will for many years want fupplies from the manufactories of Great Britain. Africa will in time civilize her mil- lions, and afford for centuries a market for the commodities of all Europe. What folly is it then in civilized, what wickedneſs in chriftian flates, to be engaged every ten or twenty years in deftroying millions of men, for the protection or the acquifition of arbi- trary monopolies ? [ 27 ] There ſtill remains another fubject which I am moft anxious to recommend to your fe- rious confideration-the attempts of bad men you of your religion. to rob It is now fomewhat more than ſeventy years, fince certain men who efteemed them- felves philofophers, and who, unqueftion- ably, were men of talents, began in diffe- rent parts of the continent, but eſpecially in France and Germany, to attack the chrif- tian religion. The defign has been carried on by them and others, under various deno- minations, from that time to the prefent hour. In order to accomplish their end, they have publiſhed an infinity of books, fome of them diſtinguiſhed by wit and ridi- cule, unbecoming the vaſt importance of the ſubject, and all ftuffed with falfe quotations and ignorant or defigned mitreprefentations of fcripture, or filled with objections against human corruptions of faith, and for which Chriſtianity cannot be accountable. A fimilar attempt, I have reafon to believe, has for fome years been carrying on amongst [ 28 ] 1 ourſelves, and by the fame means. Irreligious pamphlets have been circulated with great induſtry, fold at a ſmall price, or given away to the loweſt of the people, in every great town in the kingdom. The profane ſtyle of theſe pamphlets is fuited to the taſte of the wicked, and the confident affertions which they contain are well calculated to impofe on the underſtanding of the unlearned; and it is among the wicked and the ignorant that the enemies of religion and government are endeavouring to propagate their tenets. It is here fuppofed that the enemies of re- ligion are alſo the enemies of government; but this muſt be underſtood with ſome reſtriction. There are, it may be faid, many deiſts in this country, who are fenfible of the advan- tages of a regular government, and who would be as unwilling as the most orthodox be- lievers in the kingdom, that our own ſhould be overturned-this may be true-but it is true alſo, that they who wish to overthrow the government are not only, generally fpeak- ing, unbelievers themfelves, but that they found their hopes of fuccefs in the infidelity [ 29 ] of the common people. They are ſenſible that no government can long fubfift, if the bulk of the people have no reverence for a fupreme being, no fear of perjury; no ap- prehenfion of futurity, no check from con- fcience; and foreſeeing the rapine, devaſta- tion, and bloodshed, which uſually attend the laſt convulfions of a ftate ftruggling for its political exiſtence, they wish to prepare proper actors for this dreadful cataſtrophe, by brutalizing mankind; for it is by religion more than any other principle of human na- ture, that men are diſtinguiſhed from brutes. The mafs of the people has, in all ages and countries, been the mean of effectuating great revolutions, both good and bad. The phyfical ftrength of the bulk of a nation is irreſiſtible, but it is incapable of ſelf-direction. It is the inftrument which wife, brave, and virtuous men ufe for the extinction of ty- ranny, under whatever form of government it ་ may exift; and it is the inftrument alfo, which men of bad morals, defperate fortunes, and licentious principles, ufe for the fubver- ſion of every government, however juſt in [ ليسا 30 ] its origin, however equitable in its admini- ftration, however conducive to the ends for which fociety has been eſtabliſhed among mankind. It is againſt the machinations of thefe men, fecret or open, folitary or affo- ciated, that I wish to warn you; they will firſt attempt to perfuade you that there is no- thing after death, no heaven for the good, no hell for the wicked, that there is no God, or none who regards your actions; and when you fhall be convinced of this, they will think you properly prepared to perpetrate every crime which may be neceffary for the furtherance of their own deſigns, for the gra- tification of their ambition, their avarice, or their revenge. No civil, no ecclefiaftical conftitution can be fo formed by human wisdom as to admit of no improvement upon an increaſe of wif dom; as to require no alteration when an al- teration in the knowledge, manners, opi- nions, and circumftances of a people has taken place. But men ought to have the inodefty to know for what they are fitted, and the diſcretion to confine their exertions to [ 31 ] fubjects of which they have a competent knowledge. There is perhaps little difference in the ftrength of memory, in the acuteneſs of dif- cernment, in the folidity of judgement, in any of the intellectual powers on which know- ledge depends, between a ſtateſman and a manufacturer, between the moſt learned di- vine and a mechanic: the chief difference confifts in their talents being applied to dif- ferent fubjects. All promote both the public good, and their own, when they act within their proper fpheres, and all do harm to themſelves, and others, when they go out of them. You would view with contempt a ſtateſman, who ſhould undertake to regulate a great manufactory without having been brought up to bufinefs; or a divine, who ſhould become a mechanic without having learned his trade; but is not a mechanic, or manufacturer, ftill more mischievous and ri- diculous, who affects to become a ſtatefman, or to folve the difficulties which occur in divinity? Now this is precifely what the men I am cautioning you againſt wiſh you to do-they harangue you on the diforders of [ 32 ] our conftitution, and propofe remedies; they propound to you fubtilties in metaphyfics and divinity, and defire you to explain them; and becauſe you are not prepared to do this, or to anſwer all their objections to our govern- ment, they call upon you to reject religion, natural and revealed, as impoftures, and to break the conftitution of the country, as an enormous mafs of incurable corruption. up No one, I truft, will fufpect the writer of contending that great abuſes in church or ftate ought to be perpetuated, or of wishing that any one dogma of our holy religion fhould not be difcuffed with decent freedom (for the more religion is tried, the more it will be refined;) but he does contend that the faith of unlearned chriftians ought not to be ſhaken by lies and blafphemies; he does contend that it is better to tolerate abuſes, till they can be reformed by the coun- fels of the wifeft and the best men in the kingdom, than to fubmit the removal of them to the frothy frequenters of ale-houſes, to the difcontented declaimers againſt our eſtabliſhment, to the miferable dregs of the nation who feck for diftinction in public [ 33 ] confufion. An ancient fabrick may by mere force be defaced and brown down; but it requires the knowledge and caution of an architect to beautify and repair it. You are fenfible that the moft ingenious piece of me- chaniſm may be fpoiled by the play of a child, or broken to pieces by the blow of an ideot or a madman; and can you think that the machine of government, the moſt inge. nious and complicated of all others, may not at once be defpoiled of all its elegance, and deprived of all its functions, by the rude and bungling attempts of the unfkilful to amend its motion? I have not time to lay before you the rife and progrefs of that infidelity with refpect to revealed religion-of that fcepticiſm with re- ſpect to natural religion-of that infanity with refpect to government, which have, by their combined influence overwhelmed with calamity one of the mightiest ftues in Eu- rope, and which menace with deftruthion every other. other. I have not time to fhew you by detailed quotations from the writings of the French and German philofophers—that D [ 34 ] the fuperftition of the church of Rome made them infidels-that a mifapprehenfion of the extent of human knowledge made them ſcep- tics—and that the tyranny of the continental governments made them enemies of all go- vernment, except of that filly fyftem of de- mocratic liberty and equality, which never has had, nor ever can have a permanent efta- bliſhment amongſt mankind. Though I cannot, in this ſhort and general addreſs, enter fully or deeply into theſe mat- ters, I may be allowed to fay to thefe philo- fophers-how has it happened that men of your penetration, in fhunning one vice, have fallen, like fools, into its oppofite? Does it follow that Jefus Chrift wrought no mira- cles, becauſe the church of Rome has pre- tended to work many? Does it follow that the apostles were not honeft men, becauſe there have been priefts, biſhops and Popes who were hypocrites? Is the chriftian reli- gion to be ridiculed as more abfurd than pa- ganiſm, to be vilified as lefs credible than mahometaniſm, to be reprefented as impious. and abominable, becauſe men, in oppofition to every precept of Chrift, and to every prac- [ 35 ] i tice of the apoſtles, have worshipped images, prayed to dead men, believed in tranfubftan- tiation, granted indulgencies, erected inqui- fitions, and roaſted honeft men alive for not. complying with their fuperftition? With refpect to natural religion, I would fay to them-you complain that you cannot comprehend the creation of the univerfe, nor the providence of God; and is this your want of ability to become as wife as your maker a reaſon for doubting whether there ever was a creation, and whether there is a providence? What ſhould you think of a neft of reptiles, which, being immured in a dark corner of one of the loweft apartments of a magnifi- cent houſe, ſhould affect to argue againſt the houfe having ever been built, or its being then taken care of. You are thofe reptiles with refpect to your knowledge of the time when God created, and the manner in which he ftill takes care of the world.-You cannot, you tell us, reconcile the omniscience of God with the freedom of man-is this a reafon for your doubting of the freedom which feel you you poffefs, or of the power of God to under- [36] ftand the nature of what he has made?--You cannot comprehend how it is poffible for an im- material being to be acted upon by material organs of fenfe-will you therefore deny the exiſtence of your foul as a fubftance diftin&t from your body? do you not perceive that it muſt equally ſurpaſs your underſtanding how matter, acting upon matter, can produce any thing but motion; can give rife to per- ception, thought, will, memory, to all thoſe intellectual powers, by which arts and fcien- ces are invented and indefinitely improved? With reſpect to goverment, I would fay to them-admitting that there is a natural equa- lity amongſt mankind, does it follow that there may not be, or that there ought not to be, an inſtituted inequality? Admitting that men, before they enter into fociety, are free from the dominion of each other, does it fol- low that they may not voluntarily relinquish the liberty of a ſtate of nature, in order that they may enjoy the comfort and obtain the fecurity of a ſtate of focicty? Can there be no juft government, becaufe there is and has been much oppreffion in the world, no poli- [ 37 ] tical freedom in Great Britain, becauſe there was, during the monarchy, little in France; where there is, probably, ftill leſs than there was? Does it follow that there ought to be no diſtinction in fociety, with refpect to rank or riches, becauſe there are none in a ſtate of nature; though nature herſelf has made a great difference amongst the individuals of our fpecies as to health, ftrength, judgment, genius, as to all thofe powers which, either in a ſtate of nature or fociety, neceffarily be- come the cauſes and occafions of the ſupe- riority of one man over another? Does it follow that rich men ought to be plundered, and men of rank degraded, becauſe a few may be found in every ſtate who have abuſed their pre-eminence, or mifapplied their wealth? In a word, does it follow that there ought to be no religion, no government, no fubordina- tion amongſt men, becauſe religion may de- generate into fuperftition, government into tyranny, and fubordination into flavery ?--- As reaſonably might it be argued, that there ought to be no wine, becauſe fome men may become drunkards; no meat, becaufe fome men may become gluttons; no air, no fire, [ 38 ] + no water, becauſe theſe natural fources of general felicity may accidentally become in- ftruments of partial calamity? He who peruſes with attention the works of thoſe foreigners, who for the laſt feventy or eighty years have written againſt revealed or natural religion, and compares them with the writings of our Engliſh deifts towards the end of the laſt and the beginning of middle of the prefent century, will perceive that the former have borrowed all their arguments and objections from the latter; he will perceive alſo that they are far inferior to them in learn- ing and acuteness, but that they furpaf them in ridicule, in audacity, in blafphemy, in mif- repreſentation, in all the mifera le arts by which men are wont to defend a bad cauſe; they furpafs them too in their miſchievous endeavours to diffeminate their principles amongſt thoſe who, from their education, are leaft qualified to refute their fophiſtry. Juftly may we call their reafoning ſophiſtry, fince it was not able to convince even them- 1 [ 39 ] felves. One of the most eminent of them, (Voltaire) who had been a theift, a materia- lift, a difbeliever of a future ftate all his days, afked with evident anxiety a few years before his death, Is there a God fuch as men ſpeak of? Is there a foul ſuch as people ima- gine? Is there any thing to hope for after death? He feems to have been confiftent in noth, but in his hatred of that goſpel which would have enlightened the obfcurity in which he was involved, and at once diffipa- ted all his doubts. As to his notions of go- vernment, he appears to have been as un- fettled in them as in his religious fentiments; for though he had been one of the moſt zea- lous apoftles of liberty and equality, though he had attacked monarchical governments in all his writings with great bitterneſs, yet he at laft confeffed to one of the greatest princes then in Europe, "that he did not love the go- vernment of the loweft orders-that he did not wiſh the re-eftabliſhment of Athenian democracy." Such are the inconfiftencies of men who, by their profane difputation againſt religion, [ 40 ] have difturbed the confciences of individuals; who, by their fenfelefs railing againſt go- vernment, have endangered the tranquillity of every nation in Europe! And it is againſt fuch men I warn you. Are any of you oppreffed with poverty, difeafe, and wretchednefs? Let none of thefe men beguile you of your belief that "God 66 is, and that he is the rewarder of them "that diligently feek him," "the protec- "tor of them that truft in him."-Are any of you afflicted in mind, defpairing of mercy through the multitude of your fins? fins? Let none of theſe men ftagger your perfuafion that the goſpel is true; for therein you will read that "Jefus Chrift came into the world "to fave finners"-repent, and the gofpel will give you confolation. Are any of you profperous in your circumftances, and eaſy in your confciences? Let none of theſe men, by declaiming against defects in our conftitu- tion, or abuſes in government, betray you into an opinion that were the preſent order of things overturned, a better might, by their counfels, be eftablished; for, by their coun- [ 41 ] } fels, you would either be plundered of your property, or compelled to become their ac- complices in impiety and iniquity. See what has happened in France to all orders, to the common people as well as to the nobility. "The little finger of their republic has be- "come thicker, more oppreffive to the whole "nation, than the loins of their monarchy; they were chaſtiſed with whips, they are "chaftifed with fcorpions." LL I am not altogether infenfible of the dan- ger I may have incurred, (fhould matters come to extremity) by thus publicly addref- fing my countrymen. I might have con- cealed my fentiments, and waited in retire- ment, till the ſtruggle had been over, and the iffue known; but I difdain fafety accom- panied with diſhonour. When Hannibal is at the gates, who but a poltroon would liſten to the timid counfels of neutrality, or attempt to ſcreen himſelf from the calamity coming on his country, by fkulking as a vagabond amid the mountains of Wales or of Weſt- moreland? I am ready, and I am perfuaded that I entertain a juft confidence in ſaying, E [ 42 ] that hundreds of thouſands of loyal and honest men are as ready as I am, to hazard every thing in defence of the country. I pray God to influence the hearts of both fides to good will, moderation, and peace: to grant to our enemy grace to return to a due ſenſe of piety and a belief in uncorrupted Chriſtianity; and to imprefs our own minds with a ſerious fenfe of the neceffity of fo re- penting of our fins, and fo reforming our lives, as may enable us to hope for his pro- tection againſt all enemies, foreign and do- meftic. London, Jan. 20, 1798 R. LANDAFF. 1 DOA THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GRADUATE LIBRARY Form 9584 NON CIRCULATING DATE DUE BOUND IN LIBRARY JUN 1-1912 NON CIRCULATING ཙྩཏམཛྫཱ ཝཧ ཝཱརཙམསྶིཏྟཾ, ཨཡཾ, བྷཱཝཾ མན%མ་*ལསྶ 1