IN THE CUSTODY or THE
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.
THE
SPIRIT
O F
DESPOTISM,
DiVlTIAS COMITATUR LUXUS, Ct LUXU5 CxIt 111 TYRANNl- DEM. — Riches are attended •with Luxury ^ and Luxury ends in Def- potifm, Erasmus.
Ex regum Immoderata llbidlne unjujia bella temere plerumque fufcipiuntur, federate geruntur, turpiter deponuntur. — In confe- quence of the Spirit of Defpotif?n among Kings and Grandees, unjujl tuars are^for the moji part, rajhly undertaken, ivickedly conducted, and, after all, abandoned %vith defeat and difgrace„ Buchanan.
xondon: printeb in the year 1795.'
J'HILADELPHIA:
RE-PRINTED BY LANG AND USTICK, FOR SELVES AND MATHEW CAREY.
NOV. 28, MDCCXCy.
a
^^>.DAMS2.3V'. ^
^1.
PREFACE.
X HE heart is deceitful above all things ; who can know it? As far as I know my own, it feels an anxious defire to ferve my fellow-creatures, during the ftiort period of my continuance among them, by flopping the eiFu- fion of human blood, by diminilliing or foften- ing th^ miferies which man creates for himfelf, by promoting peace and by endeavoring to iecure aftti extend civil liberty.
I attribute war, and moil of the artificial evils of life, to the Spirit of Defpotifm^ a rank poifonous weed^ which grows and Hourifhes even in the foil of liberty, when over-run with corruption. I have attempted to eradicate it, that the falutary and pleafant plants may have room to ilrike root and expand their foliage.
There is one circumftance which induces me to think that, in this inflance, my heart does not deceive me. I am certain, that in attempt- ing to promote the general happinefs of man, without ferving any party, or paying court to a^y individual, I am not fludying my own iLtwrell. On the contrary, I am well aware that my very fubje^i: muil give offence to thofe who are poflefTed of power and patronage. I have no perfo nal enmities, and therefore am truly concerae d that I could not treat the
^ A ■.
if PREFACE,
Spirit of Defpotlfm, without advancing opini- ons tliat muft difpleafe the nominal great, I certainly facrifice all view of perfonal advantage to' what appears to me the public good ; and flatter myfelf that this alone evinces the purity of my motive.
Men of feeling and good mindsj whofe hearts, as the phrafe is, lie in the right place^ will, I think, agree with me in mod: points \ efpecially when a little time, and the eveiitSi, now taking place, fliall have diffipated the itiifl of paffion and prejudice. Hard-hearted, proud worldlings, who love themfelves only, aiid knoW rio good but money and pageantry, wilhfcarcely agree with me in any. They will bfe angry ; tef, coiifiilently with their general haughtinefs, affe£t contempt to hide their choler.
I pretend not to afpire at the honor of mar*- tyrdom : yet fome inconveniences I am ready- to bear patiently, in promoting a caufe which deeply concerns the whole of the prefent race, and ages yet unborn. I am ready to bear pati- ently the proud m.an's contumely, the infult of rude ignorance, the farcafm of malice, thfe hired cenfure of the fycophantie critic, ('whofe preferment depends on the proftitution both of knowledge and confcience,) and the viru- lence of the venal newfpaper. It would be a difgrace to an honed man not to incur the abuft of thofe who have fold their integrity ^nd abi- lities to the enemjes of their country and the hum.an race. Strike^ but hear^ faid a noble ancient. Truth will ultimately prevail, even
PREFACE, f
though he who uttered It ihould be deftroyed. Columbus was defpifed, reje6i:ed, perfecuted; but America was difcovercd. Men very incon- iiderable in the eye of pride, have had the honor to difcover, divulge, and diffeminate do6i:rines that have promoted the liberty and happinefs of the human race. All that was rich and great^ in the common acceptation of that epithet, combined againft Luther; yet when pontiffs, kings, and lords had difplayed an impotent rage, and funk into that oblivion which their perfonal infignificance naturally led to, Luther prevailed, and his glory is immor- tal. He broke the chain of fuperflition, and weakened the bonds of defpotifm.
I have frequently, and from the firfl com- mencement of our prefent unfortunate and dif- graceful hoflilities, hfted up my voice — a fee- ble one indeed— againft war, that great pro- moter of defpotifm; and while I have liberty to write, I will write for liberty. I plead weakly, indeed, but fmcerely, the caufe of mankind; and on them, under God, I rely for proteftion againfl that mercilefs Spirit which I attempt to explode.
CONTENTS.
^e&. Page
I. Introductory. i
II. Oriental Manners, and the Ideas imbibed in Youth, both in the Welt and Eaft Indies, favorable to the Spi- rit of Defpotifm. i $
III. Certain Circumftances in Education which promote the Spirit of Defpotifm. 2 1
IV. Corruption of Manners has a natural Tendency to promote the Spirit of Defpotifm^ 28
V. An Abhorrence of Ddpotifm, and an ardent love of Liberty, perfedly confiftent with Order and Tranquil- lity ; and the natural confequence of well-informed Underftandings and benevolent Difpofitions. 34
VI. On the Venality of the Prefs under, the Influence of the defpotic Spirit, and its EfFe(5ts in diifufing that Spirit. 41
VII. The fafhionable Inveflives againil Phiiofophy and Reafon, a Proof of the Spirit of Defpotifm. 48
VIII. Of Loyalty, and certain miftaken Ideas of it. ^^
IX. On taking Advantage of popular Commotions, acci- dental ExceiTes, and foreign- Revolutions,- to extend Prerogative and Power, and encroach on the Liberties of the Peopieo. 62
X.^ When Human Life is held cheap, ,it is a fymptom of a prevailing Spirit of Defpotifm. 72
XL Indifference of the Middle and Lower Clafies of the People to public Affivlrs, highly favorable to the En-. croachments of the Tory Principle, and therefore to the Spirit of Defpotifm. 79
XI I. The defpotic Spirit is inclined to difcourage Com- merce, as unfavorable to its Purpofcs. 88
XIII. The Spirit of Defpotifm difplaying itfelf in private Life, and proceeding thence; to? avail itfelf of the Church and the Military. q6 ■
Tiii CONTENTS. ,<,
XIV. The Defpotic Spirit inclined ta avail itfelf of Spies, -Informers, falfe WitnefTes, pretended Confpiracies, and
felf-interefted AfTociations affeding Patriotifm. iii
XV. The Manners of Tory Courtiers, and of thofe who ape them, as People of Fafhion, inconliftent witi Man- linefs, Truth, and Honefty ; and their Prevalence injurious to a Free Conilitution, and the Happinefs of Human Nature. ".\ . 119
XVI. The Spirit of Truth, Liberty, and Virtue, public as well as private, chiefly to be found ia the middle Ranks of the People. 131
XVII. On debauching the Minds of the riling Generation and a whole People, by giving them military Notions in, a free and commercial Country. 139
XVIII. Levity, EtFeminacy, Ignorance, and Want of Principle in private Life, inimical to all public Virtue, and favorable to the Spirit of Defpotifm. 146
XIX. Certain Paflages in Dr. Bro'u.ni''s " F "" _;nate,'* which deferve the ferious Confideration of all who op^ pofe the Subverlion of a free Conftitution by Corruption of Manners and Principles, and by undue hvjluence. 154
XX. On feveral Subjeds fuggeiled by Lord Melcomhe^ " Diary ;" particularly the pra(5t:ice of bartering the Cure of Souls for the Corruption of Parliament. 162
XXI. On chooling rich Men, with Parts, Spirit, or Li- berality, as Reprefentatives in the National Council. 170
XXII. Of the Defpotic Influence of great Merchants over their Subalterns, of Cvjioraers over their Tradef- men, and rich trading Companies over their various Dependents, in compelling them to vote for court Can- didates for Seats in Parliament, merely to ferve private inierejl, without the fmalleft Regard for public Liberty and Happinefs, or the Fitnefs or Unlitnefs of the Can- didate. 177
XXIII. Of the Pageantry of Life ; that it originates in the Spirit of Defpotifm ; and contributes to it, with- out advancing private any more than pubHc Felicity. 1P5
XXIV. Infolcnce of the higher Orders to the middle ~ v/ith tlicir alfeclcd Condelcen-
ix -GCNTENTS.
SeS. . , ■?^!?^«
^ fion, in certain Circiimflances, to the loweft , of the
People. 193
XXV. Ofa Natural Ariftocracy. 201
XXVI. The excelTiveLove of Diftin<5lion and Power which prevails wherever the Spirit of Defpotifm exifts, dead- ens fome of the lineft Feelings of the Heart, and coun-
. teraSs the Laws of Nature. 209-
XXVII. On the Opinion that the People are annihilated or abforbed in Parliament ; that the Voice of the Peo- ple is no where to be heard but in Parliament ; and on fimilar Do6lrines, tending to depreciate the People, 216
XXVIII. The Fafhionable Contempt thrown on Mr. Locke, and his Writings in Favor of Liberty ; and on other Authors and Books efpoufing the fame Caufe. 224
XXIX. Of the Defpotifm c^ Influence \ while the Forms of a free Conflitution are preferved. 232
XXX. The Spirit of Defpotifm delights in War or fyfte- matic Murder. 240
XXXI. On the Idea tliat we have arrived at Perfedion in Politics, though all other Sciences are in a progrcf- five State. 249
XXXII. On Political Ethks ; their chief Obje<5i: is to throw Power into the Hands of the worjfl Part of Man- kind, and to render Government an Inftitution calcu- lated to enrich and aggrandize a few, at the Expence of tlie Liberty, Property, and Lives of the many. 256
XXXIII. On trafficking with the Cure of $ouls (Cura Animarum) for the Purpofes of political, /. e, moral Corruption. 263
XXXIV. Of Mr. Humeh Idea, That alfolute Monarchy is the eafiell: Death, the true Euthanafia of the Britifti Conflitution. 271
XXXV. The Permiilion o^ Lawyers by Profeffion, afpir- ing at Honors in the Gift of tke Crown, to have the greateft Influence in the Legifiature, a Circumftance unfavorable to Liberty. 278
XXXV I. Poverty, when not extreme., favorable to all Virtue, public and private? and confcquently to the
CONTENTS. n
Se&' Page.
Happlnefs of Human Nature ; and enormous. Riches y. without Virtue, the general Bane. 2S5.,
XXXVII. On the natural Tendency of making Judges and Crown Lawyers, Peers ; of tranjflating Bifhops, and annexing Preferments to Biihopricks, in, what is called, commendam. 292
XXXVIII.. That all Oppoiition to the Spirit of Befpot- ifm fhould be conduced with the moft fcrupulous Regard to the exifling Laws, and to the Prefervation of public Peace and good Order.. 304
XXXIX. The Chriftian Relloion favorable to Civil Li- berty, and likewife to Equality,' rightlY underftood.' 3 1 K
XL. The Pride which produces the Spirit of Defpotifm conipicuous even on the Tombftone. It might be treated with total Negle<5t, if it did not tend to the Oppreffion of the Poor, and to Bloodfhed and Plunder. 3ig[
XLI. GOKCLUSIOH.
^HE
Spirit of Dejpotifm.
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTORY.
MAN, in a ftate of fimplicity , uncorrupted by the influence of bad education, bad examples, and bad government, poffeffes a taile for all that is good and beautiful. He is capable of a degree of moral and intelledual improvement, which advances his nature to a participation with the divine. The world, in all its magnificence, appears to him one vafl theatre, richly adorned and illuminated, into which he is freely admitted, to enjoy the glorious fpeci:acle. Acknowledging no natural fuperior but the great archited of the whole fabric, he partakes the delight with confcious dignity, and glows with gratitude. Pleafed with himfelf and all around him, his heart dilates with benevolence, as well as piety ; and he finds his joys augmented by communi- cation. His countenance cheerful, his mien ere^l, he rejoices in exiflence. Life is a con-
B
2 THE SPIRIT
tinual feail: to him, highly feafoned by virtue, by liberty, by mutual affedtion. God formed him to be happy, and he becomes fo, thus fortunately unmiolefted by falfe policy and op- preffion. Religion, reafon, nature, are his guides through the whole of his exiflence, and the whole is happy. Virtuous indepen- dence, the fun, which irradiates the morning of his day, and warms its noon, tinges the ferene evening with every beautiful variety of color, and, on the pillow of religious hope, he finks to repofe in the bofom of Providence.
But w4iere is man to be found, thus noble, thus innocent, thus happy ? Not, indeed, in fo many parts of the terraqueous globe as he ought to be ; but flill he is to be found v/here- ver the rights of nature and the virtues of fim- plicity are not violated or banifiied by the falfe jefinemxnts, the bafe artifices of corrupted go- vernment.
Unhappily for man, fociety has been almoll univerfally corrupted, even by the arts in- tended for its improvement ; and human na- ture is gradually depr?cved in its very progrefs to civilization. Metamorphofed by the tam- paing of unfkilful or diflionefl politicians, and the craft of interefted priefls, co-operating with politicians, man at prefent appears, in many countries, a diminutive and diitorted animal, compared with what he was in his primaeval ftate. He is become the dvrarf and the cripple of courts and cities inflead of the well- formed, beautiful, creature, who once.
OF DESPOTISM. 3
bounded, in the glory of health and flrength, over the forefl and the mountain, glowing with the warmth of virtue, and breathing the fpirit of independence.
Various are the caufes which contribute to the factitious depravity of m.an. Defeftive and erroneous education corrupts him ; the prevalent examples of a degenerate commu- nity corrupt him ; but bad government cor- rupts him more than all other caufes com- bined. The grand adverfary of human virtue and happinefs is despotism. Look over the furface of the whole earth, and behold man, the glory and deputed lord of the a-eation, withering under the influence of defpotifm^, like the plant of temperate climes fcorched by the fun of a torrid zone. The leaf is fickly, the bloifom dares not expand its beauty, and no fruit arrives at its juff fize and maturity.
Turkey, Italy, ^gypt 1 how changed from what ye were when inhabited by antient Ct reeks, Romans, ^Egyptians ! Nature, indeed, f Lill fmiles upon them with unaltered favor. The blue mantle of the fkies is ftill fpread over them in all its luminous magnificence. There is no reafon to fuppofe the earth lefs fertile. The corn laughs in the vallies. Tlie tree afpires to Heaven with all its original ver- dure and majefty. But man decays j withered, flirunk, enervated ; a form without fpirit, an animal lefs happy than the beafls of the field, and more ignoble, inafmuch as deg-eneracy is
4 THE SPIRIT
bafer than native, original, created infciioritj. Pallen with the cohimnar ruins of better times, over which, in thefe countries, he often tram- ples, MAN himfelf appears little better than a ruin, difplaying all the deformity of the moul- dering pile, with fcarcely any veflige of its for- mer magnificence. It would equally contradi^l philofophy and experience to attribute this moral degeneracy to the decay of nature's vigor. There is no reafon to conclude that the natural faculties of men who inhabit countries once free, but now enilaved, are produced in a (late of .lefs perfection at this hour, than in the days of their illuflrious forefathers. Anato- ' my difcovers no defe6l in the fibres of the heart or the brain ; yet the . degeneracy re- mains uncontefted. In truth, governme?2t has countera(5led the beneficence of nature. The MEN are fallen ; while the human figures ^ with their internal and external organization, con- tinue fimilar, or the fame. They are inactive and pufillanlmous. They afpire at no extra- ordinary excellence or achievements ; but crouch beneath their defpot, glad of the poor privilege allowed them by a fellow-creature, as weak and more wicked than themfelves, to eat, drink, fleep and die. Any pre-eminent degree of m^erit among them would render the diflinguiflied pofleffor of it fatally illuftrious, the certain objc£i: of a tyrant's vengeance ; and they find their bed fecurity in their want of virtue. By a voluntary fubmiffion to con^
OF DESPOTISM. ' 5
tempt, they retain and tranfmit the privilege of breathing, and build the bulwark of their fafety on their perfonal infignificance.
Fear mud:, of neceffity, become the pre- dominant pafTion in all countries fubje£l to the uncontrolled dominion of an individual and his miniflers : but fear chills the blood, and freezes the faculties. Under its icy influence there can a rife no generous emulation, no daring fpirit of adventure. Enterprize is confidered as dangerous, not merely from the general cafuality of all human affairs, but becaufe'it excites notice, and alarms the jealoufy of felfifh power. Under a defpotic government, to fteal through life unobferved, to creep, with timid caution, through the vale of obfcu- Tity, is the firfl wifdom ; and to be fuffered to die in old age, without the prifon, the chain, the dagger, or the poifoned bowl, the highell pitch of human felicity.
Ignorance of the groffeft kind, ignorance of man's nature and rights, ignorance of all that tends to make and keep us happy, dif- graces and renders wretched more than half the earth, at this moment, in confequence of its fubjugation to defpotic power. Ignorance, robed in imperial purple, with Pride and Cru- elty by her fide, fways an iron fcepter ovei- more than one hemifphere. In the finefh and iargeft regions of this planet which we inhabit, . are no liberal purfuits and profeffions, no con- templative delights, nothing of that pure, iii- telledual employment which raifes man from
B 2
6: THE SPIRIT
the "mire of fenfaality and fordid care, to a de- gree of excellence and dignity, which we con- ceive to be angelic and celeftial. Without Jknovrledge or the means of obtaining it, without exercife or excitements, the mind Fails into a ftate of infantine imbecility and do- tage ; or acquires a low cunning, intent only on felfiih and mean purfuits, fuch as is vifiblc in the more ignoble of the irrational creatures^ in foxes, apes, and monkies. Among nations lb corrupted, the utmofl effort of genius isiafc; court intrigue or a miniilerial cabal. ^'"A degradation of the underilanding, like this, is ufnally accompanied with depravity of heart. From an inability to find pleafure and honorable employment in the energies of thought, in noble and virtuous a£lion, in re- fined coAverfation, in arts, in commerce in learning, arifes a mifchievous activity in trifles, a perverlion of nature, a wantonnefs of wick- cdnefs, produdtive of flagitious habits, which render the partaker of reafon the mod: defpir cable and detellable animal in the whole circle of exiilence. Thus funk under the prefTure of defpotinn, who can recognize, notwithftand- ing the hum.an fliape they bear, the lineal defcendants of iEgyptian, Grecian, Roman worthies, the glory of their times, the lumi- naries of their own country and the world, the inftruftors and benefaclors of human na.- ture ? Thus the image of the Deity, ilamped on man at his creation, is defiled or utterly ef- faced by government, iuflituted and exercifed
OF DESPOTISM. J
by man over bis fellow-man ; and his kindred to Heaven is known no more by the divine refeniblance. A bad government is there- fore the curfe of the earth, the fcourge of man, the grand obilacle to the divine will, the moil copious fource of all moral evil, and for ; that reafon, of all mifery ; but of bad gofj vernments, none are comparable, in their mif* chievous efeds, to the defpotic. .> u .-^ • >i:
, But if defpotifm in its extreme produces con^- fequences thus malignant, reafon will infer, ■= and experience will juilify the inference, that all the ' fubordinate degrees of defpotifm are proportionally deftru£live. However it m.ay be difguifed by forms, it is ever feeking its own encreafe and aggrandizement, by openly crniliing, or fecretly . undermining, the fabric of liberty : it is ever encroaching on the privv leges and enjoyments of thofe who a.re fub- je&d to it ; greedily, though fooliilily, wifli- ing to engrofs every good of every kind in this fublunary ilate, except the good of vir- tue.
Power, though limited by written laws, in the hands of mortal men, poorly educated, and furrounded by fycophants and flatterers, v/ho wifh, by partejdng the power, to partake alfo of its proiits and dirtinci:ions, and thus gratify at once their pride and avarice, is al- w^ays endeavoring to extend itfelf beyond the li7mtations ; and requires to be v/atched with the moll jealous eye, by all who are fubjed to it, and to be relbained within its boundsjv
8 THE SPIRIT
by tlie manlieft efForts, and the mofl deter- liiined refolution of virtue. Every engine of artifice and terror will be ufed to fupprefs fuch virtue : but the friend of man and of his country will defy perfecution, fines, impri- fonment, and death, in attempting, by every lawful and rational means, to pufh back the gigantic flrides of encroaching defpotifm, more deftruclive of happinefs than an earthquake or a pefliilence. A country deferves no love, when it ceafes to be a country of liberty. Human beings conftitute a country, not a foil in 'a certain latitude ; and an attachment to liberty is the truefl loyalty.
It is therefore highly expedient, whenever a people, free by law and conflitution, appear in the fmallcji degree to remit their attention to the prefervation of freedom, to urge them, by the moil ferious admonition, to an imme- diate refamption of their vigilance. While they flumber and lleep, lulled by the Circean cup of corruption, the enemy is awake, and bufily mptking his infidious approaches to the citadel. Every inch of ground, they care- lefsly relinquiih, is eagerly feized by the co- vetous polteflbr of dominion ; the love of which, like the love of money, increafes by acceffion. Nor are there ever wanting numbers of artful men who ftimulate a weak or a wicked prince in his encroachments | fen- fible as they are, that their own power and privileges will be augmented with thofe of the prince, whofc exclufive favor they have gained
OF DESPOTISM. g
by fycophantic arts and by co-operation in the; fallacious fervice of enlarging his prerogative* ' The more the power of the prince is aug- mented, the greater v/ill be the emoluments, the more brilliant the diflin£i:ions of the cour- tier. A flar iliines with higher luftre, a rib- band difplays. a brighter hue, a title foothes the ear with fweeter mufic, when conferred by a mighty potentate far exalted above vulgar control, and who holds his crown in contempt of his people. If kings can be once elevated to the rank of Heaven's vicegerents, how mufl admiring plebeians idolize their choice favors and their prime favorites ? There is always, therefore,, a fet of men (to whom pomp and vanity are the chief good) who are continually endeavoring to add glory and greatnefs to the orb from which they derive their own luflre. " Moons and fatellites would Ihine faintly indeed, unkfs the fun of the fyftem glittered with into- lerable eifulgence. If the fun were fhora of ^its beam^, their native opaquenefs would pafs ^without notice.
So many advantages do the profeiTors of power enjoy for its extenfion, in all countries where courts have influence, that the people, however great their numbers, are fcarcely a match for its fubtle contrivances, its falfe alarms, its bribes, its fpies, its informers, its- ,confLru<5live treafons, its military force, it^' tfuperftitious terrors, invented and difFufed by a poHcy, which often laughs in fecret at the religion which it enforces with folemn hypo-
to THE SPIPviT
CYify.^'A^ courtrhas an opportunity of gratify- ing, in a tiioufand difFerent ways, both fecretly and openly, the mod prevalent and violent paffions of human nature. When the mafs of the people are artfully feduced to throw their weight into the fame fcale with the court, liberty in the other mud kick the beam. When the ariftocracy of rank and riches unite hand in hand, to feduce the people, the delu- lion m.ay for a time be fuccefsful, and advan- tages may be taken, during the temporary delirium, to rifle the caille of liberty, to weaken its foundations, to break down its ba,ttlements, or to lull its watchmen afleep with a pov/erful opiate.
It has indeed been faid in antient times, and often repeated, that if the people will be de^ cei"jedy let thetn be deceived; but they have no choice, no chance to efcape deception, unlefs the truth be fairly and publicly exhibited ta them, and their minds duly enlightened. When duil is thrown into their eyes, more efpecially gold dud, the pclitical opthalmid mud honedly crldeavcr to clear away the obdrudion. It becomes every lover of his country, efpecially a country like Engla.nd, where even the throne itfelf is fixed on liberty as on a corner done, to warn his countrymen of the danger, wherever he obferves the ImallePc encroachment on their rights, and the fpirit of the tifiies tending but remotely to deipotif^ii. • • .'!^!i
If thel-e be a time, in which the fenate 6f-k. free country has declared that the influence of
OF, DESPOTISM. I I
the crown has increafed^ is increafing^ and ought to be diminijhed ; and if, inflead of a confequent diminution, there be an evident increafe of that infiuence ; if a^ls, hke the habeas corpus^ highly favourable to liberty, be fufpended without necefHty ; if unconilitutional benevolences be encouraged ; if places and penfions be multiplied ; if juries be cenfured by great men for honefl verdifts in favor of freedom; if endeavours be m.ade reflrain the prefs by fycoph antic affociations ; if fpies and informers be kept in pay for the purpofe of profecuting innocent men who efpoufe the caufe of their country ; if the prefs be hired to calumniate both liberty and the people ; if wars, neither juft nor neceffary, be under- taken to divert the public mind from domeftic reformation ; if a party prevail by artifice^ who hate the name of liberty, who are conti- nually employed in aggrandizing monarchy^ ariilocracy, and in depreciating the people ; in fuch a time, and in fuch a conjunAure, it becom.es every honefl man, not yet drawn into the whirlpool of political corruption, to warn his fellow-citizens againft an encroaching fpirit of defpotifm.
In the following pages, I offer fome fuggef- tions on the fubje^t. I have indeed few qua- lifications for the talk befides fmcerity, an earnefi: defire to promote public and private happinefs, and an independence of fpirit ; but thefe I certainly have, and profefs to maintain. I wiih the rifmg generation may be awakened.
12 THE SPIRIT
and learn to place a due value on the liberty handed down to them by their anceftors. I would infpire them with a generofity of mind, which Ihould fcorn diffimulation j which ihould neither praftice the arts of corruption, nor become their dupe. I am defirous of difcre- diting the whole fyflem of corruption, and of rendering all civil government fair, jufi:, open, and honorable. All government, founded on infmcerity and injuiliice, debafes the morals and injures the happinefs, while it infringes on the civil rights of the people. I wiih to revive in the people a due fenfe of their native and con- ilitutional importance. I endeavour, in this book, to plead the caufe of man ; firmly con- vinced that the caufe of man is the caufe of God,
OF DESPOTISM. I J
SECTION II.
Vriefiiai Manners ^ and the Ideas imbibed in Toitth^ both in the Weji and Eaji Indies, favorable to the Spirit of Defpotifnu
X HE foundations of the fair fa- bric of liberty in Europe were laid in ages tvhen there was but Uttle intercourfe, com- mercial or political, with the remote countries of Afia and America^ A hardy race, in unge- nial climates, with nerves ilrungby the northern blaft, though little refined by knowledge, felt in an early age, the fentiments of manly virtue, and fpumed the bafenefs of ilavery. Luxury had not emafculated their minds; and they threw off, with native elafticity, the burden of unjufl dominion. While they fubmitted with graceful acquiefcence, to all lawful authority, eflabliflied by their own confent, for the general good ; they preferved a noble confcioufnefs of native dignity, and maintained a perfonal gran- deur, a proud independence, a greatnefs unin- debted to the morbid tumor of rank and riches. In later times the facility of navigation and the improvements of fcience have brought into clofe connexion the extremes of the habitable globe. The afperity of manners which fome- times difgraced the virtues of our forefathers, has indeed been foftened by various and con- flant intercourfe ; the manly fpirit has ex-
C
iA THE SPIRIT
changed ferocity for gcntlencfs, and rendered the eners^etic character confnient T^ith the ami- able. It was a happy change ; for why ihouid raaniy virtue alTume a forbidding afpecl, and lofe the recommendation of engaging m.anners, the happinefs of loving and being loved, while it commands, by deferving, cordial reverence ?
But from the intercourfe of England with the Eafl and Well Indies, it is to be feared that fomething of a more fervile fpirit has been derived, than w^as known among thofe who eilabhfhed the free conftitutions of Europe, and than would have been adopted, or patiently borne, in ages of virtuous limplicity.
A very numerous part of our countrymen fpend their moil fufceptible age, in tbofe countries, where dcfyotic mxanners rem.arkably .prevail. They are themfeives, when invefted v/ith office, treated by the natives with an idokitrous de2"ree of reverence, which teaches them to expect a .fmiilar fubmiiTion to their v;ill, on their return to their own country. They have been accuftcmed to look up to perfonages greatly their fuperiors in rank and riches, with av/e ; and to look down on their inferiors in property^ with fupreme contempt, as fiaves of their will, and miniitcrs of their luxury. Equal laws, and equal liberty at home, appear to ihem fancy claims of the poor and vulgar, Vvdiich tend to diveft riches of one of the greatell charms, overbearing dominion.
We do indeed import l^orgeous filks and Itifcious fvv-ects from the Indies, but we import.
OF DESPOTISM-. 1 5
at the fame time, the fpirit of defpotifm, which adds deformity to the purple robe, and bitter- nefs to the honied beverage.
The vafials of the feudal times, it is true, were abje^l flaves ; but their flavery was free- dom compared to the llavery of the negro. They were not driven by the whip to work in a torrid zone. They were not wanted to ad- minifter to perfonal luxury ; for perfonal luxury did not exift. But the negro is rendered a tv/o-legged beaft of burden ; and looks up to the infant fon of his lord, as to a fuperior being, whom he is bound to obey, however vicious, whimfical, or cruel the command. Cradled in defpotifm, the young planter comes to England for education, and brings with him the early impreilions, which a few years refidence in the land of freedom can feldom obliterate. He returns ; grows rich by the labor of flaves, over w^hom, for the fake of perfonal fafety, the moil arbitrary government is exercifed, and then Derhaps retires to Enc^land to foend his age and acquirements in the capital, the feat of pleafure, the theatre of commercial fpiendor and courtly magnificence. He mixes much in iociety, and inevitably communicates his ideas, which have now taken deep root, on the ne- ceffity of keeping the vulgar in a flate of de- prellion, and ftrengthening the hands of the rich and the powerful. In the virtuous (Irug;- gles of the lower and middle ranks for confti- tutional liberty, is it likely that he fliould join the conteft, on the fide of the people ? Is- its
i6 THE SPIRIT
not moil probable, that he will throw all his X^eight, v/hich, coniidering the ivcighi of money ^ is often great, in oppoiition to the popular {idQ ? A long fucceifion of fuch men, perfon- ally refpe^lable, but, from peculiar circum- ftances, favoring the extenfion of power, and difpofed by habits and principles fucked in with the mother's milk, to repel the claims of their inferiors, mufl contribute greatly to diffufe, in a free country, the fpirit of defpotifm.
That oriental manners are unfavorable to Jiberty, is, I believe, univerfally conceded. The natives of the Eafl Indies entertain not the idea of independence. They treat the Europeans, who go among them to acquire their riches, with a refped fimilar to the abje^ iubmiilion which they pay to their native def- pots. Young men, w^ho in England fcarcely polTefFed the rank of tlie gentry, are waited upon in India, with more attentive fervility than is paid or required in many courts of Europe. Kings of England feldom aiTume the flate enjoyed by an Eafl India governor, or even by fubordinate officers.
Enriched at an early age, the adventurer returns to England. His property admits him to the higher circles of fafliionable life. He aims at rivalling or exceeding all the old nobi- lity in the fplendor of his manfions, the finery of his carriages, the number of his liveried train, the profufion of his table, in every un- manly indulgence, which an empty vanity can covet, and a full purfe, procure. Such a man.
OF DESPOTISM, If
when lie looks from the window of his fuperb manfion, and fees the people pafs, cannot en^ dure the idea, that they are of as much copfe- quence as himfelf, in the eye of the law ; arvd that he dares not infult or opprefs the unfortu- nate being who rakes his kennel, or fweeps his chimney. He mud wifh to increafe the power of the rich and great, that the faucy vulgar may be kept at a due dillance, that they may know their flation, and fubmit their necks to the foot of pride.
The property of fuch a man will give him great weight in parliamentary elections , He probably purchafes a borough. He fides with the court party on all queflions ; and is a great ilickler for the exteniion of prerogative. In his neighbourhood, and as a voter for repre- fentatives, he ufes all his interefl in fupporting fuch men as are likely to promote his views of aggrandizing the great, among whom he hopes to be affociated, and in deprefiing the little, whom he defpifes and fliuns. Having money fufficient, his prefent obje<5l: is a title. This he knows can only come from the pofleffors of power, to whom, therefore, he pays fuch a fubmiffion as he has feen paid to himfelf in India by oriental Haves. His Vvhole conduct tends to increafe the influence of riches, from which alone, he is confcious, he derives his own im- portance. What is his eloquence ? What his learning ? What his beneficence to mankind? I^ittle 5 perhaps none. But his eftate is large,
C2
1 8 THE SPIRIT
his houfe large, his park large, his manors many, his equipage, on a birth-day, the mofl fplendid in St. James' s-flreet. Long-Acre gives him a paiTport to court favor. With a feat in the houfe, and an unrivalled equi- page and manfion, he deems himfelf juflly entitled to be made, in due time, a baronet at lead, if not an hereditary law-giver of his country.
By a conftantly fucceffive influx of fuch men from the eafcern climes, furnifhed with the means of corriiption, and inclined to pro- mote arbitrary principles of government, it cannot be doubted, that much is contributed to the fpirit of defpotifm. Who among them would not add to the mafs of that power and fplendor, to poffefs a large Ihare of which has been the firfi: objeft of a life fpent in unceafmg cares, at the rifque of health, and in a torrid zone ?
And what is left to oppofe the fpirit of def- potifm thus animated in its progrefs by enor- mous opulence ? Is it the virtue of the honefl country gentleman, who lives on his eftate, poifelTing nothing and hoping nothing from the f^ivor of courts ? Is it the independence of the middle and lov/er ranks, too numicrous to be bribed either by gifts or expectations ? Both, it is to be feared, will be too flow in their oppofition to the gigantic monfter, if not too feeble. They will not often rifque their repofe in a dangerous conteil with opulence
OF DESPOTISM. I g
and power. They (land in awe of the fword and the law ; which, in bad times, have been equally ufed as inftruments of injuftice. Con- tented with^^ the enjoyment of plenty, or the amufements of rural fports, they fmk into a flate of indifference to public affairs, and thus leave the field open to thofe who ha.ve no right to occupy it at all, much lefs exclufively.
Thus the community becomes divided into two defcriptions of men ; the corrupters and the indifferent; thofe v/ho feek v^^ealth and honors without virtue, and thofe who feek only their own eafe regardlefs of the public.
This indifference is fcarcely lefs culpable than corruption. It mud be laid afide. The independent country gentleman, feconded by the people, is the chara£ler, on v/hom liberty mud rely, as on her firmed fupporter, againd the incurfion of oriental pride. Let him pre- ferve his independence by frugality. ^ Let him beware of emulatingr either the oriental or occidental upitart, in expences which he can- not equal, without diminifbing his patrimony and lofmg his independence. Let him culti- vate every focial virtue, refide on his edcite, and become popular by exlilbiting fuperior excellence both of heart and underdanding. He v/ill then do right to offer himfelf a candi- date in his vicinity for a feat in the fenate ; becaufe, as a fenatcr, he will gain a power to aft with effeft againd the increafmg weight of corrupt influence. The truly whig paPvTy,
lO TOE SPIRIT
the lovers of liberty and the people, is not only the mofl favorable to human happinefs, but certainly mod: congenial to the conflitution of England, and ought to be ftrengthened by the junftion of all independent men, lovers of peace, liberty, and human nature.
The TORY AND JACOBITE spIrit, Under other more plaufible names, is flill alive, and has encreafed of late. All who have a jufl idea of the Britifli conftitution, and of the value of liberty, will oppofe it, by cultivating manlinefs of fpirit, by illuminating the minds of the people, and by infpiring them with a regard to truth, juflice, and independence, together with a love of order and of peace, both internal and external.
OF DESPOTISM. 2 1
SECTION III.
Certain Circunifiances in Education which pro'/note the Spirit of Defpotifm,
ANY who have arifen to high elevation of rank or fortune, feem to think that their nature has undergone a real meta- morphofis ; that they are refined by a kind of chemical procefs, fublimed by the funlhine of royal favor, and feparated from the faeces, the drofs and the dregs of ordinary humanity; that humanity, of which the ma.fs of mankind partake, and which, imperfefl as it is, God created. They feem to themfelves raifed to a pinnacle ; from which they behold, with fen- timents of indriFerence or contempt, all two- legged and unfeathered beings of inferior order, placed in the vale, as miniilers of their pride., and flaves of their luxury, or elfe burdens of the earth, 2JiA fuperfuous Jharers of exiftence. The great endeavor of their lives, never employed in the eiiential fervice of fociety, is to keep the vulgar at a diflance, left their own purer nature fhould be contaminated by the foul contagion. Their offspring muff be taught, in the iirft inftance, to know and revere, not God, not man, but their own rank in hfe. The infants are fcarcely fuffered to breath the comm.on air, to feel the common fun, or to walk upon the common earth. Im-
2 2 THE SPIRIT
mured in nurferies till the time for inflriKftion arrives, they are then furrounded by a variety of domeftic tutors. And v/hat is the iirfl object in their education ? Is it the improve- ment of their minds, the acquifition of manly fentiment, ufeful knowledge, expanded ideas, piety, philanthropy ? No ; it is the emibelliih- ment of their perfons, an accurate attention to drefs, to their teeth, to grace in dancing, attitude in {landing, uprightnefs, not the up- rightnefs of the heart, but the formal and unnatur?tl perpendicularity of a foldier drilled on the parade. If a mailer of learned lan- guages and philofophy be admitted at all, he feels him.felf in lefs ellimation with the famnly than the dancing-mxafter ; and if poiTciTed of the fpirit, v/hich the nature of his iludies has a tendency to infpire, he will foon depart from a houfe, where he is confidered in the light of an upper fervant, paid lefs wages, and fubjefted to the ca.price of the child, whom he ought to control with the na.tural authority of fuperior wifdom. To aiiume over his pupil the rights of that natural fuperiority,, w^ould be to oppofe the favorite ideas of the family, " that all real pre-eminence is founded '^ on birth, fortune, and court favor/^ The firfl objeft with the pupil, and the lafl, the lefTon to be got by heart, and to be repeated by night and by day, is an adequate concep- tion of his own native confequence, a difpofi- tion to extend the influence of rank and riches, and to deprefs and difcourage the natural ten-
OF DESPOTISM. 23
clency of perfonal merit to rife to diflin^lion by- its own elaftic force.
If the boy be allowed to go to any fchool at all, which is not always deemed prudent, be- caufe fchools in general have a few plebeians who raife themfelves there, to fome degree of fuperiority, by merit only, it is only to fchools which fafhion recommends, which abound with titled perfons, and where the expences are fo great, as to keep ingenious poverty, or even mediocrity of fortune, at a refpe£lful dif- tance. Here he is inflru&d to form con- nexions with his fuperiors. The principle point is to acquire the haughty air of nobility. Learning and virtue may be added, if perad- venture they come eafily; but the formation of connexions, and the affumption of infolence, is indifpenfable. To promote this purpofe, pocket-money is beflowed on the pupil with a lavhli hand by his parents, and all his coufms who court his favor. He muft iliew his con- fequence, and be outdone by no lord of them all, in the profufion of his expences, in the variety of his pleafures, and, if his great com- panions fliould happen to be vicious, in the enormity of his vice. Infults and injuries may be lliov/n to poor people who attend the fchool, or live near it, as marks of prefent fpirit and future heroifm. A little money makes a full compenfation, and the glorious a£tions, on one fide, and the pufiUanimous acquiefcence under it, on the other, evinces the great doctrine, that the poor are by nature creatures of other
24 '^'HE SPIRIT
mold, earth-born perhaps^ and made for the paflime of thofe who have had the good for- tune to be born to opulence or title. The mafters themfelves are to be kept in due order by the iliuilrious pupils, or a rebellion may ^fue. Such an event indeed is fometimes devoutly wiflied, as it affords opportunities for embryo heroes to ihew their prov^^'efs and their noble pride. Every ebullition of fpirits, as it is candidly called, difplaying itfelf in infolence or ill-ufage of the inferior ranks, defencelefs old men or women, and the poor in general, is remembered and cherifhed w^ith care, as a flat- tering prognoflic of future eminence in the cabinet, the fenate, at the bar, or in the field. Juitice, generofity, humility, are words indeed in the di^onary, and may adorn a declama^ tion ; but infolence, extravagance, and pride, mufl mark the conduft of thofe who are fent ^ rather to fupport the dignity of native gran- deur by the fpirit of arrogance, than to feek wifdom and virtue with the docility of modefl and ingenuous difciples. Pra(51ical opprelTion of inferiors is one of the firfl elements of arif- tocratical education ; and the order of Faggs (as they are called) contributes much to fami- liarize the exercife of future defpotifm. Mean fubmiilions prepare the mind, in its turn, to tyrannize.
Let us now fuppofe the flripling grown too tall for fchool, and entered at an univerfity. The Englifli univerfities are admirably well adapted -to flatter the pride of v/calth and title.
OF DESPOTISM. 2§
There is a drefs for the diftin<5i:ion of the higher orders extremely pleafmg to ariflocrati- cal vanity. In the world at large the drefs of all gentlemen is fo fnnilar, that nothing is left to point out thofe who think themfelves of a fuperior order ; unlefs indeed they ride in their coaches, and exhibit their fplendid liveries behind, and armorial enfigns on the fides ; but at Oxford, they never walk the ftreets, on the commonefl occafions, without difplaying their proud pre-eminence by gowns of filkand tufts of gold.
As noblemen, or gentlemen commoners, tliey not only enjoy the privilege of fplendid veflments, but of neglecting, if they pleafe, both learning and religion. They are not required, like vulgar fcholars, to attend regu- larly to the inftru^tion, or to the difcipline of the colleges ; and they are allowed a frequent abfence from daily prayer. They are thus taught to believe, that a filken gown and a velvet cap are fubftitutes for knowledge ; and that the rank of gentlemen commoners dif- penfes with the neceiTity of that devotion which Others are compelled to profefs in the college chapels. High privileges thefe ! and they ufu- ally fill thofe who enjoy them with that attach- ment to rank, which leads dire«5tly to the fpirit of- defpotifm. They are flattered in the feats of wifdom, where fcience and liberality arc fuppofed to dwell, with an idea of feme inhe- rent virtue in mere rank, independently of merits and after having learned a leffon fo
D
26 THE SPIRIT
pleafmg to felf-love and idlenefs, they "go erai into tile "tv-orld with confidence, fully refolved to pra.ci:ice the proud theories they have im- bibed, and to demand refpecl without endea^ voring to deferve it. - " ''■■- ■'■■'
Without public or private virtue, and with- G"fet e^en the dcfire of it ; without knowledge, arid without even a thirfl for it ; many of them; on leaving collegej enlifl under the banners of the minifter for the time being, or in a felf-inte* relied oppofition toliim, and boldly Hand forth candidates to reprefent boroughs and counties, on the ftrength of ariflocratical influence. Though they appear to aik favors of the peo- ple, they pay no refpecl to the people, but rely on rank, riches, and powerful connections. Ever inclined to favor and promote the old principles of iacobitiim, toryifm, and unlimited prerogative, they hope to be rewarded by places, penfions, titles'; and then to irainple on the wretches by whofe venal votes they rofe to emi- nence.
The ideas acquired and cheriilied at fchool and at the univerfity, are conjfirmed in the world by aUbciation with pei*fons of a fi.milar tum, with Oriental adventurers, with penfioners and courtiers, with all who, funk in the frivolity of a diiTipated, vain, and ufelefs life, are glad to find a fuccedaneum for every real virtue, in tlie privileges of titular honor, in fplendid equi- page, in luxurious tables, in magnificent houies', in all that gives diflinClion without merit, and notoriety without excellence* Theii' number
OF DESPOTISM. ^7
and their influence increafe by an union of iimilar views and principles ; and a formidable phalanx is formed againfl thofe liberties, for which the moil virtuous part of mankind have lived and died. Under the aufpices of multi- tudes, thus corrupted and united, it is not to be wondered, that the fpirit of defpotifm fliould increafe. Defpotifm is indeed an Afiatic plant ; but brought over by thofe who have long Hved in Afia, and nurfed in a hot-houfe with indefa- tigable c?a'e, it is found to vegetate, bloom, and bear fruit, even in our cold, ungenial climate.
It might then be worthy a wife legiflator to reform the modes of education, to explode the effeminacy of private and fuperficial nurture, to promote an equality of rank in fchools. and univerfities, and to/ulter, in the immature age, .|io<>ther diftin^lions than thofe, which may be adjudged by grave and virtuous inilruflors, to diilinguiihed improvement, exemplary condu^l:, goodnefs of heart, and a regard to the happi- nefs of inferiors,
Tb^ coniliitution of England is founded on liberty, and the peopk are warmly attached to ii b erty ; then why is it ever in danger, and. , why is a conilant ftruggle neceflary to preferve it uninfringed ? Many caufes combine, and per- haps none is more operative than a corrupt education, in w^hich pride is nQurilhed . at the tendered period, and the poiTeilion or ex^&fta- tion of wealth and civil honors ^s., tacitly repre- fented, even in the fchools of virtue, as fuper- feding the neceiEty of perfonal excellence.
THE SPIRfT
SECTION IV.
Corruption of Manners has a natural Toidency to promote the Spirit of Defpotifm.
HEN man ceafes to Venerate Tirtue in himfelf, he foon lofes all fenfe of moral beauty in the human fpecies. His tafte becomes grofs ; and he learns to conlider all that is good and great, as the illufion of fini- ple minds, the unfubilantial phantom of a young imagination. Extreme felfiihnefs is his a*uling principle, and he is far from fcrupulous in following its diftates. Luxury, vanity, avarice, are his chara£leriflics. Ambition in- deed takes its turn ; yet, not that noble ambi- tion, which feeks praife and honors by deferving them, but the low fpirit of intrigue and cunning, which teaches to fecure high appointments, titular diilin£lions, or whatever elfe can flatter avarice and pride, by petty ftratagem, unmanly compliance, the violation of truth and confif- tency, and at laft the facrifice of a country's interefl and fafety.
In nations enriched by commerce, and among families loaded with opulence by the avarice of their forefarthers, the mere wantonnefs of unbounded plenty w^ill occafion a corruption of manners, dangerous to all that renders fociety happy, but favorable to the defpotic principle. Pleafure of the mxanefl kind will be the firft
OF BESPOTISM. 29
and the laft purfuit. Splendor, external fhow, the oilentation of riches, will be deemed ob- ie£ls of prime confequenGe. A court will be the place of exhibition ; not of great merita, but of fine garments, graceful attitudes, arid guady equipages, every frivolous diftin^lion, which boldly claims the notice due to virtue,, and aiTumes the dignity which public fervices ^ught folely to appropriate. , ^
The mind of man. Hill wanting in the miail of external abundance, an obje£t in futurity; and fatiated, even to lothing, with the continual banquet of plenty, longs to add titular honors, or oilicial importance, to the poiTeffion of fuper- iluous property. But thefe, if they mean any thing, are naturally the rewards of virtuous and ufeful exertion ; and fuch exertion is in- compatible with the habitual indolence, the ignorance, the dilTipation, the vice of exorbi- tant wealth, gained only by mean avarice, and expended in enjoyments that degrade, Vfhile they enervate. Men^ diilinguilhed by riches only, poiTefs not, amidfl all their acquirements, the proper price that ihould purchafe civil dif- tin6tions, if they were difpofed of only to merit. There they are bankrupts. They have no claims on fociety ; for their purpofes have been felfiili, and their condu£t injurious : yet the diitinGtions mufl be obtained, or they ficken in the midft of health, and flarve, though fur- grounded with plenty. How then iliall they be obtained ? They muil be bought with money; but hov/ bought ? Not diredly, not in the
D 2
^O • THE SPIRIT
market-place, not at public fale. But is there a borough hitherto anti-miniflerial, and to convert which from the error of its ways, a very expenfive ele^on mud be engaged in ? The ambitious afpirant at honors is ready with his purfe. By money he triumphs over oppo- fition, and adds the weight of his wealth to mJnifterial preponderance. He affifts others in the fame noble and generous fervices of his country. Though covetous, he perfeveres, regardlefs of expence, and at lafl richly merits, from his patron, the glittering bauble whicK hung on high, and led him patiently through thofe dark and dirty paths which terminate in the temple of proflituted honor. His brilliant fuccefs excites others to tread in his freps with eager emulation ; and though many fail of the glorious prhze, yet all contribute, in the felfifh purfuit, to increafe and to diffule the fpirit of defpotiftn.
Men deflitute of perfonal merit, and unrc- commended by the plea of public fervices, can never obtain illuftrious honors, where the people poffefs a due fliare of power, where liberty flourifties, unblighted by corruption ; and therefore fuch men will ever be oppofed to the people, and determined enemies to liberty. The atmofphere of liberty is too pure and defe- cated for their lungs to inhale. Qentles and other vermin can exiil only in filth and putre- faclion. Such animals, if they poiTeiled reafon, would therefore endeavor to contaminate every healtliy climate, to deilroy the vital falubrity
OF DESPOTISM. ^1
of the liberal air, and diffufe corruption with fyflematic indullry. Are there not political phcenomena, which would almoft juflify a belief in the exiflence of fuch animals in the human form; and is not mankind intereflied, as they value their health, in impeding the progrefs of infectious pollution ?
Corruption does not operate, in the increafe of the defpotic fpirit, on the highefl orders only, and the afpirants at political diflinClion and confequence, but alfo on the crouded ranks of commercial life. In a great and rich nation, an immenfe quantity and variety of articles is ever wanted to fupply the army and the navy. No cuflomers arc fo« valuable as the public. The pay is fur e and liberal, the demand enormous, and a very fcrupulous vigilance againil fraud and extortion feldom maintained with rigid uniformity. Happy the mercantile men who can procure a contratfl: ! The hope of it will caufe an obfequious acqui- eicence in the meafures of the ruling miniiler. But it happens that fuch acquiefcence, in fuch men, is peculiarly dangerous, in a commercial country, to the caufe of freedom. The mxr- cantile orders conftitute corporate bodies, rich, powerful, influential ; they therefore have great w^eight in eleClions. Juries are chiefly chofen from mercantile life. In fl:ate trials, miniilers are anxious to obtain verdifts favor- able to their retention of emolument and place. If the hope of contracts and other douceurs lliould ever overcome the fanctity of oaths, in
2 2 THE SPIRIT
an age when religion has lofl: much of ItSr inHtf- ence, then will the firmeil pillar of freedom be undermined, and courts of juftiee becoflie mere regifters of minifterial edi£fcs. Thus both fenatorial and judicial proceedings will be vitiated by the fame means: and liberty left to deplore a declining caufe, wdaiie gor- ruption laughs from a Lord Mayor's coachj, as ihe rides in triumph to Court, to p-r^^^ on her knees, the addrefs of fycophancy* ;ff-vo
When the public mind is fo debauched as to confider titles and money as the chief gocd of man, weighed with which honeily and con- fcience are but as dull in the balance, can it be fuppofed that a due reverence will be paid to the obfolete parchments of a magna cJmrtaytotl^M^ 'of ngbts, li^ht© revolutions which baniihed the principles of the Stuarts^ together with their families, which broke their defpotifm in pieces together with their •fceptres, and trampled their pride under foot with their crowns and robes of purple ? The prevalence of corruption can call back to life the race of Jacobites and tories^ and place on the throne of liberty, an imaginary Stuart. It was not the perfon, but the principles which rendered the old familv deteflable to a people who deferved liberty, becaufe they dared to claim it. The revival of thofe prin« ciples might render ^l fuccejfor^ though crowned by Liberty herfelf, equally deteftable.
To avoid fuch principles, the corruption that infallibly leads to them mull be repelled.
OF DESPOTISM. ^^
The people iliould be tin6lured with philofo- phy and religion ; and learn, under their divine in{lru£lion, not to confider titular dif- tinftion and enormous riches as the chief good, and indifpenfably requifite to the happinefs of life. A noble fpirit of perfonal virtue fliould be encouraged in the riling race. They fliould be taught to feek and find refources in themfelves, in an honeil independence, in the poiTeffion of knowledge, in confcious integrity, in manlinefs of fentiment, in contemplation and fludy, in every thing which adds vigor to the nerves of the mind, and teaches it to deem all honors difgraceful, and all profits vile, which accrue, as the reward of bafe compli- ance, and of a daftardly defertion from the upright ftandard of truth, the unfpotted ban- ner of juftice.
34
THE SPIRIT
SECTION V.
An Abhorrence of Defpotifm and an ardent Love of Liberty perfeSlly confijient with Order and Tranquillity ; and the natural Confequence of well-infor?ned Underjiandings- and benevQ-
^ ient Difpojitions,
X HOSE who are poffeffed of exor- bitant power, who pant for its e^^tenfion, and tremble at the apprehenfion of lofing it, are always fufiiciently artful to dwell with ^mphaiis, on the evils of licentioufnefs ; under which opprobrious name, they wiflb. to ftigmatize liberty. They defcribe the horrors of anarchy and confufion, in the blacked colors ; and boldly affirm, that they are the necefTary con- fequences of entrujiing the people with power. Indeed, they hardly condefcend to recognize the idea of a people ; but whenever they fpeak of the mafs of the community, denomi- nate them the mob, the rabble, or the fwinifli multitude. Language is at a lofs for appella- tives, fignificant of their contempt for thofe, who are undiftinguifhed by wealth or titles, and is obliged to content itfelf with fuch words as' reptiles, fcum, dregs, or the many-headed monfter.
Man, that noble animal, formed with powers capable of the fo])limeii: virtues, poiTeiTed of
OF BESPOTISM. ^ j^
reafon, and tremuloully alive to every finer feeling, is degraded by his fellow man, when drefl in a little brief authority, to a rank below that of the beafts of the field; for the beads of the field arc not treated with epithets of contumely, but regarded with a degree of efleem. The proud grandee views the horfes in his ftable and the dogs in his kennel with affeftion, pampers them with food, lodges them in habitations, not only commodious, but luxurious ; and, at the fame time, defpifes his fellow-creatures, fcarcely fed, wretchedly cloa- thed, and barely flieltered in the neighboring cottage. And if this fellow-creature dares to remonftrate, his complaint is contumacy and fedition, and his endeavor to meliorate his 0wn flate and that of his peei*s, by the moil lawful means, dovniright treafon and rebellion. Villainous oppreiEon on one hand, and on the other, contemptible fubmillion ! If fuch acquiefcence, under the mod iniquitous ine- quality ; fuch wretchednefs, without the pri- vilege of complaint, is the peace, the order,' stod the tranquillity of defpotifm ; then peace, order, and tranquillity change their nature, and become the curfe and bane of human nature. Welcome, in comparifon, all the feuds, ani- inofities, and revolutions attributed to a flate of freedom ; for they are fymptoms of life and robud health, while the repofe of defpotifm is tEe 'deadnefs of a paify. Life, aftive, enter- pTrifing life, with all its. tumuk, difader, and
2 6 THE SPIRIT
difappolntment, is to be preferred to the filence of death, the ftillnefs of defolation.
But I deny that a love of liberty, or a flate of liberty, is of neceiTity productive of inju- rious or fatal diforder. I prefuppofe that the minds of the people, even the loweil of the people, are duly enlightened ; that the favage- nefs of grofs ignorance is mitigated by culture j by that culture, which all well-regulated flates are folicitous to beilow on every partaker of the rational faculty.
In a fliate of liberty, every man learns to value him-felf as man ; to confider himfelf as of importance in the lylleni which himfelf has approved and contributed to eflablifli ; and therefore refolves to regulate his own beha- viour confiflently with its fafety and preferva- tion. He feels as a proprietor, not as a tenant. He loves the ftate becaufe he partici- pates in it. His obedience is not the cold relu£lant refult of terror ; but the lively 3. cheerful, and fpontaneous efFe£i: of love. The violation of laws, formed on the pure principle of general beneficence, and to which he has given his full aflent, by a jufl and perfect reprefentation, he confiders as a crime of the deepefl die. He will think freely, and fpeak freely, of the conftitution. He will incelfantly endeavor to improve it ; and enter ferioufly into all political debate. In the coUifion . of agitated minds, fparks will fometimes be emit- ted; but they will only give a favorable light
of DESPOTISM. ^f
attd a genial warmth. They will never pro- duce an injurious conflagration.
What employment, in the bufy fcene in which man engages from the cradle to the tomb, is more worthy of him than political difcuflion ? it affords a field for intelleflual energy, and all the fined feelitigs of beiievo- knce. It exercifes and ftrcngthens every faculty. It calls forth latent virtues, which clfe had flept in the bofom, like the diamond in the mine. And is this employment, thus ufeful and honorable, to be coiifined to a few aiiiong the race of mortals? Is there to be a monopoly of political a£lion and fpeculation ? Why then did Heaven beftow reafon and fpeech, powers of activity, and a fpirit of enterprize, in as great perfedliion on the loweft among the people, as on thofe who, by no merit of their own, inherit wealth and high ftation ? Heaven has declared its will by its zdis, Man contravenes it ; but time, and the progreflive improvement of the underflanding, will reduce the anomaly to its natural reftitude. And if a few irregularities fhould fometimes arife in the procefs, they are of no importance when weighed with the happy refult ; the return of diflorted fyftems to truth, to reafon^, and the will of God. Occaiional ferments, with all their inconveniences, are infinitely preferable to the putrefcence of flagnation. They are fymptoms of health and' vigor ) and though they maj be attended with tranfient painj yet while they continue to appeal at
E
^8 THE SPIRIT
intervals, there is no danger of mortification. Good hearts, accompanied with good under- ftan dings, feldom produce, even where mif- taken, lading evil. They repair and compen- fate. '.
But I repeat that the people ftiould be ert* lightened, in every rank, the higheft as well as the loweft, to render them capable of perfe^ liberty, without danger of thofe evils which its enemies are always aflerting to be its una- Afoidable confequences. The vulgar mult h^ inftru^fted not merely in the arts which tend to liie:acqui£tion, increafe and prefervation of money, but in a generous philofophy. They mull be liberalized. They mull early learn td viev^ human life and fociety in their juft lights to confider themfelves as elTential parts of a wiiole, the integrity of which is defirable to every component member. Their tafte will improve with their underftanding ; and they will fee the beauty of order, while they are convinced of its utility. Thus principled by vifftuej and illuminated with knowledge, they iwili eagerly retufn, after every deviation, which even a warmth of virtue may caufe, to regular obedience, and to all the fundlionsof citizens ; valuing the public peace and prcf- perity, becaufe they underftand clearly that ihe^ ^public happinefs k iiitimately combined ^viih- their own. -They may infringe' llaw$5> from the ; imperfeftion^ of their nature ; but they will return to their obedience without force j hav ill g been convinced that ^fip . I^Yvjs
OF DESPOTISM. ^ 29
are made, but fuch as are neceiTary to. their well-being in fociety. They will confider laws, not as chains and fetters, but as helmets and fliields for their protection. The light of the underftanding will corre6t the eccentricities of the heart j and all deviations, however rapid at their commencement, . will be iliort in extent and tranfitory in duration.
Such would be the effect of enlightening the people with political knowledge, and en* larging their minda by pure philofophy. But what fay the defpots ? Like the tyrannical fon of PhiHp, when he reprimanded Ariftotlc for publiftiing his Difcoveries, they whifper to flieir cnyrmidons, " Let us diffufe darknefs round the land*. . Let the people be kept in ja brutal flate; Let their conduct, when affem" ,Med,b€ riotous and irrational as igiiorance an4 our SPIES can make it, that they may be brought into difcredit, and deemed unfit for the management of their own affairs. Let power be rendered dangerous in their hands, that it may continue unmolcfted in our own. Let them not tafte the fftiit of the tree of knowledge, left they become ^s we are, and learn to know good and evil." \
That fuch are the fentiments of the men who wiih for the extenfion of royalifm and the depreffion of the people, is evident from the uneafmefs they have ihewn at all benevolent -attempts to diffufe knowledge among the poor:.-
'lir,-' ' ^ .-- /.. o -
* ^Koric-nv^ 5->toT/3-ov, darken your doBrlneSf faid the
defpot Alexander, to the great philofopher.
40 THE SPIRIT .
They have expreffed, in terms of anger and mortiiiGation, their diilike of Sunday fchools. The very ncAvfpapers which they have engaged 'iR the fervice of faliehood and torj'-ifmj have endeavored to. diiconntenance, by malignant paragraphs, the progrefs of thofe patriotic inltir tiitions. Scribblers of books and pamphlets, in the fame vile caufe, have intimated their kpprehenflons that the poar may learn to read political books in 4earning to read their Bible ; and that the reading of political books rnufl isBavoidably produce difcontent. A wretched compliment to the caufe which they mean t6 defend! It is impoiTible not to infer from their apprehenfions, that as men increafe in wnderftanding and knowledge, they muil fee reafon to difapprove the fyfterns eftablilhed. Thefe men breathe the very fpirit of defpotifm, and wifh to communicate it. But their con- duct, in this inftance, Is an argument; againft the fpirit which they endeavor to diffufe* Their condu£^ feems to fay. The fpirit of def- potifm is fo unreafonable, that it can never be approved by the mafs of the people, when^ their reafon is fuifered to receive ks proper cultivation. Their conduct feems to fay, Let there be light, and the deformity of defpotifm v/ill create abhorrence.
Be the confequence what it may, let th^ light of knowledge be difFufed among all "who partake of reafon ; and let us remember that it was THE Lord God Almighty who firfl faid: Let there be light.
OF DESPOTISM. 4
SECTION "^t
On the Venality of the Prefs wider the Influ- ence of the defpotic Spirit i. and it-s EffeBs in- diffufmg that Spirit,
w, ,.:,-.. ., ^ HE moll fuccefsful, as well as the iliofliiridipus mode of abolifliing an inilitution Ts^'hich favors liberty, and, for that reafon, alarms the jealoufy of encroaching power, is to leave the form imtouched, and gradually to annihilate the eflejice. The vora.cioiis worm eats out the kernel completely, while the hufe continues fair to the eye, and apparently entire* The gardener would cruih the infe£t, if it com- iiienced the attack on the external tegument ; but it carries on the work of deftru6i:ion with efficacy and fafety, while it corrodes the un&ea fruit, and fpares the outfide fiiell.
,The liberty of the prefs in England is not qpei^ly infringed. It is our happinefs aiidvour gjory. No man or fet of men, whatever , be their power or their wifhes, dares to, violate this facred privilege. But in the heathen my- thology we learn, that when Jupiter himfelf could not force certain obftacles by his tbun- der-bolt he found an eafy admifuon, in the i^^pje of a golden fbower.
In times when the jacobitical, tory, felfiih, and defpotic principles rear their heads, and think opportunities favor thpx e2bxta,for m^^
E 2
'^p THE SPIRIT
vival, the prefs is bought up as a powerful I engine of oppreflion. The people muft be de- > ceived, or the defpots have no chance to prevail in the diffemination of doftrines, unnaturaj, nonfenfical, and injurious to the rights human nature. The only channel, through wnich the knowledge of what it moil imports them ta know, next to morality and religion, devolves upon the mafs of the community, is a newf- paper. This channel mufl therefore be fecuredi- The people's money mufl be employed to pol- lute the waters of truth, to divert their courfe^ and, if occafion requires, to flop them with dams, locks, and floodgates. The prefs, that grand battery, eredled by the people to defend the citadel of liberty, mufl be turned againfl lUn ^Pamphlets are tranfient, and confined in their operation. Nothing will fatisfy the zeal of the aiTailant, but the diurnal papers of intelligence. They keep up a daily attack, and reach every part of the afTaulted edifice. Newfpapers, thus bought with the people's- money, for the purpofc of deceiving the peo- ple, are, in the next place, circulated with all the induftry of zealous partizans, and all the fuccefs, that mufl attend the full exertion of ininiflerial influence. Public houfes in great towns, are frequently the property of overgrown traders, who fupply them with the commodities they vend ; and who di£late the choice of the: papers, which they fhall purchafe for the perufal of their cuflom.ers. Whoever frequents fuch koufeSj ruled as they are by petty defpots, mufl
OF DESPOTISM. 43
fwallow the falfe politics, together with the adulterated beverage, of the lordly manufac- turer. A diftrefs for rent, or an arreft for debt, might follow the rafh choice of a paper favor- ^ able to truth, juftice, and humanity. If any ' converfation fhould arife among the cuftomers, friendly to liberty, in confequence of perufmg an interdicted print of this kind, the licence of the houfe might be in danger, and an honeft * tradefman with his family turned out of doors^^ to ftarve. Spies are fent to his houfe to mix ' with the guefls, that in the moment of convivial exhilaration, when prudence lleeps, fome incau- tious comment on the newfpaper may be feized > and carried to the agent of defpotifm, who, likev the tiger, thiriling for human blood, lies watch- ing for his prey in the covert of obfcurity. The hoft, therefore, for the fake of fafety , gladly rejects all papers of intelligence, which are free to fpeak the truth, and becomes a ufeful inftru- ment, in the hands of feliilh placemen, in the diiTemination of dodrines fu over five of liberty, and therefore of the confuLULion which is found- ed upon it as a corner ftone.
So far as fuch venal papers are diiFafed, un- der influence thus arbitr^.ry, the liberty of the prefs is, in eifeft, deflroyed. It is made to ferve the purpofes of flavery, by propagating principles unfavorable to the people's rights, by palliating public abufes, varnifhing minifte- rial mifconduft, and concealing fa(5ts in tvhich the people are moil: deeply interefted. Perhaps there is nothing which contributes fo much to-* diiFufe the fpirit of defpotifm as venal newfpa-r
^:^ THE SPIRIT
pers, hired by the poiTeiTors of pow^Tj for the purpofe of defending and prolonging- their pof- feilion. The more ignorant elaiTes have a won- derful propenfity to be credulous in all that they fee ijn print, and will obftinately continue, to believe a newfpaper, to which they have, been accuftomed, even when notorious fa^$ give it the lie. They know little of hillory, nothing of philofophy , and adopt their political ideas from the daily lectures of a paper eftai^. bliflied folely to gain their favor to one party ^ the paity poiTefTed of prefent power; zealous for its extenfion and prolongation, and natu- rally defirous of preventing all fcrupulous en- quiry into its abufe. Such means, fo ufed^ certainly ferve the caufe of perfons. in ofSee, and gratify avarice and pride ; but it is a fer-?. vice which, while it promotes the fordid views of a few individuals, militates againft the fpirit of conllitutional freedom. It is a vile caufe, which cannot be m.aintained to the fecurity and fatisfaftion of thofe v/ho wiih to maintain. k, without recourfe to daily falfehood, and the cowardly concealment of confcious malverfation.. Honell purpofes love the light of truth, and court fcrutiny ; becaufe the more they are known, the m.ore they mufl be honored. The'^ friends of liberty and man are juflly alarmed^ whenever they fee the prefs pre-occupied by | power, and every artifice nfed to poifon tha fources of public intelligence. ,^ \
In every free coup try, the people, who pay all expences, claim a right to know- the true ftate of public affairs. The only means of
OF DESPOTISM. 45
acquiring that knowledge, within reach of th3 multitude, is the prefs ; and it ought to fup- ply them with all important information, which may be divulged without betraying intended meafures, the accomplifhment of which would be fruftrated by communication to a public enemy. The very papers themfelves, which communicate intelligence, pay a tax above the intrinfic value of the work and materials, td the fiipport of the government : and the flamp^ which vouches for the payment, ought, at the fame time, if any regard were paid to jufi- tice and honor, to be an authentic ttMmonf that government ufes no arts of deception in the intelligence afforded.
But let any one review, if it be not too naufeous an employment, the prints which of late- years have been notoriouily in the pay of minifterial agency. There he will fee the groflefi: attempts to impofe on the public credu- lity. He will fee the exigence of known faifls, when they militate againil the credit of a minif- try, doubted or denied ; doubtful viftories ex- tolled beyond all refemblance to truth ; and de- feats, in the highefl: degree difgraceful anid in- jurious, artfully extenuated. All who hav^ had apportunities of receiving true intelligence, after fome great and unfortunate .a£l:ion, have been aftoniflied at the effrontery which has di- miniihed the nurabeF of lives lofl to a fum (o fmall, as ccaitradids the evident conclufions ol common fenfe, and betrays the features of falfe- hood at the firfl appearance, All who have
46 THE SPIRIT
been able to judge of the privileges of Englift- nien, and the rights of human nature, have feen with abhorrence, doctrines boldly broached and fophiftically defended, which ilrike at once at the Englilli conllitution, and the happinefs: of man in fociety . They have feen this done by thofe who pretended an almoft ejiclufive re- gard to law, order, and religion ; themfelve^ grofsly violating all of them, while they ar^: reviling others for the fuppofed violation, iii the bittereft language which rancour^ ftimulated by pride and avarice, can utter.
When great miniilers, poffefTed of a thoufand means of patronizing and rewarding obfequious inftruments of their ambition, are willing to corrupt, there will never be wanting needy ,• unprincipled, and afpiring perfons to recpve; the infe£lion. But can men be really great, really honorable— -can they be patriots and philanthropiils-— can they be zealous and fmcere friends to law> order, and religion, who thus hefitate not to break down all the fences of honor, truth, and integrity ; and render their adminiilration of affairs more fimilar to the juggling tricks of confederate fliarpers, than to the grave, ingenuous condu(^ of flatefmen, renowned for their wifdom and revered for their virtue? Do men thus exalted, whofe conduft is a model, and whofe opinion is ora- , cular, mean to teach a great nation that con- fcience is but a name, and honor a phantom ? No books of thofe innovators, whom they per- fecute, contribute to difcredit the fyftem,, vv^hich
OF DESPOTISM. JS^f
thefe tnen fupport, fo much as their own rinifter meafures of felf-defence. ^ There is Httle hope of preventing the cor- ruption of the diurnal papers by any remon- flrance addreiTed to men, who, entrenched behind wealth and power, fcorn to yield at the fummons of reafon. There may be more hope in appealing to the readers and encouragers of fuch papers. Do they wifli to be deceived? Is it pleafant to be milled by partial, mutilated, and diflorted narratives ? Is it manly to be^ come voluntary dupes ? Or is it honorable, is. k honeft, to co-operate with any men, for any purpofes, in duping others? No ; let the prefs, however it may be perverted by private"^^ perfons, to the injury of fociety, be preferyed^ by the public, by men high in oiSce, the guardians of every valuable inflitution, as an inilrument of good to the community, as the fupport of truth, as the lamp of knowledge.
I'hough the liberty of the prefs ihouid be preferved, yet let it be remembered, that the corruption of the prefs, by high and overbear- ing influence, will be almofl as pernicious to a free country as its deflru6lion. An imprhiatur on the prefs would fpread an alarm w'hich would immediately remove the reftraint ; but the corruption of the prefs may infmuate itfelf unperc^ived, till the fpirit of defpotifm, pro- moted by it, ihall at laft connive at,^ or^eveQ- -cbnfent to, its total abolition. ' / ^"':'~''.r^.
48 THE SPIRIT
SECTION VII.
The fiijhionable In'uedives againjl Phitofopby and Reafon^ a Proof of the spirit of Def potifnu ^
Jl ERSONS who owe all their pre- eminence to the merit of their forefathers, or cafual events, which conftitute good fortune, are ufually defn-ous of fixing a ftandard of dignity, very diiFerent% from real worth, and fpare no pains to depreciate perfonal excel- lence ; all inch excellence as isj in fa^, the moil honorable, becaufe it cannot exift without talents or virtues. Birth and riches, failiion and rank, are in their eftimation infinitely more honorable and valaiible, than all the pene- trating fagacity and wonderful fcience of » Newton. Such perfons value Newton more as a knight than as a philofopher ; more for the title beftowed upon him by Queen Anne, than the endowment given him by God, and im- proved by his ov/n meritorious exertion.
Upon this principle, many men in our times, who wiiii to extend and aggrandize that Power, from v/hofe arbitrary bounty they derive all the honor they are capable of acquiring, en- deavor to throw contempt on Philosophy. It may indeed be doubted whether they all' Jcnow the meaning of the word ; but they know it implies a merit not derived from
OF DESPOTISM. 4g^
princes, and therefore they wifli to degrade it. Their fountain of honor, they conceive, has no refemblance, in its nature or efficacy, to the famed fountains of ParnalTus : it conveys no infpiration, except that which difplays itfelf in the tumor of pride.
The prefent age has heard upflart noble- men give to philofophers (whofe genius and difcoveries entitle them to rank, in Reafon's table of precedency, above every nobleman in the red book) the opprobrious appellation of wretches and mifcreants. Philofophy and philofophers have been mentioned by men^ whofe attainments would only qualify them for diflin£i:ion in a ball-room., with expreffions of hatred and contempt due only to thieves, murderers, the very outcafls and refufc of human nature.
The mind is naturally led to inveitigate the caufe of fuch virulence, and to afk how has Philofophy merited this ufage from the tongue of faiftitious grandeur. The refentment ex- prelTed againft Philofophy is exprelTed with a peeviihnefs and acrimony that proves it to proceed from the fenfe of a fore place. How has pride been fo feverely hurt by philofophy ? It has been expofed, laid open to the eye of Baankind in all its nakednefs. Philofophy has held the fcales, and reje£led the coin that wanted weight. Philofophy has applied the touchftoneg and thrown away the counterfeit. Hence the fpirit of defpotifm is incenfed againll Kiilofophy ; and if proclamations or caanon*
F
^O THE SPIRIT
balls could deftroy her, her perdition would be inevitable and eternal. Folly exclaims aloud, " Let there be no light to deteft my paint and tinfeL" But happily, the com- mand of Foliy^ however imperial her tone, is not the fiat of Omnipotence. Philofophy therefore will furvive the anathem-a ; and, {landing on the rock of tinith, laugh at th^e artillery of confederated defpots. . When flie deferts truth, ilie no longer de- feves to be called Philofophy : and it muil be owned, that when llie has attacked religion^ Ihe has juilly loft her reputation. But here it- is well worthy of rem.ark, that thofe who now moft bitterly revile her, gave themfelves httle concern about her, till ihe defcended to politics^ She might have continued to argue againfl religionif and many of her prefent oppofers 'would have joined in her cry with alacrity : but die moment ilie entered on tlie holy ground of politics, the ignorant grandees fliuddered a.t the profanation, and > Ay^unt, PhildfQphy ,* was the word of alarm* ' ; . '■ ^ -, -^-;- r ■
Philofophy, fo far from deferving con* tempt, is the glory of human nature. Man approaches by contemplation to what we conceive of celeftial purity and excellence. Without the aid of philofophy, the mafs of mankind, all over the terraqueous globe, would have funk in llavery and fuperftition, the natural confequences of grofs ignorance* Men at the very bottom of fociety, have been enabled by the natural talents they poffeffed.
OF DESPOTISM. JJ
feconded by favorable opportunities, to reach the highefl improvements in philofophy ; and have thus lifted up a torch in the valley, which has expofed the weaknefs and defor- mity of the caftle on the mountain, from which the oppreiTors fallied, in the night of darknefs, and fpread defolation with impunity. Defpots, the meaneft, the bafefl:, the moil brutal and ignorant of the human race, would have tram^ pled on the rights and the happinefs of men unrefifted, if phiiofophy had not opened the eyes of the fuiferers, file wn them their own power and dignity, and taught them to defpife thofe giants of power, as they appeared through the mifls of ignorance, who ruled a vaifal world with a mace of iron. Liberty is the daughter of Phiiofophy; and they who deteft the oiFspring-^ do all that they can to vilify and difcountenance the mother.
But let us calmly confidcr what is the' 6B- je<^ of this phiiofophy, fo formidable in the eyes of thofe who are bigotted to antient abufes, who hate every improvement, and who wifh to fabjeft the many to the control ^of an arbitrary few. Phiiofophy is ever em-^ ployed in finding out whatever is good, and whcitever true. She darts her eagle eye Over all the bufy w^orld, dete6b error and mifchief, and points out modes of improve- ment. In the multiform ilate of human affairs, ever obnoxious to decay and abufe, it is her'g to meditate on the means of melioration. She
*^2 THE SPIRIT
^^iihes to dcmoliili nothing but what is a nui- ;iancc. To build,,. .t^tp;, .repair, to flrengthen, and to poliih, thefe are the works Vv^hich £he .dejights to plan ; and, in concerting the befl methods of directing their accomplillimentj ihe confumes the midnight oil. How can flae diflurb human affairs, iince flie dwells in contemplation, and defcends not to a£tion ? neither does ihe impel others to a£lion by the art^ of delufive eloquence. She apphes to reafon alone ^ and if reafon is not convinced, all that flie has done, is ^A'ept away, like the' web ol Arachne.
But it is modern philofophy, and French philolbpiiy, which, gives fuch umbrage to thq lovers of old errors, and the favorers of ab- fclute power ; juft as if philofophy were mu- table by time or place, Philofophy, by which I mean the inveftigation of the good and true, on all fubjefts, is the fame, like the fun, whe- ther it flijnes in China or Peru. Truth and good are eternal and immutable ) and therefore philofophy, which is folely attached to thefe, is flill one and the fame, whether antient or modern, in England or in France.
It is fophiftry^ and not philofophy, which is juflly reprobated ; and there has at all times been more fophidry difplayed by the fycophant defenders of defpotifm, than by the friends to liberty. England has ever abounded with fophifls, Vv^hen the high prerogative notions, Toryifm, and Jacobitifm, and the fcrvile prtiii^
OF DESPOTISM. 53
ciples which flow from them, have required the fupport of eloquence ; either written or oral. Befides our modern Filmers^ we have had an army of ten thoufand mercenary fpeakers and writers, whofe names are as little remembered as their venal produ£l:ions. Such men, contending againil the light of nature^ . and common fenfe, have been obliged to feek fuccour of fophiilry. Theirs is the philofophyy falfely fo called, which deferves reprobation. ^ They have had recourfe to verbosity, to puf-- zle and perplex the plained points ; they havfc'j feduced the reader from the dire£i: road of common fenfe, to delude his imagination in that fairy land of metaphor; they have itne-fpuiiv' their arguments to a degree of tenuity neitheir- tangible nor vifible, that they might excite th^ awe which is always felt for the incomfreherf—' fthle by the ignorant;, and; at the fame time^;, elude the refutation of the learned- and the: wife :. they have acquired a lubricity, which|. like the eel, enables them to flip from th^ grafp of the captor, v/hom they could not hav^- efcaped, by the fair exertion of muicular vigor!. Animated with the hope of reward from that POWER which they labor to extend, they have, like good fervants to their mailers, beflowed art and labor in proportion to the weaknefs of their caufe : they have afllim.ed an air of wifdom to impofe on the multitude, and ut-^ tered the language of knavery and folly with the grave confidence of an oracle. It is not meceffary to. crofsthe Channel in order to find
^^ THE SPIRIT
Sophiftry, decking herfelf, like the afs in the fkin of the lion, with the venerable name of Philofophy.
As we value a free prefs, or wifh to preferve a due elleem for genius and fcience, let us ever be on our guard, when we hear great MEN, poiTelTing neither genius nor fcience, rail againfl philofophy. Let us remember, that it was a Roman tyrant, in the decline of all human excellence, (when Providence per- mitted fuch monfters to (hew the world the deformity of defpotifm), who wiftied to extin- guiih the light of learning by abolifhing the finefl productions of genius. There are men, in recent times, w^ho difplay all the propenfities of a Caligula; be it the People's care, that they never poiTefs his power.
OF DESPOTISM. 55
SECTION VIII. Of Loyalty^ and certain miftaken Ideas of it.
jl. he mafs of the community, on ,5 whom the arts of deluiion are chiefly pradlifed^j by poHticians, are feldom accurate in the ufe of words : and among others which they mif- underiland, and are led, by the fatellites of defpotifm, to mifapply, is the term, Loyahy.
Loyalty means, in its true fenfe, a firm and,; faithful adherence to the law and conflitution,; ^ of the community of which we are members. If monarchy be a part of that conilitution, it certainly means a firm and faithful attachment to the perfon of the monarch, as well as to the monarchical form, and ail the other branches of the fyftem. It is nearly fynonymous with fidelity ; but as fidelity may be aftuated folely by principles of duty, loyalty feems, in its common acceptation, to include in it aifo a fentiment of atfection. It is the obedience of love, and anticipates compulfion. It is a fenti- ment, which all good men will feel, when they Mve under a good government honeftly admi- niilered.
But mark the difmgenuity of men impelled by high-church, high tory, or jacobitical prin- ciples. They would limit this liberal compre- henfive principle, which takes in the whole of
^6 THE SPIRIT
the conftitution, and therefore tends to the confervation of it all, in its full integrity; they "would limit it to the perfom^f the monarchy to that part of the whole, which favors, in their opinion, their own purpofes, and the extenfion of power and prerogative, the largelTes of which they hope to lliare in reward for their fycophantic zeal, their llavifti, felfilh, perfidi- ous adulation.
They reprefent this confined loyalty as a religious duty, partaking the nature of divine worfliip. They fet up an idol, and command all men, upon their duty, to adore it. The people are not entitled even to attention by the propagators of this inhuman, anti-chriftian idolatry.
- Let us confider a moment the mifchief this artifice has in former times occafioned to our country. It attached great numbers to the family of the Stuarts, after they had forfeited all right to the crown ; to the perfons of the Stuarts, and for a long period, haraiTed the lav/ful king and the people of this nation with wars, alarms, feditions, and treafons. Tory zealots filed their blood freely, on the impulfe of this unreafonable loyalty, w^hich difregarded the ruling powers of their country efiablifiied by law ; and, in promoting the interefl of a dif- poflefied individual, confidered a whole people, either as a non-entity, or as worthy to be facri- ficed for one man. Such men, a6ling in confillency with their principles of falfe loyalty,, would have drenched their country in blood to
OF DESPOTISM. ^"7
rcftore an exiled Nero, of the true-bred^ royal family.
Narrow lovalty, like tliis, vrhich is but an- other name for bigotry, mud ever be inimi- cal to a monarch limited by laws, wiihing to govern by them, and owing his feat on his throne to a revolution, to the expulfion of a pre-occupant, and the rcfufal of a pre- tender's claim. It mull ever keeo alive a doubt of his title. If it aiTames the appear- ance of aife£lion for him, it may be fufpe^led as the kifs of Judas. If it ihould feduce him to extend his povvxr beyond the conilitutional limits, it would lead him to deflru6l:ion ; and involve a people in all the mifery of revolu- tionary diforder. Is then fuch loyalty a public virtue ? In cunning men it is but mean fer- vility endeavoring to ingratiate itfelf with the prince, for honors and emoluments. In the fimple ones, it is filly fuperftition. In both, it is injurious to the king of a free country and to the conftitution. It confines that atten- tion to one branch, which ought duly to be diflributed among all, and to comprehend, in its attachment, that fna'm root arid Jiock^ from which all the branches grow, the people at
LARGE.
Neverthelefs, fuch is the fubtle policy of thofe who are aduated by the principles of Tories, Jacobites, royaUlls, defpots, (call them by which nam^e you pleafe,) that they continue to reprefent every fpirited effort in favor of the people's rights, as originating in
r8 THE SPIRIT
dilloyalty. The befl friends to the conftitutioa in its purity, and therefore the befl friends to the hmited monarch, are held out, both to public and to royal deteflation, as difaffected to the perfon of the prince. Every flratagem is ufed to delude the common and unthinking part of the people into a belief, that their only way of difplaying loyalty is, to difplay a moft fervile obfequioufnefs to the throne, and to oppofe every popular meafure. The procurers of addreffes, couch them in the mod unmanly language of fubmiilion, and approach with a degree of proftration of fentiment, worthier to be received by the great mogul or the Chinefe emperor, than the chief magiilrate of a free people. The compofers and prefenters of fuch teflimonies of loyalty, hoping for knighthood at leaft, if not fome more fplendid or fubftan^ tial eifeft of royal gratitude, exhauft the lan- guage of all its fynon3^mous terms, to exprefs their abjed fervility. Yet, after all, of fuch a nature is their loyalty, that, if a Stuart or a Robefpierre were the poiTeiTor of power, their mean and hollow profeiFions of attachment would be equally ardent and imxportunate. The -powers that he are the powers which they wor- iliip. The proffer of their lives and fortunes is the common facrifice. But to diflinguifh their loyalty, they would go farther than the addreffers of the foolifli and unfortunate James, and prefent their fouls to be difpofed of by their earthly Deity ; knowing it to be a fafi oblation.
OF DESPOTISM. 59
As great refpe^l is due to the office of the fupreme magiftrate, fu alfo is great affe(5i:ion doe to his perfon, while he condu£i:s himfelf with propriety, and confults the happinefs of the people. The mod decorous language fliould be ufed to him, the moil refpe£lful behaviour preferved towards him ; every mode^ adopted of fliewing him proofs of love anct honor, on this fide Idolatry, Arduous is his taik, though honorable. It fliould be fweet- ened by every mode which true and fmcere^; loyalty can devife. I would rather exceed,' than fall fliort of the deference due to the office and the man. But I will not pay a Umited monarch, at the head of a free people, fo ill a compliment, as to treat him as if he were ai 4.efpot, ruling over a land of ilaves. I cannot adopt the fpirit of defpotifm in a land of liberty ; and I mufl reprobate that falfe, felfifli, adulatory loyalty, which, feeking nothing but^ its own bafe ends of avarice or ambition, and feeling no real attachment either to the perfon or the office of the king, contributes neverthe- lefs to diffufe hj its example, a fervile, abje^l temper, highly promotive of the defpotic fpirit.
But the minijiers of flate have fometimes prefumed fo far on prefent poiTeffion of power, as to attempt to make the people believe, that a ioyaBy is due to them ; that an oppofition to their will is a proof of defe^ive loyalty ; a remonflirance againft their meafures, a mark of difaffe^lion. They have not been unfuc- cefsfuir The fervile herds who come forward
00 THE SPIRIT
into public life, foiely to h£ hovgM iip^ when marketable, are, for the mofl part, more inclin- ed to worfhip the minifler than the monarch. While it is the priejl who divides among the fa.crificers the flefli of the vi£tim, many attend with devotion at the facrifice ; who are more defirous of propitiating the priefl than the Deity. There are many who, if they had it in their power, would make it conflruflive treafon to cenfure any minifler, whofe continu- ance in place is neceilary to realize their prof- pe6ls of riches and titular diftindlion. Such men w^ander up and down fociety as fpies, and mark thofe w^ho blame the minijier^ as perfons to be fufpciTted of difloyalty. The}'- ufually fix on them fome nickname, in order to depre- ciate their characters in the eyes of the people, and prevent them from ever rifmg to fuch a degree of public eileem, as might render them comipetitors for minifterial douceurs. AiTocia- tions are formed by fuch men, under pretence of patriotifm and loyalty, but with no other real defign, than that of keeping the minifter in place, whom they hope to find a bountiful pay-mafter of their fervices, at the public ex- pence.
True loyalty has no connection with all this meannefs and felfilhnefs. True loyalty is manly, while obedient, and refpe£ls itfelf, w^hile it pays a voluntary and cheerful deference to au- thority and the perfons invefted with it. It throws fordid confiderations afide, and having nothing in view but the general good, bears an
OF DESPOTISM. 6 [
affection, and iliews that affection, to the. whole of a fyfleto eflabiiflied for the preferva- t'lon of order and hberty. It is not mifguided by pompous names, nor bhnded by the glitter of external parade ; but values offices and olScers in the (late, for the good they actually promote, for the important fun^lions they per- form, for the efficient place they fill^ in the finely conftituted machine of a well-regulated community.
Such loyalty, I believe, does abound in England, notv^ithflanding the calumnies of in- terefted men, who w^ould mifreprefent and cry down all real patriotifm, that their own coun- terfeit may obtain currency. Men who polTefs fuch loyalty, will be found the beft friends to kings ; if ever thofe times ihould return, which are faid to affiDrd the truefl tefl of friendihip^ the times of adverfity.
May thofe times never come ! but yet let u^ cherifli the true loyalty and explode the falfe ^ tecaufe the true is the befl fecurity to limited monarchy and conftitutional liberty: while the falfe, by diffuiing a fpirit of defpotifm, equally inimical to the conftitution and to human hap* pinefs,, is deftroying the legal limitations, un- 3ermining the eflabMied fyflems, and intro- ducing, manners and principles at once degrad- ing to human nature, and pregnant with miferj to nations.
G
6 2 THE SPIRIT
SECTION IX.
On taking Advantage of popular Commotions j , accidental Exce£es^ and foreign Revolutions^ I to extend Prerogative and Power^ and en- croach on the Liberties of the People.
X HE riots in London, which, to the difgrace of magiflracy, and the boafted yigilance of mmifters, (richly paid as they are, "to guard the public fafety), arrived from con- temptible beginnings to a formidable magnittide in the year 1780, have been confidered by courtiers, and thofe who are continually labor- ing ta exalt prerogative at the expence of liberty, as extremely favorable to their pur- pofe. They caufed an univerfal panic. The cowardice, folly, and perhaps wickednefs of |:ertain public fun^lionaries, were the true caufd I of the extenfive mifchief ; but the excefles of a few mod wretched rioters, who fcarcely knew what they were doing ; children, women, and drunken perfons, were attributed to the peo^ PLE. Arguments wxre drawn from the event againfl popular chara^lers, popular books, popular alTemblies, and in favor of military coercion. Military aiTociations in the capital were encouraged, and the bank of England became a barrack. Liberty has few votaries in comparifon with Property. The alarm was artfully increafed, and the fpirit of defpotifm
OF DESPOTISM. 6j
grew under its operation. The Tory and Ja- cobite party exulted over the ruins, and would have rejoiced in building a Baflille with the dilapidations. " -See," faid they, as they triumphed over the fcene, " the efFe6i:s oi power in the hands of the people!"
But the truth is, the people^ the grand mafs of the community, were not at all concerned in effecting the mifchief ; for I cannot call a .fortuitous aiTemblage of boys, beggars, wom.en, and drunkards, the people. The firfh irregu- larities might have been fupprelTed by the flighted exertions of manly fpirit. But thofe jWho were poffeifed of efficient places and their ..•emoluments, enjoying the fweets of office. with- out fuifering ^fenfe of its duties to embitter them, difplayed no fpirit, and left it to be fairly inferred that they hud it not. The people at iarge were not to be blamed for thefe unfortu- >pate events ; the whole of the culpability be- longed to the appointed minifters of the law, in w:^hom the people trufted and were deceived, ^^he blame, however, was laid on the people ; i^ud thofe who, from their arbitrary principles, wiilied to difcredit a}l popular interference in ^government, rejoiced at the calamity, as an aufpicious event, confirming all their theories, and juilifying their practice. ^^ The artful encroachers on liberty were not fjdeceived in calculating the effe^ls refulting tirom this total dereliflion of duty on the part of the civil magiilrate. Almofl immediately a a damp was call on the generous ardor, which,
.•6"4 -THE SPIRIT
under a Wyvil, a Richmond, a Portland, and a Pitt, was feeking the fah'-ation of the country, in a well-timed and deliberate reform of the hoiife of commons. A few, indeed, remained equally zealous in the virtuous ca.ufe ; but the minds of the many were palfied by the panic, 2nd feemed ready to acquiefce under every eorruption attended with tranquillity, rather than riik a reform, which, they v/ere taught 'to beheve, could not be effected without popu- lar commotion. Toryifm faw the change with delight, and employed all its influence in aug- eienting and continuing the politica.1 torpor.
In a few years the public mind feem-ed to have relinquifhed its intentions of eiFecling a Ipeedy reform. It feemed to adopt the phyfi- cian's maxim, Malu?n bene^ pqfitum jie moveto ; and hefitated to undertake the removal of a local pain, left it fhould throw the m.orbid matter over the whole habit. The fear of exciting a general inflammxation prevented men from probing and cleaning the inveterate ulcer. In the mean time, the fore is growing worfe, and if not flopped in its progrefs, mufl termi- nate in a mortification.
Thus important and extenfive were the
•A
confequences of a popular tum.ult, dangerous indeed and terrible in itfelf, but artfully ex- a'^^erated and abufed by interefled coin-tiers, for the prevention of parliamentary refonPx, and the difcrcdit of all popular proceedings.
* Though this evil is malum male pofitum.
OF DESPOTISM. 65
Wlien any appeal to the people was in agita- tion, on any bufinefs whatever, it was futli- cient to fay, " Remember the riots," and the intended meafure was immediately relinquiiliedo A glorious opportunity for, the growth of def- potic opinions ! The high- church, and high- government bigots rejoiced as if they had gained a complete vi^lory. They already fang Te Deum.
But in the midfl of their triumphs, as human affairs are feldom long ftationary, the French revolution commenced. Every honeil and en- lightened mind exulted at it ; but the nevv's was like a death-bell to the ears of the fyco- phants. So large, fo powerful a part of Europe emancipated from the fangs of def- potifm, blafted all the budding hopes of thofe who are rather meditating the eftablifliment than the demolition of abfolute rule. ArifLO- cratical pride was mortified. Every fullen fen- timent, every angry palTion, rofe in the difap- pointed bofom of that ambition, v/hich feeks its own elevation on the depreffion of the peo- ple. But liberty and humanity fympathized in the joy of millions, reflored to the rights which God and Nature gave them ; and which had been gradually flolen from them by the fpirit of defpotifm, ailing, for mutual aid, in alliance with fuperflition.
But the morning which rofe fo beautifully in the political horizon of France v.^as foon overclouded. The paiTions of leaders, jealous of each other, menaced from vv^ithin and from
G z
66 THE SPIRIT
without, hunted by furrounding enemies till
they were driven to phrenzy, burft forth in
tremendous fury. Cruelties, which even defpots
might fliudder to perpetrate, were the effects of
a fituation rendered dangerous in the extreme,
and almoft defperate, by the general attack of
all neighboring nations. The friends of liberty
and humanity wept ; but the faftors of defpot-
ifm triumphed once more. " Here," faid
they, '*■ we have another inftance of the unfit-
nefs of the people for the polTeffion of power,
and the mifchievous eiFefts of exceilive liberty.**
Every art which ingenuity can pra£life, and
influence affifl in its operation, was exerted to
abufe and villify the French revolution. AKo
ciations were formed to diffeminate childifh
books, favoring the fpirit of defpotifm, ad-
dreifed to the meanefl of the people, who yet
had too much fenfe to be feduced by fenti-
ments, do£lrines, and language calculated only
for the meridian of the nurfery. Profecutions
and perfecutions abounded ; and it becomey^-
diiion to hint the propriety of parliamentary
reformation. The alarmifls, as they were
called, were fo fuccefsful in propagating the
old tory tenets, under the favorable influence
of the panic of real danger, and the detefla-
tion which French executions had juflly occafi-
oned, that fome of the fliauncheil friends of
the people, men brought into the country at
the revolution, owing all their honours and
emolurnxnts to it, and hitherto profeflTed and
zealous whigs, deferted the ftandard of liberty.
OF DESPOTISM. 67
and took diftinguiflied polls under the banners of the enemy.
The fpirit of defpotifm now went forth with greater confidence than it had ever affumed fmce the expulfion of the Stuarts. Its advo- cates no longer fculked ; no longer v/alked in mafquerade. They boafted of their princi- ples, and pretended that they alone were friends to law, order, and religion They talked of the laws of England not being fevere enough for the punifhment of fedition, and boldly expreifed a wiih that the laws of Scot- land might be adopted in their place. Active promoters of parliamentary reform were now accufed of treafonable intentions by the very perfons who were once loudefl in their invec- tives againfl the corruption of the houfe of commons. Newfpapcrs were hired to calum- niate the bed: friends of freedom. Writers appeared in various modes, commending the old government of France ; and pouring the mod virulent abufe on all who promoted or defended its abolition. Priefls who panted for preferment preached defpotifm in their pulpits, and garretteers yAio hungered after places or penfions, racked their invention to propagate its fpirit by their pamphlets. Fear in the well- meaning, felf-intereil in the knaviili, and fyfle- rnatic fubtilty in the great party of tories, caufed a general uproar in favor of principles and prac- tices hollile to conllitutional liberty.
It is, however, the nature of all violent pa- roxyfms to be of tranfient duration. The
68 THE SPIRIT
fi.*iends of man may therefore hope that panic fears, fervile fycophantifin, and artful bigotry, v/ill not long prevail over cool reafon and lib- eral philanthropy. The drunken delirium will pafs oif ; and fober fenfe will foon fee and a-cknovrledge, that the accidental evils which have arifen in a neighboring nation, during a lingular flruggle for liberty, can be no argu- ments in favor of defpotifm, which is a con/i'ant e'vil of the mofl: deflrucl^ive nature. The body in high and robufl health is moil fubjecl to the heat of an inflammatory fever ; but no man in his fenfes will therefore ceafe to wifli for high and robufl health.
Senfible men, and true friends to the con- flitution, and therefore to the king, who forms fo confiderable a part of it, will be on their guard againfl falfe alarms excited by courtiers ; left in the fear of fome future evil, from popular commotion, they lay afide that everwaking vigilance which is necefTary to guard the good in poffeflion, their conilitutional liberty, from the fecret depredation of the artful fpoiler, who is always on the watch to encroach on popular rights and privileges.
Riots, tumults, and popular commotions, are indeed truly dreadful, and to be avoided with the utmofl care by the lovers of liberty. Peace, good order, and fecurity to all ranks, are the natural fruits of a free conflitution. True patriots will be careful to difcourage every thing which tends^ to dedroy them ; not only becaufe whatever tends to deilroy them
OF DESPOTISM* 69
tends to dellroy all human happinefs, but alfo becaufe even an accidental outrage in popular affemblies and proceedings, is ufed by the artful to difcredit the caufe of liberty. By the utmofl attention to preferving the public peace, true patriots will defeat the malicious defigns of fervile courtiers ; bu't, whatever may hap- pen, they willnot defert the caufe of human nature. Through a dread of licentioufnefs, they will not forfake the llandard of liberty. It is the part of fools to fall upon Scylla in driving to avoid Charybdis. Who but a fool would wiili to reftore the perpetual defpotifm of the old French government, through a dread of the tranfient outrages o£ a Parifian tumult ? Both are defpotic while they laft. But the former is a torrent that flows for ever ; the latter only a land flood, that covers the meadows to-day, and difappears on the mor- row.
Dr. Price has a paffage fo applicable to the prefent fubje£t, that I fliall beg leave to clofe this fedlion by the citation of it : and on the mention of his name, I mull pay a trifling tri- bute to his memory, w^hich is the more necef- fary, as his character has been fcandaloufly afperfed by thofe who are ever bufy in dif- crediting the people and their friends, and who, pretending a love of goodnefs and religion, blacken with their fouleft calumny thofe who are fmgularly remarkable for both, for no other reafon than that, under the infiuence of good- nefs and religion, fuch perfons efpoufe the
^O THE SPIRIT
caufe of freedom, and prefer the happineis of millions to the pomp and pride of a few afpir- ants at unlimited dominion. Meek, gentle, and humane ; acute, eloquent, and profoundly ikilled in politics and philofophy ; take him for all and all, the qualities of his heart, with the abilities of his head, and you may rank price ^mong the firfl ornaments of his age. Let his enemies produce from all their boafled defpots and defpotical Satraps, any one of his contem- poraries whom, in the manner of Plutarch, they may place by his fide as a parallel. Pofte-^ rity will do him the juflice of which the proud have robbed him, and fnatch him from the ca- lumniators, to place him in the temple of per- fonal honor, high among the benefa<ftors to the human race.
But I return from the digreiilon, into which I was led by an honeft indignation againil the vileft of calumnies againfl the befl of men. TKhefe are the words of Dr. Price ::
* Licentioufnefs and defpotifm are more near- ' iy allied than is com^monly imagined. They ' are both alike inconfiflent with liberty, and
* the true end of government ; nor is there any
* other difference between them, than that one
* is the licentioufnefs of great men, and the
* other the licentioufnefs of little men ; or that
* by one, the perfons and property of a people
* are fubje£t to outrage and invafion from a
* king, or a lawlefs body of gra.ndees ; and that
* by the other, they are fubjeft to the like out-
* rage from a lawlefs mob. In avoiding one of
OF DESPOTISM. ^f
thefe evils ^ mankind have often run into the other. But all well-conflituted governments guard equally againfl both. Indeed, of the two, the lafl is, on feveral accounts, the leafl to be dreaded, and has done the leaft mifchief. It may truly be faid, if licentioufnefs has def- troyed its thoufands, defpotifm has deflroyed its millions. The former having little power,
AND NO SYSTEM TO SUPPORT It, nCCelTa-
rily finds its own remedy ; and a people foon get out of the tumult and anarchy attending it. But a defpotifm, wearing a form of go- vernment, and being armed with its force, is an evil not to be coiiquered without dreadful ftriiggles. It goes on from age to age, debai- ihg the human faculties, levelling all "dillinci tions, and preying on the rights and blejGings of fociety. It deferves to be added, that in a (late diilurbed by licentioufnefs, there is aii ANIMATION which is favourable to the hu* man mind, and puts it upon exerting its pow- ers ; but in a flate habituated to defpotifm^ \ all is ftill and torpid. A dark and favage ** 'tyranny llifles every effort of genius, and th6 * mind lofes all its fpirit and dignity.'
Heaven grant, that in guarding againft a fever, we fall not into a palfyl
J^ .ly^E SPIRIT
SECTION X. \
When Human Life is held cheapo it is a Symp- tom of a prevailing Spirit of Defpotifn*
HERE is ijothing which I can fo rela£lantly pardon in the great ones of this world, as the kittle va;lue they entertain for the life of a njan. i: Property, if feized or loll, may be reftored ; and without property, man may enjoy a thoiifand delightful pleafures of exiftence. The fun fliines as v/armly on the poor as on the rich ; and the gale of health breathes its balfam into the cottage cafement on the heath,. ; jio, Irfs fweetly and falubrioully than into the portals of the palace. But can the lords of this world, who are fo laviih of the lives of their inferiors, v/ith all their boaft- ed power, give the cold heart to beat again, or„,rel,ume, the light of the^eye once dimmed by the fliades of death ? Accurfed defpots, ihew me your authority for taking av/ay that which ye never gave, and cannot give ; for undoing the work of God, and extinguiihing the lamp of life which was illuminated with a ray from heaven. V7here is your charter to privilege murder ? You do the v/ork of Satan, who was a dellroyer ; and your right, if you poffefs any, mud: have orioinated from the father of mifchief 2.nd mifery.
OF DESPOTISM. J^
There is nothing fo precious as the life of a man. A philofopher of antiquity, who -pof- fefTed not the religion of philanthropy, who* knew not that man came from heaven, and is to return thither ; who never heard the doc- trine authenticated, that man is favored with a communication of the divine nature by the Holy Spirit of God ; yet, under all thefe dif- advantages, maintained that homo est res SACRA, that every human creature is CONSECRATED to God, and therefore invio- lable by his fellow man, without profanation. All the gold of Ophir, all the gems of Gol- conday cannot buy a fmgle life, nor pay for its lofs. It is above all price.
Yet take a view of the world, and you will immediately be led to conclude, that fcarcelj^ any thing is viler than human life. Crimes vi^hich have very little moral evil, if any, and which therefore cannot incur the vengeance of^ a juft and merciful Deity, are puniflied with death at a human tribunal. I mean ftatc crimes ; fuch actions, condu£l, fpeeches, as arc made crimes by defpots, but are not recognifed as fuch in the decalogue ; fuch as may proceed from the pureft and moil virtuous principle^ from the moll enlarged benevolence, from wifdom and unafFe^led patriotifm ; fuch as may proceed from mere warmth of temper, neither intending nor accompliiliing any mifchief ; the mere efFe£i:s of error, as innocent too in its confequences as its origin. But the defpot is offended or frightened ; for guilt trembles at
H
74 'i'^^ SPIRIT
the lead alarm, and nothing but the blood of the accufed can expiate the offence.
Yet numerous as are the innocent victims of the tribunal, where to oiFend the flate is the greateil abomination that man can commit, they are ioft and difappear when compared to the myriads facrificed to the demon of war, Defpotifm delights in war. It is its element. As the bull knows, by in(litt£i:, that his flrcngth is in his horns, and the eagle trufts in his talons; fo the defpot feels his puiifance moit, when furrounded by his foldiery arrayed for battle. With the fword in his hand, and liis artillery around him, he rejoices in his might, and glo- ries in his greatnefs. Blood mufl mark his path ; and his triumph is incomplete, till death and de{lru6bion flalk over the land, the har- bingers of his triumphant cavalcade.
We hear much of neceilary vvars ; but it i;5 certainly true, that a real, abfolute, unavoid^ able necelTity for war, fuch as alone can render i^ jufl. has feldom occurred in tixe hillory of mafi. The pride, the v/anton cruelty of abfor lute princes, caring nothing for human, life, have in all ages, witliout the lead necelhty., involved tlie world in war ; and therefore it is the common caufe of all mankind to abolifh •abfolute power ; and to difcourage, by every Jawful means, tlie fpirit that leads to any de- gree of it. No individual, howey.er.good, is fit to be trufted with fo dangerous a depofit. Hi^goodnefs maybe corrupted by the ■ niag- iiitudevof tlie. triwl.; and it is tlie natuir^ of
OF DESPOTISM. y r
power, uFx con trolled by fear or law, to vitiate the beil difpofitions. He wlio would have fiiuddered to fpilla drop of blood, in a hoflik conteft, as a private man, iliall deluge whole provinces, as an abfolute prince, and laugh over the fubjugated plains which he has fer- tilized with human gore.
What are the chief confideratior^ with fuch men, previouily to going to war, and at -its conclufion ?' Evidently the expence of money. Little is faid or thought of the lives loft, or devoted; to be loft, except as matters of pecu- njary value. Humanity, indeed, weeps in fiience and folitude, in the fequeftered ihade of" private life 5 but is a fingle tear flied in Courts, and camps, ^and cabinets ? When men high in command, men of fortune and family,, fall, their deeds are blazoned, and they figure in hiftory ; but v/ho, lave the poor widov/ and the orphan, enquire after the very names of the rank and file ? There they lie, a mafs of hu- man flelli, not fo much regretted by the defpots as the horfes they rode, or the arms they bore. While fhips often go down to the bottom, ft ruck by the iron thunderbolts of war, and not a life is faved ; the national lofs is eftimated by the defpot, according to the v/eight of metal Vv'afted, and the magnitude and expence of the wooden caftle.
Ploratur lachrymis amifTa pecunia veils !
-God, we read, made man in his own image ; and our Saviour taught us that he was the
76 THE SPIRIT
heir of immortality. God made no diflin£l:ioa of perfons ; but behold a being, born to a fceptre, though a poor, puny, fliivering mor- tal like the reft, prefumes to fell, and let out for hire, thefe im^ages of God, to do the ^ork of butchers, in any caufe, and for any pay- mall: er, on any number of unoffending fellow- creatures, who are ftanding up in defence of their hearths, their altars, their wives, their .tMldren, and their liberty. Great numbers of jnen, trained to the trade of human butchery, are conftantly ready to be let to hire, to carry ,on the work of defpotifm, and to fupport, by the money they earn in this helliih employ- l^ientj the luxurious vices of the wretch who 'calls them his property. Can that ftate of human airairs be right and proper, which per- ■inits a mifcrea.nt, fcarcely worthy the nam^e of a man, funk in effeminacy, the Have of vic€, often the moft abominable kind of vice, igno^ l^ht and illiterate, debilitated with difeafe, weak in body as in mind, to have fuch domi- nion of hundreds of thoufands, his fuperiors by nature, as to let them out for pay, to mur- der the innocent ftranger in cold blood ?
Though, in free countries and lim.ited mo- ^•narchies, fuch attrocious villainy is never per- ' mitted, yet it becomes the friends of liberty and humanity to be on their guard againfl the prevalence of any opinions and practices which depreciate man, as man, and vilify human life. None can tell to what enormous depravity fmall conceffions mav lead ; when th< horror
OF DESPOTISM. 77
•^Cfimes Is gradually foftened by the wicked . Itrts of proud intriguers, idolizing grandeur ^d trampling on poverty.
What Ihall we think of the pra6tice of what is called crimping ? Is it to be allowed in a free country ? Are not men bought, inveigled, :or forced by it, as if they were cattle, beads 'Krf the field or the foreil, and capable of beco- 'jning the property of the purchaser or the cap- Itor ? If a nation fhould behold with patience fuch a pra£lice increafmg and encouraged by the great, would there not be reafon to fufpe£i:, that it had loil the fpirit of freedom, and was preparing to fubrait its neck to the yoke of deipotifm ? Is not an imprelTed failor or a kid- mapped foldier one of the images of God ? Is he not entitled to all the rights of nature, and ithe fociety of which he is a member ? Does poverty disfranchize a man, rob him of his .rights, and render his life a comm.odity to be bought and fold^ or thrown away, at the v/ill ^of a rich man, who is enabled to take advan- rtage of his want, and add to the misfortune of indigence the curfe of flavery ? Are a few pieces of filvet to be allowed, by connivance, •if not by legal permiffion, as the price of blood, when poverty, but not the will, confents to the fale?
. > Even if boxing were ever to become a
rHpedacle patronized by princes, and encouraged
^by a people, there would be reafon to fear
Idk. MAN, AS MAN, had loll his value; left
life were eilimated of little price : and left the
H 2
yS THE SPIRIT
fpirit of defpotifm were gradually infinuating itfelf into the community. There would be reafon to fear left times, like thofe of the lat- ter Roman emperors, were returning, and that men might be kept like wild beafts, to be brought on the flage and fight for public diver- fion, and to be murdered for the evening's amufement of fafliionable lords and ladies, at an opera-houfe.
The dignity of human nature, in defpotical countries, is treated as a burlefque. A man is lefs dignified than a pampered horfe, and his life infinitely lefs valued. But in a land of liberty, like ours, every man ihould learn to venerate himfelf and his neighbor, as a noble creature, dependent only on God, on reafon, on law. Life, under fuch circumflances, b a pearl of great price. Every human being, under fuch circumflances, is of equal value in the fight of God. They, therefore, who, in fonfequence of civil elevation, hold any mian's life cheap and vile, unlefs he has forfeited his rights by enormous crimes, are guilty of rebel- lion againfl God, and ought to be hunted out of fociety ; as the wolf, once the native of England's forefls, was extc^rminated from the iilaad.
OF DESPOTISM.
SECTION XI.
79
''^indifference of the middle and lower Claffes of' the People to public Affairs^ highly favorable to the encroachments of the Tory Principle ^ and therefore to the Spirit of Defpotifm*
X HE opinion, that the majority of the PEOPLE have no concern in political dif- quifitions, is at once infulting and injurious. They who maintain it, evidently mean to make a feparation iti the minds of men, be- tween the government and the nation. It is infulting to the nation, -^as^^ it infinuates that they are either incapable or unworthy of iater- t,;fering ; and it is injurious to the government ** ■ and the whole community, as it renders that power, which ought to be an obje6l of love, an obje6i: of terror and jealoufy.
Such an opinion is fit only for a country ■'i:£ibje6l to abfolute power, and in v,^hich the people, confidcred only as conquered Haves, hold their lives and all their enioyments at the will of the conqueror. As it originates in defpotic principles, fo it tends to produce and diifufe them.
As to the intellectual abilities of the people, it is certain that (ome of the ablefl flatefmen, lavz-givers, and men of bufinefs, have origi- nated from that order which is called plebeian. There is a fmgular vigor of mind, as well as
8o THE SPIRIT
of body, in men who have been placed out of the reach of luxury and corruption by their poor or obfcure condition ; and when this vi- gor of mind has been improved by a compe- tent -education, and fubfequent opportunities of experience and obfervation, it has led to very high degrees of mental excellence. Ple- beians have arrived at the very firfl rank in all arts and fciences ; and there is nothing in po- litics fo peculiarly abflrufe or recondite j as to be incomprehenfible by intellefts that have p'e^ netrated into the profdundeft depths of philo^ fophy.
As to the right of the people to thinjc, let him who denies it^ ^deny^ M " the fame time, their /right to breathe. They can tio iHot-fe avoid thinking than breathing. God foriired them to do both ; and though llatcfmen oftein aft as if they wiflied to oppofe the will of the Deity, yet happily they want the power. And iince men muil think, is it poffible to prevent them from thinking of the government ? upon the right conduct of which depend their liberty, their property, and their lives. It is their duty to watch over the poiTefTors of power, left they fliould be prevented, by the encroaching na- ture of power, from leaving to their pofterity that freedom which they inherited ; a natural right, preferved from the opprelTor's infringe- ment by the blood of their virtuous anceftors.
But fuch is the elFeft of political artifice, under the management of court fycophants, that the middle ranks of people are taught to
©F DESPOTISM. 8 I
believe, that they ought not to trouble them- felves with affairs of ftate. They are taught to think that a certain fet of men come into the world like demigods, poffeffed of right, power, and intellectual abilities, to rule the earth, as God rules the univerfe, without control. They are taught to believe, that free inquiry and manly remonilrance are the iin of fedition. They are taught to believe, that they are to labor by thefweat of their brow to get money for the taxes ; and w^hen they have paid them, U^ go to work again for more, to pay the next demand without a murmur. Their children may flarve : they may be obliged to fliut out the light of lieaven, and the common air which the beafls on the wafle enjoy ; they may be difabled from procuring a draught of wholefome and refreflimg beverege after the day's labor which has raifed the money to pay the tax ; they may not be able to buy the ma- terials for cleanlinefs of their perfons, when defiled by the fame labor ; yet they muft ac- quiefce in total filence. They rnuil read so obnoxious papers or pamphlets, and they mufl not utter a complaint, at the houfe where they are compelled to go for refrefliment, which the tax prevents them from enjoying at home with their little ones. Yet they have nothing -to do with public affairs ; and if they fhew the leaf! tendency to inquiry or oppofition, they fuller a double punifliment, firfl, from their lordly landlord and employer, and fecondly, from profecution for turbulence and fedition.
^2 THE SPIRIT
The legal punilliments attending the expreA fion of difcontent, by any overt-aft, are fo fevere, and the ill-grounded terrors of them ia artfully diiTeniinated, that rather than incur- the leaft danger, they fubmit in filence to the hardeft oppreiTion.
Even the middle ranks are terrified into a tame and filent acquiefcence. They learn to conlider politics as a dangerous iubjeci:, not to be touched without hazard of liberty or life. They Ihrink therefore from the fubje^l. They will neither read nor converfe upon it. They pay then' contribution to a war, and take a minifler's word that It is juft and neceiTary. Better part with a little money patiently, fince part with it we mufl, fay they, than by daring to invefligate the caufes or conducft of public meafures, riik a prifon or a gibbet.
Great and opulent landholders often exercife a defpotifm in their petty dominions, which ftifles the voice of truth, and blinds the eye of inquiry. If tenants utter a fentiment in pub-,: lie, adverfe to the courtly opinions of the great., man, who is looking up to a minifler for a douceur for himfelf, his fons, his natural fons, or his nephews, or coufins, the beneficial leafe; will not be renewed at its expiration. What has fuch a fellow to do with poliiics ? Fine times, indeed, when ruilics dare to have an opinion on the pofTibility of avoiding a war, which a minifter has declared unavoidable ! , :i^, thoufand modes of harraffing and embarrailing the fubordinate neighbor, who dares think
OF DESPOTISM. 83
for himfelf, are pra^tifed by the fla villi rich man, who, pofleiFing enough to maintain a thoufand poor families, is yet greedily grafp- ing at a place or a penfion ; or, if he be too opulent to think of fuch addition, which is feldom the cafe, dill views with eager eye and panting heart, at leafr a baronetage, and per- haps a coronet, glittering on high with irre- liflible brilliancy; ^^'^'
Grofs ignorance, unmanly fear of punilli-, iiient, and obfequioufnefs to overgrown arifto- crats, at once fervile and tyrannic, operate in conjunction to prevent the middle and lower ranks from attending to the concerns of the (^nmunity, of which they are very important ifiembers ; contributing to its fupport by their perfonal'fexertions, their confumption of taxed commodities, and the payment of imxpoPiis. -'There is alfo an habitual indolence wdiich prevents many from concerning themfelves with any thing but that which immediately a^<5i:s their pecuniary interell. Such perfons would be content to live under the Grand Seignor, folong as they might eat, drink, and ileep in peace. But fuch muft never be the I p^vailing fentlment of a people, v/hofe ancef- tors have left them the inheritance of liberty, His an eflate unalienable, and of more value than the mines of Peru. Such Indolence is treachery to pofLcrity ; it is a bafe and cow- ardly dereli(Slion of a trull, which they who confided it are prevented by death from guard- ing or withdrawing.
84 '^'HE SPIRIT
The middle and lower ranks, too numerotis^^ to be bribed by a minifler, and almoft out of the reach of court corruption^ conflitute the befl bulwarks of liberty. They are a natural and moil efficacious check on the flrides of power. They ought therefore to know their confequence, and to preferve it with unwink- ing vigilance. They have a flake, as it is call- ed, a moil important (lake, in the country. Let ■ not the overgrovv^n rich only pretend to have a flake in the country, and claim from it 2.n ex- clufive privilege to regard its concerns. The mid-^ die ranks have their x\2Xys[^ freedom to preferve ; their birth-right to protect from the dangerous attacks of enormous and overbearing affluence. ■ Inafmuch as liberty and fecurity are more con- ducive to happinefs than excefEve riches, it- mull be allowed, that » the poor man's flake in the country is as great as the rich man's. If he fhould lofe this flake, his poverty, which was confoled by the confcioufnefs of his liberty and fecurity, becomes an evil infinitely aggra- vated. He has nothing left to defend him from the opprefFor's wrong and the proud man's contumely. He may foon degenerate to a beafl of burden ; for the mind fmks with the flavery' of the condition. But while a man feels that he is free, and fills a refpeftable rank, as a freem.an, in the community, he walks with* upright port, confcious, even in rags, of com- parative dignity.
While the middle and lower ranks acquaint themfelves with their rights, they fhould alfo^
OF DESPOTISJM. 85
imprefs on their minds a fenfe of their duties, and return obedience and allegiance for pro- te<Stion.
To perform the part of good members of the community, their underilandings muft be duly enlightened, and they mufl be encouraged, rather than forbidden, to give a clofe attention to all public ti-anfadions, Difagreements in private life are often juflly called mifunder- ftandings. It is through want of clear concep- tions that feuds and animofities frequently happen in public. The many are not fo mad as they are reprefented. They a£l honeflly and zealoully according to their knowledge. Give them fair and full information, and they will dp the thing that is right, in confequence of it. But nothing more generally and juflly offends them, than an attempt to conceal ot diftort fa£ls which concern them ; an attempt to render them the dupes of intereiled ambition, planning its own elevation on the ruins of their independence.
J I wiih, as a friend to peace, and an enemy to all tumultuary and riotous proceedings, that tile mafs of the people fliould underiland th^ conflitution, and know, that redrefs of griev* ances is to be fought and obtained by appeals to the law; by appeals to reafon ; without. appealing, except in cafes of the very lad ne- celFity, which feldom occur, to the arm of vio- lence. I advife them patiently to bear, while there is but a hope of melioration, even flagrant
I
86 THE SPIRIT
abufcs, if no other mode of redrefs appears, for the prefent, but convuiiion. I would ex- hort them, not to fly from the defpotifm of an adminiflration, to the defpotifm of an enraged populace. I would have them value the life, the tranquillity, the property, of the rich and great, as well as thofe of the poor and obfcure. I would wifli them to labor at promoting human happinefs in all ranks, and be alTured, that happinefs, tike health, is not to be enjoyed m a fever.
To accompliih thefe ends, I think too much pains cannot be beilowed in teaching them to underfland the true nature of civil liberty ; and m demonllrating to them, that it is injured by all iexceiTes, whether the exceifes originate in courts or cottaees.
And furely thofe men are neither friends to their country nor to human nature, who, for the fake of keeping down the lower orders, would objecl to teaching the people the value of a pure reprefentation, free fuffrage, a free prefs, and trial by jury. Thefe are the things . that ar€ moil likely to endear the confliiution to them, to render them truly loyal, chearfully obedient^ and zealoufly peaceable.
It is not the delufive publications of intereHed and fycophantic aifociators which can produce • this valuable purpofe. Writings fo evidently partial, perfuade none but thofe that are already ' pcriuaded ; and deceive none but thofe thatf are willing to be decived. Truth only, will '
1
OF DESPOTISM. 87
have weight with the great body of the people, who have nothing to hope from minillerial favor, or to fear, while the conftitution is un- impaired, from miniderial difpleafure.
Let the people, then, be at liberty, unin- terrupted by perfons actuated by tory and high prerogative principles, to ftudy politics, to read -pamphlets, and to debate, if they choofe it, }in focieties. The more they know of a good conilitution and a good adminiftration, the better they will behave. Minifti-y need not hire newfpapers, or employ fpies. Let them build their confidence in truth and juftice,^and 'the enlightened people will conftitute its firmed buttrefs. Let it never be faid, that the people have nothing to do with politics, left it fiiould be inferred, that fuch politics have no regard to the people.
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XII.
'The deJpQfic Spirit is inclined to difcourage- Commerce^ as unfavorable to its Purpofes,
i S man a reafonable creature ? Is he %hen moll perfe<5l and happy, when his coil^ duft is regulated by reafon ? If fo, then the boafted age of chival ry was an age of roily, 'Kiadnefs, and mifery. It was an age in v/hich a romantic imagination triumphed by force over the plaineft and ftrongcfl decifions of common fenfe. It was an age in which pride and wanton infolence trampled on the rights and happinefs of human nature. To exprefs my idea of it in a word, it was an age of QUIXOTISM, in which Europe appeared as one vafl country of i)edlamites. Yet, wonderful to relate, men have lately arifen, pretending to extraordinary degrees of the diftinclive fa- culty of man, profefTmg the m.ofl unbounded philanthropy, but at the fame time regretting that the age of chivalry is no more.
The truth is, the fpirit of chivalry was highly favorable to the fpirit of defpotifm. Every feudal baron was a petty tyrant, little differing from the chieftain of a banditti. They were abfolute fovereigns over their vaifals. Their caftles were fortified palaces, from which they iifued, regardlefs of government or law, nice lions or tigers from their dens, to deform.
OF DESPOTISM. 89
the land with blood and devaftation. What was the fituation of the people, the million, in thofe days of mifchievous folly ? It was fcarcely better than that of the negroes in th? ifl^nds of America. And are thefe times to be regretted in the prefent day ? Yes, certainly, by thofe who pine at feeing the condition of the multitude meliorated, and who confider the unfortunate part of their fellow^creatures as a herdoffwine.
At this period of Englifli hiflory, flaves^ natives of England, were bought and fold on Englilh ground, juft in the fame manner as the negroes in Africa. One of the chief articles of export from England, in the time of the iVtiglo-S axons, was the slave. Slaves were s^lways appendant to manors, like the flock of cattle on a farm. They were attached to the foil, and were conveyed or defcended with the eflate, under the name of viUains regardant^, gleba adfcriptitiu They were never confider- ed as Citizens ; they had no vote, no rights ;, and were in every refpe^l, in the eye of the gxeat men who poiTeiTed them, like goods,, chattels, and bealls of burden.
As honell labor was confidered as slavish, fo alfo was every kind of trade. The only, clafs efteemed, was that wWch we fliould now call GENTLEMEN or ESQUIRES. And what was their employment ? DeJlruBion of their fel- low creatures. They neither toiled nor fpun \ but they wielded the fword, and flied blood, under the banners of their chief, whenever
I 2
C)0 THE SPIRIT
he thought proper to wage war with an un- oiFending neighbor. They were, hov/ever, honorable men ; <?//, all honorable men. But honor will not fill the belly, nor cloathe the back ; and pride was obliged to floop for food, raiment, dwellings, and all the comforts and accommodations of life, to the villain and vaf- fal ; who v/ere exaftly in the rank occupied by modern tradefmen, mechanics, and artifans. The gentleman of thofe days availed himfelf of their labor and ingenuity, and then defpifcd them. The GENTLEMEN of miodem days, who ad- mire the age of chivalry, and who adopt tory and arbitrary principles, would be gla.d to con- sider this ufeful and ingenious clafs of citizens in the fame light. ' Perijh our commerce^ live ' our conftiUitlon. Periih the loom, the plough, ' the hammer, the axe ; but flourilh the fword. * Sink the merchant fliip, but let the man of *■ war ride on the waves in all her glory."
Such fentiments refemble thofe of the feudal barons, the mioft defpotic gentlemen that ever difgraced human nature. The old feudal baron?, nowever, could not always find em- ployment for the fword at home ; and Peter the m.onk tok! them they would be rewarded in heaven by waging war on Paien:ine. They embarked with the blefiings of the pope on their banners. It was a fortunate event for the defpifed vaiTals who vrere left at home. Both commerce and liberty are greatly indebted to the crufades for their fubfequent flourifliing flate. In the abfence of the tyrants, the tradet
OF DESPOTISM. g I
men and artifans exercifed their art and induflry on their own account, and gradually acquired a degree of independence. Many of the barons never returned to opprefs them. Many re- turned, greatly injured in ftrength, fpirit, and property. Confequently they lofl: their power. Charters were now fold or granted, and Com- merce lifted up her front in defiance of Pride, that, looking down from her caille on the ftiip and manufacturer, defpifed her lowly occupa- tion, while {he envied her opulence., The country was enriched by arts which the nobles deemed vile. The mafs of the people acquired property, and with it, power and independence. The tyranny of the feudal fyftem, and the non- fenfe of chiva.lry, which endeavored to create a fantailic merit, independ.ent of virtue and utility, focn vaniflied v/hen the human rnind was at liberty to think for itfelf ; and men were emboldened to a£l freely by a confcioufnefs of poiTeirmg fkill and property.
But wliile the human heart is fubje£l: to pride, and fond of power, the fpirit of tyranny, w^hich actuated the old barons in feudal times, will manifeft itfelf, in fome mode or degree, whenever opportunities occur. Commerce was defpifed under the late monarchy in France; and commerce, we have reafon to think, is looked upon with a jealous eye in England, by thofe who are violently attached to fenfelefs grandeur.
Men of this defcription are averfe to com- merce, not only from pride, but from policy. They fee commerce enriching and exallirig
g2 THE SPIRIT
plebeians to a rank in fociety equal to their own ; and often furnifhing the means of lux* urious enjoyment and fplendor, which they themfelves, with all the pride of birth and the prefumption of oiEce, cannot fupport. Though a war may injure trade, and ruin ma- nufacturing towns, yet it is eagerly engaged in, if it gratifies the revenge of courts, and the pride of nobles. Its ill eifefls on commerce ' may be a recommendation of it to^thofe "yRffe^ t exclaim, '' Perijh commerce^ 'live our ^onfM^^ tutionJ^ It reduces that afpiring greatnefs of the merchant, which treads on the heels of the grandee, and overtops him. It bleeds the body which appears in the eyes of the great to ihew fymptoms of plethora. It clips the wings ^ which feem ready to emulate the flight of the eagle. It lops the tree which gives umbrage by its fliadow. The favorers of abfolute power ' would have a nation of gentlemen foldiers, of '■ courtiers, and of titled noblemen ; and they view with pain, a nation of gentlemen mer- chants, of men independent both in fpirit and fortune, enlightened by education, improved by experience, enriched by virtues and ufeful exertion, polleffing principles of honor founded on honefly, and therefore quite as fcrupulous and nice as if they had been bred in idlenefs, bloated with the pride of anceftry, tyrannically imperious over the active claffes, and at the fame time abjeft flaves to courtly failiion.
But, as in a commercial nation, it is impof- fible to prevent men of this defcription from fometimes acquiring princely fortunes, it be-
OF DESPOTISM.- ,93
coines a very defirable objecl:, among the poli- ticians attached to ari^itrary power, to corrupt the principal commercial houies, by raifmg in them the fpirit of vanity and ambition. They have already acquired money more than fuffi- cient for all the purpofes of aggrandizement. The next obje£^ is honor ; that is, a title. A baronetage is a charming lure to the whole family. Any favor indeed from the court is a feather. A title is now and then judicioufly beftowed. This operates on the rifmg race, and teaches them to undervalue their independ- ence in competition with the fmile of a mini- fler. The minifter, indeed,, has means of gratifying the avarice as well as the vanity of the commercial order. Contracts are delicious douceurs to theafpiring trader : they not only enrich, but lead to a conneftion with the powers that be, and pave with gold the road of ambition.
But the fun of tory favor which irradiates the tops of the mountain, feldom reaches the vale. The millions of humbler adventurers in commerce and manufaclure, who are enriching their country, and accommodating human life, in ten thoufand modes that require both virtue and fldll, are viewed by the promoters of arbi- trary power with fovereign contempt. The truth is, that moll of thefe, notwithflanding the difdain with which they are treated, are fome of the mod: independent members of the comm.uni ty . They conftitute a very large por- tion of the middle rank. They are a firm phalanx, and commonly enlifted on the fide of
94 THE SPIRIT
liberty. They can fcarcdy be olherwife ; for they have Httle to hope or fear from thofe who call themfelves their fuperiors. They perform a work, or vend a commodity, equi- valent to the compenfation they receive ; and owe no obliga.tion beyond that which civility or benevolence, towards thofe with whom they negociate, impofes. The cuflomer applies to them for his own convenience. If they be fair traders, they vend their waires at the market price ; and if one will not accede to it, they wait patiently for another offer. They do not think themfelves bound to make any unmanly fabmillions to thofe who deal with them £ov their own advantage.
A numerous body of men like thefe, pof- feifmg, in the aggregate, a vail property, and confequently, if they could ad in concert, a vaft: power alfo, cannot but be an objeft of uneafmefs to the co-partners in a proud arido- cracy, wiiliing to engrofs to themfel^s the whole world, with all its pleafures, honors, emoluments, and rights. As they cannot de- ftroy this body, their next endeavor is to vil- ify it, to render it infignificant, to difcourage its attention to public affairs, to leffen its profits, and to embarrafs its operations by taxes on its mod vendible productions. They would gladly render a tradefman as contemptible in England, as it was in France before the revolution. In France, we all know, under its defpotic kings, no virtue, no merit, no fervices to the public or mankind, could v/ipe off the filthy ffain fixed on the characSter by merchandize. The
OF DESPOTISM. g^
pooreil:, mod villainous and vicious idiot, who partook of nobleffe, would have been efteemed, in that unhappy period, infinitely fuperior to a Grefliam, a Barnard, or a Skinner.
My purpofe in tliefe remarks is to exhort the mercantile order to preferve their inde- pendence, by preferving a jufl fenfe of their own dignity. I fee with pain and alarm the firll men in a great city, the metropolis of the v/orld, whofe merchants are princes, crouding with flaviih fubmilTion to the minifter of the day, feconding all his artful purpofes in a cor- poration, calling out the military on the ilighteil occafion, at once to overawe the multitude, and at the fame time to annihilate their own civil and conftitutional authority. If they would but preferve their independence, and retain a due attachment to the people, arid the rights of their fellow-citizens, their power and confe- quence v/ould be infinitely augmented, and the very minifter who buys or cajoles them, would hold them in high eflimation. Ultimately, perhaps, their prefent fordid views might be accompiillied with greater fuccefs ; as they cer- tainly would be, if accompliihed at all, with more honor and fatisfaftion.
Inflead of feparating their interefls, I would fay, let our commerce and our conftitution ever flouriih together. Certain I am, that a fiou- riihing commerce, by giving power and confe- quence to the middle and lower ranks of the people, tends more than all the military aiTocia- tions to preferve the genuine fpirit of the con- ilitution.
gS
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XII.
The Spirit cf Defpotifm difplaying itfelf in private Life^ and proceeding thence to avail itf elf of she Church and the Militdry,
XVXANY who enjoy tlie great ad* vantages of diftinguillied rank and enormous wealth,, either hereditary or acquired, not con-* tented with thofe advantages, feem, by their behaviour, to envy the lefs fortunate of their fpecies the Kttle happinefs they retain in their humble fphere. Unfatisfied with the elevation which their birth or fortune has given them, they wilh to trample on their inferiors, and to force them ftiil lower in fociety. Bafe pride ! fordid greedinefs of wretches, who, notwith^ Handing they are gratified with ail external fplendor, and pampered even to loathing with plenty of all good things, yet infult thofe who minifter to their luxuries, and who (however deferving by virtue all that the others pofTefs by chance) fit down with a bare competence, and often in want of real neceiTaries, food, raiment, and habitation.
The infolence of many among the great, w^ho poffefs neither knowledge nor virtue, nor any quality ufeful to mankind, and the contempt v/itli which they look down upon men, whom, though both virtuous and ufeful, they call their inferiors, excites the honed indignatiou
OF DESPOTISM. 97
of all who can think and feel, and who are remote from the fphere of corrupting influ- ence. The natural fenfations of an honeil heart revolt ag?jnfl it. It is not only moil highly culpable in a moral view, but extremely dangerous in a political. It arifes from the genuine fpirit of defpotifm, and if not checked by the people, muil lead to its univerfal pre- valence. Such a fpirit wobM allow no rights to the poor, but thofe v/hich cannot be taken away, fuch as the fwine poffefs ; the rights of mere animal nature. Such afpirit hates the people, and would gladly annihilate all of them, but thofe who adminiiler to pride and luxury, either as menial fervants, dependent tradefmen or me- chanics, or common foldiers, ready to ilied their own and others blood for a morfel of bread. Even the beads are held in hipher honor hv many ariftocrats^ than the poor people in their vicinage. Dogs and horfes are fed, lodged, nay, the horfes fometimes clothed fumptuoully; while the poor laborers in the cot on the lide of the common, are ftarved, fcarcely iheltered by their roofs, and almofl naked. As you ride by thefplendid palace and extenfive park of Tome inheritor of overgrown opulence, fome fortunate adventurer ,fome favored contra6tor,penfioner3 or placeman, you behold flables and dog-kennels ere(^ed in a flile of magnificence ; externally grand and internally commodious. The dogs and horfes are waited on by men appointed for the purpofe, and more amply paid than the laborer, who xnfes early, and late takes reft
gS THE SPIRIT
in the work of agriculture or manufacture. After viev/ing the magnificent ilables, proceed ! a little farther, and you fee, on the road-fide, , and in the village, wretched houfes, without glafs in the v/indows ; the poor laborer, hi^ \ wife, and children in rags ; fcarcely able to » procure the fmalleft fire in the coldeft weather, threatened with profecution if they pick up flicks in the park ; and, if they refufe to endure extreme cold and hunger, in danger of bein^; hanged, and certain of imprifonment. The great man, who fpends much of his time in^: the liable and kennel, a.nd who careiTes the horfes and dogs 5 condefcends not to enter the^ cottages. He receives the lowly obeifance ofi the inhabitants v/ithout returning it. Look at yonder corner of his park, and you fee a board' with an inicription, threatening all who enterf with MAN traps and fpring guns. If, tempt- ed by hunger, the poor man fliouid venture to' catch a hare or patridge, the horfe-whip is threatened, and perhaps inili(5led in the firil' indance : and on a repetinon of the atrociousi crime, lie and his vvhole famiily are turned oift of their cottage ; happy if himfelf be not inui prifoned, though the bread of the helplefs de-- pcnds on his liberty and labor.
This petty tyrant of a village domain Ihallf never thelefs think himfelf entitled to reprcfenfii the next borough in Parliament. What cam be expelled from fuch a wretch, but that .h€> fhould be as fervilely m.ean and obfequious td^ a minifler, as he is cruel and unfeeling in hii3>
OF DESPOTISM. 99
behaviour to • the poor of his vicinity ? He has flievvn already the difpofitions of a Nero and Domitian in miniature ; and if he could obtain a throne, his fceptre would be a rod of iron. He would be inclined to confider all the people as a tribe of poachers.
If no confiderable diflri<5l of a country be without fuch overbearing defpots ; if they are viewed without abhorrence, and confidered. as aiTuming only the common privileges of coun- try gentlemen j if fuch men, availing them- felves of a corrupt Hate of reprefentation, often procure a ihare in the legiilature ; is not that country, if there be fuch an one, in danger of 1 being over-run with the fpirit of defpotifm ? Are I not the YEOMANRY, who are ufually tenants of I thefe lordly Nimrods, likely to be influenced i by them, through fear of lofing their farms, in I their votes, and in all their fentiments and con- i| du^ ? And will not Liberty lofe fome of her ;j ablefh, as they w^ere probably among her fn> Icerefl and manliefl:, defenders, when the yeo- ' m,anry defer t her banners ?
Among all that defcription of perfons who
I have been lately called Aristocrats, proud
and ielfiili in their nature, Tories and Jacobites
in their political principles, it is obvious to re-
imark the moil haughty, overbearing manners
; in the tranfactions of comanon life, in their do-
^meftic arrangements, in their pleafurable ex-
curfions, their vifits, their converfation, and
general intercourfe. In all thefe, their grand
obje£l is to keep the vulgar ^ under which appeL
lOO THE SPIRIT
latiou they comprehend many truly, though not nominally, noble, at a diflance. They form a little world of their own, and entitle it, ihe circles of fajklon. Folly and Vctnity go- vern this Iktle Y/arld with defpotic rule; and virtue, learning, ufefulnefs have no claim to adniitiion into it. Pride, fervility to courts, and a mutual, though tacit, agreement to treat the PEOPLE with contempt, are among the principal recommendations to it. The grand fecret of its conilltution is to claim dignity, diflinction, power, and place, exclufively, without the painful labor of deferving either by perfonai merit, or by fervices to the com- monw^ealth.
Thefe people puili themfelves forward to notice at all pubhc places. Though they con- - tribute no more than others to the fupport of fuch places, (for they 2irc fordidly pafjimonlousy yet they claim a right to di£^ate every regula- tion. Countenanced by each other, they aiium© at theatres a bold behaviour, fuch as argues a fovereign contempt of the canaille. They talk , loud, they laugh loud, they applaud each other's wit, they ilrut with airs of perfe£i; felf- complacency ; but w^ould not be fuppofed to caft an eye at the inferior crowd, whole ad- miration they are at the fame time courting, by^ every fiily effort of pragmatical vanity. They, cannot live long at home. No ; they mufl have the eyes of the very people whom they aife61: to: defpife, conflantly upon their perfons, their i coaches, their livery fervants \ or elfe wealth
OF DESPOTISM. 10 I'
• l&fes its power to gratify, and grandeur is no better than infignificance.
Nothing flatters fuch perfons more, than to have a number of their fellow-creatures en- gaged as fervants about their j^^r^/zj-, with no- thing to do, or with fuch employments as man, properly fo called, could not endure to have done by another. It adds greatly to their happinefs, if they can clothe thefe fuperfluous. menials in very fine and coiilj drefs, far ex- ceeding any thing which the middle, yet inde- pendent, ranks of the people can either afford or v/ould choofe to difplay. They alfo choofe that their footmen fliould be handfome in their perfons, as well as fumptuoufly clad ; the in- tention being to lead the fpe£l:ator to exclaim, when even the fervants are fuch refpe61:ableper- fdnages, *' how fhupe^duoufly great mufl be the lordly mailer p*
A court, with all its forms and finery, is the very element of fuch perfons. They flutter -about it like butterflies in the funfliine ; and ''Rappy he, V'ho, in his way ta it, excites the ■ moit admiration of his gaudy coach and coat in the crowd of St. James's-llreet ; that crowd, which neverthelefs tliej /corn, through fear of pollution, to look at, with eyes defiined in a few minutes to enjoy the beatific vifion of (royalty. But as a court is their delight, no- wonder that their fentiments on political .mat- ters are perfectly courtier-like. They are for extending the powers and prerogativ-es of roy- alty, from a felfifli idea that they can recom--
K z:.
i02 THE spiurr
mend themfelves to the notice and patronage of courts by fervile compliance, by riches and pomp ; whereas the people would require per- fonal merit as the paffport to their favor. They think the people have little to bellow but bare eileem, or fuch offices as are honorable only in proportion as they are well or ill difcharged ;. fuch as require virtues and abilities : whereas, a court can beftow on its favorites, without requiring painful virtues, ribbands, garters, liars, and titles, all which gratify fuperficial minds by their external finery and diflindlion, independently of any idea tha.t they are, or iliould be, the public rewards of long and faithful fervicesj in promoting the welfare of the community, and the happinefs of the human race.
To form an adequate idea of the proud -and frivolous minds of thofe who are intent on nothing but aggrandizing themfelves by aug- menting the power of courts and minillers^ whofe favoi they feek with the moil defpicable meann^fs, it will be necefiary to entertain right notions of the court of France, and the man- ners of the nobleffe, previoufly to the revolu- tion. ' The two great aims' (fays an obferving French writer) ' of the modern courtiers of ' France, like forae of another nation, where ' difftpation and the means of repair'mg tlie rui- ' nous confcquences of that diilipation to their ^ private fortunes. To obtain the form.er end,
* they purfued her through all the fantaftical
* labyrinth of verfatiie folly \ and to accom.-
OF DESPOTISM. 1 0 7
' plifli the latter, they ilartied at no depravity * or corruption which prefented itfelf.' Thus,, the greateft perfonages in the nation were moil diilinguiiliable for vice and meannefs -, the fole obje6l was to indulge in every vain and every fenfual gratification, and then to procure places and appointments, the profits of which were to pay the expences of pride,, and debauchery. The financier robbed the people. The great (as they are abufively called) received the flolen goods ; and the people, in return^ for their property thus extorted from them, v/ere at once opprefled, plundered and defpifed. If a nobleman, impoveriilied by his enormous vices and fiily vanity, married into a rich but ple- beian family, they called this degrading con-» du£i:, the taking dung to fertilize their eflates. At the fame time, pollution as it was to marry the honefl daughter of an honeft merchant j they prided themfelves in choofmg for rnl/ireffes not only the lowed, but the mofl vicious per- fons, opera-dancers, and a^refTes, notorious for proftitution. Such were many' of the courtiers, the nobleffe, and llicklers for arbitrary power, in France ; and have there not appea.red in other nations, inilanees of fimilar conduct in perfons of fimilar rank, and fimilar political principles ?
In France, biilioprics were ufually coniidered as genteel provifions for the fons of noble families. Religions confiderations ha.d little
, o
iiifluence in the appointment of them. Learn- ing v/as not a fuiEcient recommendation.
r04 THE SPIRIT
Blood v/asthe prime requifite. If by cliance a man, with every kind of merit proper for that ilation, rofe to a biihopric, without the reccommendation of blood, he was defpifed by the fraternity, and called a bishop of FORTUNE. I have heard in England fuch men as Dr. Watfon, and Dr. Porteus, and Dr. Seeker, with all their learning,, fpoken of as men that mufl not think themfelves of any political confequence ; as men who fhould be fatsfled with their good fortune^ and not pre^ tend to vie with the Norths, and Corriwal- lifes, and Kepples. How would fuch men hav" defpifed Jesus Christ and the poor iilhermen ! yet they love bifhoprics, fo far as they contribute to fecular pomp and parade.
A fimilar fpirit mull produce fimilar condud. Therefore thofe who would not wiih the man- ners of the French, as they exifled before the revolution, to prevail in their own country, will check the fpirit that gives rife to fuch manners, by every rational means of oppofitioii to it. That fpirit and thofe manners at once fupported the French monarchy, and caufed its abolition.
Indeed, the overbearing manners of the TORIES, or friends of arbitrary power, are fo difgufling in private life to every man of fenfe and independence, that they muil be exploded, wherever fenfe and independence can prevail over the arts of fycophantifm. They are no lefs oifenfive to humanity, and injurious to all the fweet equality of focial in-
OF DESPOTISM. IO5
tercDurfe, than they are to public hberty. Obferve one of thcfe perfons, who fwells to an unnatural fize of felf-confequence, from the emptinefs of his head and the pride of his heart, entering a cofFee-houfe or pubUc room at a watting place. To fliew his contempt of all around him, he begins whiftUng^ or beating a tune with his fingers or with a flick on the table. He flands with his back to the fire, holding up the fldrts of his coat, protruding his hps, picking his teeth, adjufling his cravat, furveying his buckles, and turning out his knees or toes ; fhewing, by every fign he can think of, his own opinion of his own impor- tance, and his fovereign contempt for the com- pany. Prefently he calls the waiter with a loud voice and imperious tone. '' Damn you, " Sir, why don't you bring me a paper ?" Then after firutting up and down two or three times, viewing himfelf in the glafs, bowing through the window to a coach with coronets on the fides, he haftily rufhes out, fhutting the door with a found that diflurbs the whole room. He fleps back a moment, and having hallooed to the waiter- — ^^ Has Sir John been here ?" fhuts the door flill louder, and departs to the other rooms, to difplay the fame airs of felf-importance.
Liften to him while he Q-ives orders to his fervants or woi'kmen. His tone is fo imperious, you might imagine them negroes, and himfelf a negro-driver. And happy, he thinks, would
Io6 THE SPIRIT
he be, if the laws of this country would allow him to ufe the w^liip at once, inftead of wear- ing out his precious lungs on fuch low-born wretches. But as he dares not ufe the w^iip, (and indeed, he is generally a coward as well as bully), he makes up for it as well as he can, by threatening to ufe it on ail occafions, when- ever his will is not minutely and inftantane- oufly executed. He urges the propriety of keeping thefe people at a diflance, making them know their llation, and preferving his own dignity. Porters, hackney-coachmen, chair- men, w^hoeyer is fo unfortunate as to be obliged, through poverty and a low ilation, to miniiler to his luxury, are fure, at the fame time to be infulted by his infolence. He pays no more than others ; often lefs ; but he fwears and calls names. In truth, he confiders this order of ufeful people, certainly refpe£lable when honeft, fober, and induftrious, as not of the fame fleili and blood with himfelf, but to be ranked with the afs and the fwine.
Animos fervorum et corpora Taoftra
Materia conftare putat, paribufque elementis ? ** O Demens ! ita. fervus homo eft* ? Juv%
This proud pretender to fiiperiority, this fneaking Have of 'courts, and tyrant of his houfehold, would monopolize not only all the luxuries of habitation, food, raiment, vehicles,
* Have fervants fouls ? — and are their bodies then Of the fame flefli and blood as gentlemen ? Plave fervants righi's of men to plead? O fine 'Tis madnefs thus to patronize the poor.
OF DESPOTISM. lOy
attendants, but all notice, all refpe^, all con- fideration. The world was made for him, and fuch as he, to take their pafbime in it. His family, his children, his houfe muft: all be kept from plebeian contamination. It is worth while to obferve the fences of his premifes, his high rails, gates, the walls before his houfe, the grim porter at his door, and the furly mafliif, taught to hunt down the poor man and the fir anger that fojourns near the magnificent palace of felfifh grandeur. The weli-barred portals, however, fly open at the approach of lords and dukes ; and he himfelf would lick the fhoes of a king or prime minifler, if fuch fliould, for the fake of fecuring the influence of his wealth in parliamient, condefcend to enter his maniion.
The ariftocratical infolence is vifible where one would leail expe£l it ; where all the par- takers of this frail and mortal fhate fliould appear in a flate of equality ; even at church, in the immediate prefence of Him who made high and low, rich and poor ; and where the gilded and painted ornaments on the walls ieem to mock the folly of all human pride. The pew of the great man is raifed above the others, though its elevation is an obflacle both to the eyes and ears of thofe who are placed in its vicinity. It is furniihed with curtains, adorned with hnings, and accommodated with cufhions. Servants walk in his train, open the door of his luxurious feat, and carry the burden of the prayer-book. The firlt rever-
io8
THE SPIRIT
ence is paid to pcrfons of condition around. Thofe who do not bow at the name of Jefus Chrift, bend with all lowlinefs to the lord in the gallery. The whole behaviour leads a thinking man to conclude, that the felf-itn- portant being would fcarcely deign to enter Heaven, any more than he does the church, if he mull be reduced to an equality with the ruilic vulgar.
Such perfons, confiilently^ v/ith their arbi- trary principles, are always high-churchrnen. Though they may be indifferent to religion, they are zealous far the church. They con- iider the church as ufeful, not only in pro- viding genteelly for relations and dependents, but as an engine to keep down the people. Upon the Iiead of their defpot, they would J^ut a triple covering, the cro^vn, the mitre, and the helmet. The Devil offered our Sa- viour all the kingdoms of this vv^orld and their glory, if he would fall dov/n and worihip him ; and there is reafon to fear, that fuch idolaters of the kingdoms of this world and their glory, would apoflatize from him who faid hh king- dom was not of this worlds if the fame evil being were to make them the fame offer. The temporpJities and fplendors of the church tri- umpliant endear it to them ; but, if it conti- nued in its primitive flate, or in the condition in which it vrcS V7h(;n poor fiHiermen were its bifhops, they would loon fide, in religious matters, with the wifcrecint philofophers of France. But while mitres and Oalls may be
OF DESPOTISM. lOO
made highly fubfervient to the views of a mi- nifler, and the promoters of arbitrary power and principles, they honor the church, though they know nothing of Chrift ; they flickle for the bench, though they abandon the creed. An ally, like the churchy poffeiTed of great power, mufl be cheriflied ; though the very perfons who wifh to avail themfelves of that power, would be the firft, if that power were in real danger, to queflion its rights, and to accelerate its fubverfion.
There is one circumflance in the conduft of the Tory friends to abfolute fway truly alarming to the champions of liberty. They are always inchned, on the fmallefl tumult, to call in the military. They would depreciate the civil powers, and break the conflable's flaff to intro- duce the bayonet. In their opinion, the bed executive powers of government are a party of dragoons. They are therefore conftantly found- ing alarms, and aggravating every petty dif- turbance into a riot or rebellion. They are not for parleying with the many-headed mon- fter; they fcorn lenient meafures ; and while their own perfons are in perfect fafety, boldly command the military to fire. What is the hfe or the limb of a poor man, in their opinion ? Not fo much as the life or limb of a favorite pointer or race-horfe. They are always eager to augment the army. They would build barracks in every part of the country, and be glad to fee a free country over-ruH, like fome of the enlla- ved nations of the continent, from eafltoweft,
L
no THE SPIRIT
from north to foutli, with men armed to ovet- awe the fancy advocates of charters, privileges, rights, and reformations.
Againfl principles fo dangerous in public life, and odious in private, every friend to his king and country, every lover of his fellow creatures, every competent judge of thofe manners^ which fweeten the intercourfe of man with man, will fhew a determined oppofition. But how ihall he fhew it with eiFe£l ? By RIDICULE. Nothing lowers the pride from which fuch principles proceed, fo much as ge- neral contempt and derifion. The infolence of petty defpots in private life iliould he laugh- ed at by an Ariftophanes, while it is rebuked by a Cato.
OF DESPOTISM. I 1 I
SECTION XIV.
The defpQtic Spirit inclined to avail itfelf of Spies ^ InfQrmers^ falfe Witnejjes^ pretended Coyif piracies^ and felf-interejied AJJociaiiQni affecting Patriotifm**
T is not unfair to infer the exiftence of fimilar principles from fnnilarity of condu6i:. In that black page of hiftory which difgrace^ human nature ; I mean the records of the Ro- man emperors, in the decline of Roman virtue ; we read, that fpies and informers were confi- dered as neceffary fun<5lionaries of government ; that they became favorites at court, and were encouraged by rewards due only to exemplary patriotifm and public fervice. There have been periods alfo in the hiftory of England, when fpies, informers, falfe witneiTes, and pre- tended plots, v/ere deemed lawful and ufeful expedients by the rulers of the ftate. In tefli- mony of this alTertion, we need only call to mind the pretended Popifh plot, with ail its
* * Suh Tlherlo Cafare ftiit accufandt frequens et pcsni ^ publ'tca rabies, qua omnl civili hello gravius togatam ci'vi-
* tatem confectt. Exc'ip'iebatur ^bkiokv m fcrmo, JimpIici/aS'
* jocANTiuM.' Seneca de Benef.
* Under 'Tiberius- Cafar, the rage of accufing or inform-
* ing IV as fo eommojiy as to harajs the peaceful citizens more
* than a civil ivar. The ivords of drunken men and the
* unguarded joke of the thoughtlefsj ^cere taken down, and '' handed is the Emperor.*
112 THE SPIRIT
villainous circumllances, in the reign of Charles the Second ; a reign in many parts of it refem- bling the times of the Roman Tiberius. But at whatever period fpies, informers, falfe wit- nefles, and pretended plots are adopted by men in power, to flrengthen themfelves in ofEce, and deflroy virtuous oppofition, there is reafon to fear, in fpite of all profeffions of the con- trary, that the tyrannic fpirit of the degenerate C^fars waits but for opportunities to difplay itfelf in a^ls of Neronian atrocity. Power is deficient ; but inclination is equally hoftile to the mafs of mankind, denominated the People, whom fome politicians fcarcely condefcend to acknowledge as poiTeiTed of any political exif- tence.
The employment of fpies and informers is a virtual declaration of hoflilities againft the people. It argues a w^ant of confidence in them. It argues a fear and jealoufy of them. It argues a defire to deftroy them by ambuf- cade. It is, in civil government, what ftrata- gems are in a ftate of war. It tends alfo to excite retaliation.
A miniftry mufl be fadly corrupt, and un- worthy the confidence either of king or people, which can fo far degrade itfelf as to require the afi^iflance of the vilell of the human race. Such are the whole race of fpies, fycophants^ (I ufe the word in its proper fenfe), informers, and falfe witnefles. So great is the unfortunate corruption of human nature, that men have been always found to execute the mod
OF DESPOTISM. 11^
infamous offices, when a government has thought proper to feek their co-operation. Extreme poverty, united with extreme profli- gacy of conduct, and a total deftitution of moral and religious principle, prepare men for the moil nefarious deeds which tyrants can meditate. For tyrants only, the robbers and murderers of men, be fuch mifcreants referved. Tacitus has called them instrumenta regni, the implements of government^ when government falls into hands which are Ikilled in the ufe of no better ; into the hands of Neros and Calr- gulas. May the minifler of a free country, who has recourfe to fuch tools, be himfelf the firfl to feel their deftroying ^^g<^ !
Seneca, in the quotation at the head of this fe6i:ion, has handed down a circumftance, in the reign of Tiberius, which mufl caufe every man, who has a juft regard for the comforts of free intercourfe an4 converfation, to fliudder at the profpe<5t of being governed by a fyftem fupported by fpies and informers. He tells us, that the convivial merriment of friends aflem- bled over a glafs, the innocent raillery and banter of jocular converfation, were, through the encouragement given to informers by the government, made the grounds of a ferious charge of fedition and treafon. The words of the drunken^ and the unguarded opennefs of the joker^ were taken hold of by perfons who mixed with the guefls, in order to recommend themfelves to government, by reporting the free language that might efcape in the hour
L2
114 THE SPIRIT
of unreferved confidence ; when -the heart k opened by friendfliip, and the tongue loofened by wine. '
He who dippeih with me in the dijh^ the fame
Jhall betray me^ faid our Saviour. But be it
remembered, that the fame perfons who hired
^nd paid Judas Ifcariot, crucified Jesus
Christ.
But what (hall we fay ? Have there been no Judas Ifcariots in modern days ? Have our cofFee-houfes, taverns, and places of pub» lie amufement, been quite free from hired wretches, who, while they dipped in the fame difh with us, were feeking to betray us, if pof^ fible, to prifons and to death ? Did they this wickednefs of themfelves, or were they hired and paid by perfons influenced by tory princi- ples or high in office ? Have not certain fpies' confeiTed, at a folemn .. trial, that they were hired and paid by men in office ? Have not the fame fpies led to thofe extravagant fpeeches, or thofe oifenfive meafures, which they afterr wards informed againft for hire ; hoping to deprive the perfons they betrayed either of liberty or life ? If fuch things have been, is it not time to be alarmed, to guard againfl fpies, informers, and falfe witneiTes ? And is Jt not right to exprefs, and increafe, if poffible, the public indignation againfl both them and their employers ?
When men high in office, of reputed abili* ties, and certainly poiTeffing extenfive knov/« Jedge, patronize fucb jp^ifcrc^U as fpies aind
OF DESPOTISM. I I5
informers, tliey certainly corrupt the public morals, by leading the people, over whom their examples mufh always have great influence, to believe, that treachery, perjury, and mur- der are crimes of a venial nature. They teach m-en to carry/the profligacy of public charafters and condu4 into the fequeftered walks of pri» vate life. They teach one of the moft cor- rupting maxims ; for they teach, " That when ends eagerly defired by knaves in power arc to be accomplilhed, the means mufl be pur- fued, however bafe and dilhoneft." They deflroy at once the confidential comforts and the mofl valuable virtues of private life.
But flate-necelTity is urged in defence of that policy which employs fpies and informers. I deny the exiflence of fuch neceffity. There are excellent laws, and there are magiilrates and officers difperfed all over the kingdom, who are bound to take cognizance of any illegal and injurious practices, and to prevent them by a timely interference. If fuch. magiftrates and officers negle£l: their duty, it is incumbent on thofe who appointed them, and who are amply paid for their vigilance, to inilitute profecutions, to puniih and to remove them^ The law knows nothing of fpies and informers. Theonly watchmen it recognizes are magiilrates, regularly appointed. The whole body of a people, well governed, and confequently con- tented with their governors, are the natural and voluntary guardians againfl feditions, trear fpns, and confpiracies to fubvert the ilate.
I 1 6 . THE SPIRIT
When fpies and informers are called in, it argues a diilrufl of the magiftrates, and of the whole body of the people. It argues an en- deavor to govern in a manner unauthorized by that conftitution which the employers of fpies and informers pretend to prote<n:, by inflru- ments fo dangerous and unjuftifiable.
I have a better opinion of men in power, iff our times, corrupting as the poiTeilion of power is allowed to be, than to believe that any of them would hire a falfe witnefs. But let them be affured, that a hired fpy and informer will, by an eafy tranfition, become a falfe witnefs, even in trials where liberty and life are at fi:ake. In trials of lefs confequence, there is no doubt but that his confcience willftretch with the occafion. His objeci: is not truth or juftice ; but filthy lucre ; and when he afpires at great rewards, great muft be his venture. Having once bro« ken down, as a treacherous fpy, the fences of honor and confcience, nothing but fear will reftrain him, as a witnefs, from overleaping the bounds of truth, juftice, and mercy. He will rob and murder under the forms of law ; and add to the atrocity of blood-guiltinefs, the crime of perjury. No man is fafe, where fuch men are countenanced by officers of ftate. They themfelves may perilh by his falfe tongue ; fuffering the vengeance due to their bafe encou- ragement of a traitor to the public, by falling unpitied victims to his difappointed treachery. The peftilential breath of fpies and informers is not to be endured in the pure healthy atmo-
OF DESPOTISM. I'l'^
fphere of a free (late. It brings with it the fickly defpotifm of oriental climes.
But how ominous to liberty, if large affoci- ations of rich men, either pofTeffing or expeft- ing places, penfions, and titles for themfelves or their relations, ihould ever talie upon them the office of fpying and informing! by their numbers braving the lliame, and evading the perfonal refponfibility, that would fall on an individual or unconne£ted fpy or informer ! Such an affociation would be a mofl dangerous confpiracy of fycophants againfl a free conllitu- tion. If the public ihould ever behold the venal tribe thus undermining the fair fabric of liberty, and behold them without indigna- tion, would it not give reafon to fufpeft, that the Tory and Jacobite principles, or the fpirit of defpotifm, had pervaded the body of the people ?
The honefl:, independent^ and thinking part of the community will be juftly alarmed, when they fee either individuals or bodies of men en- couraged by miniflerial favors, in calumniating the people, and falfely accufmg the advocates of conflitutional freedom. They will think it time to ftem the torrent of corruption, which, rolling down its foul but impetuous tide from the hills, threatens devaftation to the cottages in the valley. But how ihall they flop an evil, promoted and encouraged, for private and felf- iih motives, by the whole influence of grandeur and opulence acting in combination ? By bear- ing their teftimony in favor of truth and juftice j, by giving their fuffrages to honed men ; by
115 THE SPIRIT
rejecting the fervile adulator of courts, and the mean fycophant of minifters : and by iliun- ning as pellilences every defcription of /pies and informers^ whether poor or rich^ mercenary or volunteer"^. If they fail, they will feel the comfort of having difcharged their duty^
* I fubjoin a curious pafTage from the 14th book of Ammianus Marcellinus, on the manner in which fpies executed their office, under the imperial authority of Conftantius Gallus.
* Excogitatum eji fuper h'tSy ut homines qu'idam ignotiy VILITATE IPSA parum cavendi, ad coUigendos rumoru per Antiochi£ latera cunSia dejl'inarentur, relaiurl que audi' rent. Hi peragranter et diljimulanter honofatorum etrculis qffi/iendof pern.) adendo que di'vitum domus egentium. habltUy quicquld nofcere poterant vel audire, latent er intromilJi per p o s T I c A s in regianiy nuntiahant : id obfervantes confpiru' tione concordi, ut jingerent quadam, et cognita duplicarent in pejus: laudes vero supprimerext C^saris, quo4 iNViTis QUAMPLURiMis, formido malorum impendentium exprimebaf.^
* Another expedient ivas, to place at every corner of tht city certain obfcure perfcns, not likely to excite fufpicion or caution, becaufe of their apparent infignijicancy, fvoho ivert
Ho repeat nvhate'ver 'they heard. Thefe perfons, by jlanding
near gentlemen, or getting entrance into the houfes of ths
rich, in the difguife of poverty, reported luhatever they
faiu or heard, at court, being privately admitted into the
palace by the back stairs: having concerted it betiveen
themfelves to add a great deal, from their own invention,
to luhatever they really fatv or heard, and to male the
matter ten times nvorfe. They agreed alfo to fupprefs the
mention of thofe loyal songs or toasts, or) fpeeches,
in favor of the emperor, luhich the dread of impending evil
f queened out of many agdinfl their 'will a7id better judgment.*
The decline of the Roman empire was diftinguifhed by
fpies and informers : it is to be hoped that the ufe of fpies^
und informers does not. portend the decliae of the Britifl\
•mpire.
OF DESPOTISM, I I
SECTION XV.
The Manners of Tory Courtiers^ and of thofe
who ape them^ as People of Fajhion^ incon-
fiftent with Manlinefs^ Truths and Honejiy ;
and their Prevalence injurious to a free Con-
flitutioUy and the Happinefs of Hu?nan Na^
ture.
MONG a thoufand anecdotes of the frivolity of the governing part of a defpotic country, I fele^ the following, merely as a flight fpecimen of the trifling difpofition of thofe who, as they pretend, claim their elevated fituations for the good of mankind.
'In the fummer of the year 1775, the queen ^ of France, being dreflfed in a light-brown ' filk, the king good-naturedly obferved, it was
* couleur de puce^ the color of fleas ; and in-
* ftantly every lady in the land was uneafy till
* flie had dreflfed herfelf in a filk gown of a flea
* color. The rage was caught by the men ;
* and the dyers worked night and day, without
* being able to fupply the demand for flea- color.
* They nicely diftinguiflied between an old
* and a young flea, and fubdivided even the
* ihades of its body. The belly, the back, the
* thigh, the head, were all marked by varying
* tints. This prevailing color promifed to be
* the fafliion of the v/inter. The filk-mercers "* ibund it would hurt their trade. They there-
I20\ THE SPIRIT
* fore prefented her majefly with patterns of new
* fattins ; who having chofen one. Monsieur ^ exclaimed, it was the color of her majefty*^
* HAIR !
* Immediately xht fleas ceafed to be favorites
* at court, and all were eager to be dreiTed in ' the color of her majefty's hair. Servants ' were fent off at the moment from Fontain-
* bleu to Paris, to purchafe velvets, ratteens,
* and cloths of this color. The current price ^ of an ell in the morning had been forty livres, ' and it rofe in the evening to eighty and ninety.
* The demand was fo great, and the anxiety
* To eager, that fome of her majefty's hair was ^ a£lually obtained by bribery, and fent to the
* Gobelins, to Lyons, and other manufaftories,
* that the exa6l ihade might be caught and re- ^ ligioully preferved."
' Such was the little, mean, adulatory fpirit of the court of France, and of the people v^ho at that time imitated the court with more than apifh mimicry. To fhew how little there is of tru^h and honefly in fuch fervility, be it remem- bered, that the nation fo eager to catch the very color of the queen's hair, foon afterwards cut off the head on which it grew. Nothing- filly, nothing overftrained, can be lafting, be- caufe it wants a folid foundation. Let kings be careful how they confide in court compli- ments and the addreffes of corruption. Maftiffs guard their mafter and his houfe better than fpaniels.
OF DESPOTISM. 121
While fuch a fpirit prevails among the great, it is impofTible that the happinefs of man can be duly regarded by thofe who claim a right to govern him. Where frivolity and meannefs are general, it is impolTible that the people can be wife or happy. Gaiety founded on levity or aife^lation, is not happinefs. It laughs and talks, while the heart is either unmoved or deje£ted. Happinefs is ferious. The noife of folly is intended to diifipate thought ; but no man would wiih his thoughts to be dif- fipated, who finds any thing within him to think of with complacency.
Princes have always fomethlng important to think of, which, it might be fuppofed, would preclude the neceffity of trifling amufements to kill time. Yet courts have always been re- markable for frivolity. This frivolity is not only contemptible in itfelf, unworthy of rational beings, efpecially when executing a moil mo- mentous truft, but produci:ive of meannefs, weaknefs, and corruption. Long experience has alTociated with the idea of a courtier in defpotic courts, duplicity, infincerity, violation of promifes, adulation, all the bafe and mean qualities, rendered flill bafer and meaner, by alTuming, on public occafions, the varnifli of hypocrify.
Erafmus gives diredlions to a young man, in the manner of Swift, how to condu6i: himfelf at court. I believe they never have been prefented to the Engiifli reader, and therefore
M
122 THE SPIRIT
I fliall take the liberty of traRilating them, not only for the fake of affording amufement, but "^at it may be dulyconfidered, whether or not perfons who form their manners and principles after fuch models, are hkely to be the friends of man, the affertors of the guardians of liberty : whether the flaves of fajhion^ who feem to fe- parate themfelves from others, as if they were a chofen tribe among the fons of men ; as if they were made of fuch clay as forms, the pot^ celain, while others are merely earthen ware ; whether, I fay, the flaves oi fajhkn^ which always apes a court in all its extravagancies, are likely to confult the happinefs of the mxajo- rity of mankind, the middle, loweff, and mofl ufeful clalTes, whom they defpife, as an inferior fpecies of beings ; as the whites in the Weft Indies formerly looked down upon the negroes with diixlain.
" As you are now going to live at court," fays Erafmus, " I advife you, in the firil place, never to repofe the fmalleft degree of confidence in any man there wiio profeiTes himfelf your fi'iend, though he may fmile upon you, an'd embrace you, and promife you ; aye, and con- firm liis promife with an oath. Believe no man there a fin cere friend to you ; and do you i take care to be a fmcere friend to no man— ^ Neverthelefs, you muft pretend to love all you i fee, and fliew the utm_oll fuavity of manners and attentions to every individual. Thefe at- • tentions coft you not a farthing ; therefore you i may be as lavifli of them as you pleafe. Pay /
OF DESPOTISM. I 23
your falutations with the foftefl: fmiles on your countenance, iliake hands with the appearance of moil ardent cordiality, bow and give way to all, (land cap in hand, addrefs every body by their titles of honor, praife without bounds, and promife moil liberally.
" I would have you every morning, before you go to the levee, praftife in making up your face for the day at your looking-glafs at home, that it may be ready to alTume any part in the farce, and that no glimpfe of your real thoughts and feelings may appear. You mull fludy your geflures carefully at home, that in the aAing of the day your countenance, perfon, and conver- fation may all correfpond, and aflifl each other in keeping up your character at the court maf- querade.
" Thefe are the elements of the courtier's phiiofophy, in learning which, no man can be an apt fcholar, unlefs he firfl of all diveils him- felf of all fenfe of fhame ; and leaving his na- tural face at home, puts on a vizor, and wears it conflantly too. In the next place, get fcent of the various cabals and parties of the court ; but be not in a hurry to attach yourfelf to any of them, till you have duly reconnoitred. When you have found out who is the king's favorite, you have your cue ; mind to keep on tlielafe fide of the veilel. If the kind's favor- itebe a downright fool, you raufl not fcruple to flatter him, fo long as he is in favor with th^ god of jour idolatry.
1^4 "^^^E SPIRIT
. " The god himfelf, to be fure, will reqiiiri ftie main efTorts of your llvill. As often as yoii bpcppen to be in the presence, you rauft exhibit a face of apparently honed delight, as if you were tranfported with the privilege of being fo near the royal per/on. When once you have obferved what he likes and diilikes, your bufinefs is done."
He proceeds to advife his pupil to j)urfue his .own interefl, reeardlefs of all honor and ho-- EeiLY, whenever they may be violated without deteclion. He tells him, in confultingr his in- terciL, to pay more court to enejiiks than friends, that he may turn their hearts, and bring them over to his fide. I cannot, in this place, give tlie whole of the letter; but the curious reader may find it under number fifty-feven, in the twenty-eighth book of tb^e London edition.
Erafmus drew from the life. Though a moft profound fcholar, yet he was not merely a /cholar. He read the book of the world with as much accuracy as the volumes of his library. I have brought forward this letter, becauTe I find it exemplified in the Precepts of Lord Chef- terfield, and the Diary of Lord Melcombe. It appears, under the teftimony of their own hands, that thefe men actually were the cha- racters which Erafmus, in a vein of irony and farcafm, advifes his court-pupil to become. It appears from them, that many of the perfons, with whom they acted, were fimilar. It fol- lows that, if fuch men were great, wife, ani
* 0]F DESPOTISM. r^^
good men, truth, honor, fmcerity, friendfliip, and patriotifm are but empty names, devifed ty politicians to amufe and delude a fubjecl. and an abje£i: people.
But the people (I mean not a venal mob, employed by a minifler or by a faction) are not fo corrupted. They value truth, honor, lincerlty, and patriotifm ; and in their conduct often difplay them in their utmoll purity. Shall courtiers, then, be liftened to, when they repre- fent the people as the fwinifh multitude, or as venal wretches ? Shall courtiers, fuch as Lord Melcombe, claim an exclufive right to direct human affairs I influencing fenates to make and unmake laws at pleafure, and to cry havocy. "^yhen they pleafe, and let flip the dogs of war pa the poor^ either at home or abroad ?. Shall a whole nation be proud to mimic a court, not ©nly in drefs, amufements, and all the vanity Qi[ fafliion, but in fentimxnts, in morals, hx'. politics, in religion, iu: no. religion, in hypo^- crify, in cruelty?
Lord Melcombe and Lord Clieflierfleld v/ere: leading men, able men, eloquent m.en, confl-- dered in their day as ornaments of the court and of the nation.. But if even they exhibit both precepts and examples of extreme feliifli- nefs, of deceit, and of a total difregard to human happinefs, what may we think of their numerous dependents, . under-agents, perfofis attached to them by places, penfions, ribbands, . titles, expecting favors for themfelves, or their ruitural children, or their coufins?. Caii W€:
' M 2..
126 THE SPIRIT
fuppofe thefe men to retain any regard for the PUBLIC? Would they make any facriiice to the general happinefs of human nature ? Would they aflert liberty, or undergo trouble, lofs, periecution, in defence of a conftitution ? They themfelves would laugh at you, if you fhould fuppofe it pofTible. They can be confidered in no other light than as vermin, fucking the blood of the people whom they defpife, . , ;:: Yet thefe, and fuch as thefe, are the mt^ who are indefatigable in declaiming againfl the people, talking of the mifchiefs of popular government, and the danger of admitting the rights of man. Thefe, and fuch as thefe, are the ftrenuous oppofers of all reform in the reprefentation. Thefe, and fuch as thefe, call all attempts at innovations, though evidently improvements, feditious. Thefe are the alarm- iils, who cry out, the church or the flate is in danger, in order to perfecute honefl men, or to introduce the military. The military is their delight, their fortrcfs ; and to compafs their own bafe ends, they will not hefitate to bathe their arms in human blood, even up to their very fhoulders. Their whole obje£l is to ag- grandize a POWER, of which they pant to par- ticipate, and from which alone, deftitute as they are of merit and goodnefs, they can hope for lucre and the difiinctions of vanity.
" Where the ruling mifchief," fays the author of the Eftimate, " prevails among the great, then even the palliative remedies cannot eafily be applied, 'i lie reaion h manifefl: : a
OF DESPOTISM. 1 27
^coercive power is wanting. They who fhould ocure the evil, are the very delinquents ; and oitioral and political phyfic no diflempered mind will ever adminifter to itfelf.
" Neceffity therefore, and neceflity alone, mnfl: in fuch a cafe be the parent of reforma- tion. So long as degenerate and unprincipled manners can fupport themfelves, they will be deaf to reafon, blind to confequences, and obflinate in the long-eflabliflied purfuit of GAIN and PLEASURE. In such minds, the
IDEA OF A PUBLIC HAS NO PLACE. Nor Can
fuch minds be ever awakened from their fatal dream, till either the voice of an abused people roufe them into fear, or the ftate itfelf totter, through the general incapacity, cowardice, and difunion of thofe who fupport it.
'^ Whenever, this compelling power, Ne- ceffity, ihall appear, then, and not till then, may we hope that our deliverance is at hand. Effeminacy, rapacity, and fadion, will then be ready to refign the reins they would now ufurp. One comm.on danger, would create one common intereil. Virtue may rife on the ruins of corruption.
" One kind of necessity, and which I call an internal necessity, vv^ouid arife, when the voice of an abufed people ihould roufe th€
GREAT into FEAR.
" I am not ignorant, that it hatli been a point of debate, whether, in political mat- ters, THE GENERAL VOICE O? A PEOPLE
ilS .^HE SPIRIT'
OUGHT to be held \vorth much regard ? Right forry I am to obferve, that this doubt is the growth of later times; of times, too, which boafl their love of freedom; but ought, furely, to bluih, when they look back on the generous fentiments of ancient days, which days we ftigmatize with the name of JJa-viJJj.
" Thus runs the writ of fummons to the parliament of the 23d of Edward the Firfl : — ^he King, to the venerable father in Chr'i/i R. Archhijhop of Canterbury, greeting : As the Tuofi juft law, eJiabliJJoed by the provident wif- doni of princes', doth appoint, that what con-^ cerns all, fhould be approved by all ; fo it evidently implies, that dangers common to all^ fhould be obviated by remedies provided by alL Ut quod OMNES tangit, ab omnibus appro- betur; — fic et innuit evidenter, ut communis Bvs^ periculis per remedia provifa communiter obvietur, A noble acknowledgement from an Englifn king, which ought never, fure, to be forgotten, or trodden under foot, by Englijfti fubjecls.
'' There are two manifeft reafons why, in a degenerate fiafe, zndi a declining period, thq united voice of a people is, in general, thg- fureft teft of truth in all eifential matters on which their own welfare depends-, fo far as the ends of political meafures are concerned.
" Firfi, Becaufe in fuch a period, and fuch a ftate, the body of a people are naturally the leaft corrupt part of fuch a people : for all general corruptions, of whatever kiudj begi^
OF DESPOTISM* 129
atnoTig the leaders, and defcend from tliefe to the lower ranks. Take fuch a ftate, therefore, ill what period of degeneracy you pleafe, the higher rraiks will, in the natural courfe of things, be farther gone in the ruling evils than the lowers and therefore the less to
BE RELIED ON.
" Secondly^ A flill more cogent reafon is, that the general body of the people have not fuch a bias hung upon their judgment by the prevalence of perfonal and particular intereft, as the GREAT, in all things which relate to ftate matters. It is oino pai'tipdr dindi perfonal confequence to the general body of a people, what men are employed, provided the general welfare be accompliihed ; becaufe nothing but the general v/elfare can be an obje£i: of deiire to the general body* But it is of much parti- cular and perfonal confequence to the great, wdiat 772^?? are employed) becaufe, through their connexions and alliances, they mull generally find either their friends or enemies in power. Their own private intereds, therefore, natu- rally throw a bias on their judgments, and deftroy that impartiality which the general body of an uncorrupt people doth naturally poflefs.
" Hence, then, it appears, that the united voice of an uncorrupt people is, in general, the fafefl: tefh of political good and evil."
Is it not then time to be alarmed for the public good, when great pains are taken to depreciate the people ; when the names of Ja-
130 THE SPIRIT
cobin, democrat, leveller, traitor, and mover of fedition, are artfully thrown, by courtiers and their adherents, on every man who has fenfe and virtue enough to maintain the caufe of liberty; that caufe, which eflabliihed the revolution on the ruins of defpotifm, and pla- ced the prefent family on the throne, as the guardians of a free conflitution ? I cannot think fuch courtiers, however they may fawn, for their own. intereft, on the perfon of the monarch, friends, in their hearts, to a Hmited monarchy. If they could and dared, they would reflore a Stuart. But as that is imprac- ticable, they would transfufe the principles of the Stuarts into the bofom of a Brunfwick. Tp expofe their feliiih meannefs, and fruflrate their bafe defign, is equally the duty and intereft o^ the king and the people.
OF DESPOTISM. 13!
SECTION XVI.
The Spirit of Truths Liberty^ and Virtue^ public as well as private^ chiefly to be found in the middle ranks of the people.
Nemo altero nobilior, nifi cui redlius ingenium et artibus bonis aptius. Qui imagines in atrio exponunt et nomina familias fuss. . . . . Noti magis quam nohiles funt » . . . Di- cenda haec fuerunt ad contundendam injolentiam hominum ex fortuna pendentium.* Seneca de BencfP^^
X HE people of this land are ufually divided into nobility, gentry, and commonalty. The nobility and gentry feem to be eflimated as officers in an army ; the commonalty, or the whole body of the people, as the rank and file.
There might be no original impropriety in thefe appellations ; but that of commonalty has been often ufed, by ariftocratical upftarts, with infolence. The commonalty comprize the grand mafs of the nation ; form the great fabric of the poHtical building ; while the gentry, after all, are but the carving and gilding, or the
* " No man is nobler born than another, unlefs he zV born nu'ith letter abilities and a more amialle difpojition. They nvho wMhe fuch a parade nvith their family pictures and pedi- grees, are, properly fpeaking, rather to be called noted or NOTORIOUS than noble pei-fons. I thought it right to fay thus much, in order to repel the infolence cf men who depend entirely upon chance and accidental ctrcurnjiances for difiinC' ■tion, and not at all on public fervices and perfonal merit.
132 THE SPIRIT
capitals of the pillars, that add to the fupport of the roof, but conllitute neither the walls : nor the foundation. The commonalty, there- fore, being the main fabric, are worthy, in the eye of reafon, of the higheft efteem, and the firfl degree of a patriot's foHcitade. There can be no rational end in our government but the happinefs of the v/hole People, King,' Lords, and Commons. :
The commonalty are, beyond all comparifon,; the mofl numerous order : and as every indi-. vidual of them is entitled to comfort and fecu-i rity in a well regulated nation, the whole to- gether mufl demand the greateft attention of the philofopher, the divine, the philanthropift,. of every man of fenfe, goodnefs of heart, and; liberality. The pomp and parade, the fuper^ fluous luxury, the vain diflinftions of the few, fmk to nothing, compared, in the mind of rea- fonable and humane men, with the happinefs of the jniUion*
? It is certainly true, that the greateft inflan- C€s of virtue and excellence of every kind have originated in the middle order. 'Give me neither poverty nor riches,' was a prayer founded on a knowledge of human nature, and fully juflified by experience. The middle ftation aitords the befl opportunities for im- provement of mind, is the leall expofed to temptation, and the mofl capable of happinefs and virtue.
This opinion has long been received and acknowledged. I could cite, from the fermons
OF DESPOTISM. I 33.
of our bed divines on Jgur's Prayer^ iminj paffagej in confirmation of it, I dwell upon it now, for no other reafon, but becaufe it has lately been the failiion, among thofe who arc alarmed for their privileges by the French revo- lution, to run down the people, and to cry up that filly fpirit of chivalry which eftablillied the fyflems of falfe honor, claiming rank and refped from fociety, without rendering it any fervice, without poireiTmg any juft claim to efteem, much lefs to public honor, exclufive privileges, and titular diftinftion. The terms fans culottes^ canaille^ hourgeoife^ fcum of the earth, venal wretches^ and the never to be ior gotten fwinijh multitude^ have been referved for the people, efpecially thofe among them who have had fenfe and fpirit enough per- fonally to oppofe the progrefs of defpotic prin- ciples and pra^ices. Every thing that malice^ urged by the fear of lofmg the ribands, the titles, and the folid pence which a corrupt and corrupting minifler can beftow, has been thrown out, in newfpapers hired by the people's money for the purpofe of vilifying the people.
It is time, therefore, that the people ihould vindicate their honor. What are thefe iilfolent courtiers, what thefe placemen and peniioners, who live on the public bounty, that they fliould thus infult thofe whofe bread they eat ? For the mofl part, they are perfons who, if they were ftripped of the falfe fplendor of great man- fions, numerous retinues, painted carriages^ would appear among the meaneil and moft def*-
N
1^4 '^^^ SPIRIT
picable members of fociety. They indeed kre> to be pitied and borne with, while they abftaini from iufuhing the people ; but when their filly pride prefumes to trample on the mafs of the community, they become deferving of contempt: as well as commiferation.
Thefe are the perfons whom a patriotic Lord; defcribes " as giving themfelves up to the pur- fuit of honors and dignities, as loving the- SPLENDOR OF A COURT, and attaching them-? felves to the caufe of monarchy, (not from any. convii^ion that monarchy is the moil: favorable to human , hap pinefs, not even from perfonal attachment to the monarch,) but becaufe they fee in the increafed power of the monarch the fburce of additional weight and splendor to thofe (that is, themfelves) who furround the throne, and an increafe of value to the favors which the fovereign can confer ; fuch as flats, garters, ribands, and titles." hl ;.'
But is a pafiion, childifii from its vanity, and diabolic?.! in its unfeeling greedinefs, to be borne with ^ny: , longer, when, not content with engroffing the profits of office and the pageantry of flate, it dares to fpcak of the mid- dle and lower clafles, as beings fcarcely deferv- ing notice, as mere nu'ifances when not employ- ed in the ferviie office of adminiflering to ariito- cratic pridv^.
^Virtue J$, npbility* . • Perfonal merit, ufeful^ generous, benevolent exertion, the only honor- able difl:in(Stion. The trappings which every tavlor can make to clothe a poor puny mortal,
OF DESPOTISM. I 3^
add no real dignity. In ages of ignorance,, they might llrike with awe. Thofe ages are no more. Nor will they ever return, notwith- itanding the eiForts of petty dcfpots, (fearing the lofs of thofe diilinftions which they know they never earned), to keep the people in the groifeil ignorance.
God Almighty, who gives his fun to fliine with as much warmth and radiance on the cot- tag:e as on the palace, has difpenfed the glorious privilege of genius and virtue to the poor and middle claiTes^ with a bounty perhaps feldom experienced in any of the proud pretenders to hereditary or official grandeur. Let us call to mind a few among the worthies who have adorned the ages that have elapfed : Socrates ; was he noble in the fenfe of a kino- at arms ? Would he have condefcended to be bedizened, with ribands, and ftars, and garters? Cicero; was he not a tiovus homo? a man unconnedled with patricians, and deriving his glory from the purcfl fountain of honor, his own genius and virtue ? Demoilihenes would have fcorned to owx his eftimation to a pedigree.
Who jv^are: the great reformers, to whom j S7e. of England and all Europe are indebted for I emancipa.tion from the chains of fuperilition ? I Erasmus and Luther ; Erafmus, as the j monks of his day objefied to him, laid the ^gg^ \ and Luther hatched it. But was it Archbiiliop i Erafmus ? Lord I^uther, PVlarquis Luther, Sir I .Martm Luther? Did they, either of them, feek
1^6 THE SPIRIT
the favor of courts ? Were they not amofig the j'winifid multitude ?
Thomas Faine contributed much^ by his CGfiimon Senfey to the happy revolution in Ame- rica. I need not obferve, that he had nothing J •of the luftre of courts or nobility to recommend him. The virulent malice of courtiers and >enal fcribblers has blackened him as they once( blackened Luther, v/hen they aflerted of him, that he was actually a de'vil incarnate ^ difguifed in the iliape of a inonk v/itli a cowl. I do vm.^\ advert to any of his fubfequent publications. I only fay, if they are fo contemptible as theyr ^e faid by courtiers and ariflocrats to be, whyi not undertake the eafy talk of refuting him \ Bloody wars and profecutions are no refu- tation.
" Who is this Luther V^ (faid Margaret,, governefs of the Netherlands.) The courtiers; around her replied, " ?Ie is an illiteratSi :M0NK.'* " Is he fo ? (faid file.) I am glad^ to hear it. Then do you, gentlemen, who are not illiterate, who are both learned and numerous, do you, I charge you, write againfl: this illiterate mo7ik. That is all you have to do. The bulinefs is eafy ; for the world will furely pay more regard to a great many fch^A larsy and great men, as you are, than to orief poor illiterate monk*^ '^
Many did write againfl him, and pouraij forth the virulence of a malice unchecked l^ truth, and encouraged by crowned heads.
OF DESPOTISM. l^J
^Bat Lutker pvevrnhdy and we Engliflimeii have reafon to celebrate the victory of truth and ^.jfktae over corrupt influence and cruel per- secution..
The greatefl fcholars, poets^ orators, phi-
lofophers, warriors, flatefmen, inventors and
. improvers of the arts, arofe from the loweil of
.^e people. If we had waited till Gourtie;rs
Had invented the art of printing, clock-making,
f-,navigation, and a thoufand others, we fliould
probably have continued in darknefs to thiB
hour. They had fom.ething elfe to doiy than ta
,add to the comforts and conveniencies of or-
.^dinary life. They had to^ woriliip an idol,.
•;*^ith . the ineenfe of flattery, who: v/as oftea
much more flupid than themfelves, and ^yho
ibm^times had no more care or knowledge of
jthe people under him,- or their v^ants, than he
' had of arts or Hterature-
The education of the middle elalTes is iiifi^ if^nit^ly better than tjie education of thofe wlio^ .^are called great people. Their time is lefs. 'confumedby that vanity and diiGpation which enfeebles the mind, v/hile it precludes oppor- tanity for reading and refle^lion. They ufually i^ilave a regard to chara^er^ which contributes ! much to the prefervation of virtue. Their Uhpnor and integrity are valued, by them, as> i pearls oF great price. Thefe are their fliars,. ! and thefe their coronets. They are for the: i moil part attached to their religion. They are temperate, frugal, and induftrious. In one; particular, and that one adds,a value, above aiB
^f^iS THE SPIRIT
that courts can give, they greatly excel the GREAT, and that particular is sincerity. They are in earneft in their words and deeds. They have little occafion for fimulation and diflimulation. Courtiers are too often varniflied, factitious perfons, whom God and nature neve? made ; while the people preferve the image unefFaced, which the Supreme Being impref- fed when be cerated man.
GF DESPOTISM.
SECTION XVII.
139
On debauching the Minds of the rijing Genera- tion and a whole People^ by giving them Military Notions in a free and commercial Country*
xN proportion as great men refufe to fubmit to reafon, they are inclined to govern by violence. They who have the fword in their hands, are unwilling to wait for the flow ope- ration of argument. The fword cuts away all oppofition. No troublefome contradi£lion, no unwelcome truth, will impede the progrefs of him who ufes the ratio ultima regum^ and mows down all obilacles with the fcythed car.
Hence the abettors of high prerogative, of abfolute monarchy, and ariflocratical pride, always delight in war. Not fatisfied with at- tacking foreign nations, and keeping up a {land- ing army even in time of peace, they wiiii, after they have once corrupted the mafs of the peo- ple by univerfal influence, to render a whole nation military. The aggregate of military force, however great, being under their entire direction, they feel their power infinitely aug- mented, and bid defiance to the unarmed phi- lofopher and politician, who brings into the field truth without a fpear, and argument un- backed with artillery.
I2|.0 THE SPIRIT^ ■:
But fuch a fyftem tends to gothieize a natio% to extinguifh the light of learning and philofo- phy, and once more to raifc thick fogs from the putrid pools of ignorance and fuperflition, the bane of all happinefs, but the very elemeiat of defpotifm.
The diffufion of a military talle among all ranks, even the lowefi: of the people, tends to a general corruption of morals, by teaching habits of idlenefs, or trifling activity, and jthe vanity of guady drefs and empty parade. >ff(
The drift difcipline which is found iJeefeiTar^f to render an army a machine in the hands of its direftors, requiring, under the feverdl pe- nalties, the moil implicit fubmiilion to abfolute command, has a direft tendency to familiarise the mind to civil defpotifm. Men, rational^ thinking animals, equal to thei-r commanders by nature, and often fuperior^ :are bound to obejr the impulfe of a conilituted authority, and to perform their functions as mechanically as the trigger which they pull to difcharge their muft- kets. They cannot, indeed help having, a will of their own : but they muil fupprefs it) or die. They mull confider their official fu» periors as fuperiors in wifdom and in virtue, even though they know them to be weak and vicious. They mufl fee, if they fee at ail, with the eyes of others ; their duty is not to have an opinion of their own, but to follow blindly the beheft of him who has had interefl enough to obtaia the appointisient of a leader*.
OF DESPOTISM. -14,1
They become living automatons, and feif-a£ling tools of defpotifm.
While a few only are in this condition, the danger may not be great to conflitutional liberty; but when a majority of the people are made foldiers, it is evident that the fame obfequioufnefs will become habitual ta the majority of the people. Their minds will be broken down to the yoke, the energy of inde- pendence weakened, the manly fpirit tamed; like adn;als tli;;t once ranged in the fojeft, delighting in their liberty, and fearlefs of man, caught in fnares, confined in cages, and tauglit to fland upon their hind legs, and play tricks for the entertainment of the idle. They obey the word of command given by the keeper of the menagerie^ becaufe they have been taught obedience by hunger, by the laih of the whip* by every mode of difcipline confiftent with their lives, which are faleahle property. But they are degenerate, contemptible animals. Com- pare a bird or a bead:, thus broken down, with one of the fame fpegies flying in clear expanfe of air, or roaming in the forefl. Their very looks fpeak their degradation. The difcipline of Mr. Aft ley caufes the fiery fteed to bend his knees in apparent fuppHcation, But ho^^*^ are the mighty fallen ! when the animal has broken from his obedience to nature, to fail down proilrate before Mr. Aflley, (
Suppofe a whole nation, thus tamed^ and taught fubmilTion to the command of one of Aeir own fpecies. Be it i:^membered, the
142 TliE SPIRIT
horfe, in learning unnatural tricksy fubmits to one of another fpecies, who is naturally his fuperior. But fuppofe a whole nation, or aj^j. . lead the mafs of the common people thus broken ■ in by a ildlful rider. Will they not lofe all energy ? Will they dare, I do not fay to fpeak, but to think of liberty ? No ; they will fmk to the rank of German mercenaries let out for ' hire, claiming no rights, enjoying no privileges above the swine ; a (late of degradation at which the fpirit of ?nan^ unfpoiled -by defpotic, government, revolts ; and rather than fall intO: , which, every true Englifhman, from the palace to the hovel of the itinerant beggar, will be ready to exclaim, in the language of the fcrip- tures, " Why died I not from the womb ?''
Is it laot time, then,' for the virtuous guar- dians of Heaven's bed: -gift. Liberty, to be alarmed, when they fee a propenfity in minifters, who have gained enormous power and corrupt influence, to render a whole ipcoiAc military ^^ The gold chain of corruption is thus let down and ramified, in a million of directions, among thofe w^ho never thous^ht of courts or courtiers ; but enjoying a noble independence, the inde- pendence of honell induftry, chaunted their carols at the plough and the loom, glorying in the name of Engliflimen,' becaufe England is free ; Ttnd delighting in peace, becaufe peace is the parent of plenty.
But, under the aufpices of fuch a miniftry, many an emulous efquire, hoping to be diftin- guillied and rewarded, in fome mode or other,
OF DESPOTISM. 1 43
by court ^^.y or s^ fond of the drefs and name of a CAPTAIN, and the privilege of cotnmanding with abfolute fway, bribes volunteers from behind the counter and the plough. He clothes them in the iineft frippery that his own or his lady^s imagination can invent. He himfelf parades at their head ; a very pretty light on a fummer's day. And now he is diftinguifhed as a SOLDIER, who before only figtired as al hunter of hares or foxes, and a profecutor of poachers. Ambition, as well as vanity, begins to fire his foul. The raifing of fo many men in his neighborhood muft pleafe the minifter ; efpecially if the efquire ufes the iniiuence he gains over the vicinity, in a proper vcizxm&c^ at a general eledion. If the efquire wants not mo?iey^ he may want honor. Then let the minifter make him a baronet. If; he has no fons of his own in the army, navy^ law,^ or church, he may have nephews or. couiins. If not thefe, he muft have nominal friends, to direct on whom the favors of minifters, though it proceed not from benevolence, muft flatter pride, and add to rural confequence. -
The whole of the military fyftem is much indebted for its fupport, to diat prevailing paffion of human nature. Pride. Politicians know it, and flatter pride even in the lo weft of the people. Hence recruiting-officers invite gentlemen only, who are above y^rwV^ labor. *^ The vanity of the poor men (fays a fagacious author) is to l>e worked upon:,at the cheapeft irate poffiblc. Things we are accuftomed to
144 ""linz SPIRIT
we do not mind, or elfe what mortal, that never had feen a foldier, could look, without laughing, upon a man accoutred with fo much paltry gatidinefs and aiFected finery? The coarfefl manufadure that can be made of wool, dyed of a brick-duft color, goes down with him, becaufe it is in imitation of fcarlet or crimfon cloth ; and to make him think himfelf as like his officer as it is pollible, with little or no cod, inftead of filver or gold lace, his hat is trimmed with white or yellow worfted, which in others w^ould deferi^e bedlam ; yet thefe fine allurements, and the noife made upon a calf- ikin, ha.Ye drawn in and been xh.^ dejirudmi of more men in reality, thau all the killing eyes and bewitching voices of women ever flev/ in jeft. To-day the fivineherd puts on his red coat, and believes every body in earned that calls him gentleman; and two days after, Ser- jeant Kite ginjes him a /winging rap with his cain^ for holding his mufket an inch higher than he fliould do. . . . When a man refle£l:s on all this, and the ufage they generally receive — their pay—and the care that is taken of them when they are not wanted^ mud he not wonder how "WTCtches can be fo filly, as to be proud of being called gentlemen foldiers? Yet if they were not fo called, no ai*t, difcipline, or money, , would be capable of making them fo brave as thoufands of them are." '
When all the bafe arts which cudom is fait to have rendered neceffary^ are pra£lifed only to raife and fupport a regular army, perhaps ♦
OP DESPOTISM. 145
tjiey mir^it, however reluctantly, be connived at by the v^atchful friend of freedom. But when the major part of the laboring poor, and all the yeomanry, are made gentleiiien foldiers^ merely to fupport a minister, it is time for e\'ery virtuous and independent mind to ex- D|;efs, as well as feel, alarm. 3r| It appears from the above-cited palTage of an author who had anatomized human nature, to find out its mod latent energies, that the fpirlt of pride is rendered, by artful flatefmen, the chief means of fupplying an army. But the fpirit of pride is in fa6l the fpirit of defpotifm ^ efpeciaily wiien it is that fort of pride which plumes itfelf on COMMAND, on external deco- ration, and the idle vanity of military parade. , . , ^ When this pride takes place univerfally in a nation, there will remain little induflry, and lefs independence. The grand objeft v/ill be to rife above our neighbors in ihow and autho- r^ity. All will bow to the man in power, in the ^ope of diilindlion. Men will no longer rely on xhdr own laborious exertions ; but the poor man will court, by the moil obfequious iubmif- fion, the favor of the efquire; the efquire cringe to the next baronet, lord, or duke, efpeciaily if he be a lord-lieutenant of the county; and the baronet, lord, or duke, or lieutenant of the county, v/ill fall proflrate before the firil lord of the treafury ; and the firfl: lord of the trea- Ifery will idolize prerogative. Thus the military rage will trample on liberty ; and des- i^oTisM triumphant march through the -land, with drums beating and colors Jlmig^
O
146
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XVIII.
Levity^ Effefiiinacy^ Ignorance^ and V/anf of Principle in private Life^ inimical to atl public Virtue^ and favorable to the Spirit 0, Defpotifm, ■ ' '" ''■'"' -^^"'^
A HE conititution of the Britiih government (fays Bolingbroke) fappofes our KINGS ma)r abufe their power, and our repre* sen¥atives betray then* truiL and provides againft both thefe contingencies. Here let us obferve, that the fame conilitution is v^ry far from fuppoiing the people will ever betray ihemf elves ; and yet this cafe is poilible. '
*''A Vvife and brave people w^ill neither be cozened nor bullied out of their liberty : but a v/ife and brave people may ceafe to be fuch \ they may degenerate ; they may fmk into iloth and luxury ; they may refign themfelves to a^ treacherous condu6l ; or abet the enemies OF THE CONSTITUTION, uuder a notion o^ fupporting the friends of government ;" they may w^ant the fenfe to difcern their danger in time, or the courage to reffi when it fiap0^ them in the face, >"*
" The Tarquins were expelled, and Rom(S^ refunted^ -her ■ liberty ; Ca?far was murdered, arid all his race extin^l ; but Rom.e remained ill bondage. Whence this difference ? In the days of Tarquin, the people of Rome were not
OF DESPOTISM. 147
yet corrupted ; in the days of Ccefar, they were mod corrupt.
" A free people may be fometimes betrayed ; but no people will betray themfeh^es, and fiicrifice their liberty, unlefs they fail into a
ftate of UNNIVERSAL COR-RUPTION.
" As all government began, fo all govern- ment mu ft: END by the people ; tyrannical go- vernment, by their virtue and courage ; and even free governments, by their vice and BASENESS. Our conHitutiou indeed malces it impolTible to deftroy liberty by any fudden blafl: of popular fury, or by the treachery OF THE few; but if the many will concur with the FEW ; if they v/ill advifedly and deli- berately fuiFer their liberty to be taken away^ by thofe on whom they delegate powerto PRESERVE IT, this uo couftitution can prevent. God would not fupport his own theocracy againfl: the concurrent defire of the children pf Ifrael; but gave them a king in his anger. ■ '^ How then fliould our human conilitution of government fupport itfelf againft fo univerfal a change, as we here fuppofe, in the tem- per and character of the PEOPLE. It can- not bc; We may give ourfelves a tyrant, if we pleafe. But this can never happen, till the whole nation falls into a ilate of political reprobation. Then, and not till then, political- damnation will be our lot."
So far a political writer, Vv^ho flrenuouily fupports the caufe of liberty, and who has teen, for that reafon, lately depreciated. The
^14:8 THE SPIRIT
TOrds juft ,na\'7 cited are worthy' 'the *feribu§ "confideration of every man who wiilies to leave the inheritance of hberty, which he received from his forefathers, unimpaired to his poft;e- rity. We are jealous of charters, privileges, and laws, but not fufliciently aware of the danger which liberty incurs from degeneracy of manners. But what avait laws preventing eqnjlrucl'ive treafon, and bills of rights afcer- taining our liberties, without virtuous difpofi^ iions^iin the people ?
Quid leges fine moribus .
Vanj?, proficient ? Hor.
.j4 charter, as an advocate at the Englifh bar exprefled it, it is but a piece of parchment Yv^th a bit of v/ax dangling to it, if men liave loft that energy of mind which is neceflary to preferve the rights it was intended to confer or fecure. The trial by jury, the bulwark ci liberty, as we have lately experienced it in. very remarkable inftanccs, will be but a tot- tering v^^all, when oaths have loft their fan(2:ity, and vvhen truth and juftice are confidered only as phantoms. VxHiat will avail a conftitution, when every one is immerfed in private concerns, private pleafures, and private intereft, acknow- ledging no PUBLIC OARE, uo general concern^ notliing out of the fphere of domeftic or per- fonal affairs, vvorthy of anxious regard ?
I lately heard a fenfible man afFxrm, in a tone of apparent defpondency, that in England there was, at the time he fpoke, no pubijc.
OF DESPOTISM. 1 4^
I thought the expreffion ftrong, and paufed to confider it. I hope it \vas the ebullition of fud- jden vexation at circumflances, which, when it was fpoken, feemed to argue a general infenfi- bility in the people to the bleffings of a free country. It was uttered at a time when a zeal, real or pretended, for the minijiers of government, feemed totally to overlook, in its miftaken ardor, the public warfare.
^- There is no public," faid the fagacious obferver. I underflood him to mean, that from an ambitious attachment to party, ia fome of the higher ranks ; to felf-interefi, in fome of the lower ^ to general dillipation, in all, the number of independent, liberally minded, and well-informed men who zealoufTy wiflied and fought xh.z public gaod 2Sidi iho. hap'- pinefs of man^ was too inconfiderable to effect any great and important purpofe». Public vir- jtue mud arife from private. Great preteniions- to it may be made by the profligate, but they will be found to originate in felSflmefs, in ran- cour, in envy, or fome corrupt principle incon- ,fiilent with a virtuous charadler and benevolent condu<5l.
If there be fuch a defe^ion from private and public virtue, what is to preferve a regard for the conilitution, whenever miniflerial influence fliall fo far prevail as to render it the perfonal intereft of great majorities of powerful, becaufe rich, men, to negle^ it, or even to connive at infringements upon it ? If the people fail into univerfal corruption, the v/ords>
.0 2
1^0 THE SPIRIT*^
liberty and confiitution will be confidered by them as fit only to adorn a fchool-boy^s deel^ mation. In fuch a Hate there will be no mort fecurity for the tenant of a throne than of a cottage. A junto, that has no regard for either, and is folely actuated by the love of power, its diftinftions and emoluments may, by diftributingdiflinciiions and emoluments on many^ and by raifmg the hopes and expe£tations of more^ make the mafs of the people themfelves (thus corrupted at the very fountain-head) become the inilruments of annihilating the beft part of the confiitution. A limited monarchy whofe throne is founded on the bafis of a peo- ple's affe£lion, and a judicious preference both of his perfon and form of government, will be: as reafonably anxious as any among the people can be, to guard againfl the prevalence of fuch- corruption, and the fuccefs of fuch corrupt ors. It is the caufe of courts^ if they mean to confult • their llabiiity, as much as it is of popular con-, ventions^ to preferve public virtue, and pre-' vent the people from lofmg 2\\ fenftbility to the; value of a free conftitution, the liberty of the- prefent age, and of ages to come.
I firmly maintain, that the prevention of this popular degeneracy is to be eife<^ed, not by^ political artifices, not by profecutions, not by fycophantic aflbciations of placemen, pen- fioners, and expe£l:ants of titles and emoluments^ but by reforming the manners of the people. Principles of religion, honor, and public fpirit' muil be cheriflied. The clergy mufl be hide*
OF DESPOTISM. 1^1
and the PtJLPiT free. Books writ-* ten without party views, intending to promote no interefts but thofe of truth and philanthropy, muft not only not be checked by crown lawyers, but induftrioufly difleminated among the people. Religion mufl be conlidered by the great. Hot merely as a ftate engine, but as what it is, the fource of comfort and the guide of confci- ence. Its profeflional teachers mull be ad-, vanced from coniiderations of real merit and fern vices, and not from borough interefl, and thfe;. proftitution of the pulpit to the unchrifliaa purpofes of miniilerial defpotifm.
No writings of fceptical or infidel philofo- phers do fo much harm to chriilian faith and, pra(^ice5 to religion and morality, as the ufing of CHURCH revenues and church inftru3ion as inflruments of court corruption. The very means appointed by God and the laws, for checking the depravity of the people, contri-^ bute to it, when they appear to be confidered by the great as little more than artifices of politicians, defigned to keep the vulgar (as they are often imjuftly called} in fubje5ion ■ to wicked upilarts, poiTeiTed of temporary and oiFicial power, by intrigue and unconilitutional influence.
It is certainly in the power of a well regu- lated government, by rendering the church, eSaftive, and by good examples and fmcere attachment to virtuous men and virtuous prin- ciples, to eorrefl the kvit]^, : eiFemiaacy, and' ■■
1^2 ' "'" THE SPIRIT *
want of principle in private life^ which leads to the lofs of liberty. The church will be eifedtive, as foon as the people are convinced that all preferments in it are beftowed on thofe who have preached the gofpel faithfully ; and not on time-fervers, and the friends and rela^ relations of parafites, who have no other view in feeking feats in the fenate, but to ferve a miniller for their own advantage. Till the people are convinced that an adminijiration is fincere in religion^ they will be too apt to con- fider not only religion^ but common honejly^ as an empty name.
The religious principle being thus deftroyed by the greedy afpirants at worldly grandeur, no wonder the people lapfe into that diifolute conduft, which feeks nothing feriouHy but fel- fifli pleafure and private profit. Levity of manners both proceeds from, and produces, defe6l of moral principle. Effeminacy, the natural confequence of vice and luxury caufed by defe6l of moral principle^ precludes courage, fpirit, and all manly, virtuous exertion. Ig- norance muft follow; for to obtain knowledge requires a degree of labor and laudable appli- cation, whicli thofe who are funk in indolence and fenfuality will never beflow. When ig- norance is become general, and vice reigns tri- umphant, what remains to oppofe the giant Defpotifm, who, like a Coluffus, ilrides over the pigmy and infignificant Haves of oriental climes, from trampling on men in countrie.& once free I
OF DESPOTISM. 1 r^
.Farewell, then, all that troly^renfiobTes hu- mail nature. rnde, pomp, and cruelty domineer without control.. The very name, of liberty becomes odious ; and man, degene- rated, contents himfelf with the licence to eat, drink, lleep, and die at the will of an igno- j^ant, bafe, libidinous fuperior. The fword iules abfolutely, Reafon, law,/ pl;^iloibphy, fearning, repofe in the tomb with departed li- berty. The fun of the moral world is extin- guifhed j and the earth is overihadovv'ed with- darknefs and with death. Better had it beeit for a man not to have been born, than born in a country rendered hj the y/ickednefs oC governnaent, corrupting and cn^3,Ymg ti tvbck peo^ple^ a HELL anticipated.
154
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XIX.
Certahi Pa/fages in Dr, Brown' j " Eftimaic^-' which deferve the ferious Coiifideratioii of all ijuho would oppofe the Subverfton of a free Conjlitution by Corruption of Manners and Principles^ and by undue Influence.
EW books have been more popular than Brown's Eftimate cf the Manners ajid Principles of the Times, He wrote with fmce- rity and ability ; but his unfortunate end, oc-' cafioned by mental difeafe, had a vary unfa- vorable influence on the circulation of his book, and his pofthumous fame. Nothing can, however, be more unreafonable, than to depreciate a book, allowed by all, at its firfl. appear?.nce, to contain indifputable and impor- tant truth, becaufe of the misfortune, or even mifcondudl, of its author fubfequent to its publication. I confidently recommend the foi^ lowing paffages to the confideration of every true lover of that free conftitution, which ren- ders our country confpicuouily happy and ho- norable among the nations which furround it,
" The rellraints laid on the royal preroga- tive at the revolution, and the accefTion of" liberty thus gained by the people, produced two effedls with refpe£l: to parliaments. One. was, that inflead of being occafioncdly ^ they^ were thenceforward annually aflembled; the^
OF DESPOTISM. i^^
other was, that whereas on any trifling offence given they had ufually been intimidated or dif- fohed^ they now found themfelves poffeffed of new dignity and power ; their confent being neceffary for raifmg annual fupplies. , " No body of men, except in the fimplefl iiid mofl virtuous times, ever found themfelves poffeffed of power y but many of them, would attempt to turn it to their own private ad- vantage. Thus the parliament, finding, themfelves of weight, and finding, at the fame time, that the difpofal of all lucrative employ^ ■ments was vefted in the crown, foon bethought themfelves, that in exchange for their concur- rence in- granting fupplies, d.nd. forzvarding the meafures of government^ it was but equitable that the crovv^n Ihould concur in veiling them or their dependents with the lucrative einploy^ ments of ftate.
" If this was done, the wheels of govern-; ment ran fmooth and quiet ; but if any large body of claimants was difpofTeifed, the public uproar began, and public meafures were ob- f&u6led or overturned.
" William the Third found this to be the- naturai turn, and fet himfelf like a politician^ to oppofe it ; he therefore filenced all he could by places and penfions, and hence- the origin
of MAKING OF -PARLIAMENTS.'^ ' ^^^- - ■' 'i-
This making of parliaments^ I contend^ is
futtdi ?irfiri calamitas. the origin- dl- 'all our
refent political evil ^ it defeated th<s good
1^6 THE SPIRIT
purpofes of the revolution, and tended to in^ troducc the defpotifm of the Stuarts, under the maik of liberty. It arofe from the corruption of the people ; and ha-s gone on augmenting it to this very day.
" Vanity, luxury and efFeminacy (proceeds Dr. Brown) increafed beyond all belief within thefe thirty years ; as they are of a felfiflo^ i<i are they of a craving and unfatisiied nature. The prefent rage of pleafure and unmanly DISSIPATION hath created a train of new ne- celTities, v/hich in thek demands outilrip every fupply.
" And if the great principles of religion, honor, and public fpirit are weak or loft among us, what eiFe£lual check can there be upon the GREAT, to control their unwarranted purfuit .of LUCRATIVE EMPLOYMENTS, for the grati- fication of thefe unmanly paflions ?
" In a nation fo.circumftanced, it is natural to imagine that, next to gaming and riot, the chief atieniion of the great world muft be turned on the bufmefs of election job- bing, of SECURING COUNTIES, controllng, bribing or buying boroughs ; in a word, on the poiTclFion of a great parliamentary intereft. " But what an aggravation of this evil would arife, flionld ever thofe of the highejl rank^ though prohibited by act of par^ LiAMENT, infult the laws, by interfering in ek<^ions, by foliciting votes, or procuring others to folicit them, by influencing ek(5tiojis in an avowed defiance of their countiy, and
OF DESPOTISM. f^^
even felling vacant feats in parliament to the
BEST bidder/*
Would not this be treason agalnfi the conjlitiition? a more dangerous and heinous political crime than any that have been profe- cuted by attornies-general ? Does not this directly deftroy the democratical part of the fyflem, and eftablifli a power, independent both of the monarch and the people ? Aje not both^ therefore, interefted in putting a flop to fuch grofs violations of law and equity ?
''Wh?Lt (contitiues Dr. Brown) can we fup- pofe would be the real drift of this illegitimate walle (among the great) of time, honors, wealth, and labor ? Might not the very reafon publicly affigned for it be this : ' that they may flrengthen them_felves and families, and thus gain a lafting interefl (as they call it) for their dependents, fons, and poileri- tyf— ,-,- — —Now, what would this imply but a fuppofed right or privilege of demanding LUCRATIVE EMPLOYS, as the chief objeft of their views ?• — ^We fee then, how the political fyllem of felf-interefl: is at length completed.
" Thus faction is eflabliilied, not on ambi- tion, but on AVARICE : on avairce and rapacity, for the ends of dissipation.
" The great contention among thofs of family and fortune, will be in the affair of election interest : next to effeminate pleafure and gaming; this (for the fame end as gaming) will of courfe be the capital purfuit ; this intereil will naturally be regarded a^ n
F
158 THE SPIRIT
kind Q^ family fund^ for the provifion of the younger branches.
" In a nation fo circumftanced, manj« high and important pofls, in every public and im- portant profeiTion, muft of courfe be filled by men, who, inftead of ability and virtue^ plead this inter eft (in eleftions) for their best ti- tle.
" Thus^ in a time when fcience, capacity,, courage, honor, religion, public fpirit arc rare,, the remaining few who polTefs thefe virtues,^ will often h^ fbut out ixonv thefe ftations, which they would fill with honor ; v/hile every public- and important employ will abound with men,f whofe manners and principles are. of xh^neweft, failiion.
" Is not the parliament aij inter eft of every powerful family continually rung in the ears of its branches and dependents ? And does not this inevitably tend to relax and weaken the application of the young men of quality and fortune, and render every m^an, who has reli- ance on this principle, lefs qualijied for tbofe very ftations, vhich by this very principle he obtains. For why fliould a youth of family or faflnon^ (thus he argues with himfelf), why? ihould he fuhmit to the drudgery of fchooh^ colleges J acadcjuies ^Yoydigts,, cam.paigns, fatigues, and dangers, v/hen he can rife to the higheft, ftations by the fmooth and eafy path of parlia-^ mentary inter eft?
" Where effeminacy and felf fh vanity foi'm the ruling charafter of a people, then thofe oi
OF DESPOTISM. 1 59
high rank will be of all others mod vain, mofl lelfifli, moil incapable, mofl effeminate.
" Such are the effects of the prevailing principle of felf-interefl in high life. But if we take into the account all thiit defpicabie train of political managers, agents, and borough- jobbers, which hang like leeches upon the GREAT, nor ever quit their hold till they are ftill gorged, we iliall then fee this reigning evil in its laft perfection . For here, to inca- pacity and demerit^ is generally added inso- lence. Every low fellow of this kind looks upon the man of genius, capacity, and virtue, as his natural enemy. He regards him with an evil eye; and hence undermines qr defames him ; as one who thwarts his views, queftions iis title, and endangers his expeSations.^* ^i^ In another place, the fame author very plainly deduces the corruption of the youth of the nation^ the young nobility and gentry in particular, from parliamentary corruption.
" Notwithilanding the privilege vefled in the commons of commanding the purfes of their Gonflituents, it is not difEcult to point out a ;fituation, where this privilege would be nothing But a naine. And as in the lafl century the legal and democratic branches by turns bore down the conflitution, fo, in fach a fituation ^s is here fuppofed, the real danger, though hidden, would lurk in the ari/iocratic branch, which would be fecretly bearing • down the |>dwer both of the king and the people."
" The matter may be explained in a fmall
l6o THE SPIRIT
€ompafs. Cannot we put a cafe, in which the parliamentary inter eft of the great 7iobility might fwaliow up the houfe of commons ? Members might be elefled, indeed ; and elec- ted in firm too. But by whom might they be really elected ? By the free voice of the people ? No impartial man would fay it. It were eafy to fuppofe thirty or forty men, who, if wanted, might go nigh to command a majo- rity in the lower houfe. The members might feem to be the reprefentatives of the people ; but would be, in truth, a great part of them^ no more than the commijftoned deputies of their refpe^live chiefs^ whofe fentiments they would givie, and whofe interejis they would purfue.
'' Tlius,^ v^^hile power would, in appearance, be centering in the lower houfe, it would m reality be lurking in the higher.
" This flate of things might not perhaps refult from any defign in the ariftocratic branch to deftroy the conftitution. They might have no farther views than thofe of gaiJi^ vanity^ or pleafure. Notwithftanding this, their condu^ might have thofe eiFe£i:3 which their intentions never afpired to. Let us confider the mod probable effe£l:s.
" The firfl fatal eiFea which offers itfelf to obfervation is, that the confcioufnefs of fuch an increafmg and exorbitant power, which the lords might acquire in the houfe of commons, would deftroy all honeji ambition in the younger gentry* They would know, that the utmoft point they could hope to arrive at would only
OF DESPOTISM. l6l
be to become the deputy of fome great lord^ in a county or borough. AH the intentions of <Xuch a poll: can be answered by ignorance and ferviUty^ better than by genius and public f pi r it. People of the latter ilamp, therefore, would not naturally be appointed to the tafk ; and this, once known, would check the growth of genius and public fpirit throughout the nation. The few men of ability and fpirit that might be left, feeing this to be the cafe, would naturally betake themfelves to fuch private amiifements'' as a free mind can honeflly enjoy. All hope, and therefore, by degrees, 'A\ deji7^e of ferving ^their country, would be extinguiflied.
" Thus HONEST ambition would naturally and generally be quenched. But even where am- bition continuedy it would be perverted. Not ufeful, hut fervile talents would be applauded ; and the ruling pride would be, not that of free- men, but of Haves."
The above remarks were made long before American independence was eilabliflied, the vj'rench revolution thought of, or the diicuf^ fions on the fubjeft of parhamentary reform became general. The author wrote the pure refult of impartial obfervation ; and what fee wrote deferves the ferious attention of all /HONEST 7nen^ all good members of the commu- nity. I will make no comments upon it, but leave, it to operate on the mind v/ith its own force*
P %
I 62 THE SPIRIT
SECTION XX.
On fever alSuhjed:s fuggefted by Lcr^Melcombe'^ " Diary ^^^ particularly the Pradice of bar- tering the Cure of Souls for the Corruption of Parliament,
T is very defirable, that country gentlemen, who are often inclined to {hew a blind attachment to minifters, as if loyalty "were due to X^azfervants of a court as well as to the mailer, v/ould perufe, with attention, the Diary of Lord Malcombe. There they are admitted behind the curtain, and even un- der the flage, to fee the machinery. There they behold filthy workmen, dirty wheels v/ithin w^heels, every thing oitenfive to the eye, and all buiy for hire to produce a fpeci- ous, outfide {hew on the ftage, for the amufe- ment of the fpedrators, while the fliew-men pocket the pence. It would have been worth the while of courtiers to have paid the price of a campaign in Flanders, and the fubfidy of a German prince, to have fupprelTed the publi- cation of Lord Makombe's Diary. The fecret$ of the minifiieiial conclave are there laid open; and the fight and (tench are no lefs difguftful than thofe which llrike the fenfes on the open- ing of a iakes or a common fev/er. Nothing but the mo-H: felfiih covetoufnefs, the weakefl: vanity, the meanefl, dirtiefl:, mod villainous
OF DESPOTISM. I 63
of the paffioDS ! No regard for the happinefs of the nation^ much lefs for the happinefs of man- kind \ one general ftruggle, by artifice and intrigue, not by honorable and ufeful exer- tions, for power, profit, and titles ! It might be fuppofed, that the parties concerned were banditti, contending in a cave about the divi- fion of plunder. How are the words lord and duke difgraced and proflituted, when prefixed to mifcreants warijily engaged in fuch tranfac- tions ! Such men are truly levellers, the ene- niies of the peerage, the involuntary promot- ers of equality ! In a greedy rapacioufnefs for themfelves, they forget not only the good of their country and mankind, but the intered of their own privileged order.
When little and bafe minds, like the heroes of Buhh Doddingtonh Diary, be a rule, every thing, even religion itfelf, becomes an ioflru- ment of corruption. It is yucW underftood by
.every body, that church preferments, even with cure o^ fouls ^ have long been ufed to fecure the intereil of courts in venal boroufjhs ; but the following paiTage contains a curious proof of it, under > the hand of Lord Malcombe, and under the authority of the then pyime miniller, the Duke of Newcaftle.
^•December the nth, 1753:,^' fays Lord Melcombe, " IfawtheDuke of Newcaflle. I
.filold him, that in the election matters (of Bridgwater and WeymQuth) ihofe who would take money I would pay, and not bring him a bill) thofe that would n<)|. t^ke, he mu/i p4y ,
fHE SPIRIT
164
and I recommended 7nj two parfons of Bridg- water and Weymouth, Burroughs .and Frank- lin : — he entered into it very cordially^ and af- fured me they fhould have the firfl crown livings that fhould be vacant in thofe parts, if we would look out and fend him the firft intelli- gence.— I faid, I mud think, that fo much of- fered, and fo httle alked, in fuch hands as theirs, and at a time when boroughs were par- ticularly marketable^ could not fail of removing, at leaft, refentments, and of obtaining par- don His Grace was very hearty and
cordial.
" 29th. Went to the Duke of Newcaftle, and got the living of Broadworthy for Mr. Burroughs.
" March 21. Went to the Duke of Newr caflle — told him I was come to affure him of my mod dutiful affeftion and fmcere attach- ment to him, having no engagements to make me look to the right or the left .... I engaged to choofe two ynenibers for Weymouth, which he defired misiht be a fon of the Duke of Devonihire, and Mr. Ellis of the admiralty. I fuppofed he would confirm that nomination—- but that was nothing to meJ^ He might name whom he pleafed. — Mr. Pelham told me the King afked him if I feriouily defigned to en- deavor to keep Lord Egmont out of Bridgwa- ter. Mr. Pelham told his Majefly that he thought 1 would j that I defired him to lay me-
* Tuus, 0 dux magne, quid optes
Explorarc labor ; m i h i jujpi capefere faf eft, V i r C-. '
OF DESPOTISM. I 65
at the k'mg^s feet^ and tell him, that as I found it would be agreeable to his majejly^ I would fpare neither pains nor expence to exclude him. The Duke of Newcaftle faid he had feeti hmv handfome 7ny proceedings had been ; that this was the mqft noble that could be imagined ! ... I faid, What if I came into the place Sir Thomas Robinfon left ? He confidered a little, and faid, Very well, pray go on. I faid I would particularly fupport him in the houfe where he would chieflyt want it. He faid he knew I would. I faid. There is my old place — Trea- furer of the Navy ; I fhould like that better than any thing. But I added. Why fhould I enter into thefe things ; I leave it wholly to your grace. He faid the direction of the houfe of commons was fallen upon him — therefore he could not chufe by aifedion, but mud comply with thofe who could fupport him there, I faid I underflood fo j and that I thought I might pretend to fome abilities that ivay ; that in the oppofition, I was thought of fome ufe there ; that in court, indeed, I never undertook much, becaufe he knew I never was fiipported'. but now, when I fldould be fupparted^ I hoped I might pretend to be as ufeful there as my neighbors. He faid it was inconteftably fo. I faid, that confidering that I chofe /za; members for them at my own great expence, I thought the v/orld in general, and even the gentlemen themfelves, could not expe£l: that their pretenfions iliould give me the exclufion. He faid, that what I did was very great ! that he often thought with
I 66 THE SPIRIT
furprife at the eafe and cheapnefs of the election at Weymouth ! that they had nothing like ii4 I faid, I believed there were few who could give bis majejiy fix members for nothing. He faid he reckoned five, and had put down five to my account .... I faid I mufl be excufed From talking any more about myfelf ; that I left it entirely to him and to the King ; that T was fully determined to make this facrifice to his Majeily ; that I knew I had given no juft caufe of offence, but that I would not juftify it with his Majefty ; that it ^^2,^ enough that he was difpleafed, to make me think that I was in the wrong, and to beg him to forget it : / would not even be in the right againft him ; and ^ I was very fure I would never again be in the' wrong againfi: him, for which I hoped his Grace ' would be ray caution. He faid he would with all his heart. He took me up in his arms, and - ki fed 7ne twice, with ftrong aifurances of af- • fe(5i:ion and fervice."
A few days after, this honeji man went to [ Bridgwater to manage the election, and thus ' proceeds his Diary.
"April 14, 15, 16. ^pent in the infamous "" and difagreeahle compliance zvith the low habits^ of venal wretches,^* the eleftors of Bridg- ^ water.
If the men of BridgXvater, urged perhaps by'^^ want, were venal wretches, what mull we" think of the Duke of Newcaflle and Lord-^^ Melcombe ? I hope my reader will paufe, and*J^ ponder the words of the preceding paiTage;^'-
OF DESPOTISM. I 67
They furnifli a great deal of matter for very ferious reflexion to thofe who regard the true inter efts either of church or ilate.
Lord Melcombe's Diary was much read when it firfl came out ; but it has fmce fallen into neglecl. Events, however, have happen- ed in the political world, which render it ex- tremely interefting at the prefent period. In confequence of the French revolution, much pains have been taken to decry the people, and extol the ariftocratical part of fociety. The tide has run worxderfully, in confequence of falfe alarms and minillerial artifices, in favor of courts and courtiers. The people have been called, not only venal wretches^ but the Avinifli multitude. Long and tirefome books have been written to run down the people, as deititute of vjttue, principle, of every thing honeil and hpnorable, and that can give them any right to interfere with the grand myfteries of a cabi- net. But he who reads and confiders duly the very ftriking anecdotes and converfations in Lord Melcombe's Diary, will fee, that, in order to find venality in its full growth, and furvey fordidnefs in its complete ftate of abomi- Bation, it will be neceffary to turn from low to high life.
The people are often turbulent and indif- creet in their treinfa^lions, but they are always honefland always generous* They feel flrongly . for the caufe of humanity and juflice. They have a noble fpirit, which leads them to view meaanefs and fiaiilcr conduct with deteilation..
1 68 "^^^^ SPIRIT
But is there any of this manly independence, this honed opennefs, this regard for the rights and happinefs of man, among thofe whom Lord Melcombe, fo unfortunately for the great vulgar, has introduced to pubhc notice ? There is all the deceit in his own chara6ter, which would denominate a man a fwindler in the com- mercial walks of life* All the tranfa£tions of the junto are conducted with the timidity,- fecrecy, duplicity of a neft of thieves, mutu- ally fearing and fawning, while they hate and defpife each other from their heart's core.
On the practice of purchafmg votes in bo- roughs, by bartering the cure of fouls, the moft facred charge, if there be any thing facred in human affairs, I fliall expatiate more at large in a future Section.
This Bubb Doddington, after felling himfelf, betraying the prince, and offering his fix mem- bers to the befl: bidder, was made a lord. He was created Baron of Melcombe Regis, as a reward for fuch proftitution of principles as ought to have caufed him to be branded in the forehead with a mark of indelible infamy.
But can we fuppofe that there has been but' one Bubb Doddington in this country ? one Nev/caftle? I wifli the fuppofition were founded in probability. It would be the fnnplicity of idiotifm to fuppofe, that Bubb Doddington has not exhibited in his Diary a pi tore of parafiti- cal courtiers, in all timics and countries, where corruption is the main principle of adminiflra- tion. ^
OF DESPOTISM. 1 69
l^fuch men fhould, in any country of Europe^ influence the councils of princes, and manage the popular alTemblies, would there not be reafon to be alarmed for the befl conilitution ever devifed by human wifdom ? Such men hate the people. They love nothing but them- felves, the emoluments of places, the diflinc- tion of titles, and the pomp and vanity of the courts in which they flatter and are flattered. They will ever wifli for a military govern- ment, to azve the faucy crowd, and keep them from intruding on their own facred privileges and perfons. The Herculean hand of a vir- tuous people can alone cleanfe the Augean fl:able of a corrupted court formed of mifcreant toad-eaters like Lord Mekombe.
"x.
I JO :frHE SPIRIT
SECTION XXI.
0?i choofing rich Meii^ without Parts, Spirit^ or Liberality, as Reprefe7ttatives in ihe Na- tlonal Council,
I
T has been long obferved, that none are more defirous of increafmg their property than they who have abundance. The great- eft mifers are thofe who polTefs the greatcfl richest None are fonder of the world thali^ they w^ho have engroffed a lai-ge fliare of it. If tkey iliould acknowledge that they have enough money, yet they cannot but confefs, at the fame time, that they think themfelves entitled^ , in confequence of their property, to civil honors, power, and diftin^don. They have a kind of claim, in their own opinion, to court favor ; efpecially as they are ready to ufe the influence, which their riches give them, in fupport of any minifter for the time being, and in the general extenfion of royal prerogative. Are fuch mea likely to be independent members of a fenate, honeftly following the dictates of their judgmiCnt or confcience, and confulting no interefl but that of MAN in general, and the people in par- ticular, by whom they are deputed ? There are no men greedier of gain than fuch mi en, and none more attached to thofe vain honors, which a m.inifler bellows in order to facilitate the move- ments of his political machine. None will rake
OF DESPOTISM. I 7 I
(o deeply In the dirt to pick up a penny as a ridi mifer ; none will contend more eagerly for a feather in the cap, than thofe whofe minds are weakj empty, and attached to the world by the confcionfnefs of being, in great meafure, its proprietors.
But what is it to me, as 2Ln eledor^ that the man who folicits my vote has, by great cun- jiing, fordid arts, and infatiable avarice, ac- cumulated great riches ? Has wifdom, has vir- tue, has knowledge, lias philanthropy increaf- ed with his increafmg fortune? Uncommon fuccefs, enormous wealth, acquired in the iliort fpace of half a human life, is ^ prejumf.- 4ive evidence of little pr'mciple in the means of acquiring, and as little generofity in the modes of giving or expending it. Perhaps he inherits his unbounded riches. What then ? His an- tejlors were probably kna.ves or muck-worms. In this cafe, he has not to plead the merit of induflry. His anceftors have left him vaff fums of money ; when perhaps his own talents would fcarcely have earned liim. a penny, or kept him out of the pariflipoor-lioufe,
Neverthelefs, becaufe he Is rich, though to- tally deftitute of parts and virtue, he frauds for- ward boldly as a candidate to repreient a city or a county. He nnds thoufands ready to cla- mour on his fide 5 and to give him their vote. He can treat bountifully, open houfes, and give away ribands plentifully. Therefore he is coiiflituted a fenator, a national counfellor.
1^2 THE SPIRIT
commiifioned to vote away the people^s mcne^| and to decide on the moll important queilioiis of conflitutional liberty.
What can he do but put himfelf into hait- sefs, and be driven his daily flage, by the ip6^ litical coachman, the prime minifter ? He can-^ not go alone. He has not fenfe enough td judge for himfelf in the fmalleft difficulty. He bas not fpirit enough to preferve his indepen- dence ; therefore he will confider himfelf merel]f^ as a puppet, to be moved by the higher pow*^ ^rs, at their will ; a ftop-gap, to fill up a^ place which might be occupied by an ablei?^;; member, whcfe virtues and talents might ferv^"^ the public indeed, but v/oukl render him trou4 blefome to- thofe who gladly difpenfc with alP Tirtuciis iriterference. '-'^
Let us fuppofe, for argum^ent fake, four' inch poor creatures (fuch I call them, though^ rkb in gold) chofen to reprefent the city of^' London, the grand emporium of the world^--^ and, from the number of its inhabitants, claim- ing a fuller reprefentation than any part of the(^ nation. I own the fuppofition is moil difgrace^"^ ful ; for it can never happen, one would think, '^^ that fuch a city Ihould not fupply men of the- £rfl abilities^ for a trud fo important and fo'' honorable. But let us fuppofe the city, from- a fyilem of mxanners favored by, and favorable'-' to,' miniilerial corruption, fo far degraded as ^^ to choofe four men of very moderate abilities and charadters, merely becaufe they happen to be rich contractors, and of fycophantic difpo-
OF DESPOTISM. 1 73
fitions, likely to purfue their own intereil by fervilely obeying the beck of a minifler.
Suppofe them once in for feven years. The taverns are now iliut up, the advertifements^ the canvaffing all forgotten, and they commence as arrant courtiers as the meaneil tool of power, -put^ by a paltry lord, into a rotten borough of Suilex, Wiltihire, or CornwalL
But mark the mifchief. As they nominally j reprefent the firft city in the world, the mea- I fures which they vote for, (becaufe they are- I bidden, and hope for contradls and baronet- I ages), are fuppofed, by foreigners at lead, ta j have the concurrence of the moil important i part of the Britifh empire. Though the mi- I nifter may defptfe them from his heart, per- I fonally, yet he avails himfelf of that weight I which the place they reprefent gives them in- I the eyes of flrangers. " The great city is with him," (In the only place he pretends to^ know it, the houfe of reprefentatives);
Their ignorance, their meannefs, and their fycophancy, have another efFe£i:, highly inju- rious to all plans of conflitutional reformation, " Here (fays the courtier) are four men fent by the firil city in the world. Are they better fenators, or more refpe£lable men, than thofe who are fent from Old Sarum, or any of the boroughs inhabited by beggars, and purchafed by- lords, as a lucrative fpeculation V^ The probability is, (he will fay of them), that,, with more greedinefs after gain-^ from the for- did habits of their youth, thev have lefs of the
'ls'J4 '^^"^ SPIRIT
accomplifliments and liberality of gentlemen. Their eagernefs to raife their families, renders them more tradable tools in the hands of a ikilful minifler, than thofe whofe families are already raifed, and who, however they may place themfelves under the guidance of the peerage, have had an education which ought to have given them enlarged minds and fenti- ments of honor.
Thus the friend to defpotic principles, and the oppofer of parliamentary reform-, draws an argument from the meannefs of rich men, (fent by great cities to parliament merely becaufe they are rich), againfl: all improvement of the reprefentation. The boroughs^ he alleges, fend at leaft gentlemen^ and well-informed men, though in circumftances comparatively indigent ; whereas thefe great commercial bodies, placing all excellence in the poffeiiion of fuperior wealth, depute men as fenators, who are unqualified for any department beyond the warehoufe or the counting-houfe, whofe views are confined, and purpofes habitually fordid and felfifb. He urges, that, from the fpecimens aiForded byi- great cities, there is no reafon to conclude, that the extenfion of the right of fuffrage would • render the reprefentative body more virtuous. or eniio^htened. He doubts whether it would be favorable to liberty. If great bodies depute^ men only for their property, fince they who. ha'-ne moll ufually wantmo^ none will be rea«: dier to fell themfelves and their conftituents to-' a minifttr, for a feather or fugar-plumb, thani
OF DESPOTISM. 1 75
the reprefentatives of great bodies, delegated to parliament merely becaufe they have inhe-
,^rited oir acquired e^cejfive riches^ with fcarcely any ideas beyond the multiplication-table.
Men; deputed to parliament, fhould certainly be far above want ; but I contend that riches,
jiindependent of perfonal merit, can never be a fufScient recommendation. It is the moll hn- portant truft that can be repofed in man. It
,i .requires a mod comprehenfive education, flrong
^natural abilities, and, what is greater than all, a juft, honeft, upright heart, with . a. manly jSrmnefs, and. an enlarged philanthropy.
Can there be any difficulty in finding, at any time, four men of fuch character in the city of London, or two fuch in any county of England? Certainly not ; efpecially when the corrupting idea (hall be exploded, that pro- perty is the beil qualification of a national counfellor and law-giver. Able and honeji men are not the moil inclined to thruil themfelves forward, and to obtrude themfelves, much lefs to enter into competition, when all the influence of riches and miniflerial favor will be exerted to traduce their chara£l:er5 to fruftrate their endeavors, and fend them back to private life v/ith their fortunes injured, and their tranquil- lity diflurbed. The electors muft fearch for fuch men, and draw them from their virtuous obfcurity. Thus honored, they will go into the fenate with the pure motives of ferving their country and mankind, and return with
,176 THE SPIRIT
clean hands ^ fufficiently rewarded by the blef- iings of the people.
The city of London, and all great cities, as well as counties, are to be moil ferioully ex- horted to confider the importance of the trufl they delegate at an eleftion, and to choofe' men of known abilities, and experienced attach- ment to the caufe of the people. They ihould beware of men, however opulent and refpedl- able in private life, who can have no other motive for obtruding on pubHc life, for which they are unqualified ^ but to raife themfelves, and families to fortune and diflindtion, by fel- ling their truji to a miniiler. Such men can never be friends to liberty and the people. They contribute, by means of their property, to the general fyflem of corruption, and, per- haps without knowing it, (for they hiow but little), promote, moil eiFeftually, the fpirit oi defpotifm.
OF DESPOTISM. I'JJ
SECTION XXIIo
Of the defpotic injluence of great Merchants over their Subalterns^ of Cullomers over their TradefmeUy and rich trading Companies over their various Dependents^ in compelling them to vote for Court Candidates for Seats in Parliament J merely to ferve private In- terest, without the fmallef Regard for public Liberty and Happinefs^ or the Fitnef $r Unftnefs of the Candidate.
A HE rottennefs of corruption, ori- giRciting from miniflers, intoxicated with the love of power, and greedy after the emolu- ments of office, is fometimes found (efpeciaily under the influence oi falfe alarms') to pervade the whole mafs of the people, and to infe£t the very heart of the body politic. The vitals of liberty become tainted, and, without great efforts, a mortification may be juftly appre- hended.
In this corrupt ftate, little defpots^ afpiring at court favor, hoping to drav/ the notice of the miniiler on their faithful endeavors to ferve him, arife in almofl every town and village of the country, and in every flreet of a great city. They claim and exercife a jurifdidlion over cer- tain VASSALS, as they think them, their tradef-- men, their tenants, and all others, who derive
178 THE SPIRIT
emoluments from them in the way of their bufinefs, or expert their cuftom and counte- nance. If the VASSALS prefume to aft for themfeives as men and freemen, they lofe their bufinefs, their dwelling places, their farms, and all chance of a.cquiring a competency. The vengeance of the little defpots purfues them ; and frequently quits not the chace, till it has hunted them down to.dellruftion.
Even in the City of London, opulent as it is, and independent as it might be, a city which ufed to be the nril to ftand up in defence of liberty, an overbearing influence can find its way to the obfcureil diflrift, and infmuate itfelf into the blindeft alley^ The Great Merchant or Maniifa6lurery who is necelTarily connefted with many fubordinate traders or w^orkmen, conliders the influence he gains from extenfive connexions in bufmefs, as a very valuable and vendible commodity at the market of 2imi.nifte^, Naturally wiihing to make the moft of his trade, lie refolves to treat this connexion as a part of his Jiock^ and caufe it to bring him an arnple return. At lead he will adventure. It may be a prize to him, as it has been to many. Much depends on his ov/n prudential management of the com- modity. It may lead to a valuable contra^, efpecially if kind fortune fliould kindle the flames of war ; it may open the path to court favors of various kinds ; it may ultimately con^ fer a feat in the houfe, and perhaps a baronet- tage. This laft honor is highly defirable, as it. removes at once the filth that naturally
OF DESPOTISM. I yo
attaches to the very name of citizen^ dealer and chapman.
In the city of London, the majority of eleBors^ who fend the few members of parliament allot- ted to it, are of the middle^ and indeed of the inferior rank of fliopkeepers, rarely rifmg to the dignity of merchants, who refide at the houfes with great gates ^ or rather in the new fquares^ two or three miles north-weil of the polluted and polluting city : for fuch is 'the infolence of little city despots who are in a very great way^ that they commonly defpife the freedvm of the city where their counting-houfe Hands, and where they gain their plumbs. They do not condefcend to be free of the city. .They would confider it as a degradation from their gentility to be liverymen and members of a city company. Liverymen, indeed! What ! great men^ as <7// bankers are, Eaji India Uiredors^ ufurious money-lenders^ living magnificently in Portland-place or Portman- fqUare, or the grand avenues to them., to be LIVERYMEN ! Horrid degradation ! The very idea is fliocking to the fpirit of dejpotifm. It is time enough to take up their freedom of tlie city, when it is neceffary, as candidates^ to poffefs that qualification. There are too ttumy votes to make it worth while to be a voter. Thefe great men, therefore, view the electors as fubordinate perfons, whom they may fend 0ti an errand to Guildhall to vote for the aiinifter's candidate, jufl as they would difpatch « clerk or porter to the Cuilom-houfe to take
1 86 THE SPIRIT
a Cuftom-Iioufe-oath, or to do any job con*< ne£i:ed with the low trade or manufacture which enables them to aiTociate with the fine folk of St. James's.
The eleSlor who goes to the huftings muft^ indeed, vote upon his oath^ that he has received and will receive no bribe. He docs not con- fider the lucrative employments and the emo« luments arifing from the great ?nan's cuflom, which would be loil on dlfohedience^ as a bribe^,^ and therefore votes againll his judgment, con- fcience, and inclination, without a murmur; - efpecialiy as his daily bread may perhaps de- pend on his obfequioufnefs, and very likely the, , comfort and fecurity of a wife and large family. ;
This condu6^ of the great men is not only - unconflitutional and affronting to the city,- but .^ as truly despotic in principle as any thing;, done by the Grand Seignior. It is 7nean alfo and bafe to the lafl degree ; for the great men - ufually exert not their influence from friendfliip to the minifter, or to a candidate, or from any ^ regard to a caufe which they think conneded [ with the public good ; but folely to ferve them-r \ felves, to provide for poor relations, to enrich i or to aggrandize an upftart family, already ren- . dered contemptible by fungous pride.
The glorious rights and privileges of Eng-, , lifhmen, of which we read and hear fo much^.v are then to be all facriiiced to ferve a man, who •, perhaps went out as a writer to the Eafl In-,; dies, and returned in ^vt or fix years, laden with riches j the injured widow and orphan in
OF DESPOTISM. I 8 I
yain lifting up their heads, and uttering their lamentations over the deaf ocean, while the fpoiler is haftening to Europe with that trea- fure which, as it was gained by extortion, is to be expended in corruption.
Male parta male dilabuntur.
A prodigious recommendation this, as a repre- fentative in parliament of induftrious citizens, who have toiled all their lives at the counter, or in the manufactory, for a bare com-pe- tence !
When NABOBS, as they are called, perfect
ALIENS, recommended only by riches and court
influence, can feat themfelves for great cities
and counties as eaiily as they ufed for Cornilh
BOROUGHS, there certainly is reafon to fear
that the fpirit of defpotifm has rapidly increafed,
and is proceeding to deilroy ail 'remains of
public virtue among the people. The quef-
tion naturally arifes, if a nabob, a perfect
alien, fhould ever be ele61:ed for the city of
I Lbndon ; whether, in fo large a body as the
I free-born citizens, and among the livery of
London, a man is not to be found who has
I ferved a regular apprenticeiliip, gone through
I all the gradations of fuccefsful trade, and be-
I come a member of the corporation, worthy to
I teprefent the lirfl commercial body in the
\ univerfe? Is it neceffary to import members^
las we do tea and muilins, from China and
i Bengal ? Honefty, virtue, independence, and
abilities, mufl indeed be rare qualities, from,
R
I 82 I'NE SPIRIT
Templebar te Whitechapel, if not enough c^* tfem can be found to conflitutc a reprefenta^ tive in parliament. Mufl: the Engliih oak bf negleci:ed5 for exotics raifed rapidly in warimi climates ; and from the hafty growth of whichs, , very little is to be depended upon, when the " wind and weather aifail them ? A fad encou*. ragement this to the young merchants, traders, , and manufacturers who enter regularly on bi^ - fmefs, and become freemen and liverymen^ t0 find that the mod induflrious and fuccefsfi^- trader, and the bed chara£ler, cannot fecure th^ honorable appointments and important trufts^ in the gift of their fellow-citizens! to fmd, thajt peiibns, who never ferved apprenticeihips, n(5- yer carried on trade, never became free, never ;wcre,coiinecled in the city companies, perfect Jiraiigers to the corporation^ and avowed d^fi^ pifers of them all, fliall be made, by the w^ fiuence of a miniiler, and the overbearing weight of oriental riches, legislators for ..the emporium of Europe 1 If fuch an event were ever to happen, it would difcourage aH 1 mrtue in the rifmg generation of merchant|, , traders, and manufacturers ; and teach theo^ » that every thing bows to almighty mokeis, however obtained, and to court influence^ , ahvays ready to favor ova-bearing and over- grown property. It would be a melancholy s fym_ptom of degeneracy among the people. |i i ^;would fliew that the nuinly fpirit begins to faeje » and wither, as it has long done in Turkey and * iJigypt^ under the fpirit of defpotifm. •
OF DESPOTISM. \ 83
It is truly alarming to all true Engliflimen, m fee great trading companies ufmg the influx ence which riches beftow, in feconding the views of a minijier^ without the leall attention to the public good, the prefervation of liberty^ and the happinefs of the human race. It is Certain, that men united in corporate bodies, .will a6i: in a manner which they would be afhamed of in their -private capacities ; becauf^^ when fo united, the refponfibility appears to be thrown from individuals on the aggregate, and fo attaching to every one^ can be fixed on none. Such bodies may be truly dangerous, when, from the hope of titles and other favors^ -the members who compofe them, are fervilely lievt)ted to the minifter ; not indeed to the man^ feut to the favorite at courts w^ho, from his Office, has in his hands the means of corrup- tion, contracts, loans, lottery-tickets, appoint- Inents in all the profeffions, and, above all,
triTLES.
^^i- Such monopolizing fraternities attack liberty
Hprith the club of Hercules. They rife with
tgigantic force. -Reafon, argument, the law
50Sid the conflitution yield to them, as the chafF
fbefore the wind. If they iliould not receive a
powerful check from the people at large, who
have not yet fallen dov/n worfhippers of gold,
they mull: go on to eftabliih, on the banks of
the Thames, oriental defpotifm : and it would
not be wonderful to fee the two llieriiFs riding
up Cheapfide on elephants, with the Lord
Mayor borne in a palanquin^ on the necks of
-I84 '^^'^ SPIRIT
Mverymen, hailening to proftraie themfelves at the feet of a prime minlfter^ nov/ become as great as the Emperor of China : it would not J)e wonderful to fee Bankers erecting an-^' tUgarchy ; the great houfe in Leadenhall-ftreet^ 'iiUwple^ and 2. "golden calf the God.
OF DESPOTISM. I 5i
SECTION XXIII.
(^ the Pageantry of Life ; that it originates in ..'the Spirit of Defpofifni ; and contributes to it^ without advancing private any more than public Felicity.
i H E proud defpife the people, rc- prefent them as Httle fuperior to the brutes, laugh at the idea of therr rights, and feem to^ think that the world was made for themfelves^ only ; yet the proud are never fatisfied but when they attract the notice of this very peo- ple, by fplendor, by oflentation^ by the exer- eife of authority over them, and by infolent airs of felf-importance. The people, it mufl be owned, in the fimplicity of their hearts, gape v/ith admiration at the paffing fpe6lacle which infults them with its. glare, and feel themfelves" awe-ftruck with the g^randeur of the cavalcade, which; would trample them, in tli^ dirt if they did not ftruggle to efeape.-
Politicians, obferving this efFeel of finery and parade on the minds of the unthinking, take eare to drefs up the idol, which they them- felves pretend to v^'oriliip, and which theywiili the people really to adore, in all the taudry. glitter of the lady of Loretto. They find this kind of vulgar fuperdition extremely favorable to their intereiled views. Accordingly, in all defpotic countries, great pains are taken, to-
R z
ijS6 THE sprurr;
amufe and delude the people with the trappings of royalty. Popery prevailed more by the gaudinefs of its priefts and altars, and the pomp of its proceflions, than from the progrefs of convi£lion. The people, in fuoh circmnftances, Iiave indeed the pleafure of fine fights ; but they ufually pay much more dearly for them than for exhibitions at the theatre ; and have this mortifying reflection, as a drawback from their pleafure, that the payment is involuntary,, and the fight a political delufion. It infults their underltandings, while it beguiles them of their rights ; and takes from them the earnings of their indullry, while it teaches them to feel their own infignificance.
But not only defpots, courtiers, and public fun£l:ionaries, think it proper to frrike the vul- gar with awe, by purchafing finery of the builder, the taylor, and the coach-painter ; but the titled and the overgrown rich men, through every part of every community, where family aggrandizement is procurable without public fervices, or private or perfoneJ virtue.. Riches, in fuch focieties, confer not only the ineans of luxurious enjoyment, but of civil fuperiority. They affume a value not naturally their ov/n, and become \ht fuccedanea of wif- dom, patriotifm, valor, lea.rning, and benefi- cence. The great object is therefore to make an oilentation of riches, and to keep the peo- ple at a diilance, by dazzling their eyes with the blaze of equipage and magnificence. As all the minuter luminaries gravitate to the fun
OF DESPOTISM. I 87
'4fR our folar fyflem, fo all thefe afpirants at
^diftin^lion and fuperior importance gravitate to^
qroyalty. The crown is the glittering orb round
Iwhich they ambitioully revolve. They would
all therefore contribute, if they were able, to
liadd new brilliancy, new heat, new influence
aand powers of attraftion to their fountain of
^; glory. They turn to it as the fun-flower to the
tifun ; and feel their colors brighter, and their
.5 feaves invigorated, when a ray of favor falls-
tApon them in a peculiar direflion. They can-
^?liot turn a moment to the people. The popular
climate chills them. The gales from this
quarter are as the icy breezes from the frozen
regions of the north, where the genial beams
Dof folar influence can fcarcely penetrate.: -
It may then be fairly prefamed, that where
all orders of the rich are vying with each other
to make a fplendid appearance, even above their
rank and means of fupport, the fpirit of the
times, among thefe orders at leaft, is favorable
to the increafe of court influence, and there-
.tibre to the fpirit of defpotiim.
3fi.: This rivalry in fplendor is, in courfe, attend-
^' ed with great expence ; an expence, which,
by reducing independent fortunes, diminiihes
Independence of fpirit. They, who are ruined
in feconding the purpofcs of a court, naturally
:) .think themfelves entitled to indemnity from
-oeourt favor. They become then, merely tools
'of the minifter, and dare not fpeak or aft, in
any inftarice, againit him, left they renounce
I 88 THE SPIRFF
all hope of the glittering prize, the fecret dou- ceur, the ihare of the loan, the lottery-tickets, the contract, the place, the provifion for a^ ion, a nephew, a coufm, or the clerical tutor ^ of the family, who has perhaps grown grey in . hungry hope, fed only by the meagre diet of - a miniflerial promife.
Thus the rage for outfliining others in exter- nals, contributes to ruin both fortune and prin- ciple. Add to this, that the prevalence of, pageantry erects, in fociety, a falfe ftandard of human excellence. Money becomes the deity. Money is to give confequence, confideration, power. Money engrolTes honor, which is due, and has often been paid, to poverty, when adorned with art, virtue, knowledge, or any other kind of perfonal merit. The man be- ^ comes nothing, and money all. How muft>- the human rnJnd fmk in fuch a conjuncture ! Its , noblefl energies cannot give it that eflimation - with mankind, t^hich money, inherited by a ] fool, or acquired by a knave, boldly claims" and obtains. Then what encouragement ta" young men to purfue improvemxcnt with an^"^ iinguiar ardor ? Common attainments are per-.^ haps the beil adapted to facilitate the acquifi- tion of m.oney. Common attainments and fuperficial ornaments wilt form the whole of" education. In the mean time, mind is negleCl- ed, and human nature degenerates. Then iteps in the de/pot. For the confequence, take the map, and look over the countries whicit formed ancient Greece. ■
Olf DESPOTISM. I 89
The pageantry of life, confidered in a poli- tical view, as defigned by the grandees to awe the people, and keep them out of the park of felfiih happinefs, v/hich the grandees have fenced with high pales, and guarded v/ith fpring-guns and man-traps, certainly may lay claim to the praife of deep cunning or worldly wifdom. The pageantry of life may anfwer the purpofe of the fcenery of the play-houfe, and keep the vulgar from beholding the gran- dees of the world, before they are dreffed and made up for public exhibition. The galleries would certainly lofe much of their veneration for the theatrical kings, queens, and nobles, if they were to fee them behind the fcenes, un- Deaizenea. iiie pageantry or ine is tnerc- fore highly efficacious in deluding the vulgar* When not carried too far, and abufed for the purpofes of oppreffion, it may fometimes have its ufe. But is it, in general, conducive to the happinefs of man ; either of thofe who are the adtors in the pageant, and gratify their pride by attracting the eyes of beholders ; or of thofe who are led by it to a foolifli admira- tion and a tame acquiefcence ? Chains of gold and filver arc no lefs galling than fetters of iron.
Pageantry has contributed perhaps more than any other caufe to the prevalence of war, the bane of happinefs, the difgrace of human nature. The grand operations of war, the fplendor of arms, the finery of military drefs, have been the amufements which defpots have
190 THE SPIRIT
chiefly delighted in, whenever thej could behold them in perfed confidence with their own perfonal fafety. The pageantry of warv dazzles young minds, and fupplies both armies and navies with willing vi£lims. The uglinefk of daughter, the defolation of fertile plains, the burning of peaceful villages, have all been unnoticed, amid the pride ^ ponip^ and circu7iu fiance of glorious war. The tafle for falfe glare and deceitful appearances of happinefs and glory, has then been one of the moil prolific parents of human calamity. It has palliated robbery, and covered foul murder witli a glit^ teringveil oftinfel.
- ;> All impoflure is ultimately produ6iive of eviL Pageantry, in a wretched world like this,' alTumed by infirm mortals doomed fliortly to die, cannot but be deceitful. Its objeft is to put oiF falfe and counterfeit goods for true. There is nothing in human affairs that will juf-: tify or fupport that glare of happinefs which the pageantry of the rich and great feek to difplay. The mafk is too fmall and too tranfparent tO' conceal the face of woe, the wrinkles of decay; and imperfection. In times of great ignorance,> wheii fcarcely any could read, and very little communication was preferved among the dif-. ferent orders of fociety, the mummery of courts and courtiers taught the vulgar to believe thati the internal organization of beings, fo decQ*t rated externally, mufl be of a fuperior nature^ Princes and priefts dreffed themfelves in gro- tefque garbs, ia a kind of mafquerade habit, to^
OF DESPOTISM. I9I
c^ry on the deluiion. But the reign of great wigs, fur gowns, hoods, and cloaks, is nearly at its clofe. Gilded coaches, horfes richly caparifoned, gaudy hammer-cloths, fine foot- men, endeavor to fupply their place ; but they have lofl much of their influence ; and at laft it will be found, that to obtain the refpe(5l of the people, it will be neceffary to deferve it. No longer will the public admire the poor crea- ture who rides 'jx^i//?//? the coach, for a fplendor which he owes entirely to the manufafturer of carriages, the painter, the carver, the gilder, the harnefs-raaker, the horfe-dealer, and the groom. No longer will men unjuftiy transfer the praife due to the taylor and hair-dreffer, to the proud beau, who ftruts as if the earth were not good enough to tread upon, nor the people whom he meets, to look at as he paffes them.
The pageantry difplayed by contractors, by placemen, by peniioners, by commilTaries, by all who fatten on the public fpoils, may juflly be confidered as an infult on the people, hi times of great profperity it might be winked at ; but m times of diflrefs and adverfity, it is offenfive. It anfwers no good end. It merely gratifies the vanitiy of thofe who make the ©ftcntation. How can they find in their hearts to throw away fums that would maintain thou- fands, in fetting off themfelves, and making a figure, during an hour or two every day, in Bond-ftreet and Pail-Mall, while they pafs hundreds who are ready to periih with cold and kunger, and canaot but know that the world
192 '^HE SPIRIT
abounds with inflances of extreme want and mifeiy ? The pageantry of the unfeeling great in France aggravated the fenfe of fufFering un- d^ its defpotifm ; but, on the other hand, in provoking the people by the infult, it accelera- ted and completed the glorious revolution.
It is probable that every Httle wretch who decorates himfelf, and all that belongs to him, with finery to the utmoft of his power-, would be a defpot^ if he could, and dared. He fhews all the difpofitions to afTume fuperiority without merit. He certainly has a narrow and vain mind. He cannot be a philofopher or philan- thropill. With all his jftyle and fplendor in eating, drinking, ^ dwelling, dreffing, and rid- ing, we cannot admire him 5 then let us pityj, or deride.
Mere folly might be laughed at and negle^f^-* ^ ;' but the folly I defcribe is mifchievous. It delights in oppreiTion and war ; and is one of the principal promoters of the defpotic fpirit.
OF DESPOTISM.
i^ECTION XXIV.
93
Infolence of the higher Orders to the Middle Ranks and the Poor ; with their affeEled Condefcenjton^ in certain Circuniftances^ to- the laweji of the People,
JL UBLIC corruption muil produce private. When pride is a ruling principle in the conduft of flate aiFairs, it rauil difplay itfelf in every part of domeftic life, accompanying, its lordly poiTeffor from the palace at St. James's and the levee in Downing-ilreet, to the rural manfion in the diilant province, to the convi- vial table^ to the fire-fide, to the ftable, and to the dog-kennel.
A due degree of feli^-refpe^i:, a dignified behaviour, a demand of what is due to one- felf, attended with a cheerful payment of what is due to others, are highly laudable, and have no conneftion with that fenfelefs, fullen, cruel pride, whieh marks the fpirit of defpotifm.
\. This latter fort of pride is totally deflitutc ! of feeling for others. It fcarcely acknowledges j the common tie of humanity. It ftands alone, i completely infulated from all human beings I below it, and conne<^ed only by a narrow i ifthmus with thofe above it. It feems to think I the world, and all that it contains, created for
its own exclufive gratification. The men an4
194 THE SPIRIT
women in it arc merely inflruments fubfervient to the ^dll and pleafure of ariflocratic infolence. With this idea of its own privileges and claims, it is no wonder that it fliews fymptom? of extreme forenefs and exceilive irritation on the lead oppofition to its ivill and pleafure. Accordingly J thofe of the human race, whofe imhappy lot it is to be domeilic or menial fer- tyants to perfons of either fex who fweli with the felfiih pride of ariilocracy, are kept, in, a ftate of abject fervility, compelled to watch the looks and motions of the demigod or demJgod- defs, and fpoken to with a feverity of language feldom ufed to the horfes in the ftable, or the ■dogs in the kennel. No attendance, by night or by day, can be fufiicient. Such fuperior , beings cannot perform the mofl ordinary opera- tions of nature without afiiflance, which de- grades both the giver and receiver. They cannot put on their ovvn clothes ; but like eaftern tyrants, furrounded by Haves, flretch themfelvcs on the couch of indolence, while thetr fellow-creatures, equals by nature, . with trembling folicitude faften a button, or tie a fhoe-flring. The flighteil error, delay, ^r accident, draws down imprecations on the hea.d of the oiFender, more terrible than the anaihf* ■ jHias of a pope. ..,-,<., ..jr
- ' If the Utile Mogul affcifi: fpirit^ then he 'tate^ , in his ire, of horfewhips, kicking down Hair?, ' breaking every bone in the fkin of the wretched i3perator, who, as human nature is prone to error, may have deviated, in adjufting a cus].
OF DESPOTISM. I g -
from the ftandard of court propriety. When he has occafion to fpeak of one of his fervants, lie commonly fays, " one of my rafcals did this .^6v that ;" and when he fpeaks to them, efpe- ciatly on the flightefl negleft or millake, his cholcr breaks out into oaths, curfes, and epi- thets, expreffive of bitternefs and venom, for "l^hich language has not yet found adequate terms. The genius of Homer, which defcribed the wTath of Achilles, can alone paint in color biapk enough, the atrocity of the great man's ire. If it were not for that vulgar thing la-w, which, on fs>me occafions, makes no diflinc- tions, the great man would trample the little »|nan who has buckled his flios awry^ out of
rxiflence.
To maintain that accuracy of drefs and . fplendor of appearance, which fo fuperior a being thinks abfolutely neceiTary, certain vul- : gar people, called tradefmen, mufl inevitably be employed 5 and in this country of plebeian liberty, they will no more work for a nabob, or a rich cootra^lor, or a peer of the realm, "without payment, than for zFixnch fans culottes. .But woe betide them, if they have the infuf-^ ' ferable infolence to prefent their bills uncalled, though their fam/ilies are ftarving, and their landlords are ejecting them from their habita- tions. "The infolence of the rafcals! (ex- ^xiliims the great man), let them wait, let them ''call again, and think themfelves well off if I ■ ,(Jo not chaftife them with a horfewhip, or kick <-tbem down (lairs, for knocking at my door^
THE SPIRIT
196
and bringing bills witbout order. But, d*yc h^ar : pay the fcoundrels this time, and mind^ . I never deal with them any more I" Then follows a volley of oaths and ciirfes on the heads of all fuchblackguards, low-lived wretches, fcum of the earth, thieves, and pickpockets, that do not know how to keep their diftance, ; '^nd treat a gentle?na7t with due refpect. " Aye, ' (he adds), there we fee the fpirit of the times, the effe£l: of thefe curfed do£i:rines, which thofe 7mfcreants *, the philofophers, have broached, to the deftru£lion of all law, order, and religion, throughout Europe."
The middle rank of people, who rellde in rfeis vicinity, he takes no more notice of, than if they lived at the arftic or antar£i:ic pole. He keeps them at a diftance, becaufe, though '-not io rich as himfelf, yet claiming and fup- porting the rank of gentlemen^ they w^ould be Jikeiy to approach too near, and perhaps pre- fume upon fomething of an equality, not only by nature, but by felf-efteem and inftitution. He paiTes his next-door neighbors in his car- riage or on horfeback, in his daily rides, with- out condefcending to turn his eyes upon them. He does not recolle£l even their names. They may be very good fort of people, for any thing he knows to the contrary ; but really he has not the honor of knowing them. A defpdt will not bear a rival near his throne ; and
* Lord Auckland's expreffion, when fpeaking of mo- dern philofophers.
OF DESPOTISM. IQJ
dierefore he cannot bear any who, with infe-
:rior fortunes, might happen to equal him in
:fpirit, in fenfe, in behaviour, and in education.
But if there is any body in the neighborhood
very low indeed; fo low, as to be removed
^ixpm all poiTibility of claihing with his impol*-
^..lance, fuch an one he will make a Companion^
and fliew him moll marvellous marks of humi*
. ]ity and condefcenfion. Indeed, for the fake
of obtaining a little popularity, he will notice
cottagers^ and poor children at play, and make
,je;xtrem@ly free with clowns, jockies, grooms,
^Jiuntiinen, and all who have any thing to do
with dog and horfe flefli. But keep your dif-
itance, ye little fquires, parfons, and profef-
diional men,, who make faucy pretenfions to
.knowledge or ingenuity. However, he can
;l}.jever be at a lofs for company, while he and
his equals drive phaetons and four, to dine-
:with. each other at fifteen miles diflance, and
.while officers are quartered in the vicinity. He
.'^s: abjectly fervile to his fuperiors, infolent aftd
.3ELegle6lful to the middle ranks, and free and
*€^Y to the humble fons of poverty, who will
■ ^bear a volley of oaths whenever he thinks pro-
, ^per to dlfcharge them, and who, if fpit upon,,
I .^iil not fpit again, becaufe they are his work-
I §nen or tenants.
He who can eradicate fuch infolence from a- j aaeighbourhood, by treating it with the con- Itempt and ridicule which it deferves, certainly; ' contributes to the happinefs of fociety. It ijs
THE SPIRIT'
- ' ■ '. '^i ■■ - '
.confined in its fphere of a£kion ; but ft;' -B the Tame fort of defpotifm which ravages Poland j and dehiges the earth with human gore. In a free country like this, where law and libefty ■flourifli, it is a vulture in a cage, but ftill it is a vulture; and the little birds, to whom na- ture has given the free air to range in, ought to unite in endeavoring to deftroy it.
Does any fenfible man believe that fuch per- fons, if their power were equal to their will, %6uld fuffer freeholders of forty {hillings a- year, to vote for members of parliament ; or juries of twelve honed plebeians to decide in ftate trials, where minifters are anxious (as ^they value their places) for a verdict favor- ' able, to their adminiflration ? They would not permit, if they could help it, the middle : j-anks to breathe the common air, or feel the genial fun, which God has given to fhineiii- difcriminately on the palace and the cottage. 5;T^ey are as much enemies to kings as to 'the people, becaufe they would, if poffible, be kings themfelves ; but as that is impoffible, , they crouch, Hke fawning fpaniels, tothehatid . which has it in its power to throw them a boilfe.
This defcription of perfons is peculiarly for- .midable to liberty, becaufe they are infatiably greedy of power. From their order chiefly arife the purchafers of boroughs, in which they traiHc _on fpeculation, like dealers in hops, -de- 'te;rmined to re-fell their ccm.modity, as fboii-"Us they can, to the bell bidder. They are alfo
OF DESPOTISM. 19,9
of that hardened eiFrontery which puflies its ^jw^y to public employment, flands forward at £-Court, and, on all occafions, aflumes that im- Yportance, which, from the general diffidence ::of the better part of mankind, is but too ea- ^ly conceded to the mofl impudent pretenfions. ^jn confequence of this unblufliing aflurance, this arrogant, audacious prefumption, this ; hardened temper, which can bear repulfe ^,,without being abaflied or difpirited, they ..oftenell rife to the higheft pofts -, and fuch as tas^ould be pods of honor, if they were not jJUed by men who have not one quality of a beneficent nature, or which deferves the efleem of their fellow creatures. But though they thsLve no inclination to do good; they acquire *sjthe power, which they fail not to exercife, of ^yfio'mg much evil. They encourage arbitrary principles. They depreciate the people on all occafions ; and add weight and confidence to fithe ariftocratical confederacy. They may sibmetimes be men of parts. They are feldom ^tdeficient in the. graces of Lord Chefi:erfield, I But they are liard-hearted, felfiih wretches, attached to the childifii vanity of the w^orld, and preferring a title or a riband to the peace, ; the lives, the prpperty, and the liberty of their Y fellow-mortals ; all which they are ready to Y Sacrifice, even forthe i:Z?^;2rd'ofpleafing aprime .-miniiter, and obtaining fome bauble, which ^ijreafon ever defpifes, when it is not the badge "^f experienced virtue. *' One of thefe (fays
,200 . THE SPIRIT .
an old writer*) values being called His Grace,- or Noble Marquis," {unideal names as they are), *' more than a million of lives, provided that in fuch a general dellru6lion he can fave ONE ; and to confirm themfelves in their ill- gotten honors, they generally hatch plots, fuborn rebellions, or any thing that they think can create bufmefs, keep themfelves from being queflioned, and thin mankind, whereby they iofe fo many of their enemies."
* Samuel Johnfbn ; not \^ Lexicographer, whofe re- jigion was often Popifh fuperflition, and whofe loyalty the moft irrational Toryifm. I venerate his abilities ; but 'deteft his pohtics. He would have difplaced the Brunf- nvkk family for the Stuarts, if hi5 pow^ had kept pac!6 with his inclinations. - H ' '
m
OF DE^SPOTISM. ^20^
SECTION XXV, Of a Natural Arijiocracy.
JL^ OBILITY, accordiag to the idjea of the vulgar, both in high and low life5^is nothinof more than riches that have been a
o
long time 'm one family : but it often happens
-that riches have been originally gained and pre* ferved in one family by fordid avarice, by mean and diflioneft arts ; fuch arts as are utterly incompatible with true nobility, with fuperi- ority of intelle(5ls, united with generolity of dif- pofition. ■
Moil of the titles of nobility^ and other civil dillinflions, were taken from, war : as a mar- quis, a duke, a count, a baron, a landgrave, a knight, an efquire. The inventors of arts, the improvers of life, thofe who have mitigated evil and augmented the good allotted to men in this world, were not thought worthy of
fany titular diflin61:ions. The reafon is indeed fufficiently obvious : titles were originally be-
. flowed by defpotic kings, who required and rewarded no other merit but that which fup- ported them by violence in. their arbitrary rule. In fome countries they are now given, for the fame reafon s, to thofe who eife61: the fame
'^purpofes, not by war only, but by corrup- tion.
202 THE SPIRIT
_ Perfons thus raifed to civil honors, thus enriched by the long-continued favor of courts^ would v/illingly depreciate all dignity -which i'$ derived from God and virtue only, unindebtecl to patents royal. They would create an artifi- cial preference to a diilinguifhed few among the human race, which nature is for ever coun- terafting, by giving fuperior abilities to thofe who are puilied down among the defpifed and neglefled many. This condu6l is both unjuiV and unnatural. It cannot be favorable to human happinefs, becaufe it is adverfe to truth, and does violence to the will of God mani- fefted in the operations of nature. In France it was carried to that extreme which brought it to its termination. There is a tendencv to carry it to extremes in all countries where courts predominate. The friend of reafon and of man will therefore endeavor to convince the people, that an ariftocracy, founded on caprice or accident only, without any regard to fuperior abilities and virtues, is a fertile caufe of war^ and all thofe evils which infefl a grealf^i part of civil fociety.
That the best and ahlejl men fliould goveA the Avoril and weakeft, is reafonable : and this is the arlftocracy appointed by God and nature. But what do we mean when we fay the b^ and ableft men ? Do we mean men of tl^ie BEST families ; that is, men in whofe families riches and titles have long been confpicuous ? By the able*st men, do we mean men who*' pofiefs the greateft fower^ by undue influ-ence>
OF DESPOTISM. 203
in borough and county eledlions, though the exertion of that pozver be ftri6lly forbidden by the lav/ and conilitution ? Or do we mean men of honed, upright, and benevolent HEARTS ; of vigorous, well-informed, well- exercifed underilandings ? Certainly the latter fort, which forms the arlftocracy eftabliflied by God and nature. This is gold ; the king's head ftamped upon it may make it a guinea, .J'he other is only copper \ and though the fame tmpreiTion may be made upon it at the mint, iiis (till intrinfically worth no more than a half- penny.
But Mr. Burke has favored mankind with .^ defcription of what he calls a true natural arillocracy.
,, .The iirf!: requifite^^ according to him, is ^•Tq be bred in a place of ejiimation," Mr.
; ,)5urke is a good clalTical fcholar, and often .,]^Tites Latin in Engliilif* Place here is the
I Jatin LOCUS, which every polite fcholar has „Qbferved to fignify family. If I were to
^':anflate this little fentence Into Latin, I might venture to render it in this manner : te£/^(? pportet oriundus fit loco^—you mujl^ as the com- jjion people would exprefs it, be -^^ gentleman born. The accident oi. birth therefore is placed at the hea,d of the qualifications neceflary to give
f^ See Appeal fi*om the neiv to.\h.Q 0/ J Whigs, page
12^: '^ ■ ' ^ : - - ■;■■.-■
f Tims he ufes the word vast, Which the common
■^€ad€r nndcrftaRds very great, in its clailical fen^
^ defolate. Many other inllances might be gi^^n^w^j^Qq
2P4- "^^^ SPIRIT
a man pre-eminence in fociety. This doctrine is certainly confident with the whole tenor of the • book ; but whether it contributes to the general^ happinefs of mankind, or tends to the fpirit of defpotifm, let impartial obfervers determine. •■ Mr. Burke had faid a few lines before, fatis eji equitem mihi plaudere — " It is enough for'( me that gentlemen or nobles approve my doc- trine ;" and there is therefore little doubt but-f that he is fatisfied ; for their approbation mull' ' be fecured by opinions fo favorable to their importance in fociety, independently of labori- ous, virtuous, and z^/^z^/ exertion.
The next requijite is, " to see nothing low or fordid from one's infancy ;" that is, to be kept at a diflance from the fwinilli multitude, fo as' not to know thofe wants which it is the bufi-« nefs of fuperiors, or of a natural ariftocracy^ ^ to fupply or alleviate.
The third requifite is, " to be taught to re^ fped onefelf,^^ This feldom requires any great-^ teaching among perfons who have the two pre-^ ceding requifttes. Pride and felfifhiiefs are th^ • very principles of defpotifm.
The fourth requijite to natural ariflocracy^^ ** is to be habituated to the cejiforial infpedtion of the public eye.'' Yes ; fo habituated as to be hardened by effrontery, and to fay that a king holds his crown"^ in contempt of the people-^ and, fatis efi equitem mihi plaudere^ which may- be rendered, paraphrafticaiiy, " I care nothing
* Mr. J3urke's dodrinc
OF DESPOTISM. ^OC
for the peopled cenforial eye or tongue, if the GREAT honor me with their appkufe, for de- fending th^ir exclufive privileges from being trodden under the hoof of the fwinilh multi- tude."-
I pafs over fome very proper requifites^ to proceed to the laft. The laft is, '' to be among RICH traders, v^ho, from their success, arc prefumed to have jharp and vigorous under- ftandings, and to poiTefs the virtues of diligence, orderj conftancy, and regularity, and to have cultivated an habitual regard to commutative \ juilice. — Thefe are the circumftances of mxn who form v^^hat I ihouid call a natural ariilo- cracy, without which there is no nation. Without this," (the writer intimates in a few fubfequent lines), "he cannot recognize the i'^//?^;2r^ of the PEOPLE."
. Refpe6ting Mr. Burke greatly, as I do, and agreeing with him in many particulars in this very palTage, I cannot help thinking that he has laid too much flrefs on riches and birth^ in pointing out the men intended by nature to take the lead in all human affairs, and to form what he calls a true natural ariftocracy.
Nam genus et proavos et qux nonfeclmus tpji Vix ea noftra voco.
I think it injurious to fociety and mankind at large, to laviih honors and confer power on accidental qualities, which may exiil: in tlieir greateil degree and perfeftion without the lead particle pf perfonal merits without wifdom ot
2o6 '^^E SPIRIT
benevolence. It difcourages induftry. It flifles ail virtuous emulation. It makes riches tke grand objeft of purfuit ; not for their own in-f trinfic value, not for their power of fupplying- Tieceffaries, and even luxuries, but for the poli* ileal confequence they beflow, independently of the mode of acquifition or expenditure. I would have no idolatry. God has ihewn his pecu-, liar indignation againft it. I would not worfhip a calj^ though a golden one. Kings log, and Gods made of (locks and flones, can only com- mand reverence from, men really funk to a flatC: helow the fwine.
I know Lord Bolingbroke's doftrines of liberty are difiiked, by thofe who fee their own confequence increafmg in the increafmg fpirit of defpotifm. But I will cite a paifage from him, which may counterbalance the fervile- ideas Vv'hich fome men entertain of the ariilo- cracy confLituted by nature*
" It feems to me, (fays he), that in ordor- to maintain the moral fyflem of the world at a certain point, far below that of ideal perfedion;^, but -however iufficient upon the whole to con-> flitute a ftate eafy and happy, or, at the wor%; tolerable ; I fay, it feems to mie, that th€| Author of Nature has thought fit to mingle.^- from time to time, among the focieties of meny a few, and but a few, of thofe, on whom hf^r is gracioully pleafed to bellow a larger portiontt' of the astherial fpirit, than is given, in thot ordinary courfe of his providence, to the fonSj' of mem*** '
OF DESPOTISM. 20 7
'* You will find that there are fuperior fpi- rits, men who ihew, even from their infancy, though it be not always perceived by others, perhaps not felt by themfelves, that they were born for fomething more and better. Thefe are the men to whom the part I mentioned is affigned. Their talents denote their general dejignation,
" I have fometimes reprefented to myfelf the VULGAR, who are accidentally diftinguiilied by the titles of king and subject, of lord and VASSAL, of nobleman and peafant ; and the FEW who are diilinguifbed by nature fo effentially from the herd of m.ankind, that /(figure apart) they feem to be of another fpe- :Cies. The former loiter or trifle away their Whol^ time ; and their prefence or their abfence would be equally unperceived, if caprice or accident did not raife them often to Jiations^ wherein their flupidity, and their vices, make them a public misfortune. The latter come into the world, or at leafl continue in it, after the effe^ls of furprife and inexperience are over, like men who are fent on more import- ant errands. They may indulge themfelves in pleafure ; but as their induflry is not employed about trifles, fo their amufements are not made the bufmefs of their hves. Such men cannot pafs unperceived through a country. If they retire from the world, their fplendor accompa- nies them, and enlightens even the obfcurity of their retreat. If they take a part in public life, the eiFe.6t is, aever indifferent. They either
2o8 THE SPIRIT
appear like miniilers of divine vengeance ; and their courfe througli the world is marked by defolation and oppreffion, by poverty and fer- Titude y or they are the guardian angels of the country they inhabit, busy to avert even the mofh diftant evil, and to maintain or procure PEACE, plenty, and the greatefl of human bleilings, liberty."
Such men, v/hen they take the latter courfe, and become the guai'dian angels of the country they inhabit, are the ar'iftocracj appointed by God and nature. Such men, therefore, flioula be felefted by kings for civil honors, and pub- lic funflions of high importance. If kings "were republicans in the proper fenfe, all the people v/ould be royalifts. But when brilliant honors and minifl:erial employments are be- llowed on fools and knaves, becaufe they were begotten by anceflors whom they difgrace, or poflefs riches which they abufe, government . becomes a nuifance, and the people feel an arif- iocracy to be little better than an automaton ma* thine^ for promoting the purpofes of royal or
MINISTERIAL dcfpotifm.
OF DESPOTISM. 209
SECTION XXVI.
he excefftxe Love of DiftinBion and Power which prevails wherever the Spirit of Def- potifm ex'i/is^ deadens fome of the jineji FeeU ings of the Hearty and coimterads the Laws of Nature*
An a iyftem of manners, wBich ren- ;iders the poffelTion of riches more honorable than the poffeiTion of virtue, which attaches a , degree of merit to hereditary rank and nominal ^diftinftions, above all that perfonal exertions *can poilibly acquire, the natural ideas of right and wrong are confounded ; and man, become a depraved, artificial animal, purfues pre-emi- nence in fociety, by counterading nature^ as well as by violating juilice. r.. That he counter afts nature^ under fuch a i^fliera, will be evident, on confidering the J)refent ftate of conjugal union among thofe who appear to place the chief good of man in riches, fplendor, title, power, and courtly diflinctions. Love is every day facrinced, by the loveliefl of the fpecies, on the altar of
PRIDE.
The fine fenfibilities of the heart, if fuffered
to influence the choice of a companion for life,
might lead to family degradation. " Nature,
I > then, avaunt (exclaims Ariftocracy). Love is
a vulgar paiTion. The fimpleil damfel^^ that
T 2.
!^XO THE SPIRIT
flumbers under the roof of ilraw, feels it in all its ardor. Daughter, you have nobler obje^U than mere nature prefents. Remember your birth. You mufl make an alliance v/hich may aggrandize the family, which may add title to our riches, or new brilliancy to our title."
In vain have the Loves and the Graces mould* cd her fhape and face with the nicefl fymmetry. In vain has art added her fineil polifti to the Work of nature. Poor Iphigenia mufl be fa- criiiced. Her heart, peradventure, has chofen its mate, and happy would fhe be, if (he could renounce all the embarraiTments of high for- tune, and emulate the turtle-dove of the vale.. But no ; file mufl not tell her love. Perhaps the obje<5l of it is only 2,cG?nmo7ier\ perhaps he is only a younger brother ; perhaps he has lit- tle to recommend him but youth, beauty, honor, and virtue. He cannot keep her an equipage. He has no manfion-houfe. Yet^ her heart inclines to him, and both God and nature approve her choice ; but neither her heart, nor God, nor nature, will be heard^ when pride and aridocratical infolence Hft up their imperious voice, and command her to re- member her rank, and keep up the family ^ dignity.
Lord ***** is introduced as a fuitor, under the father's authority. Lord ***** influencef « five or fix boroughs, and the jun£i:ion of fuch an inter eft with that of the family mufl, in-all I human probability, fecure .#i riband, and perr- haps a marqnifate.
OF despotism; 21 r
His lordfhip is ten years older than poor Iphigenia. His life has been fpent, from in- fancy, in the midfl of luxuries and pleafures, to fpeak of it in the foftefl: terms. He has a lively juvenile pertnefs about him ; but his face is that of of an old man^ — pale, or rather yel- ,:low, except his nofe, which is decorated with ,m fettled rednefs, and his forehead, which is SfTariegated with carbuncles. Several of his front teeth are gone, having been facrificed to Venus by the god Mercury. His breath- — ye poets, bring your rofes, your noneyfuckles, your jafmines' — not for comparifon — ^but, if poiTible, to drown the ftench which, while he folicits Iphigenia's hand, is like that which ilTues from a putrid carcafe, or the apertures of a boghoufe. Nothing oifeniive, however, oozes from his neck, the deep holes of the king's evil having lately been completely cica- trized by a ikiiful quae doftor, as a meafure preparatory to his approaching nuptials.
Behold, then, the fuitor, alighting from a high phaeton, beautifully adorned with coats of eirms, not only on the fides and back, but on the lining, drawn hj four cream-coloured ponies, and followed by two fine figures of men in white liveries, with horfes richly capari- foned, and difplaying, in every part, where it is poiTible, coronets of filver.
Iphigenia appears delighted at the honor of his propofal, though her heart, when {he re- clines on her pillow, feels a pang of regret which no language can defcribe. The ilruggie
212 THE SHRI1*,
betweea love and pride is violent ; but it palle? •in fecret. She hears of nothing among h^ companions, but of the great alliance fhe i^ going to make with an ancient and illuflrious, family. Splendid manfions, glittering carri- ages, birth-day dreiTes, flit before her imagi- nation. Above all, the delightful idea that ilie ihall take precedence of thofe who now think themfelves her equals and fuperiors, dif- pels every thought of love. As to the man^ the huiband, he is fcarcely confidered at all,, or he muft be conlidered Vv^ith difguft. But his title, his houfe in town, his manfions and parks in the country, his parliamentary interefi, the favor in which he flands at court, the bril- liant appea.rance he makes in the realms of -faihion ; thefe, added to a father's influence, determine Iphigenia at once to forget the objed of her love, and give her hand to deformity, difeafe, putrefcence, and folly. She m.arries : the family eflates and iefluence are united, and the battered, worn-out bridegroom becomes,, in time, a Marquis.
The puny offspring of fuch connubial alii-* ances are trained in the fame idolatrous vene- ration of rank, title, and grandeur; and wo man,. formed to love and be loved, facrifices her hap- pinefs to family pride, and lives and dies a legal proilitute, without once tafliing the exqui-. lite and natural delight of virtuous, equal, ancj fmcere affeftion. — Taught from the cradle to believe herfelf a fuperior being, {he is cheated of the happinefs which falls to the lot of thofe.
OF DESPOTISM. 2 I 3
who view their fellow-creatures as one great family, and are not too proud to partake of the common banquet of life, and to choofe a part- 7ier like the turtle of the vale.
Now mark the confequence. In no rank of fociety is conjugal happinefs more rarely found than amonp; thofe who have imbibed mod copi- oufly the ariftocratical principles of felfifh pride. The prefent age abounds with public and noto- rious inllances of infelicity of this fort in the highefl ranks of foci ety. It v/ould be painful to dwell upon them. I drop a tear of pity on the lovely vi£l:ims to defpotiiin, and let the cur- tain fall.
But furely that degree of pride, nurfed by ill-conflru^led fyflem^s of fociety , which leads to the violation of the firfl law of nature, and produces mifery of the feverefl: kind ought to be difgraced and reprobated by all who have hearts fufficiently tender to fympathize with the fuiferings of their fellow-mortals. Love, and the natural affedlions between human creatures, are the fweet ingredients which Providence has thrown into the cup of life, to fweeten the bit- ter beverage. And that ftate of fociety, which diverts man of his nature, which renders him a faftitious creature, which hardens his heart with felfilhnefs, and fwelis him with the morbid tumors of vanity, deferves execration. It increafes all the natural mifery of man, and withholds the anodyne.
Something may be faid in exciife for the more amiable patt of the fpecies, when they difcard
2 14 THE SPlRlt' '
love from their bofoms to indulge pride. Their haughty fathers too often inculcate the lefTon of pride from the earlieil infancy ; and teach them;: to think nothing really beautiful and lovely, which is not marked by fafhion, or varniihed by titles, riches, and hera.ldic honors. The ■men in general fet them the example. They laviili their love on the courtezan, and follow prudence in the choice of a wife ; that is, theyi feek not a heart that beats in unifon with their;, own, but a legal connection which increafes their fortune, or aggrandizes their fituation. A marriage of love, at a.n age when the heart is mofi prone to it, is confidered as a folly and a misfortune, unlefs it advances the man in;: fociety. The women learn to retaliate, and to • give their hands without their hearts ; grati- fying pride at the expence of love. : When truth, juflice, reafon, and nature arc i little regarded, in competition with the desire > of diftindioriy which is the cafe wherever the i fpirit of defpotifm has infmuated itfelf, all true and folid happinefs will be facrificed for the appearance of fuperiority in birth, in polTeiTions^ in houfes and carriages, and above all, in court favor. The tendered ties of confanguinity> affinity, and friendfliip, fnap afunder when op-/ pofed to the force of any thing which is likely to contribute to perfonal fplender or family pride, political confequence, influence at elec- tions, and finally, to the honors conferred by royalty. The little afpirants at fubordinte degrees of defpotifm, are continually crawling
OF DESPOTISM. 215
up the hill, ever looking at the brilliant object on the fummit, and leaving below, all that love and nature teach them to embrace.
From this principle, unnatural as it is, arifes th€ anxious defuse of ariflocratical bigots to make^ as they exprefs it, an eldest son; to flarve, or at leafl to diflrefs, a dozen fons and daughters, in order to leave behind them one great reprefentative, who may continue to toil in the purfuit of civil pre-eminence, for the gratification of family pride. The privileges of primogeniture eflablilh petty defpots all over the land, who are interefled, and fufEciently inclined, from pride as well as intereft, to pro- mote the fpirit of defpotifm. They would have no objection to the feudal fyflem, in which the only diftinftion was that of lords and vaffals. Not contented' with engroffing the property which ought to be fliared among their brothers and fiflers, they claim privileges in confequence of their property, and would appropriate the birds of the air and the beads of the forefl for their recreation in the field, and their luxury at the table.
When the laws of nature, and eternal truth and juilice, are violated, no wonder that def- potifm advances, and man is degraded.
2l6 THE SPIRIT
SECTION XXVII.
On the Opinion that the People are annihilated or abf orbed in Parliament ; that the Voice t)f the People is no where to be heard but in Parliament ; and on Jimilar Dodrinesy iend^ ing to depreciate the People,
A HERE is no doclrine fo abfurd> but pride and felfiilinefs v/ili adopt and main^ tain it with obflinacy, if it be conducive to their i gratification. Alexander, it is faid, really be- lieved hinifelf a god. The vileil of the Csefars demanded divine honors. Many inftances are.^ on record of wretched beings, with hardly any 'I thing worthy of 7na7i about them, forgetting, in . confequence of a little elevation above others^: that they were mortals; behaving with the. wickednefs and cruelty of devils, and at the fame time arrogating the power and dignity of the celeflial nature. It is related of Hanno, ; the Carthaginian, that he taught darlings to fay " Deus Hanno* ;'^ and that when a very large number had learned their leiTon, he turn- , ed them loofe into the woods, hoping that they would teach the wild beads on the trees to re- ' peat the fame words, and that thus the divinity.) of Hanno might be wafted into the remotefl : regions, and become the worihip of the uni-..f verfe. Such condu<51: appears to refemble the
* Hanno is a God, %
I
OF DESPOTISM. 217
tke ravings of the poor lunatic, who crowns himfelf, as he fits in his defolate cell, with a crown of flraw, and imagines, while he fways a fceptre of the fame materials, that he is an emperor. But in truth, the pride of defpots, I mean thofe who have all the difpofitions of defpots, though they may not have the diadems, difplays many of the fymptoms of downright lunacy. Pride is allowed by the phyficians to have a powerful efFe<5l in turning the brain y and though it may not always fit the unhappy fuffei'er for Bedlam, yet commonly renders him unfit for the ofiices of focial life.
Shocking as madnefs is, it fometimes behaves in a manner which turns pity into laughter. Can any thing be more ridiculous, than the in- folence of fome perfons, who, having adopted high arilLOcratical notions, to correfpond with their high birth, high titles, and high rank^ declare that they know not what is meant hf the people out of parliament ; that they do not acknowledge the political exiilence of the peo- ple, but on the benches of St. Stephen's cha* pel ? Individuals of low degree they may know^ and employ in their fervice, but they know nothing of the people, as millions of men, pof- ieffing rights or power. " The tonflitutiou (fay they) knows nothing of the people confi-* dered as individuals." King, lords, and com- mons conilitute tlie nation ; but what is meant by the people they cannot divine. A mob. ■ they know, and would always have them dif- perfed hj the military, as foon as two or three
V
2l8 .^THE toRIT
aire gathered together ; but the people, as a" parf of the conflitution, they never could dif- cover. ^
Mr. Burke, the great Coryphaeus of arifto- cracy, fays, " As a people can have no right to a corporate capacity without univerfal confent^ fo neither have they a right to hold exclufively any lands in the name and title of a corporation* On the fcheme of the prefent rulers in our neighboring country, regenerated as they are, they have no more right to the territory called France than I (Edmund Burke) have. Who are thefe infoknt men^ calling themf elves the French nation^ that would monopolize -thisi fair domain of nature ? Is it becaufe they fpeak a certain ja.rgon ? Is it their mode of chattering J i'he crowd of men on the other fide of the Channel, who have the impudence to call them- J^ft'^/. ^ tPEOPLE, can never be the lawful exclufive poiTeiTors of the foil." How truly laughable to hear an individual, Mr. Edmund Burke, taxing twenty-fix millions of human creatures with impudence, for prefuming to^ call themfelves a people! I mufl fmile a^^ fuch abfurdity, while I fmcerely lament thaf this ingenious man has milTed the opportunity;, of raifmg his family to the peerage, the grand objeft of fo many years indefatigable labor, by^ a lofs never to be repaired, and in which every^ feeling heart mull fympathize. Ambition^ what art thou to the feelings of a father, a^\ claiming, like David, " O Abfalom, my fon^ my fon !" The great teacher Death fliews the
OF DESPOTISM. 219
laftity of all human afpirations at fubl unary glory* He who loles a fon in the prime of life and the career of honor, may learn to weep over the thoufands, whofe dearefl relatives have been cut oiF by the fword of war, in con- fequence of doctrines which he maintained by a gaudy difplay of his eloquence, without fore- feeing or regarding the calamities they had a tendency to produce.
The fubtle writer goes on and obferves, that *' When the multitude (from the context he means a majority of the people) are not under the habitual focial difcipline of the wifer, more expert, and more opulent^ they can fcarcely I be faid to be in civil fociety .».. When you feparate the common fort of men from their pro? per chieftains, fo as to form them into aa adverfe army, I no longer know that venerable objed called the people, in fuch a difbanded ^ce of deferters and 'vagabonds. For awhile they may be terrible indeed ; but in fuch ;a- manner as wild bealls are terrible. The mind 6wes to them no fort of fubmiffion. They are, as they have always been reputed, rebels. They may lawfully he fought with and kr ought under ^ whenever an advantage oiFers.'* ?^ What gave rife to thefe elucidations he has tfcld us a few pages before. " The factions now fo bufy amongft us, in order to divelf men of all love of their country and to remove from their minds all duty with regard to the ftate, endeavor to propagate an opinion that toe PEOPLE, in forming their commonwealth^.
^20 tHE SPIRIT
have by no means parted with their power over f/ /'' Horrendufn didu J
" Difcufs any of their fchemes — their anfwer is — it is the a(5t of the people, and that is fuf- ficient ! — The people are mailers of the com- monwealth; becaufe in fubftance they are the tommon wealth ! The French revolution, fay they, was the a£l of the majority of the people ; and if the majority of any other people, the people of England for inflance, wiihto make the fame change, they have the fame right. — - Jnil the fame, undoubtedly. That is, nons
AT ALL."
Such is the doclrine of this warm partifan to ^iriftocratical dilLin<ftion. But what fay feven or eight millions of good people, who wifli nothing, in their interference in politics, but ro fecure and extend their own happinefs, and to make ail others happy within the Spheres of their influence ? Let them fay w^hat they pleafe, their remonflrance mufl: not be heard. They are political iion-eniities ; they are, as pride commonly calls inferiors in private life, NOBODY, or people whom nobody knows.
But now comes the tax-gatherer. Thefe non-entities mud: find real tangible money to pay for the falaries of places, to pay penfions, and the interefc of money advanced for the waging of wars, faid to be in defence of law, order, and religion. It will not do to plead that they have no political exiflence. A very confiderable part of their property, the pro- duce of their labor, mull be annually paid for
OF DESPOTISM. 22 f
V die fupport of thofe who have the eiFrontery to fay they are not mfihle^ as a majority of indi- r£:3Viduals, in the eye of the conflitution.
At a general election, would any candidate •ribr a considerable city or county dare to advance 5;fuch opinions refpe6ling the infigniiicance, or ^^ rather non-exiflence, of the people, as have ;;":l)een advanced by borough members, in their '5ffeeal for power and prerogative? The P^o/?/^ would deny the dodtrine with a voice loud enough to filence the mod obftreperous de- " claimer.
Mr. Burke will make no new converts to
this opinion. The Tory party had adopted it,
n-i^reviouily to the inilru6i:ion of their fanguine
ifiadvocate. It was always one of their principles.
'The people themfelves will certainly reprobate
ideas which lead to their politicxil aTtnihilation^
in every refpect, but in the privilege of contri-
t'buting to?the public revenue. But one cannot
^be furprifed at any wild alTertions of a man who
e£ writes under the impulfe of paffion.. Anger,
;4nfkmed by mortified pride, feems to animate
almofl every/ fentence of his late invective.
And what are we to think of the whigism of
one, who^ in the commencement of the alarm
concerning French t principles, is faid : to have
- propofed to Mr. Fox to join together (thefe are
«-the very words of the propofal) in " frown-
^-IKG DOWN THE DOCTRINES OF LIBERTY*.'*
The propofer muft have no fmail opinion of
*' See Mr. Wyvill's Letter to Mr. Pitt, page io8..
U 2
22 2 THE SPIRIT
himfelf, when he imagined that, affifled by cM more, he QO^A^i frown down the doBrines of liberty, Jupiter fliook Olympus with, a nod ; and Burke was to difcountenance liberty, and annihilate the political exifience of a people, with a FROWN.
Divifum imperlum cum Jov€, Burkus Iiabet.
I revere the private virtues of the man. I feel and admire his excellence as a writer. I de- plore the miflake which has led him to gratify the few in power, at the expence of millions of his fellow-creatures, who . would have re-, joiced in fuch an advocate againil the influence of the defpotic fpirit. Imperial power has means enough to maintain itfelf. Genius ftiould ever efpoufe the caufe of liberty, and of thofe^ who have no Handing armies, no treafury, no tribe of dependents, nothing to ftand their friend, but a good caufe, which, in a corrupt ilate of fociety, is too often defeated by a bad one.
May the people, in all climates which the fan views in his daily progrefs, prove their po- litical exifience by their public virtue ! May defpots learn to fear the power of thofe whofe happinefs they have dared to deftroy. In our own country, we have a king who rules in the hearts of his people, and who would therefore be the firfl to reje£i: the doctrines of Mr. Burke, which tend to fmk the people, as a majority of individuals, into a ftate of infigni- ficance. May the people claim and prefervc
OF DESPOTISM. 223
.their rights, in defiance of all overruling influ- "^cnce, and all fophiflieal declamation. But let •them purfue their philanthropic ends with jfteady coolnefs. Let them refpe6i: themfelves, and a£l: confidently with their dignity. Let not a fingle drop of blood be flied, nor a fingle mite of property unjufi:ly feized, in correcting abufes, and recovering rights. Let them pafs a glorious a£l: of amnefly, and generoufly for- give the Pitts, the Burkes, the Loughboroughs, the Aucklands, the Mansfields, the Wynd- hams ; proving to an admiring world, that a great people can be gentle and merciful to frail, erring individuals, whik it explodes their errors, and calmly evinces^, by virtuous ener- gies, its own political emjlence and fupreme authoritj.
2 24 '^^^ SPIRIT
SECTION XXVIII.
The fajhionahle Contempt thrown on Mr, Locke, and his Writings in Favor of Liberty ; and on other Authors and Books efpoufing the fame Caufe,
X T is an infallible proof of great abi- lities in a writer who efpoufes the caufe of the people, when he is cavilled at, written againft, and condemned by the perfons whofe defpotic principles he has endeavored to expofe and refute. It is a fign that he has touched them to the quick, and left a fore place, the fmart of which is continually urging them to mur- mur. Their aiFe£led derilion and contempt of. him are but tranfparent veils to hide the wri-- things of their tortured minds ; an awkward mafque to cover the ugly features of impotent, revenge, flruggling, through pride, to conceal, the painful emotions of rage.
It is amufing to obferve what mean and little - arts are ufed by thefe angry perfons, to lower the character of any writer, whofe arguments they cannot refute. They hire a venal tool to write his hfe and crowd it with every falfehood' and calumny which party malice can invent, . and popular credulity diifeminate. They re- late, without examination into a fmgle fa(5i:, and decide, without the fmallefl attention tO' candor or juflice. The man is to be hunted/
^F DESPOTISM. 225
down. The minifler and his creatures cry- havoc, and let ilip the vermin of corruption. The nev^fpapers, in daily paragraphs, difcharge the venom of abufe on his name. Venal cri- tiques pour their acrimonious cenfure, in general terms, on his compofitions, which they couid not equal, and dare not examine with impar- tiality. Nicknames are faftened on him ; and whenever he is fpoken of, all additions of re- fpe(^ are omitted, and, in their place, fome familiar and vulgar abbreviation of his chriflian name is ufed to vilify his furname. Poor arti- fices indeed ! for while they expofe the malice and weaknefs of thofe who ufe them, they leave the arguments and doctrines of the writer rather confirmed than ihaken by an attack fo feeble. ,
It is not furprifmg, indeed, that coienifo- rary writers in favor of the people, whatever their abilities, and however convincing their arguments, are treated with affected contempt, as often as they excite real admiration. Envy alv\^ays (Irikes at living merit. The policy of the afpirants at arbitrary power unites Vv^ith envy, to deprefs all who are rifmg to public efteem by perfonal exertion, by their own virtue, in- dependently of court patronage and hereditary dillin^tion. But it might be fuppofed that departed genius, elevated, by the confpiring voice of nations, to the highefl rank, Vv-ould be furrounded with a fanctity which would defend it from profanation. It is not fo. The love of power, in the hearts of mean and felfilK
2 26 THE SPIRIT
men, acknowledges no reverence for genius. It has no reverential feelings beyond the pur- lieus of a court. The falfe brilliancy of what is called high and falhonable life, is preferred by it to the permanent luftre of all folid per- lonai virtue.
Mr. Locke, therefore, one of the chief glo- ries of Englilh hterature, is to be depreciated, for he wrote on the fide of liberty. PoiTeiling rtofcn in greater perfection than mofl men, he naturally inclined to efpoufe the caufe of MAN, without confining his regard to thofe Vyho boalfed adventitious honors, the fentaflic diilinctions of birth, or the fortuitous advan- tages of fortune. Thefe are few, compared with the millions who conititute the mafs of a commonwealth. His underflanding, greatly elevated above the ordinarv flandard, clearlv faw, that the purpofes of real philanthropy can be accompiiihed folely by improving the condition of the many. Thes muil be taught to know and value their rights. They mud learn to reverence themfelves, by feeling their importance in focietv. Such an improvement of their minds will lead them to a£t coniift- entiy with their dignity as rational creatm-es, and as members of a commiunity v. hich they love, and the welfare of v»"hich they find ta depend on their ov^ii virtue.
Mr. Locke was certainly flimidated to write his book on government by thefe philofophical and philanthropic ideas. In purfuance of thofe ideas, he wilhed to fupport, by doctrines favor-
OF DESPOTISM. 227
able to general liberty, the Revolution. Let us attend to his own words in his Preface. " Thefe papers, (fays he), I hope, are fuf- ficient to eflablifh the throne of our great Reflorer, our prefent King William ; to make good his title, in the consent of the peo- ple, which, BEING THE ONLY ONE OF ALL
LAWFUL GOVERNMENTS, he has more fully and clearly than any prince in Chriftendom ; and to juftifyto the world the people of En- gland, whofe love of their jufl and natural rights, with their refolution to preferve them, faved the nation when it was on the very brink of flavery and ruin."
Mr. Locke's book then tends dire6lly to ftrengthen the foundation of the throne on which the prefent royal family is feated. It is equally favorable to the king and the people. Yet becaufe it is at all favorable to the people and the general caufe of liberty, it is the faihion, in the ariflocratical circles, to revile it. It is faid to contain the elements of thofe doc- trines which the philofophers of France have dilated, which gave independence to America, and rendered France a repubhc. It is faid, very unjufdy, to contain the feminal principles of Mr. Paine's matured and expanded tree. Mr. Locke, therefore^ the great defender of the Revolution and of King William, is repro- bated by Tory courtiers, and numbered, by the afpirants at enormous pov»'er and privileges, to which they have no juit and natural claim,
2 28 THE SPIRIT -
among Lord Auckland's " mifcreants called philofophers^^
Men who undertake to defend jaijy: thing contrary to the common fenfe and common interefl of mankind, ufually hurt the fide they intend to defend, by promoting a difcujjion^ and calling forth common fenfe, excited by the common interefl, , to defend its own caufe. Thus Sir Robert Filmxr's book gave rife both to Sydney's and Locke's defence of liberty. Thus Mr. Burke's Reflexions on France drew forth Mr. Paine's Rights of Man, in which is much excellent matter, mingled with a blame- able cenfure of limited monarchy. Thus Sal- maiius's mercenary inve^iiive againfl: the repub- licans of England in the iaft century, provoked the great Milton, fcarcely lefs eloquent in profe than in poetry, to defend the right of the people of , England to manage, in their own country their own concerns, according to their own judgment and inclination.
Milton and Locke are great names on the fide of liberty. But Milton has been treated contemptuoufly; and fome have fliewn ji fpirit illiberal enough to detrad from his poetry in revenge for his politics. His lafl biographer, Dr. Johnfon, who had many early prejudices which his moil vigorous reafon could not to. ^ the lad fubdue, was, by early prejudice, a violent Tory ancl Jacobite. I think there is reafon to believe, that he would have been eafily made a convert to popery. I venerate
OF DESPOTISM. 2 29
iiis abilities and virtues; but I cannot help remarking, that his high-church and high-pre- rogative principles led him to fpeak lefs honor- ably of Milton than he mufl have done if he had viewed him through a medium undifco- lored. Milton was a greater man than John- fon ; and though I think he went too far in his hatred to monarchy and epifcopacy, yet, in extenuation, let it be confidered how much monarchy and epifcopacy had been abufed in his time, and how much more friendly to free- dom they both are in our happier age. Milton difcovered a noble fpirit of independence, and his writings contain fome of the fined: paffage^ that ever were written in vindication of civil liberty. They contributed to raife that fpirit which afterwards produced our happy revolu- tion; and I have no doubt but that Mil ton would have rejoiced under a li?nited monarchy* It is to writings and to a fpirit like his mankind are indebted for the limitation. If honeil and able minds hke Milton's had not appeared on the part of the people, it is probable that no fuch thing as a limited monarch would have been found on the face of the earth; and the family now on the Britifli throne, would have been known only in the petty dynailies of the German empire.
Free fpirits are therefore to be pardoned in fbme errors, which the propenfity of human nature to err muil ever render venial; and the general tendency of their writings to make the
X
2 20" THE SPIRIT
mafs of mankind free ^na Uzppy,'^biig\iii6 fecure attention to their doctrines, and honor to their names. The enemies to the fpirit of defpotifm have feen, with pain, the attempts to leiTen thefe great men in the eyes of the world extended to writers of lefs renown, but of more recent date. They have feen men, good me?i in private life, and phiiofophers, whofe difcourfes and letters have gained the notice and efteem of every enlightened country, re- proached, vilified, perfecuted, and almoil de- ftroyed, becaufe, in confequence of that fine underflanding which had done fo much in phi- iofophy, they made fome difcoveries in politics which muft for ever militate powerfully againfl the fpirit of defpotifm. Voltaire, RoufTeau, Raynal, Price, Prieflley, Paine, however dif- ferent their chara6lers, attainments, and abili- ties, are all vilified together , (becaufe they have written admirably on the fide of liberty), all involved in one indifcriminate torrent of oblo- quy. The partifans of unlimited power would perfuade us, not only that they were knaves, but fools. Some of them have very exceptionable pafiages in their works; but where they treat of civil liberty, they plead the caufe of human nature^ They have not pleaxled it unfuccefsfully. Political artifices cannot fiifie truth and commion fenfe.
The independent part of mankind, who de- tefi: parties and faction, and mean nothing but the happinefs of their fellow-creatures, will do
OF DESBOTISM. 23 I
well to be upon their guard againfl the mifre- prefentations of thofe who would vilify a Locke, a Milton, a Sydney. Let them read and judge r,|br themfelves. The men who are anxious to withhold or extinguiih the light, may fairly be fufpedled of intending to do evil.
^9'^ "^HE SPIRIT
SECTION XXIX*
Of the Defpmifm of Influence.; while th^ Fcrms of a free Conftitution are prefewed. -'
A HE words of a great lawyer, in-f ftrucling the youth of a nation at a celebrated univerfity, mufl: be fuppofed to be well confi- dered. Biackflone, the grave commentator^ after expatiating on the advantages derived from the Revolution, proceeds to remark, that " though thefe provifions have ncminally and iai appearance^ reduced the ilrength of the execu-. tive power to a much lower ebb than in the preceding period; yet if, on the other hand, we throw into the oppofite fcale the vafl acqui- fition of force arifmg from the riot act, and the annual expedience of a standing army; and the vaft acquifition of personal attach-. MENT, arifmg from the magnitude of thc^^ national debt^ and the manner of levying thofe^ yearly millions that are appropriated to pay^ the intereft ; we fliall find that the Crown has^ gradually and imperceptibly gained almofl as. much influence as it has apparently lofl iu] prerogative." ,|
Bhickftone, confidently with the habits o£^ liis profeiTion, expreifed himfelf cauticuily^j He fays the Crown has gained alinofi as mucli^, influence as it has apparently lofl in preroga- tive. There are m.en of great political judg-|
OF DESPOTISM. 233
ment who think that it has gained more. The Houfe of Commons has, in an aufpiciom hour, refolved, and it can never be too often repeated, that the influence of the crown has increafed, is increafmg, and ought to be dimi- niflied. Influence is more dangerous than pre- rogative. It is a fubtle poifon that a£l:s unfeen. Prerogative can be reflded, as a robber j but; . influence is 'as an aflaflin.
Lord Bolingbroke tells us, that " we have lofl: the fpirit of our conftitution ; and therefore we bear, from little engroflers of delegated , povv'-er, what our fathers would not have fuf=. fered from true proprietors of the royal autho-
'^ ' S lien ' • niggeftions . are certainly alarming^ They come from high authority, and are abun" • dantly confirmed by recent tranfa^lions. The magnitude of the national debt, and the fliare that almoft every family in the kingdom, di- rectly or indireftly, pofleiTes in the public funds, . contribute, more than all other caufes, to in«
1 d^eafe the influence of the Crown among the iftafs of the people. But the debt is flill in-
i d^aflng, in confequence of v/ar. Property ii\';
■ the funds is flill more widely diiFufed ; the in- fluence, in confequence, more extended. Li- berty may be more efle£lualiy invaded by the influence oithcjiocks^ than it ever was invaded, ^ in the days of the Stuarts, by the a.bufe. q|V' prerogative. ll^'^fil.
" We are happy in a king, who, m.aking tfre - happihefs of the people his iinl cbjeclj cerV-
^234 '- tkIl spirit
tainly WQuld not avail himfelf of any advantages i afforded by circumftances, to intrench upon tlieir liberty. But be it remembered, tbat minijiers in this country, virith their favorites, often conftitute an oligarchy.
This miniflerial oligarchy may certainly i abufe the influence of the Crown, fo as to ren- der itfelf virtually fuperior to the limited and conftitutional monarchy. Should fuch ever be the cafe, the oligarchy v/ill be a fpecies of def- potifm, the more formidable as the more infidi- ous , poffeffing the power, but denying the form.. By a judicious diftribution of favors, by alluring all the rich and great to its fide, , either by hope or by fear, it may ere£l a ram- part, which the independent part of the people^ acting from no fyftem, and difunited, mayi vainly feek to demolifli. The monarch and the people may join hand in hand, without effe6^, againft a minijxerial oligarchy^ thus buttreiled by a fa£lion compofed of rank and wealth, art- fully combined, in the meanefl manner, for the bafeft purpofes. Falfe alarms may be fpread on the danger of proper iy from the dif-^ fufion of new principles, fo as to drive all v/ho poffefs an acre of land, or a hundred pounds in . XjX^ public funds, within the miniflerial pale. Religion may be faid to be in danger, in order to bring in the devout and well difpofed. Order may be declared in jeopardy, that the weak, the timid, and the quiet may be led, by their fears, to unite with wealth and power. Plots and confpiracies are 'common expedients ,of
OF DESPOTISM. 235
^^^pdelufion. They have been ufed, by profligate miniilers, with fuch a total difregard to truth
Uxiand probability, that they now begin to lofe their effect. But how dreadful, if influence fliould ever prevail with juries, to gratify the inventors of falfe plots, treafons, and confpi- racies, by bringing in verdi£ls favorable to the views of the villainous fabricators 1 Englifli juries are indeed flill uncorrupted. They are unconne6i:ed with courts and minifters. And the uncorrupt part of our fyflem, in cafes of flate trials, is able to prevent the mifchief which would be caufed by the corrupt part of it. The honed juries, in the late trials for treafon, have not only done honor to our country and to human nature, but added great ftrength to the caufe of truth, juflice, and the conflitu- tion.
But it is truly alarming, to hear the verdi^ of juries ^obliqcly impeached by great men in the legijlative ajfemblies. There has appeared no flronger fymptom of the fpirit of defpotifm, than the attempts of courtiers and crown law- yers, in the public fenate, to vilify juries and their verdifls, given after a more folemn and longer inveiligation than ever took place on fimilar trials. Perfons acquitted after fuch an ordeal, have been faid to be no more innocent than acquitted felons. That the people have borne fuch an infult on their mofl valuable privilege, with patience,, is a proof that a tame acquiefcence has been produced among them, tiiiknown to - their virtuous anceflors. It is to
2^6r ^HE SPIRIT
be hoped the infult will ftimulate future juries to preferve their rights with jealous vigilance, . and render them impregnable by minfllerial influence, dire£lly or indirectly applied. If the men who difapprove the verdi<&s of the virtu- ous juries, on the late occafions, had them- felves been the jurors, they would have given different verdicls, pronounced the prifoners guilty, and affigned them over to the refent- ment of irritated, ariilocratic pride. So mighty is the defpotifm of influence, that neither juf- tice nor mercy can check it in the bread of a proud parafite.
There is every reafon to believe, (and the; belief is highly confolat.ory), that juries wiil long -^continue tO'^ preferve their integrity ; becaufe they are indifcriminately feleded from the middle rank and the mafs of the people. Influence cannot reach every individual in the millions that conllitute a great nation. But we rnuft remember that influence is increafingy and that its nature is to diffufe deadly poifon, without giving alarm. Like the air ioaded^^ with infection, it filently' and ffcretly wafts difeafe into the fl:rongell abodes of health, and-" penetrates the caflle, which is impregnable to the fword of the open invader. Therefore,^ as influence increafes, the jealoufy and vigilance of the uninfected part of -the community fliould ^ increafe in proportion. Though undue iuflu- ^ ence may never operate on juries, yet is there • no danger leil it fhould, at fome diflant period, contaminate the minds of judges and
OF DESPOTISM. 237
crown lawyers^ for whofe obfequious interpre- tations of law may be held up prizes mofl glit- tering in the eyes of imagination, and moll alluring to avarice and vanity ?
But granting that the foul ilain of corruption iliould never fpot the white robe of juftice ; that the religion of an oath jliould ftiil be revered, emd confcience hold the balance with an even hand ; yet is there no danger left the defpotifm of Infiuence iliould deftroy the vitals of a free conftitution^ and leave nothing behind but the form, the exuvi<2y the name ? There was 2ifenate under the vileft of the Roman em- perors. The Britifh houfe of commons might become, under a minlfterlal oligarchy^ the mere levee of a prime minifter. They might meet merely to '' how and how ^^ receive their orders and douceurs^ and then depart in peace.
The prefent ftate of the houfe of commons cannot be too generally known ; and I there- fore tranfcibe the follov/ing paifage from the Proceedings of the Society of the Friends of the People.
" The condition of the Houfe of Commons is praftically as follows :
" Seventy-one peers and the Treafury nomi- N/VTE ninety members, and procure the return oi feventy-feven^ which amount to one hundred and fixty-feven. Ninety-one commoners nomi- nate eighty-two members, and procure the return of fifty-feven, which amount to one hundred and thirty-nine."
238 THE 3PIRIT
So that the peers, the Treafury^ 2i\d.rkfi commoners with influence equal to peers, f^t turn three hundred and fix members out of five hundred and thirteen, which is the wholej number of Englijlo reprefentatives in the Houfe of Commons. The Scotch m.embers are not confidered in this part of the Report.
The Society give the names of the different patrons at full length, to authenticate their flatement ; and I believe its accuracy and au- thenticity have never be^n controverted.
After obferving that feventy-one peers and the Treafury nominate or procure the return of one hundred and fixty-feven members of parliament, who may vote away the 'people*% money, and m^akelaws, with the other branches, to bind many millions, let us remember, that at the comimencement of every feiTion, the fol- lowing refolutions are entered on the Journals :
" Refolved, that no peer of this realm hath any right to give his vote in the election of any member to ferve in parliament. Refolved, that it is a high infringement upon the liberties and privileges of the Commons of Great-Bri- tain, for any lord of parliament, or any lord- lieutenant of any county, to concern themfelves in the elections of members to ferve for the Commons in Parliament. '^
The com.mittee of the Friends of the People fay, " they have been the more difpofed to take notice of thefe refolutions, becaufe the power of the Houfe of Lords, in matters of
6f' DESPOTISM. 239
eleclion, has been prodigioully increafed, with- in the lajl ten years ^ by the creation of nine peers ^ who return, by nomination and influ- ence, no lefs than twenty-four members to the Houfe of Commons. If, therefore, the interference of the Lords in the ele£]:ion of the Commons be, as the latter uniformly declare, a high infringement of their liberties and privi- leges, the Committee mud report thofe liber- ties to have been of late fubjed to the moil alarming and frequent attacks."
After producing fa(5ls that defy denial, I confidently leave every honefl and fenfible man in the kingdom, unblinded by prejudice, un- warped by intereft, to determine whether the caufe of liberty is not on the decline, arid the fpirit of defpotifm likely to avail itfelf of the general corruption of the ariftocracy, and the tame acquiefcence of the people.
I leave the queftion to be determined by fuch men, whether it is not poffible that influ- ence may create a complete defpotifm mi^ country, even v/hile the forms of a free con- ftitutipn are preferved inviolate ?
iloqpib
■:4,£t
': ^
240 THE SPIRIT
SECTION XXX.
The Spirit of Defpotifm delights in War or fyjlematic Murder.
CC f-w-\
X HE people of England arc in^ duilrious, they are peaceful, the}^ willi to enjoy the fruits of their induflry without a war^ and to recover their loft weight in our mixed frame of government, without the hazards of a revo' liiiion,
" It is from the prevalence of Mr. Burkeh politics alone, among the Kpper clajfes of fociety^ that the rife of any dangerous difaffeBion in this country is to be apprehended. To the plain fenfe of Englillimen, a war commenced with France, on his principles, muft appear to be a war on French liberty, to beat down the equi- table claims of reformation here^ and eventually to dejlroy every valuable right of the people.
" Such will be the fufpe^ied motives for plunging this country in a war, in which our fleets may be victorious, but in which even our fuccefTes muft be ruinous. For views thus wild and chimxrical, the nation, whofe wounds received in the late war with America arc hardly yet clofed up, muft prepare to bleed afreih. For obje<5ls thus odious and deftable, the induftrious claffes of the people muji forego their comforts; the ftioulders, already galled with taxes, the pernicious confequencc of for-'
OF DESPOTISM. 24!
mer injustice and folly, mull fubmit again to new and heavier impofitions.
" They will be cheerfully voted, no doubt, by the faithful Commons ; but the Commons will no longer enjoy the confidence of the public. Every vote of credit or fupply will then increafe the general difguil ; and lliould no greater difafter befal us, the mere pro- traction of the war mull exhauil the patience of a difabufed people.
-5. '' But what may be the contagious CxTect of Erench opinions on a nation ftck of the war of kings J groaning under an intolerable load of taxes, and hopelefs of redrefs from men, whom tfiey will ceafe to confider as reprefentatives^ it i> needlefs to Hate. To forefee it, is eafy ; to prevent it, may be impoiFible."
Thus far the excellent Wyvill, in a letter to Mr. Pitt, in which he wifely dilTuaded him from the unfortunate and diigraceful v/ar, of which that miniiler mud foon repent, though power and repentance do not ufually unite. No diiTuation could cool Mr, Pitt*s heroic ardor, or check his juvenile impetuofity. War was haflily commenced. The confequcnces were foretold, and the predidion is fulfilled.
But to an accurate obferver it is an alarming proof of the fpirit of defpotifmjwhen the great are eager to ruih into war ; when they liflen to no tci'ms of accommodation, and fcorn to nsgociate,; in any mode or degree, previoully- to unflieathing the dreadful inllrument 06 ilaughter. . If war, inllead of being what it • Y
242 THE SPIRIT
has been called, the ratio ultima^ becomes the ratio prima regum^ it is a proof that reafon has loil her empire, and force ufurped her throne.
Fear is the principle of ail defpotic govern? ment, and therefore defpots make war their firfl iludy and delight. No arts and fciences, no? thing that contributes to the comfort or the embellifhment of human fociety, is half fo much attended to, in countries where the fpirit of defpotifm is eflablifhed, as the means of deilroying human life. Tigers, wolves, earth- quakes, inundations, are all innocuous to man, when compared with the fierceil of m.onfters, the GORY DESPOTS, Fiends, furies, demons .of defliruftion ! may the day be near, when, as wolves have been utterly extirmiinated from England, defpots mi2.y be cut off from the face of the whole earth ; and the bloody memory of them loaded with the execration of every hum.an being, to whom God has given a heart to feel, and a tongue to utter !
Wherever a particle of their accurfed fpirit is found, there alfo will be found a propenuty to war. In times of peace, the grandees find thcnir felves ilirunk to the fize of comm^on mortal?. A finer houfe, a finer coach, a finer coat, a finer livery than others can afford,, is ail that they can difplay to the eye of the multitude, in pro# of theh aiiumed ftiperiority. Iheir power is inconfiderable. But no fooner do you blow the blall of war, and put armies under theair ccnnmand, than they feel themxfclves indee^i .great and powerful. . A hundred . thoufa^id
OF DESPOTISM. 243
men, in battle array, with all the inftruments of deftruclion, under the command of a few grandees.^ inferior, perhaps, in bodily ftrength, to every one of the (iibjeft train, and but little fuperior in intellect or courage, yet, holding ALL, on pain of death, in abfolute fubje£i:ion5 how muft it elevate the little defpots in their own opinion! " This it is to live,'' (they ex* ciaiin, ihaking hands with each other), " this is to be great indeed. Nowwt feel our power. Olory be to us on high ; efpeci?Jly as ail our fame and greatnefs is perfectly compatible with our peribnal fafety ; for we will not rifque our precious perfons in the fcene of danger, but be eontent with our extended patronage^ with the delight of commanding the movements of this human machine, and with reading of the bloody flaughter, and burnt villages, in the Gazette, at our fire-fide/' ^
All the expence of war is paid by the peo- ple, and mofl of the perfonal danger incurred by thofe, who, according to fome, have no political exiftence ) I mean the multitude y told by the head^ like ilieep in Smithfield. Many of tiieie troubiefome beings, in human form, are happily got rid of in the field of battle, and more by ficknefs and hardiliip previous or fubfequcnt to the glorious day of butcher}^ Thus all makes for the fpirit of defpotifm. ^'here are, in confequence of a great carnage, fewer wretches left to provide for, or to oppofe Its will ; and all the honor, all the profit, all the ajnufementyidlh to the fhare of the grandee.fy-
244 ' "^^^ SPIRIT
tBus raifed from the infignificance aiid'^lrtglQ- rious indolence of peace, to have their names blown over the world by the trumpet of Fame^ and recorded in the page of hiftory. '
But a ilate of war not only gives a degree of perfonai importance to fome among the great, which they could never obtain by thq arts of peace, but greatly helps the caufe of defpotifm. In times of peace, the peopler.are apt to, be impertinently clamorous for reform^ 'But in war, they muft fay no more on the fubr je£t, becaufe of the public danger. It would be ill-timed. Freedom of fpeech alfo muft be checked. A thoufand little reftraints on liberty ^re admitted without a murmur, hx a time of war, that would not be borne one moment during the halcyon days of peace. Peace, in ihort, is productive of plenty, and plenty makes the people fancy. Peace, therefore, mufl not continue long, after a nation has arrived at a certain degree of profperity. This is a m.axini of Defpotifm. Political phlebotomy is neceffary in a political plethora. " Bleed them t^fque ad deliquium,^'' (fays the arbitrary dodor), " and I v/iil uridertalce that in future the patient fhall be more tradable."
Erafmus, the friend of man, the reftorer qf civil and religious liberty, has the foUowii:^ paflage in a Differtation on War, lately tran& jated into Engliih under the title oi Antipolemiti'f
" There are kings who go to war for, no^^ otiier reafon than that they may with greati^. eafe eliablifli defpotic authority over dieir own
OF DESPOTISM. 245:
fubje£!s: at\home. For in time of peace, the power of parliaments, the dignity of magif- trates, the vigor of the laws, are great impedi- ments to a prince who wiilies to exercife arbi- trary power. But when once a war is under- taken, the chief management of affairs devolves on a few^ the minifters of executive govern- ment, who, for the general fafety, affume the privilege of conducting every thing according to their own humor, demanding unlimited con- fidence. The prince's favorites are all exalted, to places of honor and profit. Thofe whom he dillikes are turned out and neglected. Now -—(the time of war) is the time for raifmg as much money upon the people as the defpot's^ heart can wifh.-— In fhort— now — ^the time of war, is the time that they feel themfelveS: defpots in very deed and truth, not in name only, but defpots with a vengeance. In the mqan while, the grandees play into one another's hands, till they have eaten up the wretched PEOPLE, root and branch. Do you think that rnen of fuch difpofitions wotild be backward to feize'any, the flightefl occafions for- war, fo lu- crative, fo flattering to avarice and vanity*?'*
^ ** Sunt qui non aliam oh caujam bellurn moveni, tiifi ut hac via faciltus in suos tyrannidem ejc^r^^^wA Nam pacts tempofibus, fenatus audoritss, magi/Iratum digniias^,.^ legum : vigor, nonnihil objlant, quo minus Ikeat principl, quic^ ^uid libet* At, bello fufcepto, jam omnis rermn fumma ad paucorum libidinem devoluta efi. Evehuntur qiiibus bene<- Vult princeps ; dijiciuntur quihus infenfus eft. Exigitur pecttr niiE quanlum ViheU ^iid multls? TyM.DJEMUM .siNTlukTv'-
X2:
240 '^HE SPIRIT
Language has found no name fufficien'tly expreffive of the diabolical villany of wretches • in high life, who without perfonal provocation, in the mere wantonnefs of power, and for the fake of increasing what they already poflefs in too great abundance, ruik into tnurder ! Murder of the innocent ! Murder of myriads ! Murder of the ftranger ! neither knowing nor caring how many of their fellow-creatures, Avith rights to life and happinefs equal to their own, are urged by poverty to fhed' their lafl drops of blood in a foreign land, far from the endearments of kindred, to gratify the pride of a FEW at home, Avhofe defpotic fpirit infults the v/retchednefs it firil created. There is no greater proof of human folly and weaknefs than that a whole people ihould fuiFer 2i few worth- iefs grandees^ who -evidently defpife and hate them, to make the world one vail flaughter- houfe, that the grandees may have the more room to take their infolent paftime in unmo- leiled frate. A man, a reafonable being, a chrillian, plunging the bayonet, without paf- fion, into the bowels of a man, for hire ! The poor creatures v/ho a^lually do this (in defpotic countries) are but m.echanical inftruments of knaves in power. Their poverty, and not their will, confents. May Heaven's fweet mercy, then, waili off the blood-flains fi-om
SE VERE MONARCH AS ejje. CoUuduiit wtsrhn duces f donee infdl'icem papidum ufqiie ad radlcem arroferhit. Hoc animo qui fint, an ' cos putas graijai'm arrspiurosy ollatam qilam* €unqu& belli ocC'ifiomm?** ErasmU«»
OF DESPOTISM. 247
■^their hands, and referve its wrath for thofe . whofe third of power, which they never had a wifli to ufe for the good of man, leads them to wade to it through feas of human gore !
Let any difpalTionate man, uninfluenced by placemen, penfioners, contractors, and expe6l- ants of court favor, impartially confider, from the earlieft ages to the prefent, the hillory of war. He mufl obferve that fcarcely any wars have been jujl and necejfary \ though they almofl all have claimed thefe epithets, with a perfevering formality which would excite ridi- cule, if ridicule were not loft in abhorrence. He will find that folly, extreme folly, wearing a crown inftead of a fool's cap, has in many countries, from the mere wantonnefs of mif- chief, cried, " Havoc, and let flip the dogs of war.'' He will find that in moll countries (our own, of courfe, always excepted) war has been eagerly fought, from poUrf^ to divert the people's attention from domeftic abufe, to aggrandize thofe who build the fabric of their grandeur on the ruins of human happinefs, and to deprefs, impoveriih, and humble the people.
There is nothing from which the fpirit of liberty has fo much to fear, and confequently the fpirit of defpotifm fo much to hope, as from the prevalence of military government, fupported by vaft ftanding armies, and encou- raged by alliances with military defpots on the continent of Europe. The v/hole energy of the found part of our free conftitution fliould
248 THE SPIRIT
be exerted in its full force to check a proud minifler, who raftily runs into a war, and not- withftanding accumulated difailers, perfeveres in its profecution. He cannot hope for vi<9:ory. He mufl have fome other motive for perfe- vering againfl all rational hope. Let the PEOPLE invefligate the motive ; and if it be inimical to liberty, let them fuccour her in diilrefs, by calling in her bell auxiliary,
PEACE,.
OF DESPOTISM.
SECTION XXXI.
249
On the Idea that we have arrived at Perfeftioni in Politics,^ though all other Sciences are in a progrej/ive State,
A. HOSE wlio have been fortunate enough to have gained polTeflion of honors and profits, under a corrupt fyftem, well pleafed with things as they are^ boldly contend that they cannot be better. But thefe, compared with the mafs of the community, are few and ultimately of little confequence. Their opinion therefore muft not weigh againft any improve- ment which is likely to promote the melioration of human affairs. Let them enjoy unmolefled the luxuries of the table, the fpiendor of equi- pages, large houfes, and every other external advantage, which makes little man fwell into fancied importance. In the mean time let every honeft, benevolent member of the communit)^, who is fatisfied with being happy himfelf, without defiring to entrench on the happinefs of others, endeavor to reform abufes, and promote every improvement which can render human life (fhort as it is, and full of calamity) more comfortable, and lefs expofed to the inju- ries and contumelies of the proud oppreffor.
Rewards are offered for the difcovery of the longitude at fea. Men are not only allowed but encouraged to profecute their enquiries into
2^0 THE SPIHIT
all other arts and fciences. But the graild art, the art of government, that is^ the artof fecur- ing the civil happinefs of millions, is tobeocJii-' fidered as facred and infcrutable. Thofe very- millions whom it more immediately interefts, dare not, if the defpots could prevail, to lift up the awful veil. Racks, gibbets, boWilrings;> chains, and prifons, are prepared, in mod of the kingdoms, of the world, to awe the curioiis^ and check the fpirit of political improvement.- Optimism has long been eftabliilied in thie^- courts of defpotic princes. Whatever U^ if right J fay they ; for knov»dng that they fland on a rotten foundation, they fear that the very fixing of the fcafFold for repair would precipi- tate the downfall of the whole fabric. .?- r.-i
Mankind might, at the cloie of this cenmry, juftly celebrate a general jubilee ; for arbitrary government, in Europe at ieail, has received its death blow by the revolution in France*-' And it is devoutly to be wiihed, for their owtt- fakes, that in limited monarchies, the voice o£> truth and virtue, calling for the reform of abufes^^ exifting evidently as the meridian fun, will never- be filenced by the terrors of the law in the handr of crown lawyers, or the fabre of dragoons^- under the command of a defpotic minifler.
Is it to be believed that governments were' brought to perfedion in early and dark ages^' when the minds of the great as well as the littl0j Were enveloped in the mills of ignorance, and * fliackled by the chains of fuperftition ? Is W reafonable to fuppofe that they who were nar-i'
OF DESPOTISM. 25 I
row-minded, ill-informed, childifli, and bar*, barous in all other parts of knowledge and of conduct, were liberal, wife, and illuminated in the fcience and praftice of government ; fa liberal, fo wife, fo illuminated, as to flrike out at once a fyftem complete in all its parts, and fuch as could in no fubfequent age, in no variety of circumftances, admit of corredlion, addition, or melioration ? Did this wonderful fagacity, approaching to infpiration, produce any thing elfe, in any other department, which defies all improvement, and challenges the re- fpe^l and veneration ' of the latefl poflerity ? Reafoning from analogy, we muil conclude, that men, capable of eftabliihing at once a per^ fe£i: fyftem of government, muil have produced other inventions for the accommodation and fe- curity of life, worthy to be preferved inviolate, and handed down unaltered, till time itfeif be abf orbed in the ocean of eternity. But where ilialLwe look for it ? The very queftion implies. a doubt of its exiilence ; for fingular excel- lei^ce, fuch excellence as approaches to per- fection, cannot be concealed, but will fhine with its own luftre and force, obfervation and wonder. Is the architeBure of thefe paragons of wifdom faperior to the modern, in beauty m convenience ? Let us only walk the ftreets of London, and mark thofe houfes which were fpared by the great fire, and which may fairly ^ Ife.fuppofed improvements on the more- antient fabrics. Wefe€them, contrary to every prin- ciple of.common fenfe, with ilories projeftiiig-;
2r2 THE SPIRIT >
over each other. We fee them ugly, mean, mconvenient. Let us proceed to the north- weft parts of that great town. Take a view of Portland-place. Contraft the fymmetry, the accommodation, the magnificence, with the old edifices of Holborn or Alderfgate, and be per- fuaded that modern improvements in govern- ment might be as much fuperior to the work of antient bunglers, as the elegant buildings of an Adams or a Wyat to the old manfions nowt converted into inns, in the dirtieft fcreets, in; the moil decayed diflrids of the metropolis. * Man is a prcgrefiive animal, and his advance towards improvement is a pleafurabie ilate/ Hope cheers his path as he toils up the hill that leads- him to fomething better than he has yet experienced, on its gay fummit gilded with fuiiihine. The labor of the afcent is a delight. But if he cannot help conceiving, from a fenfe of grievances which he feels, fomething excel- lent, to which he. is prohibited by coercion, from approaching, hope fickens, and ill-humor fucceeds to complacency. Hence ariies a dif*- agreement betv/een the governed and the go-- pernors ; and the governors being pofiefled of prefent power, ufe force and rigor to ftifle thct murmurs of complaint. Coercion but increafes'' the ill humor, which often lies latent, like th© fires of a volcano, for a cbnfiderable time, but^' at laft burfts forth with irrefiilible fury. It i^ wife, therefore, as well as juft, in all governors,' who have.a regard for any thing but their pre- fent and private intereft^ tb encourage difcuilionj'
©r DESPOTISM. 25 ^
to leek improvement of the fyllem, and to reje<ft no reform propofed by great numbers, •without a cool, a temperate, and a long deli- beration. The reafons for rejection fliould be clearly flated, with the utmoft regard to open and ingenuous behaviour ; and thofe who re- main unconvinced, after all, iliould not be treated with afperity. Every individual, in a free country, has a right to approve or difap- prove the fyftem under which he lives, without peril or control, while he preferves the peace. His peaceable deportment and acquiefcence in the opinion of others, contrary to his own con- vi<5lion, renders him a very meritorious cha- racter. He may be won over by gentlenefs ; but force only tends to excite the violence wliich it would imperioufly repel.
But to tell a man of fenfe, reading, and re* ileCtion, that he muft not venture to esatertaia an opinion on political matters, or the exifling government, diiferent from that of the minifter a.nd the herd of courtiers, is an impotent en- deavor to exercife a defpotifm over his mind^ againft which nature revolts, and a manly fpirit mufl reb^l. Such a man can ufually judge of governments, and all the inilitutions of focial life, better than mere men of buiinefs, however high their rank or important their employ- ments ; far better than courtiers, occupied in vain ceremonies, and ufually as little able as inclined to enter into deep difquifition.
Indeed it is difficult to avoid laughing at the extreme ignorance of crowned heads them-
254 THE SPIRIT
fdves, in-defpotic countries, when one contrafts it with the importance they alTume, and the pomp and fplendor with which they transfer their royal perfons from place to place. The fight is truly ludicrous. Are thefe the men, occupied, as they ufually are, in the meaneil trifles and the moil degrading pleafures, who tell us that the government over which they prefide, is a perfed fyftem, and that the wifefl philofopher knows not how to govern man- kind— that is, to confuk their happinefs and fecurity— fo well as themfelves, neglected as tliey have been in youth, and corrupted in manhood by panders to their vices, and flat- terers of their foibles, their pride, and their ambition ? There is reafon to believe that many kings, in defpotic kingdoms, have been lefs •well educated, and poffefs lefs abilities, than a common charity- boy, trained in a parifh fchool to read and write. Yet thefe are the men who, with their upflart creatures, pre- fume to call philofophers wTetches, and to condemn the Voltaires, the RouiTeaus, the Sydneys, the Harringtons, and the Lockes.
There are perfons, even in countries where limited royalty is eilabliflied, who are for ever extolling the constitution, with all the abules that have inlinuated themfelves into it, in terms of extravagant and unqualified praife. They talk againil better knowledge, and may therefore be fufpe£led of fome fmifler motive. They can fee defers as well as others; but they aifume the worfl of all blindnefs, that which is voluntary.
OF DESPOTISM. 255
The truth is, thefe men, for the moil part, are fuch as would not like the confiitution in its purity^ becaufe in its purity the conftitution is really excellent, and. highly favorable to the liberty which they hate. The conftitution, in its purity, renders the people of confequence^ whofe political exiftence they are inclined to controvert or deny. But the conftitution, in its ftate of corruption, is favorable to preroga- tive, to ariftocratical pride and influence, to Tory and jacobitical principles; therefore it is, in their eyes, criminal to handle it, to hint at its improvement, to remove a grievance, or reform an abufe. The whole, together, though violated every day by corrupt influence, they alFeci: to confider as a written charter, dropt down from heaven, like the old Roman Ancilia^ and therefore fcarcely to be viewed by vulgar eyes, and certainly not to be touched by the hand of the profane people.
Defpotifm is fo ugly in its form, and fo hof-
^tile, in its nature, to human happinefs, that
oRo wonder thofe who wifli to diffufe its fpirit
are inclined to check and difcourage among
-the people all political inveftigation. But let
-.it be a rule among thofe who really value liberty
"^and the conftitution, to ufe the more diligence
in political difcuftions, in proportion as courtiers
M. , and rainifters difplay a wiili to fupprefs political
n V writings and converfations, and dilTeminate the
do£l:rine, that things are fo well conftituted as
neither to require nor admit any improvement.
5^
THE SPIRI"?
SECTION XXXIL
On Political Ethics ; their chief Ohjed: is to throw Power into the Hands of the worfi Fart of Mankind^ and to render Government mi Infdtution calculated to enrich and aggran* dize a fezu^ at the Expence of the Libert^y Property^ and Lives of the many,
I
-iN.the fchools of early difciplin«,
where youth is ulually initiated in the fludies of humanity, men are taught to believe, that vir- tue is founded on eternal truth, and that the diftinclions of right and wrong are as clearly- definable as thofe between the meridian funfliine and the midnight ihade. They are told, from the higheft authority, that happinefs is to be found in rectitude of condu£i: ; and that under all circumftances, whatever may be the confe- quence, nothing can juftify the dereliction of integrity. The facred fcriptures, the antient philofophers, parental authority, the laws of their country, and the proclamations of kings, all combine to convince them, tha4: moralitv is founded on the rock of truth, and that governments 2x^fincere in their profemons to encourage thofe who do well, and be a ter- ror only to the evil.
Why was a nationaj church inflituted and fupported at a great expence, but to enforce among the people the laws of God, as para-
I
OF DESPOTISM. 257
mount to all human laws, and fuperceding the wretched devices of ftate policy ? Government, by entering into a ilri6i: alliance with the church, certainly engages to fupport the doctrines of Chriftian morality : and it is no lefs impious in a king or a minifler to promote or increafe any public meafares repugnant to Chriftian mora- lity, than it would be in the bench of bifliops. When we enter our libraries^ we find our- felves furrounded with authors, celebrated for ages by the moft enlightened part of the world, who teach the immutability of truth, enforce ^the purefl: doftrines of morality, and endeavor io found the dignity and happinefs of humaii nature on the bails of virtue. f
But let us leave a moment the fchool, the church, the library, and enter a court and a cabinet. There Macbiavelian ethics prevail; and all that has been previoufly inculcated appears like the tales of the nurfery, calcu- lated to amufe babes, and lull them in the lap of folly. The grand object of counfellors is to fupport and increafe the power that appoints to fplendid and profitable offices, with little regard to the improvement of human affair s, the alleviation of the evils of life, and the me- lioration of human nature. The reftraints of moral honefty, or the fcruples of religon, mud:. feldom operate on public meafures fo as to impede the accomplifliment of this primary and momentous purpofe. A little varnijh is indeed ufed, to hide the deformity of Machiavelifm ; but it is fo very thin, and fo eafily diflinguiiked
Z 2
1.258 THE SPIRIT
: from the native color, that it contributes, among (thinking: men, to increafe the deteftation which it was intended to extenuate.
Thus, for indance, treaties between nations commence with a moil folemn avowal of good faith, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft. Great and mighty nations, _ profeffing Chriflianity, maintaining a church, united moil intimately with the church, enter into agreements, under this awful fanclion, and break tliem. v/ithout the lead reluctance, when- ever a cabinet minifter finds it in his inclination, or imagines it his intereft to caufe a rupture. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft are little thought of; but the great object is to ilrike a blow with advantage, before the ad- verfe nation is on its guard, and while r it ^- is relying on the treaty.
Another inftance of political religion is con- fpicuous in the prevailing practice of rendering the emoluments of the church fubfervient to the minifter^ in fecuringhim a majority, and facili- tating what is called his principal duty, the management of the senate.
The Roman pontiffs, while in the rank of inferior clergy, and even of cardinals, have exhibited the appearance of great piety, and a religious regard to truth and juftice ; but when advanced to the triple mitre ^ and become, in fa£i:, kings, they have ufaally become per- '"' feclly fecular in their public conduft at home, and in their eonneftions with furrounding na- tions, and have pleaded, in excufe, flate necet-
OF DESPOTISM. ^'"Q
ilty. But can any necejjlty arife to violate the eternal laws of truth and juflice ? Is religion a leaden rule, in the hands ftrong enough to bend it to their various purpofes ? Pope Julius the Second appears to have been one of the very worft princes that ever reigned. He delighted in v^AR, while he profeffed to be the repre- fentative of the Prince of Peace. He was- guilty of oppreffion and injuflice ; and while 'he pretended to be feeding xh^Jloeep of Chrifl:, gave himfelf no other concern but how he might fecure the fleece. Yet all his conduft was palliated, by the politicans around hirn, from the plea of ftate neceffity. Morality and religion gave way to the fyftem of political i^THics ; and he, who ought to have blefled mankind, and to have preached peace, became their oppreiTor, defpot, and unrelenting mur- derer. I mention Julius only as a ftriking jnftanbe, and hundreds may be adduced, of the depraved fyftem which rules cabinets, and which, for the gratification of the few, ren- ders the MANY mJferable. No Machiavels can everjuflify, in the eyes of God, or of 7??^« un- influenced by corruption, any politics, howe- ter fubtle and able, which, for the fake of ag- grandizing a nation^ (an ahjirad idedj^ much iefs of gratifying a court, renders all the indi- viduals of the nation fo to be aggrandized, poor, wretched, infecure, and flaviih.
Let us fuppofe a nation entering moft eagerly, and without liftening one moment to terms of accommodation, into a iuoil danger-
26o THE SPIRIT
ous war, profejfedly to exterminate the h2idpHn'~ ciples and morals of a neighboring people, and to defend law^ order ^ and religion. It is ini- poffible to im.agine bnt that a nation a(51:ing in this manner, and with this profeffion, mtift regulate all its own public conduft, efpecially in a war of this kind, according to thtjirideji law, order, and religion.
Will that nation oppofe an armed neutrality^ inftituted to prevent the interruption of neutral commerce ? Will fhe maintain her reputation for jujiice^ if flie fliould be the firft and moft violent in deftroying this neutrality ? Will flie break the law of nations, by infulting ambalTa- dors ? Will ihe take up arms, and actually light in defence of popery, after profejQlng her- felf at the head of proteflantifm, and the oppofer of all intolerant fuperftition ? Will flie, after declaring herfelf the friend of order, reli- gion, and liberty, enter into alliances with and fabiidize the plunderers and oppreiTors of Poland ? Will ihe, pluming herfelf upon the love of order and religion, and detefting the cruelty of the nation with whom fhe is at war, fliffer Afia to be pillaged, and its inhabitants to be flaughtered by her own fons; or en- courage the Indians to attack her brethren in North America; or hire mercenaries of Ger- man princes to do the work of death, in a con- teft in which they have no immediate concern ? Will file endeavor tojiarve a whole nation j with whom , file is at war, not only the rulers and Warriors, but infants, women, and old people,
OF DESPOTISM. l6l
by preventing the importation of corn ? Will ihe FORGE ailignats ? Will flie continue the flave trade ?
A conduft like this appears to b€ not only inconliftent with the pretended defence of law, order ^ and religion^ but at once proceeding from the fpirit of defpotifm, and promotive of it. It is certain that a man in private life, acting in this manner, would be thought a bad man, a man deftitute of principle, and with whom it would be fcarcely lefs dangerous to be on terms of profelTed friendfhip than of open enmity. But aci:ions do not alter their nature with the paucity or multiplicity of the a£i:ors \ and a nation may be guilty of perfidy as atro- cious and contemptible in its nature as an indi- vidual, and infinitely more mifchievous. Cer- tainly the advifers and abettors of fuch conduct do not take the moil eiFe<5i:ual means of recom- mending to mankind that monarchy which they wage war to re-eilablifii. They are hurting the caufe of KINGS in the minds of independent men and of pollerity, v/hile they blindly appear to themfeives to be promoting it with the greatefl energy.
Whatever may be urged by fophifls or poli^ ticians, it is certain that the great eternal laws of truth and juftice cannot be violated with impunity. The violation may anfwer fome fordid and temporary purpofe ; but in the end, it muil be injurious, if not fatal. Truth, like the fun in the heavens, is one. The clouds iiiideed are variegated ; but then they are
262 THE SPIRIT
infubilantial, and of momentary exillence. So
is falfehood. It can aiTume any color. But time caufes the hues to fade j and truth burfts forth with new effulgence. We fee defpotifm gradually withdrawing from the fined countries of Europe. It muft depart, at laft, from all, for it is oppofed by reafon and nature. They who endeavor to render it permanent, labor in vain ; but at the fame time, they may detain it a while, and caufe, in the interval, mifery
and CARNAGE.
Let us reject all Machiavelifra, all political ethics^ that contradift the acknowledged prin- ciples of truth and moral honefty. There can be no legitimate governm-ent which is not foun- ded and fupported by fyftems of condu«£i: favor- able to the happinefs of human creatures- — the great mafs of the people. Good goverament cannot be formed on the bafis of falfhood and chicanery. Let the government of England ever ftand on the fquare, folid, upright pedef- tals of truth and juftice, and it muft defy every ihock, but the convulfion of the v/orld's diffolution.
OF DESPOTISM. 263
SECTION XXXIII.
On trafficking with /^^ Cure of Souls (Cura Animarum,)yc/r the Purpofe of political^ i. e. moral Corruption*
X HE parifli priefts of a proteftant country, when they are, what they ought to be, and what they would ufually be, if it were not for political influence, christian orators and CHRISTIAN philosophers, are the moil ufeful body of men, confidering their numbers and their power, in the v/hole community. The good they are able to do is beyond all efli- mate ; but unfortunately, it is a fort of good not always taken into the account of thofe who are in purfuit of more palpable advantages, solid gold, high ftation, and dominion OVER THiiiR fellow-creatures. The proper bufmefs of the clergy is to mortify this very pride, the indulgence of which is to their courtly patrons, the fuwjnum bonum^ the chief good of exiHence.
Thefe perfons, not having time or inclina- tion to attend to religion, or any thing but the pomp and vanity of the world, idolizing them- felves, and unwilling to acknowledge any other Deity, confider religion and the church merely as ftate engines ; powerful engines, in con- iun£tion with military force, to prefs down the elaftic fpirit of the people. They think, indeed.
264 THE SPIRIT
the emoluments attending ecclefiaftical fiinftions too much^ if confidered as recompences for reli- gious fervices, which, in their minds, are no fervices at all, hut fear cely enough^ when con- verted into douceurs for the bufmefs of corrup- tion, the grand object of modern minifters.
Ambitious noblemen, therefore, buy bo- roughs, and, like Lord Melcombe, fend their myrmidons to the fenate; and miniflers pay the expenfe of the purchafe, by conferring the highefl: ecclefraflical dignities, with ftipends of many thoufands a-year, deligned originally to be fpent in charity, on the younger brothers, the coufms, the tutors, or the agents of thefe patrician borough-mongers. It is indeed deemed politic^ now and then, to raife a very ingenious, learned, and pious man to the mitre; but fel- dom without contriving to promote, at the fame time, the grand bufmefs of corruption. This ingenious, learned, and pious man, un eveque de la fortune^ is highly fatisfied with the dignity and emolument of his office. What need has he of the patronage appendant to it ? In this af^e, it were a childifh weaknefs, fome- thing fimiiar to the fnnplicity recommended in the gofgel, to give away good things to modeft merit. But, though he has no need of the patronage, there are thofe, to whom he is bound, by every tie of gratitude, who want it all. He therefore underftands that the cure OF SOULS is to be given to perfons whom the prime mJniller may recommend; .as the Duke oi Newcaille recommended Burroughs and
GF DESPOTISM. I 6^
Franklin, whom he had never feen or known, to the patronage of the lord chancellor. A tranfiation may be impeded, iffcrnples of con- fcience fhould prevent an obfequious compli- ance with a minifler's conge cT elire, " As to litnefs or unfitnefs," (cries the friend of corrup- tion), " any man that can read is fitfficient^ for both prayers and fei^rnxons are ready made ; and even if it were fuppofable that a man could not read, a pariili, that pays the reftor a thou- fand a-year, may be fupplied with an ingenious curate for forty."
Formerly learning was fcarce among the laity. The clergy engrolTed wha.t little there was in the world, and made themfelves necef- fary to the ftate, not only in ecclefiaflical, but political offices and employments. " Before the Reformation," (fays a learned writer), " the canon law was in great ufe and eileem, and of great ufe ; and while the laity were in gene- ral unlettered, or employed in a military life, the king made ufe of clergymen, iliilled in thk law, in the offices of the chancery, privy feal, fecretary of Hate, in the courts of juftice, and in embaffies. The king rewarded men thus qualified to do him fervice, with benefices and other ecclefiaflical prefenr.ents ; and the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, in particular, was furnifhed with many advowfons, to v/hichj as they became vacant, he might prefent wor- thy mailers and clerks in Chancery, who were then all clergymen; which advowfons flill con- tinue in his gift, though the reafon thereof
A a
266 THE SPIRIT
hath long ceafed." But o^^e reafon having ccafed, others may have rifen ftill more v^eighty. We have aheady remarked, more than once, how that prim.e minifler, the Duke of Newcaflle, ufed the advowfons in the gift of the Chancel- lor. We know hov/ preferment is beflowed in Ireland as well as England. We remember the old manner of appointment to the provoft- ihip of Trinity-college, Dublin.
The excellent divine from whom the laft quo- tation was taken, fpeaking of clergymen honored and enriched with tivo cures of fouls ^ proceeds thus : " I do not deny but there are plur all/is of great ecclefiaflical merit; but I do deny that in general pluralijis have greater merit than unalifts, or than many in orders who have no living at all ; or that pluralifts in general, become pluralifts for their eecleliaftieal merit.
" Read over the lift of pluralifts in England, and fee whether this fort of merit be univerfally, or generally, or commonly, regarded in tlie dfpenfatlons granted them to hold p]ur?lities. See Vvhether the judge of this fort of m;erit hath pov^er, if he were ever fo well inclined, to regard it univerfally, or generally, or com- monlj : fee whether the motive of the patron to prefcnt a clerk to a fecond living, hath, in one inftance out of twenty, been his eminent eccle- fiaftical mxcrit; or ^^hether the fame favor w^ould not liave been beftowed on the fajiie perfon, had his merit been inferior ; nay, in many cafes, lapon xh^fame; perfon, although inftead oi merit
OF DESPOTISM. 267
ttiere h?^d been demerit; and very often a-lfo, if not the more likely, if inflead of want of a competence, there had been affluence. See whether the merit, which hath hcQnfo?netinws confidered in this cafe, hath not, injiead of ecclefiaftkal merits been political opinions^ fer- viceablenefs iyi eledions^ private treaties, domef- tic negociations, and other inean offices^ below the confideration and interpofition of ecclefiaf* tics, and hurtful to the ecclefiaflical character* With fome patrons, there is not one of thefe qualifications that is not a ftronger motive than parts, and learning, and piety, and prudence, and virtue put together." Thus faid Dr. Newton, the founder and head of a college in Oxford, at a time when the cure of fouls was not confidered as fo trifling a care as it has been by more recent minifters, who have feemed ready to facrifice both foul and body to xht gaining of a majority in the fenate. The CHURCH once preferved her own dignity with a noble independence; but now fhe mufl bow, like a lacquey, to the vilefl minifler of flate.
But what is this cura animarum^ this 0iHc6 of watching over the fpiritual ilate of populous diflrifts ? Is it not, on the hypothecs that the Chriftian religion is true, the moil important oiEce that can be undertaken by man on this fide the grave ? Is not the power of appointing to that ofHce a truft mofl facred, if there be any thing facred here belov/ ? What is sa- crilege ? the fleaiing of a cuihion or {ilveir
268 THE SPIPvIT
chalice from a church ? And is it no facrilep^c to ileal the church itfelf, and all its emolu- jBTients, defigned to prevent the increafe of cor- ruption, in order to reward and to promote corruption ? Is the cura anlmariim to be the lad confideration in the patron's mind, though -the firft in the eye of reafon and religion ? And •is all this injuflice, facrilege, impiety, and blaf- phemy to be endured, becaufe the gift of the llipend, the endov/ment, the tithes, the fees, bjuyan eledor^ \m]io /wears ^ at the time of giv- ing his vote, that he has not received a bribe ? Is it to he wondered, if, under fuch abufes>, religion fiiould be on the decline ? Do the wri- tings of infidels, or the venal practices of pa- trons, contribute inoj^ to exterminate Chrifli- unity ? What has a iimdlar fyftem in France ciFecled, carried indeed to ftili greater lengths, but flill fimilar ? The greedy rapacioufnefs of court fycophants in England is doing the work of ANTICHRIST, and deflroying civil liberty. But I am chiefly concerned at prefent to con- f.der the ufmg the church, or the cure of fouls, for the corruption of the flate and the violation of the conftitution^ as a political enormity. It certainly contributes to the fpirit of defpot- ifm. It naturally tends to make all the youth in the nation, who enter on this facred profellion, look up to court favor, and not to depend on their own merit or exertions, for promotion. It prevents them from voting freely at e]e6i:ions. It prevents them from preaching freely from the pulpit. Its natural tendency is to make them
OF DESPOTISM. 269
what they ought particularly to avoid, adu- lators, worldly wile, parafitical, and acceptors of merCs perfons for the fake of advantage* They mull know, under fuch a fyftem, that if they vote according to confcience, or preach or write according to the truth as it is in Jefus, they mud forego all thofe profpe^ls of rifmg in their prof eiTion, which, if merit were rewarded, are a ilimulus to every thing that can benefit human nature. Clerical men, infirm, like others, often fink under this temptation. Few can renounce great temporal advantages for the fake of promoting public good, efpecially when they are fure of perfecution as well as negle£l. Now, what mufl be the confequence to liberty, of a whole national clergy rendered expe^lant on the favor of a court, and a proud ariffco- cracy t May we not hear again from x\\t pulpit^ the doftrines of divine right and paflive obedi- ence ; the fame doctrines in eifeft, under names lefs oiFenfive to the people ? Have we not lately heard them ?
There is no mode of promoting the purpofes of corruption, and the aggrandizement of thofe who already engrofs the pomp of grandeur, more injurious to liberty, and more villanoufly bafe, than that of feizing the appointments and rewards of piety ancl virtue, to bellow them on thofe, whofe worldly wifdom is their chief recommendation, and who feem readv to worfliip God only in the fecorid place, if they woriliip him at all.
A a 2.
270 THE SPIRIT
The Tindals, the Collins's, the Boling- brokes, the Humes, the Gibbons, the Vol- taires, the Volneys, the mifcreant philofophers of France, never did fo much injury to the caufe of Chriilianity, as thofe Englifh miniflers of ftate, who, while they flied the blood of thoufands for the fake of law, order, and reli- gion^ proftitute the church and the cure of SOULS to the corruption of the fenate.
OF DESPOTISM. 27 I
SECTION XXXIV.
Of Mr Hume's idea. That abfolute Monarcliy is the eafteft Deaths the Euthanafia of the Britijh Conjiitution,
JL HE very ingenious fpeculatift, Mr, Hume, feems to willi as well as think, that as death is unavoidable by the political as v/ell as the animal body, the Britifli conilitution may die in the arms of defpotifm. His words are, " I would much rather wifli to fee an abfolute monarch than a republic in this illand. Abfo- lute monarchy is the eafiefl death, the true euthanafia of the Britifli conftitution."
His opinion, that our free government will terminate in defpotifm, feems founded on the following argument, which he has inferted in his Elfay on the Britifli Government.
" The Britifli fpirit and love of liberty, however great, will never be able to fupport itfelf againfc that immenfe property which is now lodged in the king, and is ftill increafm?. Upon a moderate compnta.tion, there are near three millions annually at the difpofal of the crown. The civil lifl: amounts to near a mil- lion ; the collection of all taxes to another mil- lion ; and the employments in the army and navy, along with ecclefiafl:ical preferments, to above a third million. A monftrous fum ! and what may fairly be computed to be more than
272 THE SPIRIT
a thirtieth part of the whole income and labor of the kingdom. When we add to this immenfe property the increafmg luxury of the nation, our pronenefs to corruption, along with the great power and prerogatives of the crown, and the command of fuch numerous military forces, there is no one but mufl defpair without EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS, of being able to fupport our free government much longer under 9.11 thefe difadvantages."
But why ihould not * extraordinary efforts^ be made, when the obje^i: is extraordinary — no lefs than the prefervation of human happi- nefs, by the prefervation of civil liberty ? No efforts iliould be declined in fuch a caufe ; nor iliould MEN, fenfible of their bleifmgs, and deiirous of handing them down as they recei- ved them, fmk, with daftardly indolence, into a ftate of defpair.
Mr. Hume, vAxh all his penetration, could not forefee the revolution in France ; and how much the eilabliihment of liberty, in that extenfive and enhghtened country, would con- tribute to defeat the purpofe of defpots in all the nations of Europe. It is certain that the minds of the people in all countries are opened to the light of truth, by the emxancipation of four or five and twenty millions of men, from the flavery of prejudice and arbitrary dominion* There is now very little occafion for that defpair of preferving the freedom cf the Britifli govern- ment, if the people v/ill but be true to their own caufe. Defpotifm, in its laft flruggles,
GF DESPOTISM. 273
may make great efforts ; but even they will cxhauft its ftrengh, and accelerate its diil^olu- tion, Firmnefs and perfeverance in the people will ultimately triumph over the unnatural exertions of defpotifm, driven to mad'liefs by defpair.
The fpirit of liberty, it has been faid. is a fpirit of jealoufy. It ought to be ever- waking ^nd circumfpe£i ; for the fpirit of defpotifm never {lumbers, but watches every opportunity to increafe prerogative, and diminiih popular authority. During tliofe late alarms w^hich cowardly and felndi arillocracy labored to dif- fufe, in its panic fear for its ov/n privileges, many infhances occurred of men v/ho would willingly have facriiiced all the boafled freedom of Englifnmen, to the fecurity which they, flattered themfelves grandeur, titles, and riches would enjoy under a.n abfolute government. Their pride was flung to the quick, by the idea of equality, Vv^hile their avarice trembled for their property, and their cowardice for their perfonal fafety. They faw fpe6tres in the fliapes of Truth, Juftice, and Liberty, triumph- ing over an enilaved and deluded world ; they knew that they had little intereft or connection with fuch perfonages, and fliuddered at their fancied approach. They flirieked with terror ; and would gladly have haftened to the greatefl: defpot on earth for protection. England had no defpot on the throne to afford them an afylum ; and therefore they pla.ced all their hopes on the military arm. War was the cry ;
2 74 '^-^^ SFTRTT
vi<^ory was fure. Bafliles were already built in imagination, and chains fabricated for the millions that people the provinces of Gaul »
Had it been pofiible for thefe men to preva.ii, in the moment of their conflernation, the fceptre of England would have been converted by them into an iron rod, and its king into the grand monarque of the old French tyranny. Defpotifm, expelled from France, would have croiled from Calais to Dover, and been received with open arms by devoted vaiTals, the flavifh alarmifts of an Engliili ariflocracy. The free government of England might have found at this period, as Mr. Hume prophecies it will here- after do, an eafy death in abfolute m.ona.rchy.
But though the high church and king alarms ijls did not fucceed at that time, which feemed aufpicious to their defigns, yet ftill they continue on their poiLS,Y\^atching opportunities to infringe on liberty, to feduce the people from their love of it, and gradually to reconcile them to arbi- trary rule.
Strange as it is, as a moral phenomenon, that men lliould wilh to be flaves, yet it is cer- tain, that the tribe of perfons devoted to the pomp and power of uncontrolled royalty, whom I call Tories or Ariltocrats, for wa.nt of a m.ore appropriate and precife appellation, are flill extremely zealous to make our king a far fuperior potentate than he is allowed to be by that Revolution, which gives him all the' royal rights he polTefi'es, and places him on the throne.
OF DESPOTISM. 275
Many circumflances favor the wiflies of thefe perfons ; and nothing oppofes them fo much as the French revohition, and thofe liberal opinions on the rights and happinefs of man which begin to prevail, wherever courts and minifters have httle influence. Among the circumilances which flatter them moft with the extenfion of royal power, the elevation of themfelves, and the depreffion of the people, is the intereil which almofl every man and woman in the nation poffelTes in the public funds, and which they are all taught to believe would be depre- ciated, or even annihilated, if the parliament were reformed, the people reinflated in their rights, and the influence of the crown dimi- nifiaed. This has communicated the panic of the alarmifts among multitudes too remote from courts, and too inconfiderable in ilation, to be influenced by miniflerial bribes; who, other- wife, could not but have fided with the caufc of juilice and humanity. The terror of anarchy, occafioned by the ill-judged^ impolitic, as well as cruel conducl of fome among the firfl leaders of the emancipated French, has increafed the number of miniflerial partifans and favorers of t^tmded power and prerogative.
Were it poffible that a panic could be per- manent, or falfliood and artifice ultimately victorious over truth and juftice, there might be reafqn to fear, from the fpirit which the alapmijis diifufed, that Englifli hberty might loon ficken, and at lafl die paralytic in the arms of defpotifm. But notwithilanding a tempo-
2 7& . '^^E SPIRIT
C
rary lethargy, the mafs of the people, thoic; who are quite cut of the reach of courtiers and grandees, flill retain the healthy vigor of their fathers' virtue, ?.nd would rcufe themfeives eitedually to prevent the acconipliiliment of •Mr* Hume's prediction. They muft indeed be lulled with the Circeaii cup of corruption to ileep on, and fake their reft, when the giant Defpotifm is at their doors, ready to cruili, with his mace, all that renders life valuable to MEN j to men who have learned to think that mxre vegetation is not life. But Circe's cup is not capacious enough to contain opiate for, a whole people. All the douceurs of a miinifter, all the patronage in the prof eilions, all the riches of _ the caft and the Vv^eft, are infuiHcient to bribe the obfcure miUkns^ who conftitute the hafe of the political fabric, into complete acqui- cfcence under the prefTure of defpotic power, or under the apprehenfion of it. The light of reafon and of learning is too widely diiFufed to be eafily extinguiilied. There is every reafon to believe, that it v/ill fliine more and more unto a -perfect day.
But as popular commotion Is always to be dreaded, becaufe bad men always arife to miflead its efforts, how ^ defirable is it that it may be prevented, by conciliatory meafures, by a timely concelTion of rights, by redrefs of grievances, by reformation of abufes, by con- vincing mankind that governments have no other objedl: than faithfully to promote the comfort and fecurity of individuals, withouC
OF DESPOTISM. 277
facrificing the folid happinefs of living men to national glory, or royal magnificence. True patriotifm and true philofophy, unattached to names of particular men, or even to parties, confider the happinefs of man as the firfl: objeft of all rational governments ; and, convinced that nothing is more injurious ^to the happinefs of man -than the fpirit of defpotifm, endeavor to check its growth, at its firfl and fiighteil appearance.
If the free governmeat of England evinces, by its condu£i:, that the happinefs of the people is its fole objeft, fo far from dreading the late Mr. Hume's prophecy, that it will die in the ;arms of defpotifm, we may venture to predi£l, that it will never die. My orifons fliall be oifered for its perpetuity; for I, and all who think with me,, oh this fubjecl, are its true friends ; while the boroitgh-niojigers ^ under the cloke of loyalty, are enemies both to the king and the people.
Bb
^78
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XXXV.
r
'he Permijjton of Lawyers by Frofejfion^ of- piring at Honors in the Gift of the Crown^ to ha^oe the gr e at efl Influence in the Legjflature^ a Circuniftance unfavorable to Liberty,
HEN advocates ptddrefs each other at the bar, they always adopt the appel- lation o£ learned brother. There certainly is a iieceffity for grea.t learning in the profelfion of the long robe. But of what kind is the learning required ? It is^ undoubtedly of a kind Tcry little connefted with philofophy or enlarge- nipnt of the mind. It is, in its v/idefl: range, confined to local cuftoms, and the ilatutes of a iingle nation. It pores upon the letter of the lay/, and fcarcely dares to contemplate the fpirit. It is for the moil part employed' in minute difquifitions, in finding exceptions, in feeking fubterfages, and often in m.aking the great eternal rules of equity give way to the literal meaning of a narrow and unjuil: flatute, framed by ignorant mien in times little removed from barbarifm, and certainly both ilaviili and fuper- ftitious.
^ Is the education of profeffional and praclifmg lawyers particularly calculated to expand the intellect, or to fill the heart with fentimxnts "fiff -ptiWiiai*' honor and generofity; fnch fenti- l^buts as alone- can coiiflitute a worthy lav;-
OF DESPOTISM. 279^ .
giver, and an all-accompliilied flatefman ? Is it not confined to particular and minute objefe,. inflead of taking in the whole horizon of human concernments ? A few, and but a few, of thofe who have rifen to the firll honors and emoluments, have had a truly liberal education.. The reft have been trained either in the oiSice of an attorney, or in ftudies and exercifes that contribute no more to liberalize or improve the heart, than the copying of inftruments,, the perufal of ftatutes, the knowledge oi for?ns^ Some of the fined: faculties of the human con- - ftitiition, the imaoination and fentimental affec- tions, have httle room for play, where the eye and, memory- are. chiefly concerned ; and where the mind is obliged to labor in the trammels oF difmal formalities, like the horfe in harnefs,, dragging a heavy vehicle in the wheel-ruts made by thofe who have gone before, without the liberty of deviation, A hard hea.d, a cold unfeeling heart, with a tenacious memory, are likely to fucceed beft in fuch toil, which requires iefs of fpeed than of patient plodding perfe- verance.
A dull man^ trained in this dull ma.nner,. JKiay become a very ufeful lawyer^ and certainly deferving of all xhc fees and emoluments of his profeffion. But does it follow, that he muft be a il:a.tefraan, a fenator, a cabinet ccunfellor, jitted to determine on queflions of peace and j^^^^-and to confult and promote the happinefs of human nature ? A lav/yer, by fmgular feli- city of genius and difpofuion, may be iktjor.
,28-0 THE SPIRif
the momentous talk; and I only allc \\^h'ethcr }xis, education^ and the fludies and employments of his profellion, are fuch as to render him pre-eminently a ftatefman, and director of th^ meafures of government ? Becaufe he may, for a fee, plead fuccefsfally on any fide, cori- ducl a trial, and affifl: a jury in determining a queilion of meu?n and iuum or may be able to' expound a ftatute, is he therefore more likely than all others to frame laws of the mofl bene- ficefit kind, having a view, not to particular cafes only, but to the general welfare ? Al[ his fludies of jurifprudence have been merely for the fake of lucre, and not free and difmte- reiled, like thofe of the general fcholar, the philofopher and philanthropiil.
The laV/yer has, however, better opportu- nities for difplaying his knowledge and abilities than the members of other profeiiions. Men. have recourfe to him on matters very dear to their hearts ; matters of property. With the' fagacity of a very moderate intellect, and a' knowledge acquired by dint of mere labor and' long practice, he may be able to tranfaft their pecuniary bufmefs with flcill and fuccefs. He becomes, therefore, a favorite with 7nen of property in the nation, which, whenever cor- ruption prevails, will contribute much to pufh^ any afpirant up the ladder of promotion. He" foon pants for rewards extraneous to his pro-^ feifion. It is not enough to be a judge of chancellor ; he mud be a peer of the realm, a counfellor of ftate, a chief director in the
OF DESPOTISM. 2$ I
tipper lioniQ, It is painful to heboid all the old nohility^, educated, as they have been, at the greateft expence, improved by private tutors ^iid by travel, crouching to a man, who ha^ acquired effrontery in the courts below, and whofe unblufliing audacity has been the chief caufe of the elevation,at ^h ich himfelf is furprifed, ^ Men like thefe, emboldened by fuccefs, and/ ^ccuftomed,, from their earliefc entrance into s^i^^ef'life, ^to browbeat and overbear, aflume %.^ight: to guide the . opinions of the fenaite^ ancj^ tf^e council in the rnoil important meafures o£' flate. They become, in fa 61, the rulers of the nation J but owing their elevation to the favor qf; a courts and placing all their expe&tions of farther honors on its continuance, they become- devoted .to its purpofes.- They are, in fa£i:,. flill ATTORNiES- AND SOLICITORS, ready tQ = exert all their powers of fophiftry, and to ex-, hauft all their ftores of chicanery, to defend thp : ^ meafures of the minifler, by rendering law,- ta^i far as, they can, a leaden rule. The old peers '^ lit in lilent admiration; while men, furniflieci, with- all the fubtleties of pradiilng lawyers,; long hackneyed and hardened in the paltry bufmefs of private individuals,, preftime to die— tate peace or war, to impede or prevent faiu-^ tfiry reform, ?jid keep the church, the army ^ , and the navy under their fupreme con-^ tr(3L Such is their habitual volubility and con^- firmed, aiTurance, that men of more liberal-- minds,: bvit of lefs felf-conceit and lefs notoriety, flandc.in awe-; of themx, and fuffer them^ witha
B b 3.
282 THE SPIRIT
abjeft acquiefcence, to domineer, 'But howcYtr they may oppofe the penple^s right, and the happinefs of the public, they are fure to efpoufe the caufe of thofe from whom comes their promotion. They therefore contribute to diiFufe the fpirit of defpotifm, more than any other profeiTion.
" But'* (fays the minifter) " we cannot do -without them. We muil have able men m the Houfe of Lords; therefore we mud: have new men; and they mufl be felecled from a profeffion accullomed to public bufmefs, and which gives thofe who belong to it opportu- nities of making an open difplay of their abi- Jijti^s.*'^ This is a fad compliment to the here- ditary nobility ; as it feems to argue that they are totally unfit to conducl the bufmefs that comes before them, without attornies dnid foli- cifors horn below, who are ennobled merely to fave the credit of the peerage; But the- truth is, the minifler wiihes to have ibme fnarp- and tractable tools ^ by which he may do his- dirty work, uninterrupted by the interference of thofe who, poiTeiTing a conlfitutional right \o examine it, would perhaps often cenfure it, if they were not overawed and overborne by thofe vv^ho preteiid to be initiated in the myfte^ ries of lav/.
In confequence of this management ,' a wfjole profejfion^ with few exceptions, extremely bufy .both with tongue and pen, is conilantly enlifted' in the fcrvice of a minifler. A great number of attornies ^nj}. folidUri^ befides the gentlemen
i.i\
OF DESPOTISM. 283
officially honored with thofe names, are con- ftantjy retained on the fide of the court, and confequently lean, fot their own fakes, and with a hope of making their families, to the extenfion of crown influence and prerogative. A fet of men, fo fubtle, fo a£live, fo attentive to intereft, mxuft ferve any caufe which they choofe to efpoufe ; and there is no doubt but iljhat they greatly ferve (in the hope of ferving ihemfelnjes) the caufe of defpotifm.
Let anyone w^hois unacquainted with the pains-
f|aken by modern miniilers to retain the lawyers
on the fide of prerogative, infpe6lthe court
calendar^ and remark how great a portion of
4he modern peers have owed their coronets
^entirely to their profeifion as lawyers, to their
;jiqualiiications as mere men of bulinefsin detail^
_\with very fcanty knowledge of any thing elfe,
and with fmall claims to excellence as patriots,
pliilofophers, or philanthropifts. Mere men
c^of bufmefs commonly ^% their eyes on objects
2i«0f priyate lucre or temporal elevation alone *
eoThey are apt to laugh at the names of patriot-
;fm, liberty, and difmterefled virtue. They
have commonly been too long hackneyed
among the loweil, of mankind, not perhaps in
rank only, but in fpirit, knowledge, liberality,
to retain any very fcrupulous delicacy in their
.'^\^<JV\rn bofoms, or to believe its exiflence in
ylpthers. They conlider the good things of the
Jbcjworld as a fcramble, where every mxan is to
I'jget what he can by addrefs, and bold preten-
fipn, fince the law vdll not allow the ufe. of
2t84' THE SPIRIT^O
violence. Certainly there can be no hope of reform, or what the French call a regeneration of human aifairs, while men fo yerfed in cor- ruption, fo enriched by it, and fo well pleafed with it, bear fway in fenates,^ and direct the councils of princes*. "
'"^ Several of the Crown Law5''ers concernedin the profe- ciition of Hardy, &c. in which lb much pains was taken to fhed innocent blood, were put into Parliament by peirs or grandees, as their members or agents, contrary to law and the conflitution.
The Marquis of Bath nominates Sir John Scott, (the Attorney General,) to reprefent his Lordfhip in the Houfe'
of Commons. ,u. ;f< -- . ." v "^ci
Lord Beverley nominates ''l§iryo-i?Th^Vf FOi^io'' ''''(In?'
Solicitor General,) to reprefent him. ■ -311111^ NTttSiTI ;. Earl Fitzwilliam nominates Serjeant AdairI. ,v. j The Earl of Lonjdale nominates Mr. ANSTRUTH£|Ur;Q Mr. Buller nominates Mr. Bearcraft. . . .^
See Petition prefented to tlie Koufe of CommoisPi: 6th of May, 175^.
OF DESPOTISM. 285
SECTION XXXVI-
Poverty^ when not extreme, favorable to ail Virtue^ public and private^ and confeo^iiently. to the Happinefs of human Nature ; and cnox- mous Riches, without Virtue^ the general Bane.
UPERFLUITY of riches, like ftiperfluity of food, caufes ficknefs and debility. Poverty^ or mediocrity of fortune^ is the nurfe of many virtues ; of modeily, indnflry, fobri- ety. But, in this age, the very name of poverty is odious. Poverty is a haggard phan- tom that appals half the world, and drives them over feas, into torrid zones, to difeafe and death ! Life itfelf is thought by many a gift fit to be thrown back again into the face of the Almighty Donor, if it is not accompanied with the means of luxury, the means of making a figure beyond others ; in a word, the means of indulging the fpirit of defpotifiu Things are fo managed, in a flate of deep political corrup- tion, that the honors due only to virtue are paid exclufively to money; and thofe who want not riches for the fake of indulgence in pleafure, or from the love of money itfelf, grow complete mifers^ in the hope of obtaining toge- ther with opulence, civil honors^ feats in the fenate-houfe, and royal favor. They hope
28o THE SPIRIT .
to make tliemfelves oi confequence enough to bq corrupted or rather pur chafed by the flate.
What is the confequence to the people^ the laborer, the manufacturer, the retail trader, to poor families with many children, women with fmall patrimonies, annuitants, dependents, and all the numerous train of perfons who are compelled to live, as the common phrafe ex- preiTes it, from hayid to mouths Their gains or means 2xtjixed^ and by no means rife with the rifmg price of necelTaries. But, in confequence of this rage for riches, the neceflaries of life become not only dearer, but Worfe in quality; iefs nourifliing, l^fs commodious, and iefs du- rable. Landlords raife their rents to the utmofl poilible extent ; each determining to make his rent-roll as refpeftable as fomie opulent neigh- bors favored by a lord lieutenant for his influ- Ej^'CE. They will not let their farms in little portions, to poor induflrious tenants ; but ,Xo fome overgrow?! monopoU%er^ who is in as much hafte to grow rich as the landlord himifelf ; feeing that as he becomes rich he becomes .a man of corfequence in the county^ and that no.t only efquires, but even lords, take notice of him at the approach of a general eleClion. He is a wholefale farmer, and vvill breed but few of the animals of the farm-yard, and thofe only for his own family confumption. His children are too proud to carry the productions of the hen-roofl or dairy to the mai*ket. He fcorns fuch little gains. He deals only in a great way ; and, keeps up the price by wi!t}}f•^
OF DESPOTISM. 287
holding his (lores when the market is low. The neighboring rallies, who ufed to be refpe^lable, though little farmers, are now his day -laborers, begging to be employed by the great man who Kas engroiTed and confolidated half a dozen farms. . The old farm-houfes are pulled down. One capital manfion is fufficient for a large territory of meadow and arable land, which tifed to difplay fmoking chimnies in every part ^f* a cheerful landfcape, with a healthy pro- geny of children, and tribes of animals, enli- vening the happy fcene. The tenant now reigns over the uninhabited glebe a folitary defpot ; and fomething of the ancient vajfalage of the feudal fyftem is reflored, through the necejjities of the furrounding cottagers, Vho live in hovels \n\^Ja wlndozvs Jiopt up^ hardly enjoy- ing God's freefl gifts, light and air. A mur- mur will exclude them even from the hut, com- pared with wiiich the neighboring dog-kennel hz palace.
The little tenants of former times were too numerous and too inconfiderable to become objefts of corruption. But the great tenant^ the engroffer of farms, feeling his confe-. quence, grows as ambitious as his landlord. He may have fons, coufms,- and nephews, whom he wiihes to provide for by places ; and therefore it becomes a part of his prudential plan, to fide, in all county elections, and a.t all public meetings, v/ith the r^^/r^ ^/^r/j, the lord lieutenant, atid the arifLOcratical toad-eaters of theMninifler. " '"^
288 ^rHE SPIRIT
In like manner, the great manufaBuren^ finding that riches tend to civil honors and political confequence, as well a^ to plenty of all good things, cannot be contented with the Jlow progrefs of his grandfathers, but mufl whip and fpur^ in his career from the temple of Piutus to the temple of Honor. His work- men therefore, are paid, not by the day^ in which cafe they w^ould endeavor to do their work well^ though ilowly, but by the piece,. The public, perhaps, 7nti/i of neceifity purchafe his commodity, however bad, and it is probably as good as others fabricate, becaufe all are purfuing the fame glorious end, by fimilar means. The materials, as well as the work- manfliip, are of inferior quality. For, the great monopolizers and dealers can j^rr^ a trade, and get 've7it among the little retailers, by giving credit, and by various other contrivances, for the moll ordinary ware. The great man^ whofc forefathers felt little elfe but avarice^ now burns with AMBITION ', and, as city honors and rural dignities, fenatorial confequence and even magiftracy, are beftowed by miniflerial favor, he muft be devoted to a minifler, and carry all the little traders and artifans to fecond the views of a court at the general ele£l:ion, or at public meetings, appointed for the promotion of a minifler' s proje£l to keep him/elf in place,
Thefe, and a thoufand fimilar caufes, vifible enough in the various departments of manufac- ture, commerce, and agriculture, are at this moment urging on the great machine of cor-
OF DESPOTISM. 1^9
rupti6ti5 and diffufing the fpirit of defpotifm. Tne revolution of France will indeed check it, throughout Europe, by the influence of princi- ples, favorable to the freedom and happinefs of man ; but at prefent, even that event is ufed by (Ihort-iighted politicians, to increafe ariflo- cratical arrogance, to deprefs popular fpirit, and to give unnatural influence to the poffeilion of MONEY, however acquired and however abufed.
An indignant writer of ancient Rome ex- claims :
Nullum crimen abefl, faclnufque iibidinis ex quo Paupertas R.omana peiit.* Juvenal.
Prima peregrinos obfcoena PECUNiAmo|-es, Intulit et turpi fi;egerunt fecula luxu, Diviti^ molles. — ■ —
The virtuous ancients, by the light of nature and the evidence of experience, were taught that, when' riches obtained a value and efteem t)eyond their proper ufe^ merely for the fake of fplendor, oflentation, and ariflocratic op- lOppreiTion, a fatal blow was given to liberty. The human race, they thought, degenerated under the defpotifm of money. In fuch a corrupt ^^ftem, there was no encouragement given in 'the ftate to excel in virtue for its own fake :
* Since Poverty, our guardian gocJy^ is gone, Pride, lazinefs, and ail luxurious arts, Pour like a deluge in from foreign PARTs,f &c^*
Drydeii. f Viz. The Eaft Indies at prefetitt,
C c
290 THE SPIRIT
even generals and admirals went on e^peditmis^ not even for falfe and vain-glory, far lefs from motives of patriotifm ; but to fill their coffers with plunder, and render war a cloke for pillage.
Cauponantes bellum, non belligerentes.
They made a trade ^ and 2. fordid trade, of legale hloodjlded^ not condudling it with the difmterefted^ fpirit of foldiers, animated with the love of their^ country, but with the cunning and avarice of Jew ufurers in Duke*s Place.
And have we had no inflances of generals or admirals making war. a trade, in recent times, and in Chriflian nations j ufmg the, fvv^ord,/to WMtdll the idea o^ honor %2l% l)eeji, attached, as an implement of lucre, and rer^r^ dering it far lefs honorable than the knife of the, butcher, exercifmg his trade in the market of Leadenhall? If it fliould ever be true, that ihips of war are made merchantmen in the vileft merchandize, the barter of human blood for gold^, will it not prove, that the attaching honor to! the pofTeiTion of monef^ is deftroying, not only, the national virtue, but its honor and defence? Have towns in the Eafi Indies never been given up to plunder, contrary to the law of nations, as well as juflice and humanity, to make the fortune of European ofiicers ?
It is a noble and virtuous flruggle, to fland up in defence of the rights of nature, true honor, liberty and truth, againfl the over- bearing dominion ci pecuniary influence. Man will lliine forth in his genuine luflre j v\ he»
OF DESPOTISM. 29'I'
money can no longer gild the bafe metal of follj, knavery, pride, and cruelty. While the cor- rupt Ganges flows into the Thames, it will contaminate its waters, and infe6l the atmo- fphere of freedom. When Britifh freeholders, yeomen, merchants, manufa(5i:urers, generals., admirals, and fenators, become Haves to pelf only, forgetting or defpifmg the very name of public virtue and difmterelled exertion, nothing can oppofe the fpirit of defpotifm but the fpirit of the <o?nmon people. That fpirit, indeed, may at once refcue human nature from mifery, and perpetuate the bleffings of a pure and free conliitution. But when they who fatten on the blood of their fellow-creatures, are alfa permitted to domineer by the influence of their ill-gotten MONEY, over free countries, to com- mand maiorities at elediions^ and drive all odt pofition before them, what chance of happinefs can remain to virtuous independence t What, in fuch circumftances, can preferve liberty, but 2i convulji'ue Jiruggle^ attended, perhaps, with, the horrors of the firil French revolution, which 'God, in his mercy, avert!
2Q2 THE SPIRIT
SECTION XXXVIE
On ike natural Tendency of making Judges and Crown Lawyers^ Peers ; oftranjlating Bijhops and a?2nexmg Preferments to Bifhopricks ^ in *vj bat is called J commendara.
: iF there is any part of the conflitution
M England, in the praife of which eloquence may employ her mod glowing colors, without entrenching upon the confines of truth, it is the JUDICIAL part of it. The purity of public juflice in England, is unequalled in any country %vhich the fun illuminates in his diurnal pro- grefs. The reafon is obvious. The verdid is •"aven bv Juries of men ufu^l^v'Kp-^rr.r.rl tV.^ reach
of corruption. No miniflerial influence can defcend to all the individuals, in middle and humble life, who may be called upon to fit ia judgment, and ultimately decide, as jurors, on the property, the fame, and the hfe, of their fellow-citizens. We have lately had a moil: glorious inftance of the virtue of private citi- zens, exercifmg this mod important office. The verdids given in the flate trials, in one thou- fand feven hundred and ninety-four, do moi'e honor to the Britifli character, than all the military exploits in the reign of George the Third. Such verdi£ls m.ake our conftitution truly enviable to the nations of Europe. Twelve honeft men, on each of thefe trials, proved to
OF DESPOTISM. 293
tlie world, that no power, no authority, no terror, nor even the faftitious rage of urifto- cratical principles, which had been artfully foflered, could lead them to fwerve from the right Une of juftice. ^\ic^ feared God ^ hut not man; and pofterity will hGUor them, when the names of fubtle politicians, clothed with a brief but lucrative authority, if mentioned at all, lliall be mentioned with deteftation. It was well obferved by a zealous and honefl advocate on the occafion, that he could not defpair of the cafe, when it was brought from the corrupt to the uncorrupt part of the conllitution. The days of acquittal were the jubilees of truth, the triumphs of virtue ; and, in a time of deje£lion, revived the hopes of patriotifm and philanthropy.
O^aW judges, not having the final determi- nation of the caufe, but feeling the check of the JURIES, commonly condu6l themfelves, even mjiate trials^ with fome degree of candor and moderation. Indeed, we are fo happy as to fee men appointed to this office, in our time, whofe tried integrity gives reafon to believe, that, if they were not thus wifely checked, they would, with y^w exceptions, preferve impar- tiality.
Neverthelefs, though much has been faidon the independence of judges, and though great praife is due to our king, who placed them in their offices for life, and not removable at his pleafure, yet it mud be confelTed, that therq^ ilill remain temptations, which might have great.
C c 2
294 ^^^ SPIRIT
influence on men lefs virtuous than owe prefent judges are. It is obferved, that peerages, in modern times, have been beftowed, with peculiar bounty, on lawyers ; and fome have ventered to fay, that the expeftation of this fplendid reward may fruftrate ail endeavors to fecure, efpecially in Jiaie trials^ the perfe£l independence of the judges who prefide. It is not enough that they do not fear removal from their dignified oilice. Their hopes may influ- ence, more than their fears. They may hope to add to opulence the dignity of family diftinc- tion, efcutcheons, coronets, and hereditary feats in the legiflature. If themfelves have feen too much of the vanity and folly of worldly pomp to admire it, (which, however, is not often the cafe with men who may be great lawyers, with- out any philofophy or religion,) yet they may have fons, wives, daughters, relatives, and friends, to whom the fplendor of life, (as they have, poiTibly, little y^/i^ merit,) is valuable in the higheji degree. A peerage is therefore, for the mofl part, a very powerful allurement, I will not fay, to difguife the truth or pervert the law, but obfequioully to feek minifterial favor. When peerages are laviihed on lawyers high in place, it is a circumilance viewed with fomc degree of jealoufy by thofe who are willing to guard conflitutional liberty with unwinking vigilance. Perhaps it might afford fatisfa£lion to fuch men, if judges were by lav/ excluded from all higher elevation ; if they were indeed moji amply paid and moft refpe£tfully revered j
OF DESPOTISM. • 295
butj for the fake of preventing the poiTibility of a wrong bias, where the happinefs of the people is mod intimately concerned, were pre- vented from viewing a brilliant dazzling coro- net, fufpended as their reward^ over the fcales of juilice.
But here an objector will urge, with ferious folicitude, that, as the Houfe of Lords is a court of judicature, in the lafl refort, a court of appeal from every court in the kingdom, it is necelTary that it fhould be well fupphed with lawyers of eminence.
On this fubjed Mr. Paley fays ; " There appears to be nothing in the conflitution of the Houfe of Lords ; in the education, habits, charafter, or profeffions of the members who compofe it ; in the mode of their appointment, or the right by which they fucceed to their places in it^ that fhould qualify them for their arduous office ; except, perhaps^ that the ele- vation of their rank and fortune affords a fecu- rity againfl: the offer and influence of small bribes. Officers of the army and navy, cour- tiers, ecclefiaftics ; young men who have jufl attained the age of twenty-one, and who have paiTed their youth in the diffipation and pur- fuits which commonly accompany the poifeffion or inheritance of great fortunes ; country gen- tlemen, occupied in the management of their eftates, or in the care of their domeilic concerns and family interefls ; the greater part of the affembly born to their Jl at ion ^ that is, placed in it by ch4.nce j molt of the refi; advanced
296 THE SPIRIT
to the peerage for fervices and from motives utterly unconnected with legal erudition ;■ — thefe men compofe the tribunal to which the conftitution entrufts the interpretation of her laws, and the ultimate decifion of every difpute between her fubje£ls ! "
From this very degrading reprefentatlon of theHoufe of Lords, the Reverend Archdeacon proceeds to juftify the practice of conitantly placing [in it, Ibme of the moil eminent and experienced lawyers in the kingdom. He would, I think, with more propriety have argued againfl rendering one part of the legif- , lature a court of juftice, defigned both to make: and execute the laws ; becaufe every folid politician has agreed in the propriety of keep- ing the legiflative and judicial powers as fepa- rate and as diflant from each other as it is poiTible.
, I leave this point for the difcuffion of future political writers, and fatisfy myfelf with fug- gefling, that it is neceifary to the perfed contentment of a people jealous of their liberty and the purity of judicial proceedings, that all temptations whatever fliould be rem_oved from the fight of frail human beings, fitting in the feat of judgment, which may lead them to court the favor of ruling powers at the expence of juftice. It is not money alone v/hich bribes. Title and rank have more influence on the uni- verfal paffion, vanity ; efpecially when avarice has been already gratified with ample falaries ^g^jhe emoluments of a lucrative profeilion.
OF DESPOTISM. 297
The Gonfideratlon of the pjjihle rewards which may diminilli the independence oi judges^ naturally leads to the conlideration of thofe which m2iY feculari%e the bijhops^ and injure the caufe of religion, for which alone epifcopacy itfeif could be eftabliOied.
But, as this is a fubjeft of fome delicacy, I Ihall ufe the authority and words of Dr. Watfon, the prefent Biihop of Llandaff^ who, having been in the minority at the time he wrote upon; it, ventured to fpeak the whole truth, with that freedom v/hich becomes an honeil man in every rank, and is particularly expelled from a Chriftian biihop.
" I know," fays Bifliop Watfon, " That many will be ftartled. I beg them not to be offended, at the furmife of the biihops not bcin2 IrideDendent in the Houfe of Lords *, and it would be eafy enough to weave a logical cob- web^ large enough and ftrong enough to cover and protedl the conduft of the Right Reverend Bench from the attacks of thofe who diflike epifcopacy. This, I fay, would be an eafy tafk ; but it is far above my ability to eradi- cate from the minds of others (who are, flotwithftanding, as well attached to the church eflabliihment as ourfelves,) a suspi- cion THAT THE PROSPECT OF BEING TRANS- LATED infiuences the minds of the bishops too powerfully, and induces them, to pay too great an attention to the beck of a minijier^ The fufpicion, whether well or ill founded, is dif reputable to our order; and, what is of worfe
2q8 the spirit
confequence, it hinders us from doing that good which we otherwife might do ; for the laity, while they entertain fuch a fufpicion concerning us, will accufe us of avarice and ambition, of making a gain of godlinefs^ of bartering the- dignity of our office for the chance of a trans- lation.
" Inflead then, (proceeds the Bifliop), of quibbling and difputing againft the exillence of minijiers influence over us, or recriminating and retorting the petulance of thofe who accufe us on that account, let us endeavor to remove the evil; or, if it inuft not be admitted that this evil has any real exigence, let us endeavor to remove the appearance of it.
^' The difparity of income and patronage might be made fo fmall, or fo appartioned to the labors, that few biihops would be difpofed to wifli for tranflations; and confequently the billiops v/ould, in appearance as well as in reality^
be INDEPENDENT.
'' But, in rendering the biihops indepen- dent, you will reduce the power of the crown in the Houfe of Lords. — I do not mean to deny this charge; nay, I am willing to admit it in it's full extent.- — The influence of the crown, when exerted by the cabinet over the public counfellors of the king, is a circumllance fo far from being to be wiflied by his true friends, that it is as dangerous to the real interefts and honor of the crown itfelf, as it is odious to the people, and destructive of public
J^ICERTY.
OF DESPOTISM. 299
" It may contribute to keep a prime mimjler in his place ^ contrary to thefenfe of the wifeji and bejl part of the community ; it may contribute to keep the king himfelf unacquainted with his people's wiflies, bat it cannot do the king or the ftate any fervice. To maintain the contrary is to fatirize his majefly's government; it is to infmuate, that his views and interefts are fo dif- joined from thofe of his people, that they can- not be effectuated by the uninfluenced concur- rence ofhoneft men,
"I cannot admit the circumdiance of the bifhops being rendered independent in the Houfe of Lords, as any real objection to the plan pro- ' ^ppfed; on the contrary, I think it a very ftrong argument in its favor; fo ftrong an one that, if there was no other, it would be fufficient to fan&fy the meafure.'' \
The corruption 'of the church for the pur- ; pofe of corrupting the legiflature, is an oifence far more injurious to the general happinefs of mankind and the interefls of a Chriilian com- munity, than any of thofe which have baniihed the oiFenders to Botany Bay, or confined them for years within the walls of the prifon-houfe. Both the corrupters and the corrupted, in this cafe, are more injurious to Chriflianity than all the tribe of fceptics and infidels; than Tin- /^ dal, Toland, Bolingbroke, Hume, Roufieau,"'": Voltaire, and Gibbon. The co?nmon people do ''^ xio^.read them, and perhaps could fcarcely underfland them. But the common people do read the newfpapers daily, and fee the names
OO THE SPIRIT
and qualities of thofe who divide in the fenate^ houfe, on queilions of the laft importances^ They niuil therefore entertain a suspicion, as the Biihop of LlandaiF exprelTes it, that reh- gion itfelf, as well as its official, opulent, dig- nified fupporters, is but an inftrument of flate, a tool in the hand of a miniller. They mufl naturally confider venalty as doubly bafe, when clothed in the fandliiied robes of religion. What has happened in France, in confequence of the corruptions of the church by the flate, ought to afford a ftriking admonition.
I wiih to point out, in thefe times ^ writings of LIVING Bishops in favor of Chrillianity, becaufe they v/ould be oppofed with the befl grace againfl the writings of living Infidels. But, to the reproach of my want of intelligence, I know not the names of the majority, till I find; them in the Court Calendar. The printed works of even this majority I cannot find, either in the fhops or the libraries: the few I do find, even of the minority^ are not adapted to the wants of the people at large. Their occafional fermons, after they have ferved their day become, like almanacks, out of date: a collecbion of old court calendars would be nearly as edifying and more entertaining to the multitude.
.vlt is indeed certain, that the archiepifcopal jXiirres received more luflre than they gave, from the fermons of Dr. Tillotfon and Dr. Seeker, It would give me pleafure to place the fermons of living Archbishops by their
OF DESPOTISM. JO I
fide ; and I would mention them had they come to my knowledge. The fermons, however, of the few living bifhops who are known at all to the PUBLIC will, I hope, prove to mankind, that fome among the bifliops, in this happy ifle, do not think it a fuflicient return for princely revenues, to vote always with a minijier^ or to increafe, with lawn ileeves, the pageantry of a birth-day. To perform the occafional duties of ordination, confirmation, and vifitation, cannot fatisfy the minds of men who receive the honors and emoluments of Durham, Win- chester, York, or Canterbury. That it is fo, is happy; for if ever the prelatical clergy fhould be suspected of becoming merel}^ minillerial inftruments; if, for inilance, they ihould ever be fuppofed fo far fecularized, as to concede to the miniiler that made them bifhops, the right of nominating to all the moft valuable preferments in their gift, in order to enable him the better to corrupt that parlia- ment in w^hich themfelves alfo have engaged to give a VENAL vote ; from that time, they would contribute more to the downfal of the church, than all the writings of all the unbe- lievers, from Frederic, late King of PrufTia, to the American Repubhcan, Thomas Paine. The Jtn offimony in a private man, who pays z.falr price for a profitable appointment, with his own money, honeftly earned by virtuous induilry, and does the duties of it^ is as nothing whea compared to xhc fimony of him who buys a high and important ilation, greatly lucrative^ with
THE SPIRIT
a corrupt vote and a bafe dereliction of thofe rights of patronage, which were intended to encourage merit only, and to prevent that Very corruption which he feeds, and cherilhes, to gra- tify his own fordid avarice and childifh vanity.
The biihops, in their charges, are now founding an alarm. They very juftly affirm, that the exiftence of Chriftianity is now in dan- ger. They wifely urge the inferior clergy to the moft vigilant a6livity. Thus far they certainly do honor to the epifcopal function. But ftill, while the public suspects the bare poffibility of; the bench being, as Bp. Watfon fays, at th^ heck of the minifler^ they will con- "fider all this zeal as little better than that of Demetrius, vho made filver ilirines for Diana.
AVhen indeed we add to the probable eifeci: of tranfiations from a poorer to a richer biihopric, the holding of rich pluralities zvith biihoprics, under the name of commendams, it is difficult not to think with Biiliop Watfon, that epifcopal independence is endangered, and that v/e muit look rather in cathedrah^ than in the Houfe of Lords, for epifcopal integrity, Confcientious diifenters are fliocked, and liber- tines and infidels laugh ^ when they view the 'bench, as if they were fpe6tators of a foiemn ' mummery, or a mock-heroic farce. All this danger, oifence, and reproach, might poiTibly be prevented, if tran/lations 2J[idi cGmraendams were utterly prohibited.
But, fetting afide the eifeft of tranfiations and commendams on the flate of religion^ .kt
OF DESPOTISM. JO 2
us ferloufly confider them as they operate on the increafe of prerogative and the fpirit of def- potifm. Thefe things influence not only thofe who have attained mitres, but a numerous tribe of expeftants; and thofe expectants possess THE EAR OF THE PEOPLE. Is it reafon?.ble to fuppofe that the doctrines of the pulpit will not, under thefe circumftances, be fafliioned to the inclinations of the minifler ? What can contribute more to difl^ufe the fpirit of defpot- ifm, than the employment of many thoufand pulpits, at ieafk once in each week, in obliquely preaching doflrines, that favor its prevalence, under thtfan^ion of divine authority? :
THE sriRr
SECTION xx:k:viii.
J. iJi
ift all Oppojiiion io'Hloe Spirit of D&fpotifm
Jhould be concluded iinih the mojl fe'tupidous
Regard to the e lifting Laws^ and to the
VPreJer'vafiQn of public Peace and good Order*
-. - , ■ • •■ '■ Xi
A HE frailty of human nature is one of the commoneil of common-places. .The wifefl and befl; of men are defirous of palliating tlieir errors, by claiming a ^lare, as men, m iiuman infirmxity. One of the infirmities mof]; ^acknowl edged and lamented is, a. tendency to ruilvfrom one extreme to' another ; a pronenefs to fai] into a ^yir^, in the defire of efcaping an error, Thils the deteilation of defpotifm, ami the lo^e of liberty, both of them rational and Jatadable, have led many to fa£lious and violent =CGndu£i:, -which neither the occafion juflifigd, nor prudence would precipitately adopt, e-v^n if the occafion might appear to juftify them..
From fa<51ion and violence in the caufe of liberty, %¥hich difgrace the caufe itfelf, and give advantage to the favorers of arbitrary power, I wofi anxioi{/ly diffiiade all who love mankind and their country. Faftion and violence are defpotic in the extrem.e. They bring allevils of tyranny, without any confolation, but. that they are ufaally tranfient ; whereas tyranny is durable. They deflroy themfelvcs, or- j^-e deflroyed by force in the hands of a fuperior
CTF DESPOTISM. ^05
power. In either cafe, much is lojl to the caufe of liberty ; becaufe the perfons who have been betrayed by their, pailions into exceifes, were probably 7//2c^r^ ; and if they had been alfo difcreet and moderate, would have been eiFe6lual as well as zealous promoters of the public good. It is certain, that very honefl men are very apt to be betrayed into violence by their warmth of temper. They mean good, and do ill. They become the inftruments of difpailionate knaves ; and are often led into extravagances by the very party againfh whom they aft, in order that they may be expofed, and become obnoxious to cenfure.
Wifdom is gentle, deliberate, cautious. .Nothing violent is durable. I hope the lovers ^of liberty will ihew the fmcerity of their attaqh- fftient by the wifdom of their conduft. Tumuii- tuary proceedings always exhibit fome appear- ance of infanity. A blov/ ilruck with blind violence may inflid a wound or a bruife, biit it. may fall in the wrong place ; it may even injure 'Jiile hand that gives it, by its own ill-direfted force.
'' Man being a reafonable creature, will always "fiibmit to reafon, if you give time for his ^ palFions to cool, and wait for the mollia tern-- '^pora fandiy the proper opprtumties of addref- ^'Jffng him. A few, in the great mafs of man * ^^Kiiid; may be corrupted by views of interefl:,. -'' fcy eipeftations of preferment, by bribes,; and 'by titles. But there are not rewards enough- **Mvthis kind to corrupt the whole body o/^y^y
.jg6 the spirit
people. The great body of the people #iiii follow that which appears to them right, and juft, and true. Let it be clearly laid before them, and left for their calm confideration. If it fhould (o happen, which is very unlikely, that they ihould not adopt it, after underiland- ing it, and duly weighing its importance, then they mud be left to the error of their ways. Si popuhis v.ult declpi^ decipiatur. If the people will be deluded, they mufl be fo. Force can- not eradicate error, though it may deftroy life. Riot, tumult, turbulence may do great mif- chief, but they carry no conviftion.
Inflammatory language at popular meetings is to be avoided; and, indeed, multitudes of the hvjejl of the people are not to be W'antonly convened. Without in the leafl impeaching their rights^ it mufl be allowed that their paf* fens 'are too violent, when heated by collifiOR Y/iih each other, and their judgments too weak^ when not previouily informed by reading and education, to a6l wdfely when met in a large body, without authorifed guides, and without itrift regulation. A man v/ho is a fincere patri ot^, and not a raere demagogue for fmifter purpofes^ will be cautious of afrembling* crow^ds of the lov/eft of the people. Lord George Gordon's unfortunate conduft has left a lafting lefTon. Re, I iirmly believe, intended none of that -^iifchief which enfjed ; but who can fay to the 1?^^av^s of a troubled fea, '^ thus far (liall ye gof, •and tio farther V^ I know', and have already cbilinented on^ the adt?lfft^g<: l?aLen hom thofe
OF DESPOTISM. ^oy
riots by the friends of high-prerogative doc- rines, for difparaging the people at large,, not- withflanding the people certainly had no con- cern in them.
Though decidedly a friend to the reform of the Houfe of Commons, I cannot agree with the Duke of Richmond in the propriety of univerfal fuiFrage, I think his idea perfe£ily Utopian. Sir Thomas More never wrote any thing more vifionary in his celebrated fi£i:ion j Sir Robert Filmer nothing more adverfe to real liberty. Univerfal fuiFrage, I fear, would caufe univerfal confufion ; and the friends of mankind would be inclined to fly for temporary xefuge even to the throne of a despot. Per- fons in a ftate oi fervhiide could never be expe£led to give a free vote ; and vagabonds and paupers would ufe their liberty for a cloke^ of maliciQufnefs, I wifh the right of fuffrage to be extended as far as it pojfibly can^ without endangering public order and tranquillity ; . but ■extreme ignorance and extreme penury cannoj: with prudence be truiled with a power which both requires knowledge and commands pro- perty.
But v^hatever politicians may determine upon this point, I think it certain, that debates upon it connot be held in very large affemblies^ into which, not only the loweil: but the vileft of mankind are allowed admiffion, and ^11 th? privileges of counfellors, de fumm^ rermup, QJX matters of the highed importance, ; without ^j^treme danger of viplating law, .aB,(i.difli]ii:j
JO 8 THE SPIRIT
bing that order which is necffary to comfort and fecurity. <,
I wifh, therefore, that all preliminary con* fultationon this point, and all points like this, may be conduced by writings by appeals to reafon in the clofet^ and that a confiderable time may be allowed to cool all intemperate heats ^ and gvfcfolidity to the materials of the intend^^ ed repair. At county meetings or aiTociations, I would have the civil power in full force; but never the military. The flafF of the conflable fliould be more coercive than the fabre of the dragoon ; for the conftitution admits the one as its own, but certainly looks at the other with horror. Every tumult, productive of mifchief^ gives the friends of arbitrary power an oppor- tunity for introducing the military, of arguing againfl all popular interference in that very government which the people fupport by their induftry, and which, according to the law of God, nature, and reafon, they have a right to control by their fupreme authority. There may be cafes of the lafl necejfTity, which Ifliud- der to think of, in which nothing but the power of the people, afting by force, can maintain or recover their ufurped rights. Such mufl occur but feldom. May our country never experi^ ence them !
There can be no good reafon affigned why. government fliould not be, like every thing 'dfe,\ continually advancing to all the perfedlion of which it is capable. Indeed, as the hap- pinefs of mankind depends more upon, wd}-
OF DESPOTII^M. 3^0g
regulated and well-adminiflered government,! than on any thing fiibordinate in life or in arts,'^ th^ere is every reafon for bellowing all the time which every paiUng generation can beilow, in brinpinp" government to its utmoil point of attainable perfedion. It is the bafmefs and the duty of thofe v/ho now live, as they value their own happinefs and the happinefs of their poflerity, to labor in the reform of abufes, and the farther improvement of every improveable advantage. Would any man be liflened to with patience who ihould fay, that any ufeful art or manufa£lure ought not to be improved by ingenious projeftors, becaufe it does tole- rably in its prefent Hate, fatisfies thofe who are ignorant of the excellence of which it is fufceptible, and cannot be altered, even for the better, without caufmg fome trouble^ for a time^ among thofe who have been accuilomed to the prefent imperfect and erroneous methods of condu£ling it? No^ encouragements are held out for improvement in all arts and fciences, conducive to the comfort and accommodation of human life. What, then, intheyfr/? art, the art of diffufmg happinefs throughout nations, fliall he who attempts improvement be fligma- tized as an innovator, profecuted as a feditious intermeddler, and perfecuted with the refent- ment of thofe who find their advantap^e in the -Continuance of error, and the diiFufion of abufe ima corruption ? However courtiers may pat- Jpnize filly eftablifhments, which claim a pre- fcriptive right to folly, inutility, and. even
3 I O T'HE SPIRIT
mifchievous confequences, the common fenfe of mankind will irevolt againfl them, join in demanding reform, and in faying of old cufloms, when become nuifances by alteration of circum- ftances, that inilead of h€mgfan6iified by long duration, they are now more honored in the breach than the obfervance.
But let the reformation be gentle, though firm; wife, though bold; lenient to perfons erring, though fevere againfl error. Let her not alarm the friend of liberty by fudden violence, but invite all to the caufe of truth and juilice, by {hewing that JJoe is herfelf guarded, not only by truth and juflice, but by MERCY. Let us {hew ourfelves, in feeking poHtical reformation, what we profefs to be, a nation of Chriftians, if not philofpphers f and let not a groan be heard amid the" accla- mations of triumphant liberty, nor one drop of blood fadden the glorious vidory of phitofophy and Chriflianity over pride.
OF DESPOTISM. ^f
SECTION XXXIX.
f^he Chriftian Religion favorable to Civil Liberty^ and likewife to Equality rightly underjtood.
Y
OU feldom meet with infidelity in le cottage. You find evil and mifery there, as in palaces ; but you do not find infidelity. The poor love the name and religion of Jefiis Chrift. And they have reafon to love them, if they only confidered the obligations they are under to them for worldly, comfort, for Hberty, for inllruftion, for a due confideration in civil fociety.
The rights of man, to mention which is almofl criminal in the eye^ of defpotical fyco- phants, are plainly and irrefiflibly eftabliihed in the gofpel. There is no doubt but that all his creatures are dear to the Creator and Re- deemer ; but yet, from motives of mercy and compaffion, there is an evident predile£lion for the POOR, manifefled in our Saviour's preaching and miniftry. Thefe are very (Iriking words : " The blind receive their fight, and the lam.e walk ; the lepers are cleanfed, and the deaf hear ; the dead are raifed up, and
the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO
TFiEM." The infl:ru6lion, the confolation, the enlightening of the poor, are placed with the
3 12 THE SPIRIT
greatefl of his miracles, the recufcitation of extinguifhed life. Who, indeed, did trouble themfelves to care for the />dc?r, till Jesus Christ fet the glorious example ? It was a miraculous thing, in the eye of the worlds that a divine teacher ihould addrefs himfelf particularly to thofe who could not rew^ard him with a worldly recompence ! But he came to deflroy that ine- quality among mankind, which enabled the rich and great to treat the poor as beafts of burden. He himfelf chofe the condition of poverty, to ihew the rich and proud of how little eflimation are the trifies they doat upon, in the eye of him who made them, and who can deilroy them at his pleafure.
Let us hear him open his divine commiiTion. The words are very comfortable, efpecially after reading the hiftories of the tyrants who have bruifed mankind with their rods of iron. We find them in the fourth chapter of St. Luke.
'' And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Efaias ; and when he had opened the book^ he found the place wherein it was written :
'' The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath appointed me to
preach THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HATH SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKEN- HEARTED, TO PREACH DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND; TO SET AT-^LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED ;
o?'i?)ESPOTisM. ^ # J:
"To PREACH THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR 6f
THE Lord.
"And he clofed the book, and he gave it again to the rainifter, and fat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the fynagogue were faftened on him.
" And he began to fay unto them, This day is the fcripture fulfilled in your ears.
" And all bare him witnefs, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth: and they faid, Is not this Joseph's SON ?"
— And foon after, " All they in the fyna- gogue were filled with wrath, and rofe up, and ihruil him. out of the city, and led him untc? the brow of the hill, (whereon their city was built), that they might cafl him down head- long.''
Thus their ari/iocratical prejudices prevailed over the firfl ftrong feelings of gratitude and grace. The fpirit of ariflocracy difplayed itfelf Herfe its in its genuine colors ; in pride, cruelty, and violence. Many of the Ccribes (the law- yers) and pharifees were probably in the fyna- gogue, and their influence foon prevailed on the people to fliew their impotent malice a.gainil: thdr befl friend and benefadlor. In all aecs, fdmething of the fame kind is obfervable. Th# proud . fiipporters of tyranny, in which they" hope to partake, have always ufed falfe alarmsf faife plots, cunningly-contrived nicknames and watchwords, to fet the unthinking people
E e ■
214 'T^E SPIRIT
againfl thofe who were promoting their great- efl 2;ood. • -'^
o
When Chrifl began to preach, we read^^-M the feventh chapter of St. Luke, that the mul- titude and the publicans heard him ; but the fcribes and the pharifees rejected the cotmfel of God towards them. They, like all perfons of fimilar temper and rank, flour ifhing by abufes^ could not hz2X innovation, onhh
The mod: powerful argument they ufed a^ainil him was this queilion : -Have iAJ<r¥
OF TTIE RULERS AND THE PHARISEES ''BE-
i/iEVED IN HIM ? In modem times the quef- t ion Y/ould have been, Have any perfons of falhion and diltin£iion given countenance'^ f to Bhfe r Does/ -aly lord— or my • lady — or ' - Sir- Harry go to hear him preach ?— -Or is he feme- body whom nobody knows ? — Such is the lan- guage of the fpirit of defpotihn, in all times and countries.
Three hundred years elapfed, in con- lequence of thefe prejudices, before the gpfpel was recoraized and received at couR'r. {'i^nd I am ferry to fay that the court foon cor-i rupted its fnr.plicity. The pride of life, always i)revalenL amono- thofe who afunne to them- felves good things enough to fnpport and coirii fort thoufands of individuals equally deferving'^ could never brook the doclrines of Chrifl:^ which favored liberty and equality. ' 'Ittherei for<f feduced the Chriflians to a participation o'f'p'oiver and grandeur; and the poor, with
OF DESPOTISM. 2 { t^
their rights, were often forgotten, in the moft fplendid periods of ecclefiafticiil profperity. Many nominal Ghriftians have been, and are, as ariftocratical as Herod and the chief priefts and pharifees of Judea.
But the authority of Jefas Chrift himfelf mud have more weit^ht with Ghriftians, than ail the pomp and parade of the moft abfolute defpots in Europe, at the head of the iineft troops in the vmiverfe. He taught us, when v/e pray, to fay. Our Father, This alone is fufficient to eftabliili, on an immoveable bafis, the equality of human beings. All are bound to call upon and confider God as their Father, if they are Ghriftians ; and, a.s there are no rights of prim.ogeniture in Heaven, all are equal brothers and fifters, coheirs, if they do not forfeit their hopes, of ablefted immortality. But thefe are do^irines which the great and proud cannot admit. This v/orld is theirs, and they cannot bear that the beggar, the fervant,. the ilave, ihould be their equal. We can hardly fuppofe, in imagination, the Em.prefs of Ruffia, the King of PrulTia, the Emperor of Germany, or any grandee with a riband, a garter, or a ftar, kneeling down, and from his heart acknowledging, in lii^ prayer^ a poor private in a marching regiment, a poor wretch in a workhoufe, or the fervant that rides behind his carriage, a brother. So void of reafon and religion is a poor helplefs mortal, when dreft in a little brief authority by the'
Jl6 THE SPIRIT
follj of tliofe ^;^ho fubmit to be trampled under foot by their equal ; a mail born of a womarii like themfeives, and doomed like thepifelves after ftrutting on the flage a few years, to the grave. Our Saviour, with a wifdom far above all the refinement of philofophy, frequently inculcated the vanity of riches and power, and the real pre-eminence of virtue.
And v/hat fay the apoftles ? Do they favor thofe who ufurp an unnatural and unreafon- able power over their fellow-mortals, for the fake of gratifying their own felfifh vanity and avarice ? Let us hear them.
St. Paul, in the firfl: chapter of the Firll Epiftle to the Corinthians, fays, " You fee your calling, brethren, how that not many wife men after the fleili, (worldly-wife men,) not many mighty^ not many noble are called.'^
In the fecond chapter of ihe Epiftle of St. James, we read,
" Has not God chofen the poor of this world to be heirs of his kingdom ?" To which is added, ''
'' The RICH MEN blafpheme that worthy name by which ye are called."
Thefe paifages afford a very ftrong argu- ment of the truth and divinity of the Chriftian religion, for they contain the very do6t:rines which were foretold feveral hundred years be- fore the appearance of Chriftianity. Isaiah, in his twenty-ninth chapter, fpeaking of the gofpel, and. its doctrines and effects, exprefsly fays.
OF DESPOTISM. ^17
^vTlie meek fliall increafe their joy in the Lord ; and the poor among men shall
jtlEJOICE IN THE HoLY OnE OF ISRAEL.""
^. The inference I would draw from all that •fias preceded, is, that the middle ra.nks and the poor, that is, the great majority of man- kind, ihould place a due value on the gofpel, not only for its religious, but alfo its civil and poKtical advantages. It is the grand char'- TER OF THEIR FREEDOM, their independence, their equality. Ail the fubtilty of lav/yers, ?J1 the fophiftry of miniflerial orators, all the power of all the defpots and ariflocrats in the world, cannot annihilate rights, given, in- deed by Nature^ but plainly confirmed by the Go/pel, The words ah-eady cited, are too clear and explicit to admit of miiconilru6i:ion. Jesus Christ came to put an end to unjuft inequality in this world, while he revealed the profpe£t of another, where the wicked ceafe from troubling^ and the weary are at reft, O ye people, give •not the tyrants fuch an advantage as to part with your gofpel. Preferve it, v/atch over it, as the pearl of great price. It is your fecurity for prefent and future felicity. Other lierods^ other Neros may arife, who will rejoice to fee yon voluntarily renounce a fyflem which mili- tates againft their diabolical rule ; rejoice to fee you give up that which all the perfecution of the ancient Herods and Neros in vain attempted to abolifli by fhedding blood.
I think it may be depended on as indifpu- • table^- that men Y/ho endeavor to fupprefs all :
E, e 2 .
318 THE SPIRIT
works in favor of truth*, liberty, and the hap- pinefs of the middle and poor dalles of the people, would, if they had lived about one thoufand feven hundred and ninety-five years ago, have joined with the high pr lefts and rulers to crucify Jesus Christ. They would have profecuted and perfecuted him for fedi> tion and high treafon. They would have defpifed and rejefted the friend of Lazarus : and taken the part of Dives, even in helL The fpirit of pride is of the devil, and thofe who are a<^uated by that fpirit, in all their con- dudl, would have fallen down and woriliipped him, if he would have put them on the pinna- nacle of the temple, and promifed them the kipgdonis of the world, and the glory of theiui
* '^ T^ai make a mam an cfftnder for a word.'*
Isaiah, xxix. 21.
OF DESPOTISM.
SECTION XL.
319
The Pride which produces the Spi?^It of DeJ- potifm confpicuous even on the Tombjione, It might be treated with total Negled, if it did not tend to the Opprejfion of the Poor^ and to Bloodfhed and Plunder,
EATH is the great teacher and cenfor of human vanity ; but even death cannot reprefs the pride of ariilocracy, or the infolence of riches, endeavoring to make v^ealth and
grandeur triumph over the law of nature, and outlhine others even from the coffin and the grave. If we look into the churches and
chnrch-yai'ds, we fee the rnofl: infignificant of mankind honored with the moil magniiicent monuments of marble, the proudefl trophies, fculpUired urns, a flattering infcription, and a gilded lie. The walls of the fan£l:uary are hung with banners, efcutclieons, helmets, and fpnrs, which difplay the emptinefs of that pre- eminence which they are intended to eniblazon» The poor body, vv^hich all this paint and fmery attends, lies mouldering in the vault; and give it but a tongue to fpeak, v/ould exclaim, at the gaudy fight, " Vanity of vanities ! Mock not my humiliated condition with the con- temptible pageantry that mifguided my feet from the path of reafon and happinefs, during rnj mortal exlilcnceo'^ The only means of
320 THE SPIRIl"
being honorably diftinguiflied, is to promote - mofl efFeftually the general happinefs of human nature, and to feek private good in public bene- ficence.
The fpirit of defpotifm is remarkably vifible in the maufoleum. There are families who feem to think that their precious bones would be contaminated, even if depofited in the confe- crated cemeteries of the church, where ple- beians ileep, and therefore they erect proud temples in their private domains, where their fathers may rot in ftate, unapproached by the vulgar. If they were illuflrious inventors of arts and benefaAors to mankind, the diftin6i:ion might be a juffc compliment to their memory, and a ufeful incentive to emulation. But the perfons thus magnificently interred are ufually the mofl infignificant of the hum.an race ; whol e very names would not be known a year after their deceafe if they were not deeply engraven on the marble.
Many an alderman^ notorious for the meanefl avarice, as little diftinguiflied for beneficence as abilities, is decorated with the moft fumptu- ous memorials w^hich the Jlone-ciitter can raife for money; while Milton the glory of the nation, a man elevated above the rank of com- mon humanity, had no monumental marble. Bnt all that the herald's office can eife^l, all that can be done by painting, gilding, and marble^ cannot ennoble the greateil favorite of a court, the moil fuccefsful adventurer in the Eail Indiesj or the mofl opulent contracftor aEd
OF DESPOTISM. ^21
money-lender, like a Paradife Loft. The nabobs find their influence cannot fecure the ejleem of a few contemporaries^ though it may command their votes, much lefs of v/hole nations, and of late poilerity. Money, the only god which worldlings worfliip, lofes its omnipotence after the death of its polIeiTor j and even the inheritor often defpilcs the man who acquired it. The undertaker, the efcutcheon painter, and the fculptor, are however employed to keep up the falfe pageantry of inlignificant opulence; and a hearfe, covered over with coats of arms, is ufed for the purpofe of impref- fmg the vulgar with a veneration for rank and riches, while, in the minds of men of fenfe, it excites ridicule, and converts a funeral into a farce.
Indeed the empty parade of pride, and the felf-importance of defpotifm itfelf, might fur- nifh a laughable entertainment, if it were not. productive of mifchief, mifery, and bloodihed. To fupport the vanity, excluiive privileges, and high pretenfions of thofe who have little per- fonal merit or fervices to recommend thetn to fociety, it is necelTary to have recourfe to mili- tary force and corruption. A fyftem of terror and coercion can alone keep down the people, and compel a tame acquiefcence under ufurped pov/er, abufed for the purpofes of oppreiTion,
Sta?iding armies are therefore the glory and delight of all who are actuated by the fpirit of defpotifm. They would have no great objec-, tion to military governmeiit and'martiariawj,
3 22 THE SPIRIT
while pov/er is in their own hands, or in the hands of their patrons. The implicit fubmif- fion of an army, the doci:rine5 which the mili- tary fyftem favors, that men in fubaltern ftations are to ad as they are bidden, and never to deliberate on the propriety of the com.mand, is perfe£Lly congenial with the fpiritof defpotifra. I'he glitter, the pomp, the parade and often- tation of war are alfo highly pleaiing to minds that prefer fplendor and pageantry to foiid and fubflantial comfort. The happinefs, which mufl ever depend on the tranquility of the people, is little regarded, when fet in compe- tition with the gratification of perfonal vanity. Plumes, lace, ilaining arms, and other habili- ments of war, fet oif the per/on to great advan- tage; and as to the wretches who are flain or wounded, plunged ^hto captivity and difeafep in order to fuppCrrt this finery, are they not paid for it ? Belides, they are, for the moil, part, in the lowed clafs, and thofe v/homj nobody knows. - ;;
Such is the love of {landing armies, in fome countries, that attempts are made to render even the national militia little different from a (landing arm.y. This circumflance alone is a fymptom of the fpirit of defpotifm. A militia of mercenary fubflitutes, under officers entirely devoted to a minifler, mud add greatly to a; flanding army, from which, in fa^l, it v/ould differ only in name. Should the people be entirely dijarmed^ and fcarcely a muiket and bayonet in the country but under the manage-
OF DESPOTISM. 323
ment of a minifter, through the agency of fer- vile lords lieutenant and venal magiftrates, what defence would remain, in extremeties, either for the king or the people ?
The love of pomp and finery, though ridi- culous in itfelf, may thus become injurious to liberty, and therefore to happinefs, by increaf- ing the military order in the time oi peace j and when niinifterial arts have contributed to render that order devoted to purpofes of felfifii aggran- dizement or borough influence. Minds, capa- ble of being captivated with the filly parade of war, are of too foft a texture to grafp thcv manly principles of true patriotifm. They will ufually prefer the favor of a court, which has many Jioinmg ornaments to bellow, to the eileem of the people. A heart deeply infe^led with thefpirit of defpotifm, defpifes the people too much to be in the leaft felicitous to obtain popular applaufe. Praife is "but breath ; and often, like tlie v/ind, veers about inconflantly ; and certainly will defert a man, who has deferted the virtuous and benevolent conduft which firil excited it. But ribands, ilars, garters, places, penfions, ufually lafl for life ; and titles defcend to the lateiii poilerity. Honor, once gained by; rdyal fmiles, is a part of the family goods and chattels, and goes down, from generation to' generation, without requiring to the day of doom, any painful exertion, any meritorious ferviees, but leaving its happy poiTeiTors to the' free enjoyment of idlenefs and luxury. Ho,' wonder, therefore^ that where the felfifh fpirit'
f'^4 ^^^ SPIRIT
of defpotifm prevails, a bauble beflowed by a court ftiall outweigh a whole people's plaudits* A Goat of arms makes a figure on the efcutcheon and the tombflone ; but not a fcrap of gilded and painted filk — ^not even a bioody hand, can be bellowed by the mofl cordial efteem of the low multitude.
Heraldry if/elf^ though a childifh, is a harm- lefs vanity; but, but, as conducing very much td the fpirit of defpotifm, it becomes not only ridiculous, but mifchievous. It makes a dif- tindtion, on Vv^hich men plume themfelves, without merit and without fervices. . Satif- fied with fuch a diftinftion, they . will be lefs imclined to acquire merit and to render fervices* 3?hey. can inherit a coat of arms; or they can buy one; or, which is more compendious ftill, they can borrow or invent one. It is enough that they are feparated from the canaille. The coach, the hall, the church, is croudcd with their atchievements^ there is no occaiion for arduous exertion. They are now raifed above the vulgar. The work is done. Their name is up; they may ilumber in the repoie of ufe- lefs infignificance, or move in the reflleffnefs of mifchievous activity. The coat of arm.s is at once a Ihield for folly, and a banner in the triumph of pride.
But both pride and folly iliould be permitted for m.e to enjoy their baubles unmolefied, if they did not lead to CRurxTY. But pride and folly are the caufes of war; therefore I hate them from my foul. They glcry in deftru<5licn ;
OF DESPOTISM. 325
and among the moil frequent ornaments, even of our churches, (the very houfes of peace,) are hung up on high trophies of war. Dead men (themfelves fubdued by the univerfal con- queror) are reprefented, by their furviving friends, as rejoicing, even in their graves, in the implements of man-llaughter. Helmets, fwords, and blood-flained flags hang over the grave, together with the efcutcheons and mar- ble monuments, emblematical of human fero- city; of thofe adtions and paflions which Chrif- tianity repudiates; for as well might oil and vinegar coalefce, as War and Chriilianity.
Spirit of Defpotifm ! I would laugh at all thy extravagances, thy folemn mummery, thy baby baubles, thy airs of infolence, thy finery and frippery, thy impotent infults over virtue^ genius, and all perfonal merit, thy ftrutting, felf-pleafmg mien and language ! I would con- fider them ail with the eye of a Democritus, as affording a conftant farce, an inexhauftible fund of merriment, did they not lead to the malevolent paflions, which, in their effects, forge chains for men born free, plunder the poor of their property, and ihed the blood oi innocence.
Ff
3^5
THE SPIRIT
SECTION XLI.
•CONCLUSION.
_L O meliorate the condition of htifiia^ nature, can be the only rational end of govern- ment. It caiinot be defigned^it© 'flavor one :defeription of men, a minority of naea, at the expence of all others ; who, having received life from him who alone can give it, received at the fame time a right to enjoy it in liberty and fecurity. This was the charter of God and nature; v/hich no mortal, however elevated ■b|::^onque(t or inheritance, can.? annul of. vio- -late without impiety. All government which ?makes not the advancement of human happinefs, ^.and the -comfort of the individuals who arc •fiibjeci: to its control, the prime purpofe of its JDperations, partakes of defpotifm : and I have always thought that, in governments which boafl of a free conftitution, the viev/s, even of •ftatehnen a.nd politicians who efpoufed the caufe of liberty, have been too circumfcribed. They ha.ve been attached to names and families. They -feeift not to have opened either their eyes or hearts to obje^ls truly great, and affecrioiis iincerely catholic and philanthropic. T hate "tO' hear public men, who certainly can have no l^lght to their pre-eminence but for the public g^d^ prof effing themfelves of the Rockingham Party, the Shelburne Party, the Portland Party,
OF DESPOTISM. 327
and appearing to forget^ in their zeal ibr a few didinguiilied houfes, the great mafs of the People, the Party of human nature. The majority of men are poor and obfcure. To them all party attachments to names and fami- lies, httle known as public benefactors, mufl appear at once abfurd and injurious. They are the perfons who itand in moft need of pro- te^lion and ailiilance from the powerful. The rich, under all governments, have a thouXand means of procuring either comfort or defence. It is the mafs, the poor and middling ranks, unknown to, and unknowing courts or kings, who require all the alleviation which men en- lightened by knowledge, furniilied with opu- lence, elevated by rank, can afford to leflen rfhe natural evils of hfe, aggravated by the moral and artificial. Government poiTeffes the power of alleviating, and fometimes of removing, that moral and phyfical evif which embitters exiflence. How deplorable, when ^government becomes fo perverted, as to increafe- i$lie evil it was defigned to cure. Yet this has been, and is now the cafe on a great part of the globe ; infomuch that the learned and judi- cious Dr. Prideaux, whofe integrity is as well known as his ability, ufed to fay, " That it was a doubt with him, whether the benefit which the world receives from government, v/as fufficient. to make amends for the calami- ties which it fulFers.fr.oni the follies, miilakes, and mal-admin ilfration of thofe wh^ manage
ilJ'
^tiB 'IPHE SPIRIT
When it is 'confidered how litde the ntoftr boafted governments have been able or ineU- ned to .prevent the great eft calamity of the worlds the frequent recurrence of war, it is natural to conclude, that there has been fome radicaldefecl or error in ail government, hi- therto infLituted on the face of the earth. Viq-^ leni:e may he ufed v^here there is no government. Go veramqnts pretend to direct human affairs 'bj:r^q/h?i ; b^t war is a dereliction of reafon, a denunciation of allthat refines and improves, human nature, and an appeal to brute force. Man defcends from the heights to which philo- fophers and legiilators had raifed him in fociety 5 talies thefword, and furpaiTes the beafts of the foreft in ferocity.. Yet, fo far from thinking: hhnfelf culDable, he deems his deftruftive em- ployment the moft honorable of all humanr' ^iccupatipns, becaufe governments have politi- cally contrived to throw a gloify mantle,, covered with tinfel and fpangles, over the hor- rors of bloodiiied and devaftation. If go- vernments, with all their riches and power, ' all their vaunted arts and fciences, all the myfte- ' erious policy of cabinets, all the wifdom and eloquence of deliberating fenates, are unable to preferve the bl effing of fence ^ uninterrupted, du* ring the fhort fpace of twenty years together, ihey mud be dreadfully faulty, either in theip j co^pftitution or their adminiftration. In what |; confifts the fault ? I. think in the felfiili fpirit of.' defpotifm,^purfuing the fordid or vain-glorious purpofes of the governors, with little regard to '
OF DESPOTISM. 329
tl^e real, fubftantial happinefs of the governed. Derpptifm, in feme mode or degree, has tranf-. formed the fhepherds of the flock into wolves j has appropriated the fleeces, ihed the blood of the innoxious animals, tore down the fences of^ the fheepfold, and laid wailethe pafture.
Where is the government that has diflribu- ' ted property fo equitably, as that none to whom exigence has been given fliould want the^^ jieceffaries of exiilence ; and where helplefs agd. and infirmity, as well as helplefs infancy,' fhould find a pillow to repofe on, and plenty '| to noiirifli it, without fupplicating d^MAi^-^equdL by nature, for the cold fcanty relief ofeleeiiio-' fynary charity ? The truth is, power gradually' ^%r<^-f property ; and the felfiih fpirit of defrJ potifm is ,ever ~ ftriving to appropriate all tlief; gobdj bf ^y^W ki&i, which the eat^h is" abl^-'^ to prodiice^';^ I '"^^ '" ■" - '" ^'V^'H
The trutltis,' '>2^//o^i^/ glory ^ the trappings'* of a court, " the parade of armies, the finery of external appearance, have been the Tilly obje^s of y?^/^ folicitude; while man was left to bewail, /in the recefTes of want and obfcti- rity, that his mother had brought him into a world of woe, without means of comfort or fupport, with little other profpeft than to labor without ceafmg, to fight thofe who never injured him, and to die prematurely, un- known ^ and unlamented, AH his Wretched- nefs has been aggravated hj Xht injftdtspt uiifeeling pride j the ;2^^/^^ of ariflocratic gran- '' deiir, Y/hich,- under the fpirit of :d6{potiiiii>;
j JO THE SPIRIT
mocked by the falfe pageantry of Mc^ thoft who were doomed to feel its real- inHery* 'fhe vain pomp and glory of the world, held out the finger of fcorn to that wretchednefs which itfelf contributed to create, and would not relieve.
Three /core years and ten, and thofe often full of labor and forrow, conilitute the fpace allotted to the life of man in a venerable volume, full of beauty as well as inllruction, and worthy of great attention independently of the high authority attributed to it by the reli- gion eilablifhed by the laws of this eountrye Few and evil are our days, even when they proceed to their natural extent, and are attended \Vkh the common portion of health and profpe- rity. Yet, as \{ 2i fuperfluity of- years and happinefs were laviftied on men, the chief buii- nefs of the greateft part of governments on the whole earth has been to abbreviate lifej to poi- fon' and embitter its fweetcfl pleafures, and add hew pungency to its anguifh. Yet fee ihe falfe glitter of happinefs, the pomp - jtnd par2.de which fuch governments afTume; obf€rve ihe gravity' ahd«, infolence of fuperiority which their minifters, their itatefmen, and their \^ar- riors, aiiume, and you would imagine them a commiHioned regency, lord lieutenants fentby Heaven to rule this lower world, and to redlify all diforders which had efcaped the vigilance of the Dt it)^ The time has been when they have a^tualt;^ claimed the title of -God's vicegerents, r.nd' have 'been 'littialiy' worflaipped as .gods by
OF, DESPOTISM. 23^
the fervile <;rew of courtiers ; men gradually
bowed down by defpotifm from the ere^tpof^
of native dignity, and driven by fear to croucih
under the moft degrading of all fuperftition,
the political idolatry of a, bafe fellow-creature. |
After all the language of court adulation,
the praifes of poets and orators, the ilatues
and monuments erefted to their fame, the
malignant confequences of their a£^ions prove
them to have been no other than confpirators
againil the improvement and happinefs of the
human race. What were their means of con-
Tdudbing their governments, of exercifmg this
ofEce of Heaven's vicegerents ? Crafty, dif-
honeft arts, oppreiTion, extortion, and above all
FIRE and SWORD. They dared to ape the
:. thunder and lightning of Heaven, and, allifted
trby the; machinations of the Grand Adyerfary
of nian, rendered their imitative contrivances
for deilruclion more terrible and deadly than
the original. Their imperial robe derived its
. deep crimfon color from human blood ; and
h:* the gold and diamonds of their diadems V7ere
accumnlated treafures wrung from the famifhed
bowels of the /o^T, born only to toil for others,
to be robbed, to be wounded, to be trodden
under foot and forgotten in an early grave.
How ffcw, in comparifon, have reached the
age of three (core and. ten, and yet, in ;the
io jmidd of youth and healtfi, their days have, been
^Vi:;tol of lab^r and^^^f^^ Heaven'? Ivjcege-
^2tnrents> ieldom beflpwed a ; thought upon ^tliem,
r ■ 4?xc^pt;ii¥hfnit.WA§ii^j^ei&i^
33 2 THE SPIRIT ^
or to force, them to take the fword . and march, to, .. ilaiighter^ Where God caufed theXuij tp lhin,q^^| gailj, arid fcattered plenty ove^ the land, Hs*j_^ vicegerents diffufed famine and fqlitnde, The'... valley which laughed with fcorn, they watered with the tear of artificial hunger and diflrefs ; the plain that w^as bright with verdure, and gay with flowrets, they dyed red with gore. Tliey . operated on the w^orld as the blaft of an eafir "wind, as a peftilence, as a deluge, as a con- flagration. And have they, yet ceafed. from the earth ? Cafl your eyes over the plains of Ruffia, Poland, a great part pf Europe, the ^Yilds of Africa, and the gardens, of Asia, European defpotifm has united with oriental, to unparadife, the provinces of I^dia..^ u -
^^^s^vif" 6p^j in ills wildom,"'nas thought fif ' to allot /us a fe^ emls for ^tlie 'purpoie of difcipjine, the GREAT ones of the w^orld have^,^: endeavored to make the whole of life an evil'- to the.defpifed and neglecled million. The world is now old, and may profit by the leffons . ^ of Experience. She has decifively declared, ^^ that defpotifm is the grand iburce of hujnai^^^^, misfortune, the Pandora's box out of which every, curie has iiTued, and fcarcely left even Hope behind. Defpotifm, in its exti^eme, i& fatal to human happinefs, and, in all its degrees and modifications, injurious. The fpirit of \t.{^ ought therefore to be fuppreifed on the firlt. ,-. and flighte{l appearance. It fhouid be the.-, endeavor of every good man, pro virili, as far, ^ as his beft abilities will extend, to extirpate ail, ,
OF DESPOTISM. 333
arbitrary government from the globe. It :' fliould be fwept from the earth, or trampled ^ uifder foot, from China to Peru. But no power is capable of cruihing the Hydra, lefs than the Herculean arni of a whole people.
I lay it down as an incontrovertible axiom, that all who are born into the world have a right to be happy in it as the unavoidable evils of nature, and their own difordered paiTions, will allow,. The grand obje^l of all good go- vernment, of all government that is not an ufurpation, mufl be to prom.ote this happinefs, to affift every individual in its attainment and: fecurity. A government chiefly anxious about the emoluments of office, chiefly employed in augmenting its own power and aggrandizing^ its obfequious inftruments, while it negle^s the comfort and fafety of individuals in middle. or low life, is defpotic and a nuifance. It iS/" founded on folly as well as wickednefs, and^. like the freaks of infanity, deals mifchief and mifery around, without being able to afcertain or limit its extent and duration. If it ihould not be puniihed as criminal, let it be coerced as dangerous. Let the ftraight waifrcoat be; applied; but let men, judging fellow men^ always fpare the axe*
For what rational pur pofe could we enter into life ? To vex, torment, and flay each, other with the fword ? To be and to make, miferable? No, by the fweet mercy of HeaveQ't ' I firmly believe, that the great King of King$,^ '' intended ever >^fbn and daughter of Adam to: '
J 34 THE SPIRIT
be as happy as the eternal laws of Nature, un- der his control, permit them to be in this fub- lunary ilate. Execrated and exploded be all thofe politics, with Machiavel, or the Evil Be- ing, their author, which introduce fyilems of government and manners among the great, inconfiltent with the happinefs of the majority. Muil real tragedies be forever a£ling on the flage of human hfe ? Muil men go on forever to be tormentors and executioners of men ? Is the world never to profit by the experience of ages ? Mufl not even attempts be made to improv^e the happinefs of life, to improve go- vernment, though all arts and fciences are en- couraged in their progrefs to perfection ? Muft the grand art, the fublimeft fcience, that of meliorating the condition of human nature, be ftationary? No ; forbid it reafon, virtue, bene- volence, religion! Let the world be made more and more comfortable, to all who are allowed the glorious privilege of feeing the fun and breathing the liberal air. Our forefathers were duped by priefts and defpots, and, through the timidity of fuperftition and the blindnefs of ignorance, fubmitted to be made artificially miferable. Let us explode that folly which we fee ; and let every mortal under the cope of heaven enjoy exiftence, as long as nature will allow the feafl to continue, without any x^ flraints on liberty but fuch as the majority of uncorruptcd guells unite in agreeing to be falu- tary, and therefore conducive to the general fell:i)(ky'. , Men are too ferious m purfuing
OF DESPOTISM. 335
toys, money, titles, ftars, ribands, triumphs, any thing that gives a momentary diftindlion, and gratiiies an unmanly pride. They have embraced a cloud for a goddefs. Let them difpel the mid, raifed by faife policy and cruel defpotifm. Let them at laft diflinguifh real good, from its delufive appearance. Let them value duly, and purfue diligently, folid com- fort, health, cheerfulnefs, contentment, uni- verfal benevolence, and learn to relifli the fweets of nature and fimplicity. They will then fee happinefs in fomething befides the poiTeffion o^ gold; befides thofe external marks of fuperiority which raife them to notice, and diftinguifli them from their equals without a diiFerence. Strife and wars will ceafe, when' men perceive that their highell happinefs is moil eafily attainable in a iliate of contented tranquillity; their guide, nature, and their guard, innocence. ;
The principal objects of all rational go^' vernment, fuch as is intended to promote human happinefs, are two ; to preferve^^^r.?, and to diffufe plenty. Such government will feldom tax the neceifaries of life. It will avoid' WARS ; and, by fuch humane and wife policy, render taxes on necejfaries totally fuperiluous. Taxes on necejfaries are ufually caufed by war. The poor, however, are not eafily excited to infurre(51ion. It is a bafe calumny which accu- ies them. They are naturally quiefcent; in- clined to fubmiflion by their habits, and vei- ling to reverence all their fuperiors who behave
336 THE SPIRIT
to them juftly and kindly. They deferve to be ufed well. They deferve confidence. But oppreiTion and perfecution may teach them to lift their gigantic arm, and then vain vi^ill be refinance. Let not wars then be wantonly undertaken, which befides their injuflice and inhumanity, tend more than any thing eKe, by increafmg taxes, to compel infurre£tion. The poor man hears great praifes bellowed on the government he lives under, and perpetual panegyrics on the conftitution. He knows little of general politics. He judges from the effeBs he feels. He knows that malt,* lea- ther, candles, foap, fait, and windows, with- out which he cannot exifl in comfort, are fo heavily taxed as fometimes to exclude him from obtaining the fcanty portion he would require. In return for the defalcations from malt, leather, candles, foap, fait, and win- dows; he fees penilons, places, rich contra^- ors, difgraceful, ruinous, and bloody wars. Yet he rifes up early, and goeth forth to his work and his labor, with cheerfulnefs. Is he not a worthy, refpe(5i:abk member of fociety^, and defer ving of every indulgence ? Ought he to be infulted by approbrious appellations, con- fidered as of no political confequence, as pof- feffmg no rights, and little removed from the
* I beard a great borough-monger of eleven or twelve thoufand a-year affert, while he held a glafs of Madeira in his hand to wafh down a plentiful dinner, that w^z// could not be reckoned among the necejfaries of the poor laborer^ becaufc he might diink <water, which is very nvhohjonie.
OF DESPOTISM. 3^7
cattle ? Suppofe millions of luch men in a country, ought not their wiilies to be confulted. and a regard for their comfort and fecurity to ftop the fword, while emerging from its fcab- bard at the command of a minister ?
Great reforms ufually come from the people. They are flow to anger, and fubmit in patience. But grievances may become intolerable ; and then their energy difplays itfelf like a torrent^ that has long lain iHil and placid within the dam, which oppofed its courfe to a certain point, but could refiil no longer.
If ever any people ihould be roufed to take their own affairs into their own hands, I hope theywill refute the calumnies of the proud, byacling with juilice and mercy. All human creatures are weak and fallible ; kino;s andmini- ilers have exhibited remarkable inftances of this common imbecility. Great allowances iliould thereforebe made for their errors and even ^ri;??^^-, which, probably, originated in error. I v/ifh to fee the Britifh government made as perfect as humam ingenuity and virtue can render it \ but I would effeft reform^ in it, v/ithout injuring the perfon or deilroying the life of the moifl: obnox- ious individual. I would pardon much to hu- man infirmity. Not one drop of blood (liould be filed, nor a fmgle mite of property violated^ No injuflice whatever fhould difgrace the Vv^if- dom of the people. Compenfations fliouH be triade by the public to all individuals, of ^aii parties and perfuafions, when compelled to relinquifli pofTeiTions or privileges lawfully in-
7^S THE SPIRIT
herited, or honeftly acquired. The moll liberalj expanded generofity fliould vindicate the honor* of human nature, too long infulted. Minifters and grandees, who form the ariflocracy, either of opulence or nobility, however tyrannical and infolent in the day of their profperity, fhould hve out the little fpace allotted to man, in a flate of eafe and aifiuence adapted to their habits anct education. I would ihev/ them how trutj'' noble and glorious it is to forgive. And thej^ could not be formidable againil an united people* For how weak, how tranfitory is man ? Death^ natural^ unprecipitated death, will foon tame the haughtiefl fpirit that ever fwelled the fani cied importance of a crown ; and the infirmi- ties attending the approach of death, the gra- dual decays of age, Vv^ill ufually teach a lelTon of unfeigned humility.
The people, at prefent, appear to be funk in a political lethargy. But let not miniflers- confide too much in the fymptoms. A calin precedes a florm. Long continued abufes,; heavy burdens, and fevere grievances, without' a dream of hope, may awaken the lion. Then, I think, tliofe who have ihewn an inclination to ^'ct up a power unknown to conilitutional freedom, and to rend::r {government hoflile; to the pcopb, may iuiqy . iear^ ^ "J ^ I
And who, it nriy be ailced, are they ? I am' happy in the opportunity of declaring it my opinion, that' the King is not among them/ Theyf lire'men to whom neither the King nor the people are dear. They are, in a word.
OF DESPOTISM. 339
the oligarchy of borough-mongersy wliofe power is founded on an ufurpation ; and whofe affumed SOVEREIGNTY is no lefs inconfiftent - with the real freedom of a king than of a people. A mofl refpe<51:able focietyj not long ago, ailerted in a petition to the Houfe of Commons, and offered to prove it at the bar, that one bun- dred and Jifty -four men nominate and appoint a majority of the Houfe. Has it not been fufpe^led, that a war mi2:ht have been made and fupported, to prevent the annihilation of this oligarchy ; by turning the e.ttention of the people from a reform of parliament, and en- deavoring to give a deadly ftab to liberty. If the fufpicion be well founded, this very cir- cumftance is the flrongeft argument for reform which has ever been produced. Oceans of bloody and treafure enough to relieve all the poor in the nation for many years, lavifhed to edablilh a defpotifm, inimical to the King, the people, and to human nature ! We have now reached the fource of the evil, a fource not fo concealed as the fountain of the Nile. It is the corruption of boroughs, and the interference of minifters, peers, placemen, penlioners, and expcftants, in parliamentary eleftions, which caufes the fpirlt of defpotifm to increafe; for nature, reafon, and felf-intereft too, if they were not countera&d by corrupt influence, would revolt at it. The ^gg would be initantly cruilied, if it were not coniiantly guarded and follered in the v/arm, wxll-fortified nefl of
j:4-0 "^^^^ SPIRIT
borougb-lnfiuence^ directing all meafuFi^ '^tfd diipofing of ail patronage. It - r .
But they are all honorable men, v/lio are concerned in . this influence. They may not be moralh/ worfe or better than others in their ijtuation. Their fituation renders them poli- tically iniquitous. The world is governed by men, and men by their paffions, and their fuppofed interefl. But it is the bufmefs of laws to reftrain them. The people are bound to watch the conduct of all whofe conducl is iufluential on their welfare. Unlimited con- fidence fliould be given to no man, when the happinefs of millions is concerned in the confe- quences of his a£lions or counfels.
" The common people," fays a fenfible author, ^' generally think that great men have great minds, and fcorn bafe aftions; which judgment is fo falfe, that the bafeft and word of all a^lions have been done by great ?nen. They have often difturbed, deceived and pil- laged, the world ; and he v/ho is capable of the kigheft mifchief is capable of the meanest. He who plunders a country of a million of money would, in fuitable circumilances, ileal a iiJver fpoon; and a conqueror, w4io (lands and pillages a, kingdom, would, in an himibler fituation, rifiC a portmanteau." I iliould not, therefore, choofe to expofe my watch or purfe in a crowd, to thofe men w4io have plundered Poland, if, inflead of poffefrmg a crown of jewels, and the pocket of fubmiilive ?iations, they had been in
OF DESPOTISM. 34 1
the circumflances of a Barrington, Nor, tlioueti men fliould be called honorable, will it be fafe to truil our liberties to their honor, without fome collateral fecurity; efpecially when we fee them interfering with and control- ling elections, contrary to exprefs laws, and contrary not only to the dilates of honor ^ but of common honefty. They vfurp a power for the gratification of pride and avarice, which they cannot hold but to the injury of the law- ful and right owners. How dilFers this in a moral view, from robbery ? It differs, in a political view indeed, inafmuch as it is infi- nitely more injurious to fociety.
The oppofers of reform, the invaders of the people's rights, are no lefs blind and ftiort- iighted than meanly felfiih. Let them pour their venom on the people, and difpute popu- lar claims to natural right, as much as they pleafe; the people muft at lad triumph, and liberty will in time flouriili all over Europe. Court parafites, and felfiih. grandees, will do right to ufe a little forefight ; to confider v/hat revolutions may be, by viewing what have been; and not to exafperate mankind too much, left the irritation flionld produce, v/hat God avert, fanguinary vengeance.
I take my leave on this, occafion^ recom- mending, from the bottom of my heart, to men in power, meafures of conciliation. Let them come among us with healing in their wings. Let them concede with cheerfulnefs, whatever c?.nnot be denied without injuflice.
34^ THE SPIRIT
het them fliew themfelves real friends to liberty and man. The Englifli nation is remarkable for generofity and good-nature. Ail their mif-. takes will be forgiven. There will be no leading into capfiinty^ and no complaining in sur Jireets. Mercy and truth fliall meet togetlier; and righteoufyiejs and peace kifs each other. In a word; let parliame?2t be reformed. This mea- fiire will remove all grievances, and fatisfy all demands. It will at once give permanency to the throne, and happinefs to to the people. Kings will be republicans, in the true fenfe of that term ; and the fpirit of defpotifm become the fpirit of philanthropy.
THE END
i