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YALE UNIVERSIT
UBRARY

THE
MIDDLESEX ELECTION
CANDIDLY CONSIDERED
IN ITS
CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES;
WITH
A PREFATORY ADDRESS.
TO WHICH ARE ADDSD,
A
BRIEF VIEW
OF
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT's
* CONDUCT AND CHARACTER:
and
A SHORT ABD1ESS .
TO THE
* -
FREEHOLDERS OF MIDDLESEX.

HonDon:
Sold by P. Roberts, Middle-Row, Holborn; and' by all the Bookfellert
throughout the united Kingdoms.
- »9«
©nttttB at Sttttorot'H&aK,
PRINTED BY E. SPRAGG, 27, BOW-STREET, COVENT-GARDEV,

[[PRICE ONE SHILLING.]]

3y5U€*

ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.

IN the following pages, it has been our aim to vindicate
the conduct of the Freeholders of Middlefex, from the
filly, fhabby and contemptible afperfion of their choice of
Sir Francis Burdett, being more an attack upon the govern
ment than any independent exertions in favour of humanity,
or any particular evidence of their approving of the politi
cal principles and cdnduft of Sir trancis. In our view
of this fubjeft, we have not run a muck* againft the late mi-
niflry. We have not reviled them for the fufpenfion of the
habeas corpus aft, the fedition bill, the ereftion of Cold
Bath Fields prifon, the beginning and profecution of the
war, the enormous accumulation of public debt, nor the
lofles we have fuftained of lives and property by abortive
expeditions. Content with their being' removed, that a
peace might be obtained, we are more inclined to congra
tulate ourfelves on the fecurity their ab,fence from office may-
afford us, than to indulge ourfelves in a vindictive abufe
of their meafures. In this we have endeavoured to' imitate
the magnanimity of Mr. Fox, who, when Mr. Fden (now
Lord Auckland] firft appeared on the Treafury Bench, after
his feceding from oppofition, checked his indignation, by
faying, " 1 cannot proceed in the reproaches he deferves;
for it is like kicking a man when he is down," Although
we would not fubferibe to raife monuments to their me
mory, yet we will not harafs their retirements by unnecef-
fary and unavailing inveftives. We have feen all their
meafures attended with the fureft reprobation; but, with
lamentations, it may be added, without the power of pre
venting them, or avoiding their confequences.
* An eXpreffion ufed among the Malays, who fignify by it, their horrid
cuftom of murdering all they meet, relations, friends, or foes, after having
ruined theihfelves. by gaming. Viewing

. IV
Viewing the late triumph of Sir Francis Burdett, over
every oppofition that minifters could, by their influence,
poffibly exert againft him, as pregnant with focial fecurity
and welfare, we have, after taking a curfory view of its
caufe, confidered its confequences. In this we have avoid
ed all intemperate and common place declamations in fa
vour of liberty — being avowed enemies to all that carl tend
to encourage factions, violence, or turbulent licentiouinefs.
We would not embrace this event as an opportuhity of fti-
mulating the people to revive thofe tumultuous proceedings
which are the only apology, if any apology can be made, for
the reftraints that have been laid upon our firft, and moft
effential of our chartered privileges. Friends as we are
declaredly to reform, we would rather relinquifh the blef-
fing it would afford than the country fhould again be threat
ened with a total extinction of all order, law, right of pro
perty, and fecurity of perfon. But being thus anxious to
fee the country enjoying peace and fafety, we cannot but de
precate with Sir Francis Burdett and his conftituents, fecret
imprifonment, fecret trial, and fecret execution. And to
find out magiftrates better employment than fcreening gaol
ers in their abufe of office, we have taken the liberty of
pointing out duties to which they are bound by their voca
tion to execute in favour of the people. We have, alio,
hinted the happy refults of fuch a proper difcharge of what
a country has to claim from the impartial and humane ex-
ercife of their authority. To evince our attachment,to the
impartiality of juftice, we have ftated a few queries for Mr,
Mainwaring to have the opportunity of exculpating himfelf,
from the charges that have been brought againft his huma-'
nity and veracity. And the whole we^have concluded with
a brief view of Sir Francis Burdett's political character, arid
a fhort addrefs to the Middlefex Freeholders.

THE

MIDDLESEX ELECTION

CONSIDERED.

THE iflue of the late conteft for Middlefex, in
favour of Sir Francis Burdett, is a fubject in
which all parties appear to interefl themfelves more
than any other that prefents itfelf at prefent for pub
lic attention. For one of the chief magiftrates of
the metropolitan county, and of which he has been
one of its reprefentatives in two parliaments, to be
rejected by a majority of the freeholders, is an event
that proves the fenfe of the country is Hill in favour
of political integrity, and averfe to all that tends
to fupport any fyftem derogatory to the genuine
principles of the conftitution. However dormant
or quiefcent the people were reprefented to be, un
der the reftrictive meafures of a late miniftry, the
B independent

independent freeholders of Middlefex have nobly
fhewn they are fufficiently awake to become the fup-
porters of him who has proved bimfelf to be the
zealous defender of the opprefled. Although many
who gave their fufferages to Sir Francis had fupport-
ed the late miniftry and their friends, when revolu
tionary principles threatened the total deftruction
of all law, religion, and property, yet when they found
one of their former representatives had countenanced
the governor of a certain prifon, in, the moft fcan-
dalous abufe of his authority, they nobly came for
ward to degrade the magiftrate whom they confidered
an enemy to all focial juftice. They wifely thought
that none fhould have any concern in making laws
who were regardlefs of that purity, integrity, and
humanity with which they mould be adminiftered.
Oh this principle they chofe Sir Francis Burdett, iri
defiance of the obloquy thrown; upon him by a Lord
Lieutenant of Middlefex. Although he was declar-?
ed, by this fupreme officer of the county, to be
ineligible to enter a prifori for any purpofes of
humanity, yet they have honourably deemed him
moft qualified in talents, independanee, and purity of
principle, to have one of the moft dignified feats in
Parliament. From the above brief view of the motives which
led to the victory of Sir Francis, it is evident that it
was not dictated by any principles of political party.
The queftion originated from what the freeholders, conceived

eoncefved to be an abufe of civil authority. They
confidered that a magiftrate throwing down the gaunt
let in favour of a gaoler who was fo folemnly charged,
in the Houfe of Commons, with cruelty and other ne
farious practices, was no longer eligible to reprefent
them as a legiflator. Many of all parties pofTeffing
difference of political opinions efpoufed the caufe of
Sir Francis. Among his conftituents may be found
Whigs and Tories joining hands and hearts in favour
of the rights of humanity. We have, therefore, to
lament, that, in a caufe where ,in defiance of oppofite
views and interefts, the moft amiable and dignified
yirtues of the human charaQer have completely tri-
umphed,-r-there fhould be now feen a difpofition to
brand this conteft with revolutionary motives. To
what can fuch a bafe, unworthy, and unjuft infinu-
ation be afcribed? Is it to excite an alarm to juftify
another fufpenfion of the Habeas Corpus Aft, or to
extend the reftrifctive powers of the Sedition Act?
In either cafe, it muft ultimately tend to renew thofe
jealoufies and anjmofities which, of late years, have
too- unfortunately difturbed and diffracted the coun
try. And what fhould operate to tranquilize the
public mind, and to infpire it with confidence, may
become the very means of renewing thofe party
feuds and animofities it was hoped had happily
fubfided. The threat which the unpopular and
unfuccefsful candidate made at the final clofe of the
poll, we truft will in no part be realized. For al
though there may be 3Q0 difputed votes, out of
B 2 the

the 6000 that were polled, we have the" greateft con*>
fidence in the. general principles of the Middlefex free*
holders being decidedly in favour of Sir Francis,
and his caufe. Had this not been the cafe, would
it have been poffible for him to have triumphed over
Mr. Mainwaring, who was not only chairman of the
Weftminfter and county feffions, but fupported by'
the wbole body of magiftrates and that of the clergy,
and ftill further aided by every poffible exertion of
government in all its variety of official department
in his favour? Let us not, therefore, be told that
Sir Francis owes his election to a rabble compofed
of jacobins and correfponding revolutionifts. Could
a rabble dilate to the majority of the Middlefex
freeholders? Does the feat of jacobinifm or revo
lution exift in the moft independent part of the firft
county in the kingdom? To attack \n this unjuffc
and infiduous manner fo refpectable a body of men
is a libel on the county electors at large in the king
dom. If fuch a county as Middlefex could be in
fluenced in its choice of a reprefentative by a
rabble, the fame may be faid of every other county.
Had Sir Francis been chofen for any of the rotten
boroughs, which are at the difpofal of political parti
sans, his election might have been attributed to the
influence of a rabble that too frequently attend on
fuch occafions; but the imputation of the freehold
ers being influenced by a rabble, carries with it no
difgrace equal to that imputed by Mr. Mainwaring
in his endeavour to make the public believe that his
not

9
not being re-chofen was an attack upon the govern
ment. This is not only a fhabby and contemptible
fubterfuge to caft afide the obloquy he has brought
upon himfelf, but ifis a grofs infult on the county at
large. Is a majority of freeholders to be branded with
attacking the, government, for only exercifing the
rights of independent voters ? Is Mr. Mainwaring
to be confidered fo important and efjential a part of
the government that oppofition to him is faction
againft the.fta.te? Cannot Britifh Freeholders exercife
the firft of Britifh privileges 'without being compared
to a turbulent rabble exciting the county, by their
example,' to mis-rule and devaftation? Are the free
holders of Middlefex, in becoming the champions
of humanity to be repreftnted as feditious opponents
to government? Who is this Mr. Mainwaring, who
thus confiders himfelf poffeffed of fuch confequence
and authority as with a f ingle breath to turn the
moft loyal, refpectable, and independent body of
voters — like a juggler, with pnjlo! begone! into
a fraftious rabble? He may be a juggler, for all we
can tell, and fo completely exercifed in the decep
tive arts as to be qualified to mount any mounte
bank ftage for the purpofes of deluding the populace,
BUt he is not yet fo great an adept in legerdemain as
to impofe on the good fenfe and difcemment of the
public, an Aris for a Kirby, or a Mainwaring
for an Aristides. Nor can he, with ail the tricks
of a phantafmagorian, delude us with vilionary fpec-
jres of juftice and humanity, and make us, for a mo
ment,

lb
ment believe they are the inmates of any prifon^
over which prefides " The fteeled goaler, who feldom
is the friend of man." To tell us that a poor unfor
tunate girl, who had been grofsly violated in her
perfon, was a worthlefs girl, and that fhe was more
comfortable in confinement than fhe could poffibly
be with her parents, is fuch an outrage againft the
facred principles of truth and nature, that no reports
of a prifon committee of magiftrates fhall ever make
us difbelieve the reports of the Grand and Traverfe
Juries to the contrary.
But as this cafe has been printed not contrary
to law, as an anonymous hand bill, but with the
name and addrefs of the printer, and as the ftate-
ment involves in it circumftances, that, if true,,
amply juftify the freeholders of Middlefex in their
late conduct, we fubmit the following queries to
Mr. Mainwaring that he may, if able, difprove a
train of charges which, if true, can fcarcely be pal?
liated by repentance or retribution.
Did you, with other magiftrates of Middlefex,
place Mary Rich, a girl of only thirteen years
old, under the care of Governor Aris—not for
a crime — but to profecute a felon by whom her
perfon had been violated?
Do you know* that when Mary Rich was
brought, a few weeks after, to give evidence before; the

11
the Grand Jury, againft her violater, that fhe was
incapable of doing it, in confequence of the mife-
rable ftate to which fhe was reduced by ill treat
ment in prifon?
Had fhe nothing for fupport, but bread and wa-'
ter, and thofe fo fcanty in allowance that fhe could
not furvive many days after, had fhe fo remained?
Was fhe confined in a ftone cell, without a bed
to lie on, or clothes to cover her, for feVeral days —
pining under all the torture of cold and hunger?
Was fhe in this wretched ftate, without the op
portunity of acquainting her friends with her mi
serable fituation?
Was the calling her before the Grand Jury the
fole means of preventing a ,few days terminating
her exiftence, by cruel treatment unknown to the
public? Did the ill-treatment, related sby the unfortunate
child, fo intereft the feelings of the jury as to
caufe them to apply to the court and obtain permif-
fion to infpeathe Cold Bath Fields Prifon i

i?

Did the jury, in confequence of obtaining fuch
permiffion, report, in open court, to you, many bar
barous and inhuman cruelties difcovered by the
Grand and Traverfe Juries?

Did

12
Did you — inftead . of granting any redrefsy ufp
unwarrantable, means to conceal the conduct of
Governor Aris?
Did not Sir Francis Burdett, in confequence of
confidering that the purpofes of juftice were thus
being defeated in the Seffions Court, lay the re-
yrts of the Grand and Traverfe Juries before the
loufe of Commons; and were they not there fo
fully inveftigated on the nth and 2 2d of July,
1800, that the wicked conduct of Aris was fo clearly
deroonftrated, as to induce the houfe to vote an ad-
drefs, praying his Majefty to order an enquiry into the
Jtate and management of the Cold Bath Fields Prifon ?
Did you not, befide violently oppofing this ad-
drefs, endeavour to impofe on the houfe falfe re
ports, to prevent an enquiry you were apprehen-
five would expofe yourfelf and Governor Aris?
Did you prefent to the houfe a forged report,
favourable to Aris, faid to be made by the Grand
Jury on the nth cjf July, 1800, after vifiting Cold
Bath Fields Prifon?
Did not the foreman of the above jury wait in the
lobby for an oportunity of attefting to the houfe
that no fuch report was made or prefented by the
jury? And did you not, in confequence, flip out
of the houfe, and thus fhrink from an enquiry ? But

is
But the moft ferious queftion to be afked is the
following:— Do you know that Mr. Bafket, a free-
bolder at South Mimms, who voted againft vou at
your laft eleaion, was found on the morning of
Chriftmas day, 1798, frozen to death in a cell of
the Cold Bath Fields Prifon ?
. Prefuming that Mr. Mainwaring has not his own
mouth fealed — although he is reprefented to have
. been one of thofe who moft ftrenuoufly exerted
themfelves to make mum, or 05 fgnatum habere the
order of the day throughout the kingdom; we think
if he does not difprove the charges to the fatis-
faaion of the public, he puts the fignet to his own
reprobation. Nor can he ever claim again the
confidence which the freeholders of Middlefex
twice fo implicitly repofed in him. He may, as
a magiftrate, continue his avocation of prefiding
over a court of county feffions, for executing
great part of ftatute law, relating to high-ways,
poor, vagrants, treafon, felony, riots, preferva-
tion of game, &c. &c. but we hope the check
he has received will induce him to difcountenance
whatever may tend to turn the ftatutes of focial
corapaa into the fafces or fcourges of a miniftry.
And although he may have been profufe of his
power, we will not charge him with ignorance in
his vocation, or with being mercenary of perqui-
fites. Should he, therefore, commit the innocent
and liberate the guilty; diminifh the punifhment
C , of

1*
of the fplendid k-fiave, and aggravate that of the
indigent wretch; it can neither be imputed to his
weaknefs or his avarice* Nor will we pretend to
fay, that he punifhes more to fhew his confe
quence than his abfolute conviction of crimina
lity. For whatever has been, or may be, his condua,
we will leave his motives to the Omnifcient fcru-
tinizer of all things. Although the black ftieep is
fhorn of his legiflative honours, he may ftill, in
his prefent fituation, re-inftate himfelf in the hearts
of the people. There is, perhaps, . no fituation in
which a man has more in his power to eftablifh
his own fame, by --guarding the rights, lives, and
properties of his fellow creatures, than a magifterial
office fo elevated as that he poffefFes. He may
reftrain thofe who would, for hire, confufe evi-
dence, diftort truth and miflead juftice. Inftead
of arbitrarily diaating to a jury, he may leave them
the free exercife of their conftitutional power — that
of pronouncing a verdia of guilt or innocence ac
cording to the belt of their judgment. And as he
knows juries are chofen from a fphere unacquaint
ed with rhetorical artifice and logical fophiftry, he
may elucidate to them the law that others would con
found; he may check ftubborn witnefles in their
attempts to fwear what they have never feen, felt,
heard, or underftood: he may prevent caufes from
being prejudged, before witnefles have given evi
dence;

15
dence; chicanery from convincing more than truth;
authority from treading on the neck of Juftice; pre
judice from deciding more than judgment; and
oppreffion from diftreffing more than law was in
tended to relieve. Thefe are the divine powers,
which Aftrea delegated mortals to exercife. But
as on the talents and integrity of magiftrates de
pends the fecurepoffeffion of all that is dear to
fociety, we will here take a more extenfive view
of the benefits Mr. Mainwaring mav, from his judi
cial fituation, difpenfe to his fellow citizens. He
may guard our prifons from containing more mi-
fery than villianly. It is with him to fave fuch as
are ruined by others from receiving the infamy and
punifhment due to the authors of ruin. He may,
in a great degree, deftroy the toils that are fet to
deprive the diltreffed debtor of all misfortune has
left him^— liberty. He has the power of encouraging
the exertions of penury to obtain a fubfiftence, and
fcour the Confines of a prifon' from thofe harpies
who prey upon the little misfortune may have fpared.
When law relents,, he can arreft the hands of pil
ferers, who would exaa enormous fees for their
own cruelty. Thus he may fecure the miferable
debtor not only from being inhumanly punifhed
for being unfortunate, but paying for that punilh.
ment. Here he may prevent privileges from being
granted to the vile, that are denied to the honcft.
By his vifitations and his authority, he can prevent
rogues who have preferved their property from
C v. - commanding

is
commanding the wards, bolts, and chains" of the
prifon doors, which confine the honeft, who have
refigned all they poflefled to their creditors. Thefe
are employments to which it is the peculiar duty
of every magiftrate to. devote himfelf. When cor
ruption of manners fo prevade all ranks and de
grees of fociety, that the following reproach of
Juvenal's is as applicable to Britons as it was to
the Romans; the country fhould find in every
magiftrate a guardian .againft infult, rapine, and
outrage. " Non erit ulterius quodnoftris moribus addat
" Pofleritas. Eadem cupient facientque minores
" Omne in precipiti vitium eft,
Adopting the opinion of this fatirift, pofterity
cannot encreafe the depravity of our manners. — ¦
Our offspring defire and do the fame as ourfelves.
All is in the abyfs of vice. But as Mr. Juftice Main
waring will now have no legiflative bufinefs to at
tend, we hope to fee him devote all his time to
the amiable and indifpenfable duties of his office,
—namely, to protea the innocent from perfecu-
tion; the criminal from wanton and unjuftifiable
cruelty ; the defencelefs from injury; and the peace
able from outrage. We hope no confideration will
draw him afide from that poft of vigilance where
he fhould be inceflantly obferving the condua of
thofe employed in. the fubordinate offices of the
police.
By

17
By this conduct, he may prevent watch-houfes
from becoming dens for extorting property, by
intimidating the innocent, and promifing the cri
minal an opportunity of efcaping or evading juf
tice. Watchmen, conftables, thief-takers, and im-
pures will not then be able to fanQion pilfering
of pockets, plundering of houfes, corrupting of
youth, debilitating manhood, enforcing vice, and
condemning virtue, by every means that fraud can
devife or force can execute.
And if he really means to evince that he de-
ferved, although he did not receive, the fupport
of a majority of the freeholders of Middlefex,
we think no method can be fo fuccefsful as an
incefiant application of his time to promote, as
above, public welfare. Let him infpea all places
of confinement within his diftria, from the prifon
in Cold Bath Fields down to the fpunging-houfe
and watch-houfe; not to fanaion, but correa their
abufes, and he will perform the moft effential be
nefit to fociety. He may thus prevent fheriftV of-'
ficers from turning their own houfes into prifons,
under the pretence of faving debtors from the hor
rors of a common gaol. By laying them under
proper reftraints they will notbe able to impoverifh
the wretched, and then turn them ftarving into the
common prifons to make room for other mifera-
ble objtas of theii rapacity. By correcting fuch
abufes as thefe, and fanctioning every iubordinate in

18
in office-in their endeavours to ameliorate the ri
gours of punifhment, confiftently with public fafety,
he will arife again from the afhes to which his
popularity has been lately reduced. He will find
the clemency and liberality of Englishmen ready
to receive him again with confidence to their bo-
foms. They will forget the paft in the profpea of
the future. They will praife even his errors as
having been the means of rendering him the zeal
ous and genuine friend of man. But fhould he,
contrary to our hopes, purfue a different courfe
t,o what we have taken the liberty of pointing
out to him,1 it may not be improper to remind
him of the following paffage from Rufh worth, re-
fpeaing the condua of a perfoh of the fame name,
in the reign of Charles the firft. The account
is prefaced as follows:
u Nothing tends more to excufe, if not to juf-
" tify, the extreme rigour of the Commons againft
"Charles, than his open encouragement of fuch
" principles as are altogether incompatible with a
" limited government. One Man waring preached
'* a fermon, which the Commons found, upon en-
«* quiry, to be printed by the fpecial command
" of the king; and this fermon, when examined,
"> was obferved to contain doctrines fubverfive of
" all civil liberty. It taught that, although proper-
" ty was commonly lodged in the fubjea, yet all
«' property was transferred to the fovereign when-
t« ever

19
*« ever any exigency required fupply; that the con-
" fent of parliament was not neceflary for the
" impofition of taxes, and that the divine laws..
'* required compliance with every demand, how ir-
" regular foever, which the prince fhould make
*' upon his people.
" For thefe doarines the Commons impeached
«' Manwaring, and the fentence pronounced againft
" him by the Peers, was — that he fhould be im-
" prifoned during the pleafure of the houfe, be
" fined a thoufand pounds to the king, make
" fubmiffion and acknowledgements for his offence;
'* be fufpended during three years, be incapable
'< of holding any ecclefiaftical or fecular office, and
" that his books fhould be called in and burnt.
(i But no fooner was the feffion ended than this
«' man, fo juftly obnoxious to both Houfes of
« Parliament, and to the whole nation, received
« a pardon, was promoted to a living of confi-
" derable value, and raifed, fome years after, to
«« the Tee of St. Afaph !"
We will not make a fingle comment upon this
hiftorical faa, farther than obferving " that it is
ftrange, paffing ftrange," that, in. the days of Charles
the Firft, there fhould be a Manwaring who ren
dered himfelf obnoxious to both Houfes of Par
liament, and that in the reign of George the Third
there fhould be another Mainwaring rejeaed by
the

20
the freeholders of the firft county in the kingdom l
that the one fhould incur the difpleafure of the
legillature for fupporting the unconftitutional and
arbitrary meafures ,of a fovereignj and the other
fhould lofe his eleaion for defending a gaoler,
who was accufed in the Houfe of Commons of
cruelty and arbitrarily treating thofe committed to
his cuftody. This leads us to confider the happy
confequences that may' flow from this noble ex-
ercifeof eleaive franchife. When a people fo lately
upon the brink of defpondency, views this fuc-
cefsful effort in favour of the claims of humanity,
their fenfes awake, their energies expand, their
hopes revive, and their hearts rejoice. They will
fee that all is not loft, when a part, after moft
.firmly Iteming the torrent of influence, have land
ed on the fhore of independence. Thus aroufed
to confidence, they will aid the integrity of their
fenate in every meafure propofed for reftoring the
purity of the conftitution from every contamination
with which it has, by corrupt adminiftrations, been
affailed and endangered. The conftitution fo fre
quently faid to be gone, they are now convinced
exifts, and pofleffes a vigour paramount to all oppo
fition. The people will now look to Parliament as
the bulwark of their defence againft any minifterial
encroachments upon their priviliges, or perfections.
of their perfons. Inftead of tumultuoufly meeting
to debate upon revolutionary fchemes for cutting
up governments into fhreds and patches of authority, to

*1

to divide among ftate coblers, they will truft to thofe
they fend to parliament, as the guardians of their
rights. Having fhaken off that fervile compliance
with the diaates of a minifter, with regard to
perfons prefented for the choice of electors, we
have feen, in feveral counties, the people moft no
bly exercifing an unbiaffed freedom of fuffrage. A
parliament fo formed, will preferve the interefts of
fociety inftead Of facrificing them at the fhrine of
their own. They will not betray the welfare they
were chofento protea; nor, like pelicans, feed on
the breaft which nourifhed them into being. The
bleffings of fociety will not be bought and fold
there as if a parliament was purpofely formed a? a
national mart, for felling, to the belt bidder, all that
is dear and valuable to a people. There will be
found no knaves to plunder property, betray con
fidence, pervert honour, 'and promote infamy, and
make liberty the footftool of tyrannical, profligate,
and defperate minifters. In fuch a parliament, taxes
will not be voted on the people to pay their tafk-
mafters. Nor will wars be wantonly commenced
and continued to enrich its advocates. For per-
fonal con t rafts, focial lives, and treafures will not be
facrificed. > The true principles of taxation will be
obferved; they will be levied fo as to cut away the
luxuriances of commerce, that the general Item may
be invigorated. They will not be impofed to fap
its vitality, and leave the trunk withering beneath
the blaft of perfidy and avarice. Thefe are fome
D oi

02
of the advantages that a people may expea from
a parliament formed of reprefentatiyes they have
chofen; unawed, uninfluenced, and unpolluted. —
And as this triumph was in the caufe of humanity,
we look to thofe who have been fo independently
feated in the legiflature, for all the bleflings that
can poffibly flow from clemency, benevolence, and
patriotilm. In fuch zealous, fpirited, perfevering,
independent, and philanthrophic charaaers as Sir
Francis Burdett, the people may with confidence,
repofe .themfelves and their privileges. Every de
partment of church and ftate, we may truft, will be
the fubjefts of their inceffant vigilance. Happy, hap
py, people! who have the firft fo eftab'Jifhed that the
profeffors fhall not undermine, for pleafure, what
they inculcate for pay; when, unlike mercenary fol-
diers, who fight without patriotifm, they pray not
without principle ; when they enforce the abfolutc
beauty of virtue for our choice, and expofe the
deformity of vice for our rejeaion ; when they
fhall teach us to avoid being charitable without
benevolence, religious without piety, zealous with
out principle, or prefuming without merit; when
they remove from polemics the chimerical jargOn
that deftroys the credit of religion which is the
greateft happinefs o'f fociety to revere.
We may expea to fee fuch legiflators not only
controuling the abufes and infolence of office, but
direaing them in. their duties. We hope to hear
them

23
them telling the magiftrates to vifit, more frequently,
thofe feveral places of worfhip where fortune has
more votaries than either fame or virtue. As thefe
are places where the religion of chance encou
rages that which every other condemns, to the
incalculable detriment of the people, we fhall here
give a very brief fketch of its enormities. 
Cheating, lying, fwearing, plotting, and plundering
form the effence of their principles and practice.
At fuch fhrines as E O, rouge et noire, faro,
hazard, billiards, and card tables: honour is fa-
crificed to avarice, confidence to treachery, con
tent to anxiety, and affluence to penury. Here
the mifer is a fpendthrift, and the fpendthrift a
mifer. Here the vile are honoured and the ho
nourable vilified. Here mankind prey upon their
fpecies, whom they were created to ferve. Here
ftatefmen learn to play with thofe lives and pro
perties which are entrufted to their proteaion;
generals to lead armies upon the worft of caufs,
citizens to rifque the property which their credit,
as traders, has obtained; and artificers to throw
the die for the fhuttle, while the whole circle are
" at all," except the intereft of their fpecies.
The above is inferted as a fpecimen of the
abufes arifing from the corruption of manners, and
to which the legiflature fhould direa the attention f
of the magiftrates. It is the particular office o1
the latter to check and correa vice, profligacy, and
depravity — not by encouraging fecret torture, but
D 2 by

by the, rational and humane principles of moral
advice, publicly given, and where that fails, then
to inflift a punifhment — but not exceeding the
neceffity of moral correction, and that given fole'
ly for public example. The punifhments that
it. provides fhould be executed with cOmpaffion
and moderation. The law fhould never know
revenge. A good magiftrate will always pity the
neceffity of having recourfe to chaftifement, to
reclaim the obdurate, by fhewing what the law
provides for the incorrigible. Inftead of counte
nancing the fecret and wanton Cruelties of gaolers,
&c. which are too frequently exercifed from mo
tives of extortion, he will punifh them, as far as in
his power, for fuch an outrage againft every prin
ciple ofYocial juftice and humanity. . He will come,
veiled by the conftitution, as a mediator, to fof-
ten_ the rigours, of juftice, by the balm of cle
mency. He will fee the law take its courfe with
out fuffering it to inundate the banks which mercy
has raifed againft vindiaive devaftation.  -In
a word, he will concur, in principle and prac
tice, with the following judicious, patriotic, and
benevolent fentiments, which are as much to be
admired for their, wifdom, as for truth and hu
manity. They are contained in a paflage we have
feleaed from a letter Sir Francis Burdett addref-
fed to the independent and public-fpirited free
holders of. Middlefex, on his triumphant fuccefs
of being chofen one of their reprefentatives. Gentlemen,

25
, «« Gentlemen, when I affert that fecret impri-
fonment, fecret trial, and fecret execution, are the
never. failing engines of oppreffion and tyranny;
and that innocence can have no fecurity, but by
public trial, public execution, and public cuftody,
in the face of day, and before the eyes of the
country at large; when I affert this, I am con-
fcious that I, ftand upon a rock from which I
cannot be removed by any hired magiftrates, par
liaments, or kings. This is no difficult fpeculation;
it is not confined to any particular form of go
vernment, but ft is equally neceffary under all:
for .tyranny is no form of government, but the
diffolution of every focial tie. I repeat it, their
can be no fecurity againfl the ill-treatment of
prifoners : There can be no poffible means o*
hearjng their complaints, or knowing their fuffer-
ings, but by publicity of cuftody, and free com
munication with their friends. I heartily congra
tulate you, Gentlemen, on this tedious and pro
tracted conteft ; for it has given an opportunity
to the independent and public-fpirited freeholders
of the metropolitan county, deliberately to declare
their fentiments of the prefent fyftem of torture
in the dungeons of Cold Bath Fields, and their
opinion of Mr. Juftice Mainwaring and his hu
mane friend, —
" The fleeted jailor, whp feldom is the friend of man."
The above fentiments we cannot view without
being induced to attempt a Ihort. fketch of the
political

H
political charafter of Sir Francis Burdett, view
ing him as a man,

" Who aims at real worth, without the fiiow,
" Reaping the fruits that in a rich mind grow
" Whence fage advice and noble actions flow

i}.

we are, confidering his years, imprefied with ad
miration at a mind fo abftraaed from the frivolity
of the times as to be entirely devoted to virtues
that would have adorned a Roman or a Grecian
in their moft heroic and illuftrious periods of
their hiftory. In this age of moral depravity and
luxury, when all appear to be funk in the lap
of diffipation, to fee a young man rifing above
his compeers and awaking their attention to the
calls of humanity, is a fpeaacle that muft imprefs
every obferver with wonder and reverence. To
awaken thofe who are abforbed in a ftoical apa
thy towards the oppreffed, and to perfevere in
defiance of all reproach, oppofition, and menaces,
to expofe the guilty and to defend the injured,
has been his exclufive honour, — an honour which
all may emulate, but none can more richly de-
ferve. Who could fuppofe that, in a country fo
characterifed for humanity, there fhould be one
found to fiigmatife fuch exemplary virtue ? Who
could fuppofe that the Lord Lieutenant of Mid
dlefex fhould, by his condua, juftify the following
remarkable ftatement, Sir Francis has give.n in
his letter to the freeholders of the above county:
'< Gentlemen,

27
" Gentlemen," fays Sir Francis Burdett, « for
" having done my duty in my place in parliament
"againft the barbarous and cruel fyftem of fecret
*' and clofe imprifonmenti I was ftigmatifed by the
" Lord Lieutesiant of this county and in violation
" of the privileges of parliament and of all law and
"decency, I was proclaimed by him throughout
" the land, as a perfon not fit to be trufted to
" vifit or perform any office of humanity to any
" wretched viaim within the accurfed walls. Per-
** mit me to fay, it belonged to this fame county
« to wipe away this undeferved ftigma, and you
" have done it nobly."
They have indeed done it nobly, and have
thus evinced their own juftice, independence, and
philanthrophy. By this unequivocal teftimony of
their approval of Sir Francis' condua, they have
ftamped his moral and political charaaer in the
minds and hearts of an admiring and grateful peo
ple. In tracing ftill farther his charafter, from
his actions and fentiments, we cannot but think
in him is revived the Roman zeal, fortitude, and
independence. In his declaring that, although he
loves his family like other men, but if driven
to the alternative he had much rather that his
children and pofterity fhould be poor in a free
and flourifhing country, than rich in an enflaved
and impoverifhed kingdom; he feems to emulate
the moderation and independence of Cincinnatus, Paulus

58
Paulus Etnilius, and particularly Elius TubeYo;
who is reprefented, by Plutarch, to have been the
very belt of men, and who, above all the Romans?
knew how to fupport poverty with magnificence.
Valerius Maximus thus celebrates the manner in
which he fuppOrted his family, confuting of fix-
teen relations, by one little farm. Sixdecim eadem
tempora ALlii fuerunt, quibus una domuncula fuerai
todem lodo, que tiuH-c fuiit ttidriana "Monumental tt
ithus in agto Veiente fufi£us<, minus tnulto Cultores
defiierans qua>m domitws habebant. We thus per
ceive there Were fixteen of this family Who had
amonglt them all but one fttlall tenement and A.
fmall farm, which had more mouths to feed than
it required hands to Cultivate, But Sir Francis
Burdett is happily pOffeffed of affluence; yet> fuch,
we are affured, is his aeal for public fecurity, welfare
and pfofperky* that he really would, as he ftatesj
prefer poverty with freedom, than abundance with
oppfeffioh. And fo much we confider his integrity,
and independence, that we conclude with Confef*
ihg our decided belief of his expreffirig the real
diftatei of truth, when he fo nobly and difinter-
ftftedly afferts, " I love my country well and its
tranquillity; but I had much rather it fhould be
annihilated than enflaved."

SHORT ADDRESS

To THE

FREEHOLDERS OF MIDDLESEX.

••••©I C3& |9»»e»—

Gentlemen,
A LTHOUGH confidered individually, we can-
•*¦ *¦ not praife you all as contributing to the great
triumph lately gained in favour of independence
and humanity, yet we fhall congratulate your whole
body for the bleffing that . a majority of you have
obtained for yourfelves, and the coUntry, by their
choice of Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Byng. — »
The noble fupport you* gave to Sir Francis is
an event moft highly honourable to yourfelves,
dignifying to your favoured reprefentative, and ,pro-
mifing to the nation. Rejeaing a magiftrate fo
high in ' the favour of miniftry, and whom you
had chofen1 twice before to reprefent^ you in par-
* Here we particularly addrefs the people who voted for the
members elect. E liament,

30'
liament, proves that you know no friend but
fuch as >are conftitutionally the friends of the
people. You have convinced the nation that En-
glifhmen can be ftill true to their effential inte
refts, whenever the conftitution permits them to
exprefs, by their fuffrages, their approval of po
litical integrity, and their reprobation of political
pliancy, and fervility to the wifhes of an adminiftra-
tion. You have alfo proved that the conftitution
is not fo delapidated, but that it ftill pofleiTes
that firmnefs of fabric which no corrupt influence
can condemn, while the people are true to them-
felves, by choofing reprefentatives that are, like
Sir Francis Burdett, the unawed, unfhaken, and
uncontaminated champions of humanity and inde
pendence." To the free and difinterefted exercife
of eleaive franchife, you have fhewn that the
Ration owes the moft potent means of difcarding
the tools of office, and protecting the real patriot
from infult and perfecution, You have demon
strated, by perfeverance, almoft unexampled in
eleftion annals, that no authority can deter, in
fluence perfuade, or artifice miflead you in your
choice of fuch as ought to be entrufted with your
deareft of interefts. Your choice will be a leffon
indelibly engraved in the hearts of all our repre
fentatives, teaching, that a firm, unbiaffed, and
difinterefted difcharge of parliamentary duty is the
only fyftem that can render their names and cha
racters the objeas of their conftituents' efteem and
proteftion.

3t

proteftion. It is this alone that can , give them
the claim -of being re-chofen when the conftitu
tion fends them to receive the reward that is due
to their virtues, as having proved faithful ftewards
in proteaing and promoting the interefts commit
ted to their charge.
Farcical as our reprefentation has been defcribed
and thought to be by the firft of political writers,
your choice has evinced, that it ftill poffeffes a
vigour that defies confroul, and a ftamina beyond
conception. In the manner you have condufted
yourfelves, may be feen, as in a mirror, the an
cient dignity, juft principle, and innate energy of,
eleaors forming their reprefentation,, agreeable to,
the fpirit and letter of our chartered rights and
privileges. Glorious, indeed, is the fpeaacfe which
the fpirit, firmnefs, and difintereftednefs the eleaors
of Middlefex have difplayed on this occaGon.—
The members you have thus chofen will ftand
high in the opinion of their reprefentative col
leagues, and firm in the confidence of the nation.
Their conduft and principles have received fuch
fanftion from your free and unbiaffed choice, as
mull render both the deferved objefts of imitation-
To confult the real welfare of a people!, and not
the diaates of an arbitrary minifter, legiflators
will now fee, can only fecure to them' the fup-
port and approbation of their conftituents, and
the gratitude and admiration of their country.—
E 2 Such

3 2
Such as are anxious to diftinguifh themfelves as
honeft and dignified fenators will follow the fteps
of Sir Francis Burdett. They will firmly ftand for
ward as the preteaors of the oppreffed, artd the
defenders of the innocent. How proudly eminent
will your reprefentatives foar above thofe elected
for boroughs of their own, or of their time-ferving
friends! How will a Burdett, chofen for the county
of Middlefex foar above a Wyndham, elected for
a pot w ?. Hopping borough! Here is the triumph.
Here is fhewn the native energy of the confti
tution. This brings the proud, lordly, and over
bearing to the level of reafon and nature. How
ever any one may riot in power and authority,
he will find when he comes before his conftitu
ents, as a mere candidate, unaided by power and
deferted by party, he will be no, more, in their
eftimation. than " a cheefe-paring, " — " a candle's
end," or even " an acquitted fellon." But this is
not all the triumph you have obtained for Sir
Francis Burdett. He who was the fcorn — the
derifion, of this proud haughty minifter, for being
the advocate of fuch as were reprefented to be
the lamentable objefts of a gaoler's cruelty, is
now, by you, fpated in the moft elevated place
of fenatorial dignity. You have made him one
of the reprefentatives of the firft county in the
kingdom, while this ex-minifter is obliged to feat
himfelf among the loweft. This is the juftice which
is radically feated in the conftitution, and which no

33

no miniftry, however profligate, abandoned, or
defperate, has yet dared to violate. This divine.
principle of the conftitution may be, for a time,
fufpended— but it can never be caterminated, or
alienated ! The independent part of the reprefen-
tation you have now taught to confider as the
bulwark of their own honours, and the nation's
privileges. They will no longer confider it as a
form without fubftance, a dead letter without
meaning, a fpirit without energy, or a non-entity
without any. effentials of matter or motion. For
you have taught them that it is a form fubftan-
tially embodied, a letter explicit and perfpicuous
in its fenfe and expreffion, a fpirit replete with
vigour, and an entity endowed with all the powers
and faculties effential to protea the country.
Viewing, therefore, the choice you have made
in its independence of principle, its triumph over
minifterial influence, its grateful encouragement of
political virtue, and its conftitutional advantages, we
truft it will be the means of uniting all parties, ap
pealing animofities, and infpiring confidence through
out the nation. The difaffefted will abandon their
prejudices in favour of innovation, when they fee
their conftitution poffeffing fuch firm principles of
juftice, ¦ fecurity, and independence. ' The ambi
tious will fee the danger of attempting to rife by
any other means than proving the conftitutional
friends of their country.^ The patriots will pro
ceed

36
ceed with redoubled ardour in their parliamentary
duty of vigilantly guarding the, people from ille
gal violence, or the abufe of delegated authority.
And the governed, as well as thofe who govern,
rouft now fee their belt intereft will be to unite in
hand and heart to guard that conftitution from
ignorance, defperation, malignity, or treachery,
which your condua has glorioufly proved to be
the bulwark of national confidence, privilege, and
profperity.

FINIS.

London :— Printed by E. Spracg, Bow-Street, Covent-Garden.

Mrs. BILLINGTON.

THIS DAY IS PUBLISHED,
Price 5s. in Colours, ahd Ss. Plain, elegantly printed in
Quarto, and Hot-preffed ; in Boards ;
THE SECOND EDITION,
OF THE
MUSICAL MAM M^
DELINEATED IN
SIX CHARACTEIRSTIC PRINTS,

WITH

Metrical Clucfoattcns,
AND A
Bravura Dedication to Mrs. Billington.
By G. M. WOODWARD, -
Author of Eccentric Excurfions, Olio of Good Breeding,
. ' &c."&c. &c. .

SOLD by
Crosby, Stationers-Court; Roberts,, Middle-Row, Holborn;
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And at all 'other Boekfdltrs,

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